A Favorite Salad

What makes a meal memorable? Sometimes it is an unexpected combination of the ingredients, and other times it is the company or the setting that ignite our senses in a way that leaves a lasting impression. Can a simple salad be one of those memorable meals? Totally. I first made this salad a couple of years ago for a small dinner party I hosted around my birthday. Looking back at that day, I can certainly say it was one of the more memorable meals in my life, and the salad with burrata cheese, tangerines, shallots, and watercress was the unrivaled star of the show. I’ve made it many time since then, and so did a few other guests. It has made many an appearance at potlucks. On this very blog it was discovered by strangers who have since become dear friends. On a personal level, it gave me confidence to launch a cookbook club, Cookbook-ish (now in its second year), for which this particular meal was a test run. It also helped me keep one of my perennial New Year’s resolutions: to spend more time in the kitchen, try new recipes and techniques, and invite friends over for dinner more often.

The recipe for the salad and the entire meal came from Alison Roman’s book DINING IN. Seeing all the gorgeous winter citrus at the farmer’s market this morning and remembering this birthday dinner made me share this recipe with you again. I hope you give it a go. Who knows–maybe it will move the mountains, or at the very least create a memorable meal for you as well.

Above: I painted our dinner menus by hand with watercolor ink and used a sprig of wax flower to pin down the sides of the menus. With each guest’s name on the outside, the manes doubled as place cards. Linen napkins in Heather Gray complement the neutral table setting.

Burrata with Tangerines, Shallots, and Watercress,
Alison Roman, DINING IN

Ingredients:

1 shallot, thinly sliced into rings
1 table spoon fresh lemon juice
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 8oz ball burrata
3 tangerines, peeled and sliced 1/2" thick
3 cups small spicy greens (watercress, mizuna, arugula)
Olive oil
Flaky sea salt

Preparation: 

1. Toss the shallots with lemon juice in small bowl and season with kosher salt and pepper
2. Tear, slice, or cut burrata into pieces and arrange them on the serving platter.  
3. Scatter the tangerine slices around burrata
4. Combine the shallots and spicy greens, and season with salt and pepper.  Toss and scatter around the burrata mixture.  
5. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt.

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About Cookbook-ish: 

Cookbook-ish is a book club and a community of like-minded foodies and creative people in my hometown. I curate the book selection and ask everyone to choose 2-3 recipes they'd like to make. I then come up with a cohesive menu based on everyone's selections. We cook at home and bring our respective dishes to share in a potluck-style meal. Not in Santa Barbara? You can still participate by following @foldsantabarbara on Instagram, cooking and tagging your posts with #cookbookish_sb. 

FROM THE SHOP:

Celebrating Summer: Five Tips for Easy, Low-Stress Hosting

Summer offers a lot to be excited about: longer days, sunshine, more time outdoors. What I love most about this time of the year is that your dining space naturally increases and spills out to the porch or back yard. Even beyond that, you can easily have a simple gathering at the park or on the beach. Other seasons are rife with religious holidays and rivaling family traditions that can shape both the menu and the mood (or keep you from having a casual get-together because there are just too many obligatory ones), but summer is not one of them. What I enjoy about summer parties is that they are more relaxed, casual, and inherently more fun. You can throw together a shareable dish, have some chilled wine on hand, and somehow you know everyone will have a good time. A recent FOLD cookbook club gathering captured the feeling of outdoor summer parties perfectly.

Photography: Lerina Winter. Event concept, linens, select tabletop items and styling: FOLD. A complete list of resources and credits is at the end of the post.

Above: table is set for a potluck lunch with the menu composed entirely of recipes from Near and Far by Heidi Swanson.

Here are my takeaways for hosting a no-fuss summer gathering, including a recipe for my favorite dish—the Strawberry Salad.

1. Forgo floral arrangements in favor of loosely hung vines, dry herbs, and foraged stems.

Above: strands of foraged jasmine vines are entwined with the outdoor lights; a single Queen Anne’s Lace and tiny succulent pots adorn the table setting.

2. Instead of designated place settings, have stacks of plates, napkins, cups and utensils available on the table. It can be fun to see which items the guests will gravitate to from a variety of mismatched dishes and glassware.

Above: vintage IKAT textile used as a partial tablecloth along with linen napkins in Red Poppy (both in the shop) and khadi cotton napkins in Blue Daisy (rental collection only).

3. If serving anything in addition to wine and beer, don’t try to make individual cocktails. Instead, opt for pre-made batch cocktails, tonics, or juice to avoid working too hard when guests arrive. This gorgeous and tasty Vin de Pamplemousse from the cookbook Near and Far by Heidi Swanson is made forty days in advance.

Above: chilled beverages in vintage containers; FOLD linen napkin in Nordic Stripe; calligraphy envelope signage by Susan Silverberg.

4. Choose food that can be enjoyed over a longer period of time. Worrying about meat or fish getting cold or dairy spoiling quickly can make it stressful for the host and cause the guests to feel rushed. Vegetarian dishes that can be enjoyed cold or at room temperature work really well. This kind of a menu invites your guests to stay longer and enjoy the food throughout the party rather than in an incremental format based on courses.

Above: having food signs next to each dish makes it easier for the guests to serve themselves rather than asking the host about each dish (especially for those with dietary restrictions).

5. Don’t be shy about mixing indoor and outdoor tables, seating, and textiles. If you don’t have one large table, consider placing a large piece of wood on top of two smaller side tables or using a sturdy coffee table as the base.

Above: the hosts used a piece of acacia wood from Elan Event Rentals, but a piece of plywood or several wood planks from the hardware store could work just as well.

STRAWBERRY SALAD*

Ingredients

1.5 lbs / 680 g strawberries (about 2 baskets)
3/4 teaspoon caraway seeds, lightly toasted
1.5 tablespoons natural cane sugar or brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup / 1.5 oz / 45 g sliced almonds, toasted
Zest of 1 lemon

Preparation

Pick over the berries well, discarding any that are off. Brush away any dirt or debris with a damp cloth. Core and slice into quarters before placing in a large serving bowl.

Use a mortar and pestle to bruise the caraway seeds. Add the sugar and salt and grind a bit more to work the caraway into the sugar. Add the olive oil and stir to combine. If there is room in your mortar, use a spoon to stir in the almonds and lemon zest. If not, transfer to another bowl to combine.

Just before serving, pour most of the almond mixture over the berries. As gently as you can, mix together, folding and jostling the bowl to coat the strawberries. Do one last fold, top with the remaining nut mixture, and serve.

*Recipe reprinted with permission by the author from Near and Far. Copyright © 2015 by Heidi Swanson. All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York. www.tenspeedpress.com

Above: party favors featuring dry edible flowers ground up with peppercorns—Flower Pepper from Near and Far. Label design by Irene Hoffman; handmade leather tray by hostess Lea Worob.

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About Cookbook-ish: 

Cookbook-ish is a book club and a community of like-minded foodies and creative people in my hometown. I curate the book selection and ask everyone to choose 2-3 recipes they'd like to make. I then come up with a cohesive menu based on everyone's selections. We cook at home and bring our respective dishes to share in a potluck-style meal. Our next book is Sweet Laurel by Laurel Gallucci and Claire Thomas. Not in Santa Barbara? You can still participate by cooking and tagging your posts with #cookbookish_sb. 

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RESOURCES & CREATIVE CONTRIBUTIONS

Photography: Lerina Winter

Floral design: Margaret Joan Florals

Ottomans and Table Top: Elan Event Rentals

Caligraphy (envelopes with names of dishes): Susan Silverberg

Graphic Design (Party Favors Jar Label): Irene Hoffman

IN THE SHOP:

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Spring Forward: a Luncheon Inspired by the Season

When it comes to hosting, I use the seasons as my inspiration for planning the menu as well as setting the table. Where I live, the transitions between the seasons are ever so subtle and, if you blink once, you might miss them. This means you have to look harder to find the faintest signs of seasonal change, but it makes for a fun exercise of the senses. I find that if you can slow down, look up and around you, then grab onto what you see and magnify it in your home or on the table—that’s where the magic happens.

While it was still February at the time of planning this luncheon, the first signs of spring were starting to pop up everywhere—branches began budding, birds chirped restlessly each morning, and lush, green patches of grass started to replace what once lay dry and dormant. We received a significant amount of rainfall this winter, and I wanted to encapsulate that fresh, light and airy feeling you get after the rain while drawing from the general ideas of renewal, awakening, and a fresh start that are often associated with spring.

The occasion was the first Cookbook-ish gathering of the year (you can see last year’s round-up here). As is always the case, the cookbook as well as the location of our gathering influenced my styling direction, including the choice of linens and other tabletop items. I knew I couldn’t go wrong with a cookbook that had the word “salad” in its title for a spring-inspired gathering. But there is more to it: Salad for President by Julia Sherman, much like her eponymous blog, is a compilation of recipes inspired by the artists whose photos and interviews are included in the book. The location of our gathering was a small art gallery space within Santa Barbara’s SBCAST. Featuring the work of four emerging Santa Barbara artists, the gallery exhibition, curated by LUM Art Zine, went hand in hand with the concept of the book. By keeping both the gallery backdrop and seasonal inspiration in mind, I was able to create an experience that in itself served as a blank canvas for the shared meal, each dish being a piece of art on the table. Read on for inspiration and resources.

All photography, event concept and styling: Viktoriya Filippova for FOLD

Above: painting by Madeleine Ignon; SBCAST gallery

Another source of inspiration was the seeming contradiction of nature’s work this time of the year. On the one hand, it is delicate in its overall expression; on the other, it is powerful and unstoppable in its force. Choosing materials and textures of dramatically different properties and assigned values helped carry this concept out in the table setting.

Above: disposable cups and plates alongside vintage silverware; linen napkins from FOLD against cotton canvas drop cloth from the hardware store

Above: artist Ellen Altfest’s Very Green Salad; buffet-style table next to another Ignon painting

Above: Heirloom Tomato Salad with Cornmeal Croutons

Above: Baked Goat Cheese with Lettuces

Above: Cookbook-ish guests enjoying food and conversation; a coffee nook featuring a juxtaposition of elements: hand-thrown ceramic pitcher / disposable cups / FOLD signature linen cloth / paper flower next to live branches

Above: not your average deviled eggs (Sherman’s recipe calls for squid ink and salmon roe); radishes topped with miso ghee and black sesame seeds

Above: tahini, sea salt, dates, aka my new favorite dessert

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About Cookbook-ish: 

Cookbook-ish is a book club and a community of like-minded foodies and creative people in my hometown. I curate the book selection and ask everyone to choose 2-3 recipes they'd like to make. I then come up with a cohesive menu based on everyone's selections. We cook at home and bring our respective dishes to share in a potluck-style meal. Next month's book is Near and Far by Heidi Swanson. Not in Santa Barbara? You can still participate by cooking and tagging your posts with #cookbookish_sb. 

RESOURCES

In the shop:

Taking it Outside, Potluck Style

In my hometown of Santa Barbara we are spoiled with beautiful weather pretty much all year long.  With the exception of a few months when the temps fall below or rise about 70℉, most people (including me) really enjoy bringing a picnic to the beach or to one of the many parks.

Looking ahead to long summer days and inspired by my favorite new outdoor cookbook, Feast by Firelight by Emma Frisch, I decided to host last month's Cookbook-Ish gathering outdoors.  For those who are hearing about Cookbook-Ish for the first time, it is a passion project and a book club for foodies that I started this year (more here). 

A friend and a creative collaborator, Margaret Lloyd of Margaret Joan Florals, hosted our group in her back yard surrounded by huge trees and her perfectly imperfect garden.  She also created all the floral and foliage arrangements for the event.  And while there was no crackling campfire or marshmallows, the setting truly captured the spirit of the book.  The tables and benches provided by All Heart Rentals couldn't have been more perfect.  Read below for a favorite recipe from the menu and highlights of this no-fuss outdoor gathering that's full of intention and communal spirit.  

All photos are taken by me unless otherwise noted. 

Table Setting

Picnics and camping require a lot of packing, which often translates into taking the easy route and bringing disposable plates and napkins.  As an alternative I chose all the lightweight, non-breakable and reusable materials I could find.  Black and white plaid linen napkins completed the look.  An assortment of blankets and throws lined the benches, and some were available to the guests to use in the evening (April is still a bit chilly here).  

The Feast by Firelight Menu:

Aperitif
Strawberry Campari Sangria Spritz

Appetizers
Smokey Baba Ghanoush
Pan Con Tomate

Main Course
Lemon and Parsley Potato Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing
Chile-Lime Festival Corn with Feta Cheese and Cilantro
Raw Kale Caesar Salad
Foil-Packed Salmon with Lemon, Thyme, and Blueberry, and a version with Sunflower Seed and Basil Pesto 

Dessert
Ayla's Lemon-Olive Oil Thumbprints
Coffee

We enjoyed wine recommendations by Hana-Lee Sedgwick of Wander & Wine: Rosé, Pinot Grigio, California Chardonnay, light Pinot Noir.

Above two images by Robin Deem, caligirlcooking.com

One of my all-time favorite foods to eat outside happens to be corn on the cob.  I can easily put away two ears in no time. So, it was no surprise that my husband and I chose to make the Chile-Lime Festival Corn with Feta Cheese and Cilantro. And as a staunch "butter-and-salt" only person, I am converted to this magic concoction that's spicy, tangy, and really satisfying.  Like many recipes from the cookbook, this one allows for the sauce to be made ahead of time and easily transported to your campsite or the picnic table.  Here is the recipe, which I've already made once again. 

Chile-Lime Festival Corn with Feta Cheese and Cilantro*

INGREDIENTS:

1 lime
3⁄4 cup finely crumbled feta
1⁄2 cup plain yogurt
1⁄4 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
6 ears corn, shucked
Olive oil for drizzling (optional)
1⁄4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

prep: About 5 minutes
cook: About 8 minutes
yield: 6 servings

PREP:

Finely grate the zest of the lime and set aside. Cut the lime into wedges and juice as many wedges as you need to yield 1 teaspoon lime juice.

In a lidded jar or airtight container, combine the feta, yogurt, mayonnaise, red pepper flakes, lime zest, and lime juice and stir to mix. Seal the jar and then chill for up to 3 days. Pack the remaining lime wedges in a ziplock bag and chill for up to 3 days.

Fire the grill or campfire to medium-high heat and position the grill grate 2 to 4 inches above the coals. Place the ears of corn over direct heat and, using tongs, rotate every 2 to 3 minutes until the ears are uniformly charred and the kernels bright yellow, 10 to 12 minutes. For a darker char, drizzle olive oil over the corn so it drips onto thecoals and the flames jump up to lick the corn.

Transfer the corn to a serving plate or baking sheet. Shake the feta mixture to reincorporate and then spread evenly over each ear of corn and sprinkle with the cilantro.

*(Recipe reprinted with permission from Feast by Firelight, text copyright © 2008 by Emma Frisch. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.)

The meal was a combination of family style and buffet, with some menu items grilled on the spot and others made at home and brought to the gathering.  

When the sun set, the guests were enjoying the cookies, coffee, conversation, and a combination of candle light, moon light and solar light.  A friend and I joked that the #feastbyfirelight turned into the #feastbysolarlight with the LED lanterns from Solight that she discovered at the Santa Barbara Earth Day festival the weekend prior to our dinner.  

As a party favor, everyone took home a smudgestick of fresh sage, lavender, and reship berries, made by Margaret.  Once dried, it can be burned at home to release the fragrant scent that would hopefully remind us of our time together. Let the feast by firelight continue!

Interested in joining the Cookbook-Ish community?  Reach out via the "Contact" tab at the top of the page, and be sure to sign up for the News and Updates!

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Resources

From the Shop:

Elsewhere: 

Blankets: Drishti Yoga 
Reusable bamboo and corn pastel drinking cups: Zuperzozial
Solar Lights: Solight Design

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A Cookbook-ish Birthday

It was the beginning of the year, and the air was filled with New Year's resolutions.  But, since "resolutions" has become somewhat of a dirty word, I will use "intentions" and "goals" as its euphemisms from now on. One of my personal goals was to spend more time in the kitchen, invite friends over for dinner more often, and to connect with other creatives in my town beyond the social media.

I also wanted to get out of the cooking rut I found myself over the last few months, possibly years. My husband and I found ourselves cooking the same go-to things over and over or simply making Trader Joes frozen meals. If it’s not broken, why fix it, right? Plus, living with a five year who old wants to eat dry pasta for every meal really puts a damper on adventurous cooking.

I am sure you noticed, there are SO many new cookbooks out there, and the rate they are coming out at is growing exponentially. And while I want to try some of them, I don't necessarily want to buy all of them, or at least not before I know that they are any good. Plus, I already have a good dozen or more of cookbooks at home. Thus, an idea of sharing cookbooks while sharing the meals lead me to start a cookbook club. I called it Cookbook-ish, and on my birthday in February I decided to try it out with close friends before extending the invitation to more people. It was a great success, and I am now ready to let it see the light of day. So, if you are reading this and want to be a part of it with me, please reach out! 

How it Works:

1. We meet once a month or every two months.
2. I choose a cookbook (a new one or a classic).
3. Those who already have the book (or choose to buy it right away) pass it around to those who aren't ready to commit in advance of the meeting.
4. Each person puts their name on a few recipes they are interested in making (but in the end will end up making just one).
5. A week before the event I come up with a cohesive menu based on what everyone chose and assign specific dishes to people who chose them.
6. Everyone cooks their respective items at home and brings them to the potluck.

For our inaugural meeting, I chose the book I got for Christmas—Alison Roman's DINING IN. I have heard so many good things about it, and her chocolate chunk short bread cookies were becoming an internet phenomenon. Naturally, I made the cookies first, and they became my gateway drug to the rest of the book.  

Our group was small (5), so adding a few extra touches didn't take too much time. I painted our dinner menus by hand with watercolor ink and used a sprig of wax flower to pin down the sides of the menus. It served a functional purpose and it looked pretty! 

Since my dining table is wee, keeping table setting simple made the most sense to allow space for the food (the important part!). Having a business specializing in table and kitchen linens came in very handy. Since I always test the items I put in the shop, I have a set of almost everything in my linen drawer. For this dinner party I used linen napkins in Heather Gray.  A complete list of tabletop items is at the end of the post.  

While we all agreed that every single thing on the menu was stellar, the one dish that everyone raved about was the burrata salad with tangerines, shallots, and watercress. Here is the recipe. 

Alison Roman's Burrata with Tangerines, Shallots, and Watercress, from DINING IN cookbook: 

Ingredients:

1 shallot, thinly sliced into rings
1 table spoon fresh lemon juice
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 8oz ball burrata
3 tangerines, peeled and sliced 1/2" thick
3 cups small spicy greens (watercress, mizuna, arugula)
Olive oil
Flaky sea salt

Preparation: 

1. Toss the shallots with lemon juice in small bowl and season with kosher salt and pepper
2. Tear, slice, or cut burrata into pieces and arrange them on the serving platter.  
3. Scatter the tangerine slices around burrata
4. Combine the shallots and spicy greens, and season with salt and pepper.  Toss and scatter around the burrata mixture.  
5. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt.

If you'd like to be involved in the future Cookbook-ish gatherings, be sure to sign up for my news and updates or send an email to foldsantabarbara@gmail.com and let me know how you would like contribute. I am looking for passionate home cooks who want to try new recipes and share them with people. I am also looking for hosts, photographers, guest stylists, vignette-arrangers, flora foragers, dish washers, and story tellers. AND...there is always a spot at the Cookbook-ish table for those who may hot love to cook, but are rich in wine, bread, or sparkling water.  If this sounds like you, I would love to have as part of the Cookbook-ish adventure!

Resources:

From the Shop

Elsewhere

Matte black flatware: IKEA (link here)

Recycled glass water tumblers: Hawkins New York (I got mine from NEED Supply Co.)

Double Old Fashioned Duralex Picardie glasses (we used them as wine glasses): World Market (link here)