Mini Goat Cheese Tarts

As soon as I hear about a party, a holiday or really any event, I immediately start planning the food I'm going to bring. So when my friend Eileen had a house warming party, I decided to pull out all the stops and make some really fun appetizers.

I was a little worried that people wouldn't be into goat cheese, but these were a huge success. I assembled them at the party so there was no trouble with transport.

The cornmeal tart crust recipe is borrowed from my friend Hans and the rest was just sort of an experiment.


Mini Goat Cheese Tarts
(makes 48-60 tarts)
8 oz soft goat cheese
8 oz cream cheese, softened
handful of fresh herbs, minced (parsley, chives, whatever you have)

2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup, 1 tbsp cornmeal
1 tsp salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, cold, chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 cup of cold water

20 cherry tomatoes.

Mix goat cheese, cream cheese and fresh herbs. Transfer to a piping bag or plastic baggie.

Slice tomatoes and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
With a pastry blender or a food processor, mix the flour with the cornmeal and salt. Add the butter and pulse until the butter is the size of small peas. Sprinkle with the water and pulse just until the pastry is evenly moistened. Transfer to a lightly floured board and pat into a disk. Wrap and refrigerate the pastry for 30 minutes (or overnight, till you need it basically).

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pastry dough. Cut off enough to fit into mini tart pan and repeat as necessary until desired amount are made. Cook until firm and remove. (About 15 minutes.) Let them cool, then pipe goat cheese into each tart.

Top them with a slice of tomato.

Cheese Puffs

The quintessential party snack Cheese Puffs are light, fluffy and of course very cheesy.

They require a few steps, but the end result looks effortless and tastes delicious. I think these will be joining my roster of surefire hits.

There are plenty of recipes for these out there, but I used this one, they gave instructions for freezing too, if you're in a make ahead mood.

Don't be intimidated by making the dough, I made a similar one for the Croquembouche and if you follow the instructions it's super simple. You can use whatever kind of cheese you want, but it should be something sharp and very flavorful, something like mozzarella wouldn't work as well.

You might want to make a double batch though, these were devoured in minutes.

Cheese Puffs
1 cup water
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
large pinch of cayenne pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
24 chives, finely-minced (can be omitted)
1 1/2 cups (about 6 ounces) cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In a saucepan, heat the water, butter, salt and cayenne pepper just until the butter is melted (don't let it simmer or boil).

Add all the flour at once and stir vigorously until it forms a smooth ball and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Take it off the heat and let it rest for 2 minutes.

Transfer to a stand mixer or a bowl, add the eggs one at a time. After the first 2 eggs the dough should start to become shiny and smooth.

After the eggs, add the cheese and chives.

Scoop all of the dough into a plastic baggy or piping bag (of course I always use a plastic baggy). Pipe about a tablespoon sized circles about an inch apart on the parchment.

Dip your finger in water and smooth the tops of the each puff. Sprinkle each with a little cheese.

Bake at 425 for 10 minutes then turn the oven down to 375 and bake for another 20 minutes.

Serve warm.

Poached Eggs in a Spicy Tomato Sauce (Shakshuka)

In my effort to look into more savory and healthier recipes, I've been thinking a lot about alternatives to meat.
I tried this recipe a few months ago and liked it, but it wasn't filling enough for me. This time I added lentils and it was perfect.

I also modified the recipe to scale it down a little so that it was just enough for two people, since it doesn't really work as leftovers, and I blended the sauce up, because chunks of cooked tomatoes just weird me out. Feel free to leave it unblended.

Poached Eggs in a Spicy Tomato Sauce (Shakshuka)
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 jalapeños, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
1 small yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 tablespoon paprika
1 14 ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, undrained
Kosher salt, to taste
4 eggs
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
Warm pitas, for serving

Saute the onions and garlic in oil till the onions are translucent. Add jalapeños and tomatoes and let simmer till thick, about 7-10 minutes. Add the paprika and cumin, and season with salt and pepper.

(I blend it at this point.) Carefully add the eggs, don't crowd them. Then cover the pan, let simmer till the yolks are just set, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley.

Serve over lentils (prepared basically by the recipe on the back of the bag) with toasted pitas and lots of crumbled feta cheese on top.