FFWD – Tuna Rillettes

May 2, 2014May 2, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 28 Comments

We’ve done rillettes before, but I’m betting that this tuna version is less challenging for the French Fridays crowd than the ones we made previously. I really enjoyed the sardine rillettes, but not everyone could get behind the idea of a sardine sandwich spread. I expected to enjoy this one, too, and I did.

When I was growing up, my favourite kind of sandwich was tuna. I would have had that every day if my mother had let me. She had strange ideas about feeding us a variety of foods, though, so my argument that fish is brain food didn’t prevail. I’m sure my mercury levels are all the better for it.

This spread reminded me of those sandwiches, though the flavour profile is a little more sophisticated than the elementary school standard of tuna mixed with mayo and chopped celery. There are hints of curry, quatre épices, and lemon in this recipe, along with subtle undercurrents of shallot and crème fraîche. I didn’t have any tuna in oil on hand, so I added a teaspoon or so of olive oil to make up for it.

Though the mixture is whizzed into a smooth, plain-looking paste, the flavour and texture more than make up for its appearance. The rillettes were great with gluten-free almond crackers. They were even better when used to make another Dorista favourite, the tartine. I spread some on soughdough toast, then layered sharp cheddar, Romaine lettuce, and red pepper on top. I’d have that for lunch any day. Which might cause my mother to give me another lecture on a well-rounded diet.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this FFWD recipe here: Tuna Rillettes

Socca From Vieux Nice – A French Fridays Catch Up

April 25, 2014April 25, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 13 Comments

I won’t be making this week’s French Fridays recipe, Green as Spring Veal Stew, until next week, so I thought I’d throw in a catch up instead. I’m not sure why I didn’t make this when it came up in the rotation, and I’m also not sure why I overlooked this recipe until now. Socca is naturally gluten-free and the chickpea, in whatever form, is one of my partner’s favourite foods.

Unfortunately, I’m out of chickpea flour at the moment, so I substituted garfava flour, instead. It’s a blend of garbanzo bean (chickpea) and fava bean flours that’s a staple in Bette Hagman recipes. I’ve mostly moved on from using it, so I was glad to have an excuse to use up some of what I’ve got left. It wasn’t the greatest substitute – Kevin disliked the flavour of the resulting flatbread, but I thought it wasn’t bad. Next time, I’ll stick to pure chickpea flour.

There will be a next time because I loved the method and the loveliness of the flatbread that came out of the oven, garfava flour or no. I mixed up the batter the night before and was pleased to read that most of the cooking time would be for heating the pan. The bread itself bakes for only five minutes and is then broiled until crispy, and blackened in spots, for another three minutes or so.

It’s traditional to eat it hot, dusted with pepper, but Kevin said he would have liked it better with a dip. I agree. Some yogurt, mixed with lemon and dill, would have been nice with it. I’m looking forward to trying the chickpea version – paired with the yogurt dip, it may become a summer favourite.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this FFWD recipe here: Socca From Vieux Nice. And you can see what the rest of the French Fridays crew got up to this week here: Green as Spring Veal Stew

FFWD – Baby Bok Choy, Sugar Snaps, and Garlic en Papillote

April 19, 2014April 19, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 13 Comments

We’re having a lot of conversations in our house, lately, about what constitutes healthy eating. Kevin is convinced that going vegan is his path, but there has been considerable backsliding. My position is that moderation, in moderation, is the ticket to a well-rounded diet.

This week’s French Fridays recipe is vegan, but it’s also a side dish. I could have continued down that road, but instead, I served it with one of our favourites from Around My French Table, Roasted Salmon and Lentils. All in all, it was a very healthy meal. Low-fat, high fibre, and probably many other buzzwords besides. What stood out for me was the flavour. Like the salmon, these vegetables are simply seasoned, but surprisingly flavourful. The title gives you the recipe, but it’s the subtle addition of fresh mint and orange zest that really brings this dish together. It’s also a versatile dish, which worked as well with the French flavours of the salmon and lentils as it would with Asian cuisine.

For now, we’ve agreed that increasing the number of meatless meals over time is probably Kevin’s path to success, but tomorrow will definitely be a meatless day. We went out for fish and chips with my parents yesterday and had fish again today. Whatever we end up having tomorrow, there’s still lots of bok choy and snap peas in the refrigerator, so there will be more en papillote cooking involved.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this FFWD recipe here: Baby Bok Choy, Sugar Snaps, and Garlic en Papillote

Quiche Maraîchère & Sablé Breton Galette – A French Fridays Catch Up

April 17, 2014May 5, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 6 Comments

What we can do without and what we cannot is a line that shifts over time. I spent twenty-four hours thinking I’d lost my smartphone and I felt the loss in a way I wouldn’t have been able to imagine even ten years ago. Then, when a phone was just a phone, all that was necessary was to get the service provider to shut down the number. Now, it’s changing numerous passwords, registering the device as missing, and hoping whoever gets hold of it isn’t interested in the data stored there. Luckily, I found it and I was already in the midst of changing passwords to deal with the Heartbleed problem, so there wasn’t too much time wasted, really. It did make me realize how much I rely on that little piece of technology. It’s a cellphone, sure, but it’s also my mobile office, alarm clock, day planner, magazine rack, and way finder.

It’s debatable whether our reliance on cellphones is good or bad. But something that’s not up for debate, for me at least, is how necessary a good tart dough recipe is in my life. I used to use my mother’s pie crust for most everything, but as I’ve told you before, Dorie’s pâte brisée has made me rethink that. Now, I couldn’t do without it, especially as it works beautifully gluten-free.

This past Friday, our French Fridays recipe was Quiche Maraîchère, which makes good use of pâte brisée to hold a tart so full of leeks, carrots, celery, and red pepper that there’s very little room for the custard that qualifies it as a quiche. There are also very few seasonings, just salt and pepper, because that combination of vegetables creates a complex flavour that needs no embellishment. Mine was slathered with shredded Irish Monastic Cheese, as Kevin’s trying to go vegan and our meals last weekend were meant as a farewell to dairy for him. This quiche was so good it may lead to a setback.

For dessert, we had the Sablé Breton Galette you can see at the top of this post. I used homemade lemon curd on it, but skipped the berries. I’ll be revisiting this recipe again when local strawberries and blueberries make their appearance. This was another dough that worked really well gluten-free (just switch out the flour for an equal weight of an all-purpose gluten-free blend). It’s also another dough that I’ll be making often.

I’ll be interested to see what my list of necessaries looks like in ten years’ time. I expect that a number of the additions will be courtesy of Dorie Greenspan.

Now, I’d love to hear about the things (and recipes) that you can’t do without.

See how the rest of the French Fridays crew liked last week’s recipe here: Quiche Maraîchère and go way back to June of 2013 to see how Doristas fared with their versions of Sablé Breton Galette.

FFWD – Vegetable Barley Quinoa Soup with the Taste of Little India

March 28, 2014March 29, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 27 Comments

My little brother is a mean, mean man. He’s a chef, working at the sort of locavore, casual-to-fine-dining restaurant that you know I love. The problem is that it’s 50 kilometres away and Sean sends me photos of what’s on the night’s menu, when he knows there’s no hope of me booking a car and heading out deep into the heart of the Fraser Valley. Like I said, mean.

If you don’t believe me, here’s one of the photos he sent me tonight.

Yes, that’s a perfect Caprese staring back at you. Sigh…

Luckily, we have a delicious, vegan soup on our own fresh sheet tonight, keeping me from becoming too morose. It’s flavoured with garam masala, ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes. It’s also meant to have barley in it, but we went gluten-free and used quinoa instead. It’s the sort of meal Kevin has been working toward, as he eats vegetarian or vegan most of the time now. There’s lots of protein in the quinoa and the soup itself is surprisingly hearty. Meatless meals have always been a big part of my diet, but I might find myself crumbling some bacon on tomorrow’s leftovers, as my brother the chef suggested. Then again, I might not – this soup doesn’t really need it.

Judge for yourself. You can find the recipe here, along with interviews with three of our most lovely Doristas.

And you can find out what everyone else thought of this week’s recipe here.

FFWD – Scallop and Onion Tartes Fines

March 21, 2014March 22, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 20 Comments

We’re going to be finished cooking through Around My French Table in April of next year, approximately, so it’s not surprising that many of the recipes are starting to make me look back as much as look ahead. This week’s dish especially reminded me how close we are coming to the end of the book.

This is our last official scallop dish for the group, save for a bonne idée or two. I’ve told you before that scallops are my favourite seafood, so I’ve been looking forward to tackling this dish.

Tartes fines are usually rounds of puff pastry (or sometimes pâte sucrée for desserts) with finely sliced toppings in a circular design. Though I’ve made
gluten-free puff pastry before, it’s quite an undertaking, so I decided to try out a gluten-free Comensoli Pizza Shell I’d picked up at our local food co-op. It’s a new item there and I managed to get the last package. They went fast and for good reason. This crust is chewy and crunchy, holding its topping without crumbling. I’ll definitely be buying this brand again. It can be hard to find gluten-free pizza shells that don’t fall apart or taste terrible.

The only other change I made to the recipe was to add a bit of balsamic to the caramelized onions before I added slivers of bacon. I’d heard from other Doristas over the week that this dish lacked a little something and I decided that the something must be balsamic. It goes so well with all the ingredients.

It was a good decision, as the jammy bacon and onion mixture was the best part about this dish. The scallops themselves were a little flavourless in comparison. They are really just heated through, rather than fully cooked, and I prefer the crunchy, caramelly flavour of seared scallops.

If I were to make this again, I’d leave the scallops off the tart and sear them instead, serving them on greens alongside. I think they would shine more than they did here and it would make a complete meal.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this FFWD recipe here: Scallop and Onion Tartes Fines

FFWD – Hélène’s All-White Salad

February 14, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 30 Comments

My salad for this week’s assignment wasn’t so much white as spring green, matching the turn of weather we’ve had this week. After a period of cold, damp weather that seeped into the bone, it now feels like time to put away heavy coats and sweaters until autumn rolls around.

It’s also that in-between time where there isn’t much produce that’s in season, save for a few brassicas and storage fruits and vegetables. So, salad featuring cabbage and apples is perfect for this time of year. With mushrooms for meatiness and celery for extra crunch, this salad made for a surprisingly filling dinner.

I wasn’t sure about the lemon-yogurt dressing – it was entirely too tart when I tasted it. The sweetness of the apples in the salad transform the taste, though. I think if I make it again, I’ll add in a shot of apple juice to make it a little more versatile.

Kevin skipped the dressing altogether and sprinkled some lemon juice on his, instead. He’s trying to work toward becoming vegan, or at least vegan-ish, so some French Fridays assignments may get put off until I have a meat-eating audience at hand, as last week’s Boeuf à la Ficelle did. Maybe I’ll do a game version of that one for my parents some time.

If you’re looking for a meatless meal that suits this season, you can find the recipe for this week’s dish here.

You can check out everyone else’s white-on-white greens here: Hélène’s All-White Salad

FFWD – Christine’s Simple Party Soups

January 17, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 37 Comments

I think the best thing a young person can learn before they strike out on their own is how to make soup. Not just because you’ll always be able to feed yourself, even in the days when you might only have one pot to your name, but also because it’s a great way to learn how to balance flavours. Adding a little bit of this and a little bit of that until you get it right is the essence of soup-making and that knowledge will carry through when you move on to master more complicated recipes and techniques.

Some recipes, though, don’t give you the luxury of fixing your mistakes with another ingredient or two. They depend on the flavours developed by a minimum of ingredients in the correct proportion to one another. This week’s trio of soups fall into this category. They consist of stock (or water and bouillon cubes) and a single dominant vegetable, with a little salt and pepper to bring out the flavours. Red pepper, asparagus, and broccoli are the vegetables (though the latter two have a little zucchini in them, as well, which doesn’t seem to affect the dominant flavour of the soup). Additional seasoning is added only through the garnish, which is whipped cream with Piment d’Espelette, cardamom, and curry respectively.

I tried the soups plain and they definitely need the extra flavour boost from the cream and spices. I used Greek yogurt (and this time I checked the label), which worked just as well, I think.

These weren’t my favourite soups from this book, even with the yogurt and spices. I appreciated the intensity of the dominant flavour, but it didn’t make me want to sit down for a meal. Instead, I found myself wanting to freeze these in cubes, as I think they’d make a great flavour booster when my usual soups need a little something. So, I don’t think I’ll be making these again, but the leftovers may be showing up as guest stars in future soups. C’est la vie.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this FFWD recipe here: Christine’s Simple Party Soups

FFWD – Baked Apples Filled With Fruit and Nuts

January 10, 2014January 17, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 34 Comments

Pink Lady Apples filled with honeyed dates and cashews. A nice, simple recipe that needs only a little garnish to bring it to perfection. In my mind, Greek yogurt mixed with brown sugar sounded like a great accompaniment.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t paying enough attention at the grocery store and picked up a tub of zero-fat vanilla Greek yogurt instead of the plain, full-fat variety. The taste and texture weren’t what I was looking for, but the apples were delicious enough to make up for it.

A small rant: Manufacturers, please stop messing with things that are perfect as they are. Regular Greek yogurt might not be diet fodder and grab-and-go eaters might
be put off by its plainness, but it really is a perfect ingredient. Savory dishes or sweet, sauces or baked goods, all can benefit from the use of Greek yogurt. Why mess it up by pulling the richness and replacing it with artificial flavours?

Rant aside, this is a recipe I’ll be making again. I think it would be lovely alongside a bread pudding for a warm winter dessert, or with some ice cream for some temperature contrast. Or with Greek yogurt, if you’ve checked the label before you left the store.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this FFWD recipe here: Baked Apples Filled with Fruit and Nuts

FFWD – Recipe Swap Onion “Carbonara” (A French Fridays Catch Up)

December 23, 2013May 5, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 10 Comments

It’s the eve of Christmas Eve and I’m getting ready for a day of massive baking tomorrow, as I’m on Team Dessert for the big family Christmas this year. (I won’t be making many cookies, though, since I was lucky enough to win this from the lovely fellows at Boys Own Bakery.)

Tonight, however, was about relaxing and catching up on last week’s French Fridays dish. Onion Carbonara has a long history, as Mary relates in her post. Unlike its originators, I wasn’t attracted by the economics of the dish, but by the promise that it was one of those gluten-free dishes that doesn’t pale by comparison to the original.

In this version, steamed onions replace spaghetti as the anchor of the dish. It’s billed as an appetizer or a side, but I made two-thirds of the recipe and we had it as our main course. The steamed onions were sweet and crunchy, setting off the rest of the components so nicely that I didn’t miss the pasta at all. I do think that I’d like this version over pasta, too, and a number of other Doristas did just that.

I hope that you are surviving the whirlwind of the holidays, whatever you celebrate, and that you have lots of opportunity to enjoy good food and company before the turning of the year.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this FFWD recipe here: Recipe Swap Onion “Carbonara”