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

Dorie Days in March 2019

Well, no one is reading this blog anyway, lol, since the group long since finished the Around My French Table with Dorie Greenspan.

I am here to play catch-up.....I have 3 pics for the last 3 weeks of March (first recipe I posted separately).

Beggars Linguine - a surprisingly good pasta dish as Dorie promised.  This was a girls night dinner, wine, and a movie!
Salt and Butter Break-ups - I'd call that one a huge shortbread cookie, pretty good.  I burned it terribly because I was cooking food at the same time.  I should have used my airbake and kept a better eye on it.  I cut the burnt part off and hubby snacked on this over the week with his coffee. 
Orange Caramel Scallops and Ginger Carrots - Just loved this scallop dish, I used local fresh sea scallops, I think it's my favorite shell fish.  Dorie suggested that the gingered carrots were a perfect accompaniment to the scallops and I hadn't made them yet so I did! This was our Friday night dinner.

Back to Dorie.......8 years later! Savory Cheese & Chive Bread (originally scheduled for 3/2011)

Hello, out there!  My fellow 'Dorians' have long finished the cookbook and have moved on but not me!  I took a break, several years in fact, but decided that I wanted to continue cooking my way through 'Around My French Table' by Dorie Greenspan.

So it's March!  It's been cold this week!  Good time for warm, freshly baked bread so I was happy when I looked at the list of recipes that I hadn't done yet and bread was at the top.  This one was from March 2011!

Savory Cheese & Chive Bread
Page 35

Not the best angle, I admit (forgot how to rotate pics in the blog).

I used a goat's milk hard cheese and freeze-dried chives.  It's a dense, cheesy, chivy, savory bread that reminds me of cornbread.  I like it as a snack.  Good with a cup of tea or coffee or milk!

So starts my lonely blogging journey as I resume my cooking adventures with Dorie.  

Full disclosure:  I got to missing it and the other bloggers that I went online to try to find the group but no such luck.  So I googled for other cookbook blogger groups.  I found just one-it's a Wok Wednesday blogger group based on the 'Breath of a Wok' cookbook.  So even though I bought the cookbook and have the not-recommended nonstick wok (it's by a well-known cook though I can't recall his name at the moment) I still was feeling nostalgic about my Dorie group and book.

So here I am!   

Catching Up With French Fridays with Dorie in 2014

Here's to a great new year - 2014!  I hope it's a good one for everyone around Dorie's French Table. Instead of New Year's resolutions, I try to determine a mindset for the year. So 2014 is all about optimism. I am feeling optimistic about everything - finishing my certificate in Instructional Technology Design, expanding my role in my job, my family's good health, a wonderful sweet spring, a great garden, long hot summer days....even though it's about 19 degrees outside right now.  Whew- what a winter southern New Jersey has had so far!  Way too cold (damn frigid) and some decent snowstorms (by our standards)!

Our wonderful neighbor Rob was snow-blowing the driveway again this morning for us and as I past him on my way to work, he cheerfully (not) reminds me that we have about 8 more weeks of this!  I use this weather to do some cleaning-out in the house and minor little fun projects, like recovering my bar stools (they look great in their new black ultrasuede!), or getting stuff together for  Goodwill runs.  I just love a reorganized closet!

And that led me to think about Dorie and the Around My French Table cookbook blogging.  Gosh, I have missed participating and reading other Dorista blogs on the same!  But I have to accept the starts and stops with it though I so admire (and envy) the staying power of many members of the group.  So, I jumped on the French Fridays with Dorie blog to see what was happening.  The January menu was there, but there was a new link, one that spelled the coming end.......Recipes Left to Complete.  I felt a bit of a panic and sadness realizing that the cooking and blogging was nearing its shelf life.  It seems this is the last year.

It's January, a new month in a new year.  So I start again......and somehow I've got to see this last year through.  I'll be starting another class next week so that's gonna fight for most of my free time but I am determined.  Instead of a weekly recipe and blog, mine might be monthly.  I will accept that. So here's 4 out of 5 Dorie recipes for January ( I don't think I will get to Paris-brest though on page 475).

Here's the wonderfully, creamy, cheesy pasta risotto (Jan. 3, page 369).  It made a terrific quick supper all in one pan.  I added peas and ham to give it some extra bulk.

 And then it was Baked Apples Filled with Fruits & Nuts (Jan. 10, page 394) These were dessert on the same night as the pasta risotto.  Naturally, we added vanilla ice cream to the bowl, YUM.

The Moules Mariniere (Jan 24, page 312) was a super simple supper on Sunday.  French baguette sopped up all the delicious juices (shallots, wine, parsley, butter)

Christine's Simple Party Soups (Jan. 17, page 62), I chose the Red Pepper version for another quick something hot to eat on a weeknight.  The hot version wasn't a hit in our house.  I think I'd prefer the chilled version in summer, it even has a summer weight and texture.

Orange Scented Lentil Soup 3_15_13

This time last year we had a 3 day run of 70 degree days.  This year the winter wants to hold on with days of  wind chills in the low 30's, blustery winds, some peeks of sun, and now a rainy, snowy, icy mix today.  Next week doesn't look any better. Sigh. Maybe that will mean we will have a long spring.  I love spring with the slow unfurling of bright green leaves of plants, shrubs, and trees.  That shade of 'new' green is my favorite.

So the weather called for soup, and as it turns out this week's 'Around My French Table' recipe was the Orange Scented Lentil Soup.  Lentils, carrots, onions, celery chicken broth, coriander seeds, black peppercorns, clove, orange skin peel, and fresh ginger were the ingredients.  This soup was super fast and easy to cook up, and then puree. Everything was great until the puree....I ladled half of the soup into the Vitamix, popped on the top, and turned it on. Guess that lid was on right as I had lentils flying around outside the blender.  Luckily not much was lost but the cleanup of under the cabinet and backsplash wasn't so fun. That's life in the kitchen!   I ladled the soup into 2 bowls for Husband and me, topped it with a little yogurt, and we agreed it was the perfect dish for the day.  Love the flavors of this lentil dish.  It will probably replace my own recipe for lentils; we liked it that much!

Lemon Steamed Spinach

This week's frenchfridayswithdorie.com recipe, I thought, was the lemon steamed spinach.  It appears that it was not, but I will go ahead with this post anyway.  What a crazy week!  In New Jersey we had a winter storm threat that didn't quite deliver the snow that was expected (so glad!) but we did have some wicked winds.  Then when we weren't expecting snow, I awoke on Friday morning to see about 1.5 inches on the ground (yes, I know that's not a lot) and had to drive up to the middle of the state for a quarterly conference for work.  March's storm in our are tried to put on a brave face, but she was mild in the end. Winter's last hurrah, I suppose.  Our neighbors in the north though got a good 6 inches.  I know the New Englanders would tell us to quit whining, after all, they got blasted again with some getting another 2 feet.  Oh, I love their summers but those winters...

I don't have a steamer basket (how's that you ask?) so I had no choice but to wilt the spinach in the olive oil, lemon zest, and lemon juice so it doesn't have full leaf appearance. 'Looks aren't everything' is a true adage many times, and certainly the case with my wilted spinach.  The lemon flavor was a real standout with the baby spinach flavor.  I made a version of the salmon Dorie suggested to go with this dish.  My salmon was simple with a hoisin sauce and toasted sesame seeds. Dinner in about 30 minutes, start to finish.

Now I have to go read all about the cheesy creme brulee that the other Doristas made this week.  It's sounds delish!

Chicken Breasts Diable

I didn't think the recipe sounded so great, I have to admit.  But it was a simple recipe using chicken breasts, shallot, onion, white wine, heavy cream, french mustard, salt, pepper.  So it was to be the Friday night supper.  Son is rarely around for dinner these days with his work and social schedule and I try NOT to cook on Friday nights.  Husband reminded me of that. Usually it's pizza or chinese food night.  I assure him it was going to be a quick cook and not a bother.

I didn't have chicken breasts, but did have some skinless, boneless chicken thighs, which I use a lot as they are tasty and moist.  I pounded them out flat between wax paper before slipping them into the fry pan with olive oil and butter.  Is there anything better than the smell of chicken frying?  I got a nice brown crust on the outsides and then I let them rest under a foil tent on a platter in a warm oven while I started on the sauce. Into the fry pan went the shallot and garlic and I let them cook until softened and added the white wine, let it boil some, then added the heavy cream and some wonderful french mustard with provence herbs.  Wow, what an aroma.  It didn't take Husband long to come into the kitchen sniffing the air and asking how long until dinner!  I took a taste of the sauce, and while it wasn't 'hot', it had a nice mustardy-winey bite.
I served the chicken along with some carrots and 2 colors of green beans.  Wonderful dish!  It looked like spring on a plate, more than the pea soup from the week before.

We've got spring fever!  March has now arrived and I can't wait to get outside and work the gardens!  The daffodil leaves are up promising to deliver the gorgeous yellow blooms in just a few weeks. The red tips of the peonies also have emerged.  I saw some red flower buds coming on the trees.
I am a March birthday girl and I usually take the day off from work.  My birthday is mid-month and I've been lucky more times than not, to have a warm enough day to spend outdoors.  I walk around our three quarter acre and see all of the gardening tasks to be done and wonder how many hours I've spent doing that in the last 27 years here.  But I love it, especially since I sit and stare at a computer all day at work.  Every year I say to myself that I've planted enough and can just maintain what's there.  But that resolution doesn't last!  Already I have about 15 new plants coming from favorite mail order company bluestoneperennials.com.  There plants are sizable, healthy, robust, and reasonably priced.  Do I know where I am going to plant these?  No, I don't, lol! I buy mostly perennials that the deer leave alone unless they are desperate.  Plants like peonies, daffodils, bleeding heart, foxglove, columbine, hellebores. I have my David Austin roses protected behind a wire fence.  Deer love roses.

I also want to start some heirloom tomatoes and eggplant from seeds. I did that a couple of years ago with good results. I have a grow light and heating mat that I set up in the garage.

So what do you do when spring fever strikes you?