Blue Cheese and Red Potato Tart

Tried this tart made by Carrie. Delicious! She also added a crumbling of bacon to hers.

Source: Smitten Kitchen

Blue Cheese and Red Potato Tart
Adapted in a bunch of ways from Gourmet

I changed a slew of things: I opted out of the San Pellegrino and Plugrá, though you don’t need to if you’re feeling fancy. I swapped in my favorite quiche crust these days, which barely shrinks and manages to stay sturdy even without par-baking first. I made one large tart, rather than the 6 tartlets the original recipe called for, added more potatoes to compensate, and swapped tarragon (what I had on hand) for the suggested thyme and rosemary but think any herb you enjoy eating with potatoes and cheese would work.

One note: This is not a quiche. The filling will remain soft and custard-like after baked, not firm up like most egg fillings. I liked this texture; it was a little different but wanted to give a heads-up that the recipe hasn’t gone wrong if your potatoes can still be nudged a little after baking.

1 Savory Tart Shell, below, or recipe of your choice, in a 9-inch tart pan and ready to fill
1 pound small red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 cup heavy cream
1 large egg yolk
1/4 pound blue cheese, crumbled (about 3/4 cup)
1 tablespoons finely chopped herb or herbs of your choice, such as a mixture of thyme and rosemary
Fine sea salt for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a medium saucepan, cover potato slices with water by two inches. Simmer, uncovered, until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain. If the potatoes don’t seem very dry, pat them dry with towels.

Arrange potato slices, overlapping slightly, in concentric circles around the tart pan. Sprinkle blue cheese over potatoes. Whisk cream and egg yolk together and pour into tart shell, then sprinkle tart with herbs of your choice and salt.

Bake tart on a baking sheet until bubbling and golden brown, about 45 to 50 minutes. Cool in pan on rack and serve warm or cold. With a big green salad, for balance.

Savory Tart Shell

1 1/4 (5 1/2 ounces) cups flour
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) butter, diced
1 large egg

In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch and salt. Cut the butter in with a pastry blender, fork or two knives until it is in very tiny bits. Add one egg and mix with a fork until a dough forms. If this does not happen easily, toss it out onto a counter and knead it together. This dough is rather tough but with a little elbow grease, it does come together nicely.

This dough can also be made a food processor, or in a stand mixer, though I’ve only tried it in a food processor.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to a 12-inch circle. Place the dough in a 9-inch pie plate or tart pan and press to remove any air bubbles. Level the edges, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Proceed with a filling of your choice, no parbaking required.

Greek Pasta Salad

Could also marinate some chicken in a second bath of the vinaigrette (minus the olive oil) and grill it up for some protein.

Source: My Recipes

Ingredients

• 
  Preparation
• Dressing:
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• Salad:
• Salt
• 1 pound gemelli or other short pasta
• 3/4 medium English cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 1 dry pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 large red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
• 6 ounces feta, crumbled 
• 3 cups firmly packed baby spinach 

1. 1. Make dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together garlic, oregano, mustard, vinegar, salt, pepper and olive oil until well combined.
2. 
   
3. 2. Make salad: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes, or as label directs. Drain, rinse under cold water and transfer to a bowl. Add remaining ingredients, toss with dressing and serve.

Tomatoes Stuffed with Grilled Corn Salad

We've had a lot of corn lately! :o)

Source: Everyday Food

Ingredients

• 3 ears corn, with husks
• 4 beefsteak tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for grates
• 1/2 cup chopped scallions
• 1/2 cup crumbled soft goat cheese
• 1 tablespoon white-wine vinegar
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 3 slices cooked bacon, crumbled (optional)

Directions

1. Pull back corn husks, leaving them attached at base of ear. Remove and discard silk; pull husks back over corn. Place ears in large bowl; cover with cold water. Let soak 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, cut off and discard top third of tomatoes. Using a paring knife, cut around wall of tomato to loosen flesh. Gently squeeze out seeds; discard. With a melon baller, scoop out tomato interiors, leaving the wall intact. Coarsely chop interiors; transfer to a large bowl.
3. Heat grill to high; lightly oil grates. Drain corn; arrange ears on grill. Cover and cook, turning occasionally with tongs, until husks are slightly charred and corn is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove ears from grill. Holding bottom of hot ears with a towel, peel back husks and cut kernels off cob; transfer to bowl with tomatoes.
4. Add scallions, all but 2 tablespoons goat cheese, vinegar, and oil. Season with salt and pepper; toss to combine. Spoon filling into hollowed tomatoes; sprinkle with remaining goat cheese and, if desired, bacon.

Savory Corn Pudding

Source: Everyday Food

Ingredients

• 8 ears corn
• 3 slices bacon
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• Salt and pepper
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup torn fresh basil leaves

Directions

1. Grate corn into a medium bowl. In a large heavy pot, cook bacon over medium-high until crisp. With tongs, transfer to paper towels to drain. Add onion to pot and cook until soft, 8 minutes.
2. Add corn and accumulated juices and cook 5 minutes. Slowly stir in milk and cook until thick and creamy, about 2 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and red-pepper flakes. Crumble bacon over corn mixture and top with basil.

Cook's Note

Good with ...
Fried chicken, ribs, turkey burgers

Zucchini Coconut Bread

Source: Two Peas and their Pod

Zucchini Coconut Bread

Yield: 1 loaf of bread

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 50-60 minutes

Total Time: 75 minutes

Zucchini Coconut bread made with coconut oil and coconut! You won't miss the butter, I promise!

ingredients:

3/4 cup all-purpose Gold Medal flour
3/4 cup whole wheat Gold Medal flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini (squeezed and drained in a paper towel)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (I use Chobani 0%), at room temperature
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup shredded sweetened coconut

directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.

3. In a separate large bowl, combine shredded zucchini, sugars, coconut oil, yogurt, egg, and vanilla extract.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until moistened. Stir in the shredded coconut.

5. Pour the batter into prepared pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let zucchini bread cool in pan for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the bread from the pan and cool completely before slicing.

Tomato Basil Soup

This recipe is adapted from La Madeleine's famous recipe and my friend Kyla's yummy recipe. So good! I like to serve it with Elana's Pantry's Scallion and Goat Cheese muffins.

Source: La Madeleine's Restaurant

Image Source: Johnny Autry

Ingredients

• 4 cups (8 to 10) tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped, or 4 cups canned whole tomatoes, crushed
• 3 cloves garlic, minced/grated
• 12 to 14 washed fresh basil leaves
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 pound sweet, unsalted butter
• salt to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 
  

Instructions

Put tomatoes and garlic in saucepan. Simmer 30 minutes. Puree, along with the basil leaves, in small batches, in blender, food processor (or better yet, one of those handy hand-held immersion blenders, right in the cooking pan).

Return to saucepan and add cream and butter, while stirring over low heat. Garnish with basil leaves and serve with your favorite bread.

Zucchini and Yellow Squash Gratin

A really yummy way to use up our squash this week. Even though the recipe calls for two of each squash, (which is what we had), our squash were so big that I ended up doubling the rest of the recipe to go with our 4 jumbo summer squash (and baked it in a 9 x 13).

Source: Everyday Food

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 medium zucchini (about 7 ounces each), sliced crosswise 1/4 inch thick
• 2 medium yellow squash (about 7 ounces each), sliced crosswise 1/4 inch thick
• 2 shallots, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup panko
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat; add zucchini, yellow squash, shallots, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until zucchini and squash are crisp-tender, 4 to 6 minutes.
2. Add cream, and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove skillet from heat; stir in 1/2 cup panko and cup Parmesan.
3. Spoon mixture into a shallow 2-quart baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining panko and Parmesan; season with salt and pepper. Bake until top is golden, 8 to 10 minutes.