Recipe Swap "Onion" Carbonara # French Fridays with Dorie

Cooking French on alternative Fridays seems to have become a norm with me. Though last week was different. I was travelling and there was no way I could have cooked or shared my review of Mme. Maman's Chopped Liver. The mixed reviews by Doristas are however making me curious about the dish, so you'll probably hear my opinions about it soon. For now let me tell you much I enjoyed Onion Carbonara...

Dorie describes this recipe as a variation of chef Michel Richard's play on the classic spaghetti carbonara. Since I have never tried the latter I cannot comment how the two compare in taste. All I can say is that onion carbonara is a very easy and tasty dish. All you need to do is steam the onions until they are just "al dente". Then saute the steamed onions with bacon bits and cream and finally dress it up with a yolk and cream sauce and a drizzle of Parmesan cheese. The process takes less than 10 minutes (provided you have bits of precooked bacon in your freezer) and the dish tastes amazing when served as a side with spicy chicken and plain rice.

I had cooked half of the recipe and immediately afterwards had a small portion for lunch. I liked it but was not overly excited. But when I had the chilled version for dinner, I realized why Dorie spoke so highly about it. Funny Dorie suggests serving it as soon as the yolk and cream dressing is added... I really enjoyed the chilled version better. 

Visit French Fridays with Dorie to know what the other members thought about onion carbonara.

You can find a version of the recipe here .  As I mentioned I cooked half of the recipe and used fat free sour cream in place of cream. For Dorie's original recipe and more such delicious ones order your copies of Around the French Table from Amazon or from The Book Depository and join us as we cook our way through the book.  

Salty-Sweet Potato Far # French Fridays with Dorie

Bacon, Eggs & Potato baked into a cake with prunes and raisins.... 

now what can there be not to like about this dish... I had thought while reading the recipe... but somehow it did not appeal to me much. It was different and tasted nice with the simple chicken stew I had prepared to go with it.  However it wasn't great. Definitely not as good  as Dorie has described it to be. 

I had halved the recipe but did not adjust the baking time. Neither did I tent the far with a foil while it was baking. All that might have contributed to its browned surface and crusty edges... but that part did not bother us at all. The only complain my husband had was about the raisins. Though I had put the full measure of bacon in half the measure of batter, my husband thought that the raisins were overpowering the taste of bacon. He said that he would prefer the far with less or no raisins. I did not mind the raisins or the prunes... they were okay.. though I think I might like them better in this sweet version of potato far.

Overall this dish was a bit too French for us. I had been intrigued by the name and the list of ingredients in the far and I am glad I tried it once... but I will probably not bake it again.

Visit French Fridays with Dorie to know what the other members thought about this "savory far".

 For the recipe order your copies of Around the French Table from Amazon or from The Book Depository and join us as we cook our way through the book.