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Thursday, May 5, 2011

First Recipe Baked from Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan – Tourteau de Chevre

I read about Dorie’s cookbooks and blogs from the May issue of Oprah magazine and was instantly intrigued with the concept.  So many times I cut recipes from magazines and newspapers and add it to the overflowing manila folders and boxes full of the same.  Truth be told, I cooked or baked a very small percentage of what I collected.  Many of the magazines would highlight a family or group of friends gathering as the impetus for the menu and, hence, the recipes that followed.  I wanted to create a similar gathering and had ‘days’ worth of such in the folder.  But they rarely made it out of the folder and into my pots and pans.
Dorie’s cookbooks and subsequent blogs created an instant community of cooks and bakers, all ready to share their replicated recipe and perhaps the details of the moment when the food was enjoyed by them and/or others.  I immediately ordered both of her cookbooks (Baking, and French Table) from Borders.  I then Googled Dorie’s blogs and found the Baking one first.  Alas, it was closed to new members for this time around but French Table was open to new members.  I emailed staff member Laurie asking how to do this blog thing.  She was quick to respond with the how-to’s and so here I am.
And so here is how my first baking recipe from the book went.  The Tourteau de Chevre looked scrumptious and after quickly perusing the ingredient list, I knew that it was doable.  The simplicity in which Dorie assures the reader of in the cooking or baking of her recipes seemed to hold true.  Simple but elegant was key for me to participate. 
I started with the tart dough first and decided to go with the recommended ‘plain’ tart dough.  It whirred together quite easily in my food processor and I flattened and refrigerated it for the recommended 3 hours.  Next was the filling.  I always get alittle nervous when whipping egg whites, always afraid I will under beat or over beat!  They seemed to come out fine and I set them aside.  Had the husband run to store for the goat cheese.  Cut a corner here and bought 2 packs totaling 8 ounces instead of buying a 3rd for just one ounce.  When adding the ingredients to the yolk and cheese mixture, the husband and son got to talking and distracted me long enough that I found I had sprinkled some of the cornstarch over the egg whites instead of into the yolk and cheese mix.  For a minute panic set in—asking myself how to get the sprinkled cornstarch out of the egg whites and into the yolk mixture without bringing in the egg whites too soon.  Well, there was no ditching going to happen, I had come too far and lacked another full set of ingredients to do a redo.  I assembled the torte and into the oven it went.
I told my husband to take the first slice after posing the torte for a picture.  He and my son are my ‘testers’.  Husband sliced and took a bite.  A few seconds passed.  ‘Good,’ he said but there was not the anticipated ‘mmmm, good.’ Then he said, ‘really good’.  I then tasted it.  I liked the savory sweetness and the texture.  A not-too-sweet cake.  We ate it morning, noon, and night.  My husband saved the last piece for me. Next time I would change the crust to the sweet tart dough.
So while the creation of the tourteau de chevre did not revolve around a planned event or gathering, it was created with love for my husband and son.  Son allowed himself one piece as he is focused on how much fat he eats these days (he’s building muscle with workouts and protein shakes).  And I am looking forward to reading others blogs with whom I am sharing  these cookingexperiences with.

7 comments:

  1. Welcome! This is only my second week participating (though I've been cooking from this book on my own for a while), and I think it's really fun to see how everyone turns out a different product and has a different experience, even though we're all using the same recipe. Your cake looks great, and I'm glad your family enjoyed it.

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  2. Hey, thanks for replying to my post! Now I am not alone, lol. I have to get a picture up on Dorie's blog site, guess I have to use that Gravatar site to do that. I will be looking at others posts on the torte (yours, too.) Have a nice weekend!
    Kathleen

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  3. Welcome aboard! Glad you joined in for the challenge. I love the community that has formed around Dorie's cooking - and we've been able to try some pretty good food along the way too... As Ei noted - it is really great fun to see how each member's twist on the same recipe.

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  4. Welcome to the group! You'll have fun. As the others said, it's so interesting to see how different cooks interprete the same recipe. As I read the other bloggers each week, I make a list of ideas for when I repeat a recipe. Excellent first effort.

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  5. Welcome, you are going to enjoy this. Tricia and I have been
    contributing to FFwD since October and we have a lot of fun each week.
    Your cake turned out well and looks delicious.

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  6. Welcome to FFwD! your first recipe looks great. You will love this group and hopefully make good friends like I have :)

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  7. Welcome! I did the same thing. Tons of recipes from websites and cookbooks galore- and did I make 5% of what I read. Maybe if I was lucky. But now there's a schedule and I learn something new every week. I think you're going to love it! Looking forward to following your success.

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