puff pastry tomato tart

i made this after the poppers. i was apprehensive as i was drinking wine but it turned out amazing. i think i overcompensated in picture taking from the poppers post.

puff pastry, red onion, fresh corn, frozen peas, WHITE WINE, butter, ornamental peppers

caramelized red onions with chopped up ornamental peppers

(i should have cut the onions thinner but whatever)

added corn, peas, white wine OUT of my glass (it was painful), & a pat of butter at the end

tomatoes awaiting the tart! i wasn't sure what to do with the pastry (cooking-wise).

the package said 20 minutes, so i cooked it for 18 minutes and then added the onion/pea/corn mixture, laid tomatoes one top, then sprinkled with herbs & parm

mixture was way good... i am glad i deglazed with wine & then butter!!!

FINISHED PRODUCT:

(note: see that crispy thing on the side? i thought it was flaked off puff pastry so i ate it. it was not puff pastry! it was burnt parchment paper and i almost didn't survive)

this was how i made it be known that NO ONE (including myself) was allowed to touch it until the morning!!!

jalapeno poppers

I AM SUPER EXCITED ABOUT THIS ONE and

pretty upset because i didn't take many pictures

JALAPENO POPPERS! i love them. where did i used to eat them in undergrad? arbys? i think... WITH BAMA CASH! like it was free! i had never tried to make them before. i spent the day looking at recipes and then just winged it. a lot of work for not many peppers (because i only had four or five) but i would totally make these again on a large scale!

sauteing pancetta, one of the best smells there is!

(and don't worry that isn't a dirrty stove, just an old one)

this time i made breadcrumbs from some baguette that is half cooked & you finish cooking it at home... while the coarseness of the crumbs was not intentional, i will continue to do that because it was amazing. got super crunchy!

the filling was the pancetta, sauteed scallions & garlic, cream cheese, cheddar cheese (that i cut into chunks - the idea was like chocolate chip cookies... it totally worked) and some chili powder.

(okay so i had half the demi-baguette and some left over stuffing so i prepared this sandwich so that i could just bake it off in the middle of the night once i got drunk. BEST IDEA OF MY ENTIRE LIFE. i mean i know this had like 9,000 calories, but i felt like nigella lawson sneaking into the kitchen in the middle of the night after the kids are asleep and eating some molten-chocolate lava cake... EXCEPT IT WAS MADE OF CHEESE!)

(seriously best everrr)

tomato lady strikes again

omg i got six tomatoes out of this raid!

so i decided to stuff them!

i wish i had other ingredients to actually stuff them with something...

but i didn't so i just stuffed them with the end of the risotto i had made earlier

(i was kind of completely sick of eating it on its own)

OH BUT I NEEDED BREADCRUMBS

(why hello old bagel)

toasted it, food processed it with herbs & parm

ALL STUFFED

so damn cute

way good. she better keep bring me tomatoes for real

then i decided to roast some in the oven.

what i wanted to do was get them sort of like sun-dried tomatoes

but i didn't use a recipe and therefore didn't know to 'dehydrate' slightly

by salting them and the patting them dry... so it was a little more like seasoned (salt, pepper, 21-seasoning salute, & then parm at the end), stewed tomatoes.

BUT WHATEVER THEY WERE COMPLETELY AWESOME.

i thinly sliced & toasted the rest of that sad bagel & made my own bagel chips, shwing.

brown sugar shortbread star cookies

butter, flour, brown sugar, (i was supposed to use cinnamon, but i didn't have any...) some allspice, some ground ginger.

combined and then chilled for an hour

delirium tremens rolling pin (again)

(we all knew this but, i am a much better cook than a baker)

cute little star cookie cutters. i burnt like a quarter of them.

they are cute!!!!

hand-made pasta

a cup of flour with a pinch of salt & a whisked egg

combined

i don't have a rolling pin

all spread out

i free-formed it and didn't really know what i was doing

it was kind of thick and just like, you know too much.

next time i will make it thinner and shorter.

i used sixteen of these little babies! they added heat but weren't overwhelming!

minced shallots, garlic, the peppers, olive oil, a splash of tomato juice, and a bit of lemon juice.

you know just free-formed all in a pot.

a bunch of parmesean & voila!!!

Chicago Gourmet 2011

the entrance to chicago gourmet!

this is my third consecutive year attending chicago gourmet

the first year i didn't pace myself at all, i got so wasted i came out to my mother...yeesh

the stella artois booth! they give out full size stella, hoegarten, & leffe pint glasses

Ardbeg, the Ultimate Single Islay Malt Scotch Whisky. really peat-y.

South african liqueur, Amarula Cream is made from the exotic Marula fruit. it was actually disgusting tasting. but apparently elephants eat the fermented fruits and get drunk. i <3 elephants especially drunk ones

the absolut tent. this bartender was like 6'6".

Elijah Craig Bourbon

jimmy bannos, jr. head chef of the 'purple pig' in chicago. one of my favorite restaurants.

chef dirk flanigan. head chef of The Gage & Henri. the gage is like the ultimate gastro-pub and Henri is a super fancy french restaurant. two more of my favorite restaurants.

on the left is chef tony priolo. head chef of 'Piccolo Sogno'. awesome italian food!

michelle woods & i near the end of the festival. wowwy-zowwy.

however, i missed ted allen, andrew knowlton, and a few of celebrities. i need to get better about not just shoveling food & wine down my gullet.

SO MUCH FUN. can't wait for next year!

ornamental peppers

OMFG LOOK HOW CUTE THESE LITTLE BABIES ARE:

so i bought them at trader joe's.

they look really anemic & droopy but i don't know why

they are so damn cute. when i found out they were called 'ornamental peppers' i got really depressed because i figured that meant they were just for show. BUT I GOOGLED IT AND THEY ARE TOTALLY EDIBLE.

i have put them in bruschetta & the panzanella! huzzah!!!