Goat Cheese Mini Puffs

Lovely and delicious !

Per Nana~

This week's recipe from "Around My French Table" is goat-cheese 

mini puffs. Much practice is needed on my part to perfect a cream

 puff that looks like a puff, but I am going to keep trying.

The recipe was fun  and the filling was so delicious.

I used a garlic flavored goat cheese mixed with the cream

 cheese and cream. Even though my puffs came out in different 

shapes and sizes they were good.

After filling about 24 puffs, ( a messy job all by itself)  I decided to 

share some with Tricia's family.  As much as we loved them, I could 

not see eating that many.

These little morsels would be great to serve with a glass of wine, and 

the delicious herbed olives selected for next week's entry.

Per Tricia~

Spoiler alert. Nana made these ahead of time and shared them with

 my guys. My older son declared-"wow. I like these way more than I should"

...which struck me as an odd, yet very positive declaration on a Dorie recipe.  

Needless to say, I was then on the hook to make some myself this week. 

 The recipe is a few steps but if I would get  organized and keep some of 

these in the freezer ready to bake, it would really be a spectacular treat.  

I would definitely make these for company (but ahead of time)

 since they were yummy as well as impressive looking.

I am also sharing belated photos from our recent trip to Vermont - 

at least the "foodie" side, plus our new addition........

Cafe Provence in Brandon, Vt- amazing restaurant with cooking classes.

Small town ambiance. And great French food !

The kitchen where my son and I took a class. Each demo was so delicious we then went to the restaurant for a full meal :)

Cider Donuts en route to Saratoga New York. A fall "must".

Can't get  'em any fresher !

The Orchard was packed- we lucked onto a true cider donut destination at the height of the season !

Orchard treats

Functional and adorable signs at local farms, showing their wares.

Amazing local market- best bacon ever, and ham, and cob smoked kielbasa...and so on. Love.

Recent addition- "Oliver"

Curious pug- note the protective eye gear for kitten greeting :)

                                        Happy French Friday !

Top-Secret Chocolate Mousse

A particularly good week for a little indulgence ~

Per Nana:

Chocolate mousse!  What's not to like.

I think if all of Dorie's recipes were dessert, Hubby would

 be in seventh heaven, because he just raved over this.

Thank goodness I only had enough to fill  three ramekins, 

but that was okay.  We need more chocolate like we need

  a hole in the head. With the confusion of which day to celebrate

 Halloween in our neighborhood, either Wednesday or Friday, 

we had a total of only 8 children trick or treating.

 That left a lot of candy to be consumed by two retirees 

with nothing better to do. I had never made mousse before and 

was surprised  how easy it was to prepare. When you first read

 Dorie's recipes they sometimes seems difficult but her instructions 

are clear, with many  options, and most turn out to be easy. 

This was  a great recipe and I will certainly make it again.

Per Tricia:

I loved Dorie's comment about being welcomed to the club 

when a friend finally shared that this well loved dessert came

 from the back of a box. Hence the recipe name.

 This recipe was a cinch but I have my 24 year old  Kitchen Aid 

mixer to thank.  I bought this toy investment right out of college.  

I knew it would be a great investment but is still wonderful to see

 it paying off....especially when I need foamed egg whites. 

Note the French bowl of "medium" size. Moyen is not my last

 name - it means medium in French :)

 Between  the mixer's brawn and Nana providing me the chocolate

 (yes, I  even had the one piece handily cut in half by her to make the

 3.5 ounces....) I had an easy time of it this week. 

 Which is particularly appreciated since we added to our family with a

 kitten  found in between storms, in a parking lot late one evening. 

No houses around,  freezing conditions, and a Nor'easter en route.  

Turned this dog family into a more diverse household.

 And yes, the recipe was a huge hit with the family. 

 Happy French Fridays all ~

Mushroom & Shallot Quiche (Plus Chicken Tagine)

First, Nana and I wanted to thank our fellow Doristas who reached out to check up on us after Hurricane Sandy. We experience a strong feeling of community as we post and comment each French Friday, but these recent gestures really amazed us - what a great group we have ! And we are 100% OK. Feeling even a bit guilty that we made it through so totally unscathed.  Our thoughts are with those who did not and we again thank everyone for their well wishes ~ 

Per Nana: Mushroom & Shallot Quiche

With a combination of mushrooms and shallots I knew this week's

 recipe would be tasty. Unfortunately, I did not have fresh herbs so

 I used dried thyme instead.  According to the package instructions to

 substitute dried for fresh was 2 tsp. of dry for each tbls. of fresh herb.

I personally thought that a bit too much.

The recipe was easy to make.  I made my tart crust the day before 

and put in the freezer.  Having frozen tart crust is a great way to make a

 quick dinner, especially for working mothers. I also find that my 

crust bakes well when they are frozen. The addition of the scallions on 

top not only tasted good but made  for a lovely decoration.

I will definitely be making this again.

Per Nana:
Chicken Tagine with Sweet Potatoes & Prunes

I can honestly say that this week's recipe for chicken tagine 

was terrible. Even though I love all the ingredients in it, I think

 the spices turned me off. I am thankful that I prepared only half 

the recipe, using chicken thighs and one sweet potato.

Hubby and I truly disliked the flavor of the pan juices,  entirely too sweet. 

In order to salvage the dish as best as possible, I removed the 

chicken, potatoes, and prunes and simply added them to chicken broth.

I  cooked some couscous and added that to the broth as well.

The recipe is certainly easy enough to prepare, unfortunately,

 it just wasn't to our liking. I am looking forward to the recipes for November,  

 great choices that can be worked into some of the holiday meal.

Per Tricia-

Sorry all - I am WAY behind after a business trip last week.

 I did not even get time to post Nana's Chicken experiment last week 

and feel so guilty that I'm hurrying to post both of hers now :) 

  I wonder if she has any more tart crust in her freezer ..........

Spur of the Moment Vegetable Soup

Nothing says "comfort" like home made soup ~

Per Nana~

This was an amazing soup.

Dorie suggested many alternatives for this soup, the variety of 

vegetables are endless. I decided to use a combination of carrots,

 parsnips, and potatoes.  I had never cooked a parsnip until we started 

cooking with Dorie  and I really do like the flavor it gives to the dish.

After cooking the onions, celery and carrots, I added thyme and rosemary.

Once the potato and parsnips were softened,  I pureed the soup.

 The result was a perfectly smooth soup that was so tasty.

For Sunday night's supper, I served our family's famous fried provolone 

sandwiches along with a bowl of this delicious vegetable soup. 

 It worked perfectly together. Hubby said this was a keeper so I

 guess it passed the test.  Thank goodness.

Per Tricia~

Spur of the moment or not, this recipe was not happening.  

We had an eventful last week enjoying fall foliage in Vermont .......

while simultaneously  comforting our homesick son in Italy and 

ultimately coordinating his return to the US.  Let me tell you that

 I could have used some of Nana's soup and those provolone sandwiches

 - I can not even tell you how amazing those things are.  

I am going to make sure she adds directions on the blog 

next week because they are OFF THE CHARTS

.

But I will gladly share the photos of our adventure at the cheese farm.

Next week I will add photos of the cooking class we took and hopefully 

share a late entry to the "spur of the moment soup" category :)

The farm is "Consider Bardwell Farm" in West Pawlet, Vermont. 

 For the longest time I thought the name was some type of 

marketing gimmick  like "think of Bardwell Farm first" or such.

  But no, it was the actual name of the original owner.

 First name- Consider, last -Bardwell. 

Established in 1864.  They produce award winning cheeses from goat

 and cow's milk.  They host tours, farm dinners and special events throughout

 the year but they also have a self serve store open all the time.  Yup- help 

yourself and leave the cash or a personal check. I have not seen this 

anywhere other than Vermont, which is one of the reasons I love it.

Their website is fabulous so feel free to take a peek.

http://considerbardwellfarm.com/index.html

You can now even buy their cheese through their site- but it is interesting

 to see their list of wholesalers, retailers and exclusive restaurants that serve

 their cheese. The owner, Angela Miller, even authored a book "Hay Fever-

 How Chasing A Dream on A Vermont Farm Changed My Life". 

 I have a copy and have thoroughly enjoyed reading her adventures as 

a prominent literary agent in NY City who seeks balance by investing

 in the cheese farm and juggling both lives and lifestyles.  It is tough work.

After we visited with the goats and other animals we headed to

 the farm next door for pie. Again, a till for leaving cash and the

 honor system in play. My 18 year old started out as" humoring his

 mother" but ended up taking far too many i-phone to convince

 anyone he was not impressed.....

When we got home and Googled we found a wonderful video from non

 other than Gesine Bullock Prado where she visited Consider Bardwell

 Farm and then makes and incredible goat's milk cheesecake.  

Gesine visits Consider Bardwell (click to see video)

If you have not heard of this baker and cookbook author, Gesine is Sandra

 Bullock's sister and a lawyer by trade who gave up Hollywood for 

Vermont and baking.  She has several websites and I enjoy them all. 

The one below has numerous videos that are awesome.

http://www.gesine.com/

In closing, both sons are now home and I am referring to them as the 

"Boomerang Boys".  While they ended up home for different 

reasons,  I secretly think we owe it all to Dorie and their missing the  

 French Friday adventures far too much.......

Crispy Crackly Apple Almond Tart

Or in our cases, "super easy frozen puff pastry tarts"....
Per Nana~

This week I decided to use Dorie's "bonne idee" for the tart recipe because

 I don't do well with filo dough.The only time I enjoy filo is when it is made 

into Baklava by a great baker.  (or any baker) So I used the puff pastry 

instead and made apple tarts.  I defrosted the whole package and used both
sheets of dough.  Made one into rounds as Dorie suggested, and the other 

was cut into four squares. Not perfect, but turned out sort of rustic looking....

Anytime I make a tart or pie I usually coat the apples with a mixture 

of cinnamon and sugar, and I did the same for this little tart. 

 I find it gives the apples a nice flavor.

 Hubby was quite impressed and thought they were very 

professional looking.  Ha! With the trimmings from the first 

piece of dough, I placed an apple slice or two and rolled them. 

These were really cute, and I want to try that again with more puff pastry

 and make little apple or pear rollups or small turnovers. I am looking 

forward to seeing the results of the original recipe for this week and to see 

what the rest of the Doristas did with it.

Per Tricia~ 

While I feel a bit guilty that I opted for the short cut "Bonne Idee"

 this week, I am SO pleased with the results. My older son and I are in 

Vermont this week and found a new brand of puff pastry at the local 

market.  This ready to go pastry was pre-cut into medium sized squares - 

making playing around with topics the toughest part of the job :) 

We were inspired to play around with options on the sweet side. 

 We bought some local apple walnut spread ........

and played around with that and fresh apples and toasted walnuts,

covered with organic Turbinado raw cane sugar.  The others were 

fresh pear with a fig spread and sugar.

The possibilities are endless and I love the thought of using leftovers 

as well as "gourmet" ingredients. This recipe is just what we need around

 here as we indulge in more cheese boards and appetizers than we do at home.  

And apres ski desserts ?  Yes please ! 

We also had an adventure taking a French Cooking class this week at 

Cafe Provence in Brandon, Vt and visiting a wonderful local goat farm.

 Will get organized and share some photos next week !

Hummus

Not necessarily a dish we expected to find "Around My French Table",
 but are we glad we did !


Per Nana ~

Hummus, either you like it or you hate it.

I liked it and Hubby hated it.   Actually, I think  the word "sawdust"

 was mentioned  in his description. Nothing to worry about though 

since I only prepared half  the recipe.

When I opened the container of tahini and stirred it,  it reminded me

 of Trader Joe's peanut butter.  (Not the recalled kind)

My thoughts were to possibly use it as a spread, but when I tasted 

it I changed my mind. The taste was pretty gross and I had my
doubts about putting it in the hummus, however, it all worked out well.

The ingredients blended well, and turned into a really smooth hummus.  

I would like to try this again and add some red peppers to it, or  other flavors.

Per Tricia ~

My kids are big fans of hummus so it was fun to make it from "scratch". 

 I had to chuckle because my husband kept saying "this all came from 

one can" - he couldn't believe a single can of chickpeas could yield

 such results.  Nana, ahead of the game as usual, hooked me up with the

 tahini - making this all the more of a cinch to prepare.  I admittedly

went a bit heavy handed on the garlic this time and ended up adding 

about twice as much reserved chickpea liquid as Dorie suggested - but 

that is a matter of taste regarding consistency.  Like Nana- we all

 liked it and many suggestions were given regarding how the taste 

testers wanted me to tweak it next time.  Not many folks consider "trying 

to make it taste like Costco's" to be a compliment....but it is in this house :)

Since the dish was so easy I had more than enough time to play

 catch up on that eggplant tartine I missed. I had fun trying a 

"graffiti eggplant"  along with the standard version.  

After combining all the ingredients I honestly did not expect to care 

for this one - but I did. It was a lovely combo with a great texture.  

A lot going on and it all worked. 

 My guys enjoyed it as well and said while a little messy to get 

onto a fork - it was more than worth the effort.  

Of course they didn't cut up all those veggies.........