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 ~

Garbure from the Supermarket

Per Nana~

When I first read through this recipe I thought of the Alsace region and their

 specialty, Choucroute. I did not realize that the pork shoulder Dorie mentioned 

was fresh pork, so I purchased a smoked shoulder/butt. 

Also, when looking for garlic sausage I opted for garlic parsley Italian sausage. 

Since these would be undercooked, I baked them in the oven first. I think 

Polish Kielbasa would have worked a lot better but these sausages were still 

tasty. Instead of buying a whole cabbage I bought a bag of chopped cabbage 

used for making coleslaw. Even though there is a lot of prep work in the recipe 

as Dorie has it, it is well  worth every minute spent in the kitchen.   

After cooking everything for the first hour, I remember Mardi mentioning 

the vegetables becoming quite soft, so I tested them and they were "done".

 I decided to remove them from the soup and add them back later.

 When all was cooked I shredded the meat and then added the veggies

 to reheat. Hubby and I enjoyed this soup a lot, unfortunately the amount

 this recipe yielded was a bit much for us. I did freeze a few containers

 and hopefully these will be good when defrosted.

Per Tricia~

It is still cold and snowy(ing) in Pennsylvania so it was great to have

 this hearty French soup/stew on the menu. I also went with a smoked

 shoulder/butt and no, not because Nana bought it for me this week

 (but fair enough assumption) but because I thought it sounded delicious 

when I found it in the store. I added a D'Artagnan duck leg and my 

last batch of Wallingford Vermont cob-smoked kielbasa.

I love a Cassoulet type dish so it was no surprise that the garbure was a hit. 

The kitchen smelled amazing. My husband and I both enjoyed this and

 the kids will be able to test it since my freezer is now also full. 

Happy French Friday ~

Butter & Rum Crepes, Plain and Fancy

Per Nana~

I have never seen a crepe that I did not like, except my own. 

I prepared the batter, which was so easy and chilled it for a few hours. 

The problem is trying to cook them. I used a heavy duty frying pan 

and everything seemed to get too hot. I either burned the bottom or, 

when flipping it over, it fell apart. 

I attempted the recipe three times in the last week trying to perfect

 them for photos. (not too much of an effort since we enjoyed them anyway.)  

The sauce was really easy. I whisked the juices and the butter by hand

 and it turned out very smooth. When I first tasted the blend I thought

 there was too much of a lemon flavor, but then realized it just 

worked when served with the crepes. 

I served one crepe to Jim with nutella inside and drizzled some on top. 

He said he preferred the sauce I had made with the honey. That surprised

 me because he loves nutella. One of my fondest memories is my mother

 preparing crepes for us when I was young. They were served plain 

with a sprinkle of sugar on top. Simply delicious. 

Per Tricia~

This week brought together everything I love about French Fridays.

 The recipe for crepes was a classic French dish, one that my family 

and I love elsewhere but for whatever reason I had not been making 

at home, and one where Dorie's wonderful tips guided me in the

 kitchen and provided me more than just the "ingredients and instructions". 

I may never throw an orange peel away again- mixed with sugar it was pure gold. YUM.

Specifically ?  Her suggestion that to use your fingers to gently flip the crepes.

 While I have no pride about getting something done in the kitchen, 

I can clearly admit that this was not a technique I would have even 

thought of. But it worked like a charm. In fact, I feel quite confident it

 saved every crepe I made. So there I was, husband dying over the 

aroma of the citrus and crepes and patiently waiting to fulfill his role

 as taste tester - and I am bragging to him about how wonderful Dorie

is because she tuned me in to the using my fingers. 

I refilled my saved Laduree jar with the sauce. Nothing from Paris is ever thrown out in my house.....

"Check this out. 

It works perfectly.

 I never would have thought of this myself. 

This is why I love Dorie.

 This is why this book is fun."

 Welcome to French Fridays in my kitchen :) 

The crepes were served with the wonderful honey citrus sauce and 

I filled several with some homemade whipped cream. And all along

 I wondered why I had not made these in such a long time. I can't wait 

to make them for the boys when they are home. Crepes = love. 

These shots are from the 2007 trip we took to Paris with the boys. Nana and my 

Dad were there as well so it was a very special vacation memory for all of us.  

And there was no shortage of crepes.

 At 20 and 17 now, you can imagine that a lot has changed in the last 7 years.  

One thing that has not - their love of crepes. 

Happy French Fridays

Hèléne's All White Salad

Per Nana~

A big hit in our house.

 This week's all white salad turned out better than I expected.

 I'm not a fan of cabbage so I replaced the Napa cabbage with

 thinly sliced Romaine lettuce (white portion only).   

                         Thinly sliced white mushrooms and sliced celery worked perfectly. 

I thought about using thin slices of onion in the salad but decided to use only

 the ingredients Dorie suggested and leave my additions for another time.

The vinaigrette was so easy to prepare using my mini food processor. 

I have made fresh mayonnaise before and it can be a problem, but this was

 so easy. Yogurt is not something I enjoy but when blended with all the 

other ingredients, it made a wonderful dressing.  Hubby and I both 

enjoyed this wonderful little salad. 

Per Tricia~

Opposite reaction in our house, though I did find the dressing 

easy to make. Unfortunately we just were not fans of the overall taste.

 I used the Napa cabbage along with the other listed ingredients 

and the whole combo seemed to tart for us. 

Short and sweet, now on to next week's crepes. 

Spoiler alert- those crepes could be filled with Napa cabbage

 and we would still enjoy them - we love crepes !!

Happy French Friday

 &

 Happy Valentine's Day !

Boeuf à la ficelle

Per Nana~

This week's recipe of beef on a string is quite interesting. 

 I will admit that I took the easy way out and used broth from a container.

  Perhaps if the weather was a bit nicer I might have considered 

shopping for all the ingredients to prepare the bouillon, but I don't

 even know where to buy oxtails or veal bones on a good day.

I used  a total of two and a half containers of broth and cooked the veggies up.

 I did not find any celery root while shopping so I decided to use parsnips 

instead. This combination of vegetables added such a lovely flavor to the 

broth. I poached the beef tenderloin for 20 minutes and it was still too rare

 for us to eat. I sliced a few pieces to use for photos and then sliced the rest to

 cook a bit more in the broth. To garnish, I used horseradish and mustard, 

and served "Hélène's All White Salad" on the side. 

Per Tricia~

Luckily this week's recipe was quite a cinch compared to the Paris Brest 

pastry of last week. Even more so if you used ready made broth like 

Nana and I did. The aroma in the kitchen was out of this world as the

 tenderloin poached and my husband, who prefers his meat rare, 

was in his glory. I decided not to tell him how much I spent on the

 piece of meat he was raving about. Why be a kill-joy..... 

In addition to enjoying this "lost recipe" as Dorie refers to it, I very much

 enjoyed her tale of trying to get the cut of meat at the Grand Epicerie

 in Paris. This one really hit home as when Nana and I have stayed in

 Paris the last few times our preferred location is about a block away. 

We often would stop by La Grand Epicerie, which is really an

 amazing food hall/court/ grocery store that is part of a department

 store- Le Bon Marche. We would enjoy ogling the fine pastries, meats

 and French specialties - as much as chuckling when we saw "American" 

food (ketchup, oreos) on the very fancy shelves. At very fancy prices. 

I love to get tote bags as souvenirs and have been using  one

 from this very store for years now. It is by no means fancy

 but it does the job and puts a smile on my

 face as I bring lunch and supplies to work. 

And Nana was spot on with it not being weather to go hunting oxtails in.

 We have had severe weather in PA, with snow that was followed by an ice
 storm. We woke up earlier this week to our tree taking out a neighbor's car. 
All is well but this winter has been quite an adventure. 
And it is far from over.

Note my feathered friend in the river birch outside my window ~

Happy French Friday ~