Coquilles St. Jacques (Scallops in Creamy Sauce)

This is one of the dishes from my childhood. My mother had a friend who was a fabulous cook and every year our families traveled together and she would make this dish as an appetizer, served in a shell.

At home, I usually serve this as a main dish with a green salad and plain rice. So, I prefer to use large sea scallops. But if you are going to use the scallop shells, then you are better off using the smaller bay scallops. If you still want to serve as an appetizer in individual portions, serve in small ramekins which will hold the sea scallops very well.

Onion Quiche with Cottage Cheese

Making this quiche was a true soap opera. I planned on doing it for about 2 weeks and never found the time. Remember, I've recently lamented about the busy schedule of a halal mama of four. Then one day I thought, "This is it, I'm going to do it!" I thought I had enough time before picking up the twins at preschool but I couldn’t have been more wrong and had to leave with my dough resting in the fridge, the onions just caramelized and the egg/cream filling in a measuring cup. I made sure everything was well-covered with plastic and left, not being able to get back to the quiche until the next morning! I had to take the dough out of the fridge for a few minutes before I was able to roll it out and I had to mix the cream filling again. But, to my surprise, it turned out just fine and it tasted even better reheated the next day. So, my point here in sharing this drama is to tell you that you can feel free to make each individual part of the quiche ahead and bake when you are ready to serve. I like these kind of recipes!

Ratatouille (French Vegetable Stew)

It's interesting that so many of my friends assume I am a big meat-lover. The truth is a bit more complicated. My favorite food happens to be a big juicy steak, preferably made outside on the grill served alongside some delicious fries and even lovelier if served with rice, black beans and some chimichurri. However, other than my occasional steak, I really don’t care for eating meat on a daily basis.

In fact there have been times in my life when I’ve gone vegetarian and even vegan for short periods of time. In one of these instances, during my first year in college, while taking a practical neuroanatomy class held in a gross anatomy lab where we had to handle and study real brains the smell of formaldehyde and seeing the things in the lab made me completely averse to meat and I became vegetarian for some time. Sorry for such graphic detail! But, eventually I missed my steak and broke away from my strictly vegetarian habits. I also love seafood and dairy too much to stay vegan for long.

Chocolate Orange Mousse

Along the lines of the dessert-a-palooza that has taken over my blog, here is another Ina Garten recipe that I made for the Thanksgiving Day Potluck.

Gougères (Cheese Puffs)

Whether you celebrate Thanksgiving or not, having the day off is a great excuse to get friends and family together. We had a very ethnic potluck at my house that included dishes from Spain, India, France and even traditional American fare, albeit no turkey.

I greeted my guests with fresh, out of the oven cheese puffs, not the Brazilian pão de queijo which one of these days I will post a recipe, but the French kind, gougères. 

Madeleines

The market is a great place to look for things that inspire me to cook. I typically shop for items beyond what's on my handy dandy shopping list, that is if I've remembered to bring the list from off the kitchen table. I guess it's a good thing my husband does most of the market runs in our house. Not only is he good at bringing the much-needed list, he always chooses great produce and picks up unusual or exotic items I would never think of getting. This is great for me since our tastes are so different and his additions to our kitchen help me to cook and bake beyond my comfort zone.