56538 winter salad reduction Recipes

any liquid can be reduced just by heating it - but why would you want to do that, answer comes back to two of our old friends, flavor and consistency (texture)., by reducing any flavored liquid you intensify its flavor and at the same time thicken it. you can continue this process until what you have left is a syrup if it contains sugar, or a sauce if it does not., this is 1 of the most important tools in the kitchen , believe it or not, because a great sauce can rescue an indifferent meal., literally any liquid can be reduced ., a few uses, wine is frequently used in cooking , both as a marinade and as an addition to sauces for meat., there are some problems with it though, 1 of which is that you need a really good wine and quite a lot of it to produce a reasonable sauce for, say, six people., on the other hand , if you use pure grape juice and reduce it to a syrup, that syrup, added to any sauce (or gravy if you prefer) will lift it into the realms of gourmet ., more , you don tsp have to make your reduction on the night you prepare your meal. you can reduce a liter of grape juice at any time to the consistency and flavor you want; then just store it in the fridge., you can do the same thing with any fruit juice - prune is sensational - and store it until needed. just about all of them will do things for ice cream, pies or tarts that will have your guests demanding the recipe, pork with apple sauce use a carton of fresh apple juice from the supermarket and reduce it. and if you want a real sensation add in a glass of apple brandy during the reduction process., are you getting an idea of how simple this is, take any carton of fresh stock straight of the shelf and reduce it. you will transform it into something even the manufacturer won tsp recognize. but beware, you need to start out with good quality in the first place, because when you reduce a liquid you intensify all the flavors, and not just the good ones., if it s salty to start with, for example, it will be salty beyond belief by the time you ve reduced it even by half. so if you are going to use a supermarket stock, make sure it s an extremely good 1., believe me when i tell you that stock cubes should not be used for reduction sauces., thickeners, because you will be tasting as you go (won tsp you ), you may find that you get the flavor you want before the desired consistency is reached., a couple of hints right now for your sauces., sweet ones can be thickened successfully without loss of color by adding in liquid glucose early on in the reduction process. surprisingly, this will add little in the way of sweetness and produces a beautiful velvety sauce when whisked., if you get it wrong and add too much, no problem. stir in a little extra water to thin it., reduction pans, reductions need to happen rapidly in serving to preserve flavors. and the greater the surface area of the liquid the faster the water will evaporate., however you may want to whisk something into the sauce while its cooking - such as butter or olive oil for example - and for that i find a small wok is best; 1 with a handle., a wok is less likely to reduce so fast that the sauce is burnt while your back is turned. but try both methods and see which you prefer. you may even end up using something totally different., no magic to this. whatever works for you, that s what you should use, in this and everything else to do with cooking., just bear in mind that what you re after is speed and ease of use. as well as a great tasting result, of course. :>), keeping, if they should dry out , simply add a little water and heat through., sauces containing meat juices of any kind must be frozen if you re going to keep them, and should be brought to boiling point before being used again. there is no need to thaw them out to do this, in fact it s better not to. simply drop the frozen cubes into a saucepan, melt them over a gentle heat, and then bring swiftly to the boil., why do you do this to avoid food poisoning, that s why. you are making sure that any bugs introduced into the sauce during the preparation process are killed off., worry , this will not be because of anything you have done wrong (i hope!), but because bacteria are part of our everyday lives and they exist in every kitchen, however clean., in fact your food , and especially your meat, is crawling with wildlife that you will never see. don tsp worry about them. careful handling and simple precautions will ensure that these miniature monsters can never multiply enough to harm either you or your guests.

fresh baby spinach or 8 cups assorted torn greens, oranges or 3 tangerines, peeled seeded and sectioned, a small red onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings, dried cranberries, italian salad dressing or vinaigrette, sugar, pecan halves, sea salt

olive oil, asparagus spears, trimmed up to about 1-2 inches from top*(if asparagus is in season, you can trim lower, fresh baby spinach, fresh mushrooms, sliced, pine nuts, shredded parmesan , romano, or asiago(optional), tangerines , clementines or mandarins(juice and zest!), lemon, juiced, red wine vinegar, garlic, honey, fresh herb (depending on what you re serving with...can use tarragon, rosemary, thyme, dill, ect), quality salad oil (olive, or part olive and part canola, etc), kosher or sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, freeze bottoms of asparagus spears to use in stock! no waste.

dressing, dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, honey, olive oil, salt and freshly ground pepper, salad, head radicchio, cored and finely chopped, heads romaine lettuce, finely chopped, a couple grilled or cooked chicken breasts, diced into 1 in. pieces, apple (gala, fuji, or pink lady) peeled, cored, and diced into small pieces, dried cranberries, candied pecans or walnut, coarsely chopped, crumbled blue, feta , or garganzola cheese (which ever is your preference), fresly ground black pepper

fresh beets, mixed salad greens, navel oranges, peeled, quartered and sliced, fennel bulb, halved and thinly sliced, chopped hazelnuts, toasted, olive oil, orange juice, balsamic vinegar, grated orange peel, onion powder

chopped shallot, honey, fresh orange juice, sherry vinegar, salt, white pepper, extra-virgin olive oil, belgian endives , halved lengthwise, cored, and cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch-wide strips, red onion , halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise (1/2 cup), fennel bulb (sometimes called anise), stalks cut off and discarded and bulb cored and thinly sliced lengthwise (1/2 cup), celery root (sometimes called celeriac), cut into 1/8-inch-thick matchsticks (1/2 cup), granny smith apple, cored and cut into 1/8-inch-thick matchsticks (1/2 cup), mizuna or mustard greens (if using mustard greens, discard stems and tough center ribs and tear leaves into 2-inch pieces), firm aged goat cheese, shaved with a cheese plane or vegetable peeler (1/2 cup), white truffle oil

plain whole-milk yogurt, chopped fresh italian parsley, avocado oil or canola oil, fresh lemon juice, garlic clove, pressed, fine sea salt, coarsely chopped romaine lettuce (about 8 large leaves ), cubes peeled jicama, carrots, thinly sliced into rounds, avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, sliced, sliced celery, cubes peeled kohlrabi or peeled broccoli stems, canned garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained, halved pitted kalamata olives, sliced radishes, roasted sunflower seeds

head romaine lettuce , bite size pieces, swiss cheese, shredded, cashews, toasted, dried cranberries or 1/3 cup blueberries, red apple, not peeled, cubed, anjou pear, not peeled, cubed, sugar, dijon mustard, lemon juice, white onions, chopped, canola oil or 2/3 cup vegetable oil, poppy seed, salt

whole pecans, butter, light corn syrup, salt, walnut oil or 1/2 cup olive oil, cider vinegar, minced shallots, lemon juice, maple syrup, salt, fresh ground pepper, head red leaf lettuce, head bibb lettuce, watercress leaf, red delicious apples, lemon water or orange juice, for dipping apples, glazed pecans, blue cheese, crumbles, red onion, thinly sliced, dried cranberries

salad dressing, cold water, all purpose flour, soda, salt, white sugar, cocoa, vanilla

salad greens, veggies-broc , carrot , celery, etc chopped, mayonnaise, balsamic vinegar, orange juice, salt

pureed roasted winter squash (recipe follows) or 1 1/2 cups frozen pureed squash, poblano peppers, yellow cornmeal, frozen pineapple concentrate, thawed, butter, melted, ground cumin, dried oregano, salt (to taste), crumbled queso blanco or 1/2 cup grated monterey jack cheese, all-purpose flour, egg, lightly beaten, plain breadcrumbs, canola oil, reduced-fat sour cream or 1/4 cup low-fat plain yogurt

bacon , cut into 1-inch pieces, ripe tomatoes, diced, salad cucumber, diced, onion, chopped, extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, minced, dried parsley , or to taste, salt and ground black pepper to taste

hoisin sauce, distilled white vinegar, grapeseed oil or safflower oil, toasted sesame oil (such as asian ), mesclun, sliced water chestnuts, drained, red onion,thinly sliced

black radishes, sliced very thinly into half -rounds, apple , cut into small chunks, head of escarole, washed and broken into bite-sized pieces, sage vinaigrette

fennel bulbs (sometimes called anise), mustard seeds, cider vinegar, dijon mustard, olive oil, shallot, finely chopped, heads romaine (4 lb), torn into bite-size pieces, heads frisee (french curly endive; 1 lb), torn into bite-size pieces, belgian endives , cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-wide slices, fresh flat-leaf parsley

orange juice, balsamic vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil, oranges, grated orange peel, grated lime peel, fresh lime juice, ground black pepper, bay scallops, lightly packed) mixed bitter greens (such as escarole, radicchio, endive, and frisee), grape tomatoes, halved