Salad... something I refused to eat when I was younger but now can't get enough of. With recipe after recipe crossing my desk, those with store bought dressings are usually passed over in favor of those where I can make my own. Hence, when a representative from the Harvard Common Press emailed asking if I would like to review a copy of Michele Jordan's Vinaigrettes & Other Dressings
, the answer was a resounding, "Yes!".
Receiving the photo-splashed book a few days later, the continuing title of "60 sensational recipes to liven up greens, grains, slaws, and every kind of salad" had me certain I'd made a good choice. Pouring an iced tea I settled myself in a comfortable chair in the sun and proceeded to read the book cover to cover. Usually I turn down the pages of recipes I want to come back to, but with this book the process was pointless. After turning down every page except the Sunday Morning Miracle - Bloody Mary Vinaigrette (I personally am not a Bloody Mary fan, but that's another story...), I gave up and realized I have some 59 new recipes to try.
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| My somewhat worn copy... |
Michele begins the book with a wonderfully informative section called "A Happy Pantry" filled with tips and ideas about basic ingredients important to have on hand to help you easily put together a quality and flavorful dressing. Moving on she covers tools and their importance, food safety and flavor.
Arriving at the recipes, Michele brings everything from the most basic simple vinaigrette to those with more complex flavor nuances and on to classically creamy concoctions everyone is sure to love. Finishing up with ideas for slaws, potato and pasta salads as well as a couple of bread versions, all areas of salad seem to be covered.
Each dressing includes a description, and my favorite part, a "Best Uses" section with additional ideas for serving. Many recipes include gorgeous photos (I'm a sucker for a cookbook with beautiful photos), and with further investigation I discovered Michele styled the photos herself.
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| Arugula, watermelon, red onion and feta with the Vinaigrette |
Keeping my post seasonal, the perfectly ripe watermelon on my counter called my name. I've used watermelon in arugula salads for years, but as Michele mentioned, many vinaigrettes including boldly flavored vinegars tend to mask the sweet melon flavor.
Her version actually uses watermelon juice as a base bringing a sweet, fresh flavor to my beloved arugula. Serving to enhance the sweet watermelon pieces in my salad, the dash of lime and sprinkle of chopped cilantro complemented the flavors beautifully actually leaving my Watermelon Arugula Salad indeed tasting like watermelon (see recipe below).
Along with the offer to review the book came an offer to interview Michele, and our few emails exchanged back and forth showed a "real" person, filled with a sense of humor and passion. Currently living in Sonoma, Michele reaps the bounty of local crops and soon had me homesick for my hometown. Join me as we enjoy a few moments to chat...
Interview with Author Michele Anna Jordan
Liv Life: Through the book, are there a few recipes that have become regulars in
your kitchen? Favorites of you or your family that return time and
again or are most requested?
Michele Jordan: My
daughter Nicolle loves the Honey-Pepper Vinaigrette and the
Yogurt-Tahni Dressing. My grandson Lucas is very fond of the blue cheese
dressing. His mama, my daughter Gina, has a passion for the Caesar
dressing. I always have either salsa verde, chermoula or chimichurri and
usually a raita, too, on hand. And we all crave the Louis dressing when
Dungeness crab is in season. My daily default dressing is Lemon
Citronette.
LL: I believe I read that you did your own food styling for the photos in Vinaigrettes and Other Dressings, any tips for readers on making their everyday presentation more attractive?
MJ: Don't
over arrange; there is a beauty to controlled chaos--not sloppiness,
just the natural beauty of random order. Embrace asymmetry. When you
learn to embrace and understand this, everything gets easier and more
beautiful. As far as everyday goes, use the good stuff! Life is short.
Use pretty dishes, nice napkins, etc. Spend an extra 2 to 3 minutes on
how things look and you'll be amazed by the different. Forget the stacks
and other over-arranging done by professional chefs.
LL: I see you are a Bay Area native (I grew up in Marin County), where did you grow up and what drew you to Sonoma?
MJ: I've
been connected to Sonoma County my entire life--I nearly drowned in the
Russian River when I was not quite 3. I moved here as soon as I could
to attend Sonoma State University and I've never left. I grew up in
Vallejo, a world unto itself, but always felt an affinity to the open
spaces of Sonoma, the redwoods, the fog, the rolling hills, the coast,
the fertile land. It is my home.
LL: Has food always been a part of your life?
MJ: Yes.
I had an eager and curious palate as a child and found ways to get the
things I wanted to eat fairly early on. I began cooking from recipes
when I was 8. I began hosting dinner parties when I as 9. My mother was a
terrible cook, though she loved making candies and baking cakes and was
good at that. Alas, for her, I didn't have much of a sweet tooth.
LL: I've read you enjoy all types of writing, do you have a favorite?
MJ: Storytelling--i.e.,
nonfiction narrative--is my passion. You see this style in my book Salt
& Pepper, especially, but also in all my other books. I slip it in
wherever I can and am at work on a non-food-related literary memoir.
LL: When you were in High School did you see yourself as a writer? (more
of a personal question... I have a son in high school who
excels in English and writing and says there is no way he could ever be a
writer.)
MJ: When
I was in high school, I could not imagine any future at all. I married
at 16 (a long strange story), didn't miss a day of school, started
college when my younger daughter was 3 weeks old, left my marriage at
21, with two baby girls. Somehow I always knew I was a writer, though
for a long time I didn't know how I would actually make this happen. But
it was in my bones from a very early age. Junior high and high school
were miserable and complicated times for me. I am probably still
recovering ;-) Not probably, actually.
LL: Your bio describes a passion for dance, my daughter share's your passion. How did you come to know and love the hula?
MJ: This
story will be told in the memoir but it has to do with a boy I fell in
love with when I was 9. He was Hawaiian and he and his family had a huge
impact on me. They still do. I started studying hula (in the past, I'd
studied ballet and I've always danced) about 11 years ago, as a way to
honor him and grapple with my grief over his death. I loved hula from
the beginning and have recently entered into a formal program of study.
But he is the genesis and the foundation.
LL: And speaking of choreography... tell me about choreographing the world's largers BLT??
MJ: In
a way, it was all about choreography. I divided the sandwich into
sections--8 feet per section--and had 4 people assigned to each section.
Everything was prepared in advance, of course, and the most fun part
was the Parade of Ingredients, lead by a marching band, me, the Mayo
Queen, 3 toddler salt flakes, a head of lettuce, 2 tomatoes. Then came
the bacon (each bacon team member, carrying their bacon), the lettuce
and the tomatoes. Bread, mayonnaise, salt and pepper were already in
place at the long table. When the Mayo Queen dropped her golden spatula
and said "Let the slathering begin," the teams followed the instructions
and made their section. It took maybe 10 to 12 minutes to construct the
entire sandwich, which was then sliced and sold.
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