Summer Vegetable Bake Tian

July 30, 2013 by Monica in Baking, Quick Meal, Vegetable, Vegetarian, Savory

Originating in Provence, a tian is a French word that describes a shallow earthenware casserole and because why use another word for it? The food it contains. Traditionally it features a variety of vegetables, herbs and cheeses that are layered and then baked. Showcasing summer’s squash and tomatoes, I threw in some potatoes too – because well I’m crafty like that.

But if you search a tian can be made with pretty much any vegetable you like, onions, eggplant, herbs, and I can go on and on.

GCC: Fruit Stuffed Pork Loin

May 20, 2013 by Monica in Cookbooks, Cooking Club, Dinner, Entertaining, Gutsy Cooks Club, Main Courses, Meat, Pork

This past weekend I had every intention of doing this dish, except that I spend it running around doing errands and Saturday dinner turned into pizza.

Instead I decided, I would do it for Sunday’s dinner.

Sunday came and went and back in the refrigerator everything went. But, I made a mental vow that I was going to do this for our Monday night dinner no matter what.

I had doubts that this was going to work out for a quick meal, but once more, I realized that there is always a way. And in less than 1 hour, I had it on the table for us to dig in.

FFwD: Hachis Parmentier

October 22, 2010 by Monica in Beef, Cookbooks, Cooking Club, Dinner, FFwD, Main Courses, Meat, Savory

Ok guys, we are entering the forth week of cooking from the new book by Dorie Greenspan - “Around my French Table”. This is my third contribution, since I skipped last weeks choice, the Vietnamese Spicy Chicken Noodle Soup.

But, this week I could not resist, because mashed potatoes and meat, in this case chopped meat - are like a great marriage.

In France this is the equivalent of the English Shepard pie. “Hachis”, which means a dish in which the ingredients are chopped or minced, come from the same root as the English word “hatchet”. I did not use a hatchet of course, but I like the mental picture of it. The rest of the dish is named after Antoine-Augustin Parmentier, a French pharmacist, nutritionist, and inventor who, in the late 18th century, was instrumental in the promotion of the potato as an edible crop.

Let’s all stand up right now and thank THAT MAN!