Here’s a great salad that is perfect for the holidays and winter months: mixed greens tossed with chicken, candied pecans, dried cranberries, crisp apple, tangy blue cheese and a honey-dijon vinaigrette. It’s beautiful, festive and delicious!

For the greens, I used a bag of mixed baby spring greens that included romaine, oak leaf, chard, arugula, frisee and radicchio, and half of a bag of mixed greens that included chopped butter lettuce and radicchio. Also, I didn’t chop the lettuce leaves because I was in a hurry. Next time, I’ll do the chopped version. I found candied pecans at Trader Joe’s. Enjoy!

Winter Chopped Salad
-recipe from Seriously Simple Holidays by Diane Rossen Worthington

Serves 6 as a first course or 8 as a main course (I think it really serves much more than that!)

Dressing:
1 Tablespoon dijon mustard
3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon honey
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Salad:
1 head radicchio, cored and finely chopped (the red lettuce)
2 heads romaine lettuce, light green and white leaves only, finely chopped
1 1/4 pounds cooked chicken breasts, skin & bones removed and cut into 1-inch dice (about 3 cups)
1 Fuji, Gala, or Pink Lady apple, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup candied pecans or walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 cup crumbled blue or fresh goat cheese
Freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Make the dressing: in a small bowl, whisk together the mustard, vinegar, honey, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Place the radicchio, romaine, chicken, apple, cranberries, nuts and cheese in a large salad bowl.

Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat. Sprinkle with pepper (if desired) and serve.

Advance preparation:
Make the dressing up to 2 days ahead, cover, and keep at room temperature. Whisk well before using. Make the salad up to 4 hours ahead, cover, and refrigerate. Toss with dressing right before serving.

The Clever Cook Could:
* Substitute 3 cups diced cooked turkey for the chicken
* Add 6 strips of bacon, fried until crisp and crumbled.
* Omit the chicken and serve the salad as a first course
* If you’re not a fan of chopped salad, tear the leaves into bite-size pieces instead of finely chopping them.

I’m linked to:
Delicious Dishes,
Home for the Holidays,

Tags: apple, blue cheese, candied pecans, candied walnuts, dried cranberries, mixed baby greens, radicchio, romaine, vinaigrette, winter chopped salad

Since we’re smack dab in the middle of Grilling Season, I thought I’d post a tip I found on the Williams-Sonoma website for using certain types of wood chips and/or herbs to add a nice smokey flavor to grilled foods. Many grocery stores, cooking  supply stores and hardware stores sell different types of wood chips for the grill. Obviously, don’t use any kind of chemically-treated wood that isn’t meant to be used for cooking purposes. Now get out there and fire up that grill!!!

Flavorful Grilling
-Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Grilling by Denis Kelly, Melanie Barnard, Barbara Grunes & Michael McLaughlin

Some grilling purists object to propane or natural gas for grilling because it does not impart the same distinctive smoke flavor to food that charcoal does. You can add a smoky flavor when using a gas grill by pouring wood chips or herbs into the smoker box (or make your own smoker by wrapping woods chips and herbs in heavy-duty aluminum foil and piercing the foil before placing the packet inside your grill).

Hardwoods are available as chunks or chips. Wood chips light quickly and burn easily; they are the best choice for home grilling, working well for both charcoal and gas grills. The most common hardwoods for grilling and smoking have flavors ranging from intense and wood flavored (hickory, mesquite, oak and pecan) to moderate and fruity (apple, cherry and plum) to mild (alder). Resinous soft woods, such as those from the pine family, should not be used to flavor grilled foods; they add an undesirable piney, sooty flavor to foods, and they could damage and/or discolor the grill.

For a charcoal grill, soak wood chips, herbs or grapevine cuttings in water for 30 minutes, then drain before using. If using aromatics in a gas grill, do not soak them before use, as they are sometimes difficult to ignite. Scatter aromatic herb sprigs or grapevine cuttings directly over the coals of a charcoal grill. For a gas grill, place the flavoring materials in a smoker box or perforated foil packet, and place it over a heat element to ignite, releasing their aromatic smoke.

Before using any wood chips, herb sprigs, grapevine cuttings or similar materials, consult the owner’s manual for your grill for specific instructions on flavoring food.

Wood and Herb Flavoring
Choose aromatic additions to enhance food in the same way that you choose spices or herbs while cooking.

Alder – Alder wood chips work well for salmon and other fish and light meats.

Apple – Apple wood chips enhance chicken and game birds, pork, salmon, sweet glazes and fruit sauces.

Cherry – Fruity cherry wood chips, like apple wood, complement poultry and seafood.

Hickory – Hickory wood chips give a slightly nutty flavor to pork, chicken and turkey.

Mesquite – The fragrant hardwood most frequently used for grilling, mesquite wood is an essential component to grilled beef fajitas and also adds flavor to fish, chicken, turkey and pork.

Oak – Oak chips complement pork and beef.

Pecan – Similar to hickory, pecan wood chips pair well with chicken and pork.

Dried Basil Stems – Infuse a wide variety of foods with the sweet herbal scent of dried basil stems.

Dried Rosemary Sprigs - Use dried rosemary sprigs to impart a pleasantly woodsy flavor to beef, lamb, pork, chicken, and meaty fish fillets or steaks.

Mixed Herbs – Mixed herbs create fragrant smoke that suits a wide variety of foods; dried mixed herbs are sometimes sold in tea-bag-type packets.

Grapevine Cuttings – A by-product of wine making, grapevine cuttings add fruity flavor to grilled beef, lamb, chicken and fish.

I’m linked to:
Tuesdays at the Table
Tasty Tuesday
Delicious Dishes
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Tuesday Tastes

Tags: alder, apple, cherry, grapevine cuttings, Grilling/BBQ, hardwood, hickory, mesquite, oak, pecan, rosemary sprigs, smoking, wood chips

This is a simple dessert that anyone can make. Basically, it’s flaky puff pastry squares filled with homemade applesauce. The applesauce is good as is but I wanted to bump up the flavor a bit so I added about 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla, adding it to the applesauce after it was finished cooking. I used Trader Joe’s Frozen Puff Pastry and didn’t bother rolling it out, although I’ll probably do that next time to get a thinner pastry and bigger squares. I had enough leftover applesauce to make at least 4-6 more turnovers. I sprinkled each turnover with Wilton Sparkling Sugar, a larger-grained sugar that adds a nice crunch to the pastry. These turnovers are best the day they’re made when the pastry is crisp (they still taste good on Day 2 but the pastry is softer). These are good served as is or warmed a bit and served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream drizzled with caramel sauce.

French Apple Turnovers (Chaussons Aux Pommes)
- recipe from Bon Appétit Magazine – epicurious.com

All-butter puff pastry is available at some specialty foods stores. Yield: Makes 8 turnovers. 

Filling:
3/4 pound Granny Smith apples
3/4 pound Golden Delicious apples
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Pastry:
1 14- to 16-ounce package all-butter frozen puff pastry (1 or 2 sheets, depending on brand), thawed
1 egg, beaten to blend (for glaze)
Superfine sugar (optional)

For filling: Peel, core, and cut apples into 1-inch pieces (about 4 cups). Place apples in medium saucepan; add 1/4 cup water, 3 tablespoons sugar, and lemon juice. Bring to boil, stirring occasionally until sugar dissolves. Cover; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until apples are very tender, stirring frequently, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat. Gently mash apples with fork or potato masher until mixture is very soft but still chunky. Cool completely. DO AHEAD: Filling can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.

Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 400°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

For pastry: If using 14-ounce package (1 sheet), roll out pastry on lightly floured surface to 15-inch square. If using 16-ounce package (2 sheets), stack sheets together and roll out on lightly floured surface to 15-inch square. Cut pastry into nine 5-inch squares. Place 1 generous tablespoon filling in center of each of 8 squares (reserve remaining square for another use). Lightly brush edges of 1 pastry with beaten egg. Fold half of pastry square over filling, forming triangle. Press and pinch pastry edges with fingertips to seal tightly. Lightly brush pastry with beaten egg. Sprinkle lightly with superfine sugar, if desired. Repeat with remaining squares. Using thin, sharp knife, make 3 small slits on top of each triangle to allow steam to escape. Place triangles on prepared baking sheets. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.

Bake turnovers until beginning to color, about 15 minutes. Reverse baking sheets from top to bottom. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F; continue baking until turnovers are firm and golden, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Cool at least 15 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Tags: apple, Baking, Dessert, puff pastry, quick, turnovers