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Monday, June 16, 2014

2014 Blogger Party – Antipasto Salad

This will be my last post from our blogger party and I’m only doing it because it ended up so differently from my original plan and I had a learning experience.  The plan was for me to make the antipasto on Saturday morning using a recipe from Epicurious.

I had already made the vinaigrette and assembled the other ingredients:

2 medium red onions (which I ended up forgetting to use)
4 hearts of romaine, torn or chopped
2 (8-oz) jars roasted red peppers, julienned
4 (6-oz) jars marinated artichoke hearts
2 cups pepperoncini
2 jars brine-cured olives, different kinds
1 lb cherry tomatoes, halved
2 lbs provolone, 1/4" julienne
1 lb pecorino, shaved
2 lbs salami, 1/4' julienne
1 ½ lb cappicola, sliced thin, rolled and sliced
1 ½ lb prosciutto, sliced thin, rolled
1 container anchovies, served on the side


My plan was to chop up the lettuce and mix it with half the dressing then arrange everything else on top and drizzle the remaining dressing over it, but since I was doing other things I asked Dave Scott if he would make it and he quickly agreed.

After he got all of the meat and cheese cut up and we were discussing the next steps, he said “if it were me, I’d ….”  Knowing he spent a significant amount of time learning to cook Italian, I quickly advised that it was him and please proceed.

He took about half the meat and cheese, cut it into smaller pieces, added it to the pan and emptied the pickling juice from all of the jarred veggies, saying it would be good for them to pickle the meat and cheese for about an hour.

When about ready to serve, he drained the juices from the pan and mixed the lettuce with the meat and cheese along with some of the vinaigrette, then topped with nearly everything else mixing it into the top part of the salad and finally added the rolled up prosciutto and shaved Pecorino Cheese.

Note: The red onions were supposed to be cooked lightly, cooled and added to the mix but I forgot them - we did add some raw the next day.


I thought it was outstanding and way better than what I would have done, mostly due to pickling some of the meat and cheese and I thought it was even better the next day even though the lettuce had wilted a little.  Thanks Dave for the great job.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.


Larry

6/7/14 Event Date

16 comments:

  1. This salad was one of the highlights of the party. It was fantastic and I bet it was just as good the next day.
    Great job guys,
    Sam

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  2. Now that Antipasta does look amazing, a whole meal right there start to finish.

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  3. It looks like you enjoyed another hugely successful blogger party, Larry. Just looking at all those beautiful dishes makes my mouth water. There is nothing better than a meeting of good friends and great food. I'm saving several of the recipes for my family get together this summer. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. He definitely knows how to kick it up!

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  5. My son just saw the picture of this antipasta and said yum... I agree! It looks and sounds terrific.

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  6. We have to get there one of these years!

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  7. Larry, I'll be that you can guess what parts of this salad I focused on! Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

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  8. Hi, Sometimes changes made to recipes turn out to be the best tasting foods we have... Looks like your Antipasta was a huge hit at the Blogger Party...
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  9. I can't be the only person who dislikes onions in salad, so I think your forgetting was a good thing. It looks like a wonderful antipasta, and it's great that Dave was there to take over when you were swamped. Looks like a great day!

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  10. This salad looks absolutely delicious.

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  11. You and Dave did a great job with the salad. It was outstanding in looks and taste.

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  12. What a great additional step with using the liquid from the olives! I'll bet it was as delicious as it looks.

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  13. Awesome!!! The salad sounds fantastic. As always, your blogger get together was loads of fun.

    Velva

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  14. This looks delicious Larry. Pinning this to try soon. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

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  15. That is one heck of a wonderful antipasto salad Larry! Sorry we didn't make it again! Got to stop being all work and no play . . . some day!

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  16. I have to repeat myself from the day of the party, that is the most enjoyable salad that I have had in a long time. I'm so glad that you posted the recipe, Dave nailed that one.

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