It’ s all about the dressing

One of my favorite restaurants in Sarasota is Columbia’s Restaurant on St. Armands Key. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Sarasota, St. Armands Key is known for the circle. The Key is known world wide for the round-about and very fancy stores and restaurants. As a kid it was one of the places that I would go, pressing my nose up to the windows of the fancy clothing shops and drooling past the fancy restaurants.

The first "real" restaurant I went to was Columbia’s on the circle, and the rich spicy spanish flavor of the authentic Columbian food always brings me back to my first "fancy" dining experience.

One of the Columbia’s signature dishes is The 1905 Salad. It’s a salad made with iceburg lettuce, sliced ham, sliced swiss cheese, ripe tomatoes and spanish olive. Sounds like a pretty average salad doesn’t it?

Well it’s all about the dressing. A friend of mine found the recipe a few years ago in the newspaper and passed it along to me. For the longest time I thought she left something out because I could never get it to taste quite as good as the restaurants. The answer is in the lemon juice. The recipe calls for the juice of one lemon, but it depends on how much juice is in the lemon. It also breaks all the ratio rules of oil to vinegar but it is Columbian after all.

This has become my go to salad. I make it all the time and often make it with mixed spring greens or just baby spinach leaves. I make it for picniks and potlucks instead of macaroni or potato salad and everyone always wants the recipe.

Columbia’s 1905 Salad

Dressing:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon worchestershire sauce
the juice of 1 lemon (about 1 tablespoon)
2 tablespoons fresh minced garlic

Salad:
1 head iceburg lettuce (or 2 bags mixed spring greens)
1/4 cup grated parmesean cheese
1/4 lb. Sliced smoked ham
1/4 lb. Sliced swiss cheese
8 ounces ripe cherry tomatoes
4 ounces spanish pimento stuffed olives

Mix all dressing ingredients together in a small jar with a tight fitting lid. Shake well and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. (Dressing is better if made the night before).

Shred the lettuce and add to a large salad bowl. Add the parmesean cheese and toss to coat the lettuce. Add the remaining ingredients and the dressing and toss to coat. Serve with a loaf of crusty bread. Enjoy!!

Panchetta Wrapped Baked Potato Sticks

Last week on The Next Food Network Star one of the contestants made a bacon wrapped potato wedge with a honey scallion sauce. The judges raved over it saying that it could be his "signature" dish.

It looked really, really good on TV, so I thought I would try my own version. I used russet potatoes that I partially cooked in the microwave. I cut the potatoes into small bite size pieces and wrapped them with small pieces of panchetta and fresh ground black pepper, put them on a baking sheet and baked them at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes.

The result was really good, but I’m going to make a few changes next time. I think I would like to try to marinate the partially cooked potatoes in some sort of vinegar dressing, them wrap in the panchetta.

The idea is to have a Warm German Potato Salad Stick. I think it will make a great starter or side dish for pork chops or steak.

Fettuccini Alfredo with Pan Seared Mushrooms

This is the dish that my husband used to win my heart. When we first met, a group of us would go to a small restaurant on Siesta Key that had a great late night bar menu. One of my favorite dishes was the grouper alfredo. Two of my favorite things, fresh Florida Grouper and Creamy Fettuccini Alfredo.

The combination of the Flaky fish and sharp parmesean cream sauce was really good. Since it was a bar menu, the serving size was smaller than a dinner serving but I thought it was just the right size. I got to know my future husband at those outings, talking and joking with a group of people we became really great friends.

He always bragged about his alfredo sauce, and how much everyone liked it. His version was made with pan seared scallops, (still my favorite), but over the years he has developed an allergy to shell fish, so the only time I get scallops is when we go out for dinner. Now he makes it with pan seared mushrooms and broccoli, and the alfredo is still the best I have ever had!

So here it is, the dish that won me over:

Fettuccini Alfredo with Pan Seared Mushrooms

1 pound mixed mushrooms, sliced
3 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 Fettuccini nests
1 stick salted butter
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup grated parmesean cheese

Heat a 12 inch non stick skillet to medium high. Add the olive oil and mushrooms. Saute 10 to 15 minutes or until mushrooms are carmelized.

Meanwhile, melt the butter into the cream over low heat stirring frequently.

Cook the Fettuccini nests according to package directions, drain well and return the pot to low heat. Pour the butter and cream mixture over the pasta, toss to coat. Mix in the mushrooms. Add the parmesean a little at a time until the sauce becomes thick and creamy.

Make Ahead Breakfast Cookies

Need something quick for those busy mornings? Grab one of these delicious breakfast cookies as you are going out the door and you’ll have a great start to your day!

I’m always looking for nutritious things to feed my husband and since he has a legendary sweet tooth, it’s a challenge to put "good for you stuff in him". He would have chocolate cake for breakfast if I let him. His rationale is that it has all the things people normally have for breakfast, Eggs, Flour (bread), Milk, but it is wrapped up in a convenient package.

One of his favorite cookies is oatmeal raisin, so I started experimenting with the dough. I love carrot cake so I thought I would try to incorporate those flavors. I added shredded carrots, cranberries (cause they are a super food), and the beer is a nod to my Irish Grandmother who thought that a little nip in the morning never hurt any one and the only beer worth drinking was Guinness Stout.

These cookies have become one of my favorite things to keep around. Not only are they good for breakfast, they are also good for lunch, or for that much needed 3:00 boost, or for an after dinner desert, or a midnight snack.

They are also great to pack in school lunches. We even put them in our backpacks and take them fly fishing with us. When the fish aren’t biting we snack on the cookies.

Carrot Cranberry Oatmeal Stout Cookies

1-1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 cups Rolled Oats
1 cup shredded carrots

3/4 cup dried cranberries

1/2 pound unsalted butter

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tablespoon molasses

3 tablespoons Guinness Stout

1 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Stir in oatmeal, carrots and cranberries. Set aside.

In work bowl of an electric mixer cream the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Blend in egg, molasses, Guinness Stout, and almond extract. Add dry ingredients, a little at a time, until well combined. Do not over mix.

Drop rounded spoonfuls onto parchment lined cookie sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 9-11 minutes or until done. Let cool for 2 minutes then carefully remove to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

Makes 24 cookies

Frost On Sister!!

My niece and her friends just finished a Wilton cake decorating class at our local Michaels Craft Store. She sent me some pictures of her "final" exam, so I thought I would post them on the Saucy Bird. I think that the cakes came out really good. I know she had a great time with her friends and they had some really good cake to take to her office.

Frost On Sisters!!!

Rum Raisin Glazed Carrots

I love carrots! Raw, shredded, cooked, any way you can think to cook them I’ll eat them. I always have fresh carrots on hand and make them at least 3 times a week.

Think about how great the carrots cooked in the juice of a pot roast taste. Or how about the cool crispy sweetness of a shredded carrot raisin salad?

This is my idea of a shredded carrot raisin salad. It has all of the elements of that great summer time salad, but I added my own little twist. By adding dark rum and the zing of soy and ginger, I came up with this delicious asian style side dish. It's perfect for a quick weeknight side and it's a good way to get some extra fruit into your diet. Serve it over rice with chicken or pork, everyone will love it!

Rum Raisin Glazed Carrots

1 pound fresh carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch coins
1 cup raisins
1 8 ounce can pineapple tidbits
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons dark rum
1 tablespoon grated ginger

In a medium saucepan on medium heat add the carrots, raisins and the pineapple (including juice). Cover and let steam about 10 minutes or until the carrots are just beginning to soften. Add a little more water if necessary. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Return the pan to medium heat and add the soy sauce, honey, rum and ginger. Bring to a boil and cook until thick and bubbly. Return the carrot mixture to the pan and cook until carrots are done. Enjoy!

TASTY TAKEALONGS!!

I'm always looking for something different to take when we go over to our friends house for dinner. We always need something to snack on before dinner is ready and we usually have the same old stuff. You know what I mean, like crostini, chips and salsa, maybe even some sort of cheese and fruit platter. Those things are all really good but they don't really generate any

excitement for me any more.

When we were invited over to our friends house last weekend, I started trying to think of something I could bring that would be a little different. Well, I rummaged through the pantry and found a box of Jiffy cornbread mix, (my personal favorite). Eveyone likes cornbread, but we are all so used to eating it as a side dish I thought I could use it to try a new appetizer.
I used the mix and put it in mini muffin pans, topped it with Birds Eye Mexicali Corn mix, some Cheddar Jack cheese, Salsa and fresh Cilantro and--------Wala!!!

Mini Nacho Cornbread Cups

1 box Jiffy Cornbread Mix
1 egg
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 cup Birds Eye Miexicali Corn
1 cup shredded Cheddar Jack cheese
Your favorite Salsa
Fresh Chopped Cilantro

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray mini muffin tins with nonstick spray.

In a medium bowl mix together, Cornbread mix, egg and buttermilk. Using 2 teaspoons, place about 1 teaspoon cornbread mix into the bottom of muffin tin. Top with a rounded teaspoon corn and a rounded teaspoon cheese.

Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove and top with a small amount of your favorite salsa and garnish with fresh cilantro.

Makes about 30 mini naco cornbread cups.