My friend Kerrie Hecker created these recipes especially for the readers of this book. I met Kerrie when I was living in Paris. While I was working a desk job, she was having five times the fun taking courses at Le Cordon Bleu, Paris. In March 2000, she graduated with the grand diplome, cuisine and pastry, with honors. For the past seven years, she’s been teaching cooking classes from her home.
Roasted Peppers with Goat’s Cheese
STARTER COURSE
8 servings:
4 large red peppers (green are not suitable)
9 T. extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic
400 g (1 lb.) soft, round goat’s cheese (cylindrical for you to cut or precut rounds). Most common is Crottin de Chavignol.
Freshly milled black pepper, salt
1 small bunch fresh basil leaves, washed and dried
2 T. balsamic vinegar (optional)
Pine nuts (optional)
PREPARATION:
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 350°F.
2. Wash the peppers, cut them in half, even the stem, trying to keep a part of the stem on each side. Keeping part of the stem is optional, but it helps to keep the shape of the pepper as it cooks. Remove the seeds and membranes. Drizzle 1 T. olive oil in a shallow baking dish large enough to hold them without overlapping or layering. Place the peppers open side up in the baking dish.
3. Peel the garlic and slice them thinly and divide the slices equally among the peppers.
4. Drizzle 1 T. of olive oil over each pepper, and salt and pepper each as well.
5. Place the baking dish in the center of the oven on the highest shelf. Bake for roughly 50 min. to 1 hr. You don’t want the peppers to burn, but you want a nice roasted, nutty color and flavor. Remove from the oven and place roughly 50 g (2 oz.) of soft goat’s cheese in the middle of each pepper. Return to the oven until cheese is warm and slightly bubbly.
6. Depending on the size of each pepper half and how hungry your guest is, each guest should get one to two pepper halves on an individual plate. Be sure to give each serving plenty of the pan juices, ensuring all guests get some of the warm oil and roasted garlic slices. For each serving, drizzle ½ T. balsamic vinegar over the peppers and sprinkle with basil leaves and pine nuts. Serve warm or at room temp. Focaccia bread would go well with this dish to soak up all the lovely juices.
Grilled Salmon with Asparagus, Balsamic, & Parmesan
MAIN COURSE
4 people:
4 pieces skinless/boneless salmon, each weighing 50 g (2 oz.)
20 spears green asparagus, medium thickness
3 T. unsalted butter
1 T. olive oil
3 T. balsamic vinegar
1 T. lemon juice
Wedge of parmesan
PREPARATION:
1. Clean salmon by rinsing with cold water. Pat dry with paper towel. Lay salmon flat in the hand so it bends on either side of the hand. Check for bones by running your finger against the grain of the salmon. If you find any bones, pull them out in the same direction they’re sticking out. Pat dry with paper towel. Grill either on an outdoor grill until no longer raw or broil in an oven, roughly 15 minutes at 400 F. Keep warm.
2. Take 20 spears of green asparagus; wash thoroughly and dry. Hold each asparagus toward the end/base of the stalk and bend it until it breaks. This causes the asparagus to break off at the point of freshness. To make a neater presentation, cut off ends close to where they broke, and furthermore, cut all to be the same length. In a sauté pan, heat 2 T. unsalted butter plus 1 T. olive oil. Sauté asparagus over medium heat until slightly browned, roughly 10 minutes. Lower the heat and sprinkle 1 T. balsamic vinegar over the asparagus and heat for 1 minute. Remove from heat and place asparagus in a heat-proof bowl covered with aluminum foil to keep warm.
3. In the same pan that you used to sauté the asparagus, heat the remaining 2 T. balsamic vinegar for roughly 30 seconds. Off the heat, add the tablespoon of lemon juice and tablespoon of unsalted butter, swirling in the pan to make a cohesive mixture. Keep off heat.
4. Place 4 stalks of asparagus on each serving plate in a row and then place the fifth stalk diagonal on top of the other 4 stalks. Finish off with grated parmesan cheese. This can be accomplished by using a peeler over the wedge of parmesan. Finish each plate with a piece of salmon and drizzle one fourth of the balsamic vinegar mixture over salmon.
Millegeuille aux Mascarpone avec fruits et Coulis
Layered Mascarpone with fruit and fruit sauce
DESSERT
4 people:
1 C. Mascarpone cheese
1-2 T. powdered sugar
150 g (½ C. + 1 T.) blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries (any diced fruit) NOT FROZEN
12 thin cookies store-bought or homemade, such as almond or sugar. Make sure all are uniform in size.
Raspberry coulis:
125 g (½ C.) frozen raspberry pieces (or other fruit); can use fresh as well
Powdered sugar
PREPARATION:
1. Mix the mascarpone cheese with the powdered sugar. You can add more powdered sugar if the mixture isn’t sweet enough. Wash and dry fresh, diced fruit then add to mascarpone cheese. If doing this step in advance, be sure to place in refrigerator or cheese will soften and be runny. DO NOT use frozen fruit or it will discolor the mascarpone with all the juices after thawing.
2. On the individual serving plate, place a dab of the mascarpone (some without fruit) on the plate then a cookie on top. This stabilizes the cookie to the plate. Place ⅛ C. of the mascarpone cheese (may use less depending on the size of the cookie) on top of the cookie; spread evenly with the back of a spoon then place another cookie on top of that. Do this one more time, creating 2 layers of cheese with 3 cookies.
3. Make the raspberry coulis by straining thawed raspberry pieces. Pass through a sieve to remove seeds. Whisk in powdered sugar to taste. Strain if it has lumps. If using fresh fruit, simply purée in a food processor then strain; add powdered sugar as directed.
4. Ladle the raspberry coulis around the cookie. Sprinkle some powdered sugar on top of the cookie and serve. Fresh mint always adds a nice touch to the top as well.