Welcome to our kitchen and thank you for dropping by! If you're new here and like what you see, please subscribe to our feed:
Subscribe in a reader OR Subscribe to Cooked From the Heart by Email
Gruyère Cheese Gougères & Galatoire’s Oysters en Brochette
December was a month of French terms and recipes in our kitchen starting with the French Yule Log we did for Daring Bakers and continuing with the Recipes to Rival challenge which is this duo of Gruyère Cheese Gougères & Galatoire’s Oysters en Brochette appetizers.
Our hosts for December were Temperance of High on the Hog and Jen of Delightful Delicacies. who actually chose three appetizers for the Recipes to Rival challenge but since my family aren’t too crazy about blue cheese which was the main element of the last recipe, we opted to do the two that are featured here. These were perfect for noshing on New Year’s Eve but they would also be perfect for anytime you want some unique and easy appetizer to serve. To see all three recipes, check out the Appetizer Trio on the Recipes to Rival Blog.
Read the rest of this entry »
Popularity: 4% [?]
French Yule Log
This is the Daring Bakers‘ December challenge, the French Yule Log!
This month’s challenge is brought to us by the adventurous Hilda of Saffron and Blueberry and Marion of Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux.
They have chosen a French Yule Log by Flore from Florilege Gourmand.
According to the introduction to this challenge by one of our hosts, Hilda:
In France you can buy two kinds of Yule log, either the Genoise and Buttercream type that we made last December, or what is more commonly purchased which is a frozen Yule Log very reminiscent of an ice cream cake, only often it’s not made of ice cream but rather frozen mousse of some sort. In French this is called an entremets which is sometimes loosely translated in English as simply a cream dessert. This also means that this recipe is not holiday-specific, it is also just a scrumptious dessert recipe.
Like many of the Daring Bakers challenges I’ve completed so far, this one is definitely delicious, rich and challenging. This is also by far the longest recipe with the six elements:
1) Dacquoise Biscuit
2) Mousse
3) Ganache Insert
4) Praline (Crisp) Insert
5) Creme Brulee Insert
6) Icing
It seems daunting at first sight, and actually this one does lives up to its looks. It is daunting, but definitely not impossible. Just go one step at a time as I did. The log is simply layers of all the elements, ensconced in the terrific dark chocolate mousse. In my version, I put the Dacquoise Biscuit on the bottom and on top.
Here are the recipes and instructions for layering (The recipes and instructions below are what I used. There were suggested variations included in the original instructions which was 18 pages long when printed out but I decided not to put the elements I didn’t use here so as not to confuse myself if ever I am crazy enough to attempt this again. 
):
Read the rest of this entry »
Popularity: 6% [?]
Garden Pasta Soup
What could be better than a nice warm bowl of soup to end the day? Well, it’s actually hard to beat especially when it is full of fresh garden vegetables. These were the last of our garden veggies before the first frost of the season hit and turned everything dark. There was a little bit of this and that, but for a soup like this, I think it works out quite well. Serve this with a nice, crusty hunk of french bread and you’re all set for the night!
Read the rest of this entry »
Popularity: 11% [?]