Comfort Foods and Indulgences

I’ve got to admit it – I’m a total cheese snob. I blame my foodie parents – I got wedges of brie in my preschool lunchbox when the other kids got string cheese. My first winery job, at Vihuela in downtown Paso Robles, was fabulous because we shared a space with Vivant Fine Cheese – therefore, I lived on a strict diet of wine, cheese, and baguettes for almost a year (sorry, arteries!). I learned so much from Danika, from wine and cheese pairing to the particularities of making the perfect platter – what an education!

“More Taleggio? Do I need to stage an intervention?!”

Yes, this is what Danika said to me when I was last in her shop. My mom and I have been obsessed with Taleggio lately! We usually just eat it on slices of baguette or on Triscuits, but this weekend I decided to get creative and tried it on stuffed mushrooms. If you like earthy, you will love this combo!

I've had these on my mind for a while now. I'm not the biggest fan of traditional enchilada sauce but I will take buffalo sauce in an enchilada anytime! I stuffed these with ricotta cheese, Monterey Jack and of course blue cheese. More Jack on top and crunchy celery...this was a TOUCHDOWN.

I'm not sure your Super Bowl party will be complete without them. I made these in individual stoneware bakers, two enchiladas in each one. I admit I love serving food in smaller portions, it's always more fun. You could also make these in a large casserole dish, you'll just have to double or triple the amount of ingredients.

Even if the corn tortillas break a little on top when you roll them, it's okay since you will be covering it with lots of cheese. And I have a question, is anyone watching the Super Bowl this year for the game? It seems every one I have come in contact with says they are not thrilled with the teams. Most will be watching for commercials and the food. Ha-ha perfect. You better make extras!

Do you ever get the Sunday night blues? You know, that feeling of disappointment that the weekend is over and Monday morning looms like a dark cloud?

It happens to me sometimes. And when I feel this way, I usually crave something comforting. This past Sunday it was rice pudding--the quintessential comfort food. That's because it's warm, creamy, and unabashedly carb-y. These are the good carbs though, the ones that make you feel like you're receiving a hug from your mom.

Even if you don't get the Sunday night blues, everyone needs a little comfort now and again. And rice pudding leaves you feeling good every time.

Sometimes you want a gallette instead of a pie.  You’re shocked hearing that from me? Well, don’t be. Apparently I enabled a gallette to be the winning “pie” at the last pie contest.  And you know why?  Because of the increased caramelization possibilities of more exposed crust and the ability to make a really big one for a wow presentation. 

Like this one here which served almost 20.  Also, I find that for bakers who are nervous about the whole cooking fruit inside a crust + thickener thing, cooking the apples separately can be an easy anxiety fix.

To size up the recipe just use more dough to make a bigger circle for your gallette and prep more apples.  For this gallette that was 14″ across I made my Ratio Dough using 15 oz of flour.  I used 10 small apples.  You actually don’t need to use many more apples than for a regular pie, they’re just spread out in a much thinner layer.