running with tweezers

an ode to flavor - and a book giveaway!

This week marks the birthday of something pretty important to me. No...it's not a relationship...or a pet. It's a book. It's the volume in my (ridiculous) cookbook collection I turn to most - The Flavor Bible. The brainchild of Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg, it's the definitive text on combining flavors. Any time I'm presented with a random ingredient in a CSA or I'm stumped as to how to pair items I have left in the house, I turn to The Flavor Bible. It's an incredible work - a wonderful mix of recipes, quotes and palate information.

As a thank you for being a rabid fan of The Flavor Bible, they've sent me a copy of it's cookbook soul-mate - What to Drink With What You Eat. Only having had it a few days, I've started perusing it and taking it all in. This book covers ground that likely befuddles many home cooks - the tricky waters of pairing food and wine. Karen and Andrew have applied the same philosophies as shown in the The Flavor Bible to making those pairings - lists by food and the most complimentary wines and then vice versa. What should you cook to drink with that leftover bottle of Torrentes that someone brought to a party? It's in there. 

I feel so strongly that everyone should have a copy of The Flavor Bible that, as a way of celebrating it's birthday, I'm giving away a copy of to one of my readers. To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling me about your favorite flavors. One winner (U.S. residents only, please) will be randomly drawn on the book's birthday - Thursday, September 16th  2010- and will be sent a copy. Please leave one comment per person - multiple entries will be deleted. Make sure when you leave a comment that you include an email address either in your log-in or the comment itself - I have to be able to get in touch with you somehow! :) Good luck, everyone!

UPDATE: This giveaway is closed - a winner was drawn at 5:30 PM on Thursday. Congrats to Brooke from Shutterboo for winning...and thanks to everyone else for taking part.

Cooking From The Farmers' Market - Celery, Parsley & Prosciutto Salad

I've had all three recipes for this week's Cooking From The Farmers' Market planned out for a week. As I said in my post yesterday, picking just a few of them was a tall task. I'd even gone so far as to photograph and beginning writing out the post for today's recipe choice...and then I went and confused myself. Flipping through the cookbook yesterday, I saw this and realized I had everything to make it for lunch - a bit of prosciutto left from one recipe, most of a fennel bulb from something I'm posting next week. It ended up being a great way to use up ingredients I had around the house...except for flat leaf parsley, which was missing. This "salad" is so delicious that I changed up my plans and am posting about it instead. So, please excuse that this is a bit of a "hail mary" blog post - do include the parsley when you make this because I'm sure it can only enhance an already amazing dish. 

To me, this recipe is as much an "antipasto" as it is a salad. The combination of textures in this is so wonderful, my taste buds totally ignored the fact that it included celery, which I am finally learning to enjoy. Adding the mint and the lemon just accentuates the freshness here - I threw on some fennel fronds for another layer of texture and color and substituted the spring onions for chives. I can't wait to make this on a big platter (or one of those dark slate serving boards - that would be stunning!) for a summertime party with some crusty bread to make this a light, no-cook meal.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the final of three recipes I'm sharing this week from Williams-Sonoma's Cooking From The Farmers' Market, which you can buy here.

Celery, Prosciutto, and Parsley Salad - makes 6 servings

• 6 stalks celery, thinly sliced on the diagonal
• 1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced, preferably on a mandoline
• 4 green spring onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal (I substituted 2-3 tablespoons fresh snipped chives)
  
• 1 cup fresh flat leaf parsley leaves
• 1/4 cup small fresh mint leaves
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, or to taste
• 6 thin slices prosciutto
• Shaved hard sheep's milk cheese such as Pecorino-Romano

- Put the celery, fennel, green onions, parsley, and mint in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with the olive oil and the 2 tablespoons lemon juice and toss gently. Season with more salt and pepper, if desired. Place the prosciutto on a platter and top with the fennel mixture. Garnish with the shaved cheese and serve at once.

Cooking From The Farmers' Market - Butter Lettuce with Mustard Vinaigrette

A few weeks ago, the folks at Williams-Sonoma were kind enough to send me a couple of their newest cookbooks to preview. All of them were wonderful - you would expect nothing less from WS. I kept going back to one title in particular, Cooking from the Farmers' Market. It's stunning and extremely well organized. Beautiful images divided into category of type of produce with tons of information about seasonality and varieties of each. I asked if I could share a few recipes with my readers and they've been kind enough to let me, so I'll be posting some of my favorites on the blog all this week. I tell you...choosing just a few to preview with you was a tough choice.

As you can see from the other posts on this blog, I'm a fan of salads. I don't think I've met one I don't like. While it's easy to pile on ingredients and make a show-stopping salad, mastering a perfect simple salad is something every cook needs to know how to do. I love this recipe because it champions just a few ingredients and focuses on great quality - you can't get away with sub-par butter lettuce when it's the only green in the salad.

This recipe also makes a wonderfully flavorful make-it-yourself dressing. I whip together my own dressings all the time and the difference in taste is striking. Once you get in the habit of doing it, you won't bother with a fridge door full of half-used bottles. The tang of the mustard, the herby brightness of the tarragon and the silky texture of the butter lettuce is sublime - gorgeous on it's own but would be an amazing accompaniment to a perfectly roasted chicken.

Stay tuned this week for two other recipes from Cooking From The Farmers' Market, new from Williams-Sonoma. You can get more information about the book, as well as purchase your own copy, here.

Butter Lettuce with Mustard Vinaigrette - makes 4 to 6 servings 

• 2 heads butter lettuce
• 3 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• salt and fresh ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian (flat-lead) parsley

- Separate the lettuce leaves. Tear the largest outer leaves in half, leaving the smaller leaves whole. Wash, rinse, and dry.

- In a large salad bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, and salt and pepper to taste to make a dressing. Add the lettuce, chives, tarragon, and parsley and toss well. Serve immediately.

and the winner is...

Wow! Judging by the number of people who entered this contest, the world is even more obsessed with chocolate than I even realized! Thanks to everyone who took part!

The winner of the copy of Max Brenner's "Chocolate: A Love Story" - chosen by Random Number Generator and not a white fuzzy paw pointing at a comment on the screen - was comment #16, which was posted by Anne from Anne's Food. She said:

"Oh, It's hard to say just one thing, since chocolate is so wonderful, but I think my absolute super-indulgence is chocolate mousse. I make it with a dark, but not bitter, chocolate, and it's sinfully good."

I will be contacting you via the email you provided here in your comment. Congrats!