French Bistro Dinner Party for Six Friends

Menu

1. Onion Pies with Blue Cheese (Roquefort), Prosciutto (Jambon de Bayonne) and Walnuts as appetizer
2. Bouillabaisse Provencal with a Spicy Rouille Sauce for the Soup course
3. Beef En Daube with Polenta a Bordeaux Sauce and Caramelized Shallots. Main Course
4. Eggplant Souflee . Side Dish
5. Chocolate Raspberry Napoleons. Dessert

Plenty of French wines. cheese, pate and your party gets going.

Cote is a great place to stop by for the pate and the cheeses . If you cannot find it at Cote

you can try Wegmans or mail order from D'Artagnan

1.

RECIPE INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons of Olive Oil
2 vidalia onions very thinly sliced with mandoline
1/4 cup water
4 oz Blue cheeese crumbled into small pieces
2/3 cup chopped walnuts
1 Tbl melted butter
2Boxes (3 sheets) puff pastry . Save the third sheet for the Napoleons (store it in Refrigerator until ready for use. They have to truly thaw for them to work best.
1 egg
4 slices of jambon

Place a baking sheet in a freezer.
Warm the olive oil in a sute pan.
Saute onions until golden brown, about 10 minutes.
Add the water and continue to saute until all the moisture evaporates, about another 5 minutes. Add the Blue cheese and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until melted, about 5 minutes longer.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Stir in the walnuts, then spread the mixture out onto the chilled sheet pan. Place in the freezer until the onions cool down completely, about 10 minutes.

Preheat an oven to 450 degrees. Brush a baking sheet evenly with the melted butter.
Cut 12 rounds from pastry sheets about 5 in in diameter. You can use the edges of a Tupper or a lid that is approximate 5 in wide.
Place 6 of the rounds on the prepared baking sheet.
Brush their outer rims and tops with the beaten egg.
Spread evenly the cooled onion mixture onto the middle of each of the 6 rounds, leaving 1 inch uncovered around the edges. Place 1 jambon slice on top of each mound of the onion mixture. Cover each round with a second pastry round, making sure to pinch down firmly around the edges to seal in the filling. Brush the top of each pie with more of the beaten egg.
Pierce the top of eachpie making one slit
Bake for 20 minutes
Idea taken form a Weldon Owen Book
.