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Reading: Letters to a Young Chef

Reading: Letters to a Young Chef

In Letters to a Young Chef, Daniel Boulud, cookbook author, chef, and owner of Daniel, Café Boulud, and DB Bistro Moderne in New York City, briefly covers what he believes are the most important building blocks to becoming a great chef. I bought this book…

10 on Tuesday: Ten Things You Like to Do When Alone

10 on Tuesday: Ten Things You Like to Do When Alone

From this page comes this Tuesday’s question… What are 10 things I like to do when I’m alone? In no particular order… Cook! I love to cook for/with people, but I also enjoy cooking by/for myself. Sing along to music Read. I dream of lounging in a…

RECIPE 17: Porcini Mushroom Tartlets

RECIPE 17: Porcini Mushroom Tartlets

                      -= Exported from BigOven =-

                      Porcini Mushroom Tartlets

Serve with frisee & herb salad.

Recipe By:
Serving Size: 4
Cuisine:
Main Ingredient:
Categories: Food & Wine Magazine, Appetizers

-= Ingredients =-
1 cup Walnuts
10 ounces Puff Pastry Dough All-Butter ; Thawed & Chilled
3 tablespoon Unsalted Butter
2 ea large Onions ; Thinly Sliced
to taste Salt & Pepper ; Freshly Ground
3/4 pound Porcini Or Cremini Mushrooms ; Trimmed
for brushing Extra Virgin Olive Oil
for garnish Chives ; Snipped

-= Instructions =-
1. Preheat the oven to 350. In a pie plate, bake the walnuts for about 8 minutes or until lightly browned, then let cool and coarsely chop. Line a medium baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Unfold the puff pastry and cut out four 4-inch rounds about 1/8 inch thick. Transfer the rounds to the prepared baking sheet and prick all over with a fork. Cover with another sheet of parchment paper and set a baking sheet on top. Bake the pastry for about 25 minutes or until it is cooked and browned; remove the pastry from the oven. Increase the oven temperature to 400.

3. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large skillet. Add the onions and cook, stirring, over moderately high heat for 4 minutes; then cook over low heat, stirring often, until soft and golden, about 50 minutes; let cool. In a food processor, coarsely puree the onions and walnuts. Season with salt and pepper.

4. In a medium saucepan of boiling water, blanch the mushrooms until just tender, about 2 minutes. Drain, pat dry and slice 1/4 inch thick.

5. Spread the pastry rounds with the puree and arrange the mushrooms, overlapping, on top. Brush with olive oil and bake for 10 minutes, or until hot. Garnish with chives and serve.

WINE: A medium-bodied red with some tannin will contrast with the mushrooms. Consider the French 2000 Mouton Cadet or the Italian 2001 Rocca delle Macie Rubizzo Sangiovese di Toscana.

NOTES : This recipe can be prepared through Step 3 up to 1 day ahead. Wrap the pastry rounds in plastic and refrigerate the onion-walnut puree. Recipe by Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Food & Wine Magazine, November 2003, page 74.
** This recipe can be pasted into BigOven without retyping.     **
** Easy recipe software.  Try it free at: http://www.bigoven.com    **
 

RECIPE 16: Asparagus and Mushroom Salad with Shaved Parmesan

RECIPE 16: Asparagus and Mushroom Salad with Shaved Parmesan

                      -= Exported from BigOven =-           Asparagus and Mushroom Salad with Shaved Parmesan Recipe By: From THE BEST OF GOURMET, 1996. Page 190. Serving Size: 8 Cuisine: Main Ingredient: Categories: Gourmet Magazine, Easy, Sauces, Salads -= Ingredients =- 1 pound Asparagus Medium To Thick…

HAPPY MOUTH — April 2007

HAPPY MOUTH — April 2007

This evening, the members of the Happy Mouth Supper Club met at Jay’s selection — the Brown Dog Cafe in Blue Ash (a suburb of Cincinnati). I’d previously worked at an event with Chef Shawn McCoy but had not had the chance to eat at the…

100,000 visits!

100,000 visits!

Sometime between noon and 2:00pm today, my site received its 100,000th visitor.

It’s pretty exciting that this little blog has been visited by that many individuals.

Thanks, and keep coming back!

Reading: Roasting in Hell's Kitchen

Reading: Roasting in Hell's Kitchen

I found ROASTING IN HELL’S KITCHEN: TEMPER TANTRUMS, F WORDS, AND THE PURSUIT OF PERFECTION while looking for HUMBLE PIE, also by Gordon Ramsay. I believe that the two books are very close if not identical, just named differently for different countries. Ramsay’s book seems like a…