In comes Crudités! The harvest season seems a bit longer this year, due to the strange weather, so the farmer’s market is still awash with beautiful fall vegetables. I wanted to showcase their beauty and color. You can use any variety of veggies that you can get your hands on. Our platter had 2 varieties of radishes, green beans, Persian cucumbers, carrots, radicchio, baby bell peppers, asparagus, and some pistachios for crunch. We served our veggies with two sauces, a homemade aioli and homemade Caesar dressing.
Category: France
Stuffed Pork Roast with Anchovies, Olives, and Tomatoes
I stuffed the pork with some red pepper flakes, oregano and anchovies and roasted the stuffed pork logs in a wine sauce with onions, tomatoes, capers, and Kalamata olives.
The pork and sauce turned out amazing! We boiled some potatoes and smashed them up a bit to serve as a bed. Serve a light, crisp salad on the side.
Seared Steak with Roast Carrots, Tomatillos, and Carrot Top Chimichurri
This weekend, I had the pleasure of gathering another half a dozen beautiful tomatoes, a little purple bell pepper, and I decided to dig up my carrots. I have been looking forward to pulling those carrots out of the ground for months. It was finally carrot time!
I grew one large carrot, and the others were kind of wonky, but still delicious. I grew heirloom rainbow carrots and was thrilled to see that I grew some orange, some white, and one really pretty purple carrot. Since the harvest was rather small, I wanted to make sure I present them honorably, and wanted to make use of the carrot tops, which were very plentiful.
Of Crème Brûlée and Cognac
Is there a more amazing combination? I am have had a hard time finding one. I have become really interested in cognac of late. I have been doing a lot of reading and tasting different types. One of my favorite things in the world is when my dad comes over for an evening of cognac and philosophical conversations.
Seared Scallops with Cilantro Chutney
I always keep cilantro chutney on hand, it is one of my most popular recipes from my India dinner. It lasts for a long time and is beautiful on pork, salmon, naan, and almost anything I have tried it on.
Today, I decided to serve it with some beautifully seared scallops. It was so delicious, and so quick to make! I highly recommend as a light starter, or over a nice risotto as a main course! Yum!
Lapin Bourguignonne with Porcini Mushrooms – Rabbit Burgundy
I love Boeuf Bourguignonne. It is an incredible rich and savory recipe. A while back, I decided that I could use rabbit instead, and it worked marvelously! It is now one of my mainstay fall/winter recipes. Instead of button mushrooms, I use Porcini mushrooms to pair an earthy flavor with the rabbit. It is a really wonderful combination. I use dried mushrooms and add the water I use to re-hydrate them into the stock, the flavor is amazing!
Perfect Cheese Plate
In America, the cheese course is something that happens at the beginning of the meal, as an appetizer of sorts. However, in France, the cheese course is a bridge between the main dishes and the dessert, in fact, it is frequently served in place of dessert. I really wanted to celebrate that idea on my birthday (and it meant I didn’t have to cook quite as much!).
Vanilla Cake with Raspberry Filling and Cream Cheese Frosting
I have been making this cake in one format or another for years now. I keep several jars raspberry jam in stock at all times! In fact, you can find the recipe for my Raspberry Jam here. The raspberry jam soaks into the air bubbles in my dense vanilla sour cream cake and saturates it with even more flavor. Because of this, I prefer to make my cream cheese frosting a bit under-sweetened, so you are not overloaded with sugar. I am an advocate of thin layers of cake, so I slice my cake layers into 1/2 inch slices, so each round is always a 4 layer cake….it brings me raspberry flavored joy! Each slice is the best slice if you don’t have to look for one with enough filling and frosting! Don’t freak out, remember, I said under-sweetened. Better yet, the longer the cake sits in the fridge, the more time the layers have to meld…and the more delicious it i
Chez Nous 