Dinner the other night and more.

We had friends over on Saturday, Susan B. said she always checks my blog after she comes here for dinner, she hopes to see the recipes.

Here was the menu:

tomato goat cheese galette
carrot ginger soup
mixed greens fall salad
pumpkin cheesecake

The tomato goat cheese galette used puff pastry as the base. I have found that defrosting it in the refrigerator is the best way to handle it. Bring it out of the fridge right before you prepare the topping, don't forget the eggs wash and the 400 F oven temp.

This galette had:
fresh early girl tomatoes, thinly sliced, enough to cover the sheet of pastry
crumbled goat cheese, about a 1/3 cup per sheet of puff pastry
a teaspoon of fresh herbs
1/2 teaspoon of salt.

I baked for 25 minutes and served it about 5 minutes after it came out of the oven. It doesn't reheat very well, best made and served right away.

 The mixed greens fall salad was great, I had a similar one at the De Young Museum restaurant earlier in the week.

Start with a bed of mixed green, including arugula.
2 fuyu persimmons, peeled and thinly sliced
1 Asian pear, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup pomegranate seeds
1/2 cup toasted walnuts

For the dressing I made a simple sweet vinaigrette:
1 /2 cup toasted walnut oil
1/4 cup fruit vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon plum jam ( use whatever jam you have on hand)

Dissolve the jam and honey in the vinegar, whisk in the oil.
If the jam is chunky, strain the mixture.


Earlier last week we had a dinner with visiting family, the food was a big hit. I did most of it ahead of time so I could enjoy the great company.
Here is that menu:

Asian slaw
roasted curried chicken
rice
peanut sauce
pear ginger chutney
yogurt
baked apples

And finally...several weeks ago, I spent a weekend with some of my friends from the American School of Paris. Yes, I lived in Paris for eight years and attended high school there.
Anyway, we had a lovely hike and then potluck dinner.

I brought two dips as appetizers, the recipes were requested.
One was a smoked trout mousse, which I made with trout we had caught and smoked ourselves.

I used the recipe for my smoked salmon mousse.

The other dip was my classic hummus, always a crowd pleaser.

The main course was a lovely salad nicoise salad bar, grilled burgers and sausages.