INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

GARNISH
The Beets: Wash and dry the beets well. Rub them with the 1 1/2 Tablespoons
of olive oil. Place them in a baking pan with 1 ounce of water. Cover the
pan with aluminum foil and bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 40
minutes to 1 hour & 15 minutes or until they are fork tender. Allow the
beets to cool. Peel off the outer skin and small dice. This should yield
about 3 cups. Place the diced beets, blood orange oil and cilantro in a
bowl and toss. Season to taste with salt and fresh ground pepper. Reserve
in the refrigerator.
The Asparagus: While the beets are roasting, blanch the asparagus in salted
boiling water for about 3 minutes until it is tender and bright green.
Shock the asparagus in ice water for about 3-5 minutes or until it is cold
throughout . Dry the asparagus and chop it into a small dice. This should
yield about 3 cups. Reserve in the refrigerator.
The Dijon Vinaigrette: While the beets are roasting or a couple of days in
advance, combine the egg yolk, Dijon, and vinegar in a bowl. With a wire
wisk, mix the ingredients well. Slowly in a steady stream, drizzle in the
oil to form and emulsion. Add the parsley, chives and shallots. Mix well
and season to taste with salt and fresh ground pepper. Reserve in the
refrigerator.
The Moroccan Spice & Almonds: While the beets are roasting, or 1 day
before, remove the zest from 1 orange and place in a small oven proof
container in the oven to dry out, watching constantly as not to burn it.
Once the zest is dry allow it to cool. In a coffee grinder, add the
cardamom, broken cinnamon stick, allspice & cloves and grind until fine.
Pour the spices into a small bowl. Grind the dry orange rind in the same
fashion and add it to the other spices. Add the sugar and salt and mix well
with a fork. Reserve in an airtight container.
Toast the almonds in a dry saute pan over medium heat on the stove until
lightly golden brown. Drizzle the 1 Tablespoon of oil on the almonds and
continue to toast for another 30 seconds. Pull the almonds off the heat and
pour them evenly onto a cookie sheet. Sprinkle the almonds with about 1 - 1
1/2 Tablespoons of the Moroccan spice and continue to toast in the oven for
approximately 1 - 2 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and
cool completely. Reserve.
To Build the Dish: Remove the beets, asparagus, vinaigrette & cheese from
the refrigerator 1/2 an hour before serving. Add about 2 - 3 ounces of the
Dijon vinaigrette to the asparagus and toss well. Season to taste with salt
& pepper. In a round mold or free style, divide the asparagus onto the
center of 6 plates. Add a layer of the dressed asparagus on top of the
beets. (If you are using a mold, you will need to layer the beets and then
the asparagus onto one plate before removing the mold and repeating onto
the second plate and so forth.) Toss the field greens in some of the blood
orange oil and place some of them onto the asparagus. Place 1 piece of
Maytag blue cheese on top of the greens. Sprinkle each plate with the
almonds. Garnish each plate with drizzles of Dijon vinaigrette, blood
orange oil and chopped chives.
Makes 6 large or 8 small salads.
Executive Chef Danielle Custer Laurel's at Sheraton Park Central Hotel
Aired November 11, 1998
Executive Chef Danielle Custer, taught us how to spruce up our holiday
meals with a unique roasted beet and asparagus salad. She also showed us
continued in part 2

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