Taste With The Eyes

Sweet & Savory Autumn Tarte Tatin

Sweet & Savory Autumn Tarte Tatin

Butternut and Acorn Squash
Bacon, Maple, Hazelnut, Goat Cheese, Sage

I have a feeling I’m going to get more requests to make the Sweet & Savory Autumn Tarte Tatin this season. With its nutty, tangy, and sucré flavors, the smoky aromas, rich earthy colors, and crispy, creamy, flaky textures ~ the famous inverted French pie originally made with apples back in the late 1800’s ~ is heart and soul of the inspiration for this recipe.

Butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup are intensified and caramelized at the bottom of the cast iron pan while the pastry on top remains dry, light and crisp. Stephanie Tatin’s inadvertent “mistake” in cooking an apple pie up-side-down has become a part of culinary history and its method copied in various forms over the years. Sometimes sweet, sometimes savory ~ here I present a delightful Autumn tarte that is both…

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Southern Greens Pasta served in a Roasted Squash Bowl

Southern Greens & Pasta
Mustard, Turnip, Collards, Spinach
simmered in Chicken Broth
Black Forest Bacon, Onion, Garlic, Red Chile Flakes
Apple Cider Vinegar, Olive Oil
tossed with
Fusillata Casareccia (open s-shape twist pasta)

Southern Greens & Pasta
served in a
Roasted Butternut Squash Bowl
finished with
Grated Parmesan

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roasted japanese eggplant with pomegranate, pistachio, garlicky cream sauce

roasted japanese eggplant with fresh thyme
garlicky yogurt cream sauce
pomegranate & pistachio

I wasn’t shopping for another cookbook. I was actually at Anthropologie shopping for some kind of platform or stools on which to display some my overflowing unruly cookbook collection. But there on the shelf along with some darling Morrocan tea glasses and heavenly spiced candles was PLENTY, Vibrant Vegetable Recipes from London’s Ottolenghi. On the cover, a bejeweled eggplant dish…I was smitten.

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Doggie ♥ Treats

Braunschweiger & Brown Rice Balls

My sweet little Wilson is recovering from surgery. His procedure was a “right everted laryngeal saccule removal and stenotic nares resection.” (Kind of like a tonsillectomy and a nose job). He’s almost 10 years old, and is having more trouble breathing. The procedure opens up the airways in the throat and enlarges his tiny nostrils, as cute as they were, they were not very efficient. He is doing fine today, but must eat a soft diet. No biscuits. No pumpkin apple biscuits, his daily favorite…

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Garden-to-Table Dining Experience

A couple weeks ago we attended the Palos Verdes Pastoral, a garden-to-table dining experience on the Peninsula overlooking the Pacific under a spectacular full moon… It was an event designed to bring 200 people together amidst nature for an exclusive dining experience featuring the best of California hand-crafted, organic, and sustainable foods.

Producers from around the state donated all of the food and wine for the evening so that 100% of the proceeds from the event went to benefit the Land Conservancy. The event took place at the breathtaking Terranea Resort and featured an award winning menu by Chef Michael Fiorelli inspired by one he created for the James Beard House in NYC.

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