What I've been up to...

I've made potato farl several times and really enjoyed them. I love sweet potatoes, so I thought "why not a sweet potato farl?" 

You will need: 

2 c. mashed sweet potato

1/4 c. sugar

2 tbsp. melted butter

Salt and pepper to taste

1. c. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Mix the mashed sweet potato, sugar, salt, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, and melted butter. Then, work in the flour to make a pliable dough.

Typically when making potato farl you would divide in two and roll out on a floured surface to form two circles around 1/4 in. thick. Then, cut each circle into quarters (farl) and bake on a hot griddle for about 5 minutes on each side until lightly browned.

For these, dropped scant 1/2 cupfuls onto a hot, buttered skillet. Then, after I flipped them, I pressed them down. It took about 7 min. for them to completely cook. 

Then, my husband made this beautiful Beet Mousse.

http://www.cuisineaz.com/recettes/mousse-de-betteraves-rouges-47363.aspx

Mousse de Betterave: (Translation by Kae JL)

An easy, inexpensive recipe for 6 people. 

You will need:

2 beets, cooked

1 heaping tablespoon of crème fraîche (If you do not have it, and don't want to make it, you can try substituting it with sour cream. No guarantee on the outcome as I have not tried this recipe with sour cream.)

1 red onion, finely chopped

4 basil leaves

olive oil

salt, pepper

50 g de Roquefort (roughly 1.5 oz. blue cheese)

2 slices of pain de campagne (Think a nice crusty artisan loaf)

This recipe is inspired by this blog: http://lacuisinedebabeth.blogspot.com

Directions:

1) Saute onion in a skillet with olive oil. Reserve.

2) In a blender, place the sauteed onion, beets, crème fraîche, basil, 1 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper.

3) Blend and place in the refrigerator to chill. (When you put it in the fridge, it will be liquid. When it chills completely it will have the texture of a mouse. Give it a few hours. I'm not sure exactly how long as we made it the day before serving.)

4) To serve top with Roquefort crumbles and crusty bread.

Then because there wasn't enough going on. I made some confit d'oignon. The recipe can be found here: http://www.food.com/recipe/confit-d-oignon-french-onion-marmalade-211001

I pretty much followed what she said to the letter. Except I doubled it, and then canned it. Per the Ball Book, I processed for 15 min. in a boiler canner. I used yellow onions and white wine. If you use red onions, I would use a red wine. I did it before, and it looks very pretty. It made what you see in the picture, which are five 8 oz. jelly jars and two 4oz. jars. Also I found that the times she posted where not as accurate. It took mine a lot longer than 30 min. to get soft and sticky. You have to let all the liquid evaporate! This goes great with a variety of meats and pate!! 

after 30 min. it is still not ready!