Last night I baked some salmon, then I raided the fridge/freezer for a way to serve it.
Here is the random list of things I had in the freezer...
Mushrooms
Artichokes
Onion
Italian Cheeze (romano)
Basil
Jelly
Honey
Pepper Sauce
Vinegar.
I layered some crepes in the bottom of the pan, then filled it with salmon and artichokes.
I sauteed mushrooms in olive oil, made a rue with flour, stirred in 1/2 and 1/2 until I had a veggie gravy, added some dry basil, then melted a bit of the hard italian cheeze for a sauce.
I poured this sauce over the first layer of crepes, salmon, and artichokes.
I made a second layer of crepes and topped it with Brie Cheese and the following sauce mixture:
2 parts Jelly (I had pomegranite, raspberry, and blueberry jelly on hand)
1 part honey
1/4 part chili sauce
1/4 part cider vinegar
Then I melted the brie under the broiler, and... Amazing improv dinner from random groceries I had on hand.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Crepe Tower
I started making crepes a couple of months ago. Jessica, a coworker, had mentioned a new creperie in town and after looking at their menu online... I was inspired to get going in my kitchen. I stuck to desserts on the first few rounds. (Thanks Jessica)
On Friday, the office finally took a trip over to Chez Elle, so I got to see all kinds of crepes, and their special crepe griddle, which made me a bit jealous, not gonna lie. I was out hunting for ideas.
On Saturday night, Sabrina and Natasha came over for dinner, and I decided to do a crepe tower... a layered crepe lasagna sort of dish.
I used Julia Child's Bechamel Cheese sauce recipe with eggs as a guideline for mine. (No, this is not another Julia Child blog, it just doesn't make sense to consult anyone else on french cooking)
So for the Bechamel,
I combined the Flour with Mexican Crema and blended it with my immersion blender to get out all the lumps (a whisk will do) I added the butter and continued to break up the lumps with the immersion blender until the mix was simmering. Then I added a whisked bowl of 1 egg and 2 egg yolks. Finally, I melted shredded mozzarella and added nutmeg, pepper and chili sauce. The Mexican Crema and Mozzarella cheese were my own substitutions for milk and swiss cheese.
To make the tower I started layering crepes with bechamel and a topping as if I was stacking 15 skinny pizzas together. There were:
(all layers had a thin spread of bechamel sauce)
2 carmelized onion layers
2 sauteed mushrooms and wilted spinach layers
2 sauteed artichoke layers
1 roasted asparagus layer
1 pesto layer
2 layers: 1/2 chicken and 1/2 salmon
l layer of Brie Cheese (to hold the salmon/chicken in place on top)
I baked the tower in the oven for about 20 minutes, topped with the leftover bechamel and some fresh tomatoes for garnish.
This is an extremely rich dish. But lovely.
For Dessert:
I made the italian canolli filling (ricotta chees mixed with chocolate shavings, almonds and agave syrup)
We had one canolli crepe and 1 Nutella filled crepe with candied pecans. The dish was topped with blackberries and shared by all 4 guests.
We spent about 40$ for 4 single crepes at Chez Elle on Friday. I fed 4 people for 40$. But I have leftover.
8 or 10 servings of artichokes (costo marinated bulk buy)
9 organic eggs (costco bulk buy)
Most of the rest of a Nutella Jar (costco bulk buy)
2/3 flat of bulk baby bella mushrooms (costco bulk buy)
5 or 6 servings of tomatoes (costco bulk buy)
1/3 bunch of asparagus
Nealy 1 pound of Brie Cheese
9 Organic Free Range Chicken Breasts
Plus nearly 1/2 of the tower. We had some for lunch and will have more with dinner tonight. I refreshed the leftovers by drizzling Meican Crema and pesto over the top.
On Friday, the office finally took a trip over to Chez Elle, so I got to see all kinds of crepes, and their special crepe griddle, which made me a bit jealous, not gonna lie. I was out hunting for ideas.
On Saturday night, Sabrina and Natasha came over for dinner, and I decided to do a crepe tower... a layered crepe lasagna sort of dish.
I used Julia Child's Bechamel Cheese sauce recipe with eggs as a guideline for mine. (No, this is not another Julia Child blog, it just doesn't make sense to consult anyone else on french cooking)
So for the Bechamel,
I combined the Flour with Mexican Crema and blended it with my immersion blender to get out all the lumps (a whisk will do) I added the butter and continued to break up the lumps with the immersion blender until the mix was simmering. Then I added a whisked bowl of 1 egg and 2 egg yolks. Finally, I melted shredded mozzarella and added nutmeg, pepper and chili sauce. The Mexican Crema and Mozzarella cheese were my own substitutions for milk and swiss cheese.
To make the tower I started layering crepes with bechamel and a topping as if I was stacking 15 skinny pizzas together. There were:
(all layers had a thin spread of bechamel sauce)
2 carmelized onion layers
2 sauteed mushrooms and wilted spinach layers
2 sauteed artichoke layers
1 roasted asparagus layer
1 pesto layer
2 layers: 1/2 chicken and 1/2 salmon
l layer of Brie Cheese (to hold the salmon/chicken in place on top)
I baked the tower in the oven for about 20 minutes, topped with the leftover bechamel and some fresh tomatoes for garnish.
This is an extremely rich dish. But lovely.
For Dessert:
I made the italian canolli filling (ricotta chees mixed with chocolate shavings, almonds and agave syrup)
We had one canolli crepe and 1 Nutella filled crepe with candied pecans. The dish was topped with blackberries and shared by all 4 guests.
We spent about 40$ for 4 single crepes at Chez Elle on Friday. I fed 4 people for 40$. But I have leftover.
8 or 10 servings of artichokes (costo marinated bulk buy)
9 organic eggs (costco bulk buy)
Most of the rest of a Nutella Jar (costco bulk buy)
2/3 flat of bulk baby bella mushrooms (costco bulk buy)
5 or 6 servings of tomatoes (costco bulk buy)
1/3 bunch of asparagus
Nealy 1 pound of Brie Cheese
9 Organic Free Range Chicken Breasts
Plus nearly 1/2 of the tower. We had some for lunch and will have more with dinner tonight. I refreshed the leftovers by drizzling Meican Crema and pesto over the top.
Swiss Chard
Cheap and easy to grow in your spring garden!
Mollie Katzen's recipe from her book "Vegetable's I Can't Live Without" is amazing, I clearly remember the afternoon over 2 years ago when I heard her describe this recipe on NPR. Russell and I were driving to the farmers market. I bought Chard that day, and have made this recipe over and over again since that time. When ingredients vary, I sometimes add blue cheese, feta cheese, or goat cheese. And walnuts and candied pecans made a nice variation to the pine nuts.
I met a foodie out last night while watching a friends band. "Hi Angela"
I am posting this blog for her... and the link to the original NPR story which I often look up and forward or print for people.
Mollie's Rainbow Chard Decorated with itself and other recipes. I have used and adapted this the Brussels Sprouts recipe also.
Mollie Katzen's recipe from her book "Vegetable's I Can't Live Without" is amazing, I clearly remember the afternoon over 2 years ago when I heard her describe this recipe on NPR. Russell and I were driving to the farmers market. I bought Chard that day, and have made this recipe over and over again since that time. When ingredients vary, I sometimes add blue cheese, feta cheese, or goat cheese. And walnuts and candied pecans made a nice variation to the pine nuts.
I met a foodie out last night while watching a friends band. "Hi Angela"
I am posting this blog for her... and the link to the original NPR story which I often look up and forward or print for people.
Mollie's Rainbow Chard Decorated with itself and other recipes. I have used and adapted this the Brussels Sprouts recipe also.
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