In the Kitchen

I've made a few new things in the kitchen over the past day and I wanted to share them with you.

1) Kale Chips

I know this sounds weird. I've been reading about them a lot on the blogs and since I'm a sucker for salty snacks, I really wanted to try them out. Cory thought they were good but a little odd. I actually really love them. They are crunchy and salty and guilt free.

All you need to do is wash a bunch of kale really well. Rip the leaves off of the stems (discard stems) and tear them into little pieces. Toss them in a bowl with 2 tbsp of olive oil, the juice of 1 lemon, some salt and parmasen cheese. Arrange them on a baking sheet and bake at 325 degrees for lok 20 min or until they get crunchy. Let cool.

2)Tofu Pad Thai with Sweet Chili Sauce. This was a recipe from Bite Me. I liked it. It was sweeter than other Pad Thai's I've tried, but it was pretty good. It included Heinz Chili Sauce which is basically glorified ketchup. I don't like bottled junk added in excess to my food. Too much extra ingrediants and things I can't pronounce. I would probably remove this and add something of my own instead.

3) Chewy Chocolate Chip Chocolate Cookies from Bite Me. Clearly these are good. Bascially chocolate chip cookies with cocoa powder added for extra chocolatly goodness. I like.

4)Tomato and Grainy Mustard Tart from French Food at Home.

This is SO SO SO good. Way better than I thought it would be. I will be bringing it to my next event. It also presents very well.

Savory Galatte Pastry

2 1/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup cold, unsalted butter, cut into cubes

1/3 cup cold water

Throw all ingrediants in a food processor. Wizz up until it just comes together. Seperate into 2 disks and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 1/2 hr. (You only need 1 disk, you can freeze the other one for later.

Toppings

2 tbsp Whole Grain Mustard

2 tbsp Plain Yogurt

handful of shredded Guyere cheese

3 or 4 Tomatoes thinly sliced

handful of chopped Thyme

salt and pepper

2 tbsp Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out 1 disk of prepared pastry on a floured surface so that it covers a cookie sheet. Bake in oven for 15 min or until just browned.

Mix together mustard and yogurt. Spread on tart shell all the way to the edges. Top with shredded cheese. Arrange slices tomatoes on tart. Sprinkle on thyme and salt and pepper. Drizzle with Olive Oil.

Bake until tomatoes are soft and cheese is melted. Serve just warm.