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.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Endives, Apples, & Grapes

FFWD – Chicken Basquaise

September 21, 2012September 21, 2012 ~ Teresa ~ 20 Comments

Chicken Basquaise is the opposite of convenience food. The pipérade alone cooks for about an hour, once all the chopping of vegetables is done. When the chicken is added, dinner is still forty minutes away. All that time is worth it and not just because you can get most of the dishes done while you’re waiting for the chicken to slowly stew in the pipérade.

The flavours intensify over those two hours, creating a broth that no packaged food could hope to match. When you slowly cook peppers and onions, tomatoes and even chiles, you create sweetness that’s not cloying against the richness of the chicken and its juices.

I skipped the green peppers in favour of red, yellow, and orange. I also substituted a quarter cup of sherry for the white wine and a less exalted chili powder for the piment d’Espelette. I think the end result was still quite faithful to the original.

I also set aside two cups of the pipérade to use with scrambled eggs at breakfast, as Dorie suggests in her Bonne Idée. The sauce was just as delicious with eggs as it was with chicken. With turkey bacon on the side and a stack of toast (a toasted gluten-free bagel, in Kevin’s case), it might be my new favourite breakfast.

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

FFWD – Spice-Poached Apples or Pears

September 14, 2012May 4, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 23 Comments

I spent a few days out at my parents’ place, picking blueberries and blackberries and contemplating the sheep. Sheep are a perfect vehicle for contemplation, since they don’t have a whole lot going on. They drift from one field to another, in search of something succulent. These sheep only run when they see someone approach with kitchen scraps or garden trimmings. They know a good thing when they see it. The llama rarely joins in, preferring to search out potential breaches in the fence, so that he can get into the vegetable garden or the orchard. He knows a better thing when he sees it.

People aren’t that different, sometimes. We cast about for things to satisfy us, occasionally hitting on a course of action that will bring bigger rewards. A steady stream of small pleasures can help reduce the casting about and help keep us focused on the the bigger picture. It’s one of the things that I like about French Fridays – a regular dose of learning, writing, and (above all) good eating. It’s a habit that’s grounding and creative at the same time.

This week’s recipe isn’t particularly complicated, but it’s very satisfying. Apples or pears (or whatever fruit you’d like, really) are poached in a honeyed bath of spices, flecked with vanilla seeds. You could even add a splash of something stronger, if you’d like. It reminds me of a rosewater sauce I like to serve with rice pudding. The leftover poaching liquid in this recipe could easily be reduced in the same way.

The leftovers this time won’t last long enough to do that – there’s too much ripe fruit around. In fact, my parents’ pear trees are overladen with fruit. I might just have to go and pick some very soon.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Spice-Poached Apples or Pears

FFWD – Eggplant “Tartine” with Tomatoes, Olives, and Cucumbers

September 7, 2012August 31, 2012 ~ Teresa ~ 21 Comments

It’s been a good couple of weeks for eggplant dishes. I went to a friend’s birthday dinner recently and the appetizer was a thick, roasted slice of eggplant topped with goat cheese and ribbons of bell pepper. Today’s French Fridays recipe is another delicious take on roasted eggplant. This time, the eggplant is topped with a tomato salad and ribbons of cucumber.

It’s a “tartine” because the roasted eggplant stands in for bread, making it both a great way to enjoy summer produce and a good option for gluten-free eating. The salad is tossed in a red wine vinegar-oregano vinaigrette and balances the sweetness of the tomatoes with the sharpness of onions and celery and the saltiness of olives and capers. The flavours are well-balanced and the textures are varied and interesting.

We had these “tartines” as a side dish alongside steamed bush beans and spaghetti with homemade pesto. It made for a lovely summer meal. I think I’ll also keep this in mind for the next time Kevin and I have a party – I think it will please our gluten-loving and gluten-free guests alike.

In the meantime, I’m going to use this dish as inspiration to use the remaining weeks of garden season to experiment with summer produce – it’s often too easy to just pop veggies into the steamer and be done with it. I love steamed vegetables, but there really is so much more.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Eggplant “Tartine” with Tomatoes, Olives, and Cucumbers

FFWD – Minted Zucchini Tagliatelle With Cucumbers and Lemon

August 31, 2012August 31, 2012 ~ Teresa ~ 28 Comments

I always find that summer’s reputation as the lazy, relaxing season is misleading. There’s so much going on – in the garden, in the community, among friends – that life can feel a little rushed.

So I was pleased that this month’s French Fridays recipes have been remarkably easy and just as impressive. Today’s dish is no exception – the title is long, but the prep time is short. Chopping onion and cucumbers, zesting and reaming a lemon, and slicing off long strips of zucchini with a vegetable peeler were the hardest steps. The rest is just picking and chopping some mint and making a lemony vinaigrette. (I deviated from the recipe and used olive oil in place of the pistachio oil called for. Splurging at Gourmet Warehouse wasn’t in the cards this month.) The salad marinates in the fridge for a couple of hours and then it’s ready to plate.

It’s another of those clever salads that are almost a quick pickle, too. This would do for a condiment or a picnic side, but I think it would really shine as the starter to a more elaborate meal. No one needs to know it was nearly effortless.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Minted Zucchini Tagliatelle With Cucumbers and Lemon

FFWD – Peach Melba, or Our 100th Recipe

August 24, 2012March 14, 2015 ~ Teresa ~ 53 Comments

We’re headed toward the second anniversary of French Fridays with Dorie, but today we’re celebrating another milestone – our 100th recipe together. I think that only Mardi of eat. live. travel. write. has managed to do all 100 so far, but a number of us have come close – my count is 91, currently.

Some of us joined at the beginning and others have joined in along the way. Most are food bloggers, but some of us just like the good food and community that these French Fridays have brought us. It’s the community I appreciate most – the introduction to interesting bloggers across the world who share their stories along with descriptions of their take on our weekly assignments.

That’s not to say that working our way through an entire cookbook, week by week, doesn’t have other advantages. I’ve stretched my culinary wings more than a few times so far and I’ve eaten very well, as have my trusty taste testers – my partner, family, friends, and even our housing co-op neighbours have all tasted a little bit of Dorie’s magic.

This week’s recipe is fittingly celebratory – Peach Melba is visually stunning, delicious, and surprisingly easy to put together. I was going to make ice cream, but didn’t manage to borrow an ice cream maker, so the ice cream is store-bought. I poached the peaches, though, whipped the cream by hand (that sort of makes up for store-bought ice cream, doesn’t it?), and pureed the raspberries. The rest was a matter of assembly. Who knew that giant brandy snifters could actually be useful?

So, consider this Peach Melba (in its giant glass) a toast to all Doristas, past and present. (Thanks, Trevor, for coining that term!) The site is a treasury, not just of great menu suggestions, but of great blogs, too – it’s worth looking through the early entries, as well as the latest ones, as there are some pretty cool bloggers who haven’t kept up with the group, for one reason or another. I’ve appreciated reading through all of them and I’ve especially enjoyed getting to know my fellow Doristas, a little, through their writing.

Thanks to Laurie for creating this group, Dorie Greenspan for her wonderful recipes, and also to Betsy and Mary for taking on admin duties on the site and on Facebook. We (literally) couldn’t do it without you.

I’m looking forward to the next 200+ recipes the group will tackle. I’m also looking forward to seeing the evolution of our little group over that time. I just hope my copy of Around My French Table holds up that long!

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

FFWD – Cafe Style Grated Carrot Salad

August 17, 2012August 21, 2012 ~ Teresa ~ 38 Comments

There’s a restaurant on the west side of Vancouver called The Naam that’s open 24 hours. It’s a vegetarian restaurant that seems left over from the hippie era. When I was in University we’d drive across town to go there in the middle of the night, famished after late study sessions. The staff back then tended to be in a somewhat…altered…state and it could be quite a while before any of the servers noticed you. Once they did, they always got your order right, but it could be up to an hour before the food arrived at your table. Actually, it was a couple of hours more than once. At least there was never any lag between the order coming up and the food arriving at the table.

As long as I could flag someone down to bring me a cup of tea, I didn’t mind. It was that time of life when there was so much to say and hear that sleep seemed like a terrible waste of time. (Funnily, none of us seemed to feel that way about sleep in the mornings.)

The food there is good, in that granola way. In fact, their miso gravy is so good that they bottle it and sell it in stores now. It’s mostly healthy, too – with additions like shredded carrot and beet in their salads and as a garnish for many of their plates. I always enjoyed that, but I’ve recently learned that a friend of mine absolutely did not and as a result, was often frustrated when she went there. She would ask for it to be left off her plate, but the (aforementioned, less-than-fully-alert) staff would always bring her meal with carrot and beet. The hippie obsession with shredded veggies is not a universal taste, it seems.

This salad, though it’s a grated slaw rather than a shredded garnish, reminds me of those days, Even with its slightly sophisticated apple cider-Dijon vinaigrette, it still has the flavour of the sort of virtuously vegetarian fare that a hippie restaurant serves.

I didn’t stray from the recipe, really, though I left out the suggested raisins and toasted the chopped walnuts before I added them. It would make a nice side for a picnic or barbeque, wherever anyone would serve traditional coleslaw. It would make a nice addition to a salad, too. When I make it again, I think I’ll throw in a mixture of the sorts of seeds, nuts, and dried fruits I often add to salads. Another easy, versatile template recipe from Around My French Table to add to my repertoire.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this week’s FFWD recipe here: Cafe Style Grated Carrot Salad