Gourmet 1988!

I used to save old magazines with recipes that I thought I might cook. Then the pile got huge. My super organized hubby suggested that I rip the recipe or article that I liked out and place it in a book. Well, that was too organized for me at that time, so I had a box filled with recipes. No, not a pretty box with flowers or cute cooking things, it was a packing box. Then, I got the organizational bug, hmmmmmm, maybe 10 years later, and put all those recipes in a book. I even have a special room in our new house to peruse my books of recipes now.

Needless to say, I haven't cooked each and every recipe, but the urge does strike to try one out, and I have been saving a Quiche Recipe that caught my eye from Gourmet Magazine, circa 1988. I was living in France at the time and running after a 1 year old boy. Not a lot of time to devote to cooking, but I knew I'd get back to it later in life!

I made a Flavored Dough as the base for my quiche. A parmesean and garlic powder blend. I gotta' say, this was very tasty and filled the kitchen with a good aroma while blind-baking.




The recipe was called, Crab and Saga Blue Quiche, Savoir Fare. Sounds good, huh?
I bought some Saga Blue cheese, couldn't find any crab though and wasn't going to make the trek to Lexington to find some good Crab meat. BUT, I did find some Florida Rock Shrimp that looked like it might go just fine. Wow......this was the best quiche I have made in a long time.

Moral to the story, save those old recipes and enjoy a cup of morning coffee or evening glass of wine, look through your pile of recipes and plan that next meal!

Baking Frenzy

Easter has come and gone, but there are still some leftover crumbs! About a week before the holiday, I start thinking of what Bread I'll be making! I thought about Croissant, but I got lazy! A typical Easter Bread for our family is the Brioche. Buttery, tender crumb and can have several applications to a batch of dough. I found some more Plugra at Liquor Barn (of all places!!), my local Kroger had fresh yeast and I was on my way.

During my years in France (ahhhh, but a thought away) I have attended many cooking classes, hands-on and demo's! My first Cordon Bleu was a Saturday morning hands-on class. It was lots of fun, my two buddies AA and Barb were loads of laughs, but the dough was already made for us. We were just shaping and baking. A 'taste' into the world of baking, really! I knew I wanted MORE! A 5-day intensive class came a few years later and this recipe is from that exciting class! I also did a last minute, before my move class at Le Notre which was a delight!


The 'old man' hooked up the 220v outlet for me and I am in business with all my Euro gadgets! This yummy looking dough is full of butter and will rest/ferment in the fridge for a few days if you'd like. This dough rose beautifully in the fridge and easy to pull out and shape up for Easter Breakfast & days beyond.

Yummy!

Check my flickr site on the side, for some other sites of Spring in Kentucky!

Garlic Fougasse!

Having a well-stocked freezer is a good thing! But, let me be honest......my freezer is the black hole of well intentioned, but long forgotten goodies!

I love to make Pizza Dough, those who know me, know this to be a fact. It also brings me pleasure to know that pizza dough is in the freezer to be thawed at a whim!

So, the reason for this post is developing right now, a lovely pasta I was making for dinner needed some fresh bread! I haven't found a Boulangerie here in my town yet!!! (I never will!)
So, the dough from the freezer called my name and it soon was on it's way to becoming a garlic fougasse! I shaped the dough, brushed with garlic butter and fresh herbs and let it rise in my big ol' American oven.

The result was tender and delicious!

Lasagna for 'the house'

What house? The White House? The Frat House?.......oh yeah, our house! Here in the Blue Grass!
Spring Break comes early for the schools in the north, and we had a wonderful week with our bearded-baby. He insisted on cooking for us one night, his specialty!! Scaled down for a family of 3, not a Frat House of 80 dudes!



I must say, our trip to the new favorite store Meijer in Hamburg netted some good items. I did influence my son (insisted) that he try some Italian Sausage to his mix. He relented! Other than that he did follow the 'house' recipe.

I also had some 1-step lasagna sheets on hand that I thought we should use up. I must say, the conoction had some great tastes! He raided my spice cabinet for many of my powders and salts and added some fresh garlic to his sauce.

We were delighted with his results, and are enjoying another serving (plus some for the freezer) tonight. The
'bearded-baby' is back 'up North' and Max is a little depressed right now. As all parents will join me in this thought.......we can't wait till the next visit home!

Mom!!!!! What happened to the pie?

Spring Break......and I start to get into my recipes that please a 21 year old. Pie....who doesn't like pie??
Chocolate cream pie, did you say? Whipped cream, choco shavings?

Everybody likes pie, like I said......even black and white dogs. Seems like, while I was on Skype with my bearded-baby, a black and white dog helped himself to some pie.

This caused great rushing around and phone calls to the vet, but Max was ok and I lopped off half the pie and all was well and good! yes, we ate the rest of the pie!

Great flaky butter crust, made with Plugra, the equivalent to my precious French butter!