Hummingbird Bars

For a while I have had Paula Deen's Hummingbird Cake in my to-bake list. But baking a three-tier cake with cream-cheese frosting does not make much sense unless you are baking for a crowd. So naturally, I had put the idea off for the time being when the inspiration for this lightened and somewhat healthier version of a Hummingbird Cake struck... a Hummingbird Bar ! If you've been here before , you probably have guessed already when and from where the inspiration came... Yes it was those Chocolate Banana Bars !

Chocolate Banana Bars

Ever since those addictive Chocolate Walnut Bars got over, I had been looking for an excuse to bake a fresh batch of chocolate bars. It was just happenstance that there were two terribly over-ripe bananas lying on the counter-top on the day I bumped into Mario Batali's Chocolate Banana Bars. 

Boulevard Raspail Corn on the Cob # French Fridays with Dorie

I love a corn on the cob. Back in India I would always buy myself one whenever fresh juicy corns were in season and a "bhutta-wala," (as we refer to the street vendors selling corn) was in sight. here, my favorite way of cooking corn is to grill it on stove-top and then spice it up with chilly, lime juice and salt. my husband does not enjoy this stove-top grilled corn much so i usually cook it for lunch. but yesterday things did not work out as I had scheduled  and i ended up roasting the corn in the evening. husband agreed to have some, may be because the recipe was Dorie's... and much to my amazement, he really liked it. yeah !!  

Thanks to Dorie for sharing the recipe of the vegetable lady selling corn in Boulevard Raspail. Had it not been for her I would have never thought of roasting unhusked ears of corn in the oven and delighting over it hence. It is certainly a wonderful and easy way of cooking the corn. just put the whole corn with husk and all in a 400 degree F oven, roast it for 40 minutes, turning it once at 20 minutes mark, remove the husk, butter the corn, sprinkle salt and pepper and enjoy ! 

try this recipe while corns are still in season and be prepared to be impressed ! happy Friday !

Visit here to know what the other members of french fridays with Dorie have to say. For many more delicious recipes such as this one 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.

Eggplant Tartine with Tomtoes, Olives and Cucumber # Make Up of French Fridays with Dorie

This week was Make Up week at French Fridays with Dorie. Since I have only recently joined the club I had a whole lot of recipes  to choose from. To start off with, I had the Duck Breast with fresh Peaches to try,  which I had skipped last week. but then my husband was absolutely unwilling to try duck. he had tried duck in Paris and had not liked it much. unwilling to take the trouble just for me felt expensive. so i skipped the idea altogether and flipped through the book for something easy and simple. one of the first things that came up was this eggplant tartine. we like baked eggplants and the Eggplant tartine with cherry tomatoes sounded like a perfect appetizer.

I am not sure what  I was expecting from this, but one bite into the tartine and it felt like I was taking a bite of "Deconstructed Baigan Bharta." though this tartine looks way too pretty to be compared with that Indian cousin of it, with all the tartness from the tomatoes, olive, capers and the vinaigrette, it tasted just as good as baingan bharta or should i say "my mother's baingan bharta." 

for those who do not know what "Baingan Bharta" is, it is a popular Indian dish cooked with roasted eggplants as the star ingredient and almost every Indian household has its own version of the "bharta." my mother's version with copious amounts of onion, garlic, tomatoes and coriander is gorgeously tart and extremely delicious and is one of my favorite vegetarian dishes. so yes, taste-wise i really liked this tartine. I also loved how easy it was to put together. however i thought it was a little cumbersome to handle. between me and my husband, we tackled it with our fingers but I am not sure if this is a tartine I'll like serving to my guests.    

Being a member of french fridays with Dorie, i cannot publish the original recipe in the blog. You can however this recipe here. For many more delicious recipes such as this one 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.

Tzatziki # French Fridays with Dorie

This week we were scheduled to whip up Tzatziki for French Fridays with Dorie.

As most of you know, Tzatziki is a basic part of Greek cuisine. Walk into any Greek diner in the NY Tri-state area and they'll serve you a bowl of tzatziki along with everything else that you have ordered. It is that chilled yogurt dip that accompanies and tastes awesome with spanokopita, pita, bread, kebabs, gyros, stuffed grape leaves... you name it.  

If you have always wondered what are all the ingredients that are stirred into Greek yogurt to make it that awesome dip... here is what it is.  

In a bowl of hung curd or Greek yogurt stir in some lemon juice, olive oil, a generous helping of mint and dill, some minced garlic and some freshly ground white pepper.

Finally throw in a good helping of finely chopped (preferably seedless) cucumber into the bowl. Oh make sure that the cucumber is well seasoned and the water had been drained off the vegetable before you add or it tends to make the dip a little too runny.  That's it ! Now isn't that an easy whip ?

As per Dorie's suggestions I had accompanied my bowl of Tzatziki with veggies but that wasn't very exciting.  It tasted far better with the meat balls that I had made for the toddler and the vegetable pakodas the husband had fried for us..... All in all its a good recipe to keep in mind for times when  you wish to add a little zing to your meal.....

Being a member of french fridays with Dorie, i cannot publish the original recipe in the blog. You can however find a similar recipe here. For many more delicious recipes such as this one 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.

Dieter's Tartine # French Fridays with Dorie

This week we assembled Dieter's Tartine for French Friday's with Dorie.

I say assembled, because that is exactly what we had to do. Just toast a slice of bread. Mix sour cream and cottage cheese . spread it on the toast. Spoon diced tomatoes and cucumbers on top. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle some chives and herbs if you please and your tartine is ready to eat. It was as easy as that. But really tasty and satisfying.

Apparently this pretty tartine is extremely popular with "ladies-who-lunch in Paris" since it is filling but not fattening. There they make is with non-fat fromage blanc. However Dorie said that a substitution of non-fat cottage cheese thinned with non-fat sour cream works just as well.  

Prior to this we did not have much regard for cottage cheese. But the combination works and really makes for a great lunch recipe. I feel that served on slices of cocktail bread(like this one here) a tartine will be great to nibble along with a shot of tomato juice or tomato soup depending on the season. Try it which ever way you please its a great combo and I highly recommend it to you !

update: 7/29/2013. Over the weekend we tried the tartine with a sprinkle of Herbs de Provence. It definitely makes a difference. The bottle of herbs was a bit expensive but it was so worth it..

Being a member of french fridays with Dorie, i cannot publish the original recipe in the blog. You can however this recipe here. For many more delicious recipes such as this one 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.