Time just seems to fly by without being able to keep up with the blog posts and the cooking. March was very slow for my FFwD recipes. I'd already made the cheese bread at Christmas then, with finals and everything else, just didn't get a chance to do the others on time. I still lurk on the site, read the Q & A posts and follow others' postings. I'm learning so much from everyone and feeling far more confident in the kitchen!
Here are my updates:
Savory cheese bread (FFwD, March): I made two kinds in December: a feta/sun-dried tomato bread and a cheddar/dill bread. Both were definitely on the dry and crumbly side. I found, though, that if I cut slices about 1.5 inches thick, then cut those slices again perpendicularly, I'd end up with cracker sized pieces that were very good toasted and used with dips.
Scallops with caramel-orange sauce (FFwD, March): Made these last week and Mom raved about them. I used frozen scallops. The first time the scallops weren't completely thawed so they emitted lots of water when cooking and the scallops didn't brown up prettily like they are in the photos. The sauce was easy, though not as thick as I expected. The sauce was very good though-- got as much as I could on the green beans and then sopped up the rest with bread! The second time (with the leftover sauce), I thawed the scallops completely on paper towels. They browned up nicely but were much tougher so I think the first batch was better. The sauce was just as good (after 2 days in the fridge) and just a bit more caramelly.
Quinoa, nut & fruit salad (FFwD, April): Easy, fast, delicious. Just bought one at Von's the other day and mine was just as good. I did find, though, that there wasn't enough zing in the dressing (my dried fruits were golden raisins & orange-flavored cranberries; nuts were pecans and pine nuts). I added the zest of two oranges to the salad which helped a lot. Unfortunately, the lemon peel was already in the garbage disposal but I think that would have been a good addition. This will easily become one of my staple side dishes.
Cherry tomato tarte tatin (see here: NY Times Recipe): I've been wanting to make this since I had it in a restaurant in Colmar a couple of years ago. I don't know if this is exactly the same recipe but boy was it good (even cold the next day for lunch). It's much sweeter than expected with the caramelized onions and the tomatoes. I didn't use the puff pastry (I will try it again with the puff) because I remembered a pâte brisé crust so I used this crust recipe instead. The crust was very, very crumbly and difficult to manage on a tatin; I think it would be better for a right side up tarte. The crust also didn't fit over the edges. Nonetheless, the flavors were delicious: the bright yet sweet pop of the cherries (Trader Joe's has a nice box of heirloom cherry tomatoes of different colors), the sweet onions, the salty olives and the crunch of the crust. Yum, yum, yum!
Empanadas. Again. Still good!
Lots of Asian greens in the co-op basket yesterday. Rather than another plain old stir-fry, I'm going to try something different like the chicken salad here.
FFwD recipes postponed for another time: Beggar's linguine (March), Salted butter break-ups (March), Garlicky crusted broccoli (April). Will try to do the mustard batons and pepper steak next weekend due to travel. The eclairs may or may not make it on the docket for now.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Catching Up
It may look like nothing's happening in the kitchen but, au contraire. It's just that I haven't found time to write it all down.
2.13.11: FFwD: Orange-Almond Tart: Just out of the oven. Had a little trouble with the dough. My food processor holds all the ingredients but I don't think it was powerful or big enough for the job. Ended up throwing everything in a bowl and resorting to the pastry blender but, since the butter was already incorporated, that didn't do much good. Plus my egg yolk had hardened up (I made a triple batch of Dorie's Sweet & Spicy nuts to send to my brother for his birthday). I added a little water but then ended up adding a second egg yolk and yet more water to get the dough to stick. It might be our weather, though-- pretty dry around here. The orange slices were very easy to make. It looks very pretty. I'll have to add a comment about how it tastes!
2.6.11: Shaker Lemon Pie. I used the recipe from Tartine. Smitten Kitchen discusses it here. The Tartine dough recipe was pretty easy (3 parts flour, 2 parts butter, 1 part water). I kept everything as cold as possible and the result was a tender, flaky crust. I was able to cut the lemons super thin on my own without the mandoline. I used 4 Meyer lemons but was also using the deep dish pie pan. I let the lemons sit overnight in the sugar. They were the right balance of sweet, bitter and tangy.
2.5.11: FFwD Braised Short Ribs: More on this later.
2.3.11: Kabocha squash gnocchi. Used Tiny Urban Kitchen's recipe (http://www.tinyurbankitchen.com/2010/02/kabocha-squash-gnocchi.html) and did the pan-fried version. It made a ton of gnocchi so there was lots for leftovers. This was very good! I had to add extra flour to get the dough the right consistency but it was easy to roll out and to fry. Need to make sure they are small enough or they won't cook through. Very light (though next time, I think I'll whip the last egg white like I did for the gnocchi parisien). We had them with salt & pepper, eating them like French fries!
2.13.11: FFwD: Orange-Almond Tart: Just out of the oven. Had a little trouble with the dough. My food processor holds all the ingredients but I don't think it was powerful or big enough for the job. Ended up throwing everything in a bowl and resorting to the pastry blender but, since the butter was already incorporated, that didn't do much good. Plus my egg yolk had hardened up (I made a triple batch of Dorie's Sweet & Spicy nuts to send to my brother for his birthday). I added a little water but then ended up adding a second egg yolk and yet more water to get the dough to stick. It might be our weather, though-- pretty dry around here. The orange slices were very easy to make. It looks very pretty. I'll have to add a comment about how it tastes!
2.6.11: Shaker Lemon Pie. I used the recipe from Tartine. Smitten Kitchen discusses it here. The Tartine dough recipe was pretty easy (3 parts flour, 2 parts butter, 1 part water). I kept everything as cold as possible and the result was a tender, flaky crust. I was able to cut the lemons super thin on my own without the mandoline. I used 4 Meyer lemons but was also using the deep dish pie pan. I let the lemons sit overnight in the sugar. They were the right balance of sweet, bitter and tangy.
2.5.11: FFwD Braised Short Ribs: More on this later.
2.3.11: Kabocha squash gnocchi. Used Tiny Urban Kitchen's recipe (http://www.tinyurbankitchen.com/2010/02/kabocha-squash-gnocchi.html) and did the pan-fried version. It made a ton of gnocchi so there was lots for leftovers. This was very good! I had to add extra flour to get the dough the right consistency but it was easy to roll out and to fry. Need to make sure they are small enough or they won't cook through. Very light (though next time, I think I'll whip the last egg white like I did for the gnocchi parisien). We had them with salt & pepper, eating them like French fries!
Friday, January 28, 2011
FFwD: Chicken B'Stilla
My sister, Julie, helped with this one. Actually, she did almost all of the work on it! But, as always when we're in the kitchen together, it was fun and the result was terrific.
The B'stilla recipe is pretty easy to follow but it took quite a while from start to finish to complete all of the steps. Julie said that the hardest/ickiest part about the getting ready for the marinade was taking the skin off the chicken (we'd both suggest buying boneless, skinless meat the next time). Be sure to drain the broth into a metal pan so that you can use your whisk. It took quite a while for the broth to reduce to 1 cup (about 20 minutes). She rough chopped the onions and I thought the pieces might be too big for the "pie" but I didn't notice them at all when eating. About halfway through dinner, Julie realized she'd forgotten to put the saffron in the marinade. The dish was plenty tasty without it so if you don't want to spend the $$, don't worry about it. Also, lacking a springform pan, we used a deep dish pie plate and everything turned out fine. We didn't bother cutting the filo dough for the top-- just tucked it in around the edges and crimped a little.
The Chicken B'Stilla was very good (and even better the next day reheated in the oven). I didn't have anything to compare it to but Julie has had this dish before in a fancy restaurant. She liked this recipe better because she didn't have to pick out the raisins. :-) We served it with some roasted cherry tomatoes and green beans-- using the Tomatoes provençal recipe on p. 394.
Between the three of us, we devoured about half the pie... but we were pretty hungry since it took longer than we'd planned for to get everything done. I'd say it makes for 6 hearty servings or 8-10 lighter servings with extra sides as a main dish. I can't imagine going to all the trouble to serve it as a first course. We also thought it might turn out well in individual triangle servings with the filo dough (as an appetizer or party food).
The best part of it all was sharing time in the kitchen with my sister and showing her all the great recipes in Around my French Table.
The B'stilla recipe is pretty easy to follow but it took quite a while from start to finish to complete all of the steps. Julie said that the hardest/ickiest part about the getting ready for the marinade was taking the skin off the chicken (we'd both suggest buying boneless, skinless meat the next time). Be sure to drain the broth into a metal pan so that you can use your whisk. It took quite a while for the broth to reduce to 1 cup (about 20 minutes). She rough chopped the onions and I thought the pieces might be too big for the "pie" but I didn't notice them at all when eating. About halfway through dinner, Julie realized she'd forgotten to put the saffron in the marinade. The dish was plenty tasty without it so if you don't want to spend the $$, don't worry about it. Also, lacking a springform pan, we used a deep dish pie plate and everything turned out fine. We didn't bother cutting the filo dough for the top-- just tucked it in around the edges and crimped a little.
The Chicken B'Stilla was very good (and even better the next day reheated in the oven). I didn't have anything to compare it to but Julie has had this dish before in a fancy restaurant. She liked this recipe better because she didn't have to pick out the raisins. :-) We served it with some roasted cherry tomatoes and green beans-- using the Tomatoes provençal recipe on p. 394.
Between the three of us, we devoured about half the pie... but we were pretty hungry since it took longer than we'd planned for to get everything done. I'd say it makes for 6 hearty servings or 8-10 lighter servings with extra sides as a main dish. I can't imagine going to all the trouble to serve it as a first course. We also thought it might turn out well in individual triangle servings with the filo dough (as an appetizer or party food).
The best part of it all was sharing time in the kitchen with my sister and showing her all the great recipes in Around my French Table.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
French Table Recipes: Carrot Soup & Savory Swiss Chard Pancakes
In my Organic Produce box this week was Swiss chard and some very big carrots (like the size of a baseball, though both orange and yellow). Mom wasn't particularly thrilled (the OP boxes make her anxious-- all those weird veggies) but I said that I'd check the cookbook (Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table) to find something.
The Carrot Soup was very tasty. I expected it to be sweeter but it was quite savory. I used rosemary, sage, thyme and ginger as the spices. The hardest part was just the mise-en-place: getting all the carrots peeled and sliced (I used a mandoline), chopping the onions, etc. After that, it was just a matter of throwing things in the pot.
Swiss Chard pancakes: Again, another easy recipe where the chopping was the only "hard" part. The recipe blends onions, shallots, chives, garlic and Swiss chard in a basic pancake recipe. Greenspan's book calls for 1/4 to 1/2 cup of oil in the pan (to be patted dry with paper towels after cooking). I found that, as the oil disappeared, the pancakes still browned nicely. They did have a bit of a heavier fill, though. These pancakes go well with soup. I think they'd also be perfect with some cream cheese and smoked salmon (especially half dollar sized as an appetizer or party food). They have a subtle savory flavor. Mom broke up her pancakes and put them in the soup and found that the combination was very good. I liked the green color-- pretty against the golden orange soup!
The Carrot Soup was very tasty. I expected it to be sweeter but it was quite savory. I used rosemary, sage, thyme and ginger as the spices. The hardest part was just the mise-en-place: getting all the carrots peeled and sliced (I used a mandoline), chopping the onions, etc. After that, it was just a matter of throwing things in the pot.
Swiss Chard pancakes: Again, another easy recipe where the chopping was the only "hard" part. The recipe blends onions, shallots, chives, garlic and Swiss chard in a basic pancake recipe. Greenspan's book calls for 1/4 to 1/2 cup of oil in the pan (to be patted dry with paper towels after cooking). I found that, as the oil disappeared, the pancakes still browned nicely. They did have a bit of a heavier fill, though. These pancakes go well with soup. I think they'd also be perfect with some cream cheese and smoked salmon (especially half dollar sized as an appetizer or party food). They have a subtle savory flavor. Mom broke up her pancakes and put them in the soup and found that the combination was very good. I liked the green color-- pretty against the golden orange soup!
Friday, January 21, 2011
FFwD: Double Chocolate Mousse Cake
Note to self: read Q & A before attempting recipe rather than while cake is baking. Problem: ooze. Had I read the Q & A, I would have seen that Dorie took the time to read our posts and advise using the bottom of the springform pan. Also: it's definitely time to go to the kitchen store and get an 8" springform pan. My cake oozed, burned and was very, very flat (though I was expecting a flattish cake since that's how my French friend, Dominique's chocolate cake always turns out).
Nonetheless, though it's not a "company cake" (it's only fit for family), once I took it out of the pan, it looked pretty good (if one ignores its pancake-like appearance). We ate it warm since it seemed like a little too much work to wait overnight for a burned cake.
It was delish.
And, since my chocolate bar was a full 16 ounces, I can try 3 more times without buying more ingredients... though that might mess up some of those New Year's resolutions!
Nonetheless, though it's not a "company cake" (it's only fit for family), once I took it out of the pan, it looked pretty good (if one ignores its pancake-like appearance). We ate it warm since it seemed like a little too much work to wait overnight for a burned cake.
It was delish.
And, since my chocolate bar was a full 16 ounces, I can try 3 more times without buying more ingredients... though that might mess up some of those New Year's resolutions!
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Review: Fragile by Lisa Unger
The story centers around two missing girls-- one in the present and one in the past. The main family-- Maggie, Jones and their son, Ricky-- has their share of secrets and flashpoints that are revealed as the story develops. Maggie and Jones were teenagers when the first girl, Sarah, disappeared. Ricky has his own share of teenage angst while still remaining a clear-headed, confident youth; his girlfriend, Char, runs away. The combination of past and present, the difficult emotional and family lives of the characters and the plot development are excellent.
Unlike a few of the other books I've read recently, Unger does an excellent job of developing each of the characters and controlling the narration when she moves from one point of view to another. When I found myself feeling kindly towards the mixed-up kid, Marshall, and not so friendly towards his equally messed-up father, Travis (who, unlike Marshall, has a mean streak), it was thanks to the way in which Unger develops each of the characters and gives you the sense of reading into them and understanding their motivations. Even a somewhat peripheral character, Charlie, whose involvement in the main story line (Char's disappearance) is someone you feel like you know and relate to.
Well-written with a good story. Definitely a good read.
Unlike a few of the other books I've read recently, Unger does an excellent job of developing each of the characters and controlling the narration when she moves from one point of view to another. When I found myself feeling kindly towards the mixed-up kid, Marshall, and not so friendly towards his equally messed-up father, Travis (who, unlike Marshall, has a mean streak), it was thanks to the way in which Unger develops each of the characters and gives you the sense of reading into them and understanding their motivations. Even a somewhat peripheral character, Charlie, whose involvement in the main story line (Char's disappearance) is someone you feel like you know and relate to.
Well-written with a good story. Definitely a good read.
FFwd: Gnocchi à la Parisienne
The gnocchi are fabulous and fairly easy.
Gnocchi: I followed the recipe exactly, including whipping the fourth egg white and folding it into the batter. When I made the first batch, they were too big (about a full teaspoon) so I cut them in half and threw them back in the boiling water to finish cooking. They were also sloppy around the edges. For the remainder, I used about 1/2 teaspoon and moved them back and forth between two spoons to try to shape them like a quenelle. This worked pretty well (though next time I'll try the pastry bag technique described in the Q & A). There were enough gnocchi to tightly fill the bottom of two pie pans (I froze one).
Bechamel: I was nervous about this one... and rightfully so. I must have not done the roux correctly because it looked like very watery oatmeal. I moved it to a metal pot (My Le Creuset pots don't like metal) and tried to whisk out the lumps to no avail though the sauce was nice and thick. Finally strained it back into the Le Creuset pot which was awfully heavy to hold up with one hand over the pie plate to pour out the sauce.
I did find that there was too much butter on the top so next time I'll only put about 1/3 as much.
The gnocchi were very light, the sauce was thick and cheesy. A very satisfying dish. I'm looking forward to seeing if the frozen ones cook up as well.
For more info on French Fridays with Dorie or to read the hints and see the pictures of other FFwD participants, go here.
Gnocchi: I followed the recipe exactly, including whipping the fourth egg white and folding it into the batter. When I made the first batch, they were too big (about a full teaspoon) so I cut them in half and threw them back in the boiling water to finish cooking. They were also sloppy around the edges. For the remainder, I used about 1/2 teaspoon and moved them back and forth between two spoons to try to shape them like a quenelle. This worked pretty well (though next time I'll try the pastry bag technique described in the Q & A). There were enough gnocchi to tightly fill the bottom of two pie pans (I froze one).
Bechamel: I was nervous about this one... and rightfully so. I must have not done the roux correctly because it looked like very watery oatmeal. I moved it to a metal pot (My Le Creuset pots don't like metal) and tried to whisk out the lumps to no avail though the sauce was nice and thick. Finally strained it back into the Le Creuset pot which was awfully heavy to hold up with one hand over the pie plate to pour out the sauce.
I did find that there was too much butter on the top so next time I'll only put about 1/3 as much.
The gnocchi were very light, the sauce was thick and cheesy. A very satisfying dish. I'm looking forward to seeing if the frozen ones cook up as well.
For more info on French Fridays with Dorie or to read the hints and see the pictures of other FFwD participants, go here.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Review: Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Having just caught up on the third season of "The Tudors," it was hard not to picture Cromwell (or even Henry) as the actors in the TV series. I both loved and hated the narrative style. I found myself having to refer back to the cast of characters multiple times since they sometimes appear without warning or description. The back story on Cromwell makes him more likable than he's normally portrayed yet, at other times, it's hard to understand why he's taking certain actions. For example, he seems very dedicated to Cardinal Wolsey, yet, when given the opportunity to move forward by negating the relationship, he's all too willing (yet, oddly, without appearing eager) to do so. He sees Henry eying the elder Seymour daughter so he lends money to the father... but why? Anticipating future debts owed to him? The narration, while it reveals so many other parts of Cromwell's psyche, is unclear. This was both intriguing and annoying. At times, I was enthralled by the storytelling and, at other times, couldn't wait to finish this book and move on to something else. It's a hefty tome (nearly 600 pages) and the ending reads more like a random stop before a sequel than something that leads the reader to some important insight or understanding.
FFwD: Mushroom Soup
As many of the other FFwD bloggers have posted, this is an ugly soup. It tastes great but the color (kind of a dirty grayish brown) is not at all appetizing. I found that the mise-en-place (i.e. all the mushroom and onion slicing) took a long time but once the ingredients were prepared the soup, like most of the other recipes I've tried so far, was easy to make. I didn't have parsley so I used sage instead (along with rosemary and thyme). After everyone's comments about puréeing the soup, I decided to stick with the immersion blender. I did get a bit of soup spattered on the stove and teapot, but it was easy enough to clean up and the soup was thick and creamy. Though it looked like the little bits of mushroom might make it gritty, that wasn't the case. I tried to hide the ugly color by swirling in about a tablespoon of sour cream (in a spiral pattern) and sprinkling some sliced mushrooms in half. I also served it in low light. :-) It was really, really, really good (and I don't usually like mushroom soup)! There is a heartiness to it that is filling. The spices really enhanced the flavor of the mushrooms giving it an earthiness that was appealing. Just don't look at it too closely in bright lights...
Saturday, January 8, 2011
FFwD (overdue): Boeuf en daube & Speculoos
These were made in December but somehow all the getting back to work stuff made it difficult to post!
Boeuf en daube: Excellent recipe! It does make a lot of servings, though, so if there aren't a lot of you (and you don't want to eat it for 5 days in a row like we did!), I'd cut the recipe in half. Substitutions I made: only had 1/2 red onion, whiskey instead of cognac, Merlot instead of Syrah or other fruity red wine, sage instead of parsley. The most difficult part of this recipe for me was trimming the meat. Also, I hadn't really counted on how much there would be so I had to move everything from the dutch oven (where I'd sauteed) to a big roasting pan. The combination of the parsnips (instead of potatoes) and the hint of the whiskey flavor made this just enough different from Mom's pot roast to feel like something new. May try again next time in a slow cooker! And when Dorie says "fork tender," that's just what it was-- moist, tender, tasty!
Speculoos: This was a very, very messy recipe and I'm still not sure why. I had stuff all over the kitchen (mostly flour) by the time I was done. The dough is very difficult to work with. I'd already read the hints from others and thought I was prepared but the dough stuck to everything (including my Silpat). I finally gave up trying to make flat circles to stick in the fridge and rolled the dough up (like a Sushi roll) instead. I had doubled the recipe so I made four 9-12 inch logs wrapped in wax paper to stick in the fridge. After an hour cooling off, I was able to take the logs out of the fridge (one by one). I sliced them with a very sharp knife and put them on the cookie tray for baking. I tried slicing with different thicknesses and found that I much preferred the very thin slices. The dough does spread quite a bit (about doubles in size on the tray) so you need to leave room between the circles of dough. The thin slices came out crispy like Anna's Ginger Thin cookies. With the thicker slices, I was expecting, I think, something more like a shortbread but the dough will cook up very hard (makes it good for dunking but wasn't what I wanted). Sandwiching them with Nutella was excellent and really gave a different flavor profile. I was convinced I'd never try these again but my mom *loved* them and they disappeared quickly. Next time, I'll slice them all as thin as I can (and maybe pat them out a little thinner while the dough is cold and easy to handle). I think that some creative shaping of the dough log may also make it possible to have scalloped edges.
Boeuf en daube: Excellent recipe! It does make a lot of servings, though, so if there aren't a lot of you (and you don't want to eat it for 5 days in a row like we did!), I'd cut the recipe in half. Substitutions I made: only had 1/2 red onion, whiskey instead of cognac, Merlot instead of Syrah or other fruity red wine, sage instead of parsley. The most difficult part of this recipe for me was trimming the meat. Also, I hadn't really counted on how much there would be so I had to move everything from the dutch oven (where I'd sauteed) to a big roasting pan. The combination of the parsnips (instead of potatoes) and the hint of the whiskey flavor made this just enough different from Mom's pot roast to feel like something new. May try again next time in a slow cooker! And when Dorie says "fork tender," that's just what it was-- moist, tender, tasty!
Speculoos: This was a very, very messy recipe and I'm still not sure why. I had stuff all over the kitchen (mostly flour) by the time I was done. The dough is very difficult to work with. I'd already read the hints from others and thought I was prepared but the dough stuck to everything (including my Silpat). I finally gave up trying to make flat circles to stick in the fridge and rolled the dough up (like a Sushi roll) instead. I had doubled the recipe so I made four 9-12 inch logs wrapped in wax paper to stick in the fridge. After an hour cooling off, I was able to take the logs out of the fridge (one by one). I sliced them with a very sharp knife and put them on the cookie tray for baking. I tried slicing with different thicknesses and found that I much preferred the very thin slices. The dough does spread quite a bit (about doubles in size on the tray) so you need to leave room between the circles of dough. The thin slices came out crispy like Anna's Ginger Thin cookies. With the thicker slices, I was expecting, I think, something more like a shortbread but the dough will cook up very hard (makes it good for dunking but wasn't what I wanted). Sandwiching them with Nutella was excellent and really gave a different flavor profile. I was convinced I'd never try these again but my mom *loved* them and they disappeared quickly. Next time, I'll slice them all as thin as I can (and maybe pat them out a little thinner while the dough is cold and easy to handle). I think that some creative shaping of the dough log may also make it possible to have scalloped edges.
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