Just a little delicious something I learned to make in France.

Thanks to my little friend Alejandra I was able to recreate this amazing roasted vegetable tart last night for dinner. The only thing that would have made this tart better was if I was eating again in Lyon with Alejandra and her husband Greg. It's perfect for a light, yet delicious lunch or dinner. A simple salad of butter lettuce and radishes, served with your favorite vinaigrette complements this dish well.

Roasted Vegetable Tart!

1 large zucchini sliced thin

1 large squash slice thin

2 tomatoes sliced

2 cloves of garlic minced

1/2 pound mushrooms

3/4 large fresh mozzarella ball

3 tablespoon dijon mustard

2 tablespoon herb butter

Tart Crust:

Chef's side note: If you are in France you'll have a pl ether of delicous premade tart crusts to choose from. I looked for one in Safeway. That was probally my first mistake. I was unable to find the crust I was looking for, so instead I bought a premade pie crust. When I got home, I started scolding myself and decided I needed to make my own crust. Here's what I came up with...........

1 1/4 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1 stick unsalted butter

3 tablespoon ice cold water

In food processor cut up butter into 6 pieces and blend into flour mixture. 2-3 tablespoons of water at the end and blend. Remove the dough and knead on well floured surface. Form dough into ball and cover in refrigerator for at least 30 min. When ready to use roll out on well floured surface and place into tart pan. Chef's side note: If you don't own a tart pan, which I don't any larger glass pyrex kind of dish will work. That's what I used last night and it came out awesome.

Preheat stove to 410 degrees. Place dough into tart pan. Cover top of dough with wax paper. You'll need something to put on the wax paper to keep the dough from rising too much. I used about a 1/4 cup of beans last night, rice would work too. Cook just the tart dough for about 15 min or until the tart is slightly brown around the edges. Remove pan from the oven and remove the wax paper along with whatever you used to weigh it down.

Now it's assembly time. Brush the Dijon mustard onto the bottom of the tart crust, then add your layers of veggies starting with the zucchini and squash, then tomatoes, followed by the mushroom. Sprinkle about 1/2 teapoon of salt over the dish. Place the mozzarella and cut up pieces of herb butter on top. Lastly, sprinkle the mined garlic all over the tart. Putting the garlic on last allows it to melt into the cheese.

Bake in oven for 25 mins at 410 degrees.

Bon appetit!!!

Chef's side note: If you are hungry for more and have leftovers, heat your tart back up and throw and egg on it while it's in the oven. Makes for a great breakfast. The French love to throw eggs on everything. I swear, you'll feel like you're in Provence.

As an experiment I decided to use the Mole-Inspired Seasoning from the pork recipe on a whole chicken. After rubbing the chicken down with the seasoning, letting in marinate overnight, then slow roasting it in my dutch oven at 300 degree for 3 hours, my experiment was a success. You can see that by the look of sheer pleasure and happiness on my roommates faces.

Mole-Inspired Rub

3 tablespoon ancho chile powder

1 tablespoon dark brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1 tablespoon Kosher Salt

1 teaspoon sugar

4 garlic cloves minced

Use all of rub on out side and under the skin of 5lb organic free range whole chicken. Marinate overnight. Preheat oven at 300 degrees. Place chicken in dutch oven with 1 yellow onion, and 1 apple, both cut into quarters. Add 1 1/2 cup dry white wine. Roast chicken for 3 hours in the dutch oven.

Remove the chicken from the dutch oven and place in empty dish. Allow it to rest for about 15 minutes. Then remove the skin from the chicken is discard. Removed all of the meat from the bones and place in an empty bowl. Shred the meat with a fork.

While the chicken is resting, skim off as much of the fat from the juices left over in the dutch oven. Once this is done, place the dutch oven on the stove top and bring to a boil and reduce the juices to about 1/3 of the contents. Strain the juices and pour into your shredded chicken. Keep the onions from the dutch oven for lunch. They some extra flavors in your tortillas.

Now you are ready to create an amazing chicktastic lunch spread. You'll need flour tortillas, sliced avocado, sliced limes, sliced radishes, chopped up cilantro, and sour cream. Put it all out on the table and allow your guests to assemble their own tortilla creation.

Crowd Pleaser Pork

http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/recipes/main_roastedpork.shtml

This recipe, which I first was introduced by my dear culinary friend Alexis, will wow your taste buds and leave you wanting more. I recently made this pork dish up in Lake Tahoe for my ski house. I paired it with an Italian style baked mac and cheese. Delicious!!!

As recommended by Alexis, when making this dish use a 5 lb pork shoulder. To the rub add a heaping teaspoon of paprika and ground clove. If you are really feeling creative add a teaspoon of nutmeg. Marinate the pork at least for 24 hours. You'll know the pork is done when it shreds easily. The leftovers, if there are any, make for great pork sandwiches served with a slice of avocado!

Whoop! Whoop! to vinaigrette!!!

Has the winter got you down?? Cheer up and visit the Mediterranean sea for a moment as you chow down on a Greek salad dressed with the the most amazing vinaigrette made with the one and the only SHABBY PRESERVED LEMONS!!!!

1/4 cup chopped mint
1/2 cup chopped parsley
2 garlic cloves minced
1 chopped preserved lemon (pulp removed)
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 1/2 cup olive oil
juice of one lemon
Go ahead and WHISK away!!! It makes about 2 cups of dressing! Don't worry it's so delicious it won't last very long in your refrigerator.

For the salad you'll need lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, red onion, Greek olives, and feta cheese. Enjoy!!!!!

Get your LENTIL on!

Lentil Soup! Great source of protein. Great way to warm up on a rainy San Francisco day.

1 1/2 cup lentils
2 cups water
2 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
1/2 yellow onion chopped
2 gloves garlic minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cups chard chopped
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (add more if you want to kick it up!)
salt and pepper

Bring water and chicken broth to a boil add lentils. Bring water to a boil again, reduce heat and simmer for about 20-30 minutes or until lentils are soft. Saute onions and garlic in olive oil until soft and frequent. Add crushed tomatoes and stir at medium-high heat for about 3 minutes reducing some of the liquid from the tomatoes. Add mixture to lentils and slowly stir in chopped chard. Add cayenne, salt, and pepper till desired flavor achieved. Now you're ready to get your LENTIL on. To really dress this soup up add a dollop of sour cream and cheddar cheese. Enjoy.

Spicy Crab Spaghettini with Preserved Lemons

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spicy-Crab-Spaghettini-with-Preserved-Lemon-242285

This might be one of my favorite things to do with crab and preserved lemons. If you don't have preserved lemons available for a tarter version you can use fresh meyer lemons. I also add grape tomatoes at the end so the heat from the past and sauce just slightly softens and cooks the tomato. Super easy to make yet quite impressive!! It's crabtastic.

Shabby Preserved Lemons!!

The Preserved Lemon! What a beautiful thing.

From Wikipedia: The preserved lemon is a citrus preparation that is technically a pickle, rather than a preserve. Common in North African cuisine, especially Moroccan cuisine,[1] it is also known as "country lemon" or leems. Diced, halved, or perfectly whole lemons are packed in a simple brine made up of a combination of water, lemon juice, and salt; occasionally spices are included as well.[1] The flesh of the preserved lemon can be used in stews and sauces, but it is the rind that is most valued.

It's a key ingredient in most Moroccan cooking. They provide and intense lemon flavor. Since they also provide salt to the dish, no extra salt is usually needed when cooking with preserved lemons. If you want to tone down the flavor you can also blanch them for about 30-60 seconds in boiling water.

My preserved lemons are currently sitting on the counter. Just a few more days of shaking till they can become part of my delicious creations. I bet Alexis is quite excited too. We shared the shabby lemon preserving experience together. Chris was our assistant.

For more information and a few recipe ideas check out
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2009/04/the-secret-ingredient-preserved-lemons-moroccan-recipes.html