April 2019 Dorie Recipes!

Here I am on April 30th posting the recipes for the month of April.  The original active blogging group did these about 7 years ago!!  This will be a lonely post unless I can get someone to read them.  I may try for my neighbor bff, patti the cook, lol!! She does a NYT cooking community on fb.  I'm not there yet but I might give it go!  Gotta finish Dorie.

So.....what did I cook this month? 

Garlicky broccoli
Vanilla Eclairs
Mustard Batons
St. Paul pepper steak

I liked the addition of the fresh bread crumb topping for the broccoli.  It gave it something extra that without it makes you realize how boring broccoli on the plate looks!! haha.  Here it is with salmon, yum!

Don't even get me started on the eclairs!  I knew the vanilla cream would be easy enough and it tasted marvelous!  The eclair dough on the other hand was a bit tough....literally, ha.  I thought I could double up and drop 2 big tablespoons of the weird sticky dough and make big eclairs instead of small rounds.  Mistake number 1.  They puffed but remained doughy inside, denser than it should have been.  I expected a hollowed-out puff ball.  My husband is my food recipient and he told me that he was happy that they were ready to eat after 2 separate recipes were needed; two days were used to cook both of these.  Dorie gave permission to let them rest in the fridge for a couple of days.  He was SICK of hearing me complain that I didn't want to make them; I'm more a foody than a sweet eater.  I wailed about baking and making them like I do about coloring my hair, LOL. 

Didn't I misplace (or throw out to Goodwill) my french rolling pin.  Can't make mustard batons without one!  So I had to borrow one from a neighbor.   I used fabulous homemade mustard from my work buddy Carolyn.  Homemade tarragon mustard!!  The batons were a pretty easy bake and impressive looking I think.  Maybe next time I will twist them before baking.  I served these up to my nephew and his new wife Lenka for dinner along with the pepper steak.

The pepper steak.  I used bacon wrapped 5 oz petite filet mignons.  I really let them cook too long on the first side intial sear I think.  Beef isn't one of my favorites to cook either.  It looks pretty awful on the plate I think, too. 

April's recipes were split 50/50 in my book.  I base the score on my abilities to cook Dorie's recipes
decently.  I passed on the broccoli and batons.  Vanilla cream a thumbs up.  The eclair and steak the thumbs are more down....

And that's that.  See you in May! I hope I have more beautiful food to show then.  April was a stretch...

pepper steak

vanilla eclairs

mustard batons

garlicky broccoli