FFWD – Cheez-it-ish Crackers

December 21, 2012December 21, 2012 ~ Teresa ~ 10 Comments

I’ll admit from the outset that I’ve never seen a Cheez-it, but if they’re anything like this week’s cracker recipe, I’m in. These Cheez-it-ish crackers have the texture of a very dry sablé, without its sweetness. Instead, they’ve got the richness of Gruyère, with the bite of pepper and cayenne.

This cracker is just begging to be served with a nice wine, so much so that I wish I’d had some on hand yesterday when I visited Campbell’s Gold Honey Farm and Meadery. We arrived just in time for a wine tasting, starting with some dry mead and working our way through apple, currant, and cherry honey wines. I’m tempted to go back for a bottle of the apple honey wine to go with the rest of my crackers.

Campbell’s Gold is on the Circle Farm Tour and it’s almost as nice to visit these farms at Christmastime as it is in the height of summer. It’s easy to forget, living in Vancouver, how much the rest of our region has to offer.

But let’s get back to the offerings of my kitchen. I opted to shape the cracker dough into logs and slice the crackers, rather than roll and cut them out. I only baked a few crackers and am saving the other logs to bake for some of the holiday gatherings we’ve got coming up. It’s not quite as elegant as the rolled-out cracker, but it’s awfully convenient. I’ve been favouring slice and bake cookies, too, this holiday season. I guess I’m embracing my last-minute nature…

Speaking of last-minute, I’d better get this post up while it’s still Friday. Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it and a very happy New Year to all. I’m looking forward to cooking and baking with the rest of the Doristas through 2013.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Cheez-it-ish Crackers

FFWD – Chicken, Apples, and Cream à la Normande

December 14, 2012May 4, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 14 Comments

I write about community and cooking here, sometimes trying to combine the two, whether it’s cookie swaps or sharing food with family and friends. There’s another aspect of community that plays into the food writing I do here and that’s the online community built by French Fridays participants. A number of us are participating in a holiday card exchange organized by Alice of A Mama, Baby and Shar-Pei in the Kitchen. It’s been just over two years and 100 recipes since French Fridays began and this card exchange seems like the perfect way to express appreciation to at least some of the people that make our community so worthwhile. It’s been a privilege to get to know these folks a little and to communicate through our blogs and the comments we exchange. Thanks, Alice for organizing the card exchange – I’ve received a few already and they’re lovely.

It’s also good for me to cook something new every week (well, mostly every week) and to compare my results and variations with the rest of the group. I think I’ve become a better and more inventive cook over the course of this project. Speaking of inventive, I played a little bit with this week’s recipe. I added ground herbs to the (gluten-free) dredging mixture, I substituted two-percent milk for the cream, chicken thighs for the breasts and I skipped the alcohol altogether. (I didn’t read the recipe until this afternoon, I’m out of my all-purpose Cognac, and I wasn’t about to brave the lines at the liquor store on a December Friday evening.) Oh, and I added garlic, because I couldn’t help it.

It turned out really well, though I can see that adding Calvados, brandy, or Cognac would make it even more flavourful. We had some tonight on its own and we’ll finish it tomorrow, perhaps with spinach or broccoli as Dorie suggests.

Tonight, I’d also like to let our American Doristas know that I’m thinking of them.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Chicken, Apples, and Cream à la Normande

FFWD – Creamy Cauliflower Soup Sans Cream

December 11, 2012January 7, 2013 ~ Teresa ~ 5 Comments

It took me a while to post this week’s recipe, but not because it was a difficult one. This soup is ready from chop to purée in less than an hour and requires only a few vegetables, herbs, and some stock. Cauliflower is a wonderful vegetable for puréed soups, because it gives the consistency and velvet feel of a cream soup without reliance on cream. I usually roast cauliflower before adding it to soup, since I prefer the richer flavour that brings. It is nice to know that you can get good results without roasting it, though, on nights when you need to get supper on the table a little faster.

Dorie’s soup is seasoned with salt, pepper, and thyme, but I added some nutmeg after tasting it, for more complexity. Others in the group added bacon, truffle oil, or gremolata to theirs.

My current favourite cauliflower soup recipe is found at the end of this article on olive oil. It’s similar to Dorie’s, but relies on curry for flavour, which is perfect for cauliflower. I don’t think Dorie’s soup will supplant it in my heart, but I’ll try it this way again and I’ll roast the cauliflower first next time.

I’ll also be trying the mussel version of this recipe some time – it sounds wonderfully flavourful.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Creamy Cauliflower Soup Sans Cream

FFWD: Mushroom and Shallot Quiche

November 30, 2012November 30, 2012 ~ Teresa ~ 14 Comments

I haven’t made the beef daube that everyone’s raving about this week, as it got pushed back in our schedule by Kevin’s lovely version of this gluten-free red curry soup – no complaints from me, though, as this has become a favourite. I’m planning to get to the daube later this weekend.

Instead, I’ll take this opportunity to catch up on a dish from the beginning of November that I made and photographed, but didn’t have an opportunity to post. Quiche has become a standard dish in our household, not least because Dorie’s tart dough adapts so well to gluten-free flour. This time, I made an olive oil version, as I forgot to pick up butter when I got the ingredients for the quiche. I was surprised at how well it turned out, though the dough wept a little olive oil – next time I make this substitution (if there is one), I’ll use a little less.

I deviated from the recipe for the filling, too, adding bacon (I couldn’t help myself) and substituting smoked cheddar for the Gruyère (it’s what I had on hand). I used all cremini mushrooms, because they were the nicest available that day. I added extra shallots and significantly more cheese than called for in the recipe, as well.

That’s what I love about a good quiche recipe – it adapts to whatever you have on hand and whatever your taste buds decree. What I especially appreciate about Dorie’s recipes is how well she explains technique, so that when we do vary the recipe we can do so with confidence.

My gluten-loving family loved this quiche, experimental gluten-free, olive oil tart dough and all. I might be making another for just Kevin and me, soon, because there’s a beautiful cave aged Gruyère at our local food co-op right now that’s calling out to me. After the daube, of course.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Mushroom and Shallot Quiche

FFWD – Herbed Olives

November 23, 2012 ~ Teresa ~ 14 Comments

Tonight is one of those nights for grazing, rather than dinner, with a glass of red wine firmly in hand. These olives will go nicely with the cheeses, pâté, and spreads we’ve got on hand. Usually as the grey and wet of November takes hold, I’m wanting to make stews and soups, but this week, I want to keep it simple. My kitchen urges are all about sweets, lately, anyway. I’m rifling through my cookbooks for Cookie Swap ideas, even though I have to wait a couple of weeks before the baking can begin. Perhaps I’ll need a few test runs – there are some recipes in my copy of the Gourmet Cookie Book that might warrant experimentation.

I hope all our American Doristas are having a lovely long weekend. As for me, the weekend’s going to begin as soon as the wine has breathed a little longer.

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

FFWD – Chicken Tagine with Sweet Potatoes and Prunes

October 26, 2012 ~ Teresa ~ 28 Comments

A last-minute post for this week’s dish. It’s been a busy few weeks and I’ve been home less than I’ve been away. I’m looking forward to having time to read and comment on other folks’ posts, as well as getting back to my Tuesday posts. I’ve really appreciated how easy our French Fridays picks have been lately, so I can at least keep up with the group.

This tagine was simple to put together and full of subtle sweetness – saffron, honey, and prunes, spiced with star anise, cinnamon, and a little cayenne for equally subtle heat. My just-before-dinner snapshot doesn’t do it justice, but it’s a lovely dish, too – the colours look beautiful on the plate.

I was happy to hear Dorie suggest that quinoa makes the best accompaniment for the tagine, as it’s my usual gluten-free go to for Moroccan-inspired recipes. I cooked mine in a mixture of water and chicken broth this time.

I’m looking forward to leftovers tomorrow. It’s the sort of dish that’s even better the second day.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Chicken Tagine with Sweet Potatoes and Prunes

FFWD – Spur-of-the-Moment Vegetable Soup (or, Turkey-Bacon Post-Thanksgiving Soup)

October 20, 2012 ~ Teresa ~ 10 Comments

This simple recipe reminds me why I like Around My French Table so much. There are complicated recipes (with clear, reliable instructions) that appeal to seasoned cooks, but there are also basic recipes that would be invaluable to the novice cook, too. When you’re starting out, it’s important to have a guide for proportions, even for something as simple as a stone soup like this one. When the rest of my nieces and nephews move out of their parents’ houses, I’ll be giving them each a copy of this cookbook, in the youth household survival kits that I’ll put together for them.

But, back to my version of this week’s recipe. You may have noticed that it doesn’t look much like vegetable soup. I think it’s still in the spirit of the recipe, though, since this recipe is meant for what’s available in the kitchen.

I started with turkey stock, carrots, celery, garlic, and onion. But there was also a bag of leftover turkey saved from Thanksgiving weekend, along with a bag of leftover peas and sliced carrots. Better use those, too. Then, there was bacon for breakfast, so why not fry a few extra slices for the soup? Cooking down the onion in the bacon fat seemed like the next logical step. There wasn’t quite enough liquid, so in goes some chicken stock, too. Salt and pepper, of course, but a little smoked paprika in with the rosemary and thyme could tie all the flavours together nicely and some brown rice would make it a complete meal. Adding in the crisp bits of bacon right at the end just makes things perfect.

That’s the essence of soup-making for me. If you ask my mother what her recipe for soup is, she can’t tell you. It often has tomatoes in it, almost always rosemary and thyme, usually some noodles, rice, or barley in the mix, but everything else just depends. It’s always good. As was this soup. It had travelled a long way from the original recipe, but it was delicious and I didn’t have to go out to buy a single ingredient.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Spur-of-the-Moment Vegetable Soup

FFWD – Crispy-Crackly Apple-Almond Tart

October 12, 2012January 7, 2013 ~ Teresa ~ 14 Comments

My mother’s rule has always been, make the recipe as written the first time, then improvise from there. You get a sense of what the recipe’s author meant the dish to be and can adjust it to your own taste, if necessary, another time. It’s a good practice and one which helps me avoid recreating the flavours I already know I like.

Sometimes, though, the ingredients that are on hand take precedence over the recipe. When I made the Apple-Almond tart for this week’s post, I wanted to use up some ground almond that I’d had for a little too long. There was also some Greek yogurt in the fridge, so I didn’t go to the store for heavy cream. The resulting tart filling wasn’t exactly an almond cream, but it was awfully good.

It was thicker and a little less puffy than almond cream would have been, but it complemented the butter-soaked phyllo and tart apples very well. I sliced this up into small pieces, froze some and then sent most of the rest off with my parents on their yearly weekend away with several other couples. It was a hit, I hear. It certainly was at home, too.

Next time, I’ll follow the recipe more closely and use almond flour and heavy cream, but I’m happy to know that this tart is amenable to a little improvisation.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Crispy-Crackly Apple-Almond Tart

FFWD – Hummus

October 5, 2012May 4, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 17 Comments

We’re beginning our third year of French Fridays with something simple, which in typical Dorie fashion, can be experimented with until you find your favourite version(s). Hummus is something most of us can find at the supermarket, but it’s easy enough to make at home. Chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, and garlic – those are the basics. I even made the tahini myself this time. The ratio is about 1 cup of toasted sesame seeds to 1/4 cup olive oil, more or less, depending on how thick you want it. Dump it all in the food processor and in a few seconds, it’s done. In this case, I just left the amount of tahini needed for the hummus in the processor and added the rest of the ingredients.

Dorie adds a bit of cumin to her hummus and I like adding a bit of chile flakes, cayenne, or hot sauce, too. A sprinkle of smoked paprika on top is both a predictable garnish and also delicious. I stuck close to the recipe this time, but you can add any number of flavours to hummus. Herbs or pesto are lovely, but even just bumping up the lemon or garlic can make a great variation. But, you probably know that already. I’ll just add that in the photo, you get a little preview of the next Baking with Julia assignment. Bagels and hummus make a great combination.

We started our first year of French Fridays with something quintessentially French, Gougères. Our second year began with a recipe that gently led (most of) us through new, even intimidating techniques in the kitchen – Olive-Olive Cornish Hens. Our third year’s begun with a bit of a softball, but one that reminds us how easy it is to replicate store-bought staples cheaply, easily, and deliciously at home. They’ve all been very much worth our time.

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

FFWD – Endives, Apples, & Grapes

October 3, 2012October 3, 2012 ~ Teresa ~ 8 Comments

This post is so late that it qualifies as an almost-the-next-French-Friday post. We had this week’s dish for dinner last night with steak, potatoes, and a mixture of beans from my garden and my mother’s. After a slow start, summer’s hung on a little. We have fresh Okanagan peaches awaiting pie-making tomorrow and I used a beautiful Honeycrisp from the same region in this recipe. It’s always nice when the line between summer and fall produce blurs a little bit.

This side dish blurs some lines, itself – a mixture of bitter endive, along with sweet apples and grapes, slowly cooked in butter with sprigs of rosemary. When it’s done, the juices from the fruit have caramelized so much that strings of dark brown sugar pull from the pan when you plate the dish. Add a little water and those caramelized bits left over cook down into a scant sauce that brings all the flavours together.

We liked it with the meal we had, but it would be even better as an alternative to apple sauce with pork chops or roast. Dorie’s bonne idée for this recipe is a version with squash and chestnuts and I’m tempted to try it this coming long weekend.

In the meantime, I must get on with our next recipe, which will mark the beginning of the third year of cooking together from Around My French Table.