Truffle Mutt

Starting with Dessert

I'm going to do it.  I'm going to start with dessert.  I'm not going to tell you about my latest version of lack luster minestrone soup (sorry Vlad - I'll post more on that later), or the beef tenderloin with blue cheese and shallot, nope, it's a do-not-pass-go-and-proceed-directly-to-dessert kind of day.  So there.

At the market last weekend I came across the cutest baby gala apples.  And what good timing, since I'd recently been inspired by Laura Caulder on French Food at Home and wanted to try my hand at this tarte tatin.  On tv it looked so delicious it was impossible not to drool.  The apples were bathed in a pan of dark bubbly caramel and then covered in a blanket of pastry.  Rich, silky perfection and it was promptly added to the top spot on my to-make list. 

So what were my thoughts?  First off, don't start making the tart before you check to see if you have pastry in the freezer, or you may end up having to use a broken store bought version yielding a less than perfect result.  Second, do not let the show fool you - it has been edited.  Specifically, the part where the said tart is inverted onto the serving platter and molten caramel, liquefied by copious volumes of apple juice erupts EVERYWHERE.  Good thing I decided to let it cool.   The end result though was worth the permanent scaring to my lower left arm.

Fall Food

 Up until today it was easy to fool myself into believing it was still summer.  Then after today's brief but furious snow and icy wind storm the reality of fall set in.  So, I reluctantly turned on the furnace and brought out my dutch oven for Beef Bourguignon with roasted fingerling potatoes. 

I haven't made this dish before so I used a recipe of Laura Caulder's from French Food at Home.  I didn't strain the sauce as she suggests and I just added the garnish, other than that I followed her recipe exactly.  Ladled over crispy golden potatoes it was a welcome introduction to fall, much more so than snow.   

Minestrone Help

I'm in search of the perfect Minestrone recipe.  One loaded with tender chunky veggies swimming in luxurious tomato broth and a generous sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.  Sigh...  Does anyone have any tips or secrets that they'd like to pass on? 

When I'm craving just such a minestrone I head over to either Sazio or Don Quijote.  Both places serve soups that rate a strong 8 or 9 out of 10.  But, I've yet to be able to achieve these results at home, which is a serious bummer.  At least for me.  

As usual I my recipe search began at epicurious.  I love being able to read through the reviews and suggestions, but the pages of positive reviews on this recipe didn't sell me on the ingredient list.  How can you have an Italian soup with no herbs?  So, I kept up the search and ended up using a combination of epicurious and this one from Tyler Florence.  I used potatoes, basil, thyme, bay leaf, sage and swiss chard.  I left out the parsnips and used black-eyed peas as my bean.  Overall it turned out to be a great soup, but it's still not exactly the one I am looking for.