Tasty Tuesday #55 featuring easy dinner recipes..

Hi  everyone !! 

 Each week, our team of 10 amazing bloggers hosts this fabulous party! We're so glad that you've stopped by to party with us!

We blog: Anyonita Nibbles | Craft Dictator | Detours in Life | Lori's Culinary Creations | Red Cottage Chronicles |Three in Three | Mini Van Dreams| A Peek Into My Paradise | I'm Not a Trophy Wife | Ma Niche

Without you, we wouldn't have a party at all. So we think you're pretty special and deserve to benefit from linking up with us each week. Here's how:

Tasty Tuesday #47 ~ The Chocolate Edition

Hi  everyone !! 

 Each week, our team of 10 amazing bloggers hosts this fabulous party! We're so glad that you've stopped by to party with us!

We blog: Anyonita Nibbles | Craft Dictator | Detours in Life | Lori's Culinary Creations | Red Cottage Chronicles |Three in Three | Mini Van Dreams| A Peek Into My Paradise | I'm Not a Trophy Wife | Ma Niche

Without you, we wouldn't have a party at all. So we think you're pretty special and deserve to benefit from linking up with us each week. Here's how:

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.

Whole-Cherry Clafoutis # French Fridays with Dorie

This week we baked Whole-Cherry Clafoutis for French Fridays with Dorie.

Clafoutis is a rustic looking French country cake from the Limousin region. Its texture however makes it taste more like pudding than a cake. It was the first time I tasted this and the first bite instantly reminded me of my mothers gorgeous pudding with raisins and cashews. I believe her recipe is very similar to Dorie's, but since fresh cherries were and still are a novelty in the small town  where i grew, she always uses raisins instead and her pudding tastes as good. 

Though Dorie files this recipe under dessert, we enjoyed it more for breakfast. It is very fairly easy to make and not overly sweet even with the extra dusting of sugar. So this recipe makes a perfect weekend breakfast. Since we are a family of two and a quarterI whipped up the clafoutis with two-thirds of the ingredients and baked it in a loaf pan. It was just right to have for dessert on day one and for breakfast on the following two days. Though I served it with whipped cream, I felt that an extra helping of sugar was required to make it a dessert. The recipe was not sweet enough for us. 

Apparently the pudding tastes best when made with stemmed and un-pitted sweet cherries and served while it is still a little warm. But since I had sent my husband to get the cherries and forgot to specify the details, i ended up baking my pudding with frozen pitted cherries. and frankly speaking we did not mind the taste. Also my husband did not seem have any problem with having the pudding straight from the refrigerator. So I guess, he really liked it in spite of all its imperfections.

Being a member of french fridays with Dorie, i cannot publish the original recipe in the blog. You can however find this particular one 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.

French Ruffly Poached Eggs

The French sure know how to make the mundane look spectacular. 

Look what they did to the white of a poached egg. 

They found a way to ruffle it and called it Ruffly Poached Egg. 
I made one for lunch today and then snapped because it looked so pretty.. don't you agree ?

Hop over to Dorie's page to know how to make these.. I used her recipe and it worked great !

Sending the first photograph to "The Colour Me Photography Challenge Series"  ~ Colour Me White , a photography event  at Priya's  place The Humpty Dumpty Kitchen. 

Sending the second photograph to the Black and White Wednesday #90. Black and White Wednesday is a Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, now organized by Cinzia of Cindystar and this week Priya of  The Humpty Dumpty Kitchen is hosting it.

Sablé Breton Galette with Berries # French Fridays with Dorie

Yet another berrylicious dessert on the block !! and how gorgeous is it ?  

This week the Doristas chose to make Sablé Breton Galette with Berries. Though the dessert sounds rather complicated, it is really simple to whip up... the buttery crust is wonderful ! even before i put it in the oven I knew that it is going to be a favorite in our house. the butter and the sugar smelt so good. and of course it did not disappoint us. since my little one, is not fond of sauces, i gave him some crust  and berries while we were having the dessert. and his immediate reaction was "um more.." :-)  

and the lemon curd was simply A-W-E-S-O-M-E !! the easiest I have ever made and best I have ever tasted.. and just so that you know I have sampled lots ! I love lemon curd and without failure order a lemon tart for myself whenever I see one. since this one is whipped using whole eggs and not just the yolk it is lighter. plus you so not need whip it over a water bath (isn't that great ??).

of course this recipe uses tons of butter and might not be a dieter's favorite. but once in a while, an indulgence so delightful is always good for the soul.  it keeps you happy and satisfied... don't you agree ?

As a member of french friday's with Dorie I am not supposed to post the recipe on the blog. However you can find this particular recipe in Dorie's   July, 2009, Newsletter.  For more delicious recipes 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.

p.s : interested to know where the box of berries vanished after the first click. this is where they went. :-)

Raphanus Sativus aka European Red Radish...

Red Radishes got included in our meal plan recently. i.e when i stumbled upon this easy and delicious   Salata recipe in a Greek Cookbook that I had borrowed from the library. Till then I simply admired the vibrance of their hue. don't they look gorgeous !!

   

My husband took these photographs and he likes the second shot (the horizontal one) more. but i like both. so sending both the black and white photographs to Black and White Wednesday #88. 

Black and White Wednesday is a Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, now organized by Cinzia of Cindystar and this week Sreevalli of  Ammaji Recipes is hosting it.

p.s : As most of you might have guessed, Raphanus Sativus is the scientific name of Red Radish. I found it on wiki when i was feeling all geeky and wanted to find out some facts about these veggies...

update : Priya, the second colored click is for you  :-), 6/21/2013

French Fridays with Dorie : Back-of-the-Card Cheese and Olive Loaf

We LOVE olives. all three of us. even though the little one cringes every time he takes a bite, he will still ask for more. so i was certain that this loaf would be an instant hit with us. and I was right. we loved it. though Dorie suggested serving long fingers of the loaf as a pre-dinner nibble, on day one, I served slices of the loaf for dinner along with a simple broccoli soup, also from Dorie's book. the two paired up quite well and we felt so full afterwards that that day the rest of the dinner returned to the refrigerator untouched. no grudges about that. it just saved me from cooking up dinner the next day :-)

As Dorie says, originally this recipe or something close was printed on a card produced by the Comtè  cheese makers organization and distributed to fromageries all over France. She and Patricia Wells chanced upon them while shopping in Provence and later tweaked the recipe to make their own loaves. For my loaf I followed Dorie's recipe to bits and used Swiss cheese, tapenade, oil-cured black olives and orange zest. since my husband is not a fish-eater, initially i was a little wary about the use of tapenade in the recipe. i however realized later that there is really nothing fishy about it and quite enjoyed the slight pickle-y flavor that it added to the loaf.

Will I be baking it again  ? Oh. Yes. It is such a delicious loaf and takes so little time to put together !! I might however rethink the quantity of salt and serve it nibble-size with a drink, just as a French host would do... I am also keen on trying out the other variations that she suggested. A pesto loaf with pine nuts and sundried tomatoes is what i have in mind for the weekend. 

As a member of french friday's with Dorie I am not supposed to post the recipe on the blog. However you can find this particular recipe in Dorie's   June, 2009, Newsletter.  For more delicious recipes 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.

Pinwheels for Paratha... (BWW #82)

Last week I stumbled upon the pictorial recipe of Kerala paratha at Cooks Joy. Needless to say I tried it right away. though my  parathas' did not turn out as flaky as hers, i thought they were pretty good for a first attempt..

For the recipe hop over to Vardhani's place Cooks Joy. I am sure her clicks will tempt you to try your hands at the pleated pinwheels soon...

Sending the photograph to Black and White Wednesday #82, a photography event started by Susan of  The Well-Seasoned Cook, now organized by Cinzia of Cindystar and hosted this week by Alex of  Food4Thought.

                   

South Indian Filter Coffee...

These days I drink tea. because after have tasted the best filter coffee it is often difficult to compromise.... so in memory of my glorious coffee drinking years, here is a shot of an early morning  coffee from my Chennai days..

also, I recently stumbled upon this article in Times of India  on HOW TO MAKE FILTER COFFEE. perhaps its time to convert back... lets see....

Sending the photograph to Black and White Wednesday #81, a photography event started by Susan of  The Well-Seasoned Cook, now organized by Cinzia of Cindystar and hosted this week by Lynne of Cafe Lynnylu.

Oven dried oats vs Cheerios..

a while a back I had written a pretty lengthy post on how the chemical properties of oats makes it difficult to completely substitute all-purpose-flour with oat flour in most recipes. there i had also mentioned how soaking oats overnight and oven drying them before grinding helps increase the mineral absorption power of the oats. GNOWFGLINS is where i picked up all this information. and though that information was full-proof it wasn't for grabs for a busy mom... so i had been looking for alternatives. and last week the idea of ground Cheerios popped up...

for experiment sake i used it to bake a batch of chocochip cookies and it really worked.  so if you are also looking for an alternative to all that hard work... ground cheerios might be the solution. perhaps most of you knew it already... but thought i'll post it.. in case you have overlooked that cereal box lazing on your kitchen countertop.

Sending the image "CHEERIOS"  to Black and White Wednesday #79, a photography event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, now organized by Cinzia of  Cindystar and hosted this week by Shruthi of Food and Clicks.

Dough Crafting....

Baby Boy's first craft... impression on flour-play-dough that  he made in his daycare

and mamma's regular dough craft ... delicious aloo parathas rolled and fried to perfection each time following recipe from  Manjula's Kitchen.

Sending the first photograph to  Black and White Wednesday, a photography event started by Susan of the Well Seasoned Cook, now organized by Cinzia of Cindystar and hosted this week by Aparna Balasubramaniun at My Diverse Kitchen.

Sealing the freshness...

Asparagus is in season. even a big brunch is pretty inexpensive. a reason good enough for us to buy it in bulk. however the quantity is way too much for our family of two and a quarter. so a portion of the bunch always needs preserving. and the way is do it is by

trimming the ends of the spears....

placing the trimmed stalks upright in a glass with at least an inch of water...

covering the spears loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerating. a very useful tip that i learnt from

Nici  @ Posed Perfection.

Hop over to her space to gawk at her delicious asparagus topped pizza. i have it bookmarked for the weekend. don't you want a slice too ? 

Sending the first photograph to Black and White Wednesday, a photography event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, now organized by Cinzia of  Cindystar and hosted this week by Haalo of Cook Almost Anything.