Caramelized Onion, Mushroom, and Goat Cheese Galette

Ohhhh my.  This one.  Is really, really good.  Not even hard--a few components, sure, but make the pie crust ahead of time and it's no big deal.  This is the way I like to eat!  Flaky pastry, lovely flavors inside, beautiful presentation.  Eat this!

I also made another one of these, with some pizza-like stuff inside it--tomatoes, zucchini, some other stuff.  Put some eggs on top in the last few minutes, which was not timed right but was a fun experiment--can do better next time!

Oh The French.  Good work, mes amis.

why are onions so delicioussss

Roasted Beet Salad with Oranges and Beet Greens

This was extremely delicious!  Really bright, wonderful flavors.  Even Sam-I-Am, Mr. I Don't Like Vinegar, liked this.  Not much more to say--really liked it, would eat it all the time!

beets.  are.  the.  best!

Red Kuri Soup

Couldn't find a little sweet potimarron, so I did the butternut and chestnut variation--very nice.  Don't need any veggie stock or cream, which is kind of nice--used plenty of leeks, and the squash wasn't too hard to peel because it was nice and ripe!  Just simmer it up and then puree.  Plenty of salt, little bit of nutmeg and pepper.  Taste as you go!

As for toppings--tart apple is really nice.  If you do walnuts, toast them and cut 'em up small.

This is a nice, not-too-crazy soup for a weeknight.  Thoroughly enjoyed it.

TO FIND: Around My French Table, by Dorie Greenspan, p. ??

Banana Bread/Cake

Pioneer Woman's banana bread.  The woman hates bananas and this reflects that--it's light and tasty, but not really what I think of when I think of banana bread.  I added in some walnuts, and sprinkled the top with brown sugar and walnut chunks, baked in two bread pans.  Fluffy and satisfying, as far as it goes!

butter? check.

Simple Sauteed Cauliflower

A nice side of cauliflower, quick.  Just sauteed it in olive oil and salt, squeezed some lemon juice on top.  Nice to let it get brown and crispy.  I think roasted would be even nicer, but this is quick!

mm.

Cauliflower Soup

This has really nice subtle flavor, although apparently it caused some serious, um, digestion issues in the family.  Make sure to puree it smooth (but watch out for the blender--we had serious blender-explosion problems, Sam and I!)  Dorie, once again, knows her shit.  Drizzled some walnut oil on top, so tasty.  Also tried Parmesan, too gloopy.

TO FIND: Around My French Table, Dorie Greenspan, p ??

Acorn Squash Mousse-Soup

This was OUTRAGEOUSLY good.  Really light and pleasant, soooo tasty because of the brown butter--not exactly health food, and so beautiful-tasting it was almost a dessert.  I hardly thinned it at all, and consequently it didn't go very far, only four relatively light servings--it was so tasty this way though.  Didn't have milk solids, didn't miss them; didn't strain any of the lovely brown bits out, don't know why you would!

Really liked the maple syrup yogurt on top, was a wonderful complement.  Num num.

just eat it

Caramel Butterscotch Pudding

Wow!  Forgot how easy pudding is.  Whip up some caramel, throw some cornstach, sugar and milk in a pot, whisk it together and add some egg yolks--easy as, um, pudding.  This was a little achingly sweet for me, but I think with some whipped cream it would be really nice.

luscious.

Eggplant and Gouda Tartine

This is an excellent example of how great simple food can be.  A little messy to eat, but super, super delicious.  I can see how the smoked gouda would be nice--but even with normal gouda it was lovely.  I'd eat this little dressed tomato bit by itself--white vinegar is a yes!

Done a few of these sort of composed open-faced sandwiches recently--pesto or tapenade, a bit of cheese, tomato, and possibly a poached egg?!  Always pleasant.  Nom nom.

sammmmmmich

Vegan Pumpkin Bread with Walnuts

Nom nom--this is really good, despite its veganness!  Nice and moist, really lovely flavor.  Definitely add some walnuts on top there for crunch and contrast.  Didn't have all the spices at Allie's so I just threw some in there, added in some ginger, do what you feel like.  Also subbed in honey for maple syrup, worked just fine, although I'm sure the maple flavor would be a nice touch.

Normally I like to futz around until I find the perfect recipe, but I think I might be sticking with this one.  Hooray!

I will never let pumpkin leave me!

Ravioli with An Egg, plus some Browned Sage Butter

Back to the blog with a showstopper!  This recipe is gorgeous and definitely going to wow people.  Try to get pretty orange-yolked eggs for a nice effect.  These do look kind of funny because the pasta vacuums in so you can see the circle of the yolk.

Pasta dough was fine, would be really nice to have a pasta roller though.  Kind of a pain to roll out by hand.  Took a little while to get the hang of assembly, but the basic idea is that you should make sure the pasta square is big enough to hold the thing, at least 4.5" square.  Just moisten the edges--water would be fine, no need for egg whites?  Then lift the sides and cup when you're sealing so that you don't have to stretch the top piece of pasta.  Do the filling on top of parchment, easier to move it.

The sage brown butter was awesome.  I'd eat this on pastas all day long!  There is absolutely no need for so much of it, though--one stick of butter would probably be perfectly adequate.

Overall, YUM.  Definitely a project--took me most of the afternoon, though I could do it faster next time--but worth it for a special occasion, like getting back together with all my favorite Pawnlings :)

Butter!  Eggs!  My life!