Vegetable Barley Soup with the Taste of Little India

Per Nana~

This week's recipe for vegetable barley soup with a taste of India

 was interesting. Hubby totally loved it but I did not care for the

 spice flavor. The texture was wonderful and the barley cooked to
 perfection in just under one hour. 

Tricia was kind enough to prepare the Garam Masala from the 

recipe supplied by fellow Dorista Alice, and she shared that with me. 

I was surprised that with all that spice, it was not exceptionally spicy or hot. 

I am not sure what I expected, but I did add some hot sauce to it. 

Hubby enjoyed it "as is".

 That said, I would definitely prepare this soup 

again using only the vegetables and barley.

Per Tricia~

We loved it. 

What a surprise, and not because we expected to dislike it, 

but simply because we had no idea what this was going to taste like. 

Only my husband and I shared the recipe with this week and that may have

 been for the best because we ended up wolfing down this wonderful concoction. 

I thank Alice (www.acookingmizer.com) for sharing the homemade

 garam masala recipe. I have enough different spices accumulated 

from  the various "Around My French Table" recipes that when I read 

Alice's list I knew it was time to put some of these to use. Suffice it to say that

 my house had QUITE an aroma for a day or two after making the spice recipe.

 And my sinuses are still recovering.

I remembered to throw in the bay leaves after snapping this photo ~

 The aroma was very unusual to us, very aromatic and potent. 

But taste is another thing. And the taste was just wonderful. 

Quite exotic for a cold Spring day which unfortunately involved yet another 

snowfall, and for which this warm comfort food was much appreciated. 

Another wonderful bowl from "Two Mountain Pottery" in Shaftsbury,Vermont~

My version turned out wonderfully spicy (I may have been a bit heavy

 handed with the red pepper flakes). It was delicious and is a keeper for sure.  

The snow, however, can leave immediately.....

Happy French Friday ~

Scallop and Onion Tartes Fines

Per Nana~

I planned to skip this week's recipe selection because of the scallops 

but changed my mind. Hubby and I do not eat scallops but, I thought 

since Tricia has one of her taste testers available, this could work.  

I used tiny bay scallops instead of the larger ones and actually asked the

 fishmonger for less than 1/2 pound. Working with the puff pastry was 

easy, but I only made two rounds. I totally followed the recipe for one 

of the rounds, but on the second I substituted Dubliner cheese for Hubby. 

He loved it. The melting cheese on top of the onion was perfect. 

Since the scallops on the one tarte were so small, I decided to taste

 it myself and actually did eat the whole tarte. It was delicious ! 

My grandson now has to wait for Tricia to prepare this week's recipe. 

If these tartes were smaller, I think they would make great hors d'oeuvres 

which could be prepared ahead and popped into the oven at the last minute.

 I will definitely do this one again. 

Also, last week my fellow Dorista Mary was a bit confused about our post

 missing some photos, so I add them to this week's post and hope I have cleared it 

up. Only teasing, Mary....as you can see, they switched places while cooking. 

Per Tricia~

Yes, I luckily had one son home on Spring break and since he is

 a scallop fan- he enjoyed these along with his father.

From my stash of Wallingford Meat Locker -cob smoked bacon. YUM.

 I do not like scallops (yes, I have tried them on 

several occasions) so I took a pass. 

But I did wonder why I have not made the puff pastry with

 bacon/onion combo sans scallops- they looked and smelled amazing. 

I went with red onions and the color was gorgeous.

My taste testers LOVED these and while the dry pack sea scallops 

can be a bit pricey, spreading them out in slices as topping was a 

very economical way to enjoy them. This one is a keeper.  

Happy French Friday  !

Sausage-Stuffed Cornish Hens

Per Nana~

This week's recipe selection is a Cornish hen stuffed with sausage and

 bread. I used a fresh hen and cut it in half, rather than stuffing the

 bird whole.  The stuffing was really quite easy. I used a combination 

of hot and sweet Italian sausage, fresh parsley and sourdough bread.

 Usually when I make sausage stuffing I add toasted pignoli (pine) nuts, 

but I followed the directions and this time did not add any. 

The little bird came with all its goodies stuffed inside, so I was able to add

 the livers to the stuffing mix as well. I placed two scoops of stuffing on the 

pan and covered it with the split bird and cooked it for about 50 minutes. 

Since we like it really crisp, I used the broiler to finish. I paired it with a

 combination of carrots and parsnips that I roasted with fresh rosemary 

and a drizzle of olive oil. This would be a perfect weeknight dinner for

 someone with a busy schedule as it is so easy to prepare.

Per Tricia~

There was no huge surprise on the results of this week's recipe. 

We loved it. My younger son was home for Spring break and 

polished an entire bird off in one sitting. 

What did surprise me was how I had not considered making sausage 

stuffing for other than Thanksgiving. This is our official  "Turkey 

Day" stuffing recipe, a tradition going back in our family to before

I was born. Since it originated with my father's family, and 

involved Italian sausage, I always presumed it was an Italian

 tradition and was surprised when Dorie explained how common it 

was in France- such that many home cooks do not even prepare

 their own since it is so easy to purchase it ready made.  

I also know that most folks tend to love the stuffing they grew up with,

 and these favorites can become quite sensitive topics as families merge

 and new traditions are born. This week was a wonderful reminder that

favorite stuffing - regardless of the recipe- isn't just for Turkey Day.  

 While I doubt I'll make it often enough to tire of it, I will certainly 

treat my family to this delicious combination other than once a year.

 Thank you, Dorie, for reminding me to enjoy good food every day. 

The taste testers send their thanks as well :)

PS- unrelated but have you tried the "Waterlogue" app ??

 I came across it this week and am mesmerized at this little

 $2.99 tool that literally turns your photo into a watercolor painting.

 Addictive and amazing for those that love photography.

 This is the same bike shot from last week's post. 

Tartines from La Croix Rouge

Per Nana~

I have not had a tartine made with pain Poilâne, but I did have a 

croque monsieur, and there is nothing like it. Poilâne also makes 

wonderful croissants and I remember Tricia and I enjoying them for

 breakfast as we stayed in hotels nearby. 

This week's recipe was a bit of a challenge, but not because it was difficult.

 Jim does not eat smoked salmon and will not even consider rare roast beef. 

On top of that, I decided to give up bread for Lent (we'll see how far that goes)

 so I had to make this on Tuesday. 

At the deli counter I asked for a very small portion of roast beef and

 fortunately the salmon came in a small package. I used sourdough bread 

for the tartine, toasted under the broiler, and covering each with mayo or butter. 

I love capers and Cornichons, and each of these went very 

with the tartines. They turned out so delicious, I am not even 

ashamed to say that I ate them both for dinner.

Per Tricia~

While Dorie explains that the recipe's name refers to a Parisian café in her 

neighborhood, her discussions about "pain Poilâne" really got my attention.

  And brought back wonderful memories. 

I have eaten more croque monsieurs in Paris than I care to admit to, and

 gladly paid extra to have it served on the venerable bread from Poilâne. 

An early trip to that city and pilgrimage to 8 Rue du Cherche-Midi

 turned into a repeat event any time we are lucky enough to make it back. 

 I even bought a pillow at Restoration Hardware that had this street name 

emblazoned on it - and thought it was "such the find" .....

Close up of  Poilâne's charming door handle

 I am sorry to report however, that we have yet to make

 it to the attached "Cuisine de Bar" - the related and attached shop that

 sells tartines exclusively, in many varieties, on Poilâne bread. 

I'm a sucker for a vintage mini. Parked here, I couldn't resist. The well heeled elderly gentleman
who arrived in it (and whose younger blond nurse was driving...) was inside stuffing his
expensive blazer pockets with the free "punition" cookies when the clerk wasn't looking......

Clearly we need to get book a flight back there and remedy this oversight.  

Now, this week's "Around My French Table" tartines.

Deliciously easy, this week's tartines consisted of lightly toasting good quality

 hearty bread and topping one with rare roast beef, mayo and Cornichons 

while the second was treated to butter, salmon and capers. I purchased a

 dense loaf that I thought would be perfect (it was) at my favorite local

 bakery- le Bus, and topped per Dorie's instructions.

 No surprise on the recipe- the results were delicious.

 What was a surprise was my husband reporting that this is his "usual".

 I knew he liked roast beef but in going on 25 years of marriage, I never

 realized he ordered his with mayo AND pickles. That said, this combo

 from our local sub shop does not vaguely resemble the tartines created

 this week....but I still got a kick out of the revelation.

These shots are from the 2010 trip and lunch in a little café near

 the Bon Marché. Nana caught yours truly digging into one of the best

 lunches on record, which included the famed pain Poilâne. I actually

 have a photo of this sandwich at work. Enough said. 

Happy French Friday ~