Friday, March 6, 2015

Cabbage and Foie Gras Bundles & Honey Spiced Madeleines

                 
 Cabbage and Foie Gras Bundles
Per Nana~
This week's recipe for cabbage and foie gras bundles was a bit of a challenge.  
Knowing I would not find the proper ingredients I considered skipping it 
altogether, but then I decided it was more important to learn a new technique. 
I knew that foie gras was out of the question but cabbage ? Wegmans had no 
Savoy or regular cabbage except this cute mini cabbage, which incidentally
 worked perfectly, size wise.  I paired that with a foie gras mousse. 
The recipe is simple and I served it at Happy Hour. Life is good..... 
I am sure with real foie gras it would be amazing. 
Per Tricia
I finished off the last of my stash of terrines from the Loire Valley,
 recalling wonderful memories in lieu of the cost prohibitive foie gras. 
This one had my curiosity piqued because it seemed like such an unusual pairing.
 Once I started assembling the little bundles I could not help but think that
 rice should have been added into the bundle. It seemed familiar and yet I 
could not place the recipe I was thinking of. I Googled and found that I 
ironically just enjoyed my first "Galumpkis" or stuffed cabbage roll in 
December while eating dinner in a NY City Deli across the street from 
where we were visiting Dorie on her book tour. Yes, there was a
 cabbage roll connection and Dorie was involved in both parts :) 
 Regardless of any preconceptions, the aroma was wonderful as these steamed. 
My husband and I were surprised by how tasty they were, though we did 
agree that a bit of rice would have been a nice addition for us since would 
have preferred them more as a main dish than hors d'oeuvre. 

Honey Spiced Madeleines
 Per Nana~
I have never made Madeleines before and the process was simple, but
 while going over recipes for future weeks, I realized that next week for 
"Baking Chez Moi" we will be making the lemon flavored Madeleines.  
Doesn't really matter, Jim and I thought these were terrific.
Per Tricia~
I have not made Madeleines in quite some time and evidently I am 
now making up for it. They are a fun cookie/cake and getting the pans
 out to do this week's recipe and prepare for the lemon version next
 Tuesday reminded me that I really should make them more frequently. 
From my memory I had recalled prepping the pans to be a bit of a fussy step.
 I am not sure that I haven't simply encountered more challenging recipes in
 recent days or what, but it didn't strike me as a big deal at all this time around.
 My husband liked the honey spice flavoring and they were certainly
 delicious, but I find that I am partial to the usual lemon flavored ones 
I have made before. So I am very much looking forward to this 
coming week and trying the recipe from "Baking Chez Moi". 
And my husband is looking forward to more Madeleines....
Happy French Friday ~

13 comments:

  1. Ladies! Congratulations on fabulous results for both recipes, AweSomeNess and then Some!

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  2. Looks great! I'm making the lemon madeleines right now! Matt and I are flying back to the states tomorrow for our friend's funeral, and they seem like as good a snack as any to bring on the plane. Glad to hear that you enjoyed the bundles. I have my foie gras ready, and fully intended to make them, but it's been a heck of a week, and didn't happen.

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  3. You two and your marvelous French purchases! I'm glad for successes in both kitchens :)

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  4. Nana, your rolls do look just like mine! Tricia, I had never heard the term galumpkis before, but I have had rice stuffed cabbage rolls at Glicks, a Jewish deli, and they are tasty. Ladies, love your madeleines. Wait til you taste the lemon ones - they are my favourite yet.

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  5. The baby cabbage made your dish look Asian...I think you had the best ingredients for this recipe. Gorgeous madeleines my daughter had been asking for the pan, but I'm a meany minimalist who won't get something that doesn't get used often.

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  6. Your cabbage bundles look awesome!

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  7. Perhaps if I had used a lovely terrine with fond memories of a wonderful vacation I might have liked this one better! I remember enjoying those madeleines and am looking forward to the lemon ones next week too.

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  8. The madeleines look absolutely delicious! My mouth is watering and I wish I had one now! Good work for both of you on coming up with ways to make this week's recipe!

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  9. Nana - Sounds like a very elegant Happy Hour! I would love to have one of these with an early evening cocktail.

    Tricia - I love Galumpki! My mother-in-law actually makes it for us and so we usually have a stash in the freezer. One of these days I'll have to join her in the kitchen to figure out how to make it.

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  10. My former MIL used to golumpki's all the time for Sunday dinner - unfortunately, I never acquired a taste for them. Even though this dish wasn't high on my list, I would much rather have foie gras than rice and ground meat in my cabbage leaves :-)

    I am working on my lemon madelines right now...That pan just doesn't get enough use! Your madelines both look delicious.

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  11. Your madeleines look wonderful. I don't have a Madeleine pan so I will be skipping this TWD. Kudos to you both for tackling this cabbage and foie gras. I am still enjoying my make-ups since I have so many.

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  12. Do you have Happy Hour every day? I love just thinking that you do! I'm not sorry I made the foie gras bundles, but won't be doing it again. Nana, when you said you were making madeleines last weekend to keep warm, I thought it was for Tuesdays. What a surprise. Both of your madeleines look delicious. I'm going to have to pull out my pan and make them again. I'll wait and see which version you like better.

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  13. Well, both of you made some great recipes! I remember making those madeleines on my own a while ago and I, too, like the simple lemon ones, Tricia. That said, these strike me as really nice for a Fall dish when you want that cozy feeling (and aren't tired of winter as all you poor souls are "back east" as people used to say when I was a kid).

    Nana, your cabbage rolls turned out great and I bet they were lovely with the mousse: how is that not real foie gras?!?
    Tricia, rice sounds great as an addition! now, I'm kind of thinking of other options...like adding some re-hydrated dried currants or something to bring in some of the "typical" foie gras flavor profiles we see!

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