French Fridays With Dorie

Butter, and shallots, and cream! Oh, my!

FFWD – Salmon with Basil Tapenade

~ Teresa ~ 14 Comments

Tapenade "sauce" over salmon.

The first time I made this dish was not long after French Fridays began. A friend of ours was living with cancer and was slowly beginning to let go. I started going over regularly to cook for her and Kevin would join me when his work schedule allowed. Another friend of hers had organized a rotation using Lotsa Helping Hands, so that folks didn’t show up all at once on one day and leave her hanging another. I was holding onto a lot of denial, which was fed by the fact that this had all happened before – the decline, the rotation – and she’d bounced back miraculously. By the end of the year, though, she was gone. Many of the first several months of French Fridays recipes were shared with her. They have a bittersweetness for me now. I also have her assessment of those recipes in the back of my mind – this one was too oily (I used a lot less olive oil this time), the Pumpkin-Gorgonzola Flans were actually a dessert, she wouldn’t change a thing about the Spiced Butter-Glazed Carrots.

The timing of this week’s dish is perfect – last weekend was the Vancouver Folk Music Festival and she devoured it passionately every year. Jeanne was a foodie, an explorer, a self-described “culture vulture,” and a seeker of healing and wisdom. She was fiercely opinionated, always ready for adventure, and deeply committed to her friends. The world is less for not having her in it, but it seems as though there are traces of her everywhere, in the festivals, art shows and Pride marches; the waterways she kayaked up and down BC’s coast; the roads across the province she knew as well as the locals. I think of her often, especially when I go to an art show or try a new restaurant. Nothing got her as excited as trying something new, unless it was taking off into the wilderness for a while.

Memory is wrapped up in the senses. One of the reasons I love cooking and baking for those I love is that it helps build those memories for me and for them. When Jeanne died, she left me some of her kitchen equipment and some of her camera equipment. I like the connection that’s made between my blogging and my memories of her.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Salmon with Basil Tapenade

FFWD: A Big Ol’ Catch Up Post: Seaweed Sablés, Corn Pancakes & Ginger-Pickled Cucumbers

~ Teresa ~ 24 Comments

If you’re not careful, your blog can become the cognate of that dusty, cluttered storage closet that you try not to think about too much. Unfinished drafts and unedited photos in jumbled heaps mirror the stacks of old textbooks and piles of unused sports equipment that you keep meaning to sort out. Well, consider this post a sort of virtual garage sale, clearing out a bit of space on my overtaxed hard drive.

Seaweed Sablés

David’s Seaweed Sablés

Sablé cookies are one of Dorie Greenspan’s specialties. Each of her cookbooks have several varieties included, most famously her World Peace Cookies. These ones are a little different – they’re savoury, salty, and sweet and include that jewel of the sushi world, nori. I say jewel because nori is beautifully iridescent, so much so that it seemed almost a shame to chop it into tiny pieces for this cookie. The results are surprisingly tasty and worth sacrificing a sheet or two. Eating them, I imagined myself on a Paris balcony, champagne in hand.

You can find the rest of the gang’s posts on this recipe here: David’s Seaweed Sablés

Corn Pancakes with broccoli in the background

Corn Pancakes

This recipe is like the perfect outfit, that can be dressed up or down as necessary. Canned corn is called for, but fresh or frozen would do just as well, if you’ve an aversion to the canned stuff. These pancakes can serve as finger food at a cocktail party, in the vein of Buckwheat Blini, or they can be the starch at a simple dinner. I opted for the simple route, serving them with steamed broccoli and turkey smokies. They worked well, but I’m looking forward to trying them again when the weather gets cooler – they’d be perfect for soaking up the juices of a braise or stew.

More French Fridays posts on this recipe can be found here: Corn Pancakes

Cucumbers - mmm gingery

Crunchy Ginger-Pickled Cucumbers

Last up is a salad so simple that my brother exclaimed, “Oh look, Teresa chopped up a few cucumbers and called it a salad!” It was my contribution to the barbeque feast in celebration of my nephew’s high school graduation, and I was quick to tell him that there was a little more to the salad than cucumbers. I didn’t bother mentioning how easy it was to put together. After the cucumbers hang out in some sea salt for a while, they’re tossed with fresh ginger, seasoned rice vinegar, and red pepper flakes and left to stew in their juices in the refrigerator. Luckily, they’re delicious, so I didn’t get any more teasing for the (lack of) effort my contribution to dinner entailed.

You can find the link to everyone’s posts on this recipe here: Crunchy Ginger-Pickled Cucumbers

I’m still behind on French Fridays, so another smorgasbord post might show up here soon, but I think I’m well on my way to getting back on track. Now, I’m looking forward to catching up on everyone else’s posts.

Lime Honey Beet Salad

~ Teresa ~ 6 Comments

Close up of beet salad

Remember sour candies? Perhaps you still indulge once in a while. I have occasionally, though chocolate was always my favourite treat. Their appeal lies in the contrast between the powerfully sour coating and the sweetness of the candy underneath. It’s a pleasurable shock.

Dorie’s Lime Honey Beet Salad has that same effect, albeit in a much more grown up and healthier fashion. My first bite had me drawing a quick breath of surprise, even though I knew exactly what was in the salad (I made it, after all). We had this with a slow-cooked moose stew that I’d cooked overnight and it made a nice contrast.

Just a quick, late post this time. It’s been a busy month and I’m looking forward to a less hectic July.

Lime Honey Beet Salad

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Lime Honey Beet Salad

FFWD – Almond Flounder Meunière (Make that Sole)

~ Teresa ~ 24 Comments

Sole, coated in an almond-lemon zest crust, with cauliflower and lemon wedges in the background.

I’m not a fan of heavily breaded or batter-covered fish. I’m fine with a little light dredging or the barest coating of fine crumbs, but too much and I begin to flash back to Good Fridays past and their requisite take out dinners featuring tiny pieces of fish hidden in gobs of deep-fried batter. And schnitzel, which I’ve never really been on board with, either.

A crust of ground almonds and lemon zest, though; that’s a coating I can get excited about. The recipe calls for a tablespoon of all-purpose flour to be added to the almond mixture, but I substituted a gluten-free whole grain flour mixture. I also substituted sole for the flounder, which is kind of perfect, since the recipe is based on a combination of two classic sole dishes: sole amandine and sole meunière.

The fish is brushed with egg yolk, then coated on one side with the almond-lemon zest crust. It’s cooked in brown butter and finished with a few squirts of lemon juice and some toasted almonds. (I skipped the parsley, which has been growing extra-slowly in the cool, damp weather we’ve been having lately.) I served it with steamed cauliflower, which I dressed with lemon juice and a little pepper.

A closer look at the fish and its accompaniments.

My post this week is a catch up, since everyone else is making olive oil ice cream and I (sadly) do not own an ice cream maker. I’m glad I finally got to this recipe – it was too good to be ignored, unlike those fish and chip dinners of yesteryear.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this FFWD recipe here: Almond Flounder Meunière

FFWD – Lentil, Lemon, and Tuna Salad

~ Teresa ~ 18 Comments

Lentil, Lemon, and Tuna Salad, with a side of tomatoes, red pepper, and green onion.

This week’s recipe is like a harbinger of summer, belying the cool, damp weather we’ve been having in Vancouver. Its salty, lemony-ness makes me think it would be just the thing to bring to a seaside picnic, provided shellfish was also on the menu.

The recipe calls for lentilles du Puy, but I was nearly out of those, so I used some organic black lentils I had on hand. I also used a tapenade based on Moosewood’s Olivada recipe.

My only other variation was an attempt to approximate the preserved lemons I needed for the recipe. I used this recipe, which creates a pretty reasonable substitute in half an hour or so. I used a whole lemon in the salad, but next time I’d reduce it by about half. The diced preserved lemon is added to the lentils along with tuna and chopped scallions, then dressed with a vinaigrette featuring mustard, the tapenade, and red wine vinegar.

Dorie suggests serving this garnished with a tomato and red pepper salad dressed with olive oil and cumin, but I omitted the second dressing and served it with a mixture of chopped tomatoes, red pepper and scallions. I liked the freshness of the vegetables against the salty complexity of the lentil salad.

A closer view of the salads.

It’s not quite time for picnics of any variety quite yet, but I’m keeping this salad in mind for sunnier days to come.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Lentil, Lemon, and Tuna Salad

FFWD – M. Jacques Armagnac Chicken

~ Teresa ~ 6 Comments

So, everyone else is posting about Lyonnaise Garlic and Herb Cheese today, but I didn’t find an occasion to make it for more than just Kevin and me, so I’m leaving it for (yet another) catch up post. Instead, today’s recipe is from January and one that I’ve made more than once, but haven’t ever gotten around to posting. (There’s definitely a correlation between bad photos and late French Fridays entries for me.)

A bed of vegetables for the chicken.

I didn’t buy Armagnac for this recipe, as it was a bit expensive, but I substituted Cognac and was very pleased with the results. Since joining this group, roasting a chicken involves much more decision-making for me – the recipes in Around My French Table are so good, it’s hard to settle on which to use. This recipe’s primary virtue is the bed of vegetables that are roasted with the chicken, particularly the onions, which are delicious all by themselves and lend their flavour to the other vegetables and the chicken. The Cognac helped intensify the sauce, which is made very simply with water, herbs and the juices of the chicken and vegetables.

Basting the bird.

This is a wintry recipe, as many one pot meals are, but it’s also perfect for rainy, cool spring weather. If we get another stretch of that this year, this may be on the menu again soon.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this FFWD recipe here: M. Jacques Armagnac Chicken

FFWD – Navarin Printanier

~ Teresa ~ 8 Comments

Lovely, rich stew.

Over the next little while, I’m going to try and catch up on a few French Fridays dishes that I’ve made, but haven’t managed to post about. I’m starting with a really good one.

Navarin Printanier is nothing like my mother’s Irish stew. Don’t get me wrong, my mother’s lamb stew is so good that my brother (a chef) adapted it for use on his menus. It’s a traditional, slow-cooked on the stovetop version, light and flavourful. Navarin Printanier is a braise, giving lamb the sort of treatment usually reserved for beef.

I love the methods used in this recipe. The braising itself makes the lamb tender, of course, but it’s not just that. The vegetables are sautéed in butter before being added to the pan and manage to retain the shiny vibrancy the sauté gives them. Beef stock and tomato paste (I used one infused with garlic, which was really nice) make a lovely, rich sauce flavoured with thyme, bay leaf, and parsley.

Beautiful colour on sautéed vegetables.

My mother and I cut up two shoulder roasts for this stew, removing the ribs for use another day. We were able to cut off almost all the fat from the lamb as we cubed it, which meant that the stew wasn’t at all greasy. Labour-intensive, but totally worth it.

I deviated from the recipe here and there, using rutabaga in place of turnip, adding about three times the tomato paste and thyme called for, and forgetting entirely to add the peas. Stews are very forgiving. This stew was delicious enough that I won’t reserve it just for spring, though it’s a worthy showcase for the year’s first vegetables.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this FFWD recipe here: Navarin Printanier

FFWD – Provençal Olive Fougasse

~ Teresa ~ 31 Comments

A close shot across the surface of the baked fougasse.

I once knew someone who believed that a restaurant that didn’t bring bread to the table shortly after you were seated didn’t deserve a clientele. I’m not that strict, but a meal started with bread fulfils some deep-seated ideas of sharing and conviviality for me, especially when the bread is homemade.

Bread-making is a satisfying activity, beginning with the tactile pleasures of kneading and shaping the dough. By the time it’s brought to table, all the senses become engaged. Knowing that the bread has been made to share with exactly those people around the table engages the heart, as well.

I made two loaves of this fougasse during the last bakestravaganza with my family. What was planned as a day’s baking stretched into a weekend, as much of what we were making needed time to rise and rest between steps. You can see what we worked on together over here. I also managed to catch up on the Navarin Printanier from a couple of weeks ago (which I’ll post about soon) and this week’s fougasse.

I put together this dough late the second night and baked it between the steps of our other recipes. My niece zested a lemon for me while I chopped olives and rosemary. These were added to the dough at the end of the kneading process (all hail the KitchenAid, once again). Once the dough had risen, it went into the fridge for an overnight rest (right beside the brioche dough we’d prepared for the pecan sticky buns that were going to keep us busy for much of the next day).

Dough before rise.

Dough before rise.

                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   

The dough reminded us of pizza dough, a little sticky and stretchy, but ultimately agreeable. It was easy to roll and slash the dough into the traditional leaf shape, but my attempt to make a salmon shape with the second piece of dough turned into an oval of bread with asymmetrical slashes. Not ugly, but not elegant, either. We ate it first.

The finished fougasse, with the second loaf in the background with some cornichons and pickled asparagus.

The first loaf disappeared that afternoon, as people passed through the room where it was cooling, and we shared the second with our dinner of lamb stew. Pulling pieces from the loaves gave us almost as much pleasure as eating it and it was just as good on its own as it was sopping up the gravy of the stew. Sharing one loaf, all hands breaking off their portions, made our meal seem like a feast and a celebration of the cooking and baking we’d done together over the weekend.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Provençal Olive Fougasse

FFWD – Coconut Friands

~ Teresa ~ 18 Comments

Coconut friands piled in teacups

Tea is sort of my thing, a kind of Jungian response to my first initial, I suppose. I try not to get carried away (so often) with buying tea paraphernalia and I’m also trying to work my way through the loose tea that I have before I buy any more. One of my favourite methods of avoiding these impulses is to go out for tea, whether it’s a formal high tea or an afternoon break at a local tea shop. I can enjoy the cups, pots, and teas without bringing more home to fill my already jam-packed cupboards. What I don’t do often enough is have people over for tea. Cakes and sandwiches are as fun to make as to eat and I certainly have enough pots and cups to accommodate a respectable gathering.

Teacup love, with a side of coconut cakes

I have a few recipes that would fit right in and now I have one more. These delicate coconut cakes are perfect for tea. Friands are usually made with ground nuts, but in this recipe, shredded coconut is used, instead. This is an easy recipe, as long as you have a light hand with the whisk. I had only sweetened coconut on hand, so I reduced the sugar by two-thirds and it seemed to work just as well. Dorie suggests putting a bit of fresh or candied fruit in the centre, but I decided to put a small square of chocolate in each. I love coconut and chocolate together. Next time, I might try a tropical fruit like mango or papaya – I wonder if passionfruit seeds would work? They’d certainly look pretty.

A closer view of the coconut friands

The cakes were both light and dense at once, a property of the coconut, I think. The chocolate worked nicely and neither flavour overwhelmed the other. There’s only a small quantity of flour, so I think they could easily be converted to gluten-free, too. Once the weather gets warmer, these might find themselves on the menu for a garden party or two.

A wider view of the scene

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Coconut Friands

FFWD – Asparagus and Bits of Bacon

~ Teresa ~ 5 Comments

Asparagus with bits of bacon.

I missed posting about this when everyone else did, because my computer was in the shop. I’ve got it back now, a little slower and noisier than it was before, but working. (Sometimes I get tired of the part of me that wants to use things as long as they’re functional, the part of me that doesn’t want to add to the heaps of electronic waste that now litter the world. I hold onto computers and phones until the bitter end and am rarely an early adopter of equipment. There’s another part of me that wishes for things that are shiny and new, but it never wins out.)

So, I’m catching up on April’s first French Friday recipe now. I’m also catching up on reading everyone else’s posts, but I imagine that this was a hit with almost everyone in our group. How could it not be? Bacon cooked ’til crisp, then warmed with slivers of onion, asparagus tossed in nut oil and lemon juice, all in one dish. I have to admit that we made the full recipe and ate it for dinner without accompaniment. It was all we needed. In fact, my partner said the bacon was the best he’d ever had. I think it was the onion, which I allowed to caramelize a little, even though the recipe calls for it to be barely cooked. This recipe will certainly be on the menu again.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Asparagus and Bits of Bacon

Next Tuesday, I’ll be back to my regularly scheduled non-cooking posts. For now, I’m busy surfing my way through all the French Friday and Baking with Julia posts I’ve been missing.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank Marilyn of cook reach grow for passing on the Liebster blog award to me. She’s one of the participants in Tuesdays with Dorie and I’ve really enjoyed reading her posts. These two cooking groups have introduced me to so many lovely and interesting folks, I can’t decide on just five bloggers for the award. Instead, I’ll direct you to the roster for Tuesdays with Dorie and also French Fridays with Dorie. You could spend many pleasant hours reading through the blogs in both groups.