RECIPE: REC: Belgian Endive and Apple Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette

RECIPE:
B

barbara-in-va

Well-known member
This is from Cooking Light. I was appointed the task of Christmas Eve dinner and this salad was part of the menu. It was just great. I loved the sweet apple and cranberries along with the peppery radicchio and salty cheese. I always have spicy pecans on hand and used them instead of the walnuts outlined in the recipe.

Belgian Endive and Apple Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette

Make vinaigrette, toast nuts, and prepare greens up to two days in advance. Substitute walnut or olive oil if hazelnut oil isn't available. To reduce prep time, you can use bagged Italian blend greens.

Ingredients

Vinaigrette:

1 cup cranberry juice cocktail

3/4 cup sweetened dried cranberries

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

3 tablespoons finely chopped shallots

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tablespoon hazelnut oil

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Salad:

3 tablespoons chopped walnuts

2 teaspoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon butter, melted

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 cups torn radicchio

3 cups baby spinach

1/4 cup (1 ounce) Stilton cheese, crumbled

2 Fuji apples, thinly sliced (about 1 pound)

2 heads Belgian endive, cut lengthwise into strips

Preparation

To prepare vinaigrette, combine juice and cranberries in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 10 minutes or until most of liquid evaporates. Remove from heat; stir in vinegar, shallots, and garlic. Drizzle oil into pan, stirring with a whisk until blended. Stir in salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cool vinaigrette to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare salad, combine walnuts and next 5 ingredients (through 1/8 teaspoon pepper); toss well. Spread on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 5 minutes or until toasted.

Combine radicchio and remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Add vinaigrette and walnuts; toss well.

Yield

6 servings (serving size: 2 1/3 cups)

Nutritional Information

CALORIES 205(31% from fat); FAT 7.1g (sat 1.6g,mono 2.4g,poly 2.2g); PROTEIN 2.9g; CHOLESTEROL 7mg; CALCIUM 64mg; SODIUM 158mg; FIBER 6.4g; IRON 1.2mg; CARBOHYDRATE 36.8g

Jennifer Martinkus , Cooking Light, JANUARY 2006

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1141997

 
REC: White Chocolate Trifle

For Christmas dinner I made the trifle on the cover of the Dec Bon Appetit issue. It was fantastic and not hard at all. I made the pears and mousse early in the day and assembled before dinner. We were at dear SILs and she didn't have a pastry bag so we served the whipped cream on the side. Two small tweaks I would recommend - as suggested in some of the reviews - reduce the pear syrup a bit, there is a lot of it and it is a shame to waste any of it. And, for the holidays I would sprinkle in some red raspberries around the edges to break up the whiteness of the trifle. I definitely recommend trying this.


White Chocolate Trifle

To show off the layers, use a 12-cup trifle dish, a footed glass bowl measuring about 8 inches across and 5 inches deep.

Servings: Makes 10 to 12 servings

Ingredients
Spiced Pears:
1 750-ml bottle dry white wine
2 cups pear juice or pear nectar
1 1/4 cups sugar
12 whole green cardamom pods, crushed in resealable plastic bag with mallet
4 1-inch-diameter rounds peeled fresh ginger (each about 1/8 inch thick)
2 cinnamon sticks, broken in half
5 large firm but ripe Anjou pears (3 to 31/4 pounds), peeled

White Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse:
7 ounces high-quality white chocolate (such as Lindt or Perugina), finely chopped
1/3 cup poire Williams (clear pear brandy)
1/4 cup water
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 8- to 8.8-ounce container mascarpone cheese*
1 cup chilled heavy whipping cream

Trifle Assembly:
3 3-ounce packages soft ladyfingers,** separated
2 cups chilled heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup minced crystallized ginger
White chocolate curls
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
Preparation
For spiced pears:
Combine first 6 ingredients in large saucepan. Stir over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves. Add pears and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and simmer until pears are just tender when pierced with knife, about 35 minutes. Transfer liquid with pears to large bowl and refrigerate until cold, about 3 hours.

Using slotted spoon, transfer pears to plate. Boil poaching liquid in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat until slightly thickened and reduced to generous 1 1/2 cups, about 15 minutes. Strain into 2-cup measuring cup; discard spices in strainer. Cool. Cover and chill pears and pear syrup until cold.

For mousse:
Combine white chocolate, pear brandy, and 1/4 cup water in top of double boiler set over simmering water. Stir until smooth (mixture will be very liquidy). Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; discard bean. Transfer white chocolate mixture to large bowl; gradually add mascarpone, whisking until mixture is smooth. Cool mascarpone mixture until barely lukewarm.

Using electric mixer, beat 1 cup cream in medium bowl until peaks form. Fold whipped cream into mascarpone mixture in 4 additions. Cover and chill white chocolate mousse until set, about 3 hours. DO AHEAD: Pears and mousse can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.

For trifle assembly:
Cut pears lengthwise in half and remove cores and stems; cut halves lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices.

Arrange ladyfingers, rounded sides down, in single layer in bottom of 12-cup trifle dish (about 8 inches in diameter and 5 inches deep), covering bottom completely (using about 15 ladyfingers). Drizzle 5 tablespoons pear syrup evenly over ladyfingers. Using small offset spatula, spread 1/3 of white chocolate mousse over ladyfingers, making layer slightly thicker around outer edges of dish to allow mousse to be more visible (center of mousse layer will be thin). Starting at outer edges of dish, place pear slices in single layer with curved edges against sides of dish atop mousse, covering completely. Repeat layering of ladyfingers, syrup, mousse, and pears 2 more times. Cover with fourth layer of ladyfingers (some ladyfingers and pear slices may be left over). Drizzle ladyfingers evenly with 5 tablespoons syrup. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate trifle and remaining pear syrup separately.

Using electric mixer, beat 2 cups whipping cream in large bowl until soft peaks form. Add 1/4 cup pear syrup and beat until stiff peaks form. Working in batches, transfer cream to large pastry bag fitted with large star tip. Pipe rosettes all over top of trifle, mounding slightly in center. Sprinkle with crystallized ginger. Garnish with chocolate curls. DO AHEAD: Can be made 6 hours ahead. Keep refrigerated.

Sift powdered sugar over trifle just before serving.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/240701

 
Hi Curious, thanks for asking! It was wonderful! DH dutifully pounded it

to the recommended 1/2" thickness. We then lined it with pancetta, topped with Italian bread crumbs and grated on some Parmesan cheese. Rolled it up, tied it and browned it. Next it was doused with a good heaping helping of tomato sauce I made earlier, covered and roasted for a bit over an hour. It melted in your mouth! It was so easy to make I will definitely make it again and try some different stuffings too. Everyone enjoyed it, even those who thought they wouldn't care for it!

 
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