Mignonette Sauce for Oysters Recipe

Prep time: 15 minutes

Make the mignonette at least 4 hours ahead of time, preferably a day or two, which allows for the flavors to blend, and the shallots to mellow.
Ingredients

4 large (walnut-sized) shallots (enough for 3/4 of a cup, minced)
2/3 cup white vinegar
1/3 cup clear, unseasoned rice vinegar*
1 pinch of sugar
1/8 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of finely crushed white peppercorns (do not use pre-ground or powdered white pepper)

*If using seasoned rice vinegar, omit the sugar and salt


Method

1 Peel and coarsely chop the shallots. Put them into a food processor and pulse a few times, until the shallots are finely minced, but not mush, with pieces no smaller than the tip of a match. You can also finely mince by hand if you wish. The advantage of using a food processor is that the food processor bowl captures all of the liquid released by the shallots as they are minced, which will enhance the flavor of the mignonette.

2 Place the minced shallots and any liquid released from them in a non-reactive (glass or pyrex) bowl. Add the white vinegar, rice vinegar, and sugar and salt. Stir with a fork. Add the freshly crushed white pepper. Stir with a fork.

3 Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of four hours. For best results, store for at least 2 days before using. The mignonette flavor will be better blended the longer it sits. You may notice that the crushed white peppercorns may sink to the bottom of the bowl as the mignonette rests. If you see this, just give it a little stir.

The mignonette will last up to a month in the refrigerator.

To serve, shuck the oysters. (Here is an excellent video by Serious Eats on How to Shuck an Oyster.) Make sure that the oyster is loose in the shell before serving. Usually the mignonette sauce is served in a small bowl with a small spoon, alongside the oysters on a platter (or as the French say, "plateau de coquillages"). People can scoop a small amount of the mignonette (1/8 of a teaspoon or so) onto their oyster before eating.

Yield: Makes about a cup and a half, easily enough for several dozens of oysters.

Cottage Pancakes

To those of you who aren't cauliflower fans, yes, you can absolutely leave out the cauliflower. Or swap in an comparable amount of any the following: blanched nettles, broccoli, or spinach. With the spinach or nettles - blanch quickly in salted boiling water, drain well, and chop (nearly) into a paste.

1 cup / 7 oz / 200g cottage cheese
3/4 cup / 180 ml milk
4 room temperature eggs, separated
1 cup / 4 oz / 115g raw (or quickly blanched) cauliflower, chopped into rice-sized bits

1/2 cup / 75 g whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup / 75 g all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

butter, for cooking

In a large bowl mix the cottage cheese, milk, and egg yolks until smooth. Stir in the cauliflower.

In a separate (clean) bowl, beat the egg whites until they hold stiff peaks.

Sift the flours, baking powder, and salt into another bowl. Add the flours to the cottage cheese mixture, and stir until just barely(!) combined. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter with a spatula.

To cook, warm a griddle or pan over medium heat, melt a bit of butter in it, then spoon a little scoop (say, ~3 tablespoons) of batter into the pan for each pancake, working in batches. You want to cook these relatively slowly, until each pancake is deeply golden on one side. Flip each pancake, and wait until the other side is golden, and the pancake is cooked through. Continue until you've worked through all the batter. You can keep cooked pancakes in a 225F oven until you finish, to keep them warm. They're great simply with a pat of butter and a sprinkling of salt. Or, if you want to get a bit fancy, whip up a bit of harissa, saffron or pesto-swirled salted yogurt.

Makes ~1 1/2 dozen medium pancakes.

Prep time: 10 min - Cook time: 15 min

Black Forest Magic Cobbler

Made this for Valentine's day and it was great.

4 c frozen cherries
2 c sugar, divided
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 c self rising flour
1/4 t salt
1/3 c cocoa
1 c 2% milk

Preheat 350. Combine Cherries and half of sugar in saucepan, cook till iquid thickens slightly.

Pour melted butter in 2 qt baking dish. Combine remaining sugar, flour, salt and cocoa, add milk. Pour over butter. (don't stir) Spoon cherries on top (don't stir). Bake 35 minutes.

Onion dip

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/caramelized_onion_dip/