Cantaloupe and Avocado Salad with Chili Dressing

This is a great seasonal salad for summer, and possibly for your Fourth of July festivities. It is not a red, white, and blue salad you typically see this time of year, but it packs a punch! This recipe is from my dear Mom, from a Colorado cookbook, and other than it is so flavorful, colorful, and seasonal—that is all I know about this recipe.

This recipe is so easy, and simple to make. The recipe calls for making the chili dressing ahead of time, and chilling it covered in the refrigerator. I make it a day ahead. You can also take liberty with the type of greens you use.

In California, cantaloupes are in season from May to November, and avocado peak season is April to August. Key to this recipe is having a beautiful, sweet, and room temperature ripe cantaloupe to slice. I recommend Reed avocados that are round like baseballs, creamy dreamy in taste, and don’t brown once exposed to air. You can find them at Farmers Markets, or you might be lucky and have a tree in your garden. Other ripe avocados can certainly be used, with a squeeze of lemon or lime over them before adding to the salad.

This is the best kind of salad because it has refreshing flavor, texture, presentation, sweetness, and spice all in one. The chili dressing will stand up to and complement barbeque flavors. The original recipe doesn’t call for it, but to further dress up this salad, you could add chopped, lightly toasted pistachios as a garnish. Avocados and pistachios are a particularly nice flavor combination.

Cantaloupe and Avocado Salad with Chili Dressing

Chili Dressing

1/4 cup prepared chili sauce

1/4 cup honey

3 tablespoons white wine or champagne vinegar

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons minced onion

1/2 cup canola oil

Fine sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste.

Salad

1 small head butterhead lettuce, torn

1 small head red leaf lettuce, torn

1/2 cup chopped celery (optional)

1 small ripe cantaloupe, sliced

1 large ripe avocado, sliced

Garnish option, 1/3 cup chopped, lightly toasted pistachios.

Directions:

For the dressing, combine the chili sauce, honey, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and onions in a bowl and mix well. Add the canola oil and whisk until blended. Add a pinch of fine sea salt and desired cracked pepper to taste. Chill, covered, in the refrigerator. Whisk before serving.

For the salad, toss the lettuce and celery in a large salad bowl. Add the desired amount of dressing and toss to coat lightly. Compose the cantaloupe and avocado slices on top of your salad greens. Drizzle desired chili dressing over cantaloupe and avocado slices. Sprinkle pistachios over the salad. Serves 6.

French Fabulous! We all know and love Ina Garten for her numerous cookbooks. Did you know she has playlists she shares too? I had no idea, until dear visiting family mentioned it! Search Spotify, Sonos, etc.

Ina Garten’s Trip to Paris

Ina’s Dance Party

Other Ina Garten genre playlists people have created:

Ina Gartens Cooking List

Ina Garten French Dinner Menu

Ina Garten’s Summer Playlist

Bon Appétit, Bon Weekend, et Bon Fourth of July….Bonnie

Baked Macadamia Nut Toffee Tart

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about harvesting and cracking macadamia nuts from our own trees. I also mentioned some of the recipes I was eager to make. This Macadamia Nut Toffee Tart is one of them. It hails from the Sun Valley restaurant, Vintage, Handcrafted Cuisine from a Sun Valley Favorite, 2006, by Jeff Keys.

Every recipe is absolutely marvelous, with a little story around it. The recipes in this book transport you to the rustic elegance of Sun Valley. If you are ever in the area, you must make plans to eat at Vintage. I confess, I have not been to the restaurant, nor Idaho, but I was compelled to read this cookbook cover to cover in one evening. Maybe someday I will make it to Idaho.

I love tarts. I think they are fun, elegant, and usually quite a dramatic way to end a great dinner. I was especially interested in putting my own macadamia nuts to the taste test. They delivered! This tart was very easy to make, and I like how the macadamia nuts and toffee marry well together. The recipe suggests serving it with a dollop of ice cream. I like how it calls for am 11-inch tart pan, because once you take a bite, it is hard to stop. Makes 8-10 servings.

Vintage’s Macadamia Nut Toffee Tart Recipe

Bon Appétit and Bon Weekend….Bonnie

One of My Favorite Photos With My Mom

This weekend is Mother’s Day, and a chance to celebrate “Mom” in your life, whether in person, via zoom, or in the spiritual sense. This year I am celebrating Mother’s Day with my Mom, and it is such a treat. So I raise a glass and toast to all the Mom’s, and you this weekend!

Here is a suggested Mother’s Day Brunch Menu I put together for you, surely to please all of those gathered for your Mother’s Day Celebration! The strata and crumb cake can be made a day ahead. Shop for your fresh fruit, juices, smoked salmon, cream cheese, balsamic glaze, and asparagus a few days before. Maybe someone in your crowd can run out for bagels Sunday morning, or for ease purchase them the day before.

“Mother’s Day Brunch Menu”

Goat Cheese, Artichoke and Smoked Ham Strata (Bon Appétit 1997)

Bagels and Smoked Salmon with Cream Cheese

Grilled or Roasted Asparagus with Balsamic Glaze

Fresh Seasonal Fruit Salad, Blood Orange Juice, or Tangerine Juice

Chocolate Banana Crumb Cake (Ina Garten’s cookbook, Make It Ahead 2014)

Champagne, Mimosas, or Sparkling Wine

French Roast Coffee

Mother’s Day Brunch Directions:

1) Put your pre-made strata in oven to bake for about an hour before serving.

2) Unwrap your room temperature cake and slice.

3) Wash, trim, and toss asparagus with a combination of a little extra virgin olive oil and fresh lemon juice to coat. Add a little sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Roast at 400 degrees F. for 25 minutes or grill until soft. Drizzle with Balsamic Glaze before serving.

4) Make your fresh fruit salad, or pour glasses of desired juice.

5) Have your coffee ready to go, and champagne or sparkling wine chilled.

Don’t forget to plan ahead for fresh flowers for the table, either from your garden, or your favorite local florist. Take lots of photos, embrace the moment, and the preciousness of this very special occasion.

Make Your Table Special for Mother’s Day

Bon Appétit, Bon Weekend, and Happy Mother’s Day! ….Bonnie

Cover of Miss Maggie’s Kitchen

Just when I think there couldn’t be another great French Country cookbook, I am introduced to, Miss Maggie’s Kitchen , by Héloïse Brion. I first learned about her and some of her recipes in an article in My French Country Home, March/April 2021 issue. It is another beautiful story about a very talented woman reinventing herself, and pursuing her dreams. After fifteen years in the fashion industry in France, Brion and her husband purchased an old hunting lodge in Normandy, calling it “Miss Maggie.” This beautiful property and home inspired her to pursue her passion for cooking, developing recipes, and self-publishing her recipe journals full time. Now, her first cookbook.

Wait, there is a bit more to the story, she grew up between two countries: the United States and France. She spent most of the year in Florida with her family and in school, and spent idyllic summers in the family’s old mountain farmhouse in the Pyrenees. Could you ask for anything more growing up? I do believe something magical happens when you are exposed to other cultures, foods, people, and landscapes other than your native land. So, yes, her cookbook, recipes and social media are effortlessly published in English as well as French. Yes, there is a bit of “Ying” and “Yang” to her cooking and relaxing style which must come from the best of both her worlds.

Héloïse Brion’s style is relaxed, and comes from the heart. She cooks seasonally, which I absolutely love, and encourages you upfront to make substitutions for ingredients in her recipes, which I also love. See the Winter Salad recipe below.

Miss Maggie’s Kitchen Tasty Winter Salad

The first time I made and tasted this Winter Salad, there was an explosion of flavors and textures which were so delightful. I think sautéing fresh shallots with a pinch of fleur de sel, and then adding pecan and almond pieces to toast is genius. Further adding sliced pears and burrata cheese is heaven. I did substitute right off the bat, baby spinach for mâche and radicchio for red endives. Mâche, also called Lamb’s Lettuce or Corn Salad, is a small annual plant, with a nutty flavor, dark green, and served as salad greens. I think next year I will grow it, as I couldn’t find it at our Farmers Markets or grocery stores in the produce section.

As we move more into spring now, I will continue to make this salad, and substitute seasonal spring ingredients. I have made this salad with goat cheese which is also very tasty. Enjoy!

Winter Salad

Lovingly Adapted from Héloïse Brion, Miss Maggie’s Kitchen

Published in My French Country Home magazine, March/April 2021

Serves 4, Preparation time 10 minutes, Cooking time 10 minutes

Ingredients:

5 cups mâche or other salad green

2 red endives

2 pears

1 burrata cheese

1 handful of pecan pieces

1 handful of sliced almonds

2 shallots

Olive oil

1 organic lemon

1 tablespoon honey

Salt & pepper

Directions:

1) Peel and thinly slice the shallots. Place 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan and sauté the shallots with a pinch of fleur de sel. Place the pecans and almonds in the pan with the shallots over low heat for a few minutes.

2) Cut the endives and rinse with the mâche or your substitute salad greens. Drain, dry and arrange them on a dish. Place the shallot-nut mixture on top.

3) Slice the pears, cut the burrata into pieces and add both to the arrangement. In a small bowl, mix the juice of a lemon with the honey.

4) Season with pepper and salt to taste, sprinkling over the salad. Serve immediately.

Bon Appétit and Bon Weekend….Bonnie

Fava Beans in the Potager

Fava Beans are a great spring vegetable, also called a Broad Bean, and somewhat like a Lima Bean. I grow my fava beans from seed each year, because you usually don’t see them in the market. It is best to start them in the fall, and come March or so, you are rewarded with these beautiful bean pods.

Fava beans are great in a spring pasta with lemon zest, spring soups, and even as a puree. I share with you one of my favorite ways to use fava beans in this Moroccan-style appetizer, Warm Fava Bean Hummus recipe, from Bon Appétit.

Warm Fava Bean Hummus

Lovingly Adapted from Chef Rafih Benjelloun

Makes about 5 cups

Ingredients:

1 pound shelled fresh fava beans

3-1/2 cups water

7 tablespoons olive oil, divided

6 large garlic cloves, peeled

5 teaspoons ground cumin, divided

1 teaspoon (or more salt)

2 teaspoons Hungarian sweet paprika

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Warm naan or pita breads for serving

Directions:

Add 3-1/2 cups water, 4 tablespoons oil, garlic, and 3 teaspoons cumin. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer uncovered 20 minutes. Mix in 1 teaspoon salt. Continue to simmer until beans are tender and soft, stirring occasionally, about 50 minutes longer. Drain and puree in a food processor until it becomes a smooth hummus texture. Season with more salt and pepper, if desired.

Spoon puree into a shallow serving bowl. Mix paprika and two teaspoons cumin in a small dish; sprinkle over puree mixture. Drizzle with lemon juice, then remaining 3 tablespoons oil, if desired. Serve puree with warm naan or pita breads.

Recipe Notes: Puree can be made 1 day ahead. Transfer to microwave-safe bowl. Cool, cover, and chill. Rewarm in 2 minute intervals in microwave, stirring often, before serving.

More Related Posts from My Blog:

Fab Fava Beans

Do You Grow Fava Beans

Summer Berry Tart Before Demerara Finishing Sugar

I have made a lot of tart recipes in my time, some simple, some complicated. This recipe from Alice Medrich printed in the Wall Street Journal, Summer 2020, is the easiest and tastiest sweet tart dough recipe you will ever need. No cooling the dough or rolling out the dough. It is the best. Use your favorite tart filling, but keep this tart dough recipe in your recipe arsenal.

Easy No-Roll Tart Crust

This smart recipe from Alice Medrich produces the easiest, most delicious tart crust you will ever make. Press it into a tart pan with a removable bottom for a tidy crust with beautifully fluted sides, or push it into a pie plate for a more homespun look. Either way, this crust is remarkably good for something so simple to prepare: buttery, intensely crunchy and deeply flavorful. This immensely accommodating recipe works with either granulated or brown sugar; the latter just gives the crust slightly more complex caramelized taste.

TOTAL TIME: 40 minutes

MAKES: Makes 1 (9½-inch) tart crust or (9-inch) pie crust

KATE SEARS FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, FOOD STYLING BY LIZA JERNOW

Ingredients

• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

• ¼ cup granulated sugar or brown sugar

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• ¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.

2. In a medium bowl, combine butter, sugar, salt and vanilla. Add flour and mix just until well blended. If the dough seems too soft, let it stand a few minutes to firm up.

3. Press dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of a 91/2 -inch tart pan with a removable bottom or a 9-inch pie plate to make a thin, even layer. Press dough squarely into corners of pan to avoid extra-thick edges. If using a pie plate, press crust up the sides but not over the rim. (Crust can be prepared 2-3 days ahead to this point, wrapped and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before baking.)

4. Place pan on a baking sheet. Bake until the crust is fully golden brown all over, 20-25 minutes. If the crust puffs up during baking, gently press it down with the back of a fork and prick it a few times. Set pan on a rack to cool. (Once crust is completely cool, it can be kept at room temperature, wrapped airtight, at least 3 days.)

—Adapted from “Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts” by Alice Medrich

Below is the filling recipe that went along with the above Easy No Roll Tart Crust by Alice Medrich, which is also fantastic. I have made it with strawberries, but also many other fresh fruits. In winter months you could do a lemon curd or chocolate filling without the mascarpone base. Enjoy!

Simplest Strawberry Tart

This is the simplest tart you’ll ever make, and it’s a stunner. Fill a baked crust with sweetened mascarpone and top with the ripest strawberries you can find. Other berries will work, too; so will halved fresh figs. Sprinkle it with Demerara sugar for seasoning and crunch. That’s it.

TOTAL TIME: 50 minutes

MAKES: 1 (9½-inch) tart

KATE SEARS FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, FOOD STYLING BY LIZA JERNOW

Ingredients

• 1 Easy No-Roll Tart Crust (recipe above), baked in a 9½ -inch tart pan with a removable bottom and left in pan after baking

• 1 cup (8 ounces) mascarpone

• 4 teaspoons granulated sugar

• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• 2 teaspoons unsalted butter, very soft, for sog-proofing (optional)

• 2 pints ripe strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and halved if large, and patted dry

• 2 tablespoons Demerara sugar

Directions

1. In a small bowl, mix mascarpone with 4 teaspoons sugar and vanilla.

2. If you will not be serving the tart within 3-4 hours, sog-proof the crust by spreading the bottom with the thinnest-possible layer of soft butter. Chill crust to set butter, 10-15 minutes, before adding mascarpone mixture.

3. Spread mascarpone evenly over crust. Begin arranging berries, as close together as possible, around edges of tart and work toward the middle. Remove tart from pan and transfer to a platter. Refrigerate unless serving within 2 hours. Before serving, sprinkle with Demerara sugar. Tart is best on the first day but still very good on day two.

—Adapted from “Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts” by Alice Medrich

Do you have a favorite “go to” tart recipe? If you make this tart recipe, and like it. Let me hear from you!

Bon Appétit and Bon Weekend….Bonnie

Elegant Hummingbird Cake

This is not a French dessert, but one that originates in this country. It is an elegant fruit cake with a decadent cream cheese frosting. I don’t know the specific origin of this recipe, only that my parents shared it with me years ago from their Missouri area. I can easily imagine this as a featured recipe out of Southern Living magazine. See recipe below.

I think of it as a carrot cake, without any carrots. It is super moist and delightful with combined flavors of crushed pineapple, bananas, and applesauce. The cream cream frosting is a nice yummy addition, and covers the cake nicely. Everyone asks for the recipe!

Recipe Notes: I have made this cake frequently over the years, for birthdays, teas, and special occasions. I now prefer to do a three-layer 8” cake, rather than the two-layer 9” cake, but both work fine. I also freeze ripe bananas and keep them in the freezer, and allow time to let them thaw before making the cake. So chopped bananas work well, or mashed bananas thawed from the freezer. I also don’t always use chopped nuts in the cake, or for garnish on the top. It is your preference. Enjoy!

A Slice of Celebration Heaven

Hummingbird Cake

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups sugar

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. cinnamon

1-8oz. can crushed pineapple—juice packed, drained

½ cup canola oil

4 eggs slightly beaten

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup chopped bananas

1 cup chunky-style applesauce

2/3 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

Directions:

Grease and lightly flour two 9” round cake pans. Place a circular parchment paper fitting each pan on top of greased and floured cake pans for ease of removing baked cakes. Set pans aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add drained pineapple, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Stir in bananas, applesauce, and walnuts. Divide batter between two prepared pans.

Bake in 350 degree F. oven about 35 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly touched. Cool cake layers on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, cool thoroughly on wire racks. Prepare the Cream Cheese Frosting and frost cake.

Cream Cheese Frosting

In a large mixing bowl, beat one 8oz. package cream cheese (softened), ½ cup butter (softened), and 1 tsp. vanilla with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add 5 cups of sifted powdered sugar, beating until smooth and spread consistency.

Ice cake in one direction, trying not to get cake crumbs in the icing. Ice top of first layer of cake, add second cake layer, finish icing cake top and sides.

Press 1-1/2 cups finely chopped pecans, toasted into the sides of the cake. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of finely chopped pecans on top of the cake. (I usually just cover the top of cake with toasted pecans, and not the sides.) Enjoy!!

Do you have a favorite cake or dessert you make for your special celebrations? For more dessert recipes and related dessert posts from my blog, please go to dessert recipes. If you make this Hummingbird Cake recipe, please leave a comment, or tag me on Instagram. I love to hear from you!

Bon Weekend…..Bonnie

A Table Set for Valentine’s Celebration

A few years ago I hosted some events around Valentine’s Day. I tried to create a special menu with the theme, “Love is Endlessly Delicious.” Many things I remember with fondness, but what I now associate Valentine’s Day with is Ina Garten’s Dark Chocolate Terrine with Orange Sauce the recipe I made for dessert. Wow, it is a show stopper!

This recipe is from Ina Garten Make it Ahead (2014) cookbook, which is one of my favorite cookbooks. The terrine can be prepared and made ahead, along with the orange sauce. Not a chocolate mousse, not a cake, it is like a decadent chocolate pâté. Garten channels two similar recipes, one from Thomas Keller’s French Laundry and the second, from the famous Taillevent restaurant in Paris, plus adding her Barefoot Contessa spin on it. Marvelous! It is a perfect dessert to celebrate Valentine’s Day!

Making the Dark Chocolate Terrine

Recipe Notes: Use the best chocolate you can find. Garten recommends Lindt bittersweet chocolate. I used Guittard bittersweet chocolate found at Sprouts, Cardiff Seaside Market, and other specialty grocery stores in our immediate area. Valrhona bittersweet chocolate is another great choice.

The dark chocolate terrine needs to chill for a minimum of 4 hours or overnight. Don’t forget the Orange Sauce made with a touch of Grand Marnier liqueur and cognac, which is a perfect complement to the flavor and presentation of the dark chocolate terrine. Lastly, sprinkle with some flaky sea salt. A hot, dry knife helps to make your slices easier. Run your knife over hot water, dry, and slice, repeat if necessary. Recipe makes 10 servings, perfect for sharing with loved ones.

Please share if you make something special for your loved ones on Valentine’s Day!