Pears in Salad

Red Anjou Pear

As a kid, I was never a big fan of pears; something about the slightly gritty texture threw me off. As an adult, though, I am a real fan, although one bad pear will make me pear-averse for days. In the past, I ate pears mainly as a snack or as dessert, but more recently I have begun putting them into green salads.

This week, I made an arugula salad with pears, walnuts, and blue cheese, and it was so good that it was my entire meal. Today, the arugula looked limp, so I used mixed greens—mainly romaine—and left out the nuts, because I had eaten them all. I enjoyed this dish just as much as the first. There is something about the combination of creamy pears, blue cheese, scallions, and crunchy greens that steals my heart and delights my palate. I dress the salad simply: 2 parts oil, one part balsamic vinegar, a dash of garlic salt, regular salt, and a grind of pepper.

So far, I have used the juicier types of pears, such as Bartlett, Comice and a new type called Taylor Gold.  Next week, I'll try Anjou and Bosc pears. These are more commonly used for cooking, but who knows, maybe they too will be a good addition to salads.

Fit for a Queen

Last year, the Boston Globe presented a recipe for Coronation Chicken Salad. I had never heard of this before (Queen Elizabeth eats chicken salad?), so I did a bit of research. Turns out that the dish was created for Queen Elizabeth's coronation, but it was not totally original. It in turn was based on another dish that had been served at the King George V's Silver Jubilee.

I was intrigued by what a long history the dish had and how many backstories people could find. The dish is also called Chicken Elizabeth, Chicken Mayonnaise, and a host of other things, but in general it contains chicken, mayonnaise, a bit of curry, and other odds and ends. Early recipes were major productions. They began with a raw chicken and took ages to prepare.

The Globe's recipe is a bit simpler but still plenty complicated for me, because it calls for several ingredients, such as mango chutney, that I did not have on hand last year. The first time I make a recipe, I try to make it as written, so I assembled the various ingredients and went to town. I'm not a huge curry fan, or so I thought, but this salad was downright addictive. I ate it for days, always thinking I should give some to friends and family but then never giving away a forkful. Now, I keep the ingredients on hand.

It is now one of my favorite summer dishes. I made some today. I now am a bit more flexible about the ingredients, because experience has taught me which are crucial (the mango chutney, the curry, the grated ginger) and which can stand a substitution (today, for instance, I used chopped raisins instead of  currants and toasted almonds in place of  toasted pecans). Experience also taught me to invite a friend to join me at dinner. I know that I won't want to give any more away.

Basil is Bountiful Right Now

Pignoli nuts stay fresh for months in a freezer

Farm stands and markets are awash in basil right now. You can buy large bunches of squeaky fresh leaves for very little cash. I usually take this opportunity to make one or two batches of pesto, which I freeze in small quantities. Although many recipes say that cheese doesn't freeze well, I have not noticed that my thawed pesto (which includes cheese) is appreciably different from fresh. So I include all the ingredients before freezing.

I slather pesto on pizza dough before adding anything else; I also spread it on bread that I'm using for panini; and for a quick lunch, I smear some on French bread before topping it with thick slices of tomatoes.

Basil has a minty taste, and is also good served with certain fruits. I've used it in a watermelon salad
that is hearty enough to eat as a complete meal. I've also seen several recipes for basil ice cream, but I've never tried it. If you have, let me know.

Salad Nicoise

I usually keep lettuce, olives, tomatoes, eggs, tuna, and tomatoes on hand.

The other day, I opened my fridge and realized that I had not only leftover green beans, but also leftover potatoes. My mind immediately jumped to salad nicoise,  a summertime favorite. According to most authorities, real salad nicoise—the salad as it is served in Nice, France— does not contain either green beans or potatoes. Hard boiled eggs are the only cooked ingredient. Since I live in Massachusetts, not France, I don't really care if my salad is authentic; I just want it to be good.

And it was good. In general, I followed Julia Child's recipe. Julia Child published her famous cookbook a few years before I got married, and it was one of the first cookbooks I bought. I also used to watch her on television and was mesmerized by her breezy manner, good cheer, and forceful delivery. Her recipes never failed me. Oddly enough, I have not watched a cooking show since that time. No other modern cook seems as entertaining.

While I was eating my salad, I realized that many of the same ingredients (anchovies, black olives, fresh tomatoes, olive oil) go into pasta puttanesca, which I first tried cooking a few months ago. Since I had never eaten it before, I don't know whether I was successful, but I sure enjoyed the results. I guess recipes are like anagrams; you can take a bunch of ingredients, rearrange them, and come up with something totally different.