TWD: White Peach & Strawberry Galette

So upon hearing what this weeks TWD challenge was I thought "what in the world is a galette?" I ran to get Dorie's Baking cookbook, found the recipe & then went to my best friend Google to see some pictures. Looks like a pie without the sides or top. You can make a fruit galette with anything you'd like. I went to whole foods this weekend and got the most amazing, juicy white peaches & nice looking strawberries. I used a ginger marmalade to spread over the dough thinking it would be a great compliment to the peaches & I was right. The crust..........OMG the crust is soooo good. Really sweet, flaky & perfect. It's not as dense as a pie crust, definitely more light. When I took my first bite.........mmmmm the sweet fruit, creamy custard mixed with the flaky crust. A symphony of flavors exploding in my mouth. I will definitely make this recipe again. I am taking it to work tomorrow for breakfast (I had to try a tiny piece though first to make sure the galette tasted good). But if you feel adventurous, definitely give this a try. It does looks very impressive to serve.

Basil Pesto

Tonight I went over to my friends Shawn & Bonnie's house for dinner. They along with their neighbor Ryan have a huge garden this year. Well in the garden they have a TON of fresh basil. I went out & picked a bunch tonight & came home to make basil pesto. I like this spread on crackers & tossed in warm pasta, which I will probably do for dinner tomorrow.




2 cups loosely packed basil leaves
2 tbs. toasted pine nuts
2 tbs. freshly grated parm (I cheated tonight & used the shaker grated)
1 tbs. sun dried tomatoes
1/4 tsp. minced garlic (I just threw in a large clove)
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
couple shakes of rosemary (I prefer fresh but had to go with dried)
1/4 cup plus 1 tbs, EVOO

Mix everything in a food processor except the EVOO. Once blended drizzle EVOO. You can add more salt/pepper to taste. Enjoy!!

Tuesday's With Dorie ~~ Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler

This is my first every Tuesday's With Dorie & I was so excited to make something I normally wouldn't have otherwise. I'm not a huge rhubarb girl, so was kinda iffy on how I would like this dessert. I had all of the ingredients except the rhubarb, so made a quick trip to Whole Foods (LOVE this place) and picked up 4 stalks. I picked these cherries myself from a family members cherry tree. This dessert is a sweet, slighty tart fruit mixture with a very light slighty salty biscuit topping. The first bite was really good, then going on the 2nd bite, I found myself picking out the rhubarb. The sweet fruit blended nicely with the fluffy biscuit topping. The topping is made with both all-purpose & whole wheat flour. A nice scoop of vanilla ice cream would be great, or I topped with some dream whip & sprinkled with cinnamon.

Buttercream Pretzels

Yes you heard me right. Buttercream Pretzels. I was sitting in the kitchen munching on pretzels trying to figure out what I can do with some left over buttercream I had in the fridge. I sat straight up, was blinded by the lightbulb & OH SNAP............why not put buttercream on pretzels. Yeah yeah I know it's not off the pages of Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig but who gives a dern....I popped one of these little pieces in my mouth & woooooooo doggy......the sweet creamy buttercream mixed with the crunchy salty pretzels was like magic in my mouth. Ah I'll start WW tomorrow...these are too good to just be all cute & pretty. Try it out & I bet you my 401k you'll love it.

Disclaimer: The above referenced comment about my 401k is completely false, however an addendum is in place that should I turn my 401k over to you for not liking my creation, you must take me in, give me shelter, food & water for the rest of my life seeing as I'll be in the poor house after giving you my loot. Deal? Oh I might add, I require steak & lobster, champaign wishes & caviar dreams, oh & a foot massage each night..........................Yeah I'd turn this deal down too :)

Merrill's Hot Dog Sauce

I had the wonderful opportunity to spend my 4th of July down in the peaceful hollers of Kentucky at my friend Melanie's father's house. Tom is his name & he's the sweetest UK fan you'll ever meet. Well Tom done gone & got himself a good woman and even better, that good woman can cook some GOOD food. Merrill is her name (down in Kentucky it's pronounced Merle) & she's as nice as can be. While sitting around she looked over & asked me "Megan do you want some hot dog sauce?" I said ummm ok, but what do you mean? Merrill looked at me like I was nuts "hot dog sauce!!"......ooohhkay....but what do you mean Merrill and she said "honey it's the sauce you put on top of your hot dogs." I said ohhhh okay you mean coney sauce? "No, I mean hot dog sauce." So us Northern folks coney sauce is the Southern folks "hot dog sauce". I took a bite & let me tell ya...............mmm mmm mmm heavens to Bestey it was phenomenal. Sure beats the Dairy Queen sauce I'm used to :) Not only is this hot dog sauce phenomenal it's simple as pie. Take a look.

Brown 1lb. Ground Beef

Once brown add 1 can tomato soup, 2Tbs. Sugar, Chili Powder, Salt & Pepper to taste & mix till combined & warm.

Top on your favorite hotdog & there you have Merrill's HOT DOG SAUCE !! You can top with onions or cheese if you do so please (it's the Kentucky sweetness coming out in me).

Vanilla Lemon Cupcakes & Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

So if you've never heard of Dorie Greenspan & you love to bake I highly encourage you to run, dash, bolt, hop-skip & jump your way to get her cookbook "Baking from my home to yours" cookbook. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this cookbook. Below is the link for it on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0618443363?tag=doriegreenspa-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=0618443363&adid=085HH9390SF3WD6GZM46

Dorie's book has beautiful photographs of several desserts & it makes you want to throw on an apron, roll up your sleeves and bake the day away. So yesterday evening I did just that. I made Dorie's Party Cake which is a moist white cake flavored with a hint of lemon. Instead of baking a cake I made cupcakes - which is my most favorite dessert & thing to bake ever in this world. I also made vanilla buttercream frosting for the topping. Normally I like to be nice & make pretty cupcakes, but I was so tired I just slopped the yummy frosting on top. The mix of the lemon & vanilla buttercream was soooo good & fresh tasting. I'll definitely be making this cake again.

Seriously though Dori's Baking cookbook is wonderful & if you have any bakers you know this would make the perfect gift. Enjoy the pics. Warning though: LOTS of milk will be consumed with these cupcakes..........ice cold of course :)

Jumbo Stuffed Shells

I made this late last night for dinner since I had all the ingredients on hand. I've never made stuffed shells before & I have to say I really liked it alot. This will most definitely go in my recipe arsenal & I'm sure will be made a couple of times a month.



Recipe
1 box Jumbo Shells
1lb. Ground Beef
2Tbs. Olive Oil
1C. finely Chopped Onions
1 Clove Minced Garlic
1Tsp. Salt
1Tsp. Italian Seasoning
1/4tsp. Black Pepper
1/8tsp. Ground Nutmeg
1 egg
1/4C. Heavy Cream
1/4C. Fresh Grated Parmigiano Cheese
1 Large Jar Of Spaghetti Sauce
1 Regular Bag of Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cook shells as directed on the package. Add Italian Seasoning to ground beef & cook till done & drain grease. Add olive oil, onion, garlic and let that cook with meat for about 10 min on medium heat. Add rest of seasonings & mix well. Stir in egg, cream & parmigano cheese. Ground Beef Mixture should be wet but not runny.

In a 9x13 or larger pan spread some spaghetti sauce till it covers bottom. Take your meat mixture & fill shells. Lay stuffed shells together in a row till complete. Top with rest of spaghetti sauce & then cover with mozzarella. I cover mine with foil & bake for 30 minutes at 350. Enjoy!