Caesar Salad With Shitake Mushrooms and Friday’s Favorites!

29.06.2012 Helene Dujardin (Senior Editor) 15 Comments

This is the time of year when my family would usually travel a few hours to settle in the Alps for the summer and enjoy cooler temperatures and lots of hiking in the gorgeous of Les Alpes De Haute Provence.

These days, everytime I look at our pine trees and feel a whiff of a cool breeze, I just can’t help but smile wide and feel energized. I think about all the wonderful picnics, lunches on the graveled terrace and lots of hours spend at the community pool.

It was a time to spend with my mother hovering over her cooking magazine and cookbooks and pick dishes we would do together or techniques she thought I was ready for. This was my kind of summer school. We’d bookmark recipes, crafts, articles, discoveries.

Like many of you I use Pinterest, notepads, bookmarks, and lots of other devices to keep track of my favorite links. I have enjoyed doing a little round up last week and from the feedback I got, you guys enjoyed it too so I have decided to make this a weekly thing.

So…here what caught my eye this past week. Have a wonderful weekend!

~ This travel post on Helsinki by Pure Vegetarian by Lakshmi
~ Roasted Strawberry Ice Cream on Bliss With Tina Jeffers.
~ Roasted Baby Artichokes from Nicole Franzen at la Buena Vida.
~ Super refreshing Grapefruit, Fennel and Grilled Shrimp Salad by Camille Styles.
~ My life motto: The Holstee Manisfesto.
~ Sour Cherry Cooler by The Best Remedy.
~ I don’t wear lots of jewelry, but I’d wear anything my friend Angela makes, at Angela Hall Designs.
~ And because I have been drooling over it all week, this Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Pie, by my favorite food stylist and friend, Tami at Running With Tweezers.

– I am also adding one of my favorite salad this week, a Caesar Salad and Shitake Mushroom Salad I shot for Food & Wine Magazine. Recipe after the jump.

Caesar Salad With Shitake Mushrooms, with permission of Food & Wine Magazine:

Serves 4

Ingredients:
8 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup cubed gluten free baguette (or your favorite bread, gluten free or not) (1-inch cubes)
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon cooking oil
3/4 pound shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, caps sliced
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 hard-cooked eggs
3 tablespoons wine vinegar
2 1/2 teaspoons anchovy paste (or 2 anchovies, mashed with a fork)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
2 small heads romaine lettuce (about 1 pound each), cut crosswise into 1/2-inch strips

Directions:
– In a large nonstick frying pan, heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil over moderate heat. Add the cubed bread, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and stir to coat the bread with the oil. Sauté the bread until crisp and lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in half the garlic. Transfer to a large salad bowl.
– In the same pan, heat the cooking oil over moderately high heat. Add the mushrooms, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms are tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Add half the remaining garlic and the parsley and cook, stirring, for 1 minute longer. Add the mushrooms to the croutons.
– Put the eggs, vinegar, anchovy paste, and the remaining garlic, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 5 tablespoons olive oil in a blender or food processor and whir until smooth. Add the lettuce to the mushrooms and croutons, sprinkle with Parmesan, and then add the dressing. Toss to coat.