Crostini Trio

"Crostini" in Italian literally means "little crusts" or "little toasts." The idea for these three crostini recipes comes from this website. I made slight variations to one, using orange marmalade instead of fig jam and Romano instead of Pecorino cheese. These are great appetizers and are very easy to make. I really like the idea of making all three as the tastes are so varied and unique, yet they really compliment each other. And the best part, you can make as many as you want! I usually do at least 36 at a time. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

Baguette, cut into 1/2" pieces

Olive Oil

Cherry Jam

Brie

Arugula

Orange Marmalade

Fuji Apple Slices

Romano

Blue Cheese Crumbles

Pecan Pieces

Honey

DIRECTIONS

1. Place baguette pieces on cookie sheet.

2. Drizzle with olive oil.

3. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

4. Place blue cheese crumbles and pecans on 1/3 of the pieces, then place back in the oven to broil for an additional minute.

5. Before serving, drizzle honey on those pieces.

6. On another 1/3 of the pieces, add cherry jam, brie and a piece of arugula.

7. On the last 1/3 of the pieces, add marmalade, apple slices and romano.

8. Serve immediately.

 

Gateau Basque

Two of our friends, Matt and Bonnie Hargreaves, both served missions in France and Matt shared with me a few years ago his memory of a french dessert called "Gateau Basque." I did a little bit of research on the cake and finally got around to making it using fresh cherries from Bonnie's dad's farm. This cake or tart hails from the Pays Basque region of France and is typically made with cherries but can also include other ingredients like pastry cream. I was amazed at how this cake came together considering that there really is no batter. Instead, it is created using thick cherry jam surrounded by two disks of dough. The dough rises and expands around the jam and makes for a delcious treat. The recipe below, found on NPR's website, yields one 8 inch cake, good for about 8 servings. Enjoy!

HELPFUL HINTS
1. Start the jam about 45 minutes before taking the dough disks out of the refrigerator.
2. If you let the dough disks sit too long after removing them from the fridge, they will become too soft and brittle and will be difficult to place.

INGREDIENTS 
Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
10 Tbs unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup thick cherry jam (see recipe below)
1 egg beaten with a splash of water, for the glaze

Cherry Jam
2 cups cherries, chopped
2 Tbs lemon juice
¾ cup sugar

DIRECTIONS
Cake
1. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt and keep at hand.

2. Working in a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and both sugars together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, or until smooth.















3. Add the egg and beat another 2 minutes or so, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.



4. Add vanilla and mix for about a minute more.
5. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients in two or three additions, mixing only until they're fully incorporated into the dough.



6. Place a large sheet of plastic wrap or wax paper on your work surface and put half of the very soft and sticky dough in the center of the sheet.
7. Cover with another piece of plastic or wax paper, then roll the dough into a circle just a little larger than 8 inches in diameter. As you're rolling, turn the dough over and lift the plastic or paper frequently, so that you don't roll it into the dough and form creases. Repeat with the other half of the dough.





8. Put the dough on a cutting board or baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
9. Preheat the oven to 350.
10. Generously butter a 2-inch high, 8-inch round cake pan.
11. Remove the layers from the refrigerator and let them rest on the counter for a couple of minutes before peeling away the plastic or paper. Fit one layer into the bottom of the pan.
12. Spoon some of the jam onto the dough, leaving one inch of dough around the border.




13. Moisten the bare ring of dough with a little water and then top with the second piece of dough, pressing down around the edges to seal.




14. Brush the top of the dough with the egg glaze and use a fork to etch a cross-hatch pattern on top.






15. Bake the cake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.
16. Transfer the cake to a cooling rack and let it rest for 5 minutes before carefully running a blunt knife around the edges of the cake. Turn the cake over onto a cooling rack and then quickly and carefully invert it onto another rack so that it can cool to room temperature right side up.









Cherry Jam
1. Combine cherries and lemon juice in tall sauce pan.



2. Cook on medium high heat for 10-15 minutes, until cherries are soft and tender.
3. Add ¾ cup sugar and continue to cook on medium high for 5-10 minutes until bubbles slow and jam is thickened.



4. Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes.

Brie en Croute with Raspberry and Pecans

I have been baking this amazing appetizer for nearly 3 years. I first saw this on the Food Network and over the years I've made a few modifications. Brie is one of my favorite kinds of cheese and "en croute" actually means "in crust" in French. This recipe takes a wheel of brie, tops it with jam and toasted pecans and then bakes it in a pastry crust. Your guests will never know how simple this is to make as the flavor combinations give this a very gourmet feel. The recipe below serves about 6. Enjoy!

HELPFUL HINTS
1. Make sure the puff pastry dough is fully thawed but not so thawed that it is too hard to work with. You want it a little bit firm and not overly stretchy. I have found that the best results are to thaw the sheet in the refrigerator for about 24 hours. You can take it directly from the freezer and thaw it at room temperature for 20 minutes but I've found that method to be inconsistent.
2. You can use any kind of jam or nut that you prefer. I've found that raspberry or boysenberry jams are our favorite and we usually stick with pecans. You can use preserves instead of Jam if that's all you have.
3. This can be eaten as is or combined with some of your favorite crackers.

INGREDIENTS
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, defrosted
1 Tbs butter
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1 8oz wheel of Brie
1/2 cup raspberry jam
1 egg, beaten

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
3. Saute nuts in butter until golden brown, approximately 5 minutes.


















4. Remove from heat and set aside.
5. Lay puff pastry out on a very lightly floured surface and gently roll it to increase the size of the sheet 1 to 2 inches in each direction.















































6. Move pastry onto cookie sheet lined with non-stick bakeware.

















7. Remove the top rind from the Brie.

















8. Center the wheel of Brie on top of the pastry sheet.

















9. Spread jam evenly on top of Brie.

















10. Place pecans on top of jam in heaping mound.

















11. Bring all four corners of the sheet together above brie and twist slightly to form a bundle.















































12. Tie gathered pastry with kitchen twine, then form hanging pieces into a bow.
































13. Arrange the pastry until you are satisfied with the bundle shape.

















14. Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
15. Remove from refrigerator, then brush eggs over the pastry, making sure you also brush underneath the bow.















































16. Bake for approximately 25 minutes until pastry is golden brown.
17. Remove the string by pulling both ends apart from each other. This will tie the middle in a knot, enabling you to pull the string out without pulling the bundle apart.