Strawberry Bruchetta

Posted June 16, 2015

Filed under appetizers, Recipe with Demarle Cookware, silpain, silpat, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

Ahh Summer, so much vegetables and fruits to eat!! Everything looks delicious, it is really difficult not to purchase all that looks appetizing and that smells so delicious…

I am lucky to live in a location where we have tons of farmers and tons of local produces. Though it is a tad difficult to go to the produce market during the school year, I have enjoyed going these past few weeks. Everything smells so good in that store, that it is very tempting to buy everything that is at your fingertips;-)

Last time I went there, a couple of days ago, I bought a few peaches, a cantaloupe, a few red tomatoes and a gallon of strawberries. Yes, a gallon… That is a lot I know, but I intended to use them in my morning shakes, eat them for a snack during the day, and give some away. I wanted to give some away to my mother-in-law, but when I went to here house, I saw that she, too, had purchased a gallon of strawberries … so I had to take mine back home and figure out what to do with them before they got spoiled.

Really, what can you do with strawberries?? especially a gallon of strawberries??? Of course you can make fruit salads, jams, tarts, cream, ice-creams and many, many more desserts!

I wanted to use them otherwise than as a dessert so I decided to make a Strawberry Bruchetta. It is actually quite easy to make, fast, inexpensive and it is beautiful to the eyes and your tastebuds;-) You would think that it is too sweet, but the tang of the goat cheese, and the fact that the strawberries are seasoned with vinegar, salt, and pepper, it makes them taste almost unsweetened. It was a delight for me;-) I dare you to try;-)

Ingredients to make 30-40 individual pieces:

1 French baguette sliced thinly,
1 log of goat cheese at room temperature ( about 6 oz.)
1 pint of fresh strawberries ( use local ones if you can, they taste so much better),
1 tbsp of basil olive oil, I used the Demarle Basil olive oil.
1 tbsp of traditional balsamic vinegar,
1 tbsp of fresh basil chopped.

Slice the baguette thinly, and place it on top of the silpain atop a medium perforated sheet. If you do not have either, place the bread onto a cookie sheet.
Cook the slices for 5-7 minutes or until they are crisp on both sides.
Meanwhile, prepare the strawberry topping. Chop the strawberries and place them into a medium-sized bowl.
Add 1 tbsp of olive oil, and balsamic vinegar, a dash of salt and of pepper, the chopped basil and mix well.
When the sliced baguette are crispy, remove them from the oven and let them cool down.
Spread the cheese over the baguette.
And spoon a bit of the strawberry mixture atop the cheese. Eat right away;-))) Miam.

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Strawberry Bruchetta

Servings: 8-10 people
Time: 5-7 minutes
Difficulty: Super easy
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Ingredients to make 30-40 individual pieces:

1 French baguette sliced thinly,
1 log of goat cheese at room temperature ( about 6 oz. )
1 pint of fresh strawberries ( use local ones if you can, they taste so much better),
1 tbsp of basil love oil, I used the Demarle Basil olive oil.
1 tbsp of traditional balsamic vinegar,
1 tbsp of fresh basil chopped.

Slice the baguette thinly, and place it on top of the silpain atop a medium perforated sheet. If you do not have either, place the bread onto a cookie sheet.
Cook the slices for 5-7 minutes, or until they are crisp on both sides.
Meanwhile, prepare the strawberry topping. Chop the strawberries and place them into a medium-sized bowl.
Add 1 tbsp of olive oil, and balsamic vinegar, a dash of salt and of pepper, the chopped basil and mix well.
When the sliced baguette are crispy, remove them from the oven and let them cool down.
Spread the cheese over the baguette.
And spoon a bit of the strawberry mixture atop the cheese.
Eat right away;-))) Miam.

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

Sun-dried Tomatoes, Goat Cheese and Thyme Quiche

Posted May 18, 2012

Filed under appetizers, breakfast, Fleximolds, Recipe with Demarle Cookware

Eating those quiches in the morning have been a blessing:-) no more time wasted in the morning to figure out what’s for breakfast and even though those quiches are very filling, they are so easy to digest and I don’t feel like a ” stone” is in my stomach.
And I actually look forward eating them. Often I just eat just because you have to eat, it is healthier but I actually look forward my little quiche in the morning. Today I thought I would try another recipe which what was in my fridge: Sundried tomatoes and goat cheese.

Ingredients: 1 package of pie crust, 5 eggs. 2 cups of milk ( skim, whole, or even heavy cream), 5 oz of crumbled goat cheese, 3/4 to 1 cup of Sundried tomatoes well-drained( conserved in olive oil), salt and pepper, about 5 fresh sprigs of thyme that you would have removed the leaves from.
Cut your dough so that it will fit your mold. I used the large round mold tray just because it makes great single portion and it makes 6 just enough for my whole week:-)
With a fork, perforate the dough so that the crust won’t make an air pocket while it is cooking.
You don’t have to use pie crust if you did not want to.., you could eliminate it to make crust less quiche.
Divide the Sundried tomatoes equally in each opening. And do the same with the goat cheese. Set aside.
In a medium-sized bowl, break the eggs, add the milk, the thyme and the salt. Mix well. Empty the egg mixture equally in each opening and bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes. Et voila:-)

Bon appetit and Happy Cooking!!!!

Sun-dried Tomatoes, Goat Cheese and Thyme Quiche

Posted May 18, 2012

Filed under appetizers, breakfast, Fleximolds, Recipe with Demarle Cookware

Bon appetit and Happy Cooking!!!!

Steak Gorgonzola with Goat Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomatoes Casserole

Posted April 26, 2012

Filed under beef, entree, meat, potato, What's Up in Cecile's Kitchen

IF you don’t have a lot of time on your hands but want to impress your loved ones with dinner: Serve Steak! It requires little to no preparation, and if your steak is of great quality, you don’t even have to serve a sauce to accompany it.

I was running out of time this evening ( heard that before;-), and wanted to use the gorgonzola in my fridge so decided that it would be a great topping for my steak:

Ingredients for 4: 4 small beef tenderloins, 4 thin slices of gorgonzola, salt, pepper and butter.

In a large frying pan, melt 1 tbsp of butter. When the butter is sizzling, place the steaks and cook for 1 minutes on medium-high heat. Flip them over and cook them also for 1-2 minutes on medium-high. Cover the pan with a lid and cook for another 1-2 minutes or until the meat is cooked at the temperature that you like. Place the gorgonzola slices on each steak, cover the pan with a lid and cook for 1-2 minutes until the gorgonzola is melting and the steaks are cooked to your liking. Serve the steaks with a side of potatoes and fresh steamed vegetables. I served mine with glazed carrots, and a sun-dried tomato and goat cheese scallopped potato casserole.

Sun-dried tomatoes and goat cheese Scalloped Potato Casserole:

Ingredients: 6 big potatoes, 6oz. of goat cheese crumbled, 1/2 cup of sundried tomatoes puree or chopped very thinly, 2 cups of ( milk, skim milk, or cream), salt, pepper.

Peel the potatoes and slice them very thinly. Layer 1/3 of the potatoes in the large round mold. Sprinkle some salt, and pepper and add 1/3 of the goat cheese crumbled and the sundried tomatoes. Repeat this process twice so that you have three layers of poatoes, goat cheese, sundried tomatoes. Drizzle the liquid of your choice (I used heavy cream) over the potato casserole and place the casserole in a warm oven of 375 for 45 minutes ( the longer they cook, the softer and the better it tastes!)

Glazed Carrots: 2 bags of the colored carrots from Publix, 1 tbsp of brown sugar, 1 tsp of butter, 1/8 tsp of salt, 1/16 tsp of pepper.

Place the carrots in the round mold, sprinkle the brown sugar, salt and pepper on top of the carrot. Drizzle the melted better. Cover the round mold with the octogonal silpat and cook for 4 minutes.