Mushroom and Shallot Quiche

Quiche Me

This weekend is our cookbook club dinner and I can’t wait. It seems like forever since we did the last one.

This time we are cooking from one of my new favorite cookbooks, Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan. It is an entire cookbook of French comfort food. Or maybe it’s just MY idea of comfort food (mmmm…butter). The recipes are relatively easy, the food is uncomplicated, and the flavors are fabulous. It’s basically the kind of food you would expect if you were invited for dinner at a friend’s home—in Provençe. May we all be so lucky.

I have made a number of recipes from this book, and have never come across a bad one. One of my all time favorites is Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good which I love and have written about about in September of 2012.

Because the girls have been busy lately, I have decided to make the Mushroom and Shallot Quiche ‘cause I need to use up my eggs. I have always enjoyed a good quiche. They are pretty, easy to make, and a quiche is a great way to make use of the random veggies in your fridge. Paired with a tossed salad, and perhaps a glass of wine, and you have a tasty, très French lunch.

Mushroom and Shallot Quiche
Adapted from Epicurious
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Amy’s Guacamole

A Bowl of Somethin’ Super
Perhaps you haven’t heard, but the Super Bowl is this weekend. I admit I like the Super Bowl and everything that goes with it. The Food, the Commercials, the betting pools. All of it. I am also one of those people who actually likes to watch the game.

After decades of going to Super Bowl parties or having people over at my place, I have finally figured out that I prefer to be in my own home, on my own couch, with a Coke, not a Pepsi, and actually watching the game without having to shush people or turn the volume up to 80. This Sunday I will be doing just that with my Patriot fan husband. (Go ahead. Boo if you must.) But don’t think for one minute that we will be scrimping on the snackage. It may just be the five of us, but we’re going big, baby.

We have done numerous things for our Super Bowl feasting over the years. Chili. Pulled Pork. Baby Back Ribs. After serious soul searching and heated family debates, it has been decided that this year we will be having a Make Your Own Nachos bar. It may sound simple but these are not your average nachos. Sure, we could go with the basic cheese and chips with salsa, but that would be for amateurs. We take our nachos very seriously and we all like different toppings. Our ingredient list could feed a small country. There are numerous different kinds of chips, cheeses, beans, no beans, meats, and salsas. Pickled jalapeños, fresh jalapeños, no jalapeños. It’s Tex-Mex anarchy.

One thing that we do all agree on is there absolutely–the world will tilt on its axis if it’s not there–must be guacamole on the nachos. And if you ask my husband, it must be my guacamole. (Yeah. He’s a keeper.) There ain’t nothin’ better than fresh guacamole with fresh chips. Mine is SO easy to make. Just make sure the avocados are super ripe…but not brown.

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Autumn Salad with Apples, Comté, and Hazelnuts

The Big Cheese

Cheese is good. I have always been a big fan of cheese in many forms, though I DO draw the line at spray cheese. ( My sister, on the other hand…)And don’t forget the Earthquake Velveta buried in the back of my Mom’s pantry. Uh, no thanks. I would rather perish!

Around the holidays I find that I eat much more cheese than usual. (Of course I am eating a lot more than usual of a lot of things, but it’s the holidays, who am I to fight tradition?)

Cheese is one of the easiest things to nibble on at parties, and since there are numerous parties during this time, the chances of finding oneself in front of a cheese plate or creamy baked brie are pretty good. In fact a cheese plate with an assortment of interesting and not your everyday cheeses is my easy, go-to potluck contribution. (It’s also a great way to get a conversation going, ”This cheese is awesome!” “Oh, what is it?”)

There are plenty of ways to incorporate some really good cheese into your holiday meals. Cheesy dips are a no-brainer and cheese balls are always festive. (The real ones. Not the neon orange things, and not your Uncle Bob.)

One of my favorite ways to enjoy a little cheesy decadence is in a salad. Most people add goat cheese, or feta, or even crumbled blue to their salads– which is great, but don’t under estimate the power of a good, nutty Parrano Gouda or Emmenthaler. When cut into matchstick sized pieces and tossed into mixed greens with some dried cranberries or cherries, these hard cheeses are darn good.

A favorite salad with cheese is this Autumn Salad with Apples and Comte. The Cider vinaigrette alone is straw worthy. This dish would make a great addition to your Thanksgiving table or any other celebration.
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Cornmeal-Crusted Crayfish Pies

Havin’ Fun On The Bayou…

It’s that time again. This week is the annual Chef of The Month Dinner that I have cooked for the past three years as a prize for our school auction.

The first year I was an uber excited over-achiever and all about making the entire meal from my garden. Well, except for the pork. (I’m not about to raise actual pigs. I have three who live with me, and I accuse them of being raised in a barn. That’s good enough.)

Last year was an elaborate Moroccan feast. I may have gone overboard. (Seriously? I poached pears and made the bread from scratch. ‘Nuff said.) I thought it was awesome but I am also a bit of a nut when it comes to Moroccan food. I made too many dishes in my attempt to make others enjoy the cuisine as much as I do and I killed myself doing it. I drooled in the corner for a week.

This year I’m keeping it within the continental U.S., and I’m not going as crazy. I’m makin ’em take a trip down on the bayou. This close to Thanksgiving, I want something that they aren’t going to eat again in the next few weeks. I figure cajun is a good way to go for a satisfying Fall meal.

I consider any gumbo to be comfort food, and there are so many different kinds to choose from. When I think of cajun cuisine this is the first thing that comes to mind, so I had to do it. I am going with the less traditional Smoked Duck and Andouille Gumbo.

Pecans are big all over the South, but Louisiana is crazy for them. So, I am making a Caramel-Pecan tart that is almost better than my Grandmother-in-Law’s Pecan Pie. Almost. She’s from Louisiana, she knows her pecans and she makes a MEAN Pecan pie.

Crawfish Pie is a no-brainer. It is just SO Louisiana. Hank Williams even sang about it. Since November is our Month of Pie, I am sharing the recipe as a savory alternative to the obvious.
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