Onion and bacon tart, in pictures:
Make a little bed out of puff pastry. Bake until…well, puffy, about 15 minutes at 350F.
Sauté one giant onion, sliced, a few cloves of garlic, sliced, and a few sprigs of thyme, not sliced, in some olive oil and butter, cooking slowly for about a half hour until thoroughly caramelized, like this:
Roast bacon in the oven at 400F for about 15 minutes. Drain and lay over puff pastry crust.
Layer caramelized onions over bacon
Garnish with goat cheese.
Cut and serve with soup
Ta da.
I tried to think of a witty headline for this one but failed. Sorry.
I wanted to make Josh something for dessert. Josh loves bananas. I considered doing another batch of roasted banana bars but wanted something new. And simple. And easy. And cakey. And Josh loves cupcakes. So…well, that was that. However instead of putting the banana in the cupcake, I thought I’d try putting it into the frosting instead.
Because that works, right? Read the rest of this entry »
Well since Lauren hasn’t been feeling well I decided to make breakfast this morning. Oh, by the way I’m Lauren’s husband-and I can occasionally cook. So I went ahead and tried something new today-French toast casserole with apples and a caramel (like) glaze. This is AMAZINGLY easy and was fantastic.
This is going to be a short post.
I just had to share it with you.
First, a layer of French vanilla ice cream.
Then some pomegranate glaze (leftover from cheesecake!).
Then more ice cream.
Then a heaping spoonful of chocolate sauce (I use melted chocolate plus a bit of milk).
More ice cream.
Then pomegranate and chocolate together.
Sprinkle with nuts.
Stare at it.
Eat it.
Yay.
Tonight, I made gratin de poireaux and steak aux champignons.
First, I love the word “champignon.” It is one of my all time favorite French words, along with “l’ananas,” “raplapla,” and “pamplemousse.” A champignon is a mushroom. The others are pineapple, wiped out, and grapefruit, respectively. I mean, come on. These words are fantastic. And the only thing better than a great dinner is a great dinner with a kick-ass name.
Take “gratin de poireaux.” It sounds so much fancier when you say it that way, rather than just “leek gratin.” And it’s more fun to eat, too, especially when you’ve got a nice, French-inspired tablecloth down, some pinot grigio and a buttery croissant. Oh and steak. Cooked in cream. Because we can.
For those of you who aren’t as taken with French things as I am (five years of French class in high school and college will do that to you), then just read the following words: bacon. onions. butter. potatoes. goat cheese. steak. mushrooms. cream. wine.
Now that I have your full attention, I will continue.
Poms Away, Vol. 2: the Cheesecake Chronicles
So I continued my Adventures in Pomegranates tonight, using up more of the juice shipment I got from Pom Wonderful.
As you might recall, the last time we saw our intrepid heroine (uh, me), she had just conquered pomegranate molasses and used said molasses in creating homemade pomegranate barbecue sauce. Now join us for the next installment of this thrilling storyline as our heroine strives to harness the power of the pomegranate for good, or for awesome.
Speaking of awesome, cheesecake. Cheesecake. Yeah.
I wanted to create a dessert with the pomegranate juice and while the idea of converting my current strawberry tiramisu recipe into a pomegranate one was bandied about, I instead decided to make a pomegranate glaze. And the perfect conveyance for that glaze? Cheesecake. Delicious, delicious citrus cheesecake.
Now, granted, it didn’t come out quite the way I intended much at all, the cake part anyway, but that was mostly due to my own tiredness and inattention. Having made the cheesecake before though, I can indeed vouch that the flavors are fantastic. The citrus and vanilla really come through, and that pairs well with the sweetness of the pomegranate. A bit of unsweetened whipped cream could pull it all together nicely. Read the rest of this entry »
Poms Away
I got a delicious shipment in the mail this past week: a case of Pom Wonderful pomegranate juice, from the Pom people themselves. My challenge? Use the eight little bottles of liquid pomegranate to come up with something interesting and delicious.
I found this fascinating, as did my friends, many of whom love pomegranate. Myself, I’d never really experimented with it. I once purchased a pomegranate to try out, messily cutting it open and excavating the seeds (arils), which I found delicious but then never bought another one. Still, the fruit somewhat intrigued me, as do most fruits from south Asia. Plus, they just look so funky. I’m a sucker for those swanky design spreads where hip decorators have created oh-so-chic-but-simple accents with giant hurricane vases full of fresh pomegranates. Sure I could never do that because my dog would probably think, “Wow! Balls!” but that’s not the point.
What is the point?
Barbecue. Barbecue is always the point.
At least, it was one of the first things that came to mind when I thought, “Gee, what can I do with 64 ounces of pomegranate juice? Barbecue!” That particular eureka was followed up with “Cheesecake!” which was a suggestion from a friend during dinner out the other night. Then another idea: add it to your granola bar recipe. Mix it with Greek yogurt and marinate chicken. And oh…imagine the drinks.
Well, the cheesecake, granola bar and chicken kabob recipes will be coming later. Today we’ll just stick with simple additions you can add to many meals. Read the rest of this entry »
This is a tale of three adventures. Capers, really. Even shenanigans. Foodie shenanigans. No, that makes it sound more cheeky than it really was. Capers. Definitely a caper. This is a tale of three gastronomical capers.
Caper 1
On Friday, group of friends and I traversed across the vast swaths of town to the far east, to a small place of our acquaintance, a mystical, ethereal place known only as Thai Thai. We were a world-weary band of travelers, three young ones and seven others who just act young. We descended on the tiny, tiny island of taste and took over about half the place. We were treated with kindness and brought several succulent dishes of varying heat. Josh and I partook of the spring rolls, being ravenous as we were, and considering that we had traveled to such lands before, consider ourselves connoisseurs of that delicacy. Then Josh sated his rumbly tumbly with a spicy dish called “Moo Pad Prig Khee Noo,” made of pork and fresh chili peppers and garlic. Read the rest of this entry »
that is some pig: hoisin pork and peppers
I like to think that, if in some alternative fictional universe, dear well-meaning Charlotte was not so successful in her humanitarian efforts and Wilbur, instead of meeting horde of little gray spider babies, met a slightly more gruesome fate, that at the very least Fern could rest easy with the knowledge that “some pigs” can also make delicious, delicious hoisin pork.
Okay, maybe that’s a little morbid. But still. Hoisin sauce is that good.
If you’ve never had hoisin sauce, it’s a Chinese dipping sauce, kind of like a barbecue sauce, made with vinegar, soybeans, sugar, water, red pepper and a few other things. It’s got a gorgeous dark color and a deep, velvety taste. Very delicious. Read the rest of this entry »
We report, you decide.
So I know I keep saying that I hate to bake, and yet I keep baking things. I really don’t like baking. But I really do like baked goods. And last night, I was bored. Boredom + want dessert = make cookies. Cookies are my favorite baked good of all time. And after I spent a long summer testing out a bazillion different methods and recipes, I finally nailed down a perfect basic chocolate chip cookie. I can churn out a batch in an hour. I have this down pat. And when the method is followed correctly, it makes perfect, round, soft, moist little cookies. In fact, I actually make all sorts of cookies with it. The base is a great delivery mechanism for all sorts of add-ins but chocolate chips are my favorite.
However, this time I thought I’d do something a bit different. Not drastic, but different. I said to myself, how about you throw in a little bit of cinnamon, since it is fall after all. And then other me said, hell, why not just toss in some pumpkin pie spice? It has everything. It’ll work. Trust me. Then I thought, sure. She looks legit.
So I did it. Josh loved them. And I have it on email record from several co-workers that they are “the best cookies I have ever made.” And these people know their cookies. So there you go. Read the rest of this entry »
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