I feel like I've been babbling a lot on the blog recently, but I have surprisingly little to say about this recipe. I've never had Boursin cheese and I was definitely curious to try the recipe, but I wouldn't say it was a very memorable one. It was very easy to put together, but quite expensive. (My store only had one brand of fromage blanc and it was a fortune! It probably would have been cheaper if I had just used ricotta, but I did like that fromage blanc is naturally fat free.) It definitely tasted good, but not amazing, and probably isn't something that I would make again.
I made the cheese the night before, and stuffed some of it into some piquillo peppers that I happened to have around. I served the rest of it with sliced vegetables, some defrosted left-over fougasse, and a bean salad.
The salad was probably the most exciting part of the meal. I bought some garlic scapes on impulse at the farmer's market last weekend and decided to make them into a garlic scape pesto, even though I had no plans for the pesto. I also wanted to make a salad with these beans. I was about to roast some garlic to combine with the beans and some roasted cherry tomatoes I had in the freezer (per the suggestion), but luckily I thought to just use the pesto instead. I tossed everything together, and it made a quick and flavorful salad.
As part of my continuing attempts to catch-up (my goal is to be caught-up by my one year blogging anniversary in October), I also made gougeres this weekend. I bought a really good cheese at the farmer's market (I can't remember the name, but it was similar to a parmesan) and combined that with some cheddar that I had at home. I'm trying to eat more whole grains, so I used about 3/4 multigrain flour mix (I use Kim Boyce's recipe from Good to the Grain) and the rest white flour. I've made gougeres a bunch of times, and all of the recipes I've tried have been about the same, but they do always taste great! Paul didn't even notice that it wasn't all white flour (he often complains). He just said that they were excellent. I'll definitely be making them again.
So sorry it wasn't as you had expected. Your display is lovely though! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm with you not very exciting... it is better with sour cream or even goat cheese. I think using it as a stuffing was a great idea.
ReplyDeleteThose gougeres are so darn good! Nice to know that they hold up with a little wheat flour. Next time I'll give that a try.
ReplyDeleteI didnt feel this was very memorable either... But your spread looks tasty anyways!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed it - but it wasn't a "stunner"
ReplyDeleteYour gougers look fantastic! Maybe I can use up some of that whole wheat pastry flour bag that always seems half full. Your meal looks pretty tasty - I love being able to take little nibbles of this and that.
ReplyDeleteHow interesting that the fromage blanc is fat free - I still want to try it even though you said it was expensive...at least once! :) Everything looks so good and the garlic scape pesto sounds really tasty. The gougeres look perfect!
ReplyDeleteEverything looks so appetizing - the salad, The Herb Cheese and the gougères - you did a very nice job. I must say that your salads always sound interesting and delicious and full of wonderful fresh veggies!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy a great weekend!
I love gougeres -they can be highly addictive :-)
ReplyDeleteGarlic scape pesto sounds like just the thing to toss with a number of ingredients! So good...
Everything looks deliciously good. I like how you put the cheese inside the cherry tomatoes.
ReplyDeleteSorry this wasn't a favorite, but in a book this big, you won't love every recipe. That's too high a bar. I love garlic scape pesto. Can't wait until the farmers markets open here and I can find some scapes. Your dinner looks delicious even if the cheese spread wasn't your favorite thing served. Have a great weekend.
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