Nutella Tartine

An easy week for sure, yet these basic items came together to 

create a surprisingly wonderful treat we all enjoyed.

 
Per Tricia~

My younger son has been a huge Nutella fan for years.

 On occasion we buy the very large containers that are sold

 in double packs at our local Costco. While no one "needs" that

 much Nutella, it is a fun treat.  It's not that the rest of the family 

doesn't like Nutella...it's just that he LOVES it. 

 Needless to say, I was delighted to see this week's recipe and

 knew that I would hit a home run with one family member.....

as well as have  a very easy recipe and clean up :)  Win win. 

We used the yummy Sarabeth's Orange Apricot Marmalade 

and I enjoyed recalling my trip with Nana to their 

NY store last year.  We are due for another NYC trip to restock -

 and from the results of this recipe, we will need more !

Simple to make - another "non recipe" FF, yet I would not have

 thought to combine salt, marmalade, butter AND the Nutella. 

We hit a home run for the whole family - we all loved it !

  Dorie is a genius.

 

Per Nana~

Peanut butter and jelly it's not.  But oh,  so good.

I only made the recipe to keep up with the rest of the Doristas,

 but  I was certain this was not for me.

I truly do not like Nutella, although hubby loves it.

However, I believe the combination of the butter, marmalade

 and the nutella gives it a whole new flavor.   

I used challah bread, as well as a delicious marmalade from 

Hediard in Paris, thanks to Tricia, that is superb. 

 (Nutella from Costco).

My bread is a little too brown, and I only had it under 

the  broiler for a few seconds, but it was delicious. 

I can truly see this as an afternoon snack for children, 

as just one slice is quite filling and substantial.

I think this is a winner.

Tuesdays with Dorie (Our first !) ~ White Loaves

This is the first time we have posted on other than a Friday !
Today marks the inaugural posting of the newly re-launched "Tuesdays with Dorie".  They made it through the first book and are now starting up again with Dorie's wonderful "Baking with Julia".  

Nana and I are cautiously optimistic that we can keep up with the schedule, but to hedge our bets we decided to truly take turns with the Tuesday recipes.  Fridays will continue with the dual posts (notice I did not call it a "thrown down" :) but we are definitely spacing out the baking efforts and calories on this one.......


Per Nana:

A few years ago, Tricia and I both had bread machines 

which were the big rave then, but it is not quite the same as

 when you see your  own dough rising from scratch 

and become a beautiful loaf of bread.

I have to admit the size of the pans were too large

 for this recipe, but the result was great.  

Dorie mentions in her instructions to turn the bread out 

of their pans about 10 minutes before they are ready to come 

out of the oven, and believe me it makes a big difference

in the finished color of the loaf.  

It was difficult to wait for them to cool before slicing

 into the loaf, but well worth the wait. 

The first thing hubby wanted was a grilled cheese sandwich.

  I'm considering some French toast, which I love.

Gorgonzola Apple Quiche

Expectations matched results, for both of us.  And expectations were high......
Per Nana:

Excellent recipe.

Hubby and I really enjoyed this wonderful combination of ingredients.  

Onions, apples, and Gorgonzola cheese.  

I used the recipe for tart dough that Dorie recommended, however, 

every time I make this dough there does not seem to be enough to

 make even this 9" tart.  I'm wondering if other Doristas are having the

 same problem or perhaps I'm doing something wrong. 

 I rolled the pastry out and to have it fit perfectly, it is so thin 

and hard to handle.  Any suggestions?

As for the quiche, the flavor was spot on.  

I usually make a traditional quiche with Swiss cheese and bacon, but 

this is definitely a nice change and will be repeated again many times.   

Per Tricia :

I have yet to meet a quiche I didn't like, and was very 

excited to try the Gorgonzola-apple combo.  While we have had 

many dishes with pear and blue cheeses, I had not

thought to incorporate the fruit/cheese combo into a quiche.  

While high expectations usually spell a death knoll for my results

 - they did not this time.  This recipe delivered and then some.

Only my younger son was able to taste test this one and

 although he loves blue cheese (has since he was small - go figure !) 

he only wanted a "tiny piece" to taste after I told him what was in it. 

 He promptly declared it delicious and went back for a huge piece

....after declaring it wasn't as "sweet" as he feared it would be. 

 Yay ! 

I can't rave enough about this combo. 

I am racking my brain to think of another FFWD recipe

 that I liked better than this.  Granted, I love creme brulee....

but that was more of a fun experience to learn you could make

 it at home than a "favorite new recipe".   And that is what this 

one is for sure.  This was a new take on an old favorite, which I

 would not have tried were it not for French Fridays.  I can not

 wait to make this again for family and friends - it is off the charts 

delicious and very, very simple. Thank you Dorie !

Broth Braised Potatoes

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.  But nothing special either :)

Per Nana ~

Sad to say, but while I was preparing and cooking these potatoes,

 I was wondering what I could do with the leftovers.

There was absolutely no flavor to this recipe even though the

 aroma from the cooking liquid was wonderful.

I served the recipe as a side dish with salmon and 

brussels sprouts but I was not impressed.

I decided that I will be using the leftovers for a frittata 

with  the addition of swiss chard and onion.

We completed out meal with a delicious cheese

 danish from Costco that hubby insisted we "needed".  

My downfall, to be sure.

Per Tricia ~

In full disclosure, Nana generously offered to make a frittata for my 

household too.  No need to ask twice and in fact, I asked her why she

 bothered to ask once - of  course we wanted one !

 We accepted and devoured the extra large frittata in a single day. 

 I had considered it a victory, until she sent over the photo of the Danish...

 Now for those broth braised potatoes.

We deemed them "nothing unusual and nothing particularly special". 

 My husband kept asking what was supposed to be the "Dorie" part

 of the potatoes and said that unless you got one where the seasonings

 had landed....they simply tasted like fairly plain potatoes. 

 In Dorie's defense, I think this household is getting a bit heavy handed

 in adding "Old Bay"  and "Baby Bam" (Emeril's) to their food. 

 Regardless, I was particularly delighted it was a quick and easy

 experiment that gave a break in the "clean up" department this week. 

 Happy French Friday !

Quatre-quarts

An obscure title which ended up being very "obvious" after reading the recipe.  This basic French cake consists of equal parts of  four ingredients. As the weather stays cold we have been more than willing to test out any new cake recipes and this FFWD gave us the perfect opportunity ~

Per Nana~

Interesting recipe.

Hubby thought the texture reminded him of corn bread, 

and I thought is tasted similar to a Bisquick type cake. 

It is definitely a pleasant cake, very basic as Dorie stated, 

and can be served with various toppings. 

I served the first slice with a drizzle of honey

 that had pistachio nuts in it.  I also served it with whipped cream 

which I thought worked perfectly.

I am glad I shared half with Tricia or I would have experimented 

with toppings all day. It was interesting and I am happy that I tried the

 recipe,  but I really  was not impressed.   However, that said, it did not

 stop me from indulging.

Per Tricia~

I enjoyed my first slice of this recipe when testing Nana's version.  

My first reaction was that I had tasted this cake before-per my memory it 

tasted just like Marie-Helene's Apple Cake (circa Oct. 2010 :) ....sans apples. 

I liked the concept of four ingredients used in proportion but did

 find that for a quick and simple pound cake, I would have preferred to 

not mess up the KitchenAid mixer for whipping egg whites ...

just to produce a pound cake.  I will save that machine for my Brioche dough.  

Folding in the egg whites also never felt quite right to me on this one, 

since the batter was so dry to begin with.  But I followed along and got

 a nice French coffee cake for a cold winter's day. 

  I also indulged ~ perhaps even more than the cake actually deserved. 

I am now pining for the Butter Breton cake that Nana makes 

and this would be the perfect time of year for it.  

Actually, any time of year is perfect ~

M. Jacques Armagnac Chicken

A split decision this week ~ our first for 2012 !

Per Nana:

THE BEST CHICKEN I HAVE TASTED IN YEARS.....

This recipe was fantastic.  I can not remember the last 

time I have cooked a whole chicken, but this was wonderful.  

So moist, juicy and tasty.  

Trying to diet over the years, the favorite diet food was chicken,

 so much so that I truly  dislike the taste of chicken.  

Hubby loves his Popeye's and Kentucky fried, and thank

 goodness  they sell by the piece, but I can do without.

(Except for the biscuits)

But this recipe  is what a chicken should really taste like.

The smallest I could find was about 4 lbs and was fresh, not frozen.  

I cut the veggies and stirred them in the hot oil for 

a bit,  added the chicken and the brandy and let it

all warm before covering with foil in my Le Creuset.

At 450 degrees in the oven without checking for 60 minutes, 

the kitchen was smelling good.   After 1 hour, the chicken was cooked, 

but not very brown so I placed it on a cookie sheet and put it under

 the broiler. I added the water to the pan and prepared the gravy which

 was delicious, and removed the chicken from the oven.

Hubby and I truly enjoyed this and I had a thought about either

 adding some Brussels sprouts or turnips to this mix to make

  it even more of a stew type dish.

I'm sure this is a recipe I will definitely be making again and again. 

 The simplicity of the recipe, and the prep time is wonderful.  

For  anyone who works all day and wants a simple recipe to prepare,

 this is really great.

Per Tricia:

Nana got her chicken done first and I was 

delighted to hear how much she had enjoyed it.

 Not to mention how "time friendly" the prep was.

  I was ready to like it.

  I wanted to like it.

  And then things went downhill.

I saw how much the organic chicken cost compared to the 

roasters that were on sale -more than four times the price. 

 But for French Fridays, I splurged.  

To be honest, a 3 1/2 pound bird doesn't really get far in 

our house - but since this was what the recipe called for I 

considered it lucky that I found the perfect match.  

I used a lovely cognac which probably did not serve its

 best purpose in life by being stuck in a pot with a chicken for 

an hour, but there you have it.   The family was ready to devour
 it  and the  kitchen smelled amazing. But my heart sank a bit as
 we took the  lid off and I saw the lack of color.

 I am a big fan of roasted, crispy, crunchy anything.....so that bird 

got put under the broiler.  When I plated the meal I was surprised

 as how little flavor it ended up having. Overall, it was nothing special. 

The family agreed.  Nothing bad, of course, just not the added 

oomph that we thought it might have.  Fun to try things a bit differently, 

but I will not plan to revisit this one~

Bubble~Top Brioche Rolls

A perfect recipe for a cold winter's day ~

Per Nana:

Anyone who has made a New Year's resolution to start

 a diet should skip this week's FFWD recipe.

Hubby and I had the butter waiting before the

 timer went off.  These little rolls are so good.

Seriously, the recipe is a bit time consuming, but well worth it.

I prepared the dough as instructed, and put the bowl in the 

refrigerator overnight.  When I removed it in the morning I thought

 the dough was quite stiff and might turn out tough, but all went well.

My brioches may not have the bubble top effect that

Dorie is showing in her book, but they were delicious.

 About two months ago I started cleaning out the basement,

 sorting thru old pans and cupcake tins intending to purchase new,

 but have not gotten that far yet.  The only pans I had left were

 my popover pans and maybe that is the reason my bubble top

 did not come out as planned.

Per Tricia:

While I have not met a carb I didn't like, I was actually prepared to
 "not like" this one simply because of the amount of time involved.
As I have shared in  previous posts, we have an amazing bakery outlet
(Le Bus) near my office and I do enough damage there. 



But French Friday is French Friday and while I anticipated these
would be good - the results were more impressive than I expected. 
 I also figure that no matter what else I serve company for dinner, if
I have these on the table and my house smells this  good .....the meal 
will be a winner.  My prior "fall back" had been to simply keep
 refilling the wine glasses - there is usually a direct relationship between
wine consumption and meal compliments.  I will now arm myself with Brioche. 

Thank you Dorie !!