I feel like I’ve fallen off the face of the blogosphere the last two weeks. I haven’t been reading OR writing and I miss it! The end of the school year is always hectic, plus my husband has been working very intensely the last several weeks (he is done now so we will be able to enjoy lots of family time over the Memorial Day weekend).
I have still managed to keep up with my French Fridays with Dorie cooking, even if I missed writing about it last week.
First, let’s talk about this week’s recipe: Lyonnaise Garlic and Herb Cheese. In this simple recipe, ricotta cheese is mixed with chopped shallot, minced garlic, fresh chives, parsley, tarragon, red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, and white pepper. After resting in the refrigerator for several hours to blend the flavors, Lyonnaise Garlic and Herb Cheese can be served with raw veggies, or spread on crackers or bread.
I served my herb cheese for dinner on home made bread (I used Jim Lahey’s No Knead Pane Integrale – or Whole Wheat Bread – from his book My Bread) with a salad on the side. We thought the cheese was only OK. It was not as flavorful as we would have liked. The bread was fantastic though!
The next day I added extra garlic to the cheese as well as more salt and pepper. Better! I used the cheese in one of my favorite Springtime recipes: Herbed Cheese Scrambled Eggs on Asparagus. I generally use purchased Boursin when I make this, and I found it to be just as good with my home made cheese.
Finally, I spread some of the cheese on a whole grain tortilla and made a turkey wrap for lunch. Yummy! Last night I used the last of the cheese layered with some pasta and leftover Marinara sauce. I baked it in the oven and it was quite good!
I doubt I will make Lyonnaise Garlic and Herb Cheese again. While it was fine, it didn’t “wow” us.
Next up is last week’s recipe, Double Chocolate and Banana Tart. This one definitely did wow us!
Since only two of us would be eating this one, and we didn’t want to gain 5 pounds each, I made two individual tartlets and froze the extra dough for future use. I halved the rest of the recipe.
These little tartlets were wonderful! We love the caramelized banana layer and of course the chocolate. The bananas on top were perfect with the rich chocolate ganache filling. The whole thing was a perfect blend of flavors and textures.
I can’t wait to use the rest of my dough to make more of these. Maybe I will try the Nutella variation, which sounds delicious too.
I hope all my US readers have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!
From Scratch 
It seems you made good use of the cheese, especially in that wrap. We enjoyed it, although I think I had too much garlic in mine. Your tarts look
fantastic. I like using the individual tart pan, so cute.
This is such an insanely busy time of the year – I don’t know if I am coming or going.
Great uses for the cheese and your mini tarts look perfect.
Have a great weekend. Hope you get some rest 🙂
Great ways to use up the cheese dip. I always wonder what to do with so much of these recipes. I didn’t make the cheese, but think I might give it a go sometime this summer. It’s been hectic, too, as the school year ends for me, so I feel your pain!
HI Karen, I was thinking of using some of the remaining cheese spread in pasta, and I like your layered baked pasta idea, so I’ll try that out. The mini tarts are so cute. That was one rich dessert. My favorite part was the caramelized bananas. I’m thinking of trying a chocolateless version with just those. Have a great weekend.
Karen, I think many of us felt the same as you regarding the herb cheese spread. It should have been wonderful and it wasn’t. Mine needed more punch, more flavor, more seasoning. Garlic? Herbs? Salt? Whatever. The question? Why not just buy Boursin? But the tart, absolutely nothing wrong with that idea, huh? The chocolate in your tiny tarts almost fell off the page into my lap. They looked so good.
Your picture of the tarts sliced open are making me want to catch up with this recipe ASAP. Oh my! That ganache looks lucious…
I added a little extra shallots and salt from the start to my cheese, and the next day it was fantastic. I’d likely use some variation of it next time I make a lasagna.
Love the way you served this cheese spread! It looks so delicious in your photos! This has been a winner for me…really enjoyed it!
The herb cheese looks so good, I really want to try the recipe! I do Tuesdays with Dorie: Baking with Julia, and with that group, there are 2 recipe hosts each week that post the entire recipe on their blogs. I can’t find anything like that for this one though 😦 Did any host post the actual recipe? I really want to try it but don’t plan to buy the book because it looks like it has a lot of meat recipes and I don’t really cook a lot of meat. Thanks for any help guiding me in the right direction!
One of the rules of French Fridays with Dorie is that we don’t share the recipes and we don’t have a host like you do with TWD. Sometimes you can find one of the recipes elsewhere online. Sorry I couldn’t be more help!
Karen, thanks for trying to help 🙂 I tried to Google it but all the results I’ve looked at so far are from the TWD crowd so no recipe. You listed the ingredients though so I’ll bet I can just wing it! I’ll let ya know how it turns out if you’re interested.