Asparagus Tart with creamy Ricotta puree and Soppressata

Ok, I know that I’m not re-inventing the wheel here.  If you Google Asparagus tart, you will probably get a gazillion hits on recipes – because there is A LOT of ways to eat asparagus.

So, why not contribute one more to the bunch.

I came up with this recipe by opening the refrigerator and taking stuff out on the fly.  Let me show you a bit of my internal though process during the twenty minutes my refrigerator was open:

Read More

Quick Apple Galette

The thing with fruit desserts?  Having fruit left over because most of the recipes call for medium apples, but my supermarket does not know the difference between size, they are all big.

So I got leftover.

I hate to throw food away.

Even fruit.

And trust me I been so tempted of late.  I’m pretty over anything that has to do with apples.

But, I cannot do it – yes, call me wimpy.

So, here I was thinking, what to do with all of this left over apples, that I did not use in the future mother in law birthday cake a couple of weeks back.

And as I was thinking there, I started to crave a cookie.

Stay with me, there is a relationship in here.

So, I look over at Tom and asked him to pass me the pack of Galleta Maria, [Marie biscuit] for me to munch on.  And as I was looking at the package the name “galleta”, which means biscuit in Spanish made me think of the French “galettes”

Read More

GCC: Menu 4 - Wild Mushroom Tartlets

After last weeks difficulties with the Empanadas, I was a bit worried going in with the Gutsy Cook menu.  First it involved making another dough for the tarts, Hollandaise sauce (A first for me) and my cooking schedule this past weekend sort of exploded all over the place, up till late saturday I was not even sure I was going to be able to make them at all.

But, once I’m committed to something, its hard for me to say no.

So, I started with a bit of research about dough that gets used for the tartles and found that the recipe in the Kitchen Bible is pretty standard to everything that is out there.  In fact it was the same recipe in 5 different cookbooks that I use to cross-reference.

Relief flow through me.  This was going to be a piece of cake.

And it was.

The dough is pretty easy, if you use your handy food processor, which forever and ever will be my go to for making pie crust, tart dough and anything that involves the words “until it resembles coarse bread crumbs”.  Because, I’m sorry, but I don’t think making this by hand I will get to the point of feeling it resemble coarse nothing.

So, into the food processor it went and 3 minutes later it was in the refrigerator taking a chill.  The dough was a complete success, rolling it out and placing in the tart baking shells went smoothly and no swearing was heard from the kitchen.

I was crossing my finger that this was going to be the theme - EASY.

Read More