Havarti, Dill, and Egg Sandwich on a French Baguette

This morning I made a delicious breakfast sandwich.  There's nothing like a loaf of fresh baked bread really.  I can eat a whole loaf all by myself, that's how much I love bread.  I gobbled up my sandwich so fast I didn't take a picture...my apologies.  Instead I put up this generic photo of delicious french baguettes :)

Havarti, Dill and Egg Sandwich

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tbsp creme fraiche or sour cream
• dash of salt and pepper
• 3/4 tsp fresh or dried dill
• 1/2 tbsp butter
• 1 slice danish Havarti cheese
• 1 loaf of french baguette

1. In a small bowl whisk eggs, creme fraiche, salt, pepper, and dill until light and foamy.
2. Melt butter in small pan and add egg mixture.  Scramble until light and fluffy.
3. Cut off a portion of the french baguette and slice on the side to make a sandwich.  Lightly toast bread in the oven. Once toasted place egg and slice of Havarti in bread.
4. Enjoy!

Garlic Basil Fettuccine with Mushroom Cream Sauce

Some people might call me a carb whore but, that's ok.  I can never say no to bread or pasta it's my kryptonite.  Plus life is too short to cut out the good stuff in my opinion, as long as you have a healthy balance you don't have to worry.  I went to the Hillcrest farmer's market this weekend (like I do pretty much every weekend) and bought some fresh garlic basil fettuccine pasta.  If you've never had fresh pasta do yourself a favor and go get some right now. It is SO GOOD!  The sauce I picked out to go along with the noodles is just delightful.  Just a tip to ensure a nice creamy sauce add the cheese a little at a time and makes sure to grate it very fine.  I have Emeril Lagasse to thank for the mushroom cream sauce recipe. Bam! Dinner is served :)

Garlic Basil Fettuccine with Mushroom Cream Sauce

• 12 ounces fresh garlic basil fettuccine (or whatever fresh fettuccine you like)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 pound assorted wild mushrooms, stems trimmed, wiped clean, and thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup chopped shallots
• 1 tbsp chopped garlic
• 2 tsp minced fresh thyme leaves
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tbsp finely chopped chives

1. In a large saute pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring, until soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the shallots, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper, and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 2 minutes. Add the cream, increase the heat to high, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes. Add the Parmesan a little at a time and adjust the seasoning, to taste. Turn off heat and leave sauce in pan.
2. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta until al dente.Drain and return to the pot. Cover to keep warm. Fresh pasta only takes 2 minutes to cook.
3. Add the pasta to the sauce pan, stir to coat with the sauce, and cook until the pasta is heated through, 1 minute. Remove from the heat and divide among 4 serving bowls or plates. Sprinkle each serving with chivesand serve immediately.

Pear Bourdaloue-Pear Tart with Almond Cream

One of the best desserts I've ever made.  Yes it is a challenge and a little long to put together but it is a great weekend project that tastes amazing!  I actually tried this recipe out last year and came across it this weekend going through my cookbooks and had to share it with all of you.  Just a suggestion I highly recommend buying a 11-inch tart pan with a removable bottom.  It makes it much easier to remove the tart from the pan without ruining your pretty new creation.  Also, blind baking the pie tart simply means once you make the tart shell and place it in the pan put a piece of foil over the dough and pour solid beans/rice/or pie weights so that the shell won't rise as it is baking. If you have any other questions feel free to email me or comment below.  As always....enjoy!

Pear Bourdaloue

Total time: About 1 1/2 hours, plus cooling time
Servings: 12 to 16
Note: Adapted from Nicole's Gourmet Foods in South Pasadena (LA Times)

Tart shell

1 2/3 cup (7.1 ounces) flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled butter, cut into one-half-inch cubes

1 egg yolk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons ice water

1. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar and salt. Cut in the butter using a pastry cutter or your fingers.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and vanilla. Work the egg mixture into the flour mixture just until it resembles cornmeal. Stir in ice water, a tablespoon at a time, just until the dough holds together.

3. Form the dough into a disk and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.
4. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove the dough to a lightly floured surface and roll it out until it is just over 13 inches in diameter. Fit the dough into an 11-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Trim the dough so it is flat with the top of the tart pan, then line and fill the shell with pie weights or beans.
5. Blind bake the tart shell until set, about 20 minutes. Remove the pie weights and set the shell on a rack to cool.

Poached pears

1 quart water

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 pears, preferably Bartlett, peeled and halved lengthwise

In a large saucepan, bring the water and sugar to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to poaching temperature (not quite a simmer) and poach the pears just until tender (a knife should pierce easily). Remove the pears from the poaching liquid and cool completely. Core the cooled pear halves and slice each half lengthwise into 6 slices.

Filling and assembly

2 tablespoons chilled butter

2/3 cup almond meal or flour

2 1/3 cups milk

1 vanilla bean, split

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup (2.1 ounces) flour

Tart shell

Poached pears

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, place the butter and almond meal. Set aside. (Do not worry about mixing them together.)
2. In a medium saucepan, combine the milk and vanilla bean. Bring the milk just to a simmer over high heat, then remove from heat and discard the bean pod.
3. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, whisk together the eggs, sugar and flour. Whisk in about a cup of the hot milk mixture to temper the eggs, then whisk in the remaining milk until combined. Whisk the mixture over medium heat just until it thickens. Immediately remove from heat, pour the mixture over the butter and almond meal and whisk.
4. Spread the filling in the tart shell and top with the sliced pears (you may not use all of the pears; we used about three-fourths of the slices). Bake the tart until the custard is lightly browned and set, about 30 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and cool on a rack for at least 1 hour before slicing.

Peanut Sesame Noodles with Tofu

I love a good peanut sauce and this one is really easy to put together! The great thing about this recipe is you can use any type of meat you like-tofu, chicken, shrimp, and beef they all go well with this sauce. I usually like to make this dish with lo mein or udon noodles but I didn't have any in the house so I ended up using linguine which worked just fine.

Peanut Sesame Noodles and Tofu

• 1 package firm tofu (or 12 oz of any meat your choice-chicken, shrimp, beef)
• 4 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 (12 oz) bag of stir fry vegetables
• 8 oz of noodles (you can pretty much use any type you want)
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tbsp honey
• 1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 tbsp sake or rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

1. Cut tofu into small rectangle cubes and fry in vegetable oil in wok (or pan).  Remove from wok and set aside once tofu is nice and golden brown on both sides.
2. Toss in bag of stir fry vegetables in the same wok and cook until nice and tender. Leave veggies in wok and turn off heat.
3. In a medium pot boil some water and add noodles.  Cook until noodles are done.
4. In a separate bowl mix cornstarch, vegetable broth, peanut butter, soy sauce, honey, brown sugar, sesame oil, ginger, red pepper flakes, and rice vinegar until well blended.
5. Add sauce, noodles, and tofu back into wok with veggies.  Toss the ingredients and make sure to turn back on the wok to heat up all ingredients for about 2-3 min. 
6. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top and enjoy!