Recently wrote about Salad Nicoise and this morning Jim mentioned that we should write our recipe on a salad we affectionately call Rue 57 and make it available to all of you.
We had just arrived in NYC to attend the U.S. Open tennis tournament. We were walking down the street discussing where we wanted to eat. While stopped at a Do Not Walk sign a lady approached us and asked in a low husky whisper, did she hear us properly where we looking for a restaurant? It was very similar to how you would expect a drug dealer to ask if we were looking for drugs. We replied that, yes, we were looking for a place. She motioned to a restaurant across the street, said she personally ate there, at least, once a week and we wouldn’t be disappointed.
We always follow personal recommendations, so we didn’t know the nice lady, but she seemed honestly concerned that we would have an enjoyable meal. Off to Rue 57. We started with a tomato salad, which we pronounced phenomenal, began to discuss how the salad maybe concocted at home. Subsequently our guests never failed to praise the dish and always walked away with the recipe.
We followed the salad with a steak, can’t remember what cut, but is was also perfect. Ours was served with French-Fries but a small homemade Hasselback Potato would be great.
Serve with a Pinot Noir and go light on the dessert, slice (not a wedge) of lemon cake dressed with some berries would be nice. We generally always offer an after-dinner drink, most people want to stick with wine but lots of time we serve up Lemoncello (summer) Cognac (cold months.) If you’re stepping up your menus an after dinner cocktail is a sophisticated addition and it tastes great.
Also, anytime you want a recipe for a dish we reference in a posting send us a comment and we will post it. Summer is here you can never have enough salad options.
Ingredients:
4 medium Beef Steak or Heirloom tomatoes, Cut 1″ thick slices using middle of each tomato
1/2 cup aged balsamic vinegar
2 large yellow onions, sliced 1/8″ thick
2 heaping tablespoons butter
salt
2 cups arugula, loosely packed
Blue cheese, Feta, or goat cheese, crumbled
Method:
1. Place tomato slices in shallow non-reactive pan and pour vinegar over top, cover with plastic wrap. Tomatoes can and should marinate for at least one hour, turning tomatoes several times
2. Caramelize onions in butter, set aside
3. Plate arugula and arrange tomatoes on top
4. Dress salad with juice generated from Balsamic Vinegar and water extracted from tomatoes.
5. Top with carmalized onions
6. Garnish with cheese
