My Garden Shed & Simple Greens with Lemon Vinaigrette

If I had to pick a favorite room (besides my kitchen) it would have to be my garden shed. It's not really a room at all, it's a, well, it's a shed. In my back yard and I love it. 

The best husband in the world built it for me. That's reason enough to love it. He built it for me. With his own hands. I painted it so it would bloom year round.  He spotted the pot hangers on a old barn he was driving past and stopped and bought some for me because he knew I'd like them. Hence the pots on the front.  House wrens make their home in the bird houses. I can see the shed from my kitchen window so I am always reminded of the flowers, vegetables and other plants that this shed helps bring forth every spring. 

From these double doors with a leaf shaped handle spring forth the hope and promise of red ripe tomatoes, purple sun warmed eggplants, crazy, boat sized zucchinis, crooked necked yellow squashes, cool green cucumbers, zesty mint, red, yellow, green and hot, hot, hot peppers, a menagerie of herbs, big outrageous orange pumpkins, ornamental gourds that will one day become bird houses, and anything else that the seed catalogs enticed me into spending hard cash on in late January. 

The shed houses all my garden stuff. Rakes and shovels, extra soaker hoses, a pitch fork that's about a 100 years old that TBHITW brought home one day. A small rototiller that I can handle on my own. Compost starter. Fencing, trellises, tomato cages waiting for their next plants to imprison. There are some empty pots waiting for flowers and seed trays sleeping until next year when I will sow a new crop of summer harvest dreams. There is garden twine and potting soil. But the best thing the shed houses is hope. 

Hope. Inside those double doors is the hope of future plants and the promise of plants now putting down their roots in fertile soil that I tended. Hope for vegetables fresh from the garden to the table. Flowers with blooms the size of dinner plates. Herbs that are so aromatic they make you want to cry for want of them. Life growing in front of my very eyes. 

That's why my garden shed is one of my favorite rooms. It offers me hope that all things can grow and prosper with a little nurturing. A garden, a family, a community, a world. 

Mixed Baby Greens with Lemon Vinaigrette ( the last of them from my spring garden) - serves 4 - this is the stuff of romance. 

6 cups mixed greens, washed and spun dry

Sauce Vinaigrette: 1 1/2 cups

The classic ratio for a basic vinaigrette is 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. This ratio can vary according to your taste.  Always taste your dressing with a bit of green.  

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup red or white wine vinegar

Juice of one lemon

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

2/3 cup tasteless salad oil (canola, safflower, corn - your preference)

Whisk together the mustard, salt, pepper, lemon juice and vinegar. Beat in the olive oil. Season to taste with more salt and pepper if necessary. Store in the refrigerator like any other "store" bought dressing.

Variations: (store for one week)

Garlic: crush and mix with the slat to make a paste and whisk in

Mustard: for extra zing in the salad blend 1 teaspoon or more to taste 

Fresh Herbs: Tarragon is especially nice. Chop or leave whole and mix with the salad as you toss it. 

Serve with a loaf of crusty bread, some soft, ripe cheese and a cool, crisp wine. Use the wine pairing tool on my blog, then fall in love while you're at it. 

All Kidding Aside - here are the sides!

Oh I just crack me up. Get it? Okay, maybe it's just me. 

As luck would have it I have contracted an ear infection just in time for my Women's Wine Weekend (notice there is no H in wine). And I can't even whine about it because no whining is in the WWW bylaws. Oh bother. I am on antibiotics and motrin and will soldier on, but curses to these allergies of mine - every spring it seems....

I'm making two side dishes with the beef tenderloin on Saturday night. Crisp New Potatoes with herbs and roasted sticky carrots. I'm also going to make an herb butter for the hot ciabatta rolls I'll be serving with dinner. So, all kidding aside, here are the sides:

Crisp New Potatoes: (serves 4)

One small bag (about 1 pound) small creamery new potatoes (you can also use baby red skinned or fingerlings)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 sprigs fresh rosemary OR thyme, stripped and chopped.

1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

Kosher or Sea Salt

Fresh Ground Pepper

Wash and pierce potatoes. Starting with COLD, salted water, cook for about 10 minutes until just soft enough to pierce (we're going to cook them some more - so don't cook them all the way).

Drain, let dry naturally.

Melt butter in large saute pan. Add oil and heat to medium high. Add potatoes. Salt & Pepper to taste. Cook potatoes until they begin to crisp and brown, turning to brown all sides. Add rosemary (or thyme) stir one more minute. Place on platter, drizzle oil/butter combo over and sprinkle handful of fresh parsley over. 

Roasted Sticky Carrots: (serves 4)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

16 carrots (about 2 pounds) select thin, rather than big carrots. If more than 1/2 inch in diameter, split in half.

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme, stripped and chopped

2 tablespoons honey

Peel carrots, wash and dry.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in oven proof casserole or rimmed cookie sheet. Add oil. Add carrots and roll around to coat. Sprinkle with ginger and thyme. Roast for 20 to 30 minutes until soft and slightly carmelized. Roll carrots about halfway through. When easily pierced with a fork, drizzle carrots with 2 tablespoons honey. Roast for 5 more minutes. 

These carrots go great with pork, beef and chicken and kids LOVE them! 

Herb Butter:

There is no end to the variations of herbed butters you can make. Always, always, start with unsalted butter, it has a more pure taste and you can always add salt to your liking!  

I make my butter and keep it in a little butter jar in my fridge.  You an also roll it into a log in plastic wrap and then slice it. It keeps for as long as, well, butter - but don't plan on having it around long, it just won't last. 

Try these:

Zest of one lemon, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley. Great with fish and chicken

Herbs de Provence - perfect with meat dishes

thyme and sea salt - chicken, fish

rosemary and sea salt - chicken, fish, beef, lamb

honey - on toast with tea

Use your imagine. Any herb or flavor you are using in your cooking you can mirror in the butter. What a nice surprise for your family; warm bread from the oven and a lightly flavored butter to spread on it. Put it on the table before dinner to give them a little taste of what's to come. 

Two Days To WWW - and Tenderloin

These are the women of WWW. Women's Wine Weekend (notice there is no H in Wine).

That's me, the first on the right

It's two days until we convene and commence to, well, whatever we want.

Today I am going to buy the beef tenderloin and this is how I'm going to make it for WWW Saturday Dinner:

Roasted Beef Tenderloin with Rosemary, Chocolate and Wine Sauce

1 (2 to 5 pound) beef tenderloin
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 teaspoons olive oil
½ cup chopped shallots
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups dry red wine plus more for drinking (duh)
2 cups beef broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Tenderloin:

Take meat out of refrigerator 1 hour before roasting. Season meat with salt and pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Add meat and sear until well browned on all sides.

Transfer the meat to a rack set on a baking sheet. Roast until desired doneness (140 – medium rare, 150 – medium). Take meat out of oven 6 degrees below desired temperature. Tent. Residual cooking will bring to desired temperature. Let rest AT LEAST 15 minutes before carving.

Sauce:

Heat remaining 2 teaspoons of oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the shallots, carrot and celery and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, cook for 2 more minutes. Add the wine and broth and stir in tomato paste, bay leaf, rosemary and thyme. Bring to a boil. Reduce and simmer until reduced by half (about 30 minutes) Strain through a fine mesh strainer. Discard solids. Return sauce to pan, whisk in cocoa. Season to taste with salt & pepper. Serve on the side with the sliced tenderloin.

Tomorrow: All the sides.

4 Days to WWW

I just realized it is only 4 days until WWW - that is Women's Wine Weekend. 

Women's Wine Weekend (notice there is no H in wine) consists of me and seven fabulous women friends all congregating at Marie's (one of the Fab 7's) weekend house in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. 

We do this twice a year - in the fall we go to Michele's farm in upstate New York. Spring finds us in Pennsylvania. 

I do look forward to these weekends. 

We, all eight of us, are from different, yet remarkably same, walks of life. There are singles, divorced, never marrieds, marrieds, childless, empty nesters, and children still at home among us. But we are the same in that we are women. And we are friends. 

WWW has all of us contributing to the welfare of the weekend. Welfare meaning food and drink. I am responsible for Saturday night dinner and you KNOW you will be seeing the recipes over the next few days. This is my menu:

Beef Tenderloin with Rosemary, red wine and chocolate sauce

Roast, crisp new potatoes with fresh herbs

Roast "sticky" carrots with honey and thyme

Fresh breads, herbed butter.

Many laughs

And of course all the wine we care to sip during the preparation, eating and clean up. Everyone pitches in and again, there is no H in wine. 

I have to get busy making my lists, shopping and preparing the best husband in the world for my departure. But I leave you with this little note about women that my dad sent me; I think it says it all as to why eight women, all different, are so alike:

One Flaw In Women 



Women have strengths that amaze men. 
They bear hardships and they carry burdens, 
but they hold happiness, love and joy. 



They smile when they want to scream. 

They sing when they want to cry.. 


They cry when they are happy 
and laugh when they are nervous. 


They fight for what they believe in. 


They stand up to injustice. 



They don't take "no" for an answer 
when they believe there is a better solution. 



They go without so their family can have. 


They go to the doctor with a frightened friend.   

They love unconditionally. 

They cry when their children excel 
and cheer when their friends get awards. 



They are happy when they hear about 
a birth or a wedding. 


Their hearts break when a friend dies. 


They grieve at the loss of a family member, 
yet they are strong when they 
think there is no strength left. 


They know that a hug and a kiss 
can heal a broken heart. 



Women come in all shapes, sizes and colors. 



They'll drive, fly, walk, run or e-mail (or blog) you 
to show how much they care about you. 



The heart of a woman is what 
makes the world keep turning.



They bring joy, hope and love. 


They have compassion and ideas.. 


They give moral support to their 
family and friends. 


Women have vital things to say 
and everything to give. 



HOWEVER, IF THERE IS ONE FLAW IN WOMEN, 
IT IS THAT THEY FORGET THEIR WORTH. 



Don't forget your worth. More tomorrow.

Boys, Mussels and Kettles

Children are amazing, aren't they? Their response to everything is so simple and pure. This is Shane, my 10 year old nephew, less than 24 hours after surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his side. 

My husband (the best husband in the world) asked him how he was feeling. A big two thumbs up is his reply. He is feeling strong. Which reminded me of muscles (mussels)

We don't have the results back from the biopsy yet so we don't know if this was stage 1,2,3 or 4 cancer and until then we won't know how the doctors want to proceed (radiation, chemo, combo of), but here he is, smiling his smile of life, feeling happy and strong. Now if that isn't a lesson for all of us, what is? The surgeon does feel that he was able to remove all of the tumor, that it had not spread to the bone or his abdominal cavity. Thank God and thank you for your prayers. 

Jim is still in Michigan. He will come home tomorrow. He called last night, feeling very lonely and sad. How can that be? He was with his entire family, sister, brothers, mom and dad and all the assorted nieces and nephews (the littles, as I call them) that come with them and everyone is feeling happy and strong. His reply was that being with them, made him lonely for me. They were complete, and he wasn't. This is one of the reasons he is the best husband in the world. 

I know how he feels. Yesterday, because I was lonely for him, I went to a beautiful place not far from our home. It is a low valley, cut out by a glacier thousands of years ago (I know this because the best husband in the world, who is a geologist, told me). It is called a glacial kettle. Over the years, one bulb at a time, thousands of daffodils have been planted here and, like daffodils do, they multiplied. Today, there are over 30,000 daffodils blooming in this kettle. 

It is a beautiful place and brought me much peace. This glacial kettle also reminded me of

a. my husband and 

b. a big black cast iron kettle I have. 

Which reminded me of this simple, yet satisfying meal:

Mussel Pot for Two:

3 pounds Prince Edward Island (or your favorite, such as green lip) mussels, scrubbed and debearded. Click together any open mussels, if they don't close, discard them.

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 shallot, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup white wine, such as Riesling (more for drinking with dinner)

1 small bunch fresh flat leaf parsley, rough chopped

1 loaf crusty, french bread

Melt the butter in a dutch oven or better yet, a cast iron kettle if you have one. Add the shallots and saute until soft (about 5 minutes).  Add the garlic and give it another minute. Add the wine and mussels, bring to a good simmer. Put a lid on it and cook for 5 to 8 minutes or until the mussels open. 

Throw a handful of chopped parsley in and stir. Discard any unopened mussels. Serve with crusty bread for dipping into the sauce and a good cold white wine. 

Enjoy and stay happy and strong no matter what life hands you. 

A Cooks Note:

You can substitute clams or large shrimp (in the shell) for the mussels. This is a great appetizer for 4 to 6 or a simple, light meal for two. Add a salad if you insist on greens.