Mushroom Brie tart

Tonight I made a tart similar to the swiss chard tart accept used mushrooms, spinach and brie. We started with a roasted red pepper and tomato soup. Then we had the tart and I I also sautéed asparagus. Later we had salad, which consists of nothing but a romaine lettuce leaf and olive oil. 

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 2 shallots, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 4 ounces bacon, cut into lardons
• 1 1/2 pounds spinach 
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup crème fraîche or heavy cream and sour cream combined
• 1 pinch Salt and pepper
• 4 ounces cubed brie
• 1 deep tart shell, pre-baked in a 9-inch/22-cm spring-form pan

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 375°F/190°C. Heat the oil in a sauté pan and fry the shallots until soft and translucent. Add the garlic one minute. Remove to a plate. In the same pan, fry the bacon, and remove with the shallots. Add spinach to what is left of the bacon fat and add a little butter if needed (You may want to cover the pan for a few minutes to speed up the process.) 
2. Beat the eggs together with the crème fraîche. Season with salt and pepper. In a large bowl, toss the shallots, bacon, spinach, cheese, to combine evenly. Taste, and season. Fill the tart shell with the vegetable mixture, and pour over the cream mixture. Bake until the tart has set, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool. Serve at room temperature.

Ingredients

• 24 asparagus (this is for 2 people) 
• Olive oil
• Fleur de sel (coarse sea salt)
• Freshly ground pepper

Directions

1. Trim the tough ends from the asparagus and discard. Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a sauté pan. When very hot, add the asparagus in batches, not overlapping.
2. Sauté, turning occasionally with tongs, until slightly golden and tender, but still maintaining a bit of bite – approx. 5 minutes, depending on how thick the asparagus are. Season with salt and pepper. Arrange on a platter and serve.

Sunday night dinner

Since Jared and I have been planning our meals on Sunday together, not only have we saved money at the grocery store, but we have saved a lot of food from being wasted. I am so lucky to have a guy who supports my cooking habits. Some girl spend money on clothes, shoes, getting hair and nails done. Not me. My weakness is not shopping, it is cooking. I can really rack up our grocery bill if I am not careful, but Jared doesn't complain and neither do our waist line these days. We are already to a point where we can fit into our old jeans. I think we both want to lose a little more before we wear them out in public. We are paying less attention to the scale and more attention to our zippers.This French meal plan and our dedication to exercising together has really helped us.  We spend more time together because we plan our meals, grocery shop together and sometimes I let him help. I cannot always have him in the kitchen with me. It is too small and I get nervous for him. Todays shopping was extra fun for me. I got 3 new kitchenaid cutting boards, a recipe moleskin to keep track of my fabulous French recipes, and a great cookbook called The French Women don't get Fat. I am very excited to sit down and look through this cookbook. She seems to have the same love and passion for food that I do. It is nice to know other out there are as obsessed with eating as I am. Dinner tonight: Butternut squash soup, rack of lamb, roasted vegetables, salad and the reason I am eating dinner tonight- yogurt with creme chocolat

Ingredients

      Lamb

1.27 lb lamb rack (good for 2 people)

salt and pepper for seasoning

      Roasted Vegetables

1 Zucchini 

1 yellow squash

2 potatoes (quartered)

4 carrots

3 leek leaves cut into 2 inch logs

salt and pepper

olive oil

fresh parsley

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Directions

Lamb

preheat oven to 400 degrees

Place a saute pan over hight head and add a little oil

sear lamb rack then place in oven

cook lamb to 145 degrees internal temperature (16-20 for medium- I like lamb very, very rare- 10 minutes)

remove from rack and let rest for 10-15 mins

Vegetables

Wash and cut all vegetables

line pan with olive oil (I use a brush)

spread around vegetables flat on the pan 

Coat with more olive oil, salt and pepper and your favorite herbs (parsley, rosemary, thyme are mine)

make sure oil has coated the vegetables

place at 400 degree for about 40 mins on the second to bottom rack (watch the leeks, they burn fast)

for the last 5 mins, place at the top closest to the broiler- keep a close eye on the leeks and carrots

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Yogurt with Creme Chocolat

Ingredients

1/4 heavy cream

4 ounces of dark chocolate- chopped

2 cups plain greek yogurt

Directions

heat the cream in a small saucepan- use low heat

once it reaches a simmer place chocolate in a bowl and pour hot cream over it

let it sit for 2 minutes and then stir till smooth

put your yogurt into small bowls and pour chocolate cream over yogurt

serve immediately

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Thursday night dinner

Tonight I made coquilles Saint Jacques. I thought this was going to be very difficult and take a long time. It actually was not time consuming nor difficult. I was not sure what order to do things and I think I did it a little backwards. I think next time I will prepare it in the order in which I read the recipe. I made my duxelles first, the my sauce, then cooked the scallops. Next time (and there definitely will be a next time with this recipe), I will cook my scallops, make my duxelles and then my sauce. Regardless of the order in which I prepared this dish, it was magnifique!

Ingredients

Scallops

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound scallops
• 1 pinch Salt and pepper

Duxelles

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 pound mushrooms
• 2 shallots, minced
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Sauce

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 shallot, minced
• 2 tablespoons GF flour
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup fish stock
• 2 tablespoons crème fraîche
• Lemon juice to taste

Topping

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 6 tablespoons fresh breadcrumbs
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted

Directions

Scallops

1. Heat the butter and oil in a large sauté pan. Season the scallops and sear one minute per side, to brown. Do not cook completely. Set aside.
2. To assemble the dish: Heat the oven to broil with the rack at the top. Lay 6 large scallop shells or individual gratin dishes on a baking sheet. Divide the mushroom mixture among the shells. Arrange six scallops on each, then spoon over the sauce. Add topping (see instructions) and broil until golden and bubbly, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve immediately.

Duxelles

1. Melt the butter in a large sauté pan until foaming. Add the shallot and sauté until soft. Add the mushrooms, and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the mushrooms have released all their liquid and the pan is dry, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and stir through the parsley.

Sauce

1. Melt the butter in the sauté pan until foaming. Add the shallot and cook until soft. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring, 3 minutes. Whisk in the wine and boil down by half. Add the stock and cook, stirring, until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and stir in the crème fraîche. Check the seasonings, adding salt, pepper, and lemon juice if needed.

Topping

1. Scatter parsley and breadcrums over scallops and mushroom mixture. Drizzle melted butter over entire dish.

Wednesday night dinner

Tonight I made butter chicken with roasted vegetables. It was so good. It is nice to use butter again. Nothing smells better to me than sautéing shallots in butter. 

Ingredients

Chicken

• 1 chicken, about 3 pounds/1.2 kg
• sprig of rosemary
• sprig of thyme
• sprig of tarragon
• 1 pinch Salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup butter

Vegetables

• 6 small potatoes, peeled and cut into grins
• 4 carrots, cut in half, then halved lengthwise
• 3 leeks, trimmed and cut into logs
• 2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Coarse sea salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 bay leaves
• branch of rosemary, cut in three

Directions

Chicken

1. Heat the oven to 400°F/200°C. Stuff the chicken with the herbs and truss it. Season all over with salt and pepper. Set the chicken in a roasting pan on its left leg, and set the butter on top.
2. Bake 15 minutes. Turn the bird onto its right leg for 15 minutes. Turn on its back for 15 minutes. Finally, set it upright and continue cooking until done, about 1/2 an hour more or until the juices run clear. Remember to baste the bird constantly as it roasts. It is done when the juices at the leg run clear.

Vegetables

1. Heat the oven to 400°F/200°C. Toss the vegetables with the olive oil and salt and pepper. Spread over a baking sheet. Cut the butter into little pieces over top and tuck in the herbs. Bake until tender and even slightly caramelized, about an hour, tossing occasionally.

Tuesday night dinner

Tonight I am making savory winter squash soup, stuffed tomatoes, squished potatoes, salad and yogurt with honey  and poached pears for dessert. The recipe here is for 2 people. Adjust depending on how many servings. If you need 12 tomatoes, use 2 lbs of beef


Stuffed Tomatoes

Ingredients

• 2 medium tomatoes
• salt and pepper to season
• 1/2 pounds ground beef (or a combination of ground beef, veal and pork)
• Olive oil
• 1/2 onion, minced
• 2 shallots, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• bread crumbs
• A generous Tbsp Dijon mustard
• A generous handful of chopped parsley or dried herbes de Provence unless your bread crumbs are seasoned already
• Grated parmesan (optional)
• 1 to 2 Tbsp milk, optional

Directions

1. Slice the tops off tomatoes and hollow out the insides. Pat the tomatoes dry inside with a tea towel, season with salt, and leave upside down on paper towel to drain for about half an hour. Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan. Gently sauté the onions, shallots, garlic, until soft, 10 minutes. Add the meat. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until fully done.
2. throw it bread crumbs, breaking it up through the mix with a wooden spoon. Stir in the mustard, parsley or herbes de Provence, and Parmesan. Check the seasonings. Add a spoonful or two of milk, if needed to loosen. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Sliver a bit off the bottom of each tomato so they sit flat without wobbling. Stuff the tomatoes. Set in a baking pan. Scatter over a little more cheese. Bake until the tomatoes are soft and hot, 30 minutes.

Squished potatoes

Ingredients

• 1/2 pounds baby reds
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil

Directions

1. Scrub the potatoes and cook, unpeeled, in boiling salted water until tender. Drain. When cool enough to touch, squish them flat using a coffee cup or ramekin. Don't let them explode, just flatten until the edges break a bit, but they are still in one piece. Toss in olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
2. Heat the oven to 400°F/200°C. Spread the potatoes on a baking sheet and bake until crisp outside and soft inside, about 40 minutes.
3. Sometimes with potatoes, I take them out after 35 mins and put them in the broiler on low for 5 because I really like them roasted. 

Salad

Consists of only romaine lettuce with olive oil only

yogurt with honey and poached pears

Ingredients

     1/4 cup orange juice

     1/4 cup apple juice

     1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

     1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

     1 whole pears 

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Directions

In a small bowl, combine the juices, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir to mix evenly.

Peel the pears and leave the stems. cut the pear in half and use d melon baller to scoop out the center of the pear where the core is. Place in a shallow pan. Add the juice mixture to the pan and set over medium heat. Simmer for about 30 minutes, turning pears. Don't boil.

Transfer the pears to individual serving plates and fill the scooped hole with honey and plain yogurt

Monday night dinner

After catching up on errands, Jared and I had to do an impromptu dinner. We have started writing out menus for the whole week to cut down on wasted food and not knowing what to have for dinner and I totally forgot it was Monday! I had to think fast and health and French. We decided on sandwiches, sweet potato fries and salad. The sandwich I made was a recipe similar to one I had at a restaurant in Houston called, Baba Yaga's. Anyone who knows me knows I have a hard time following a cooking recipe and I always end up making my own version, so instead of a baguette, I used a gluten free rosemary focaccia from Whole Foods. The first thing I do is preheat the oven to 400 for the fries. We probably had about 10 fries each. As the fries cook I make my fresh basil vinaigrette (few splashes of balsamic, olive oil, and torn up fresh basil) and let it sit. I cut a good 2 inches of this loaf and split the bread in half. I cut up some herb Brie, thin slices of tomato, roasted turkey, and mixed field greens. With such few fries, they only take 10 mins, which is about the same amount of time it takes me to prep dinner. Once the bread is sliced and the turkey and cheese is put on, I put it in the oven with the broiler on low and let the Brie melt all over the turkey. Once that is done, I spoon out some of my basil vinaigrette onto the Brie, followed by the tomato and then my greens. The salad is easy, I used romaine lettuce mix tonight with red cabbage and carrots. I always make my own dressing. See below for recipe. This sandwich is easy and delicious.

Roasted turkey brie sandwich
1. Your choice of bread (I like the rosemary focaccia from Whole Foods)
2. all natural roasted turkey (2 slices per sandwich)
3. your choice of Brie ( I used the Presidents herb brie for this recipe)
4. Tomato if you like
5. mixed field or spring greens
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Basil Vinaigrette
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
fresh basil
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My favorite dressing
1. Mix olive oil and balsamic vinegar together with a tiny bit of lemon juice, whisk it until creamy
2. add herbs de provence or some thyme and basil with some fresh cracked pepper and a little salt
3. whisk more
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I never use exact measurements with the dressing. It all depends on your own preference. 
This is one of my favorite sandwiches. I hope you enjoy

Sunday night dinner with friends

We had some very close friends come out to visit from California and I thought I would finally get a break from cooking. Who was I kidding!? I need to be in my kitchen. We went out a few nights, but I wanted Sunday to be our day. We started off with breakfast: Gluten free blueberry pancakes, buckwheat crepes, sausage and bacon. Good stuff. I made a savory and sweet crepe. I actually didn't eat any of the breakfast. I made an egg white omelet with spinach and turkey, a piece of sausage and yogurt with honey. I am not used to cooking for six people and didn't make enough. It made me nervous because I didn't get to taste anything, so I was not sure if it was good and they are all too polite to tell me otherwise. Therefore, dinner had to be fabulous. The menu Sunday was: Savory swiss chard tart in a corn meal tart, roasted potatoes and carrots, salad and chocolate cream pots for dessert with my decadent Bailey's whipped cream. The tart was absolutely amazing and roasted vegetables are an all time favor of mine. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and we all had wine and played "Foodie Fight." Very fun, yet challenging game. It was so nice to cook for people. Jared will eat any junk I put in front of him (he has a weak pallet), so it was nice watching people enjoy my food. see below for the recipes






Swiss Chard Tart


Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 2 shallots, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 4 ounces bacon, cut into lardons
• 1 1/2 pounds Swiss chard
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup crème fraîche or heavy cream and sour cream combined
• 1 pinch Salt and pepper
• 4 ounces gruyère cheese, grated
• handful raisins
• handful toasted pine nuts
• 1 gluten free tart shell of your choosing- whole foods has a pre-made quiche shell. 

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 375°F/190°C. Heat the oil in a sauté pan and fry the shallots until soft and translucent. Add the garlic one minute. Remove to a plate. In the same pan, fry the bacon, and remove with the shallots. Divide the chard leaves from the ribs: chop the ribs quite small and shred the leaves. First, fry the ribs in the bacon fat until tender. (You may want to cover the pan for a few minutes to speed up the process.) Add the chard leaves to the pan, cover, and wilt, about 3 minutes.
2. Beat the eggs together with the crème fraîche. Season with salt and pepper. In a large bowl, toss the shallots, bacon, chard stems and leaves, cheese, raisins and pine nuts, to combine evenly. Taste, and season. Fill the tart shell with the vegetable mixture, and pour over the cream mixture. Bake until the tart has set, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool. Serve at room temperature.

Chocolate Cream Pots

Ingredients

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
• 6 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup sugar (optional)

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 325ºF/160°C. Heat the cream, milk, and vanilla. Melt the chocolate over a bain-marie. Whisk the melted chocolate into the yolks in a bowl, then whisk in milk. Strain. Pour into 6 ramekins and bake in a bain-marie until set at the edges, but slightly jiggly still in the centre, 20 minutes. Remove. Cool. Wrap and refrigerate several hours before serving.