I’m back! Well, I wasn’t really gone, but I have felt very out of touch the last few months. I don’t get much personal time during the summer months, so have not been able to do nearly as much blog reading or writing as I would have liked. School started today, so now I have more time!
I’m a few days late, but this past week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe is the group’s 100th! Depending on how I count, I have completed either 88 or 91 of them (Update: My official count is 90. I found a couple recipes “hidden” in other posts, and it turns out one week last November we had “cook’s choice” instead of a specific recipe, so the actual recipe count is 99 even though this is the 100th week.). Either way, I am pretty pleased with how many I have done.
Peach Melba
The 100th recipe was the perfect dessert for celebrating our milestone: Peach Melba. This classic French dessert is easy and delicious.
Perfectly ripe peaches were poached whole in a simple syrup flavored with lemon zest, vanilla, and crème de cassis. The peaches were halved and served with vanilla ice cream, raspberry sauce, and whipped cream, then topped off with sliced almonds.
The flavors of this dessert worked so well together! I am generally not a fan of raspberry but I decided to give it a try in honor of this classic flavor combination. I have to admit, the raspberry flavor was the perfect counterpoint to the sweetness of the peaches and ice cream. This was a big hit, and I can see myself making it every summer to celebrate peach season.
Grated Carrot Salad
This past week I also made Café-Style Grated Carrot Salad. For some reason, I kept putting off making this one. I think it was mostly the thought of grating a pound of carrots that gave me pause. Of course it finally occurred to me that I could use my food processor and the grating went quite quickly.
Other than grating all those carrots, this salad couldn’t be more simple. The carrots are tossed with a simple honey-mustard vinaigrette and raisins. I had considered leaving out the optional raisins, but I am very glad I included them. The flavor and texture of the raisins really added to the salad.
I discovered the night I made this that carrot-raisin salads are one of my husband’s favorite salads. Who knew? This salad didn’t quite live up to his memory of the salad his mom used to make, but he still enjoyed it.
From Scratch 
That’s funny about the carrot salad as it is one of J’s favorites too! ;D
I might have to ask Gma for the recipe!
Your melba looks tasty 🙂
I only grated two carrots and made a mini salad – the thought of hand grating all those carrots was a bit daunting.
Great job on both dishes! We enjoyed these thoroughly, too.
Karen, Lovely job on both of your dishes! Who wouldn’t love the peach melba…it was a huge hit in my house! I used my food processor for the carrots, too. It made this salad very easy to put together. My original carrot salad included pineapple in the dressing and my husband missed that…but did enjoy this version!
Hi, Karen! Both look great, but your Peach Melba looks restaurant-worthy!
hi Karen, Nice to see you this week. I enjoyed both of these dishes, though the peach melba was a particular favorite. I just loved the flavors. I’ve saved the extra poaching liquid but haven’t figured out what to use it for. Maybe some flavored seltzer drinks.