salad in a dress

Most salad dressings are, essentially, acid and oil. I’m only saying ‘most’ to guard myself from the inevitable “don’t you mean vinaigrettes”-s and “my favorite dressing is mayonnaise”-s. Anyway since there are many of both acids and oils, endless arrays of combinations can be made to spice up any old leaf into something unique - without the nasty preservatives and unnecessaries store-bought varieties contain. Consider the following list:

Acids                                         Oils

Lemon juice                              olive oil

Apple vinegar                            grape seed oil

Red wine vinegar                       flax oil

Balsamic vinegar                        sesame oil

Rice vinegar                              chili oil

Grapefruit juice                         avocado oil

This is by no means exhaustive since there are an amazing amount of oils, vinegars, and other acids (think citrus fruit) available these days. Just mix and match - even doing it at random is bound to give you something more interesting than a bottle would. It’s like those old toys where you could rotate the alligator head onto the dog body.

give him the alligator head!

For the ratio, I seem to recall reading a Jamie Oliver book that mentioned 3 to 1 oil to acid, but basically you just want more oil than acid. There’s 2 ways to mix these guys together, since the oil will separate if you just pour them together.

Method 1 – broken vinaigrette style

Pour your acid first into a jar (one that has a lid), then pour in your oil. If you use a clear jar it’s easy to measure the ratio. All you have to do then is shake it like a paint can (or a James Bond-style cocktail?) until it comes together. Use it immediately after shaking and you’re solid.  Wait and it’ll separate again.

Method 2 – emulsified stylin’

Again pour in your acid first. This time, slowly, as slowly as you can, pour a constant thin stream of oil in with one hand while whisking with the other hand. This might take a bit of practice but the result is beautiful – emulsification means the dressing becomes one inseparable liquid. Good cheat is to do this in a blender, then it’s hands-free.

The last thing here, of course, is seasoning. You’ll want some salt: I really recommend sea salt or mineral salt – not baking salt – something tasty. For fancy flavors feel free to chop up herbs (anything – basil, dill, cilantro, fennel, even dried stuff will work), finely mince up vegetables (onions, shallots, bell peppers), or get creative (chervil + sherry wine vinegar + strawberry jam = kitchen magic).

After this, you won’t need to eat the same salad twice. Get creative!

prosciutto-wrapped amberjack over avocado basil salad

Amberjack is a trout-sized fish that's common in Japan, but it could be replaced with cod or another firm white fish fillet. I should also say that prosciutto is simply the word for ham in Italian, and what is meant here is dry-cured ham, which is what us Americans tend to mean when we say prosciutto. You will want:

 

Fillets of white fish (de-boned and de-skinned)

Enough prosciutto (you’ll see)

Sea salt

For the salad:

Avocado

Fresh basil leaves

Lettuce (of choice, something crisp)

Something crunchy (I use celery)

Simple dressing

Wrap the prosciutto around the fillets, covering them entirely as best you can. Season with sea salt – both sides, always both sides – and set aside. Preheat your oven to 210 C.

Break up the lettuce coarsely with your hands. Wash and throw in the salad spinner (an absolute essential kitchen device) along with a couple handfuls of fresh basil leaves. Also cut up a celery stock or two and toss those in as well.

To make a simple dressing, shake lemon juice with olive oil and some salt together in a mason jar. This isn’t emulsified but it works fine. Dress your salad and toss. The wrapped fillets go into a hot frying pan with a glug of olive oil. There should definitely be a big sizzle when they touch the pan, and we’re going to keep high heat the whole time. By the way, a glug is a unit of measure based on sound – it’s more than a splash but less than 2 tablespoons, according to me (who you gonna trust?).

Now, since we’re going to pop this into the oven after pan-frying, the goal here is not to cook the fish but rather to crisp up the ham with a nice sear. Golden brown with maybe just a touch of black char will tell you that it’s done. Do both sides. The searing will only take a minute or so, so watch the fish and adjust heat down a bit if needed. Take the fishy bundles of joy out of the frying pan and put them in an un-greased baking pan in the oven for 10 or 11 minutes.

While that’s baking, get the avocado out of its shell with a spoon and slice it up thinly. Arrange that on your salad, lumping it up in the middle a bit. Take out the fish, let it rest for just a bit, and then place it atop the avocado. This will warm the avocado without much wilting the leaves. One spoonful of pan jus - the juices left over in the pan after cooking - over the finished fish gives it that sexy sheen (and I don’t mean Charlie!).

 
This works really well as a light luncheon or entrée for a romantic dinner. I would say lager beer with the luncheon and chardonnay with the romantic dinner. The juices from the prosciutto seep into the fish, giving it a meaty, fishy, chicken-y, my-taste-buds-don't-quite-know-how-to-respond-but-it's-wonderful-y feel. Brilliant.