Tuesday, April 27, 2010

smoked salmon strata & warm radiccio salad

Supper this evening didn't start out to be a blog-worthy affair.  In fact, I made the stratta last night because I knew that I'd be tired after a particularly busy day at work.  The salad took no more than 5 or 10 minutes to prepare and voila!  One of the tastiest suppers of the month.  The strata was smooth and satisfying with just a hint of richness from the cream cheese and eggs, while the salad combined flavours and textures of all types:  bitter and bright, crunchy and smooth.  Both went down easily.

The photos, as you can see, were an after-thought.  My husband waited patiently to clean up the scraps while I dashed off to find the camera.

Warm Radiccio Salad

1 head of radiccio, finely chopped
about 15 or 20 red grapes, halved
a handful of raisins
a handful of cashews, chopped
a sliver of blue cheese, crumbled

Set a small frying pan with some olive oil over medium heat while you chop the radiccio and half the grapes.  Throw in everything but the cheese and saute for about 5 minutes until the radiccio is tender and  a little wilted.  Stir in the cheese at the last minute and serve warm.

Smoked Salmon and Leek Strata

a day-old baquette, sliced on the diagonal
cream cheese
200 g lox
2 leeks, sliced and washed
4 eggs
1 cup of milk
about a Tbsp of dijon mustard
about a Tbsp of dried dill
salt and pepper

Start by sauteing the leeks with a little oil until the wilt.

Meanwhile, slice the bread and spread each slice with cream cheese.  Top every other slice with lox and leeks.  Salt and pepper.  Top with another slice of bread to make little sandwhiches.  Arrange the sandwhiches in a casserole dish.  (We're just two people, so I use two small casseroles and freeze one.  I also like to stand the sandwhiches up on end so I can see hints of the salmon and leeks; it's pretty).

Whisk together the eggs, milk, dijon mustard and dill.  Season with salt and pepper.  Pour the egg mixture over the sandwhiches. At this point you can cover the strata and refrigerate overnight, or just bake it.

Bake, uncovered, for 35 minutes at 350 degrees.

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1 comment:

  1. oh, yummy. I'll have to try that radiccio salad.

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