Simple Slow Roasted Tomatoes = FFWD

This Friday's French Fridays with Dorie was a very easy recipe.  Cherry tomatoes were cut in half, sprinkled with some olive oil, salt and pepper.  Garlic and herbs were added and they were roasted in a 225 degree oven for three hours.  I have a similar recipe that we serve with goat cheese and baguettes.

This method brings out a sweetness in the tomatoes.  I mixed mine with some cannelloni beans, red onions and a vinaigrette for a salad for lunch.

Mustard Batons

This weekend we welcomed a new addition to our mustard family.  Some of you might be wondering how we can accept any more members into our family.  Each one brings something to our lives, sometimes it is as simple as a little spice, maybe some sweetness, maybe a little French attitude but we relish each member of our family.  

This week's French Fridays with Dorie was a simple recipe for Mustard Batons.    I took my visiting brother in law to Rustlin Rob's in Fredericksburg, TX.  Rustlin Rob's is a condiment heaven.  I knew that I was making mustard batons for an appetizer for Easter so I visited the mustard section.  Maybe that was a mistake.  How many mustards are too many mustards?

When I tasted the Creole Cognac mustard  I knew that she had to come home with us.  The tangy, delightful flavor would be perfect for an appetizer.

 I unfolded some thawed puffed pastry and rolled it out to the required size.

 Mustard was spread on half of the pastry, it was folded, cut into one inch strips and brushed with a beaten egg.

I grew up outside of Philadephia, we used to go downtown to ride the escalators and eat hot pretzels.  When I hear mustard and bread, I can only think of topping it with flaky salt.

Delicious easy recipe.

Garlicky crumb-coated broccoli FFwD

This Friday's challenge for French Fridays with Dorie was a simple, delicious way to prepare some broccoli.  I steamed some stalks, sauteed some minced garlic in butter.  After the garlic was softened, I added breadcrumbs and then some chopped parsley.  The stalks had been drained and patted dry and were coated with the breadcrumbs.

Here is were I failed, by coating didn't coat.  Some of it got on, but most ended up sprinkled on the final dish.  I am a coating failure.

It was tasty.  A bit like broccoli scampi.   I like my broccoli cooked in olive oil, garlic and red peppers.  I'm not looking for a new method for one of my favorite veggies.  Maybe we are stuck in a rut, but I'm ok with that.

basque potato tortilla - ffwd

There is a suggestion at French Fridays with Dorie for a delicious Valentine's Day dinner.  The potato tortilla, served at warm temperature, is suggested as an appetizer.

Tortilla means something completely different in the Basque region of France than it does in Texas.  This is more like a room temperature omelet than anything that would be considered a tortilla in my neck of the woods.

You start by cooking some cubed Yukon Golds and diced onion in a cast iron pan.  Some rosemary,  garlic with the skin left on and salt and pepper are added to the potatoes and onions.  It is sauteed for about twenty minutes.  After the potatoes are tender, they are removed and the pan is wiped down.  The garlic and rosemary are removed, I had to hunt around for the garlic skins.

9 large eggs that have been beaten with salt and pepper and a pinch of cayenne are mixed with the potatoes and onions.  The mixture is returned to the oil coated skilled, cooked slowly and then put under the broiler for final browning.

We ate the tortilla warm.  My husband and daughter enjoyed it.

sweet and spicy cocktail nuts - FFwD

One of December's recipes for French Fridays with Dorie are sweet and spicy cocktail nuts.  I really shouldn't make spicy nuts.  It is so difficult for me to stay away from them.  How many could you eat? 


It is a simple recipe.  Mix up some sugar, salt, chili powder, cinnamon and cayenne.  Moisten some nuts with egg whites and then coat with the spice mixture.  Put them a cookie sheet, and bake until dry.

I like spicy nuts.  I have a recipe that I like a little more that uses fresh cracked pepper in place of the chili powder.  Maybe this Christmas I should try different spicy nut recipes and give them away as gifts.  And out of each recipe, I will only eat three.  Or not.

Roast chicken for les paresseux - FFwD

This is my new favorite roast chicken recipe.  You start by rubbing the inside of a dutch oven with olive oil.  Then a slice of bread is placed in the bottom of the dutch oven, a bed for the bird.  A five pound chicken is seasoned inside and out with salt and pepper.  Some sprigs of herbs and half a head of garlic are put in the cavity.  The chicken is put on its bead along with some more herbs, a little oil and water and the other half of the garlic.  Put it into a 450 degree oven for 45 mins.  Then add some potatoes, shallots, carrots that have been tossed in olive oil.  Continue roasting for 45 more mins.

Paresseaux means lazy people.  I'm glad to be one.  This was another easy recipe from Dorie Greespan's around my french table.    The French Fridays with Dorie group is baking their way through the delicious recipes.


I will make this again, if only for the crispy piece of bread hiding under the bird...

Brown-Sugar Squash and Brussel Sprouts en Papillote - FFwD

I am enjoying cooking my way through Dorie Greenspan's around my french table.   When the recipe suggestions for November's French Fridays with Dorie were posted, I knew that I could not vote for brussel sprouts.  Evil little cabbages.


My father grew them in our huge backyard garden.  And they grew well.  Towering trees of evil little cabbages.  I think that the groundhogs and rabbits ignored them.


We were a "clean plate" family.  I happened to sit close to the trash can, during brussel  sprouts season, little balls would roll across the table from my five siblings and I would quickly dispose of them and one of my brothers would hurry to empty the trash after dinner.

Every so often, I will run across a brussel sprout lover.  I am always surprised that they exist.  I have tried brussel sprouts.  They are attractive little balls, you would think that they should taste good.  I have roasted them, steamed them, simmered them, pureed them.  With the same conclusion.  Evil little cabbages.


Some how, I continue to find myself drawn to them.  There they were in the grocery store, beautiful looking perfect balls.  I bought them.  Maybe this time I could find the right recipe.  Then I remembered Dorie's recipe.  This recipe was concocted by Dorie solely because the main ingredients were next to each other in the farmers market when she went shopping.  Really, that is how it works for her.

I was hesitant because I don't generally like sugar on my vegetables.  I checked the ingredient list.  I happened to have a butternut squash in the pantry, and granny smith apples had been on sale.  I have a backyard full of sage.  I always have brown sugar, salt, pepper and olive oil.

I peeled and cubed some butternut squash, cut the evil little cabbages in half, cut up an apple and mixed it all together.  I sprinkled the mixture with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Put some of the mixture in the middle of tin foil squares, topped it with sage and the tiniest amount of brown sugar and popped it into the oven.

I liked it.  I amazingly liked it.  I mean if I had a friend who was growing the evil little cabbages and came over to dinner with them, I have a recipe.  This is a weight off my shoulders, at almost the half century mark I can clean those brussel sprouts off my plate!

Hachis Parmentier FFwD

Hachis Parmentier

This week's challenge was Hachis Parmentier, the French version of shepherd's pie.  We really enjoy a good shepherd's pie in my house so I was excited to try this recipe.

        

You start by making a delicious broth and cooking the beef.  I doubled the amount of beef called for and used two pounds of tenderized cube steak.  It was simmered with onions, carrots, celery, garlic, parsley, bay, salt and pepper and water.

I have huge bay tree taking over my back yard and am always happy to use some fresh bay.

 

 

When the beef was cooked, it was chopped into bite sized pieces.  The broth was removed.  I sauteed an onion.  I like onion and beef in my shepherd's pie.  Some sausage was sauteed and I combined the onions and beef.  The mixture was moistened with the leftover broth. 

How do you mash your potatoes?  I love my potato ricer.

Potato Ricer

A delicious batch of mashed potatoes was made.  I used Yukon Gold.  Cooked, riced, and mixed with milk, cream and butter, seasoned with salt and pepper, heavenly.  These were put on top of the meat mixture, covered with some Gruyere and Parmesan and baked.

This was a delicious Sunday dinner.

Gerard's Mustard Tart - French Fridays with Dorie

This is the second week of French Fridays with Dorie, or FFwD. FFwD is a group of bloggers making their way through Dorie Greenspan's new book around my french table. Last week, I was late posting, I posted on Saturday. I am striving to be prompt this week.

Gerard's mustard tart was made by a friend of Dorie's. Perhaps you can guess who? Gerard. Recipes that friends make for you most always are delicious. The food becomes intertwined with the evening and memories. Gerard uses an old fashioned, a l'ancienne, mustard. So I started by searching for the correct mustard.



I thought for certain that I had found it. When I returned home, a closer look at the label revealed a tiny line that read "Product of Canada, manufactured for maille-dijon france." Do you think that the mustard knows that it is not really French? It is delicious, but an impostor.

The recipe starts with a tart shell. This one was made with flour, sugar, salt, butter, ice water and egg. It came together quickly in the food processor and then was chilled, rolled out and baked.



Carrots and leeks were cut into three inch pieces and steamed with a sprig of rosemary. The rosemary left a delicate, delightful flavor.

The eggs, Crème Fraîche, dijon mustard, maille mustard and white pepper were combined, put into the tart shell. The vegetables were arranged on top and baked.



What a tasty Sunday dinner. My husband was so excited to bring the leftovers to work.