French Onion Tartlets

At our recent dinner party, I wanted to greet the guests with a bubbly drink and a little nosh. One of the nosh items was something I came up, sort of on the fly. I played around with making an onion & sage tart, but I just wasn't feeling it. Being a French themed dinner, I also really wanted onion soup, but didn't want to go over board on the. What if...I could make incorporate the two?

French Onion Tartlets!!!

I started with two large sweet onions. They were diced and tossed in a non-stick skillet with butter, thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Cook slow and low for about 45 minutes. The onions will caramelize and reduce down.

After the onions cooked down, I added a quarter cup of a dry white wine. I allowed that to mix in and simmer do to nothing. Next was some apple juice--I'd have preferred cider, but I didn't have it. Simmer that down to nothing. Finally I added some beef stock and simmered that down, about 1/2 cup. You don't want this to actually be soup. A nice thick consistency will be best. Once I had the consistency I wanted, I stirred in a tablespoon of cider vinegar. At the moment, that seemed like a mistake, but the vinegar made the flavors pop later on! I placed the mixture into a bowl and kept it in the fridge for about 3 days before I continued the tartlets the day of the dinner party.


Now...how to make the tarts? Use the recipe here, roll out and cut into small circles with a biscuit cutter, about 2-2 1/2 inch diameter...it might have been 3 inches??? Carefully place the circles into a mini-muffin tins. I forgot, but you should prick the pastry with a fork. You'll need to bake these in the oven for about 15 minutes...350 degrees. They will be puffy and golden brown. Allow to cool.

Each tart shell took about 1 full teaspoon of the onion mixture. I topped each tartlet with a small bit of shredded mozzarella. I would have preferred Gruyere, but I forgot to get some at the store. Put them back in the oven, 350 again, for about 10-15 minutes. This allowed the onion mixture to heat back up and the cheese to melt.

These were tasty little devils. I made enough for at least 12 people, but the 6 of us finished almost all of them off!!! Serve them hot and with a glass of wine. Enjoy.

Happy New Year

Hello all! One of my non-resolution resolutions is to do a better job blogging. 2010 was sad, in terms of blogging. I did plenty of cooking, ate at some great restaurants...but in the end, I just didn't have the blog bug. To start us out, I have simple, awesome, fast snack for you to try.

At a holiday gathering in December, our host put this together for us. It was awesome. I don't know what it is called. I'm calling it...tasty yum yums in tube dough. Really, I don't have a name for them. Ricotta Crescent Roll Ups, how's that? Oh, these things are versatile, can't wait to try other fillings.

Start a tube of refrigerator crescent roll dough. Unroll and do one of two things. Lay the triangles out in a circular shape like this, or just lay them out (photo later). Allow the corners to overlap a little. Place a few leaves of basil or baby spinach on the wide end.

On top of the basil/spinach option, place a tablespoon of seasoned ricotta cheese. I had 8 TB of ricotta, seasoned with salt, pepper and 1 TB of Italian Seasoning. Stir to combine. On a later batch, I seasoned with fresh, chopped basil, salt, pepper and fresh parmigiana. What might you want to try?

On top of the ricotta, add a teaspoon of diced tomato. Use fresh, ripe & fresh tomato, if you have it. Use canned tomato, but drain it first. After the tomato, take the skinny tip of the dough and roll over and tuck under the wide end. You'll have a wreath shape. Bake in a 375 oven for 12-14 minutes, until golden brown. Serve hot.

Here's a simple way to prepare the roll ups if you like.

Stuffed, rolled and ready for the oven.

Baked and ready for serving. Very tasty.


I was thinking of some other options:
Cream cheese & shredded cheddar, broccoli
Queso Fresco, Tex-Mex spices, beans or chicken, roasted peppers or corn
Crumbled feta, oregano, olives
Cream cheese & peanut butter, diced apples and chopped nuts

What do you think?

Bits & Bobs

Some tasty bits from a gathering this weekend...

Potatoes that I boiled until almost cooked through, then smashed. Put on an oiled baking sheet, topped with crumbled bacon and caramelized onions. When cooked until tender, cover with cheese sauce. Garnish with parsley if you like. Devil!!!

Mini pigs-in-a-blanket. Weenies wrapped with puff pastry! Mmmmm, weenies.

Canned chickpeas smell like canned catfood...blech

I'm expecting nearly 40 of my nearest and dearest to visit this Saturday and I've been planning and prepping and cooking and cleaning and...and...and...oy! Tired.

One of the snacks I'm prepping for my guests to nosh on includes a fresh batch of the classic Mediterrean/Middle Eastern dip, Hummus.

I got all my ingredients together. What you see is for a double batch...for a SINGLE batch, you need 2 cans of chickpeas (aka: Garbanzo Beans), garlic ( I used two heads of Roasted Garlic), tahini sauce (Sesame Paste), lemon juice, salt and olive oil.

Add all the ingredients, except the olive oil, to the food processor and whiz together. Oh, how much of the other stuff...:

2 cans chickpeas
3-4 TB tahini
2-3 TB fresh lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1 head roasted garlic
olive oil (quantity unknown-read on)

Whiz the first ingredients until the get broken up and start to come together in a giant chunky sauce. Then start adding olive oil...I'm guessing I used at least 1/2 cup of olive oil, but maybe even one cup. Pour the oil in while the processor is working...soon you'll have a lovely soft dip. Taste, adjust the salt or lemon if you like. Serve with pita points or fresh veg for dipping.

**Yes, I think canned chickpeas smell like nasty canned catfood...they make me want to toss my lunch...so I open them in the sink, with cold water running to rise them immediately...that raw smell is kind of nasty...at least to me...but they make delicious dip!

¡Yo quiero taquitos!

Interesting...tonight I made taquitos. Tasty. But maybe not worth the effort. The original recipe itself has some problems...so pardon me while I work on it for a day or two.

*****updated and recipe added*****

OK, here's the recipe I promised. I was scrolling through the Food Network the other night and came across this recipe by Guy Fieri, the winner of last season's Next Top Food Network Star, or whatever that show was called. I wasn't really a fan of Guy's. I felt he was too flashy, too much pretend blingy. I don't know, something was off. But he won, so good for him! Well, anyway, I found this recipe and thought I'd give it a try. Well, the recipe below is my version of Guy's. I had to make some changes to the structure of the recipe.

Guy's Taquitos

4 TB olive oil
1/2 large red onion, sliced thinnly
1/2 large red bell pepper, julienned
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, sliced thinnly
1 TB dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
Salt/Pepper
3 oz tequila
1 lime, juiced
small handful of cilantro, chopped
10-12 corn tortillas

Sour Cream, Guacamole, Salsa for serving

In a medium saute pan over medium to high heat, add 1/2 the oil and chicken. Saute until the chicken is cooked through. Remove to a plate. Add the remaining oil and onions, red bell peppers, jalapeno and garlic. Saute until the vegetables are soft. Add the oregano and cumin. Deglaze the pan with the tequila and lime juice. Simmer until the liquid is reduced. Return the chicken to the pan, stir to incorporate. Season the whole mixture with salt & pepper. Toss in cilantro.

Wrap tortillas in paper towel and microwave for 2 minutes to make the tortillas pliable. Place a heaping tablespoon of the chicken mixture on the edge of a tortilla. Roll up into a tight cigar shape, seal with a toothpick.

In a large skillet, heat 1/2 inch of vegetable oil to 350 degrees. Add the rolls to the hot oil, placing the seam side down. Cook for 2 minutes until golden brown, turn to the other side. Remove from the oil and drain on paper towel. Remove the toothpicks and serve with guacamole, sour cream and salsa.

The taquito filling. Chicken, peppers, onions, cilantro, lime, tequila!

Preparing to roll one up.

I really wish those were cannoli shells!

Oops, a little chicken fell out.

All the work....THIS MADE dinner...freshly made guacamole and home-fried chips! SWEET!!!!