End of Summer Corn Soup - French Fridays with Dorie

Hello everyone!  I guess I accidentally took the summer off from FFWD.  The summer included fun vacations, our first season of pastries and breads at the local Farmers' Market, watching our mini wheat field grow, and best news of all... learning that we're going to be grandparents!   It's the beginning of the school year, and time to start cooking again.  This month's recipes look great and will be great fun to share.

Our friends had TWO children get married this summer.  One in Rhode Island, and one is NYC.   Luckily, Irene threaded the needle between trips and we were able to enjoy the best  both cities had to offer.   Meals included lobster bisque, rolls, and mac-n-cheese... yum (not all in one meal...)!  There are so  many great restaurants in New York.  After touring the Chelsea Market, we made reservations at Morimoto and enjoyed a feast of sushi and stunning entrees.  We had doughnuts at DOUGH in Brooklyn, and Oxtail Ragu in the Meatpacking District.  The travels were inspiring as well as tasty!

We've also been enjoying a great growing season with FoxCityFarm, CSA.   The box this week
included several ears of perfect sweet corn.  Just what I needed for this week's recipe, Corn Soup. It was a very warm day and not exactly a day for eating soup, but what the heck.   There was a lot of corn so I made triple batch of soup to freeze for later.

Here's the unpacked CSA box and the gorgeous corn.

The recipe calls for simmering the cobs in milk then combining the infused milk the the sauteed vegetables.  Here's the corn and cobs ready for the pots.

This  recipe, like many of Dorie's recipes, is simple, yet expert at bringing out the perfect flavors of each ingredient.

The cobs simmer in the milk to add a depth of flavor and texture for this simple soup.  Here are the cobs simmering away in the milk.  I used 2% milk rather than whole milk.   Remember, this is a triple batch.  The recipe only calls for three ears of corn...

Once the kernels of corn, and mirepoix have sauteed, the two pots were combined, then pureed to a beautiful velvet consistency.  Last year I had the luck of becoming the proud owner of a Vitamix blender.  At the time I found it hard to believe that  it would really make a big difference.  Wrong!  The blender sounds like an airplane taking off, and produces flawless results.  The corn soup was truly liquid velvet.  I garnished with thinly sliced scallions, and a dash of chipotle chili powder for a splash of heat.  We had the soup for dinner with tomatoes and crusty bread.  Then, the next day I served the soup as an amuse bouche in tiny glasses without garnish.  I didn't tell our guests what the soup was, and had them guess.  The guesses included celery, leek, and hmmm " I know this flavor so well, but can't place it".  The texture was so smooth and silky that the strong presence of corn was hard to place.  I would highly recommend this soup as a fall appetizer.  I preferred the soup without garnish, and just the dash of chili powder.  The best part was Gary's critique of the recipe... "Incredible"
Enjoy!

French Fridays with Dorie- A celebration of Spring

Happy Spring! 

I'm back after a few vacations ready to cook, bake, entertain, enjoying the warmth and sunny days of spring.  This week's FFWD recipe was a true celebration of spring.  It was also a celebration of friends and local foods.

The recipe is Bacon, Eggs and Asparagus Salad.  It was so much fun to make.  The ingredients are simple and when each is cooked to perfection, the combination is delicious.   I'm also including our dessert, Rhubard Custard Tart.  More on that later in the post.

The ingredients for our salad had origins with friends...
On our early spring trip to Asheville, NC we spent time with our freinds, Jerry and Nancy.  At one of our brunches, we had delicious bacon at The Early Girl Cafe.  Jerry mentioned that they have a source for terrific bacon and would send some.  About a week ago, we opened the mailbox, and found a box filled with pounds of fantastic bacon.  For any bacon officianados out there, it's Benton's Hickory Smoked, from Madisonville, TN.   http://bentonscountryhams2.com/  Recently, I started baking the bacon in the oven rather than cooking it on the stove top.   Just place a rack over a  pan and roast in the oven at 350-400 for about 15-20 minutes.   The bacon will stay flat, be crisp, not greasy, and best of all... not make a mess on the stove.

Here's the finished bacon, waiting to top the salad.  I wish I could include smells in this blog!

Last night I finished a farmers market and had some croissant and pain au chocolat left over.  Our friends who are huge fans of French pastries were home and happily agreed to adopt the soon to be "day old" treats.  They offered me asparagus and rhubarb in exchange.  We all felt like we got the best of the deal!  We walked through their beautiful gardens.   My friend sliced off the asparagus, and made fast work of trimming the huge rhubard leaves.  I knew just where both would be used!

For the salad, the asparagus is boiled in salt water for just under 5 minutes.  I like it a little more tender, so a didn't rush to drain it. 

The eggs came from a local vendor.  So pretty!   In Around My French Table, Dorie walks you through making a perfect soft boiled egg.  If you haven't bought the book yet, here's the plug!  The techniques are so well described, it takes the fear out of first time tries.  Back to the eggs... The white is tender and the yolk oozes gently when the egg is cut through.  It was fun peeling the shell off without squishing the egg and breaking the yolk.  

OK, these aren't the eggs I used, but the very similar.  I used this picture because some of the eggs were green and blue, and I love them! These eggs above were a hostess gift from a gathering we had this winter.  How cool to be given a dozen eggs.  Aren't they pretty?

For the salad viniagrette, I didn't have any walnut or hazelnut oil, but did find some truffle oil.  Oh my!  I used mostly olive oil with a dash of truffle oil.  To assemble, the eggs, dressing, nuts, and chopped bacon were placed on a bed of greens.  It was so springy and delicious!  Plus, we knew where all the ingredients came from.  Here's the finished salad:

I would highly recommend this recipe as a spring supper or luncheon salad.  To finish the meal, I made a rhubarb custard tart.  I've never been a huge fan of rhubarb, mostly due to the stringy texture.   This recipe calls for diced rhubarb.  I cut it into a small dice, and made a French style tart, omitting the top crust.  The baking time was the same.  I used strawberries as a garnish to add just a little extra sweetness.  This was a big hit.  Gary and I both really liked it.  No strange texture, and a nice sweet and tart taste.  Here's the recipe if you'd like to give it a try.

Rhubarb Custard Tart

2 egg yolks
3 T flour
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups fresh rhubarb, cut into 1/4-1/2 inch dice
1 T melted butter

Whisk yolks until thick.  Add sugar, whisk until combined and thickened.  Add flour, butter, and rhubarb.  Pour into unbaked tart or pie crust.  Bake at 425 for 10 minutes, then at 350 for 30 minutes.   If desired, you could place another crust on top.  Be sure to crimp and vent.  Garnish with strawberries and/or whipped cream.    Enjoy!

Green Beans with Pancetta

It's been a crazy week here in Wisconsin. Madison is only an hour away. I've been busy attending rally's to support union members who are fighting to keep the right to collectively bargain.

I took a break to make the FFWD recipe of the week. It took three tries to find fresh green beans in a grocery store. This may have been a recipe to hold off on until summer, but the beans I found looked good.

The recipe is very straight-forward and quick. The pancetta added a very nice flavor. The butter a very nice addition. I'm kind of a vegetable wimp and tend to like vegetables a little overfilled. I followed the recipe exactly, and found the beans still crispy which would appeal to most. I would have likes them cooked a little more.

We ate the beans with fish and enjoyed them.

I'm really looking forward to next week's short ribs!

Orange Almond Tart- French Friday #2

This week's French Friday recipe is the Orange Almond tart.  It's been a busy week surrounded by chocolate, chocolate, chocolate.   This recipe was a nice change of pace, and still very sweet and romantic.

I've made many almond cream tarts. This almond cream is very soft and rich.  It's also called Frangipane.  Dorie's tart uses an interesting crust very similar to shortbread.  It was very straight-forward, and delicious!  Two methods were suggested for putting the crust into the tart pan.   I used the press-in method.  The dough is very soft and this seemed much easier.

One on my favorite things to do in the pastry world is cutting perfect little orange segments from the orange.  This recipe used 3 oranges.  After trimming all the peel from the orange, I slid the knife just inside the membrane on each side and lifted out the the perfect orange pieces.  I don't know why that's so fun, but it is!

The smell and taste are amazing.   The dessert was the finishing course to a great dinner with freinds.  Of course, a Valentine's weekend dinner needed chocolate of some sort, so we made sipping chocolate and had a box of chocolate caramel bon bons from earlier in the week.

For anyone looking for something delicate, delicious, and not too difficult, this is it! 
From my kitchen to yours, Happy Valentine's Day!

Winter Snow Day News

Happy February!

It's a snowy day and I'm looking for the perfect recipe to enjoy during a blizzard. I decided to look through Around My French Table, by Dorie Greenspan (AMFT). As I looked at soups and stews, I wondered if Ms. Greenspan had a website. Ta-da! Through the wonders of a quick internet search, I found it.

After looking around the site and entering my email address for updates,I clicked on the "French Fridays with Dorie". A group of cooks creating her dishes from AMFT and blogging. How fun! I've registered and hope to have the password soon to join the fun. I hope that you'll join me on this journey! I know it's sort of Julie and Julia, but to have the author participating in the process will be great.

For those of you who already own the book, I know you share my love of the book. It's been the hit of the season. In fact, it's a topic at many get-togethers. For those that don't yet have a copy, I encourage you to take the plunge. One of the rules of the "Friday" group is that the recipes stay in the book.


I look forward to sharing the journey as I cook my way through to book with people from all over the world.

For all then iPad owners and bread bakers... Check out Michael Ruhlman's Basic Bread Baking app. Very nice and only $1.99

A Sunday Afternoon of Comfort Food

The first snow has fallen, the tree is up, and it's time for warm, comfort food.   Cooking on a Sunday afternoon is a great way to warm up the house, try new recipes, and prepare great food... and future leftovers.

In a previous enty, I mentioned Around My French Table, by Dorie Greenspan.    Gary, my husband,  came home late last week and asked if I had ever heard of the book.   Well!  I pulled it out, and he immediately flipped to the recipe he had heard about while listening to a podcast in the car.  The recipe was for Hachis Parmentier, the French version of Shepard's Pie.   I suggested we try the recipe, so off he went to the grocery to pick up a few ingredients. 

The vegetables were chopped and ready to start simmering with the beef.  Here's the pan ready to start.  It was just what we had hoped for.  The house smelled great, the kitchen was warm, the Packer's were winning. 

About three hours later, here's the beef, minus the vegetable, ready for the potato topping. 

The mashed potato topping the beef was imbibed with a little cream, butter, and warm milk.  Here's the final prep ready for the oven.

I started cooking around 3 and pulled the steamy, puffy dish out out the oven about 7.  The gruyere was melted and golden brown. 

If you have some time to chop, simmer, mash and bake, this is a wonderful, warm winter treat.   I have to admit that it did use several  pans and utensils.  It's not a one-pot wonder, but it's worth every pan.  Thanks Dorie, but a great book and delicious afternoon.

As you're looking for holiday gifts, I would put this book high on the list for your cooking friends.  
In the words of Julia Child,  Bon appetit!

Our Dear Julia

Over the past few weeks I've been thinking and referencing the great works of dear Julia Child.   Her personality radiates through the pages of her books. 

At the recent demo day at Bekah Kates, a kitchen store in Baraboo, I used Le Crueset cookware to demonstrate its wonderful uses.  The recipe I made was Julia's Boeuf Bourguignon.   I made it three times, actually.  Once at home before the store opened for tasting during the morning, and another while people shopped.  The smell of the deep, rich sauce greeted shoppers as they entered the store.   Several times people asked me, "it that "HER" recipe?", or, "did you see the movie?"   We all knew who we were talking about.   It just wasn't right not to make it just one more time the next day while spending time with friends.   Julia would have insisted!   As the leaves fall, give it a try!

About a month ago, I had a surprise arrive in the mail.  I had pre-ordered a cookbook and it arrived.   Not just any cookbook.  One of the best I've seem in a long time.   Dorie Greenspan, author of Baking With Julia, just wrote another amazing book,  Around My French Table.   Each recipe is well written and looks delicious.   While it's a beautiful book, it will be used and will be marked with the little sauce here, and a drip or two there.   Ms. Greenspan has a great blog if you're interested in learning more.

Another piece of Julia news!  In late October, ahead of schedule, As Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto is being released.   I can't wait!   It's hard to imagine a book being better then her My Life in France but it will be fun to see. 

My most recent Julia moment was on Friday.   I made a wedding cake with spice cake and apricot lekvar filling.   The lekvar recipe was Julia's from Baking with Julia.  It's a delicious apricot paste with almonds and hint of brown sugar.  It's similar in consistence to thick applesauce.   The color is a deep pumpkin color which makes it a wonderful topping for scones, too.

Here's my recipe:
1 bag dried apricots (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 cups slivered almonds
1/4 - 1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp.  grated lemon or orange zest
dash of lemon juice
2/3 cup water

Simmer the apricot, water and zest until the apricots are soft.  Combine apricots, brown sugar and almonds in a food processor and mix until smooth.  Spread in a pan, and cool, covered with plastic wrap.  Enjoy on scones, muffins or even as a cake filling.  Will keep 7-10 days in the refrigerated.

Enjoy autumn baking, cooking and entertaining.  Until next time, Bon Appetit!