Monthly Archives: November 2011

November 30, 2011 · 10:21 PM

Indoor S’Mores

Yum!

I was a little bit naughty last night, and now I want to enable you to be a little bit naughty too.

I was in the mood for a little treat, but we didn’t seem to have anything good around. Then my husband came out of the kitchen eating a marshmallow and a wonderful idea popped into my head! A S’more!

This is so easy: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place half a graham cracker on a baking sheet. Put a square or two of chocolate on the graham cracker, and top with a marshmallow. Place in the oven for 5 minutes, or until the chocolate is melted and the marshmallow puffed and golden. Remove from the oven and press the other half of the graham cracker on top. Careful! The chocolate will be hot, but it will be oh, so gooey and delicious!

Enjoy!

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November 28, 2011 · 10:08 PM

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving (Photo by Rob Cunningham)

This past Thursday was Thanksgiving in the United States.  I hope all of my American readers had a lovely holiday!  I have so much to be thankful for:  family, friends, health, a roof over our heads, my husband’s job that allows me to stay home, and the luxury to cook for fun rather than just to feed our bellies (among many other things to be thankful for!).

For my family, all holidays revolve around food.  But none is the food so steeped in tradition than Thanksgiving.  This year I had the honor of hosting my family for the first time ever!  In total, there were eleven of us sitting down to feast and give thanks, which is a lot for my small family.  The youngest was my almost 3 year old niece, and the oldest my 90 year old Grandma.  Four generations were represented!

Action Shot!

I had a great time planning and preparing the meal.  I knew early on that I would be preparing a couple of items from Around My French Table for appetizers.  When the November French Fridays with Dorie recipes were announced, I was very pleased to see last Friday’s pick was “cook’s choice”.  I chose two recipes that were made by the group before I joined in: Gougeres and Sweet and Spicy Cocktail Nuts.

Gougeres (Photo by Rob Cunningham)

The Gougeres were a huge hit!  How can you go wrong with something that is basically a cream puff flavored with cheese?  These are the perfect make-ahead appetizer since they can be frozen after shaping and baked straight from the freezer (we won’t go into the fact that I didn’t quite manage to get them made ahead of time).

Sweet and Spicy Cocktail Nuts (Photo by Rob Cunningham)

The Sweet and Spicy Cocktail Nuts were also well received.  A couple of us (including myself) wished the flavor of the chili powder had been a bit more pronounced, but others were glad they weren’t spicy.  I used a mix of almonds, cashews, and brazil nuts.  Pecans would also be a delicious choice.

The Turkey and all the Trimmings (sorry for the flash - it was the only way I could get a decent shot with the light I had)

My menu was a mix of family favorites and new dishes.  I was told in no uncertain terms that I must make the “Kerschbaum Family Stuffing” and a turkey, but was otherwise given free reign.  Here is the complete menu:

Appetizers:

Gougeres
Sweet and Spicy Cocktail Nuts
Infamous Crab Dip
Goat Cheese rolled in Dried Cranberries (purchased)
Assorted crackers and tortilla chips

Main Event:

Roast Turkey and Gravy
Sage Stuffing
Pioneer Woman’s Creamy Mashed Potatoes
Brussels Sprouts with Marjoram & Pine Nuts
Twice-Baked Garlic Sweet Potatoes
Sugared Carrots
Cranberry Sauce

Dessert:

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie with Gingersnap Pecan Crust
Dorie Greenspan’s Favorite Pecan Pie

Finally, I have always wanted to try the “Poll” feature on WordPress and finally thought of an excuse to use it!  Tell me which Thanksgiving recipe you would like me to share:

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November 17, 2011 · 9:27 PM

Braised Cardamom-Curry Lamb

This week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe is Braised Cardamom-Curry Lamb (which I nominated this month!).  It is a traditional stew with untraditional flavors.  The traditional:  lamb, onions, garlic, and potatoes browned in olive oil and then braised on the stove for over an hour.  The untraditional: mint, curry powder, cardamom, honey, dried figs, and apple.

Braised Cardamom-Curry Lamb

The end result is a delicious stew that I served over rice pilaf with peas on the side.  I loved the complex flavors.  My 7 year old daughter LOVED this!  She often shies away from red meats, but this one she devoured.  A hit with the whole family!

Not so much a hit was last week’s FFWD recipe (which I made but never got around to posting about):  Spiced Squash, Fennel, and Pear Soup.  On paper it sounded delicious.  Roasted butternut squash was cooked with onion, fennel, celery, spices, and pears.  The whole thing was pureed and served with a drizzle of cream.  While we didn’t hate this (actually my daughter may have hated it) we didn’t love it either.  I have made other butternut squash soups that we like better.  One thing I particularly didn’t like was the overpowering flavor of the orange peel (I wasn’t sure if the peel was to be removed before pureeing the soup; I didn’t remove it, but definitely would next time).

Spiced Squash, Fennel, and Pear Soup

Next week’s French Friday is “cook’s choice”.  I will be catching up on a couple of FFWD recipes I missed and my whole extended family will be the guinea pigs.  I can’t wait!

Finally, I want to apologize to my fellow bloggers for not reading and commenting on your blogs much lately.  I have been having trouble finding the time to read my blogs and it doesn’t look like I’ll have much time until after Thanksgiving weekend.  Hopefully the week after Thanksgiving I will have some time to catch up.  I have missed you guys!

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November 9, 2011 · 8:23 AM

First Blogiversary and the Seven Links Game

One year ago today I started my blog.  I had been wanting to have a blog for several years and finally one day I just did it!  I am impressed with myself for posting pretty regularly throughout the course of the year.  It has been a lot of fun sharing my cooking (and other) adventures with you and discovering new blogs and bloggers along the way.

To celebrate the first anniversary of my blog I have unveiled a new header and made a few minor cosmetic changes.  What do you think?  (If you are reading this via email or a blog reader, please click through to see the changes!)

A couple of months ago Elaine from California Living invited me to play a game called “Seven Links”.  I have been meaning to get to it for a while now, and decided that sharing my links on my first blogiversary would be a fun way to reflect back on the year and help some of my newer readers “catch up”.  I have to admit I stole this idea from Theresa at One Wet Foot, as she also played the “Seven Links Game” on the first anniversary of her blog.

Let’s get started!

1) Most Beautiful Post

Isn’t this quiche beautiful?  Spinach and Bacon Quiche

Spinach & Bacon Quiche

I was very happy with the photos I got for this post.  The lighting was great and the subject attractive.  I had a lot of fun with this one!

2) Most Popular Post

I am defining most popular as “most views”.  The clear winner is Basic Rice Pilaf.

Basic Rice Pilaf

This post got a big boost after it was first published when Mark Bittman tweeted about it!  Check out the post comments to see his Tweet.  But even if you take away the views resulting from that Tweet this post still has the most views.  I get at least one hit every day from someone searching for “rice pilaf” or “basic rice pilaf”.

3) Most Controversial Post

There’s nothing very controversial about me or my blog, so I am redefining this one to be “Most Commented Post”:  Bread and Chowder.

Bread and Chowder

Bread and Chowder

Something about the combination of Dorie Greenspan’s Savory Cheese and Chive Bread and this fish ch0wder is very appealing.  Re-reading this post makes me want to recreate the meal!

4) Most Helpful Post

My first and only tutorial:  Cooking en Papillote – A Tutorial.

Cooking en Papillote

I hope readers find this helpful!

5) Most Surprisingly Successful Post

This is a tough one, but I choose Tourteau de Chèvre.

Tourteau de Chevre

I chose this post as most surprisingly successful because I wasn’t sure about even making the dessert and then I ended up LOVING IT!

6) Post That Did Not Get the Attention it Deserved

This family recipe needs some loving: Macaroon Cake.

Macaroon Cake

Macaroon Cake

This cake is quick and easy and delicious!  It didn’t get the attention it deserved because I posted it so early in my blog’s history.  I hardly had any readers when I posted it, so go check it out now!

7) The Post I’m Proudest Of

I learned a new technique:  Adventures in Puff Pastry.

Adventures in Puff Pastry

Not only did I try my hand at making puff pastry, but I made whole wheat puff pastry and it actually puffed!

A big THANK YOU to all my readers out there – thanks for reading!

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November 4, 2011 · 9:33 PM

Honey-Glazed Duck Breasts

This week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe represents a first for me:  cooking with duck.  In fact, I suspect it is a first for many of my fellow Doristas.

It’s funny how the mind can play tricks on you.  When I read the label on the duck breasts I purchased, I thought it said, “Peking Duck Breasts”.  It seemed a little strange that someone would assume I’d be making Peking Duck.  Then I read Dorie’s “basics” on duck and found that “Pekin” ducks are a common type of duck available in the U.S.  I checked my label again and sure enough it said, “Pekin Duck Breasts”.  I learned something new!

Back to the cooking of the duck.  Twenty-Minute Honey-Glazed Duck Breasts is an excellent introduction to cooking with duck.  Breasts are a lot less scary than a whole duck, and the recipe takes you through all the necessary steps for successfully cooking with duck:  scoring the skin and fat, letting the duck “rest” in the oven for a few minutes, and mentioning that duck is best when it is still a bit rare.  Also, duck breasts are best served sliced on the diagonal; it helps tenderize them.

Cooking went smoothly for me.  Although I do feel the timing in the recipe is more appropriate for larger duck breasts.  I had small duck breasts and found the cooking times to be a little long.  In fact, I overcooked them slightly.

I enjoyed cooking and eating the duck.  The balsamic-honey-lime sauce was really nice with the meatiness of the duck.  I served these on a bed of mixed greens with roasted potatoes on the side.  I was surprised that the duck was more like meat than chicken.  I doubt I will cook with duck very often, but this was a fun recipe to try!

See how the other FFwD participants fared cooking duck here:  Honey-Glazed Duck Breasts.

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