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.

Baked Apples

We are lucky enough to have several apple trees on our small urban lot, they do quite well in our coastal climate. Years ago we attended an apple tasting event at the local grange. There were over 100 varieties to sample, we both agreed that the Cox's Orange Pippin was our favorite. We now have two trees of this apple in our front yard, they are great to eat out of hand but also wonderful for pies, sauce and baked apples.

I was asked recently to make a dessert that included apples and caramel...baked apple came to mind. It's so easy and so very versatile.

This version is very simple, I used no sugar since I knew I would be topping it with ice cream and caramel sauce.

Baked Apples

Ingredients
a dozen baking apples
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1/2 cup brown sugar ( optional)

1) Preheat the oven to 350 F, butter or slightly oil a glass baking dish.
2) If you have a coring tool, it will go fasted but a paring knife or carrot peeler with a sharp tip will work as well. Core the apples.

 In the recipes I looked at they tried to get  me to not come out the other end, who are they kidding. Don't worry about that.
2) Place the apple in the baking dish.

3) In a small bowl toss together the nuts, raisins and cinnamon ( and brown sugar if you are using it.)
I used golden raisins, you can use dried cranberries, cherries or current if you prefer.

4) Stuff each apple with the nut/raisin mixture.

5) Cover with foil and back for 30 to 40 minutes depending on the size and density of your apples.
I checked mine after 30 minutes and they seemed firm still. So I let them go another 10 minutes and some of them exploded.

I am not sure why that happened to s few but not all. it didn't change the taste so I wasn't too concerned.

Now these apples are perfectly delicious as is. They can be eaten with plain yogurt or hot cereal as a great breakfast...or you can make then into a decadent fall dessert by adding vanilla ice cream and warm caramel sauce.

Here's my homemade vanilla ice cream.

 

I dare you not to eat it with a spoon.