Instructions

Seriously, so few ingredients. And, don't forget the saffron. A little saffron would MAKE THIS!

Preheat your oven to 400 and heat your butter in a small cast iron skillet. Chop your mushrooms and add to pan together with rosemary, saffron, salt and pepper. Place in your oven and roast for 10 mins, tossing occassionally. Your mushrooms should start to brown and get all deliciously crispy charred (... lightning-y!). Remove from the oven and stir in your saffron and honey, adding a splash of water if the mushrooms are sticking to the pan. Set aside and allow to come to room temperature.

Cut your puff pastry into 2 inch squares, stretching them out a bit as you go. Place a big nubbin of cheese and a tablespoon full of mushrooms into the center of each square-- wrap the dough around the filling to create little balls.

Bake at 400 on a parchment lined cookie sheet for about 25 minutes until pastry is puffed and golden brown.

Serve hot for optimum gooey-ness!

Instructions

Look it's ingredients!

Add your leeks to a medium pot together with your butter and garlic. Sautee on medium low heat until caramelized (but not browned!). Season generously with salt and pepper.

Add the potatoes and carrots to the pot, followed by your herbs tied up in a little bundle with kitchen twine (we call this a bouquet garni (very French and fancy).

Pour your broth over all, and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for roughly 30 minutes, until potatoes and carrots are softened. Remove the herbs and (off the heat) puree the soup with an immersion blender or some other kind of blender (but immersion blenders are super cool). Once smooth, add cream and continue to puree until thick and, well, creamy.

Keep warm on the stove until ready to serve, with fresh thyme and a drizzle of cream for garnish.

Instructions

First, the yummy tomato-y base of your "ratatouille"/confit byaldi.

Set your broiler on high, and place stemmed and seeded pepper halves onto a sheet of aluminum foil, skin side up. Spritz with a little olive oil and broil for 5-10 minutes (this will depend on your oven, just keep an eye on your peppers you want the skin to be consistently black, but not burn your peppers to a crisp!). Addto a bowl and cover tightly with your aluminum foil, allowing the peppers to steam for another 10 mins. This is what will allow the skins to peel off easily:

In a saucepan, caramelize your onions in your remaining olive oil for about 10 minutes on medium low heat. Add garlic and continue to sautee for a minute more, followed by your tomatoes and their juices, squashed. Chop your peppers roughly and add those to the pot as well, together with thyme, parsley and bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper, and bring to a simmer.

Continue to simmer over low heat until very soft and very little liquid remains, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Discard herbs and puree with immersion blender. Reserve 1/2 cup of mixture and spread remainder in bottom of a 9 inch pie plate.

Now for your vegetables. Thomas Keller appears to skip this step and I don't know why cause it's crazy. When making squash recipes I almost ALWAYS sweat out my veggies by sprinkling fresh slices with a bit of salt. Lay them out on paper towels for a good 10 minutes, then pat dry-- this helps prevent them from becoming all gross and soggy while they cook.

Arrange vegetable slices in concentric circles over the sauce, in this order: zucchini, eggplant, squash and tomatoes. Roughly 1/4 inch of each slice should be exposed. You might have a few extra vegetable slices-- if so, these will keep for a couple of days, don't stress. Mix garlic, oil and thyme leaves in bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste-- brush the surface of the vegetables with the mix and lookit how pretty.

Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake in an oven preheaded to 275-- the vegetables will be tender after about 2 hours. Uncover, and continue to bake for an additional 30 minutes to steam off any excess liquid.

At this point your ratatouille can be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days (you can always reheat in 350-degree oven until warm).

When ready to serve, combine 2 tbsp of your reserved 1/2 cup of tomato/pepper base sauce with oil, vinegar, and salt/pepper to taste. Drizzle this in a circle around your plate and sprinkle with fresh herbs. In the center of the plate, wrap your layered vegetables vertically around themselves, almost like you would if you were forming a rosebud. Then, take another line of layered vegetables and lay it over the top of your vegetable spiral. It looks more difficult than it is but trust me-- it ain't.

Top with a thinly sliced chive and bon appetit! A peasant dish fit for the snobbiest of all snobby food critics.

Instructions

Since Remy's first synesthesia experiment is strawberry meets cheese, I decided to make a super simple strawberry drizzle-- all you have to do is add chopped strawberries, cornstarch, sugar, juice, and (for something a little extra special) balsamic to a small saucepan. Add a splash of water to help the ingredients mix, bring to a boil, and then allow to simmer until thickened.

Drizzle onto a small plate or cutting board, and arrange your cheeses all fancy like over it. Sprinkle with pomegranate arils (another favorite of Remy's it seems--see synesthesia moment with Emille) and walnuts for crunch and VOILA, a mix of salty, nutty, sweet, deliciousness!

When it comes to wine-- champagne with the camembert (bubbles and cream, always lovely), a dry rose (emphasis on the Provence!) with the comte (the most popular cheese in France, btw), and a rich cabernet sauvignon for the darker, saltier mimolette (also a classic pairing). There's no Cheval Blanc 1947, but we can't all be as frou frou as Anton Ego. Nopety nopety noooooo.

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 400.

Then, separate your yolks from your whites, adding the whites into a small mixing bowl. Whip those whites into stiff peaks with a hand or stand mixer, and add your sugar, cocoa powder, yogurt and vanilla to your yolks.

Whisk your yolks with all that stuff together until sugar is dissolved and mixture is smooth. Fold this chocolate-y yolk mix into your egg whites, doing your best not to deflate the whites too much.

In an oven proof skillet, melt half of your butter. Pour in half of your egg mix and smooth into a rough circle-- sprinkle 1 tbsp of chocolate ships onto half of the circle.

Now this is key-- THESE ARE NOT REGULAR OMELETTES. After many failed attempts to cook these, uncovered and covered, on the stove, I realized that the fluffy whites need all around heat to set. So, slide your pan into your preheated oven and bake for roughly 7 minutes until chips are softened and souffle omelet is set.

Fold your souffle omelettes over a hefty dollop of whipped cream and sprinkle with chocolate shavings. Serve warm, before your cream starts to weep! It's a little messy, but we'll just say I "Linguini'd" the presentation.