Rustic Cauliflower and Broccoli Tartlets

Oh my it is Monday and it is FALL! My favorite thyme (yes thyme as in the herb) of the year. And there is nothing I lo-o-o-ove more than a savory cheesy baked good. This recipe came from the blog Sylvia's Simple Life and it is a fabulous tasting delight. 

Originally this recipe is made as a tart, which I did make this past Friday and devoured with my gal pal Peggy (or Pegs as I like to call her) while our kids and my hubster ate pizza pie. The crust of this tart is wonderful as it is seasoned with paprika and thyme which gives it a hearty flavor. Then there are the veggies and the cheese...oh yeah, I used lots of 

ch-e-e-e-e-se!

We girls paired the tart with white wine, sauteed spinach and some crispy sliced apple to round out our evening meal. Everything worked just perfect together!

So today I recreated the same dish only this thyme I made individual crusts and baked them in a muffin tin. 

Makes 12-14 tartlets

(Unfortunately while I was outside shooting my photos for this post I turned my back for just a minute, and in that time our neighbor's dang dog Zoey had come by and polished off 5 of the 12 tartlets! Ugh!!!)

Anyway...here are the ingredients you will need.

1 1/3 cup of all-purpose flour

1/1/4 tsp paprika

1 tsp dried thyme (I use a little more)

pinch of salt

5 1/2 T butter, softened

3-5 T cold water

1 /12 cups of cauliflower florets

1 cup of broccoli 

1 onion cut in wedges or as I happen to have on hand, 2 leeks sliced using only the white and light green parts

2 T butter

2 T flour

1/3 cup vegetable stock

1/2 c milk

3/4 c. grater cheese ( I used Asaigio cheese)

Paprika to garnish

In large bowl mix together the first four dry ingredients. Then using a pastry blender or forks, cut into the dry ingredients with the butter. Once blended add the water and then form dough into a ball. Place the ball in it bowl in the frig for about 30 minutes.

In the meantime place all of your veggies in a pot of salted water and bring to a boil, then let simmer for about 10 minutes. Strain and set aside.

To make the crusts, remove the dough from the frig and roll out onto a floured surface with a rolling pin. Once the dough is flat use a glass or round cookie cutter and cut out your circles. It's OK if the shape is a little smaller that the tin's muffin cups because you can just roll out each circle to extend it's size. Place each circle of dough into a muffin cup sprayed with cooking spray. Do this by gently pushing the circle down into the cup and press it up against its sides. Pierce the dough with a fork and bake for about 15 minutes in an oven set at 375 degrees F.

In another smaller pot melt the 2 T of butter and then add your flour to make a roux. Add the vegetable stock and milk and stir until thickened, then add 1/2 cup of cheese.

Once the crusts are baked, add the cooked vegetables to each crust and then spoon the cheese mixture on top. Sprinke with remaining cheeses and bake until the top is bubbly and golden brown, about 13-15 minutes. 

Garnish with paprika if desired and enjoy!

While you are noshing on your freshly baked tartlets and enjoying it with a glass of your favorite wine, take a hop on over to Sylvia's Simple Life. Sylvia's blog is filled with beautiful images, wonderful recipes and stories. I promise you will not be disappointed!

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Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake Brownies

This is a decadent little brownie which I am sure is not part of anyone's weight loss regime.  But hey you've got to splurge every once in a while right? This recipe has two parts, the cake-like bottom and a creamy top...all in chocolate hazelnut! I used 16 ounces of cream cheese along with 8 eggs and an entire jar of hazelnut spread. I then decided to add some toffee bites to the top to provide a crunchy contrast to the brownie's creaminess, and the little bit of toffee saltiness highlights the chocolate flavor.

Ingredients:

2 cups of flour

1/2 cup of powdered cocoa like Hershey's

8 eggs

2 1/2 cups of sugar

1 13 or 14 oz jar of chocolate-hazelnut spread

1 1/3 cups of butter, melted and cooled

2 8 oz. pkg. of Neufchatel cream cheese, softened

Heath English Toffee Bites

 First preheat your oven to 325 degrees and spray coat a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan with cooking spray, then set it aside. Next in a medium mixing bowl, mix together the flour and cocoa.

In a large mixing bowl beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed...4 of the eggs with the sugar, 1/2 cup of the hazelnut spread and the melted butter until combined  Now fold in the flour mixture and beat until smooth. Pour this mixture into your prepared pan and spread it out evenly.

Wash the mixer's beaters and in another large bowl beat the cream cheese with the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in 4 eggs and remaining hazelnut spread until all ingredients are combined. Then carefully pour over the batter in the pan and spread out evenly. Place in the oven and bake for 50-55 minutes until the cheese layer is set and firm. Cover and chill before serving. Sprinkle with Heath English Toffee Bites.

Just perfect with a nice cold glass of milk!

(This recipe was adapted from Better Homes & Gardens Fall Baking 2013 issue)

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Elizabeth & Co.

Savvy Southern Style

It's Overflowing

Cajun Vs. Creole Plus an Authentic Jambalaya Recipe

While my sister Kim and I were in New Orleans last week, I  somehow manage to stumble across the New Orleans School of cooking while out for a walk on Monday morning. I immediately signed up for the $29 cooking demonstration scheduled for Tuesday which was to run from 10:00 to 12:30. Included in the price was lunch plus beverages, and a taste of Louisiana's own Abita beer.

Chef Michael was our demonstrator of the morning and he not only prepared the most incredible Gumbo and Jambalaya, but he also gave us a complete and colorful history lesson about the how the flavors of this region's food came to be. 

As you probably already know, Cajun and Creole are the two main types of fare you'll find in New Orleans and are represented by people known as Cajuns and Creoles respectively.  Both groups are heavily influenced by French culture, but the differences in how each group developed keeps them distinguishable. Arguably the main difference between the Cajuns and Creoles lies in the way each group migrated to Louisiana.

Chef Michael explained how the Cajuns, who were originally French columnist in Canada called Acadiens, came to Louisiana as a result of the British government becoming fearful that the Acadiens would rise up and fight with the French during the French Indian war of the early 1700's. By mid century the British seized the Acadiens' farms and burned their villages because they would not adopt the king's Protestant religion and defend the royal kingdom. So after 40 years of refusing to abdicate their beliefs, British soldiers loaded Acadian families on ships of various destinations from New York to the West Indies. Some ended up in Louisiana where they were found acceptance with it's French background and Catholic heritage. This is where the Acadiens became known as Cajuns as they developed their own distinct lifestyle in the swamps and surrounding areas of Louisiana.

Creoles on the other hand are little bit harder to define but typically they are the descendants of the settlers in the New Orleans area. These settlers are of  French, Spanish, Italian, Caribbean and African ancestry, and descendants of African Americans both slaves and free.  

The difference in cooking has to do with where each group settled in Louisiana. Cajun cooking is though of as "country" fare since the Cajuns had to live off of the land and often used pots for cooking. Their food incorporates meats like pork, chicken, sausage and craw-fish  Cajun cooking will tend to lean on the "holy trinity" of vegetables which are celery, bell pepper and onion, and is typically spicy since cayenne pepper is used good amounts along with herbs like thyme, paprika, parsley and pepper.

Creole cooking is sometimes referred to as more "urban" fare since the Creoles had access to a larger variety of foods native to their countries of origin, as well as to local markets. European influences is largely infused into creole cuisine. Creole dishes utilizes lighter proteins like shrimp, crab and oysters. The "holy trinity" is also used in creole cooking with the addition of tomatoes and garlic (or the "pope" as Chef Michael likes to refer to garlic) which is a sign of Italian influences. The Creoles use less cayenne in their cooking and rely more on allspice, mustard and okra which results in very flavorful but not too spicy dishes. 

Both styles of cooking incorporate the use of a flour as a base to thicken dishes. The Creoles use butter with flour while the Cajuns use oil.

On the menu for lunch was...

Gumbo

Jambalaya

Banana's Foster 

and Louisiana pralines 

...all made right in front of our class of 40!

New Orleans School of Cooking Jambalaya Recipe

serves 12

Ingredients:

1/4 c. oil
1 cut up chicken de-boned and cooked
1 1/2 lbs of Andouille sausage, sliced about 1/3 inch thick

The Trinity
4 c. chopped onions
2 c. chopped celery
2 c. chopped green pepper

The Pope
1 T chopped garlic ( I do throw in more)

4 c. long grain rice
5 c. chicken stock

Cajun seasoning...black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and paprika, dried thyme or you can purchase Joe's Stuff Seasoning
2 cups of chopped green onion or tomato

Season and brown the chicken in oil or if you have it on hand, bacon fat, over medium heat. Add sausage to pot with chicken and continue to saute. Remove the meat from the pot leaving the drippings. 

Next saute the trinity along with the Pope in the drippings until tender. Return the meat to the pot and add your seasonings plus gradually pour in the stock and bring to a boil. Stir in your rice, cover and let simmer for about 25 minutes. Uncover and quickly turn the rice from top to bottom completely. Replace cover and let sit for another 20 minutes, then stir the rice in the same fashion again from top to bottom. Add chopped green onions an tomatoes if desired.

The New Orleans School of Cooking is located at

542 Louis Street right in the heart of the French Quarter.

Phone number (504)525-2665

or outside of Louisiana (800) 237-4841

If you plan on visiting New Orleans and would like to attend one of the school's classes, make sure you call ahead for a reservation. Classes do fill up fast.

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StoneGable

Eating our way through New Orleans' French Quarter

Last weekend my sister Kim and I flew down to the Big Easy for 5 glorious days. While Kim did have work obligations, I on the other hand (hehehehe) did not, we still found plenty of time to experience New Orleans fabulous Cajun/Creole cuisine.

Kim actually had the opportunity through her work to dine on classic Creole cuisine at Aurauds, one of the French Quarter's premier restaurants. 

This main dining area is just stunning isn't it?? So old-world South. It felt like Scarlet O'Hara could just come whizzing through the room at any moment!

Arnaud's was started by a colorful French wine salesman back in 1918 by the name of Arnaud Cazenave. The food here according to my counterpart Miss Kim, was simply fabulous!!!

(source)

And as it happily turned out, one of our favorite spots to eat was right on Royal Street, just a couple blocks from where we were staying at Hotel Monteleone. Aptly named the Royal House,  it offers open-air dining and classic traditional seafood fare. 

Here we are enjoying an early lunch of oysters...they went perfect with my Cajun Bloody Mary!

Let me tell you that the Royal House's fresh shucked oysters were unbelievably plump and delicious! The price for the dozen was very reasonable...12 oysters for a mere $13. Can't beat that on a half-shell!

I had even stopped in one day for a quick seafood gumbo lunch...service was fast and the gumbo was manifico!!

Another cute open air restaurant in the Quarter is Cafe Pontalba located in Jackson-Square. It is fun spot to people-watch while feasting on creole dishes like blacked red fish or shrimp etouffee.

Kim may have dined at Arnaud's but I had the chance to take a cooking class while she was at work.

I had stumbled upon the New Orleans's School of Cooking located on St. Louis Street about a block from the Cathedral of St Louis King of France.  For only $29 you get a 2 1/2 hour cooking demonstration on how to make 4 authentic New Orleans dishes. Below is chef Michael...he made an ah-mazing gumbo and jambalaya which we got to eat as part of the lunch included in the demonstration's price! We also got pitchers of Louisiana's Abita beer as a libation. I will tell you more about those recipes in upcoming posts, but let me say for the record in the words of Chef Michael..."it is the best you've ever eaten!"

In the same building as the cooking school is a darling general store for all of your Cajun culinary needs.

Another place which is a "must go to" while in New Orleans is Cafe du Monde for their famous coffee and biegnets, or French donuts.

To read more about Cafe du Monde click here.

There were a number of wonderful places to eat which made it really hard to chose where to go, even after studying menu after menu for the better part of a day. Also the outside dining areas were incredibly quaint and charming which made it nearly impossible not to feel immersed in the unique culture of the Quarter.

So truth be told, we did not eat our way completely through the city, but given enough time I think we just may have had a shot at completing our quest. Louisiana cooking and New Orleans cuisine is very much tied to its diverse culture. It blends together the flavors and ingredients of the French, Spanish, Portuguese and Native Americans, along with African influences, like no place else in the world.

Someday we'd love to go back to New Orleans and its French Quarter, but until that time I suppose we will have to be happy creating dishes inspired by this colorful southern region in our own kitchens.

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The Jenny Evolution

No Minimalist Here

Dining in the French Quarter ~ Cafe du Monde

One the main places I was told to make sure I visited for just coffee and one of their famous Biegnets, was Cafe du Monde located in the French Quarter. So today I took a troll down to try one of these wonderful French donuts. It was serve hot and was roughly about a dollar and some change for three of them. believe me 2 was enough for this gal!

The cafe itself is easily identified by their quaint green and white striped awning. You can dine under the awning or inside the cafe.

Inside you just find yourself a seat and one of the waitstaff will promptly come on over to take your order.

The Beignet is serve hot with plenty of powdered sugar on top!

OK so here's the skinny on these French donuts...there ain't nothing skinny about 'em!!! But they are in fact, absolutely delicious!!! You will want to walk to Cafe du Mode just you can burn off the extra calories on the way back to your hotel!

You can even bring a little of the cafe home with you!

Visiting Cafe du Mode id definitely part of the  New Orleans experience you definitely don't want to miss.

The cafe is located on 

800 Decatur Street

New Orleans 70116

and at

500 Port of new Orleans

Ste. 27

New Orleans 70130

Elegant and Easy 4 Layer Carrot Cake

It's back to school time and for me this time of the year has always been very nostalgic for me. Believe it when I say that I've been out of school for many moons now, but the return of the cooler Canadian air along with the warm September sun just makes me long for some of my favorite childhood comfort foods. Carrot cake is a pure comfort food, wouldn't you agree? So today I decided to try making this cake with a little bit of a twist. Instead of baking it in conventional cake pans I actually baked it in an 16 X 11 jelly roll pan, cut the cake into 4's and then stacked them to create an elegant look.

The ingredients are pretty basic but since the cake is in a wider longer pan, the baking time is drastically reduced. The authors of this recipe adds baking soda to the batter in order to raise the pH enough to soften the carrots during the short cooking time. And it did work, the carrots were cooked perfectly.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

3/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 2/3 cups shredded carrots

I used store bought cream cheese frosting, roughly 32 ounces, but of course you can always make your own.

2 cups chopped pecans

First set your oven's baking rack to the middle position, then preheat it to 350 F. Prepare your jelly roll pan by greasing it with cooking spray and then lay a a piece of parchment paper on top and grease the paper with the spray.

In large bowl whisk together the first seven dry ingredients. In another large bowl whisk together the brown sugar, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla extract. Stir in the carrots and the dry ingredients. Then using a rubber spatula, fold the mixture until it is just combined. Pour the batter into your prepared pan making sure to spread the batter into the corners. Place in oven and bake for 16-18 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes on a baking rack. 

Next transfer the cake onto the rack with the parchment paper still under the cake and let cool completely, about 30 minutes. Once cake is cooled, slice the cake in half crosswise cutting through the parchment paper as well. Then slice each half lengthwise, again making sure you cut the parchment paper, to create 4 equal rectangle cakes. 

Using a cake board or large plate turn one of the cakes onto it, paper side up, and then carefully peel off the paper. Spread about 1/2 to 2/3 cup of frosting on to the first layer and then repeat for the other three layers. (If your cake has baked with an uneven thickness, adjust the orientation of the layers so they are stacked to produce a level cake.) Once your cake is assembled frost all 4 sides of the cake. Then gently press the chopped pecans into the 4 sides of the cake. 

Chill for about one hour before serving.

Enjoy!!!

(This recipe was adapted from The Best of America's Test Kitchen 2013)



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