Showing posts with label Around My French table. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Around My French table. Show all posts

30.1.16

French Fridays : Chicken liver Gateau

Remember those French Fridays with Dorie ?? When we would prepare something awesome, something French every week and tell the tale of whether it fared well with the kids and the men... Well, sometimes I miss them.... I miss the excitement and effervescence that accompanied those Fridays... I miss the thrill of exploring new techniques, trying new flavors and the anxiety that accompanied on the Fridays when unusual dishes like that Pear Chestnut Soup or this Chicken Liver Cake was on the menu.  

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18.4.15

Eggplant Caviar


For the Doristas the final countdown has begun. Just four recipes  to go before they complete their journey through "Around My French Table". I had joined the group late and owing to grid-shift and unavailability of the ingredients in this part of the world, left the group early. Nevertheless I hope to catch-up with the others in the years to come and cook my way through all of Dorie's books as and when I find the ingredients and the time...

This week I did a bit of catching up. I tried Dorie's version of Eggplant Caviar....
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21.8.14

Tomatoes Provençal # French Fridays with Dorie (Catch-up)


Its been almost two weeks since we moved to India.  My toddler hasn't yet come to terms with the move. He constantly insists that we get back "home." I guess it takes time to get used to the heat and dampness .... the very things that breathe home to us....

My toddler celebrating my grandma's birthday in Kolkata
After living with my parents in Kolkata for a week, toddler and I finally moved to Bhubaneshwar over the weekend. The city of Bhubaneshwar, experienced a IT boom a couple of years back. As a result apartments with basic facilities are mushrooming everywhere, but so far, we have not been able to find a place that is close enough to the institute where my husband works. So we are living out of our suitcases in a guest house and looking for a place we can call home.   

Under the present circumstances, cooking is not an option. We've been eating in the student's canteen. The food in the canteen is tasty but spicy. Way too spicy if you ask me... The toddler wisely has turned towards healthier options. He has been surviving on plain white rice, oats, boiled eggs, milk and bananas. The combination has been keeping him happy and energetic, so we are not overly worried about the lack of greens and colors in his diet. Afterall this arrangement is temporary and hopefully things will start falling in place soon....



In an effort to keep pace with the Doristas, I prepared a few dishes from AMFT, before we left US. This baked tomato dish was a particular favorite. Because tomatoes were cheap, and preparing the dish is easy, I kept including Tomatoes Provençal (sometimes an "almost-Indianized" variant of it), as a side for every other meal. In all its avatars this dish was well received... So, in case you are running out of ideas or enthusiasm for an  elaborate side for dinner tonight,  consider this simple baked tomato dish..

To prepare it, preheat your oven to 375°F,  cut few tomatoes in halves, mix crushed garlic, basil plus few other herbs of your choice, salt and pepper and olive oil in a bowl, rub the mixture over the open halves of the tomatoes, place them in a greased baking tray and bake for 50 minutes, basting the tomatoes once in between with the juice released from them... and viola ! Tomatoes Provençal is ready to enjoy. I think, baked with a sprinkle of pesto and mozzarella on top, these baked tomatoes will also make excellent starters at any girly party ....

You can find Dorie's recipe for Tomatoes Provençal in her book Around My French Table . Also it has been published in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
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27.6.14

(Chunky) Guacamole with tomatoes and bell peppers #French Fridays with Dorie

This is the first non-fishy French Friday of June. Boy ! am I glad ! 

So the Doristas picked Guacamole for this Friday. Though a Mexican dip, Guacamole has apparently become a standard in France.  Dorie says that in chic restaurants there, they serve it in tartines dotted with shrimps, as the base for salmon tartare, in layered crab salads or even as a garnish on gazpacho. I have already tried the 'crab avocado ravioli' and avocado with salmon in a different recipe and can image how good those French dishes with guacamole must be.

Dorie says that for most of their dishes, the French buy the guacamole, but she likes to make her own. She makes it two ways, chunky and smooth. For the chunky version, she mixes lime zest, chopped cilantro leaves, slices of  red onion, jalapeno and salt with a fork. Then adds chunks of avocado, chopped red bell pepper and cherry tomatoes to it. Squeezes some lime juice over it before seasoning the mixture with salt, pepper and some hot sauce and finishing with a garnish of cilantro leaves. For the smooth, she uses the same ingredients but blends them using a mortar and pestle. 


For want of a mortar and pestle I went for the chunky version and served it with chili and slices beer bread. The Guacomole and the combination as a whole was such a hit that the whole bowl was wiped clean over dinner that night. This recipe will certainly be a repeat in our house.

Visit French Fridays with Dorie to know what the other members thought about this spread. You can find the  recipe for this guacamole here . For more such delicious recipes order your copies of Around my French Table and join the Doristas in this tasty adventure.
I shall be sharing this spread at these parties...


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26.6.14

Salmon Rillettes # French Fridays with Dorie (Catch-up)


This month I have been sitting off of the French Fridays with Dorie. The reason ? Well, so far June has been all about Fishy Fridays with Dorie. So I was staying away until I read some of the reviews and decided to try them out this week. First one I tried was the Salmon Rillettes.


The other Friday, while reviewing Dorie's Tuna Rillettes I had described what rillettes are and their place in French cuisine. I will not go into that, however I must mention that rillettes are fast becoming my favorite recipes for preparing fish. They are quick, easy and tasty !

Unlike the Tuna Rillettes, this one requires a bit of cooking.  Only a bit. You cut a salmon fillet into small cubes,  poach them for a minute in a simmering bath of half and half mixture of water and white wine speckled with tops of spring onion, some spices, namely red bay leaf, white peppercorns, coriander seeds and salt.  You then strain everything into a strainer, drain and discard the spices and vegetables, transfer the salmon cubes to a bowl and mash them with the back of a fork. Next you toss in some smoked salmon, lemon zest, a red chile pepper, finely chopped shallots into the bowl, mixture everything well, then add a dollop of butter, some lemon juice and bit of crushed pink peppercorns to it. Finally you adjust the salt in the rillettes and chill the mixture for two hours before serving. 


I being me of course upped the spices and simplified the steps further. I added an extra helping of peppercorns into the simmering mixture, discarded nothing, blended the poached fish cubes with spices and all into a not-so-smooth mixture, then stirred in the remaining ingredients plus a chopped green chile to it and chilled the rillettes until it was set. I LOVED the way it turned out and for once I was glad that I had the full bowl of fish spread to myself :D 


Visit French Fridays with Dorie to know what the other members thought about this spread. You can find the  recipe for the salmon rillettes here . For more such delicious recipes order your copies of Around my French Table and join the Doristas in this tasty adventure.
I shall be sharing this spread at these parties...



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31.5.14

Pipérade Stir Fry #French Fridays with Dorie

This week we prepared  Pipérade Stir Fry for French Friday's with Dorie.


 A traditional pipérade from the Basque region of France, is a ragout of red and green bell peppers, onions and tomatoes, seasoned with piment d'espelettet that is served alongside rice, scrambled eggs, chicken or fish stew. The pipérade we tried this week was however a simple stir fry that Dorie's created using the ingredients which go into a traditional pipérade.


As per her recipe, which is almost a none recipe, saute an assortment  of colorful bell peppers in HOT olive oil until they are crisp tender. Deglaze the pan with some red wine vinegar, season with salt and pepper and set it aside until the stir fry has somewhat cooled down. Then toss in some thinly sliced red onion, garlic and piment d'espelette or habanero pepper(as I did) into the pan and viola ! Your  Pipérade Stir Fry is done. Quick, easy and delicious ! And with the mélange of colors, an absolute delight to bring to the table.


Since summer beckons simple meals, I just paired it up the with a spinach-feta frittata and served. The combination was light and lovely. And even as I swept clean the last of the pepper strips from our plates, I kept wondering when to make it next, and what to pair it with next time. May be some grilled chicken or fish or perhaps an a gourmet omelette with cheese and lots of veggies.

  
Visit French Fridays with Dorie to know what the other members thought about this dish. You can find the actual recipe in Dorie Greenspan's book  Around my French Table and for Dorie's recipe of a traditional  Basquaise pipérade, check out the Washington post.
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24.5.14

Smoked Salmon Waffles # French Fridays with Dorie



Fish recipes in FFwD schedule always put me in a dilemma ... To cook or not to cook ? The thing is, my husband does not eat fish and cooking two separate meals feels like a lot of work.  Hence I mostly skip the fishy Fridays unless an easy alternative is obvious. Today's recipe, that is the one for Smoked Salmon Waffles, presented itself with such an option. So I tried the original recipe and their non-fishy counterparts for lunch today. And husband, toddler and I felt utterly satiated afterwards. That is after our unusual lunch of savory waffles.


As I mentioned, making these is rather easy. And provided you have made waffles before, you'll probably wind up the whole process from start to finish in half an hour. It took me a little longer for it was my first time at waffle-making. In fact I got my waffle iron only on Wednesday and it took me a day to work up the courage and get to work....


Anyway.. About the recipe... The batter for these waffles is made by mixing together flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, milk, eggs, melted butter, thinly sliced scallions, snipped chives and slivers of thinly sliced smoked salmon. If desired, one can rest the prepared batter for up to an hour, or work up batches of fishy waffles right away. In my case, I made a batter by mixing all the ingredients except smoked salmon, then scooped out half a cup of the batter, stirred 3/4th oz of slivered smoked salmon into it and kept it aside while I baked a batch of scallion-chive waffles. Once the non-fishy ones were done, I spread the remaining batter on the well-greased waffle iron and baked my smoked salmon waffles. I served both the fishy and non-fishy savory waffles with crème fraîche and snipped chives.

 In spite of "loving" the waffles, my husband could not help pouring some syrup over them. Toddler and I did not do any such thing. We enjoyed them with a topping of crème fraîche and declared them "Dee-li-cious !" 

Visit French Fridays with Dorie to know what the other members thought about this dish. You can find the recipe here. For more such recipes get your copy of Dorie Greenspan's book  Around my French Table and starting relishing.

I shall be sharing this at some of these weekly parties.
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17.5.14

Hummus # French Fridays with Dorie # Food Revolution Day 2014


Guided by Mardi Michels,  this Friday the Doristas are participating in Food Revolution Day. Food Revolution is a movement started by Jamie Oliver to inspire parents, kids, teens, workers and everyone else to get back to basics and start cooking good food from scratch. This year he chose “getting kids excited about food” as the theme for Food Revolution Day, which is today and our charge from Mardi is to share a recipe from Around my French Table that we think every child should know how to make.


Now my son is only two and a half so I wasn't really thinking of making a meal when I signed in for #FRD2014. The idea was to make something simple that would give the little boy a feel for cooking.. Since last January, we have been experimenting with a lot of recipes. Mostly smoothies and some muffins like this Chocochip Cherry 'n Coke Muffins whose ingredient list alone was good enough to excite him. Keeping his familiarity with the blender and his love for apple and cheddar in mind, I thought Hummus and Savory Cheddar Chive Bread with chunks of apple would be an exciting for him. And I was right. He enjoyed the process of making both. However something about the bread was not right so I decided to keep it off the post and talk about hummus today. 

Personally, I think hummus is a great recipe to have in ones repertoire. It can be prepared in no time... just whir together chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, cumin powder, salt and pepper in the blender and you are done...  


And once you are done, the possibilities are endless.  You can build simple or fancy sandwiches with it as the base, serve it with crackers or make appetizers of all kinds to entertain friends...


And if you are like me, you could simply sit with a spoon and your bowl of hummus and call it a meal..



Thanks Mardi for involving us in #FRD2014. This was fun !

Visit French Fridays with Dorie to know the recipes from Around my French Table that other kids found exciting !


I shall be sharing this at some of these weekly parties. 

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15.5.14

Leeks Vinaigrette with Mimosa # French Fridays with Dorie

Last week we were assigned to make Leeks Vinaigrette with Mimosa for French Fridays with Dorie.  

Had it not been for FFwD, I would have never thought of making any dish with leeks as the star ingredients. However since Dorie's recipes are unique and never ceases to surprise, I decided to try. The ingredient list was small, so sticking to the recipe felt important. But there was no way that was happening this time. There was no sherry vinegar in our local grocery store.  I had to make do with whatever I had and proceeded thus....

I trimmed the leeks off the root and the dark green parts, cleaned them, tied four of them in a bundle and cooked them for 20 minutes in salted boiling water. Meanwhile I boiled an egg and in a cup whisked together some Dijon mustard, olive oil, walnut oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar. Once the leeks were done, I snipped the thread holding them together, sliced two of them crosswise, left the other two as it is, poured the vinaigrette over them and finally grated a quarter of the hard-boiled egg over the leeks. 

 

The grated egg was suppose to look like mimosa on the stalk.  It was not until later that I found the above image of mimosa... so my plate of leeks simply looked like cooked leeks with vinaigrette and grated egg. 

My husband avoids egg yolks so there was no "mimosa" on his plate. He neither praised nor complained about the leeks vinaigrette.  I thought  that the walnut-balsamic vinegar vinaigrette was great and that the leeks that had been cut crosswise tasted better since the vinaigrette had seeped into them. I however was not thrilled about the dish, just glad that I tried.

Visit French Fridays with Dorie to know what the other members thought about this dish. You can find the recipe here. For more such recipes get your copy of Dorie Greenspan's book  Around my French Table and starting relishing.


I shall be sharing this at some of these weekly parties.
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2.5.14

Tuna Rillettes (+ Salad Niçoise Sandwich ) # French Fridays with Dorie


In French cuisine, rillettes are appetizers usually made with pork or goose meat that is diced, seasoned, cooked, then pounded or ground and served as a spread.  As the title suggests, this week the Doristas were assigned to prepare Tuna rillettes... that is a spread with tuna. 

The recipe was quick and got done in less than 10 minutes. All I had to do was to empty two drained cans of tuna in the jar of the blender, add a finely chopped shallot, bit of curry powder, bit of ground all spice, few tablespoons of heavy cream, salt, pepper and lime juice to it, blend the mixture to a smooth paste and refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving.

Of course we, that is my son and I did not wait that long to taste the rillettes. As soon as the spread as ready, I scooped out a spoonful, tasted and immediately decided to make myself a Sandwich along the lines of Salad Niçoise, the salad that had inspired the Mediterranean Chicken salad. Little boy on the other hand tasted the spread and asked me if I had made a fish smoothie... Yes my rillettes did seem like a smoothie because of the 4 tablespoons of heavy cream that I had added at a go, but it was tasty nevertheless...

And in my "Salad Niçoise sandwich" it was simply wonderful ! 


For the sandwich, I toasted two slices of bread, generously slathered the rillettes on both of them, then piled  a handful of baby spinach, 4-5 strands of boiled green beans, 3-4 thin slices of boiled potato, 4 halved cherry tomatoes, 3 halved black olives, 2 capers and an anchovy on one slice of bread, seasoned it with salt and pepper and sandwiched it with the second slice of bread. Since the rillette had enough flavors, I decided to skip the vinaigrette. That was a good idea for the sandwich was perfect as it was. In fact I enjoyed it so much that I decided to repeat today's lunch menu for the next few days....   



Visit French Fridays with Dorie to know what the other members thought about this spread. You can find the  recipe for the tuna rillettes here . For more such delicious recipes order your copies of Around my French Table and join the Doristas in this tasty adventure.

I shall be sharing this recipe at some of these parties.
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