Happy French Friday! How is your December going? Mine’s been busy, but with fun stuff like a birthday party for my daughter and Christmas preparations. I’ve been decking the halls and trimming the tree!
Thank goodness for last week’s easy French Fridays with Dorie recipe, since I doubled up this week with it and the current week’s recipe. I also have a little bonus at the end of this post!
Lamb and Dried Apricot Tagine
This week the group made a Moroccan-inspired dish called Lamb and Dried Apricot Tagine. Lamb shoulder, onions, tomatoes, and dried apricots were braised slowly in broth infused with exotic spices, including garlic, saffron, ginger, cumin, and cinnamon. To finish, each serving was sprinkled with toasted almonds and chopped cilantro. I served it with plain couscous, which was perfect for soaking up the flavorful sauce.
We liked this! My husband wasn’t sure about the apricots when he saw them, but it turned out he had nothing to worry about. I loved the variety of flavors and textures. A hit for sure!
Tartine de Viande des Grisons
Next up is a simple open-faced sandwich: Tartine de Viande des Grisons. The hardest part about this one was finding the bresaola, a dry-cured beef from Italy. Interestingly, I looked for this at Whole Foods and they didn’t have it, but when I returned a week later they did!
Like I said, this one is simple. Lightly toast a slice of country bread, butter it generously, top with a layer of bresaola, drizzle with a bit of walnut oil, and strew on a few pieces of walnut. Cut and eat!
Yum! This made a lovely little lunch that I enjoyed very much.
Bonus: Red Kuri Soup Redux
Finally, I found a “real” red kuri squash while in Seattle for Thanksgiving. I brought it home and re-made the red kuri soup from a few weeks ago. If you recall, I wasn’t convinced the squash I found here in Reno was really a red kuri squash. Or it least it wasn’t the kind you can find in France. As you can see, the one I found in Seattle looks more “authentic”.
I made the soup again with my new squash. It definitely had a different flavor and we liked it much more. My husband wasn’t comparing this version to boxed soup. Whew! However, I don’t think we liked it as much as the French seem too. I think I will stick with my favorite butternut squash soup recipe. But I am glad to have tried this with the second squash.
I hope you all have a good weekend!
From Scratch 
I love how determined you were to make the soup with the proper squash!
The things we do for this group:-) Love that you brought a squash back home from vacation with you. Sorry it wasn’t a huge hit, but at least now you know. It seems that the past month has really tested our procurement abilities. I’ve been lucking out since many of these are easier to source in Europe than the US, but it’s certainly made things interesting.
I couldn’t justify carrying a kuri squash back with me on the plane… my non-wheeled carry on already weighted over 20 lbs. I salute your determination.
Sounds like the holiday cheer is spreading fast at Casa From Scratch. I hope you keep enjoying it!
It’s nice to know someone is immersed in the holiday cheer of December and NOT sounding stressed. Keep it up! All of your French Friday dishes look delicious. I was very excited about the tagine. It really hit the spot with the wintry weather we’ve been having here. Hope the horrid west coast weather this week didn’t affect you where you are. Happy Birthday to your daughter!
Wow…you really have been cooking up a storm! Everything looks so mouthwatering! I’ve also been decking the halls and putting up the tree…so my tagine did not get made. However, I did make the Red Kuri soup…it was luscious!
Everything looks wonderful. Each and everyone of these recipes were great, and you did a wonderful catch up on all. We loved this tagine recipe
and I would love to try it with other meats, especially chicken.
I’m having a good busy time… if only my kids activities would slow down a little. Amazing catch up on some great recipes… happy holidays.
Happy birthday to your daughter. You have been busy cooking this week. I have yet to find the red kuri squash.
oooh lucky! I should have purchased the red kuri squash that I saw when I came across it but alas, I didnt. major mistake. seriously. all your make ups look great!
The things we do 🙂 Love your trio of goodies.