Boursin potatoes

This recipe comes from the Birmingham Junior League cookbook. 

2 1/2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, sliced thinly
2 cups heavy cream
5 ounces Boursin cheese
3 T shallots, minced
salt and pepper

Heat the cream, cheese and shallots until cheese in melted.  Line a baking dish with half of the potatoes.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Pour half of the cheese mixture on top.  Layer the rest of the potatoes and pour the remaining sauce on top.  Bake at 400 for 50 minutes.

Roasted Green Beans with Shallots

This recipe comes from the Birmingham Junior League cookbook Tables of Content.  Here's my rough take on it:

1 pound of green beans
6 shallots, sliced thinly
olive oil
salt and pepper
1 T chopped fresh parsley
1/4 c chopped toasted hazelnuts
1 t lemon zest

Toss the beans with the shallots, oil and salt and pepper.  Roast at 450 for 18 minutes.  Serve with the parsley, hazelnuts and zest on top.

Rosemary potato wedges

I think everyone has a recipe like this.

2 potatoes
1-2 T olive oil
1 t salt
1 t pepper
1 t dried rosemary
1 t minced garlic

Preheat oven to 400. Cut the potatoes into wedges. Toss the potatoes with the remaining ingredients. Line a baking sheet with foil. Arrange potatoes on foil-lined sheet. Bake 20 minutes, toss potatoes. Bake another 10-15 minutes until lightly browned and crisp.

Serves 4.

Heather's baked beans

Heather used to make these for our supper swap. Will would eat these for days and days. They are wonderful, but to Will at age 10/11 months, it was a little bit of heaven. I made them for tonight but omitted the bacon in order to keep them vegetarian.

3 cups of dried white navy beans, soaked and simmered until tender, following package directions
1 1/2 c ketchup
1 1/2 c water
1/4 c molasses
1 large onion chopped
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon salt
6 slices of uncooked salt pork or bacon, diced
1 c brown sugar

Place all ingredients in slow cooker; cover and cook for 8 to 10 hours on low. Stir a few times, if possible.

Sauteed summer squash

I love summer squash. I've adapted this recipe from Ina Garten. I don't remember which cookbook it is in, but it is on page 120, I remember that.

4 zucchini
4 yellow squash
2 onions
olive oil
salt
pepper
grated Parmesan (not the green can--as Ina says)

Remove ends of squash, slice lengthwise, then slice 1/2 inch thick. Slice onions.

Heat 2T olive oil in 10-inch skillet. Cook onions in oil until lightly browned. Add half of squash and cook until tender. Remove to bowl and keep warm. Add a little more olive oil and cool remaining squash. Add to bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste and stir with 1/2 C Parmesan.

Haricots Verts (French Green Beans)

This recipe comes once again from Ina Garten's Barefoot in Paris. I couldn't find the French green beans at my grocery store so I used regular green beans.

1 lb French string beans, both ends removed
salt
1 red onion, large-diced
1/2 red pepper, large-diced
1/2 yellow pepper, large-diced (for a festive look, I used only 1 red pepper)
olive oil
pepper

Preheat oven to 425.

Blanch the green beans (4 min for French beans, 7-8 min for regular green beans) in boiling salted water. Drain immediately and immerse in ice water to stop cooking. Cool; then drain and set aside.

Toss the onion and bell peppers with 2 T olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast 15 min, tossing from time to time.

Just befor serving, reheat the beans in a large saute pan drizzled with a little olive oil. Serve green beans beans with roasted vegetables on top.

Gratin Dauphinois

Known to us Americans as Potatoes Au Gratin. This one comes from the Williams-Sonoma Paris cookbook. To make this in advance, I bake it 1 hour and refrigerate, then bake it 15-30 min more when reheating.

3-5 cloves garlic, chopped
3 1/2 - 4 lbs russet potatoes, peeled
salt & pepper
1 c heavy cream
4 T unsalted butter, cut into bits
2 T mixed chopped fresh chives and parsley

Preheat oven to 375. Butter a 3-qt baking dish about 3 1/2 in deep. Sprinkle about half of the garlic over the bottom and sides.

Slice the potatoes 1/8 in thick. Arange a layer of potato slices in the prepared dish, slighly overlapping them, season with salt and pepper, and pour a few spoonfuls of cream evenly over the potatoes. Sprinkle lightly with some of the remaining garlic. Repeat layer until all potatoes and garlic are used. Pour on remaining cream and dot with butter.

Bake the potatoes until they are very tender, have absorbed all the cream and are golden brown on top, 1-1 1/2 hours. To help the gratin develop a nice brown crust, raise the heat to 400 for the last 10-15 min.

Serve, sprinkling with chives and parsley.

Serves 6.