My puffy Tomato-Cheese Tartlets |
I played a little bit of catch up this week with a couple of the last recipes for French Fridays. Last week's recipe was Tomato-Cheese Tartlets, a super simple combination of puff pastry, pesto, in my case goat cheese, tomatoes, basil, olive oil and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. I have used puff pastry in the past, but had forgotten how versatile it can be. You can make a really quick, beautiful entree or dessert in no time if you remember to keep some on hand in your freezer. For this recipe, I kind of strayed from the directions a bit. I was supposed to cut the pastry in to circles and bake them under a baking sheet so that they would get really crisp and not puff up. Where's the point in that? Puff pastry is so delicious, light and airy...I just felt the need to rebel. The result was a little difficult to eat, so I understood the point, but they still turned out lovely and really delicious. I used a store-bought pesto and goat cheese, but many of my fellow Dorista's used tapenade as a base and mozzarella. Really, the variations are endless, and I could easily see these a little mini tartlets if you cut the puff pastry with a biscuit cutter and followed the anti-puff directions for baking, I definitely plan on trying this soon.
Warm Scallop Salad with Corn, Tomatoes and Nectarines |
This week's recipe for Warm Scallop Salad was seafood, so you know I did not go there myself, but the hubby got to have his favorite scallops in a delicous salad of fresh corn, tomatoes, with a super light lime dressing and savory basil, and a nicely surprising grilled nectarine on the side. I had my salad with grilled chicken, and it was absolutely delicious. I loved the crunchy sweet corn with the tangy and slightly spicy lime vinaigrette. Grilling was a snap (literally 3 minutes to done on the scallops) and we both had a perfect Sunday evening dinner.
I'm excited because this weekend I am taking my first cooking class at Sur La Table learning to make macarons. I will definitely be posting about the experience, so stay tuned. Next up for FFwD, we have Cafe Style Grated Carrot Salad. We'll see....