Well, now that the store had the leeks and the goat cheese I had needed to make the Mushroom, Leek and Cheese Tarts, not a store in town had any BUTTER! Of course, I needed that in order to make the quick puff pastry (and I needed to make THAT because ready-made, packaged puff pastry sheets are not sold here, at all). After nearly a week of putting this off, and hoping the stores would get some butter, I asked my American neighbour, and he happened to have some (all I needed was one more stick).
Thus, I was FINALLY able to make these little treats, from my usual mushroom-recipe site, that I have been wanting to try for so long, and I am VERY glad I did: these things are WONDERFUL!
Of course, with leeks, garlic, mushrooms and goat cheese, what's not to like?
The strange way in which they are made had me wondering, when I had first read the recipe, if and how they would turn out, but they actually worked very well. Once the leeks, garlic, and mushrooms have all been cooked together, slices of the goat cheese are placed onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. Next, 1/4 cup of the mixture is placed on top of each slice of goat cheese. Finally, you cut four-inch circles out of the puff pastry sheets, drape them over the top of the mixture-covered goat cheese, and pinch them down to the parchment. Once this unusual arrangement is put into the oven and baked, just slide a metal spatula under the pastry circles, turn them upside down, and there you have mini tarts with a pretty nice presentation (and DELICIOUS, as well)!
My camera's batteries needed to be charged, so I didn't get my own picture of these gems, but here's the picture from the website where I got the recipe:
As mentioned earlier, I also made the Mushroom-and-Chicken-Sausage Rolls (which were also a big hit). Here's the website's picture of those:
As long as I'm posting pictures, here's a handy, old-fashioned gadget I picked up for 20 cents at the same store where I had found the sourdough book:
It's a "Butter Cutter" that slices butter into perfect pats. With just two additional, lengthwise cuts, I had perfect little cubes of butter for making the puff pastry. After that, I borrowed an idea from a friend of mine. He said that his wife likes to use an egg slicer to slice mushrooms, so I just adapted the "Butter Cutter" to the idea, and it worked very well - in fact, probably better, since I could slice four or five mushrooms at a time.
Anyway, although appearing unusual, at first, these tarts were quite simple to make, and absolutely delicious to eat, and I know I shall be making these again!
Thus, I was FINALLY able to make these little treats, from my usual mushroom-recipe site, that I have been wanting to try for so long, and I am VERY glad I did: these things are WONDERFUL!
Of course, with leeks, garlic, mushrooms and goat cheese, what's not to like?
The strange way in which they are made had me wondering, when I had first read the recipe, if and how they would turn out, but they actually worked very well. Once the leeks, garlic, and mushrooms have all been cooked together, slices of the goat cheese are placed onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. Next, 1/4 cup of the mixture is placed on top of each slice of goat cheese. Finally, you cut four-inch circles out of the puff pastry sheets, drape them over the top of the mixture-covered goat cheese, and pinch them down to the parchment. Once this unusual arrangement is put into the oven and baked, just slide a metal spatula under the pastry circles, turn them upside down, and there you have mini tarts with a pretty nice presentation (and DELICIOUS, as well)!
My camera's batteries needed to be charged, so I didn't get my own picture of these gems, but here's the picture from the website where I got the recipe:
As mentioned earlier, I also made the Mushroom-and-Chicken-Sausage Rolls (which were also a big hit). Here's the website's picture of those:
As long as I'm posting pictures, here's a handy, old-fashioned gadget I picked up for 20 cents at the same store where I had found the sourdough book:
It's a "Butter Cutter" that slices butter into perfect pats. With just two additional, lengthwise cuts, I had perfect little cubes of butter for making the puff pastry. After that, I borrowed an idea from a friend of mine. He said that his wife likes to use an egg slicer to slice mushrooms, so I just adapted the "Butter Cutter" to the idea, and it worked very well - in fact, probably better, since I could slice four or five mushrooms at a time.
Anyway, although appearing unusual, at first, these tarts were quite simple to make, and absolutely delicious to eat, and I know I shall be making these again!
If blueberry muffins have blueberries in them, what do vegan muffins have?