Heirloom Tomato Tart
This gorgeous savory Tomato Tart was both a simple recipe and a great photo. The recipe we got from one of our favorite food bloggers, David Lebovitz, who calls it a French Tomato Tart.
The highlight for our take on it was the varied assortment of heirloom tomatoes we got from our CSA, Vermont Valley Farms. We may be biased, but we thought the bright clash of different reds, oranges, and yellows really made this dish visually pop.
With this recipe, even the crust was a snap to make. Cutting the butter into the flour and mixing with our fingers made it really easy to pull together.
And the secret ingredient is the Dijon mustard, spread on the crust before adding the tomatoes. It provided just the right amount of kick, without taking over. He also mentions using honey, however that wasn’t in the cards for our version, and we didn’t feel like we missed the sweetness at all.
Grilled Fresh Peaches With Mascarpone Cheese
This is one of those dead simple desserts you can do in summer with just fresh fruit. You don’t even need to start making it until after everyone is done with dinner.
Simply heat your grill to medium-high, and once it’s ready, just put the pitted halves of fresh peaches cut side down on the grill.
Once they’ve had a chance to char and cook a bit (2-3 minutes), remove to serving plates.
Top the halves with a dollop of fresh mascarpone cheese (BelGioioso of Green Bay makes a great one), and then drizzle honey across the tops. A sprig of mint from our tangled mess of an herb garden added some nice color as well.
The peaches, mascarpone, and honey work together to make a decadent tasting dessert, without the fuss of a complicated preparation. Perfect for summer dinners on the back patio!
Chicken Ballotine Stuffed With Spinach And Mushrooms
Although we wish our iPhone could have captured this better, this deboned chicken stuffed with sauteed spinach and chopped mushrooms was one of those visual stunners that take a bit of work, but turn out to be very worthwhile as a Sunday dinner.
Mr. Foodie is a big fan of Jacque Pepin, especially the different TV series he had on PBS a ways back. From one of his shows, he demonstrated how to quickly debone a chicken, then stuff it and tie it in a roll.
It was kind of like a TurDucken, but without the Tur or the Duck.
Although it seems complicated up front, like most of Jacque Pepin’s demonstrations of cooking technique, in the end it comes off as rather straightforward. And although it took quite a bit longer than Chef Pepin’s quick demo, Mr. Foodie was able to pull it together rather respectively.
Below is the video demonstration by Jacque Pepin of making a Ballotine (or Galantine, as the cold version is known). We especially liked his side demo of making chicken “lollipops” from the wings.
httpv://youtu.be/kAekQ5fzfGM
Here is hoping you all had a great 2011, and are looking forward to an even better 2012.
Annemarie and Paul at Madison Foodie
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