Mesculun and Fresh Pear Salad (p. 7)

To go with the chicken and yams, I did the fresh pear salad. This is partly because I didn't want to do a hot veg, and partly because I am a sucker for pear and brie combos. The dressing has a cup of blackberries, and is good and flavourful, while being fairly light (largely due to the high fruit to vinegar ratio, I think). I used blueberry vinegar, which worked well, though once that's gone, I guess I'll probably have to use white wine if I make this salad again. In typical Rebar fashion, there was way too much dressing for the actual amount of salad required for 6 people - we finished the large tub of mesculun over the week, and STILL have some dressing left over. I used walnuts and pumpkin seeds instead of hazel nuts, because I forgot to put hazel nuts on the grocery list, and they worked quite well. Since the salad was being served as a side along with the main meal, instead of ahead of it, I just did it in a big bowl, rather than plating it individually, as recommended in the recipe. I would definitely make this one again! Three stars and 1 bar.

Baked Yams (p. 152)

Last Saturday, I had the rare experience of hosting an all non-vegetarian dinner party. I took advantage of the situation to roast my first ever chicken, accompanied by two Rebar sides. The first was baked yams with honey, lime, and butter (see the next post for the salad). This dish was super-easy, but it took a bit longer than the estimated time in the book to bake the yams. I used the hand blender to get them nice and smooth, which worked well. They made a nice veggie/starchy side and fit in with the winter comfort food vibe of the chicken. My one criticism was that they were a bit too rich - I think I would use less honey (or maybe more lime and pepper) next time. Two stars and one bar.

Corn Dance Cakes

I was inspired to make this, as it called for smoked salmon, something I have plenty of from my smoking efforts in the summer. The salt from the salmon was well balanced by the sweet corn. I was also lucky to have fresh eggs from my dear friend Karen, and freshly milled hard wheat to make the cakes. I'm not sure if it was the recipe, or the spectacular ingredients that I loved the best. My rating is three stars and one bar.