Vanilla Vegetable Salad

Per Nana~

Our recipe selection for this week is vanilla vegetable salad. 

Dorie suggests using mixed greens or mesclun and topping it with thinly 

sliced curls of summer squash and carrots. The dressing is a combination 

of fresh lemon juice, olive oil and a touch a vanilla. 

I used my mandoline to slice the squash and a vegetable peeler for the carrot. 

Whenever I have to use the mandoline I make Hubby do the work, I am so afraid 

of those blades. It does a wonderful job and was perfect for this salad. The salad 

was very pretty and made a lovely presentation but unfortunately I did not care

 for the dressing because of the vanilla flavor. I did like the slivers of summer 

squash. They are quite tasty and I will definitely add them to other salads.

Per Tricia~

I was intrigued by this recipe since I adore vanilla but do not use it for savory dishes. 

The taste and the aroma is a favorite of mine but I couldn't get my head

 around using it as a vinaigrette in a salad. As expected, the aroma was

 fantastic- fresh and light when mixed with the lemon juice and olive oil.  

The verdict on taste ?  

Unfortunately none of us cared for it. 

My husband stated it looked fabulous but was "not something I would

 serve at a dinner party". It was bland with a strong perfume. That said, 

we enjoyed the adventure - even if this will not be a repeat. 

Happy French Fridays ~

Tuna & Mango Ceviche

Or shall we say "shrimp and mango ceviche" ~
Per Nana ~

I decided to skip the tuna version of this week's recipe and use Dorie's 

"bonne idee" of seared shrimp. The ingredients for this dish did not 

impress me at all. I am not a fan of mangoes, lime or ginger. I could

 not even imagine pairing mango with avocado, onions and lime 

so I made half the recipe and decided Jim could enjoy it all. 

How very wrong I was. 

I sprinkled salt and pepper and a few drops of Tabasco sauce on the shrimp 

and then seared them for a few minutes. That few drops of hot sauce really 

gave it a great flavor.  After I plated the salad mixture I added the shrimp

 and a bit more of the vinaigrette and garnished it with cilantro leaves. 

A perfect appetizer. 

After four years of cooking with Dorie, I don't know why I ever 

doubt her combination of ingredients. She fools me every time. 

Per Tricia ~

I also opted out of the sushi grade tuna and went with shrimp instead.

I tried a type of domestic avocado - a "slimcado" from Florida which I 

do not recall seeing before and I will definitely buy again. The taste, 

size and texture were wonderful and they were a breeze to prepare.

The actual recipe, however, was not such a breeze and took a bit of prep

 work to get the ingredients chopped and ready to go. The results were 

absolutely delicious but my poor fingers had a few cuts and the intensive 

lime prep - zesting, de-segmenting, chopping and then juicing was a bit rough. 

That said, we all went nuts for the results.  The combo was unlike anything I had 

prepared at home and the well balanced sweet and savory, crunchy and

 soft textures were delightful.  I would make this again in a heartbeat.

Happy French Friday ~

French Lentils & Baby Bok Choy, Sugar Snaps and Garlic en Papillote

But the lentils are not in that "papillote".  We have a lentil recipe and a 
make up recipe this week ~ 

French Lentils

Per Nana~

This week's selection is a basic recipe for cooking  french lentils.  

I didn't find the green lentils so I used regular lentils, and with the 

exception of Cognac, everything else is in there. I prefer to chop the 

vegetables into small pieces as in a mirapoix.  I cooked the veggies a little 

bit and then added the lentils and the chicken broth.  I also added a bit 

of diced up ham to the pot.  For serving, a drizzle of extra virgin olive

 oil was used, and a dash of red pepper flakes.  The only thing missing 

was a loaf of french bread. This is one of our favorites and

 Hubby and I enjoyed it on a pleasant cool September day.

Per Tricia~

I did a side by side of two green lentils found locally, neither of which was

 the famed "du puy". The first were green lentils from Wegmans, which I

 had originally thought came close to fitting the bill (granted I realized 

they were likely not imported from France....) but when I showed them

 to Nana she responded that she didn't think they looked like the real McCoy. 

 I had come across some "organic French Lentils" in one of our local whole 

food markets but again I figured they would simply be a nice substitute. 

They were much smaller and darker than the others so I was intrigued.  

The verdict ? 

organic french on left, Wegmans on right

The lighter shade had a lovely aroma when cooking but became bland. 

All taste testers (Hubby, younger son and myself) agreed the smaller 

darker lentils were far superior and tastier, with a better texture. 

The others were more bland and mealy.  Ah yes, and Dorie's actual recipe. 

This basic lentil prep was of course delicious and she provided a few great 

suggestions for fill in. The actual prep I will be looking to streamline in

 the future and likely cook the additional veggies already chopped, rather 

than cooking them down and then chopping them after fishing them out 

of the draining lentils. I will also likely not pre-boil my lentils as I had 

nothing to skim off when doing so and would like to keep this easy recipe

 as easy as possible. I will be back at that market SOON for more of 

those green lentils and look forward to adding ham or bacon next time.

Baby Bok Choy, Sugar Snaps and Garlic en Papillote

Per Nana~

I am adding a make up selection this week, another "papillote", 

this time with baby bok choy, sugar snaps and garlic. 

Bok choy and sugar snaps were totally new vegetables to me. 

 I have eaten them in Chinese food but never purchased them for cooking. 

I actually had to research how to prepare both and found it quite interesting. 

I couldn't find baby bok choy so I bought one regular stalk and used the inner 

section whichlooked so tender.  I used the rest of the vegetable for a stir fry. 

The fact that this can be prepared ahead of time is a treat for anyone on a busy 

schedule. This was a delicious new recipe for us, one that I will definitely make again.

Per Tricia~

I also knocked out the Baby Bok Choy & Garlic en Papillote recipe 

to keep our double posts (we have a lot of make ups to do) in synch.

 Coming off last week's use of this cooking method I was more than happy 

to use it again. I have not prepared the bok choy at home before but was 

struck by how beautiful and tender it was, and will be looking for more recipes. 

We enjoyed this one but unfortunately I think mine got a bit too cooked 

so I likely did a disservice to the gentle texture of the bok choy.

 I will be revisiting the en Papillote method but not with this filling. 

Happy French Friday ~

Curried Chicken, Peppers & Peas en Papillote

Per Nana~

This week's recipe of curried chicken was a nice surprise. 

I did not think I would enjoy the curry flavor, but it was really very 

mild tasting. I loved the peas, red pepper and red onions, and when 

added to the chicken really enhanced the overall flavor of this dish.

 I think that using foil in this way is a great way to cook the chicken and 

I would like to try this method using other spices in place of the curry.

 All in all this was a nice recipe and, unfortunately, I only prepared 

a half portion and was looking for more.

Per Tricia~

This recipe was as remarkably quick and easy as Dorie

 promised. Adding curry, a spice I don't often use, made it a nice

 change to the standard chicken options we typically enjoy. 

 The biggest takeaway for me this week was not just how 

delicious Dorie's combination of ingredients was (and

 it was) but instead a reminder of how easy, versatile 

and enjoyable the results from baking "en papillote" are.

 Simply take some meat or fish, add veggies and 

spices and then bake in foil or parchment wrap

 for a short time to have a great meal. Voilà. 

Happy French Friday ~