vie a la table

let’s just say, since wil’s baking class, we’ve been on a bit of a detox from baked goods. our freezer was literally overflowing when you’d open the door, and we’ve been spoiled with making sandwiches on bagels, crossiants and french bread (it’s hard to think about going back to plain sliced wheat bread). at one point he came home with this much stuff in one day. luckily his school must have known what they were thinking when they scheduled to him to go to ‘garde manger’ next…focusing on salads, appetizers and cold fresh foods.

he came home with a dressing last week, that i thought was too good to not share. a vinaigrette celebrating the flavors of grape juice, sage and lavender, it seemed appropriate to enjoy with some wine and cheese. my parents visited this weekend when it happened to be 60 degrees and lovely out (in February in Portland!), so we tossed a salad, grabbed some cheese and a trusty baguette from the freezer to head to the hills of a williamette valley winery for an outdoor picnic.

for the salad itself, we chose good balances of bitter and mild lettuce, sweet fruit and pungent cheese, and soft croutons and crunchy nuts. all tossed together with the dressing, it’s an experience not short of the animated fireworks and swirls that burst around remi’s head in ratatouille. we combined frisee, red leaf and butter lettuce, craisins, julienned apples, gorgonzola, shallots, croutons and toasted walnuts. you could easily swap your favorite ingredients, keeping the same flavor relationships, to suit your personal tastes.

Sage & Grape Vinaigrette

9 oz olive oil
8 oz grapes, crushed (ideally, you want to come away with about 4 oz grape juice, some grapes are juicier than others..)
2 oz white wine vinegar
1 tbs shallot, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbs fresh sage, minced
3 – 5 lavender florets, crushed
salt and pepper to taste

1. crush grapes and strain juice into small saucepan. reduce by half – cool.

2. combine shallots, garlic, crushed lavender, sage, vinegar and juice into a bowl and whisk together.

3. whisk in oil, a few drops at a time. continue until desired oil/vinegar balance is achieved – taste often.

4. season with salt and pepper.

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family, food, kris, photos, wil by kris