Savory Tarts - With ease if you please!

What is it about savory that we just can't get enough of? When done right, it just doesn't get any better. The wonderful thing about savory is that no matter where you live, there are a bounty of recipes that will satisfy those cravings. And what do we usually do when we crave savory? Well, most of us don't do it right. We want it quick and easy; however, so many times quick and easy means running to the freezer or convenience store and grabbing a frozen packaged precooked item, popping it into the microwave and two minutes later, presto! It's ready.

The next time you settle for "presto", think about reading the nutritional facts on the back of the package. When was the last time you read that label that should sometimes come with a skull and cross bones with a warning, that gives you the good and bad news about what you're about to consume? Can we talk sodium? Some servings of those savory, quick foods can contain nearly an entire day's worth of sodium, an ingredient that can be more dangerous to your health than fat. It's also amazing to note the amount of sugar contained in some of those quick fixes for cravings.

All in all, you know you can do better in the kitchen with minimal effort and ingredients to fulfill the need to satisfy your savory cravings. And the fact that you have control over and know what's going into your creation, is all the better for you and your health. With proper fresh ingredients, herbs, and spices, you can turn a savory tart for example, into a not-to-bad-for-your-health dish. About the only thing you have to worry about is the puff pastry, which admittedly, is a bit over the top in regards to fats; however, with careful planning, you can counter the bad with the good you put into your filling. Using herbs instead of salt will minimize the sodium intake. Using low fat or part skim milk cheese will balance out the added fat in the crust. And using tasty vegetables, properly prepared, will provide a wonderful bouquet of savory flavors. Roasted red peppers, olives, shallots, and garlic offer wonderful taste enhancers that will satisfy your yearning for a savory bite. Read on . . .

Basil Roasted Game Hen

An incredible savory dish, Basil Roasted Game Hen offers a depth of flavors down to the bone. You'll forget that you're eating white meat from the chicken family. Let's be honest, chicken white meat can be very bland and if roasted or baked beyond the "point", it tends to become very dry. Fear not, follow this recipe and these little game hens will succulent and tender down to the last bite of breast meat.

Hear is your shopping list:

• 3 game hens, rinsed at patted dry
• 1 cube of butter, room temperature
• 4 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1/2 cup of chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 cup of chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon of garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of crushed black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 3 pinches of Cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons of peanut sauce

Directions 

1. Preheat oven to 400F (200c).
2. Rinse and pat dry each game hen and set aside.
3. Place butter, olive oil, basil, parsley, mustard, garlic salt, black pepper, salt, and Cayenne pepper in a small bowl.
4. With a spoon, mix all ingredients until well incorporated.
5. With each game hen, carefully separate the skin from the breast and back meat, including thighs with your index finger.
6. Once skin is loosened, carefully add a level teaspoon of the butter mixture to each quadrant between the skin and the meat.
7. Massage the surface of the skin with your thumb until butter mixture is well distributed throughout the back, thighs, and breast of each game hen.
8. Place hens in a large greased baking dish that is at least 1 inch deep.
9. Place in oven and bake at 400 (200) for 15 minutes, then turn down heat to 375 and continue baking for an additional 45 minutes, basting with some of the remaining butter mixture every 15 minutes, with a brush.
10. When ready, remove from the oven, place hens on a large serving platter.
11. Over medium heat, place baking dish with pan drippings on stove top burner and add the peanut sauce to liquid.
12. Use a spatula to deglaze the pan and stir until peanut sauce is well blended and sauce comes to a slow bubbling boil.
13. Remove from heat and add any remaining butter mixture to the sauce and stir until butter is well incorporated into sauce.
14. Pour a few spoons of the sauce over each game hen and pour remaining sauce in a sauce bowl. Serve hot, 1/2 game hen per person.

...and we're dancing Quiche to Quiche

Oh the joy of Quiche, having had its ups and downs over the years from the "in" dish of the "nouveau jet set" of 30 years ago to the "real men don't really eat it" crowd soon after. Once all the dust settles however, Quiche is the one left standing tall and oh so "Francais". It just goes to show that classics never die. They just take their places in the halls of tradition, Quiche being no exception. And in the end, real men can't resist nibbling at it from time to time.

One thing to be said, Quiche is clothed in many styles, from the traditional Lorraine adorned with bacon or jambon and onions, to the more elaborate outfits of tomatoes, capers, peppers, artichoke hearts, mushrooms, and shrimp; however, one thing that they all have in common is their cloak of cheese, lots of cheese! The favorite among these is Gruyere with its rich aroma and depth of flavors, a cheese that knows how to melt perfectly.

It's amazing how easy it is now days to make Quiche at home. There's really nothing to it. The pastry dough, usually the most time consuming part of the preparation can be purchased ready made in any supermarket. These packages come with a bottom and top crust. Both are the same size and since you'll only use one crust, each box contains enough dough to make 2 Quiches. The rest of the ingredients are easy to assemble with minor prep and cooking time.

Lorraine is what made Quiche famous in the West and so today you will learn how to make this classic. It should take no more than 90 minutes from start to slicing, so without further ado, let's begin with gathering the ingredients. This will make a 9 inch pie.

1/2 package of ready made pie dough, thawed
5 eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cup of heavy cream
1/2 lb. of bacon, cut into 1 inch strips
5 medium yellow onions, coarsely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 cups of grated Gruyere
1/2 teaspoon of ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 cup of parsley, finely chopped
2 pinches of nutmeg
1/4 cup of chicken stock (for deglazing)
1 9" spring form pan
3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of butter

You will notice the picture of the Quiche shown above was baked using a spring form pan as opposed to a pie dish. If you have a spring form pan that is about 9" in diameter, use that one. It will give your Quiche a whole new elegant "cheesecake" look.

Preheat your oven to 400F (200C). Grease the bottom and sides of your spring form pan. Roll out the sheet of pre-made pie dough and set it in the pan carefully, allowing the dough to come up the sides of the pan. Pat it down gently and poke holes at the bottom with a fork. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes. Remove and allow to cool. Turn oven down to 350F (170C).

While crust is cooling, prepare your other ingredients. In a large fry pan, saute the bacon over medium high heat. Add a bit of the olive oil if needed. Saute for about 5 minutes and remove bacon to a holding dish. Do not discard the pan drippings.

In the same pan, add the onions, garlic, and olive oil and saute over medium high heat. Continue to saute until onions begin to caramelize and turn a nice light brown. Now add the chicken stock to deglaze the pan. Add the butter and continue to saute until most of the liquid is absorbed. Turn heat off and set pan aside.

In a large bowl, add the eggs and lightly beat them. Add the cream and other ingredients except the onions, bacon, and cheese. Stir ingredients until well mixed.

Now add the onions to the mixture and stir well. Next, add 3/4 of the cheese and stir well. Now add the remaining cheese to the bottom of the pie crust, making sure bottom is well covered and then sprinkle the bacon over the layer of cheese so that bacon is well distributed throughout the bottom. The cheese and bacon layer will help withhold moisture from reaching the dough, thus making for a crispier crust. Finally, pour mixture over the bacon and cheese. Wrap the outside of the spring form pan with foil so no leakage will occur during baking. Bake at 350 for about an hour or until you can stick a tooth pick in and remains dry when removed. Should your Quiche surface begin to brown to quickly, you can place a sheet of foil over it about halfway, removing it during the final 15 minutes.

When done, remove from the oven and allow to set for about 30 minutes before removing the spring form ring. Touch and feel the surface to make sure it is solidifying during cooling. The crust sides will help keep the Quiche well shaped.

This Quiche can be served will a side salad of frizzy lettuce and butter lettuce leaves. A nice chilled white wine will work well as will a nice Riesling. Enjoy!

Quich'up n down, a qwirky name for such a wonderful twist on quiche

There is always a time during the year for a nice serving of quiche. The flavors of eggs, cheese, meats, and a flaky crust are such a treat for our taste buds. There was a time when it was the rage; however, as all things do, quich came and went and eventually found its niche. For those not aware, real men do eat quiche.

As always, I love to give traditoinal dishes a bit of a twist in my quest for renewal. I created the following recipe for a quiche like dish that through the aid of a fellow Food Buzzer, came up with a catchy name, Quich'up n down. Now you might wonder what the up and down is all about. Well, there is a crust at the bottom and a crumble crust at the top, but no crust around the edges. I took a big chance, wondering if when I unsprung the springform pan, the filling was going to hold like a cheesecake or ooze into a flat pudding type mess. Afterall, I not only had some good money invested in this, but also my pride. I will not keep you in suspense, it held tight to its shape. Eureka! But you already knew that just by the picture above. Let's get started with this very easy recipe with easy to use ingredients:

4 whole eggs
2 cups of milk or non fat half n half
1 tablespoon of flour (sifted)
1 1/2 cups of grated Gruyere
1 1/2 cups of grated Swiss
1/2 cup of fresh crab meat
1/2 cup of fresh shrimp, cut in pieces
4 cups (1 package) of fresh spinach chopped
1 puff pastry sheet
2 medium shallots, finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 dashes of salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper

There is a very interesting thing that happened that led to the making of this recipe. Originally, the puff pastry was to be made into little tart shells. Everything was going fine at the start, the pastry lined the tart molds, the oven was preheated, and in went the tart shells. Well, when they came out, I realized they had shrunk to the point where the sides were no longer sides, and the pastry was simply a set of "disks". Disappointed, I was not about to be defeated. I made a good thing out of a bad situation and after the puff pastry had cooled, I cut them all up into pieces, threw them into the food processor and made puff pastry crumbs. I added a tablespoon of butter so that the crumbs would stick together well. With that, I proceeded to make a bottom shell for this dish, using about a 7 inch springform mold. I saved some of the crumbs to cover the top once my quiche was half way through the cooking process. So now you know the story. Let's get on with the creation of this dish.

Preheat your oven to 400. Make sure to grease your springform pan completely before adding the crumbs to the bottom. Don't forget the sides! Take the springform pan that has the bottom crust and bake for about 10 minutes, carefully watching so that it doesn't get too dark. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. At this time leave your oven on, reducing the heat to 350.

In a bowl, add the eggs, the salt, and pepper and beat well. Set this aside. Take the milk and in a microwave safe bowl or measuring cup, heat on high for about 4 minutes to just before it comes to a boil. Do not boil otherwise it will just be too hot.

Once milk has been heated, carefully and a little at a time, add to the eggs while constantly beating. If you add the milk too quick, it will give you scrambled eggs. If you follow these directions, you'll have no problems and your custard mixture will be very smooth and velvety. Continue to add the milk a little at a time until you have completely mixed it well with the eggs. While the mixture is still hot, add half the cheese and the parsley and mix well. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan until it just begins to smoke over medium high heat. Quickly saute the spinach for about 1 minute, remove and allow to drain. You want as much moisture out of the spinach as possible so your quich will stay nice and solid.

Now saute in the same manner, the crab, shrimp, and shallots for just one minute, enough to draw some of the moisture out. Add to the custard mixture and still well. Pour the custard in you mold. Sprinkle the spinach evenly over the top and allow it to sink in a bit. Then sprinkle the remainder of the cheese over the top and pat the surface down so that the mixture has a smooth surface. So that your pan doesn't leak, line the bottom with foil and transfer to the oven. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. About 30 minutes before quiche is finished baking, add the rest of your crumbs to the top and return to the oven for the remainder of the time.

When fully baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool some for about 45 minutes. At this time, you may sprinkle some dry dill over the top as I did. Before you remove the springform, take a sharp knife and scrape around the edges so that the sides will no stick. Serve with a wonderful salad of Frizee lettuce with just a touch of olive oil and enjoy.

Apple Cream Cheese Palmiers

One of the things I don't like to do is throw food away. If you remember the other day when I made my Apple Calvados Cheese Cake, I had some leftover apple slices that I had cooked. I also had an extra package of cream cheese. I decided to come up with a little dessert (great for breakfast) that I thought you might like. This is very simple to make and it utilizes any of the leftovers you had from the cheese cake recipe, should you have chosen to make it - or if you make it in the future. I decided to call this Apple Cream Cheese Palmiers. What an original name, LOL. OK, here are the leftovers I had:

Brussel Sprouts Pastry Pockets

I had brussel sprout leaves left over from the Wilted Brussel Salad that I made the other day and was wondering what I could do with them. I love leftovers, whether it be from last night's dinner or ingredients that I didn't completely use up from a dish that I made previously. Either way, I consider them leftovers. One thing I like doing with them however, is to try and create a totally new dish, not just reheating them in the micro. So these brussel sprout leaves were just hangin around in the fridge next to a mozzarella ball and then it hit me. Why don't I come up with a baked dish that incorporates both? It sounded easy to me. I checked the freezer and noticed I still had a puff pastry sheet and that's when it all started coming together. I was going to make Brussel Sprout Pockets, filled with brussel sprout leaves, mozzarella, and cheddar.

They turned out very good and so I decided to share the recipe with you. This recipe is very easy to put together and tastes great hot or cooled. You can have it as an appetizer at dinner time or for lunch with a tossed green salad. Here's what you'll need:




1 Puff pastry sheet (Pepperidge Farm; be sure to thaw out a couple of hours before using)
4 Cups of brussel sprout leaves (or you can take brussel sprouts and slice them thin)
1/4 Cup chopped parsley
1 Cup of Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (or 4 slices from a Mozzarella cheese ball)
1/2 Cup of Sharp Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 Teaspoon of crushed garlic
Salt and Pepper
2 Tablespoons of flour
Egg wash (1 egg and 1 tablespoon of water beaten)

Fill a medium size pot 3 inches with water and bring to a boil. Add the brussel sprouts and cover, cooking for about 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from heat, strain very well and set aside to cool.

Unfold the puff pastry sheet onto a floured cutting board. Rub your rolling pin with flour. If you have parchment paper, use a sheet of that over the pastry sheet and you won't have to worry about the dough sticking to your roller. Proceed to roll out your sheet until you get a square approximately 14 inches by 14 inches. Make sure you don't roll it out too thin. Next, with a sharp knife, cut the sheet into 4 equal squares. If the edges are jagged, just use your knife to cut nice straight sides.

Once the brussel sprouts have cooled,  gently squeeze any remaining moisture out and put them in a bowl, adding the crushed garlic, parsley, and salt/pepper to taste. Mix all ingredients well. At this point, you may take a small handful of the mozzarella cheese (if you used shredded) and add it to the bowl and mix in well. Preheat your oven to 425.

We will now start filling our pockets. Before you do, with a brush, coat all the edges of each pastry square with the egg wash, approximately 1/2 inch wide. Now, in the center of each square, add some of the brussel sprout leaves so that doesn't go beyond the egg washed edges. Your pastry squares are about 7"x7" and the brussel sprouts will cover  a space of about 2" wide by about 6" in length. Next, add some of the shredded cheddar. Finally, add the shredded mozzarella or if you used slices from the mozzarella ball, cut each slice in half and place them onto the brussel sprouts.

Now, carefully fold one side of each square over the brussel sprouts and cheese so that each corner connects with their opposite corner and created a nice pocket. Gently push down on the sides to fuse the seams together. With a fork, push gently down to make imprints of the fork teeth all the way around the fused seams. Use your brush to lightly egg wash the surface of each pocket. Set the pockets on non stick baking sheet or a greased sheet. You may also line the sheet with parchment paper. Before transferring to the oven, use a tooth pick to punch 4 holes in each of the pockets. Bake at 425 for approximately 25 minutes or until the pastry pockets are golden brown. Remove from oven and let set for about 5 minutes before serving. This is another great way of presenting brussel sprouts to those that may not otherwise like them. Enjoy!

Meat Loaf En Croute - You've never had it this way!

Bonjour! The weather is changing and evenings are cooling off. You come home from work soaked from the cold Autumn rain. Yes, it is that season again when warm and hearty dinners become the desire. Beef stews, split pea soups, and hearty pasta dishes are once again at the top of the food chain. Oh, but wait! I forgot the meat loaf. Yes, meat loaf is definitely right up there with all the other wonderful Autumn and Winter dishes; however, once you have prepared my version of this dish, you will want to have it throughout all the seasons.

"En croute" is French for "wrapped in pastry". Hence, Meat Loaf en Croute is meat loaf wrapped in pastry. I had this for dinner late last week and it was a hit. The combination of savory meats, onions, and cheese wrapped in a light and flaky pastry crust is just too delicious to describe. You'll just have to make it and try it for yourself. It presents itself very elegantly at the dinner table and the great thing about this dish is its simplicity to make; you've already prepared the meat before, if you tried my stuffed peppers in a previous post. The recipe for the meat is the same, well almost. So let's get started and gather our ingredients:

1 Puff pastry sheet
1/2 pound of ground beef (20% fat)
1/2 pound of plain ground pork (do not use pork saussage or Italian or anything like that)
1/2 cup of either Panko or plain bread crumbs
1/2 white or yellow onion, minced (food processor works great)
1 medium red tomato, chopped finely
4 garlic cloves, minced (you can put them in the processor along with the onion)
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
1 whole egg
1/2 cup of finely grated Swiss, Gruyere, or Parm.
2 tablespoon of flour
3 tablespoons of olive oil
3 tablespoons of Worcestershire Sauce
2 tablespoons of Tomato Paste
4 pinches of salt
4 pinches of pepper

Remove pastry sheet from the freezer a good couple of hours beforehand. Take and prepare all your ingredients. If you have a smaller food processor, it will work well to mince your onions and garlic. Otherwise, just used a sharp bladed knife. In a large bowl, add the meat, bread crumbs, onion, tomato, garlic, parsley, egg,  tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, and using your hands, mix very well until those ingredients are incorporated. Now add half of the cheese and half of the flour, and mix well until ingredients have been well mixed with the meats. Form into a ball.

Take the remaining flour and spread it over a cutting board and begin to roll the meat out into a cylinder shape 2 1/2 inches in diameter by 10 inches in length. Make sure that when you roll it out that the meat captures as much of the flour so that the loaf has a thin coat of it all around. Set aside carefully.

In a 10 inch frying pan, add the olive oil and heat over medium heat. When oil is hot, add the meat carefully and saute, turning it on all sides until it is well browned and has some caramelization on the surface. I have found that if you turn it a quarter turn every 3 minutes, that tends to work fine. Touching it, there should be a nice semi hard surface and it should have a little give. Remember, 90 percent of the cooking is in your pan. The oven will simply heat it back up and finish the remaining 10 percent cooking. You just want to make sure that it's not going to be dried out. When finished, remove the loaf and set it on a plate and allow to cool.

After meat has cooled, preheat your oven to 425 and  prepare your pastry sheet. Make sure your cutting board is completely clean and dry. Sprinkle flour to cover board surface and also rub flour on your rolling pin. Set the pastry sheet on the board and unfold it carefully. Begin to roll out the sheet, rolling in a single direction. Now if my memory of Geometry still serves me and your meat loaf was the dimensions I specified, you will need to roll out a rectangle of 13 inches by 7.97 inches.... so just round it off to 8 inches wide, ok? Just make sure you don't roll it too thin.

Finally, spread the remaining grated cheese down the length of the sheet, leaving an inch on the borders for your egg wash. You may sprinkle some parsley if you desire. Brush an egg wash (egg and teaspoon of water mix) on all the edges. Take the meat and set it on the pastry sheet lengthwise and carefully begin to roll the pastry while roling the loaf. Once completely rolled, pinch the ends and secure the seam. You can use a fork if you wish, leaving an imprint up and down the seam. Turn the loaf so that the seam is at the bottom. With a sharp knife, make 1 inch slits diagonally, about 1 to 2 inches apart. Brush some of the remaining egg wash over the pastry.  Place on a non stick cookie sheet and bake for about 20 minutes or until the pastry has puffed up and is a nice golden color. Remove from oven and allow to sit for about 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

When serving, slice along the slits that you made, that way the pastry won't break up and you will have nice long diagonal slices. Nice corkscrew macaroni lightly tossed in a tablespoon of tomato paste, olive oil, and grated parm works wonderfully. Finish off with a salad of mixed greens. No need for bread or slice of cheese because you already have both in your Meat Loaf en Croute. Try a nice Pinot with this dish. Bon Appetit !

Les Escargots de Bourgogne

Now you knew this dish was going to come up sooner or later, right? I want to talk about Escargots for a moment. Once I have shared a few facts about this delicacy, I hope that you will have a renewed opinion. I direct this at those of you who have never tried them. Those of you that have need no introduction or convincing as to how wonderful they are.

Here are some simple facts. Most of the escargots that are eaten come from France. Their cultivation is strictly regulated by the food and safety arm of the government. The escargots are cultivated in a "cage" configuration that doesn't enable any of them to set foot on the ground. The more famous and well known of these species is the Escargots de Bourgogne, which are of the larger variety, and have a subtile flavor with an herbal bouquet. They can be found in most supermarkets such as Kroger's, Albertson's, and Safeway, and are sold in cans of a dozen. Servings should consist of at least 1/2 dozen per person.

I love to prepare Escargots de Bourgogne for my dinner guests. Thankfully, all that attend my dinner parties love these little morsels so I'm a happy camper. All too often, food preparers have a tendency to overwhelm the escargots with tons of garlic. This tends to kill your ability to taste the herbal essence that is so typical of the Escargots de Bourgogne. This recipe that I will share with you is my own creation and after experientation time and time again, I think that I have perfected the dish (at least for my taste). Again, the escargots can be found in most supermarkets and the shells, which are reusable, are usually located right on the same shelf and come with a can of 1 dozen escargots.

For a serving of 4 dinner guests you will need:

2 dozen large Escargots de Bourgognes and 2 dozen escargot shells
1 shallot (finely minced)
3 cloves of garlic (finely minced and crushed)
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
2 cubes of butter (yes, that's cubes. You may not use it all, but we'll spread some on bread)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of "white" pepper
1 tablespoon of dry white wine
2 drops of white truffle oil (if you have it -- try)
2 drops of garlic oil (sometimes it's "garlic truffle oil")
1 French Baguette (might want to get 2 of them)

You are probably going to have to buy a few things that you don't have in your kitchen; however, all these items can be used over again or used in other food preparation. First, if you can find escargots baking plates and they aren't expensive, that is good. Otherwise, you can buy some of the pre-sliced bags of French bread and cut a hole in the center of the slice so that you can place the escargot shell upright in the oven, like the picture illustrates. Then, you might want to buy those little escargot clamps that allow you to grab the shells so that you can scoop out the escargot. I haven't come up with a substitute for that. Scooping them out can be done with the little cocktail forks or.... tooth picks.

OK, now lets get the butter paste together. Make sure the butter has been out of the fridge for a good hour. Place the butter in a bowl and blend until it's a nice smooth paste. Now add the salt and pepper, along with the garlic and truffle oil and blend well. If you find "garlic truffle oil" then use 3 drops and forget the white truffle oil, ok? Mince your shallot, garlic, and parsley very finely. If you have one of those mini food grinders, that'll work great. Once that is done, add it to the butter mixture along with the white wine and mix well until blended.

Preheat your oven to 400. Take the escargots and rinse them in cold water and drain. For each shell, start by adding a little of the butter paste into the opening, then add an escargot and push it in. Now plug the hole with some more butter mixture and set on your escargot baking dish or on the improvised "holely bread". Continue that until all shells are filled. Place on a cookie sheet so drippings to spill into the oven. Bake at 400 for 10 to 12 minutes or until the butter is bubbling. Remove and serve 6 per person along with slices of baguette to sop up the butter sauce. It is best that escargots are served hot, but be careful because they are really hot. Enjoy !!

Who Doesn't Like Stuffed Peppers? Well, You Will Now !

Stuffed Peppers is one of those menu items that is so easy to make and yet when properly presented on a plate, so elegant to serve. Remember when I told you all how we do a lot of our eating with our eyes? This is one of those moments. There is one thing to be aware of, however. Because we want to make sure the peppers are nicely cooked, many tend to overbake and thereby drying out the stuffing, whether it be meat or grain. I will explain how to overcome this so that your Stuffed Peppers will always be moist and flavorful.

Let's talk about preparing the peppers first. I know that "parboil" is a word that everybody knows; however, with the exception of bread products, I don't think "parbaking" is known for preparing of vegetables. If anyone out there knows otherwise, please email me and let me know. I'm not too old to still be learning. So, with that in mind, you will need 6 medium sized red and/or yellow peppers (nice oval shaped). Preheat your oven to 400. Place peppers on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, turning  them over at 10 minutes. Remove them and set aside to cool. Reduce your oven temp to 350.

Now that you have "parbaked" your peppers, while they are cooling, let's get the rest of the ingredients together and do our prep work. Are you ready?  Let's do it then:

1/2 pound of ground beef (20% fat)
1/2 pound of plain ground pork (do not use pork saussage or Italian or anything like that)
1/2 cup of either Panko or plain bread crumbs
1/2 white or yellow onion, minced (food processor works great)
1 medium red tomato, chopped finely
4 garlic cloves, minced (you can put them in the processor along with the onion)
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
1 whole egg
1/4 cup of finely grated Swiss, Gruyere, or Parm.
1 tablespoon of flour
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire Sauce
2 tablespoons of Tomato Paste
4 pinches of salt
4 pinches of pepper

I want to pause here to let you know the amount of salt used is one's personal preference; therefore, you might want more or less than 4 pinches of it for your taste. OK, put all the ingredients into a large bowl, starting with the meat at the bottom. We now want to mix all of this together and I have found the best utensil for doing this are my hands. Dig in, let's get dirty and use your hands to thoroughly mix all ingredients together. Once you've played long enough with your food, go wash your hands.

Now that the peppers have cooled, take a very sharp knife and carefully cut each one in half with the cut being somewhat diagonal (for effect). Remove the seeds and excess filaments. Remember to NOT CUT OFF the stem! You want to make the pepper look whole for presentation. Once you have prepped all the peppers, using a tablespoon, carefully begin stuffing each of the halves, putting the halves back together and placing them into your baking pan. Bake at 350 in the middle rack of your oven for about 50 minutes. For an additional 5 minutes, you can set the oven to broil so that the tops of the peppers can get a skin browning if you wish.

Once baked, remove the peppers and place them all in a long serving dish. You may want to carefully "reslice" the peppers exactly where you originally sliced them because the meat may have fused the two halves together. There will be pan drippings that we are now going to use as our sauce. Pour the pan drippings in a sauce pan, add 1 teaspoon of tomato paste, 1/4 cup of cream, and using a regular or preferably a spring whisk, mix well over medium low heat until sauce begins to steam. Remove and pour over or around the peppers and serve. So the sauce stays warm, I like to warm my serving dish and the best way to do this is to put the dish and the peppers in the oven after you have shut it off. Just leave it in the oven while you're preparing the sauce, usually about 4 minutes. Take care to use an oven mitten when removing the dish.

I think you will love these Stuffed Peppers. The meats will be perfectly cooked and not dry. A perfect side dish is corkscrew macaroni, cooked al dente, and tossed with a tablespoon of tomato paste and a drizzle of olive oil, just like in Italy. Serve with a nice glass of Syrah or Bolla Chella wine.

VEGETARIAN ALERT !!

If you are a Vegan, throw out the meat and use Bob's Red Mill High Protein TVP (textured vegetable protein). To rehydrate the TVP before using, pour 7/8 cup of boiling vegetable stock into  1 cup of TVP and let stand for about 5 to 10 minutes. Drain and mix into the other ingredients as you would with the meat. Also, take a couple of brown mushrooms and 1 medium carrot and mince both, add to the mixture. Add a teaspoon of olive oil. This substitute recipe should produce a very nice moist stuffed pepper without the meat. If you make this, let me know how you liked it.

Crown Mocha Brandy Cheese Cake

I thought I had died and gone to Heaven upon the first bite I took of my latest recipe for cheese cake. I made this yesterday and throughout the afternoon and into late evening, the aroma of that cake having baked in the oven left me with a feeling of being in a pastry shop. So wonderfully intoxicating, I could have inhaled it whole (and ended up at the emergency room) had I not regained my sense of restraint. I compromised, settled in my favorite chair, and savored a slice of what may be the best cheese cake I have ever had.

Now don't get me wrong. I have partaken of some wonderful cheese cakes in my years and I have made them on several occasions, including New York style (one of my favorites). Maybe this time the planets and stars were all lined up properly and I had a stroke of luck. Whatever the case may be this time around, this cheese cake is neither the dry cake like New York style nor the gooey, wetter type. Instead, it is more like a high end velvety mousse au chocolat style. I tweaked my recipe a bit and that may have made all the difference.

This is not labor intensive or complicated to make, so let's get started. You definately will want to make this. For the filling, you will need:

3 packages of cream cheese (8 oz each), room temperature
1/2 cup of sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of Brandy (or 1/4 teaspoon Brandy extract)
2 1/2 tablespoons of flour
3 eggs and 1 egg yolk
1/4 cup of heavy cream
2 tablespoons chocolate syrup
dash of salt

For the crust, you will need:

1 cup of sifted flour
1/4 cup of sugar
1/4 teaspoon of vanilla
1 teaspoon of Brandy
1 cube of butter, room temperature
1 egg yolk

In a food processor, blend the flour and sugar for a few seconds. Next, cut the cube of butter into 8 pieces and blend in one at a time, followed by the vanilla, Brandy, and egg yolk. It should quickly turn into a dough. Remove from processor and form a ball. Set in a bowl and refridgerate for 30 to 45 minutes. Be sure to cover bowl with a paper towel.

About 15 minutes before removing pastry dough from the fridge, preheat your oven to 400. Now remove the dough and roll out a tube shape about 6 inches long. Be sure to flour your cutting board and roller well. This is where I sometimes run into trouble with the pastry dough sticking and it can become frustrating. You probably have found ways to get around the sticking and if so, use your method. Now cut your tube of pastry dough into 3 equal parts, set 2 parts aside. Take one piece and roll it out carefully to make a circle approximately 9 inches in diameter. Take an 8 or 9 inch springform pan and remove the bottom. Make sure the pan is at least 3 inches deep. Carefully lay the rolled pastry dough onto the springform bottom, patching if necessary, and bake for about 12 minutes or until pastry dough is light golden. Watch it carefully as this bakes quickly. Remove from oven and set aside to cool. Increase oven heat to 450.

Now you will make the filling. In your food processor, add the cream cheese and blend until it's smooth. Next, add your dry ingredients a little at a time while blending. Once the dry ingredients are well incorporated into the cream cheese, start adding the eggs and egg yolk one at a time. Once well blended, add the Brandy, vanilla, and cream and continue blending well. At the final stage, add the chocolate syrup and pulse the processor a few times. Set mixture aside.

The pastry bottom should now have cooled. Spray the sides of the springform pan with cooking spray (preferably the butter type) and reconnect the pan together. Take the two remaining pieces of the pastry dough and roll out 2 strips about 3 inches wide. Carefully place the dough around the inside wall of the springform pan, making sure it covers the sides to the top. If you need to, go ahead and do patchwork with any remaining dough. Now slowly add the filling and smooth out so it is even all the way across. Pat the pan on the counter so the mixture settles well. The mixture should have filled the pan slightly over half way up.

Place in the middle of the oven and reduce temperature to 400 and bake for about 12 minutes. Reduce temperature to 225 and bake for 55 minutes. When done, remove from oven and set on board to cool for about 45 minutes, then refridgerate for at least an hour, preferably 2 hours. To display, carefully remove springform ring so as not to break the crust and set on a nice large white plate. Slice and set each piece on a puddle of half whipped cream or melted vanilla ice cream. Enjoy, I certainly did !

FOR THE VEGANS !! Portabella and Roasted Red Pepper Lasagna

OK my vegetarians, I have not forgotten you and never will. This Lasagna will certainly pass the test for you as well as all those meat eaters out there. But there is not an ounce of meat in this dish. My Portabella and Roasted Red Pepper Lasagna is absolutely wonderful (even if I say so myself). But don't take my word for it, try it at home and you will see!

This Lasagna is not made in the traditional method you may be accustomed to with a tomato base. Since you now know how to make a Bechamel Sauce, you will also learn how to make a Mornay Sauce by simply melting shredded swiss in the sauce. And Mornay is what we are using today instead of tomato sauce. Finally, I want to let you all know that with the exception of the use of butter, all the rest of the dairy products are either no fat, low fat, or skim. But don't worry, flavor has not been sacrificed. OK, here's what we need:

For the Sauce:

5 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 tablespoons flour
7 cups fat free half n half or 2 % milk (cold or room temp)
1 8oz package of baby fresh spinach
1 cup grated low fat swiss cheese
salt and pepper
dash of nutmeg

For the Ricotta mixture:

1 large tub of low fat Ricotta cheese
2 egg yokes
1/4 cup basil, chopped
1/2 cup fat free half n half

...and the rest of the ingredients:

2 packages of Barilla Flat Lasagna pasta (No boiling required, cooks in the oven)
2 1/2 lbs sliced baby Portabella mushrooms
2 8oz packages of low fat shredded Mozzarella
2 8oz packages of low fat shredded Swiss
1/2 cup chopped parsley
8 cloves chopped garlic
6 roasted red peppers sliced lengthwise (or 2 jars of ready roasted peppers)
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and pepper

Now I know what you're thinking about now, that this is going to be quite a complicated task. Please understand this is very easy to make if you just remember to do your prep work first. Chop all the stuff that needs to be chopped and set all aside. Preheat your oven to 375. Have a 9 x 12 or 9 x 13 oven safe Lasagna tray ready. Make sure it's at least 2 inches deep and if you have one that's 3 inches deep that's even better.

The order of preparing each part of this Lasagna is to prepare your Ricotta mixture first, saute mushrooms second, and your sauce third. Fourth is simply assembling your Lasagna in your pan. OK, first add all the Ricotta ingredients together in a large bowl and mix well until everything is incorporated. Set aside.

In a large saute pan (the largest you have), heat 1/2 of the olive oil at medium heat. Add your mushrooms and saute for a couple of minutes. Then drizzle the rest of the olive oil on top and continue to saute until mushrooms begin to brown. Now add your garlic and parsley, stir and continue to saute for another couple of minutes. Never Never salt your mushroom while ccooking. Salt will draw out the moisture and you will get soggy mushrooms. You may pepper however. When mushrooms are nicely browned, remove them from the heat and set aside in a large bowl, salt, and stir.

Now you are ready to make your "Mornay" sauce. In a large sauce pan, melt all the butter at medium heat. Once melted, add the flour and stir until a nice blonde roux is made. Continue to cook at medium for a couple of minutes taking care not to brown the roux. Turn heat down if you need to. Then slowly add your milk about a cup at a time. Stir constantly so that the first part of the liquid nicely absorbs with the roux and makes a smooth thick semi paste. Continue to add the milk, stirring constantly. When all the milk is added, you should have a smooth silky sauce which will thicken as it reaches a slow boil. Reduce heat to medium low and continue to slow boil for about 5 more minutes. Now you can add your cheese and stir as you notice cheese melting. Sauce will be thickened. If you need to, add a bit more milk. Cook for a few more minutes and then start adding the spinach a handful at a time. Finally, add your salt and pepper and taste for flavor. Lower heat to warm.

You are now ready to assemble. We will be layering our ingredients together. Start by ladling some of your sauce at the bottom of your Lasagna pan to coat the entire bottom. This will keep the pasta from sticking and will also aid in cooking. Now add your first set of pasta sheets. Where you can, overlap the sheets about 1/4 inch. Next, take the Ricotta mixture and spread a nice even  coat about 1/4 inch thick over the pasta sheets.It doesn't have to be perfect! Then add a layer of the mushrooms and roasted peppers and cover that with a layer of the two cheeses (you can mix the cheeses ahead of time). Finally, ladle a layer of sauce so as to completely cover the grated cheese. You have just completed the first layer. Now start all over again... pasta, Ricotta, mushrooms and peppers, cheese, sauce. The top layer should be covered with grated cheese.

Tap the Lasagna pan on the counter a couple of times and bake in the oven for 1 hour, checking it at the 45 minute mark. At 1 hour, your Lasagna should be a golden color with some brown peaks. If you want, you can put the oven on broil for the final 3 minutes. When finished, remove from oven and let sit for about 15 minutes before serving. Bon appetit! You and your family will love this. A nice dinner salad of tossed romaine works wonderful following this dish. Serve with a chilled Rose wine or a Chardonnay. For non alcoholic, try a glass of chilled apple cider.

Oh You Little Cream Puff !! Here's A New Twist on Turnovers.

Here's a new twist on turnovers that I tried over the weekend and I experimented with my dinner guests. They loved these little morsels. In keeping with the theme of my blog site, these are so simple to make and so so good!

You will need a pastry bag with a tip. I've included a picture courtesy of Wikipedia below. You can make your own by using a plastic sandwich bag and cutting a small hole at one of the corners. You will need a puff pastry sheet rolled out so that it makes a close to perfect square, but don't roll it thin, it must stay pretty thick. Cut the pastry sheet into 4 equal squares. Wet the edges of each square with either an egg wash (egg with a teaspoon of water) or  a little bit of milk or cream. Take each square and connect opposite corners to make a triangle. Then pat down the edges so they are sealed together. Finally, use a fork and make a nice imprint along the two edges that you sealed. Now you should have 4 empty turnover shells ready to bake. With your egg wash, brush a thin layer on each turnover so that they will bake to a shiny gold color.

Preheat your oven to 425. Set the 4 turnovers on a cookie sheet that is lined with parchment paper and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until they have puffed up nicely and have some nice golden mounds. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Now for the filling. You'll love this combination. Here's what you need:



1 cup of creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup of marscarpone (a creamy sweet cheese kind of like cream cheese, only better)
1/4 cup raspberry jam
1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup Reeser's peanut butter chips
3 tablespoons of heavy cream
1 capful of amaretto extract (or 2 tablespoons of the liquor)
1 can of lite whipping cream

Combine all ingredients except the can of whipping cream into a food processor and pulse beat until everything is well blended and creamy. Now take half of the mixture and put it into your pastry bag. Once your turnovers have cooled, stick the end of the pastry bag carefully into one side of the turnover and carefully squeeze about 2 tablespoons into the cavity. Take the nozzle of the can of whipping cream and carefully stick it into the other side of the turnover and very carefully press the nozzle and fill about 2 tablespoons of the whipping cream into the cavity of the turnover. Repeat for each turnover and serve as soon as possible.

These are so delicious and yummy, yet so easy to make. They are quite a treat after a nice dinner. The pastry is so flaky and the combination with the cream and peanut butter mixture will totally satisfy any sweet tooth, guaranteed! And please, just for tonight, forget about the calories!

You Won't Slave In The Kitchen With These Appetizers - Crusteons

The first time I came up with these was about 48 hours ago. I had an idea of combining small pitted black olives and garbanzo beans in an easy to make appetizer. Realizing that garbanzo beans had a propensity to be dry, they would soak up the moisture of the olives and as the saying goes, opposites attract, I would have a delicious morsel in my hands. Well, these two ingredients did not fail me and along with a few enhancers, I had come up with a wonderful tasty treat that I have decided to share with you. Oh, that first batch I made? I ate every one of them! Oink Oink.

OK, let's get started. We will need to get all of our ingredients together so here they are:

1 can of small black pitted olives, left whole
1 can of garbanzo beans
3 cloves of garlic, minced (that means tiny tiny pieces)
1/3 cup of parsley chopped
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
2 splashes of balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon of coarse ground black pepper
1 French Baguette, sliced in 1/2 inch thick slices
2 cups of grated Parmesan cheese

Did you notice there was one ingredient that I did not include? It was salt, because I think there is enough sodium in the ingredients to render this appetizer plenty flavorful; having said that, if you desire a bit more saltiness, you can add additional salt OR if you have anchovies, crush one up and add to the mixture.

Add 1/3 of the Parmesan cheese and all the other ingredients (except the bread) in a food processor with the chopping blade. Start with the garbanzo beans, then the olives, and finish up with the cheese at the top. Pulse chop until mixture has the consistency of what cooked ground beef for tacos looks like (do you get what I'm seeing?). You don't want to turn this into a puree or paste. Make sure all ingredients are well mixed together.

Now take a teaspoon and start spreading a liberal amount of the mixture on each of the slices of bread, making sure to pat it down so that the mixture doesn't fall off the sides. Once you've done that, sprinkle enough of the Parmesan cheese on each piece to cover completely (you may pat the cheese down a bit also). Place each of your slices on a cookie sheet and cook under the broiler in your oven for about 5 minutes or until cheese has melted and has golden brown peaks. Remove and set aside for a few minutes, plate, and then serve to your guests, along with a sweet vermouth and orange martini. If you don't consume alcohol, try a cocktail of clamato juice, a splash of club soda, and a lime twist, poured into a salt rimmed martini glass. Enjoy this appetizer I call Crusteon for it's crunchy, Southern European flavors. Bueno Appetito.

The Winner Is...Coquilles Saint-Jacques

By a majority vote in our September Poll, you chose Coquilles Saint-Jacques as the dish you would most like me to prepare. I have not failed you. I prepared this King of Seafood dish for lunch with Mom today. As impressive and complicated as it looks, I assure you there is nothing to fear about its preparation, as I have promised to keep it simple for you. In merely one hour's time, you can be serving this at your dinner table and I kid you not when I say it tastes as delicious as it looks. Those of you that have had this at my dinner table will agree with me.

Coquilles Saint-Jacques is French for Scallops. Apparently, the scallop shells were a symbol of the Crusaders of the Order of Saint James (St. Jacques in French and Santiago in Spanish). James intervened to try and save the life of a drowning knight. When the knight emerged out of the sea covered with scallop shells, everyone proclaimed it as a miracle and the scallop was named Coquille Saint-Jacques in honor of James. And that's the story of Coquilles Saint-Jacques, which translates in English to The Shells of St. James. Now whether that was a history lesson or a folklore tale is for the reader to decide. I kind of like to think that it really happened.

The first thing you want to have before you make this dish is either authentic scallop shells (if you can get them off the knight) , ceramic scallop shell ramekins, or shallow oval shaped regular ramekins. Any of these can be found in stores like World Mart or Pier 1 Imports. You might also find them easily online. They shouldn't cost more than $3 each on the higher end. I got my authentic shells at World Mart a few years ago and my ceramic ones at Linens N Things a couple of years ago, before they closed down. In any case, make sure they are 5 to 6 inches in diameter and about an inch deep for the ramekins. If they are very inexpensive, pick up a dozen of them.

Now we can put together our shopping list. This dish will probably run you about $4.00 a serving; however, as you will see, it's worth every bite. I made 4 of them today and I spent about $15 and this recipe will serve 4 as an appetizer or 2 as an entree. Get your pen and pad and here we go:

1/2 lb. of large sea scallops (large scallops stay more moist and succulent)
1/2 lb. of bay shrimp
1/2 lb. grated Swiss cheese (if you want to use Gruyere, even better but more expensive)
2 strips of plain bacon, fried semi crispy, chopped up and set aside
5 med button mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons of all purpose flour
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter
2 cloves of garlic chopped finely
1 large shallot chopped finely
2 tablespoons of finely chopped parsley
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/4 cup of anise liquor (Ouzo, Ricard, or Pernod)
1 1/2 cups of milk or fat free half n half
1 cup of fish stock or chicken stalk, I prefer fish stock, really brings out the flavor
salt
pepper (if you have white pepper, that's great, but not a deal breaker)

Remember, what will make your kitchen experience enjoyable is to do your prep work before the heat goes on. So do all your chopping, slicing, and measuring before anything else. Being organized makes cooking run smoother and mistakes hitting the high road.

Start with a pan that's about 10 inches in diameter and a couple of inches deep. Spray with a bit of Pam and add the 2 tablespoons of olive oil and heat at med high. Saute your shallots, garlic, and mushrooms together until ingredients get soft and shallots are translucent (about 3 minutes). You don't want your shallots and garlic to caramelize (get browned), so if your heat is too high, turn it down a bit. When ready, pour the anise liquor in and stir with a wooden spatula so as to "deglaze" the pan. Pour the ingredients into a bowl and set aside. Make sure your empty pan is clean of any debris from what you've just sauteed. Now the next step. You are doing just fine so far.

Now you are going to make a roux (pronounced roo). A roux is the base for a sauce. It is made with flour and fat, in this case, butter. One thing to remember is the more you cook a roux the darker it gets. If you want to make a darker or brown sauce, you cook at a higher heat. A light sauce will require you preparing the roux at a lower temperature so that it doesn't brown. With seafood, you want to make a "white" sauce, so turn your heat to medium low to start and add your butter. Once the butter has melted, add your flour and start stirring. I find a wooden spatula works great because you can easily scrape the bottom of the pan so nothing sticks. Once the flour has mixed well with the butter, keep stirring and turn the heat up just a bit. You will notice the mixture getting thicker and may even start looking like a paste. This is perfect so far.

Now you are going to slowly add the milk while constantly stirring, making sure the roux is mixing well with the liquid. You will notice the liquid thickening. Turn your heat up to medium and finish adding the milk. Stir and mix well and let it get to a real light boil (a few bubbles start appearing). Keep this from becoming a roaring boil, OK? Allow it to thicken and cook for a few minutes and then slowly add the fish (or chicken) stock, all the while stirring. Bring back to a slow bubbling, stir for about 5 minutes. This is allowing the flour to cook so your sauce won't have that pasty taste. When you're making a sauce with roux and liquid, always make sure the liquid is cold and not hot. Otherwise, you'll have clumpy sauce. Just remember, opposites attract.

Next, you are slowly going to add about half of your grated cheese to your sauce and stir. Remember, when you stir, be sure to be scraping at the bottom so there's no sticking. Once half the cheese is in your sauce, add your cooked mushrooms, shallots, and garlic and stir to blend. Now add your bacon, scallops and shrimp and allow to cook for no more than 4 more minutes. Add the parsley, salt and pepper to taste. Put your scallop shells (or ramekins) on a cookie sheet, turn your oven to broil, and the oven rack about 6 inches from the coils. Start spooning the ingredients into the shells to just about 1/8 inch from the rim. Now sprinkle the cheese generously on top to cover the sauce completely. Pop it into the oven and let broil for about 5 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling and gets a nice browning. Remove from oven and let set 5 minutes before serving. Serve with crusty French bread, a tossed green salad, and a glass of white burgundy or Chardonnay. You are going to think you died and went to heaven and your guests will be asking you for the recipe; however, you'll know what to tell them, right? Go to http://www.nonchefnick.blogspot.com/.... that's what you'll tell them. (photo by Dominique Roche)