Apple and Fennel Salad with Salted Caramel Pecans

When I made this recipe recently, I actually wasn't so sure I wanted to try it.  Caramelized pecans and apples seem so autumn-centric to me...and I'm in full-time spring mode lately.  However, when spring comes, I tend to eat much lighter, skipping the "entrée" and eating the salads and side dishes as main meals.  So this recipe actually began to seem just right for how I like to eat in April.

I found this salad in a Donna Hay magazine quite some time ago; after scouring her website, I can't find the issue number anywhere so, alas, no direct link - I've looked all over the web.  But I didn't change anything - the recipe I'm sharing here is hers exactly.

Lastly, apologies for the photos, which were taken with my phone.  That said...not bad for my phone, right?

Apple and Fennel Salad with Salted Caramel Pecans
Recipe from Donna Hay

Serves 6

12 slices prosciutto
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup pecans
1/2 cup superfine (caster) sugar
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon sea salt flakes (kosher salt is fine too)
2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 small red apples, thinly sliced
4 bulbs baby fennel, thinly sliced (regular fennel is fine too; just use 2 large bulbs)

Preheat oven to 325 F (160 C). Place the prosciutto on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, brush with maple syrup, and bake for 10 minutes or until crisp and golden. Set aside.

Place the pecans, sugar, water, and salt in a bowl and toss to coat.  Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat.  Add the pecans and cook for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally or until caramelized.  Set aside to cool.

Place the vinegar and oil in a bowl and whisk to combine.  Place the apple, fennel, prosciutto, and pecans in a bowl, drizzle with the dressing, and toss to coat.

NOTE: For presentation, I layered it.  Stack the apple slices, prosciutto, fennel; start again.  Add pecans on top and around plate as garnish.  I also saved some of the fennel fronds, chopped them, and sprinkled them on top last.  Finish with a fresh grind of pepper.

Eat, drink, and embrace lightness.

Progress Report

Move to Manhattan COMPLETE!  We're finally settling in and feeling close to normal - it always takes a big move for us to remember what creatures of habit we are!

Here are a few highlights from the last few weeks:

As part of our celebration, we opened a bottle of wine from our friends Amy and Lisa: a 2000 Chateau Haut-Bailly.  They brought this wine to us almost four years ago, shortly after we moved to Queens.  Amy said now was a very good time to drink it, and we thought that it was the perfect way to celebrate the new digs.  Needless to say, it was goooorgeous.

Another way to celebrate the new apartment?  A housewarming party!!!  Or, as Bug called it, "the swarming party."  Indeed it was.  About 30 people crammed into our small place?  It was cozy and our new home was indeed warmed.  We made my stand-by Red Pepper and Cannellini Dip, Chipotle and Rosemary Nuts, and Prosciutto Breadsticks (the original recipe suggests brushing the breadsticks with truffle  butter before adding the prosciutto - I highly recommend doing so).  I served a gorgeous blue cheese with Carr's Wheat Crackers as well, and I also sliced up some salami and cucumbers - which are a surprisingly delicious pair together.  

And our friend Laura brought us some lovely flowers.

We even managed to bring back our chalkboard wall.

And how about those garlic chives that I was so sad to leave behind?  The night before we moved, I remembered I had left them out on the balcony so I ran outside in my pajamas and quickly transplanted them.  They're now sitting in our front window and they're in heaven: all the sun and warmth, none of the cold.

They're as happy as we are (and, as evidenced by my hack job, you can see we've already used the heck out of them).

Eat, drink, and make a new home.

Golden Globes Party

I was beside myself to watch the Golden Globes this year; somehow, I've missed it the last couple years thanks to travel and work.  And even better that Mr. and Mrs. Soul Twin were going to be here to watch with us!

The first order of business, of course, was to decide our menu and, since Soul Twin had yet to read through Ina Garten's new one BAREFOOT CONTESSA: HOW EASY IS THAT?, it seemed we chose most of our recipes from there.  Here was the menu:

• Chipotle and Rosemary Nuts
• Baked Fontina 
• Fennel Slaw with Pistachio Pesto
• Sausage-Stuffed Mushrooms
• Celery Salad with Parmesan

We also got the ingredients for Ina's Fresh Salmon Tartare but, unfortunately, in all the hubbub we forget to even make it.  Which worked out fine because BELIEVE ME this was more than enough food.  The photos:

We ate on our new plates that my mom got me for Christmas: faaaabulous NYC dishes with all the important monuments around the rim.  And we poured lots of bubbly:

The awards were a hoot, as usual, and...I have to confess...I adored Ricky Gervais.  I mean, if you can't laugh at yourself, then who can you laugh at?  And I hear that Anne Hathaway and James Franco have been tapped to host the Oscars?  Wha....huh?!  

And the fashion...oh, the fashion!  My initial favorite was this one (all Golden Globe photos from one of my favorite blogs, Go Fug Yourself):

 But then she showed off her shoes and I about died:

Um, anyone agree that they DON'T MATCH?!  Soul Twin and I had a few choice words to say when Olivia Wilde showed these things off.  So then my fave was this:

On a red carpet doused in mourning black, I found Claire Danes to be refreshing, age-appropriate, and well-fitted.  Completely classy.

Eat, drink, and throw themed dinner parties.