Tartlets to Change your Life...

Well they say pie fixes everything, but I was told Sunday that my tartlets were life-changing! I simply responded, "I know." Flaky crust, sugary filling, mingling the flavors of chewy, crispy cranberry pecan goodness. Yes my friends, eat with care these tartlets may change your life....

Cranberry-Pecan Tarts

Combine 2/3 cup shortening (butter flavored Crisco if you're classy, pinch of salt and 1 1/2 cup flour. Fork it until crumbly. Add 2 T icy water to form pie crust.
*This may all be substituted for pre-made crust.

Roll out crust and cut 2.5 inch circles with a little cutter and place in muffin tins. Be sure to grease your tins or use muffin sleeves, these devils are hard to get out.

Sprinkle chopped pecans and chopped crasins (or real cranberries if your feeling saucy) into the bottom of the muffins, about a Tablespoons worth.

Combine 2 eggs, 1 tsp of vanilla, and 1/3 cup of brown sugar. Mix til foamy (Shake it shake it mama!!)
Add 1/2 cup of corn syrup and 2 Tbl of melted better. Stir it all together.
Pour into muffin cups and bake for about 20 minutes at 350 until poofy!!

Let cool, remove, eat and prepare to be changed....

Everything Tastes Better Au Gratin

While flipping through numerous foody fall mags, I began to see many recipes for Cauliflower Au Gratin. Now, potatoes au gratin have been a family treat for many years but to au gratin cauliflower seemed both new and exciting... and serendiptously I had just purchased a large head of cauliflower from a kindly young farmer at the market. So, I perused my recipes and came up with this... a tasty, warm fall treat!

Cauliflower Au Gratin
Saute a head of cauliflower in olive oil for 5 minutes.
Remove cauliflower from pan and lay in a rectangular baking dish.
Add a few cloves of garlic and chopped medium onion and saute for 5 min.
Add 1 cup of broth. Boil for 5 minutes.
Add 2 cups of cream or milk or a combo. Simmer 5 min.
Pour mixture over cauliflower.
Top with seasoned breadcrumbs (about 1 1/2 cups)
*I used old stale homemade bread whirled in the food processor with some herbs and trust me this made magic happen
Sprinkle with salt and pepper and of course.. Parmesean cheese!
Bake for 20 minutes and 350 covered with aluminum foil.
Let stand for 20 more minutes.


I served this with a sausage/apple/kale (aka sapplkalage) stirfry. It also would be great with chicken and probably get along great with a ham!! (don't forget to save your hambone for soup).

or you could just eat this by itself because YES it is that good!

da hot hot dish

colleen told me to post this -- and let me preface this entire post with THIS IS THE BEST MAC AND CHEEZ YOU'LL EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER HAVEEEE!

now that that's done...

Ingredients

• 2 cups elbow pasta, cooked until almost al dente
• 16 ounces Cheddar cheese, 1/2 cubed, 1/2 shredded
• 8 ounces Monterey pepper jack cheese, cubed
• 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 4 tablespoons sour cream
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 4 slices bread
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Special equipment: 2-quart baking dish

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, toss together pasta with the cheese cubes and pour into the baking dish. In a large bowl mix together the flour, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, dry mustard, nutmeg and sour cream, egg, heavy cream and half-and-half. Pour over the pasta and cover with shredded Cheddar. Bake uncovered until top is just beginning to brown, about 35 minutes. Meanwhile, cut the bread into crouton-sized squares. In a skillet over medium heat, melt butter, add cubes and toast until golden. Sprinkle the bread cubes on top of the macaroni and cheese and bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes more.

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I feel like a bad food cooker since I'm always talking about how I edit everything...BUT it's so necessary with this recipe. I have all the spices listed except for dry mustard so I substituted regular dijon mustard for it. like the kind that comes in a squeeze bottle. is that even right? I'd bet some dry mustard would work amazoidly but I've never come across the need for dry mustard in any other recipe so I've never bought it. spices are EXPENSIVE. so that's the first thing.

secondly - this recipe calls for both half and half and heavy cream. I'm not a milking cow or anything but aren't they similar? I use whatever I feel like getting and substitute for the entire 2 cups worth. I think I've even used whole milk too. and I've never done the breadcrumb thing at the end -- when you pull this bubbly cheese concoction out of the oven, you'll want to eat it ASAP and not mess around with toasting bread and all that. I always make it with pepper jack and cheddar but you could just use all cheddar too -- or add a little fontina or gruyere or parmesan? it'll come out mr. bombastic say me fantastic, regardless. yes, I referenced shaggy just now. get used to it, mr. lover lover.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPiECg6o1_o&feature=related