Orange-Almond Tart

This week's results are easy: we both LOVED it !!!!

Per Nana:
There is only one word to describe this recipe     WOW!

This recipe will be added to Nana's patisserie tart collection.

I shopped around for the almond flour and could not find it anywhere, not even at Wegman's.   So, I searched  our favorite mail order website, KING ARTHUR FLOUR in Vermont and " voila. "   They have just about everything needed for baking that you could possible want.   Oh, and their scone mixes and popovers are fantastic too.

I made the pastry in the food processor using Dorie's pate sablee recipe  and chilled it overnight.  

Separating the orange segments was time consuming, but they turned out well.  I think I might try Mandarin oranges next time too. 

I had prepared the shell, almond cream, and the oranges on Saturday.  I wanted the tart to be our special dessert for our Super bowl party.  Hopefully, we will won't be too stuffed after the nachos and wings. 

Who am I kidding, there is always room for dessert.

Tricia's comments on Nana's results: 

While we had a lot of  wonderful treats at Nana's house for the SuperBowl, I could not get over this cake.  It looked wonderful but I was unsure about the oranges.  Nana is considered the  "Tart Queen" around here and makes many flavors, shapes and sizes for our families to enjoy during the warmer months.  She even has a lovely wicker basket with handle that perfectly fits her larger tart pans and she used to send tart "care packages" over to my home.  That said, I was BLOWN AWAY when I tasted this dessert.  I literally kept making "mmmmmm" noises as I tasted it and Nana teased that I must like it.  Love it.  My whole family did, though I can easily attest to having more than my fair share of this one.  My favorite part was that it tasted like the Breton cake that Nana often makes, yet was actually an improvement in that having a smaller portion of the dense pastry layer and adding the almond cream and fruit truly seemed to make the Breton pastry all the more appreciated.  Never thought Breton cake could be improved- what a delightful surprise. LOVED it.

Per Tricia:

Once again, Nana saved the day by getting me in line with the ingredients.  I was sick all week but had the motivation of tasting Nana's cake on Sunday    ....so I knew I had to "med up" and get this one on the table for my family :)

Note from the photo above, I even used the opportunity to use my "egg separator".  Yes, the item you look at in the gourmet store and ask yourself "who buys this "??  And you would be right - you don't need one.  But if you did buy one, you try to at least remember to use it on such special occasions ;)

 My pie weights were at the ready as well, but after a week of disorganization I learned that I had an egg separator but no tin foil for the pre bake !  Luckily I had frozen my crust so the weights were not needed.

I also got the benefit of reading the P&Q's this week, along with Nana's own advice and opted for the Mandarin oranges from the can.  They are so plump that I still worried about their juiciness, even after having them dry for hours.  When I added them to the tart I decided to err on the conservative side, just in case they did end up retaining too much juice.

I can't rave enough about this recipe.  I adored it.  I will absolutely look forward to making it again and to trying other versions.  The pear option is on my short list.

PS- I did post a late update to last week's recipe.  I finally caught up and made the Basque Potato Tortilla.  What you don't see in that post is the two I made afterward, using up the Costco ham and the shredded Swiss.  I added the Swiss when I broiled the dish and it is ridiculously good.  Even my kids went nuts.  This will be a well loved recipe in our home.

Basque Potato Tortilla

This week's efforts could not have been more

 different - though this has nothing to do with the actual recipe. 

Nana had found the recipe several weeks back,

 and enjoyed cooking it ahead of time. 

 I left early on Sunday for a week of business travel and

any hopes of making this enticing and seemingly simple recipe

 vanished completely when I returned home after 10 pm on Friday night.....just in time to post Nana's results for the blog. 

I look forward to trying this recipe myself

and will update the post when I do.   ***

All was not completely lost due to the business travel,

since I was able to stop in NY and pick up much enjoyed

 Italian favorites (fresh mozzarellas, prosciutto bread, biscotti)

for our house and Nana's - so this Friday

 was more of an "Italian Friday with Dorie".

*** Update - yay !  I caught up and have posted my results at the bottom

Per Nana ~

This was a very easy and quick recipe to make. 

 I had planned to use up some extra potatoes by making my usual Italian dish of "potatoes and eggs", but when I saw this recipe in Dorie's cookbook....I thought I would give it a try.

This is the type of dish where you can use various items from your fridge, add some eggs and you can't go wrong !

                    

                      

                           It is also such a pleasure to cook with my Swiss

                                   Diamond fry pan because it goes right

                                           into the oven for a frittata.

                                                        Good luck with yours........

Per Tricia ~

I finally caught a break and was able to make this lovely
and simple dish.  I had grown up with Nana preparing
 "potatoes and eggs", as well as "peppers and eggs", so
 was interested to see if this would turn out any differently.     





                     I followed the recipe pretty closely, simply to see how the basic would turn out.  As is usual, the family kept
 coming into the kitchen to ask what I was making and raving
 about the aroma in the house. 
 That is by far my favorite part of the "French Friday's experience"
 (though the tastes are a close runner up:)      

                  


Overall it was a success, as expected. 
It looks very brown because I flipped it out onto the platter so that the bottom is now the top, and simply left it that way. We wanted to eat and I knew I had a great photo of the finished product out of the oven above.  I will also cop to the fact that I like my eggs (well, all my food.....) pretty well done.




 I did like the way she had it prepared - I had not followed these
specific steps before and it was nice to have a "sure thing".
 I look forward to using the rest of my potatoes to try it again
 with other options and the family heartily agreed to my first
 thought of throwing in the leftover Costco ham and putting
 shredded Swiss on top. 

 Amazing how the leftovers in the fridge that no one
 is vying for suddenly take on a new value :)

Chicken B'stilla

A great adventure with a split decision on the results !  Nana and I each made the chicken this week, and while we both enjoyed the opportunity to try a recipe that we would honestly not have picked for ourselves...only one of us would make it again :)  Read on to find out who......




PS- we are so grateful to have been nominated for a "Stylish Blogger" award by our frequent (and HILARIOUS) visitor -Cher. She is a member of French Fridays and we look forward to her posts each week -she keeps it real but makes it so fun and entertaining, like you are in the kitchen with a great friend.     http://crazyworldofcher.blogspot.com/  

As part of the award, we are to list 7 things that are unknown about us and then nominate 15 blogs that we love. I think this is a really cool idea, but am going to have to come back to this assignment (after conferring with Nana) or else I will miss the "Dorie Deadline" :)  Thanks Cher !

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Per Tricia:

I had to travel to Washington on business this week and then stayed even longer due to the snow storm. I was actually hoping to not be cooking a recipe on Friday for once, and thank goodness Nana hooked me up to get going when I got home Thursday night.  Because this was NOT the recipe to do at the last minute.  Luckily, Nana had the prep work all done for me when I got home -she got me the chicken, Phyllo and even sent over the spices I was missing....in separate little containers all labeled for me. This gesture really helped me start out the adventure on the right foot. Nothing like having a Mom around to help, no matter how old you are !



Even though I knew there were many steps, this truly did turn out to be more of a production than I would have thought.  It was interesting throughout, between using the ingredients that were either new or used in a new way and the aroma was delightful.  Son #2 had "made weight" for wrestling and kept calling down to find out "when the good stuff"  (as in not what I had actually served for dinner.....) would be ready.  Son #1 was still trying to "make weight" and declared that it smelled "so amazing" that he needed to leave the kitchen. In fact the whole first floor.  I reminded him I would make the Rostang chocolate cake when wrestling was over.



The recipe was time consuming in that the various stages - marinate, etc, had to occur for a while each.  Since I was doing it all in one shot, I really could not start any major other projects though....so it truly felt like I was in the kitchen FOREVER.



The first "scary" part was when I had to mix the egg/honey mixture into the hot bouillion.  I had visions of Chinese egg drop soup and scrambled eggs.  I literally announced to the kitchen that I was scared as I whisked like heck.  Luckily no egg drop soup.  Unluckily, not thickening any time soon.  Which was about the time the trip home from DC hit me and the recipe seemed to drag on.  After 8 or so minutes I threw in some flour and that helped- but it still never got very thick.  My end result had too much liquid and the liquid was too thin.  I should have limited myself to the one cup that Dorie referred to but I tested it using an estimate and simply used the final reduction amount.




The next scary part was the Phyllo.  Nana got me the "good stuff" and went to Wegmans. I only ever used Pepperidge Farm and theirs was way easier to figure out what a sheet is.  I didn't even realize there was a problem till I had the whole thing made and was getting ready to put on the top.  The next piece of Phyllo was way bigger and I panicked.  I actually decided to invert what I had onto a plate, stuff down more Phyllo and throw it back in there.  Truthfully, this should have flopped at this point because this was a truly dumb idea....but I got luckily and the chicken "glob" actually retained it shape.








I have to say that by the time I got the top on, buttered it and added the cinnamon sugar...my mouth was all but watering.  The aroma as it cooked was out of this world.  Very fragrant due to the spices.



Scary part #3 was when the thing of beauty came out of the oven.  I re-read several times that I was truly supposed to invert it for presentation (and to save my non stick cake pan from the knife....) This is when my beautiful and crispy Phyllo got soggy and I got hot liquid on the counter.  It was also the second time I had to ask my amused husband to jump in and help me.  I am a big fan of crispy anything so I was truly disappointed when the top got soggy. 



My husband, younger son and I each tried it.  My son said it was absolutely fantastic.  He loved it and ate a huge helping.  My husband said that it was ok, good - but that he was simply expecting more flavor.  I agree with him and was not a fan.  But this is also because the aroma and look of the dish as it came out of the oven were spectacular.  And after 4 + hours in the kitchen for a 9" cake pan worth of food....I needed "spectacular" in order to make it again. 

So I had a blast but will not be revisting this part of the book......

Per Nana:

I decided to do this recipe in two parts. 

Yesterday I marinated the chicken thighs for about 1 hour and then cooked them until tender.  I used boneless chicken thighs from Costco which are really very meaty.  Once they were cool enough to handle they were easy to pull apart.

I was not too sure about adding the honey/egg mixture to the hot strained chicken broth, but with the continued whisking, the sauce turned out well.

I added the chicken and onions to this mixture and thought how wonderful this might be with a little couscous on the side.

Today I worked with the filo dough which was tricky.  You really have to work fast because it dries so quickly.  All turned out well, and the end result was fantastic.

  

The dish is quite filling and very tasty.  We had a little Chutney on the side as well as a nice mixed salad.

It was declared a winner at our house, and I do plan to do this one again.

Michel Rostang's Double Chocolate Mousse Cake

Nana covered this week's recipe and proclaimed
 this one a "real keeper".

Per Nana:

"THIS WAS FANTASTIC.    

I always said that the pastry and dessert in Paris were
the best I have ever eaten, and this wonderful cake proves my point.

I had my doubts about pouring the mixture into a bottomless pan,
but I found that if the oven is preheated, and you immediately
 place the cookie sheet and cake into oven. it somehow sets very
 quickly at 400 degrees.

I planned to serve the cake warm so I chilled the base
for 1 hour along with the remaining mousse.

I then completed the recipe and baked it for 30 minutes.

The springform ring came away easily, and I dusted
the top with cocoa as directed.

The first slice looks like death by chocolate, but the texture is really
light.   I served it with a dollop of whipped cream and it was simply delicious.

It's a winner......
We must check out Chez Rostang when next we are in Paris. "

Per Tricia:

Sorry to bail, all.  My husband is out of town and two sons are "cutting weight" for wrestling.  We are literally hiding some food as it is around the household to avoid temptation....and I have two cakes in the fridge already due to a birthday this week.  But I will definitely have this at the top of the list when wrestling season is over !

And I am "in" for another trip to Paris.  Now we have the perfect excuse !

Gnocchi A La Parisienne

     This was a busy week and a snowy week - the combination of which meant that Nana and I each made it through our recipes but did not manage to "taste test" each others efforts. 

      Luckily we each have built-in recipe testers at each house, but we look forward to the "compare and contrast" that was easier to do when there was not so much snow on the ground ! 

Nana's Gnocchi ~

Per Nana:

For such a simple recipe, I never used so many dishes in my life. 

This is my first try at making a "pate a choux" type of dough, 

 but I have to admit it was very easy.  

 I did use the four large eggs as the recipe called for, but next time

I will attempt to do it with the separate egg white beaten

into peaks and folded into themixture to make it lighter.

I let it sit for about two hours hoping it would

dry out little, but it was still sticky.

I tried to form the gnocchi first and then cook them,
 but they were difficult to handle. 
 I eventually just dropped them into the water using a teaspoon.

Unfortunately, I read the Q & A page too late.  I thought the pastry bag described on the Q&A was an excellent idea.

They did cook up well enough, but the size was not
consistent even though it really doesn't matter when it is
 covered with Bechamel and cheese.

Now to the Bechamel.......

I just read Cher's post, and we both had the same problem.  

This was my first try at Bechamel since I took cooking
in grade school, and you know how long ago that was. 

After trying to strain lumps out
(and losing much of it to the strainer)....

 I came across one of my flat wisks which worked wonders.

 

I used Emmenthal cheese for the topping and
 the aroma was terrific.

Dad and I both enjoyed the dish, and I
 hope yours turns out well too.


 

Tricia's Gnocchi ~

Per Tricia:

I was pleasantly surprised by how easy this dish turned out and amazed that something so wonderful could be made out of "so little".  

 

As usual lately, I ended up making this Friday night (I honestly hope to get out of this schedule in the near future :) and was expecting the worst. 

 I had already gotten feedback from Nana about checking out the Q&A ahead of time...which is the whole purpose....but I even ran out of time for that and plowed right into the recipe. 

 In all fairness, I would have deserved a disaster.  Needless to say I was delighted by how interesting it all was and how well it turned out.  I had not made pasta or gnocchi before and it was very forgiving.

 I even lucked out with the sauce.  I managed to switch right over from the wooden spoon to a whisk when I hit the Bechamel sauce...but had done so because my arm (and the rest of me) was tired and I thought it sounded easier.  And easier it was - the sauce turned out lovely and thick. 

 

I found Dorie's recipe and instructions to be "spot on"...and even when I wasn't sure what she meant (cook until it forms a light film on the bottom of the pan.....) but everything she described came true to life.

I used Parmesan on the top and for the first few minutes had forgotten to add the butter on top.  I popped it out and added the butter and some Gruyere. 

 I also took her advice about throwing the broiler on...which can be dangerous when you are tired :) 

The dish turned out well browned and my kitchen smelled divine. 

The aroma summoned the taste testers and all loved it...agreeing it would be a perfect dish for when they come home from a day of skiing.

I honestly came into this recipe thinking I would do it for the fun of the blog but had no intention of making it again, but I am happy to say that I would try this again in heartbeat.  So long as my husband agrees to help clean all the pots and dishes I used !

Paris Mushroom Soup

Now that the holidays are behind, us Nana and I are looking forward to getting back on the routine of making the "official" recipe of the week again. 

The mushroom soup recipe was not only an appropriate choice for the cold weather we are experiencing, but it was not as time consuming as we would have thought  - which has helped us to ease back into the routine of French Fridays.

Nana's Try at Paris Mushroom Soup

Per Nana:

Dorie's recipe for mushroom soup was quite interesting.

This was a very simple recipe to make. 

 

I finally found some good looking mushrooms at our

local Giant "supermarche", as well as all the other ingredients.

The preparation of the vegetables

took hardly any time.

        The aroma from the onions and garlic cooking was incredible.   

  

 After adding the chicken broth,

the soup cooked for only about 25 minutes.

I used my food processor to puree the soup, and that worked well.

    

                            

   After making the "salad" to serve, I thought

 the presentation looked quite elegant.

  The end result was tasty and good.

  Great for a cold winter day.

Tricia's Try :

The was a pleasant surprise after a very busy week. 

I do not like mushrooms and my sons are not fans either.

Luckily my husband enjoys them

so he was ready and waiting by the pot.

I was surprised by two things with this dish. 

The first was how amazing it continued to smell

 throughout the cooking session.  I knew the beginnings

of onion and garlic would be wonderful, but I

 was shocked to find that I still loved the aroma after

all the mushrooms went in. 

And I do NOT care for mushrooms. 

I was literally wafting the steam in my direction

because it aroma was so great as I stirred it. 

 When the wine went in was the best aroma yet.

The second thing that surprised me was how

the mushrooms create their own liquid when cooked. 

 Again, since I am not a fan....I have had

 very little experience cooking with mushrooms

and I was quite incredulous when I read the recipe. 

 Even being told what was going to happen...I still managed to be suprised when all of this liquid emerged in the pot.  I took several pictures and even my boys thought it was "really cool" when I told them about it later.

I used the immersion blender Nana gave me previously

 as a gift and I very much liked the texture I ended up with .

Overall a fun experience - great recipe which

turned out to the letter as Dorie's instructions indicated.  

 While Nana and I missed trading samples this

week due to the weather, my husband offered his critique. 

 He enjoyed the soup and was surprised that it was not

 more "spicy" or onion tasting...considering how much onion went in. 

 He very much enjoyed the mushroom taste and had a 2nd bowl to be sure.

 

I had to give it a try and was surprised that it was not all that bad. 

 For mushroom soup :) 

 It was fabulous.

Nana and I are looking forward to trying the

 other soup recipes before the spring thaw.

Update :   My 14 year old came home from wrestling after the soup was cooked and already in the fridge. 

 He declared that the kitchen smelled AMAZING and insisted on trying whatever I just made.   He LOVED it.  And we love French Fridays.