What to Do With Fresh Mint

The bunches of fresh mint I'd intended for mojitos last Friday night turned into an adventure in finding fresh mint recipes. Last night I mixed together

10 or 12 strawberries, cut up
cantaloupe
handful chopped fresh mint
juice from two limes

YUM! so tasty and fresh. Here are the others I may try some day.

Chocolate Mint Torte
Fresh Mint Truffles (totally going to make this at the holidays!)
Fresh Mint Poundcake

Fatigue Fighting Foods

The addition of our new pup has me getting up quite a bit earlier in the morning. While I know after three weeks it will become routine, I'm barely into the second week and my eyelids, attention span and spirit start to flag around noon.

I found these two Web MD articles to hopefully get some help:
Fight Fatigue with Energy Foods
Smart Way to Snack

I drink plenty of water and start my day with coffee and a granola bar. I should probably add some more fruits, veggies and nuts to what I eat during the day. Do you ladies have an ideas, recipes or tips?

Prosciutto Dijon and Gruyere Puffs

Updated 7/6: yum to the yum yum. These were so very tasty. I will for sure make again, though I may seek out an alternative to the $13.99 Dufour pastry puff. It was excellent, but spendy. Updated-just found out Trader Joe's sells a good alternative. A few notes:

I rolled my dough to closer to 14 x 18. Not on purpose, but because I wasn't really paying attention and the dough was very easy to roll. I'm glad I did, because I was able to serve more people. You don't have to cook as long if you make it larger.

I forgot parchment paper, so I just buttered the pan.

I'm looking forward to trying other things like olive tapenade or other cheeses.

Full disclosure: I have not eaten these yet. We have family picnic on the 4th, and I wanted something I could make ahead of time and transport easily. I made this last night, then wrapped in plastic wrap and foil. I'm going to slice and bake them just before the cookout.

I will say this: so...stinkin...easy. And I really want to eat one now. I'll update next week with the details.

Prosciutto Dijon and Gruyere Puffs
1 package Dufour Puff Pastry
8 slices Prosciutto di Parma
3 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 cup Gruyere cheese, grated
flour for dusting
fresh ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Thaw puff pastry in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours. Once thawed, carefully unfold and lay on a floured work surface. If the pastry tears at the seam in the unfolding process, it’s not the end of the world, but try to keep it in one un-torn piece. Dust flour on top of the pastry as well.

Puff pastry will already be very flat, but with a rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 11×9-inches. Layer the eight slices of prosciutto on top of the puff pastry. Using a butter knife, layer the mustard on top of the prosciutto slices. Top with grated cheese, and as much fresh ground black pepper as you like.

Begin to roll the right side of the pastry in towards the center. Next roll the left side of the pastry in towards the center. Press together. Dough will not stick together, but if you brush away some of the excess flour on the center dough pieces, they will stay together better during baking.

With a sharp knife, slice the dough into 1/2-inch thick slices. Place on a baking sheet lines with parchment paper. Bake at 400 degrees F for about 12-15 minutes, until a deep golden brown.

Let cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then remove from baking sheet and serve warm or at room temperature.

Wheat Thins Toasted Chips

I have been slighly obsessed with these lately. So good with a thin slice of colby jack or laughing cow cheese. Photo from here.

Rhubarb Custard Pie

This recipe is from my mother-in-law and much loved by my beloved.Rhubarb Custard Pie
3 C cut up rhubarb
2 eggs, beaten
2 T milk
1 1/2 C sugar
3 T flour
1/4 t salt
1/4 t nutmeg
1 pie shell

Combine eggs, milk, sugar, flour, salt and nutmeg. Mix with rhubarb and put in pie shell.

Topping
1/2 C butter
1/2 C brown sugar
1 C flour

Cream together and top pie shell with mixture. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 400, then for an hour back at 300 or 350. Serve with warm with vanilla ice cream and/or whip cream.

Photo from here.

How Low Can You Go Rules

Okay, I did some sleuthing and came up with some rules based on other folks who have taken on this challenge:

• The meal must cost $10 or less
• Freebies are salt and pepper
• Price fats (butter, margarine, oil) at 10 cents a tablespoon
• Recipe can be something you make currently or a newly created recipe
• Extra points for making a meal that looks more expensive than it is

Anything else we should add? Lets shoot for posting them the week of July 6. Sound good? And if you know anyone else who'd like to participate, send them the challenge and we'll just have all the more recipes to enjoy!

How Low Can You Go Challenge

Did you ladies hear All Things Considered How Low Can You Go family dinner challenge? I happened to be listening the day one of the winners of the challenge was on, talking about her Dal, Chilean style recipe. In addition to NPR listeners, chefs also submitted recipes like $9 Mac-n-cheese.

Here was the challenge: Feed a group of four for under $10. Bonus points for dishes that seem more expensive.

So I was thinking...what if we did our own $10 meal challenge? Could be very interesting to see what we come up with, especially those of us who feed hungry menfolk who need meat with their meals. Let me know what you think and we'll go from there.