Chocolate-It's What's for Dinner

Now don't get carried away here and think I'm turning into Store-Bought Sally. I may be using pre-fabbed food here (potato flakes) but take a look further down the recipe list and I'm using homemade cream cheese. Besides Nigella says there's no reason to feel bad. Potato Pancakes with Salmon (Adapted from Nigella Express ) 3 eggs 1/2 c milk 2 scallions, chopped 2 T olive oil 3/4 c instant potato flakes 1/4 c flour 1/2 t baking powder 1/2 t salt 3 oz cream cheese or Creme Fraiche (Homemade but of course) 4-6 oz smoked salmon Fresh Dill In a bowl whisk together eggs, milk, scallions, and olive oil. Stir in potato flakes, flour, baking powder, and salt. Heat griddle and place scant tablespoon-sized dollops of batter. Cook until golden and flip. Set aside to cool. Ready & Waiting Place a small dollop of cream cheese or creme fraiche onto each pancake. Tear off a piece of salmon and place on top. Decorate with a piece of fresh dill. Finito T...

Ignore that smudge of soup on the edge of the bowl I had a butternut squash sitting on the counter and some homemade creme fraiche in the fridge. I thought the two would go rather nicely together. Roasted Butternut Squash Soup 1 butternut squash, cut into 1" cubes 3 T olive oil 1 medium onion, chopped 3 sage leaves 4 sprigs thyme 1 celery stalk, diced 2 carrots, diced 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 c white wine 3 c stock - either chicken or vegetable 1 c heavy cream 4 T parsley, chopped salt/pepper Serve with Toasted pepitas  and Creme Fraiche Mix squash with 2 T olive oil and salt. Roast in a 400 preheated oven for about 30-40 minutes. Meanwhile, saute onions, sage, thyme, and salt over a low flame in a dutch oven. Cook for a good 20 minutes so that onions become golden brown (you can add a pinch of sugar to help them along). Add celery and carrots and cook until carrots and celery start to brown - about 10 minutes.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Add...

This is so easy that I wouldn't even call it a recipe. I saw it in this book that I've talked about making it before and decided I needed to give it a whirl. She says that it's so easy a 4 year old could do it and I do have to agree. All you do is mix 1 c of heavy cream with 1 T of cultured buttermilk, cover it, and let it sit out in a warm area for 24 hours. You can stir it once or twice. Simple huh? It thickens up quite nicely. The only problem is you have to think a little bit ahead of time to make it. You need to use cultured buttermilk; you can't use the buttermilk left from making butter . Creme Fraiche is a dangerous thing to have in the house.  It goes so nicely with fresh strawberries (with a dash of brown sugar or reduced balsamic vinegar ) or with soup (bisque, puree), on top of pie (pumpkin, apple) I could go on but you get the idea. It basically goes with everything.