Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese Quiche

I had leftover filling from my butternut squash mini galettes and I also had frozen some tart pie dough that I had made a couple weeks ago. Easy easy.

Basic recipe for quiche:

Ingredients:

tart pie dough or any dough of your choice or store bought pre-made dough

filling of your choice (it can be something as simple as gruyere cheese or chives or steamed asparagus with goat cheese

2 egg yolks

1 egg

1 cup heavy cream (or milk if you don't want to consume heavy cream calories...but I recommend the heavy cream)

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1. preheat oven to 340

2. whisk together egg, egg yolks, and cream

3. add nutmeg

4. arrange filling of your choice in a half baked tart pastry

*note, if you don't want to bother making your own dough you can buy puff pastry, fit it into a cake pan, bake it at 400 for about 15 minutes and then fill it and bake until done

5. pour the egg mixture over the filling

6. bake in the oven for 30 minutes

Roasted Carrot and Beet Salad

Saeyoung is done with her internship and we're finally in the same place at the same time! We've been doing this awful shuffle all summer where I'm in Orange County while she's in Los Angeles and then mid-week we switch off. She makes my work week in Orange County infinitely more bearable.

She's been cooking dinner for the family lately since she isn't working anymore. You will notice her beautiful panzanella salad blogged about below. Today she made scallops with a tropical fruit salsa, which I am sure she will blog about later. It was quite delicious.

My contribution to dinner was a roasted carrot and beet salad with a minted greek yogurt dressing. It tasted fine but I think the plate looked too busy. I'm blaming it on the cucumber chunks in the dressing, it was one ingredient too much. Also the pine nuts were probably unnecessary. And the avocados were tasty but somewhat clumsy on the plate.

Edit edit edit. As in writing, as in food, all the same rules apply.

Ingredients:

2 medium beets

1 cup peeled baby carrots

1 sweet potato

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/3 teaspoon cumin

pinch of cinnamon

3 tablespoons of olive oil

2 teaspoons of salt

4 garlic cloves

for dressing:

1 1/2 cups of greek yogurt

juice of half a lemon

2 cucumbers, small dice, optional

3 teaspoons of chopped mint

1/2 teaspoon of crushed garlic

salt to taste

1. preheat oven to 400

2. wash and trim beets

3. wrap the beets along with the whole garlic cloves tightly in foil, making sure that there are no open vents for the steam

4. roast in the oven for about 1 hour

5. cube the sweet potato so that the segments are about the same thickness as the baby carrots

6. toss the carrots and the sweet potato cubes in a large bowl with the olive oil, the spices, and about 1 teaspoon of salt

7. spread the carrots and the sweet potatoes on a lined cookie sheet, making sure that none of the pieces are overlapping

8. bake in the oven for about 20-30 minutes. you can just stick them in the same oven as the beets when the beets reach the 30 minute mark

9. remove the beets from the foil and let cool

10. when the beets are cool enough to handle slip their skins off and slice into thin rounds

11. arrange the beets on a platter

12. crush the roasted garlic and toss with the roasted carrots and sweet potato

13. top the beets with the roasted carrot/sweet potato/garlic mixture

14. garnish the dish with avocados if you like

15. spoon the dressing on top

for the dressing:

1. in a food processor, combine all the ingredient minus the cucumbers

2. when blended, salt to taste and then add the cucumbers

3. you can make the dressing in advance and keep it in the refrigerator until ready to use

Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Mini-Galettes

Didn't I say this was going to happen? Didn't I say that I was going to begin a parade of galettes? What's better than a galette? A mini coin purse sized galette. And better, a galette with roasted butternut squash, roasted garlic, caramelized onions, thyme, and goat cheese.

Nikki Darling, of this blog had a barbeque the other night at her adorable house in Highland Park. As I am unlikely to show up to parties and other gatherings empty handed I wanted to make something easily grabbable and preferably something savory. My sweet tooth has waned a little as of late.

I bought this enormous butternut squash from Weiser Farms the other day and as I couldn't imagine eating the entire squash by myself I thought this occasion was as good as any to utilize the squash. Also used: amazingly sweet bermuda onions from the Santa Monica farmers market. Butternut squash and caramelized onions...it's one of those combinations that makes an almost unquestionable amount of sense. I used thyme as the herb but I think sage would be quite nice too.

The barbeque was fun. There's something very pleasing about sitting on grass with a beer and a friend. I unfortunately left right before the pinata festivities, which i hear was filled with candy and unmentionables. I wish I had stayed for that.

Ingredients:

For galette dough (galette dough recipe adapted from smitten kitchen):

2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup sour cream

2 sticks of very

1/2 cup ice water

1/2 teaspoon salt

optional: 1 egg and 1 teaspoon of milk for an egg wash

Filling Ingredients:

1 butternut squash, cubed

3-5 sprigs of thyme

3 bermuda onions, cut into crescent strands

3 tablespoons of butter

5 cloves of garlic

3 tablespoons of olive oil (2 for the butternut squash and 1 for roasted garlic)

1/4 cup goat cheese

2 teaspoons of salt plus more to taste

Make the galette dough:

1. cube the butter and put in freezer for a hour

2. in a large bowl combine flour and salt and make a well in the center

3. put the cold cubed butteri n the center and use the pastry cutter to work the flour into the butter until the mixture has a coarse crumb. This may take some time and a little arm muscle

4. make another well in the center

5. whisk together the sour cream, ice water, and lemon juice and add the mixture into the flour/butter well

5. work the ingredients together with your hands

6. knead until the crumbly bits of flour are picked up by the dough. the dough will be quite chunky but this is a good thing.

7. form the loose chunks of dough into a ball and tightly wrap in plastic wrap.

8. refrigerate for at least an hour, freeze if using later

Filling:

1. roast the garlic in a tin foil packet with just enough olive oil to coat the cloves. add a sprig of thyme if you'd like. put it in the oven at 375 for about 45 minutes or until the cloves are easily smashed and golden brown

2. cube the butternut squash and coat with 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil, depending on the size of your squash. add about 1 teaspoon of salt.

3. spread the squash evenly in a single layer on a cookie sheet. you will most likely need two cookie sheets.

4. roast the butternut squash at 375 for about 40 minutes or until tender and slightly browned (if using 2 cookie sheets, switch them at the half way mark)

5. meanwhile caramelize the onions with butter and anout 1 teaspoon of salt. (if using an onion that isn't a bermuda onion, add a pinch of sugar)

7. in a large bowl smash the garlic

8. add the onions and butternut squash and thyme

9. salt and pepper to taste

Assembly:

1. tear off about a tablespoon and a half of galette dough and roll into a small disk (about 3 inches diameter) on a lightly floured surface.

2. in the center of the dish add about a spoonful of filling, leaving about 1 inch edge all around the disk

3. sprinkle with a teaspoon of goat cheese

4. fold up the edges, pinching the dough as your go around

5. optional: brush the dough with an egg wash of one egg whisked with a teaspoon of milk

6. in a 400 degree preheated oven, bake for about 20 minutes or until the dough is just golden

Duck Egg over Chanterelles and Peas (plus other things)

I went to the Santa Monica Farmers Market the other day, which was my first time actually. I saw Mark Peel there discussing apples. He looked super official in his chef's jacket.
Things that are in season and wonderful and purchased by me:
1. figs (I need to stop with the figs. I'm more fig than girl at this point)
2. bermuda onions (very sweet, tastes vaguely like cipollini)
3. thyme
4. orange and red tomatoes

I also bought some chanterelles, which I haven't seen at farmers markets this summer. I'm not sure when chanterelles are in season but they were pretty pricey. At $12 per pound I could only afford a handful. I couldn't resist though. I have a deep love of mushrooms and chanterelles are up there on my list.

I also found a duck egg. It was the last one. I felt almost obligated to buy it. Just as an object (not as a food item) an egg is so pleasing to look at. If I could assign a personality to eggs, I'd say that they seem enormously calm. That's probably stupid. I should stop romanticizing everything I eat.

For dinner I used my purchases to make a really gorgeous dinner, for one, pathetically. Is it still pathetic if I preferred it that way? I sauteed bermuda onions with the chanterelles with some thyme and peas and topped it with a fried duck egg and then I drizzled the whole thing with the white truffle oil I got with my gift certificate to Williams and Sonoma.
Also, a side salad of tomatoes in a meyer lemon balsamic vinaigarette.
Oh! also I enjoyed figs with a port and honey goat cheese! Saeyoung, I'm bringing your some of that goat cheese. It's ridiculously good.

Ingredients:
1/2 a bermuda onion
3/4 cup chanterelle mushrooms
1/4 cup peas (frozen or fresh)
3 sprigs of thyme
2 tablespoons of butter
salt and pepper to taste
1 duck egg

1. melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat
2. sweat the onions. try and not move them too much so that they will caramelize but make sure that they don't burn and go bitter
3. when the onions are cooked down and translucent add the chanterelles and thyme
4. when the onions and chanterelles are browned add the peas and cook for about one minute or until the peas are just tender
5. salt and pepper to taste
6. take the mixture out of the pan and plate
7. in the same pan with the browned butter, crack the egg and fry until the white part is opaque. You want the yolk to be runny (you may have to add more butter or oil to the pan before adding the egg)
8. top the chanterelle mixture with the egg and drizzle with white truffle oil or just extra virgin olive oil will do just fine

...other variations:

this would also be good with pancetta or some sort of salty cured meat

Raspberry White Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

I catered a children's birthday party today.  This was not ordered but I thought I'd throw them in for free after encountering them in Martha Stewart's Cookies and because they fit the theme of the birthday party so well.  

The white chocolate raspberry cream turned out a little grainy for some reason, which was unfortunate.  I think this might have something to do with the quality of white chocolate or perhaps the temperature of the heavy cream.  In any case, they tasted very good. Very appropriate for a children's party.  Warning: these cookies are very sweet so if you sugar overload easily, these may not be for you.

RECIPE HERE

Pineapple, Molasses, and Lime Zest

I have a new side job.  My mom and her husband are going to Spain and France in September.  I'm in charge of planning the whole thing, from flights to dinner reservations.  I'm pretty much planning my dream vacation, but for someone else.  (sigh)  I'm totally more excited about this trip than they are.  I've been downloading every itunes show about Spain and France that I can find and predictably I'm tending towards the ones with a foodie bent.  The other night I watched "On the Road Again" with Mario Batali, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Mark Bittman.  It's really mediocre.  Gwyneth Paltrow is pretty obnoxious.  But, they do eat some beautiful food.  In the episode about Barcelona they went to Inopia, a restaurant by one of the Adria brothers (tangent: I tried to make a reservation of El Bulli, the Adria brother's restaurant but they are booked up for the next year!).  For dessert at Inopia they serve fresh pineapple with lime zest and molasses.  Simple, simple, wonderful.  I've never thought about using molasses with fresh fruit.  I like this very much.

Cranberry Macadamia Cormeal Biscotti

I'm back on the horse! I don't really know what that means.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 1/4 cup cornmeal

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs (room temp)

6 tablespoons of butter

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup dried cranberries

3/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

zest of one lemon

for the maple icing:

3/4 cup confectioner's sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 tablespoon water

1. preheat oven to 350

2. sift together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt--set aside

3. cream the butter and the sugar until fluffy and light

4. beat in the eggs, one at a time

5. add the flour/cornmeal mixture to the butter/sugar/egg mixture

6. add the lemon zest, chocolate, cranberries, and macadamia nuts

7. combine all the ingredients

8. on a parchment lined cookie sheet form the dough into a log that is about 14 inches long

9. bake for 30-40 minutes or until the bottom edges are slightly browned and the top begins to crack just a bit

10. remove from oven and let cool for about 20 minutes

11. slice the log into 1/2 inch slices and place back onto a parchment lined cookie sheet

12. bake for 15-18 minutes or until the edges are slightly browned

13. remove from oven and let cool completely

14. mix the ingredients for the icing and pour into a sturdy ziploc bag

15.  push the icing into one corner of the bag, making sure to release all the air from the top of the bag

16. snip off a tiny part of the corner of the bag and drizzle the icing over the biscotti

17. serve dipped in coffee or milk or dessert wine

A Good Gathering

requisite

honey brined chicken

jab chae (glass noodles with vegetables)

bean sprout rice

soups (also requisite)

saeyoung and patricia

marinated tofu

no one ate this but me

i found orange cauliflower at the market and i couldn't resist

butternut squash fries

maple dipping sauce

peanut sauce

my favorite guacamole : thai guac

mango cherry salsa

I love cooking with my mom and sister.  Once in a while we'll have extended family over for large weekend dinners.  We say it will be a simple meal, but it never is.  Simplicity just isn't in our blood.  We meticulously plan. We make several trips to the grocery market (the korean market, the american market, and the last minute trip to Ralph's).  We toil. We barely sit down to eat but somehow manage to gorge until our stomachs are disgustingly rotund.  We then clean for what seems like centuries.  And then we pull out leftovers from the fridge and eat again.  

These make up some of my happiest moments.  We're oddly cheerful when we cook.  We have a sense of collectivity, of doing something together and enjoying what we made together.  Call me sentimental, because there's no denying it, I really am.  

This last Sunday we had one of these large dinners.  I was in charge of appetizers because I believe that's my favorite part of a meal.  I made a Thai guacamole, which is my favorite avocado dish, hands down.  Also, I made a mango cherry salsa, inspired by the fruit we had in the fridge.  Also, butternut squash fries with peanut sauce and a maple dipping sauce.  Saeyoung made a strata, which she will post about very soon (yes, she also blogs here *nudge nudge saeyoung cho).    She also made her famous peach drop cookies, which are always excellent.  Mom, being the faithful Korean that she is made jab chae, spinach soy bean soup, tofu salad and bean sprout rice .  Doc, faithful to his grill, made korean short ribs and a very tender honey brined chicken.  

Very pleasant evening.