Comfort Foods and Indulgences

Clafoutis. You've eaten one. You've probably baked one. You've definitely heard of one. But can you define one? What is a clafoutis?

It's not quite a cake or a custard or a flan or a pudding. It has been called lots of names, including "a baked fruit dessert," "a baked custard with fruit," "a crustless pie," "a fruit-fill flan," and my personal favorite, "a sweet frittata." Purists called it a flognarde, but that lacks the panache of clafoutis (pronounced cla- foo-tee).

Clotilde Dusouslier, the charming Parisian food blogger, calls clafoutis "the epitome of the French grandmotherly dessert: unpretentious, easy to make, and blissfully comforting."

Call it what you will, especially if you're high school French is a little rusty. Just be sure to make one.

Well folks I hate to admit it, but this is the only type of "green" shake I can get behind. And look, it's not even green, even though it sounds like it should be. 

But really, for those of you who have not experienced the rich and creamy avocado as a substitute for ice cream, it's a must. My family was clueless I had used it in their dessert. They were happily sipping away on their luxuriously thick chocolate shake when I dropped the A-bomb on them. My youngest said, "We're drinking guacamole?" Ummm....no, you're not.

This shake is almost dairy free if that is important for you, but you would have to use non-dairy chocolate chips for it to truly fit that bill. And let's not forget the health benefits of the avocado; lots of potassium, fiber, vitamins C & K, B6 and folate. One whole avocado boasts lots of heart-healthy unsaturated fat, more than a 1/3 of your daily vitamin C needs and more than half of your daily requirement of vitamin K. What more could you ask for in a chocolate shake?

I wanted to satisfy my urge for a Shamrock Shake this month so out came the mint chocolate chips. They were the perfect addition and left behind these cute green specks in the shake after blending with my trusty Blendtec blender.

This was our breakfast Sunday morning.  Aren't they cute?  They were very, very good.  It's the whole egg and the toast combo all together in one nice package.

These are so easy to make and wouldn't they be splendid on a brunch buffet table?  The best part, you can easily make two, ten, a hundred, whatever your needs are at the moment. 

I think there are a lot of variations you could do nicely with this recipe, such as, swap out the Parmesan cheese with grated Gruyere or crumbled blue cheese to give a different taste.  Use feta and substitute oregano for the other herbs for a Greek flavor.

I used sourdough but I think this would also be nice with onion or brioche rolls as long as they are sturdy.

Any way you put these together, they will be great.

This may well be our favorite appetizer. The combination of the prosciutto with the luscious fig jam is so good and then the creamy goat cheese - well, you just have to make these.  And (shhhh...) they are so easy!

All you need for these little wonders are a good fresh baguette, a jar of fig jam, some salty prosciutto, plain goat cheese and some fresh basil.  The fig jam is an item which is now found in any grocery store.  You just have to know where to look for it.  Some stores carry it with the jams and some carry it with the international foods.  I know Whole Foods has this brand of jam and they always have some tucked in with all the cheeses.

This stuff is incredible - if you've never had it, you'll want to eat it with a spoon.  Or put it on toast.  Or make a sandwich with it.  Or put it on scrambled eggs.  Okay, you get it.  For the prosciutto, make sure you buy a good quality prosciutto - because there are so few ingredients, this appetizer is only good as the quality of your ingredients.