Showing posts with label cheese. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cheese. Show all posts

Friday, September 25, 2015

Cauliflower Leek Roquefort Tart #FridayPieDay

Cauliflower and leeks, gently sautéed in butter, are the perfect accompaniment to the tangy, sharp Roquefort and the fragrant green onions in this savory Cauliflower Leek Roquefort Tart.
 


When it a quiche a tart? Ah, good question. I’ve decided that it must be when the chef is English instead of French. I’m joking but perhaps there is a little truth to it. A couple of months ago I shared a recipe for a cheese, shallot and potato pie that I had adapted from the wonderful cookbook, The Good Cook* by Simon Hopkinson.

That same week, while I was enjoying the company and hospitality of generous friends in France, I made this tart as well, adapted from that same cookbook. As I read the recipe, I exclaimed, “but this sounds just like quiche!” And I felt the same way when it came out of the oven. Whatever you want to call it, it’s delicious.

The creamy filling and the mild vegetables are perked up considerably by the sharp and tangy Roquefort. And you can’t beat a flaky crust! I used my normal shortcrust recipe, found here, with all butter since Crisco isn’t to be found in France, but this olive oil pastry recipe would work just as nicely.

Ingredients
Pastry dough for one bottom pie crust (homemade - see links above - or store-bought)
2 tablespoons butter
2 large leeks (about 1 lb or 450g, whole or 7 1/2 oz or 240g, trimmed)
1/2 medium cauliflower (about 9 1/2 oz or 270g, trimmed)
Sea salt
2 egg yolks
2 eggs
2/3 cup or 150ml heavy whipping or double cream
1/2 cup or 115ml crème fraîche (or substitute sour cream or plain thick Greek yogurt)
Black pepper
Small bunch green onion tops
8 3/4 oz or 250g Roquefort

Method
Make your pie crust dough (see choice of recipe links in last paragraph above or use your own) and set in the refrigerator to rest, covered well in cling film.

Trim the hard green parts off the leeks – these can be used in making vegetable stock, if you are so inclined – and rinse the white/pale green parts with ample running water, making sure to get all the dirt out from between the layers.

Slice the leeks thinly.



Trim off the leaves and the hardest part of the cauliflower stem. Slice the cauliflower thinly.



In a large saucepan, melt the butter and sauté the leeks and cauliflower with a sprinkle of sea salt, until they are soft and any liquid that comes out has evaporated again. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C. Place a flat baking pan in the oven. Line your tart pan (approximately 11 in x 2 in deep or 28cm x 4cm deep) with baking parchment.

Roll out your pastry as thinly as possible and fit it into the lined tart pan. Fill it with baking beads or dried beans or chickpeas and blind bake it for 15-20 minutes on top the preheated flat baking pan.



Remove the parchment and beads/beans then return the tart shell to the oven to bake for another 10 minutes.

Chop your green onions finely.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk the yolks and eggs with the cream, crème fraîche with a few good grinds of fresh black pepper. Add in the chopped green onions and mix well.



Pile the leeks and cauliflower into the baked tart shell and spread them around evenly.

Cut your Roquefort into cubes and scatter them all over the vegetables.



Pour the cream/egg mixture over the cheese. (If you are concerned about getting the full tart into the oven without spilling, pour 2/3 of the mixture in to the tart shell and slide it into the oven. Then pour the rest in.)



Bake for about 40-45 minutes or until puffy and golden.

Allow the tart to cool for at least 15- 20 minutes before trying to slice it. This savory tart is just as delicious at room temperature as it is warm. I daresay I'd have eaten it cold as well, but by the next day, there wasn't any left.



Enjoy!



This is my contribution to FridayPieDay!




FridayPieDay is the brilliant invention of Heather from girlichef and I am pleased to join her on the last Friday of each month for pie and crust recipes, techniques, tools of the trade, and other inspiration.

This month Heather baked something that is a favorite at our house, beef and beer pie! In fact, almost every time we go out for a pub lunch, my husband orders some version of beef and beer pie. Heather's looks wonderful!

For more information and recipes, please check out her #FridayPieDay page!


*Amazon affiliate link. If you purchase the book after following my link, I earn some pennies, at no extra cost to you.

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Thursday, September 10, 2015

Cauliflower Cheese Waffles #WaffleWeek2015

Lots of strong and bitey cheddar and tender cauliflower florets make a savory waffle that is delicious for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

I am a sucker for an enthusiastic invitation and folks who are organized. Way back in July, I read a Facebook post from Kim of Feed Me, Seymour proclaiming her love of waffles and inviting bloggers to join her for a celebration of those fluffy squares in far away September. That's what I call planning ahead! (Thanks, Kim!) I had been ruminating already about the possibility of cauliflower cheese waffles ever since I created the loaded baked potato waffles for National Waffle Week last year so Kim’s invitation was just the push I needed. If you love waffles like we love waffles, make sure to scroll down after my recipe to see all the creative variations we are sharing today!

My friend, Jane, has kindly invited me to share a Thanksgiving feast with her dear family twice in the last few years. First when I was all alone and lonely, just before we moved from Kuala Lumpur to Cairo and then again last year when my visit in KL happened to overlap with the holiday. I was delighted to accept because 1. I love her and her family and 2. She makes the best cauliflower cheese. It’s an essential dish in her Thanksgiving line up with its thick, cheesy sauce poured over cauliflower then baked to golden perfection. I could eat just that and be happy forever. I was channeling Jane’s dish when I created these savory waffles.

Ingredients for six or seven square Belgian waffles
Florets from 1/2 small cauliflower (Approximate weight 7 1/2 oz or 220g)
1 cup or 125g flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon mustard powder – I use Coleman’s.
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Fresh black pepper
3/4 cup or 90g grated extra sharp cheddar cheese, plus more to serve, if desired
1/2 cup plain thick Greek-style yogurt
3/4 cup or 180ml milk
1 egg
Canola or other light oil for greasing waffle iron

To garnish: a sprinkle of chopped green onion tops

Method
Steam the cauliflower florets for about 5-7 minutes or until fork tender. Remove from the pot and allow to cool in the steamer or in a colander so any excess moisture will drain off. Transfer to some paper towels to dry further.



Once the florets are completely cool and dry, chop them up roughly. You want them in pieces that will show up in the waffles without being so big that they stop the waffle iron from closing.


Combine the flour, sugar, mustard powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and a few generous grinds of fresh black pepper in a large mixing bowl.

Pretend the pepper is there, okay? I did add it after the photo.


Tip the cauliflower pieces into the flour mixture and stir well so they are coated with flour.



Now add in the grated cheese and stir well.




Whisk the egg, yogurt and milk together in a smaller mixing bowl.



Preheat your waffle maker as per manufacturer’s instructions.

Now fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Do not overmix!



Using a pastry brush, grease your waffle maker with a little canola oil.

Spoon the manufacturer’s recommended amount of batter into the center of the lower half of the waffle maker, being careful to leave room for when the batter spreads out as you lower the lid and also for when the waffle starts to rise when baking.



Close the lid and watch for the signal that your waffle is cooking. On my waffle maker, the light goes green when it is ready for batter, red when it is cooking and then green again when the waffle is ready. I leave the waffle in just a little bit longer after the light turns green the second time so the waffles are nice and crispy. But if you like them less crunchy, by all means take them out earlier.

Serve topped with a little extra grated cheese and some green onions, if desired.


If you have any batter left over, go ahead and baked the waffles and store them, wrapped in cling film, in the refrigerator or freezer. These reheat beautifully in the toaster.

Enjoy!



#WaffleWeek2015 Hosted by Kim @ Feed Me, Seymour
Special thanks to Christie of A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures for our lovely graphic!

Are you ready for Waffle Week 2015? Whether you like ‘em sweet or savory, we’ve got you covered!

Appet-affles
Breakf-affles
Waffl-ides
Dessert Dish-affles


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Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Queijadas de Sintra #IsabelsBirthdayBash

Queijadas de Sintra are sweet cheese tarts with a hint of cinnamon, a traditional dessert from a town high in the hills outside of Lisbon. In Portugal they are made with fresh cheese or queijo fresco. This version is made with ricotta. 

[Shhhhh! Get behind the sofa! I can't stop giggling!!! Is she here yet?!! Any minute now...]

Surprise, Isabel! Happy Birthday! 

Today I’m sharing this sweet treat from Portugal to celebrate the birthday of someone very special, my friend, Isabel, otherwise known as Family Foodie, founder of the Sunday Supper Movement. Back in December of 2012, when Isabel sent me a private message on Twitter inviting me to join Sunday Supper, I emailed her right away to accept. I had heard such great things about the supportive community and was delighted to become a part of it. Her mission, the goal of Sunday Supper, is to encourage families, one home at a time, to gather again around the family table for mealtime. Under her passionate leadership and with a great team of willing workers, the movement is spreading around the world.

One thing for certain is that our online Sunday Supper family also comes together every week, each bringing a dish or drink to share. Isabel's recipes are often favorites from her early childhood in Portugal or recreated memories from summers spent there as she grew up, as well as family traditions learned from her mother. In fact, if you search her blog for the word Portuguese, 12 pages of recipes show up and, boy, does she love her chorizo! I couldn't resist trying to create a Portuguese dessert in her honor.

Today many of her Sunday Supper family members are gathering again on this rare Tuesday, dishes in hand to wish Isabel a very happy birthday, so make sure to scroll down to the bottom to see the whole list of deliciousness we are bringing to the surprise party.

Many thanks to Terri from Love and Confections for organizing this great celebration!

Ingredients
For the pastry crust: (Best made one day ahead, if possible.)
1 cup or 125g flour
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup or 60ml cold water – or as needed. I added about one teaspoon more.
Good pinch salt

For the filling:
1 cup or 250g ricotta
2 egg yolks (preferably from large eggs)
3/4 cup or 150g sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 level tablespoons plain flour
Good pinch salt

Method
Cut your butter into the flour with the pinch of salt, until you have sandy crumbles.

Add in the cold water and mix it in with a fork until it just starts hanging together. Mine still had quite a bit of dry flour so I added one teaspoon of water more and then it was perfect.

Knead the dough for a couple of minutes and then wrap it in cling film and refrigerate for a minimum of several hours or preferably overnight.

When you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C and grease six holes in your non-stick muffin pan. I also cut six small circles of parchment to cover the bottom, as more insurance that the tarts will release.



Roll your dough out very thinly, on a sheet of cling film, covered with another sheet of cling film. This helps make sure it won’t stick to your work surface.

For a normal sized muffin pan, your circles of dough needs to be about 4 3/4 in or 12cm across. Make a template or find something round in your kitchen that’s about that size. As you can see, I used the top of a plastic container.

Cut around the template and remove the dough in between the circles.



Ease each circle into a greased muffin pan hole. Pop the pan in the refrigerator while you get on with the filling.



To make sure there are no lumps whatsoever, push the ricotta through a metal sieve.

Add in the sugar, the two egg yolks, the cinnamon, the flour and the good pinch of salt.



Whisk well to combine. Spoon the filling into the pastry cases.



Bake in your preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until the tarts are just cooked, perhaps still just a little jiggly. They’ll firm up further when they start to cool.



Remove them from the muffin pan and cool on a wire rack.



Enjoy!




Parabéns, Isabel! Desejo-te tudo de melhor hoje e todos os dias! Obrigada por criar um grupo que se tornou como uma segunda família para mim. Nós te amamos!

Join us in celebrating Isabel's Birthday with all the delicious food and drinks her #SundaySupper family prepared!

Birthday Drinks
Birthday Appetizers
Birthday Main Courses
Birthday Desserts

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Friday, July 31, 2015

Cheese Shallot Potato Pie #FridayPieDay

Modeled on a Lancashire cheese and onion pie, this Cheese Shallot Potato Pie has a decidedly French accent with the substitution of Cantal for the Lancashire cheese and shallots for the onions. I sliced in some waxy potatoes to make the pie a little heartier and added cheese to the shortcrust for even more flavor, both good decisions.


Last week I was staying with dear friends in the Lot-et-Garonne region of France. Daily trips to the markets were de rigueur as was a bunch of cooking and baking in their gorgeous big kitchen. Boy, did we eat well! The first night we arrived, there was a special meal of confit de canard accompanied by golden crispy potatoes roasted in duck fat. 

The next evening it was a vivid paella with chorizo, merguez, chicken and prawns. Yet another dinner boasted a festival of sausages (lamb, duck, horse, horse, pig, pig and pig – of different styles and spices) with lentil salad and a Champagne tasting.

Of particular note, on the last night, we finished with Caroline’s Nectarine Crumble, a baked delight of sweet nectarines lavished with rum, topped with crispy crumble and served with ridiculously thick Normandy cream.

Lunches were myriad cheeses, fresh bread, fabulous salads, the most amazing summer tomatoes and fruit. And, because I had thumbed my way through The Good Cook* by Simon Hopkinson, two tarts. The first one, this one, was named My Mother’s Lancashire Onion Pie so I should properly call this Not Simon Hopkinson’s Mother’s Lancashire Onion Pie. But I thank him kindly for the inspiration. 

The second one already started out with a French bent - Roquefort cheese and leeks – to which I added some thinly sliced cauliflower. You can find that recipe here: Cauliflower Leek Roquefort Tart.  

Cheese Shallot Potato Pie

This recipe is adapted from one in Simon Hopkinson's The Good Cook. See links above. The friends I was staying with owned it but there were so many great recipes that I do now as well. Highly recommend! 

Ingredients
For the pastry crust:
2 1/2 cups or 315g self-rising flour  (or the same amount of all-purpose flour with 3 teaspoons of baking powder added)
3 1/2 oz or 100g strong semi-hard cheese, grated (I used Cantal Entre Deux.)
3⁄4 cup or 140g unsalted butter, cold
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 to 6 tablespoons cold water

For the filling:
4-5 whole large shallots
2 medium potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
Fine sea salt
Black pepper
12 1/3 oz or 350g strong semi-hard cheese, grated (See link above for my cheese of choice.)

Method
First we’ll make the pastry for the crust and leave it to chill. Put flour, grated cheese and salt in a big bowl. Mix well.

Cut the cold butter in chunks and add to the flour/cheese mixture.

Use a pastry blender or two knives to cut the butter into the flour. You are looking for a soft sandy crumble but you can leave some larger pieces.



Add cold water a tablespoon at a time, mixing well in between with the tines of a fork, until the dough just comes together. Tip it out on a clean work surface and press it together.



Knead briefly then cut the dough into two pieces, one slightly larger than the other. Wrap them both in cling film and refrigerate while you get on with the filling.



Peel and finely chop your shallots. Peel and finely slice your potatoes.



Add the butter and olive oil to skillet and sauté the shallots and potatoes for a few minutes. Add a small splash of water and cover the pan and simmer for about 5-7 minutes or until the potatoes are just cooked.  Season with a sprinkle of fine sea salt and a few good grinds of fresh black pepper.



Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and put a flat baking pan big enough to hold your pie plate in to preheat as well.

Cover your clean work surface with cling film and sprinkle lightly with flour.

Remove the larger piece of dough from the refrigerator and press it into a flat disk on your prepared work surface. Flour it lightly and cover it with another sheet of cling film. Use a rolling pin to roll the pastry into circle 1⁄8 inch thick and about 2 inches larger all around than your large pie plate.



Use the cling film base to lift the pastry circle and ease it into your pie plate, leaving the edges hanging off. Prick the pie crust with a fork all over the bottom and sides.

Add the grated filling cheese to the cooled skillet and gently mix it together with the shallots and potatoes, trying not to break the potatoes up.



Pour the filling into the pie crust and spread it around evenly.



Recover your work surface with cling film, sprinkle on some flour and repeat the process of rolling out the top crust.

Cover the filling with the top crust, fold any excess under with the bottom crust, and crimp the edges to hold them together. Cut three or four long slits in the top crust to let the steam out.



Bake in your preheated oven, on top of the flat pan, for about 50-55 minutes or until you see the filling bubbling up a little through the slits and the crust is lovely and golden.



Allow to cool for 20-30 minutes before cutting.



Enjoy!



FridayPieDay is the brilliant invention of Heather from girlichef and I am pleased to join her on the last Friday of each month for pie and crust recipes, techniques, tools of the trade, and other inspiration.

Today we’ve both gone savory. Follow this link to see her wonderful Zucchini and Tomato Pie.

For more information and recipes, please check out her #FridayPieDay page!




*Amazon affiliate link - If you buy the book by following my link, I earn a little small change from the sale, at no extra cost to you.