December 16 Meal: Crostini, Catfish, and Cookies

Beef and Mushroom Crostini with Thyme

This is a great little appetizer.  Cook up some beef tenderloin steak and make sure not to overcook.  Top little toasts with goat cheese, beef tenderloin, and mushrooms cooked with Sherry and thyme.  The meat is juicy and you can't go wrong with goat cheese!  I made a couple without the mushrooms for Shaun, as you can see in the picture.

Yuminess: 9 out of 10



Curried Lentil Soup

It was a snowy/slushy day, so Shaun and I stayed home to work.  I made this soup for lunch and it was a spicy little comfort.  The lentils are combined with a health portion of curry powder, onion, carrot, garlic, pureed chickpeas, lemon juice, and some fresh green onions to top it off.  The level of spice is just right, good enough to make your sinuses feel clear.  It also saves really well in the freezer!

Yuminess: 9 out of 10

Potato Gratin with Gruyere
I'm not against mushrooms at all, but I don't think they help this dish much.  The Gruyere is really good with the potatoes, though.  Not much else to say since I've written about gratins so many times before.

Yuminess: 7 out of 10

Trout with Red Cabbage, Jicama, and Chipotle Slaw
This was a disaster from the beginning, mostly because I couldn't find trout anywhere.  I asked at the Whole Foods fish counter and found out that it is out of season.  I shared my sob story of the out-of-season halibut from a few days before and the guy felt sorry for me and gave me a free piece of catfish to try.  The catfish reminded my of the taste of the ocean, but not in a good way.  The slaw was pretty good, made with red cabbage, jicama, and chipotle chiles.  I'm still working my way through the one little can of chipotle chiles I purchased the first month.  Any time I need some I just peel one away from the frozen bunch.

Yuminess: Hard to judge since I used the wrong fish.

Double Chocolate-Peppermint Crunch Cookies

Nothing like peppermint to make you feel like Christmas.  These are little chocolate cookies with a hit of more chocolate inside and peppermint on top, which adds a crunch.  The only complaint I have about this recipe is that Bon Appetit always seems to overestimate amounts when it comes to sauces or toppings.  I had a lot of melted chocolate left over from the drizzles on top.

Yuminess: 10 out of 10



Coffee-Spice Shortbread with Crystallized Ginger

Trying to bake two different things at once, especially when they have different cooking temperatures, is a bad idea.  I started with the oven at the temperature for the chocolate mint cookies, but needed to wait on something with them and switched over to these shortbreads, forgetting to change the oven temp.  It was too hot, so the bottom of the first batch burned.  I had to start over completely, except for some mini shortbreads I made in little tart pans.  The finished product is topped with icing and candied ginger.  Not bad, but shortbread really isn't my thing.

Yuminess: 7 out of 10