Prosciutto Gruyere Tart

This is perhaps one of the easiest and tastiest things I’ve made over and over again this summer. Simultaneously it also happens to be the thing people are most impressed by. It’s probably the “puff pastry” effect. Needless to say I think this is something you’ll “WOW” your guests with while entertaining this summer.

I’ve also been bringing this with me to parks and lakes for most of my dine al fresco experiences and it’s even better at room temperature. Trust me guys this dish is a winner all the way around! Let’s get started.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1. Béchamel

– 1 cup crème fraîche

-1 large egg

-salt and pepper (to taste) ; I used a roasted garlic salt and fresh cracked pepper

2. Caramelized onions

-2 medium onions sliced thinly

-2 Tbsp olive oil

-1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

-1 tsp brown sugar

-salt & pepper to taste

3. Toppings

-1 cup diced prosciutto

-1 cup shredded gruyere cheese

Cooking instructions:

Pre-heat oven to 400°F

Onions – Heat the olive oil in a pan on medium heat. Then add your sliced onions. We’re going to turn the heat down to medium low. Making caramelized onions takes some time so we’re cooking them low and slow. Once the onions have softened and are translucent (this should happen after 10 minutes of cooking) add your brown sugar and balsamic vinegar.

Let the onions cook on med low for about 20 more minutes. Make sure to stir them often so that they don’t burn or stick to the pan. Once they are cooled you should remove them from the pan and place them in a bowl to cool.

Béchamel – In a bowl mix the crème fraîche, egg, salt & pepper well to combine. That’s it for the béchamel.

Assembly – Unfold the puff pastry and lay it flat on a sheet pan. First spread the béchamel from edge to edge of the pastry. It’s delicious so go as heavy handed or light handed as you like. Then add the Gruyere. Top it off with the prosciutto. I like to add fresh cracked black pepper to the top but that’s optional.

Into the 400°F oven for 25 minutes. When you remove the pastry from the oven it will be puffy like a pillow. Let it cool, it will deflate. Once cooled for 10 minutes it’s good to enjoy!

Here’s a nice little video so you can see how it should turn out!

I hope you guys try this dish and if you do tag me on Instagram @CookingWithRoxy.

I love you all and as always sending lots of moxie your way.

-Roxy

Champagne & Berries French Toast Bake

We’ve recently reached 1k followers on Instagram and I can’t tell you how happy this makes me! Thank you all for showing me how much I inspire you all to cook, I’m grateful. Alright, enough of the mushy stuff let’s move on to the food. This champagne & berries French toast bake really did a number on Instagram! I had no choice but to update the blog with exact measurements. Make this delicious and sweet dish for a cozy Valentine’s Day morning in or make it for any brunch day that you deem fit LOL!

1. Berry Sauce

1 cup blueberries

1 cup blackberries

2 cups strawberries

1 cup champagne

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

To make the sauce I added all the ingredients to a small sauce pot. I made sure to cut the strawberries in quarters so that they would be roughly the same size as the berries. Set the sauce on medium heat to start bubbling. While I wait on this to happen I preheat the oven to 350°F. I check on the mixture periodically to stir it and make sure it’s not sticking to the bottom of the pot. If you’re more comfortable cooking the mixture on medium low this also works for my readers who get a bit distracted while cooking LOL!

2. Custard

2 cups half n half

2 eggs and 1 yolk

1/2 cup sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

Whisk the mixture all together until everything is combined. Do your best to make sure you can’t see any egg whites appearing in the mixture.

Beautiful challah bread.

You’ll want your bread slices about 1 inch thick. They’re going to be dunked in custard and I would rather you guys not have soggy French toast. I used one whole loaf of challah for my baking dish. After dunking each slice I place them into the dish on a slant so that you can see each slice. I also poured about a 1/2 cup of the custard into the bottom of the dish.

In case I didn’t describe it good enough here’s a picture of what I meant.

At this point our berry sauce should be done and it should look something like this. I added about 1/4 of a cup between each slice. You can add as much sauce as you’d like. Just remember to make sure that you save some for the top of the dish and a little extra for your portion.

After adding the sauce between each slice.

Now cover your dish in foil and place it into your 350°F oven for 30 minutes. Then uncover it and bake for 20 minutes. To make the presentation a little nicer I broiled it for just a minute for a little more color. That step is completely optional.

Lastly you’ll want to dust your French toast bake with powdered sugar and some of that delicious berry sauce. Then you’re done! Let’s eat!

As you can see I’ve started eating without you LOL! Let me know if you guys try this recipe! You can tag me on Instagram @CookingWithRoxy. I love you all and as always sending lots of moxie your way.

-Roxy

Spicy Tuna Poké Nachos

If you guys follow me on Instagram then you know that I like to eat good all the time. Whether it be food that I’ve cooked in my own kitchen or food from local places here in North Carolina. I’ve recently had poké nachos from a popular spot in Charlotte and had some of my own ideas on how I could make them at home. Here’s my spin on recreating a restaurant experience at home!

Braised Short Ribs | Slow Cooker Edition

It’s so cold outside! These short ribs braised in a deep red wine creates a luscious and comforting sauce that I know you all will enjoy for the winter. Let’s get started!

Bourbon Peach Cobbler Croissant Sticky Buns | Peach Season

It’s Peach Season guys! The farmers market and grocery stores are overflowing with peaches right now so I figured there’s no time like now to try my hand at baking.

I’m exciting to show y’all this flaky, butter, sweet and sticky dessert. There’s a shortcut in this recipe because I have yet to learn how to make a proper dough. However, this shortcut turned out to be JUST what this recipe needed.

Maple Mesquite Porkchops

You know we’ve already talked about this. This is a brunch stan blog, so here I am yet again providing you all with another item that’s perfect for brunch!

The cayenne maple butter drizzle that we use to finish off these juicy chops is the icing on top of the cake. Let’s get started.

Hennessy Butter Steak

I never miss when it comes to making this steak! The combination of the robust flavor of Hennessy, creamy butter, and spices is a real crowd pleaser. It’s seasoned to perfection with: kosher salt, black pepper, and granulated garlic. Seared in a cast iron skillet on both sides and basted with creamy browned butter, a healthy shot (or 2) of Hennessy, rosemary and crushed garlic.