Delicious - Savory Carrot Cake

Savory Carrot Cake

Courtesy Laura Calder - French Food at Home

Serves 4 as a light main course or 6 as a starter

** Lesson Learned - I used a large Terrine; should have used a smaller mold

** Biggest Surprise - Who knew Carrots, Onions and Mushroom would taste so great!

2 tablespoons unsalted butter or olive oil
1 pound/500g carrots, peeled and sliced
1 cup/250 ml chicken or vegetable stock
Salt and pepper
1 shallot, chopped
1/4 pound/125 g button mushrooms, diced
1 garlic clove, chopped
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 ounce/30 g Gruyere or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, finely grated
2 handfuls finely chopped fresh basil, chervil, or parsley

Melt half the butter in a wide saucepan and sauté the carrots gently until lightly golden, 5 to 7 minutes.
Pour over the stock.
Season with salt and pepper (no salt if you’ve used stock made from a cube).
Cover the pan and cook over medium heat until the carrots are tender, about 15 minutes.
Uncover the pan and continue cooking until the stock has evaporated completely, about 10 minutes more.

While the carrots cook, heat the remaining butter in a small frying pan and soften the shallot about, 3 minutes.
Add the mushrooms and continue cooking until soft, about 5 minutes more.
Add the garlic and cook 2 minutes.

Preheat Oven to 450; line a terrine or loaf pan with waxed paper.
Place the mixture into a blender to puree the carrots until smooth
Whisk in the two eggs to the mixture and then pour over the onions and diced mushrooms
Add the cheese (I did it without cheese) and herbs

Pour mixture into a baking dish and set that in a bath of water; with the water coming up as high as possible on the dish
Bake for 60 mins; or until you can place a knife blade in it and it comes out clean
Remove and let cool for 5 mins
Flip out and enjoy!

First Courses -

Langoustines in Sea Cream:

Ingredients

12 - 18 Langoustines or Jumbo Shrimp (Butterfly)

1 Tbl Butter

2 Shallots; finely chopped

2 Cloves garlic; finely chopped

1 Bay leaf

2 Tbl Tarragon vinegar

1 Cup white wine

1 1/2 Cup light cream

2 Egg Yolks

Grated zest of 1/2 Lemon

Salt and pepper to taste

1 Tbl of Safflower or Veg oil

Lemon juice to taste

Small handful of chopped parsley

Directions:

Sauce:

1. Peal the shrimp place shells and all in a pan with some heat butter until the tips turn red (2 or 3 mins)
2. Add the Shallots, garlic, bay leaf and vinegar and cook 1 minute
3. Pour in the wine and boil for 5 minutes
4. Strain mixture into a sauce pan - you should have about 1/2 cup remaining of liquid
5. Wisk in the cream and heat mixture to a boil - immediately reduce the heat and wisk in one egg at a time without boiling
6. Cook an additional two minutes to thicken the sauce
7. Add lemon zest and salt and pepper
8. Set aside

Shrimp:

1. Take the shrimp with a hot pan and oil and toss for 30 sec to 1 min until white.
2. Toss in the parsley, lemon juice and salt and pepper

Suggested Serving:

1. Re-heat the sauce and whisk into a froth (mine did not "froth" for some reason - just as good)
2. Pile some of the shrimp onto a plate and pour over the sauce and serve