Week of December 12

Garlic roasted potatoes with cheese "fondue"
Inspired by my friends Alison and Jess's wedding that involved hors d'oeuvres that included a croquette served over a truffle cheese fondue in a shot glass...

I made garlic roasted potatoes and served them with a four cheese fondue served in a shot glass
(Parboiled diced potatoes, threw into oven with salt, pepper, and unpeeled garlic cloves and baked until golden)
(Made a roux with melted butter, whisked in flour, milk, and Trader Joe Four Cheese blemd)


Ginger mint themes:
Ginger and Mint Teat
Boiled fresh ginger with fresh mint--absolutely amazing with sugar or honey for tea


Ginger and Mint Poached Pear
Peeled a pear, cut into thirds, cored it, and then boiled it along w/ ginger mint mixture and brown sugar

Ginger Pear and Mint Gin Cocktail
Reduced ginger mint sugar mixture over high hight, added syrup to gin, topped with tonic

Reduced Ginger Pear Basalmic Vinaigrette 
Boiled part of ginger mint syrup with basalmic vinegar...kept on heat until volume was reduced.
Blended with garlic and olive oil in food processor

Grilled portobello mushrooms:
Marinade: few cloves of garlic, soy sauce, basalmic vinegar, olive oil; blended in food processor
Destemmed and washed mushrooms, marinated for an hour
George Forman Grill

Molten Chocolate Cakes: by Flour
Substituted bittersweet chocolate chips for the chocolate
Was missing pizazz...and the chocolate chips didn't have as high as a cocoa content as the recommended one...  would add additional chocolate next time or use different brand of chocolate
However, I labeled one of the ramekins with rosemary...the flavor seeped in--I am definitely in love with the chocolate rosemary combo.  Will deliberately enhance the rosemary flavor for next batch.