Seafood Pot-au-Feu

Per Nana~

I loved poaching the fish with the potatoes and carrots, but I did 
not care for the sugar snap peas, ginger or scallions. Something 
about the flavors didn't work for me. In addition to the scallops 
and salmon, I added shrimp rather than mussels because as
 everyone now knows, they do not go over big in our house....

An interesting recipe, I am not sure whether I really like it or not. 

I will say this much, I can't believe this is the next to last recipe 

for us to make from "Around My French Table".  Very sad !

Per Tricia~

I held off preparing this until my husband and younger son were home
 to enjoy it. I am not a fan of seafood and knew I would not appreciate
 the scallops or mussels like they would.  

Suffice it to say that I am adverse to mussels. Frankly, they are so "off putting"
 to me that it was all I could do to prepare these myself...since I had to 
actually touch the cooked mussel to remove it from the shell. 
I know, I know. 

I had the dish ready for their arrival back from college and they were just
delighted with the dish. As expected.  Both gave it  a thumbs up and said I 
could make it any time. Rest assure the next time I make it they will be 
home handling the mussels for me.......

The part I really liked about this seafood stew was the perfect timing and utter 
ease of it all. I omitted the leek and went with carrots, potatoes, mushrooms,
 scallions and then the seafood - salmon, sea scallops and mussels. 

Dorie's timing and explanations made the specific timing of what goes in
 when to end up being very easy, rather than complicated by the details.
  This one is a keeper. 

Happy French Friday ~

Cheesecake Tart

Per Nana~

Being a die hard New Yorker, when it comes to cheesecake there is only one.

It must be extremely thick, not light and fluffy. 

When I read the ingredients for this recipe - cottage cheese and sour cream- 

I was sure the consistency would not live up to my standards. 

Oh, how wrong I was......

Starting with the sweet tart dough that came together so well, and 

then the filling, everything turned out perfectly. 

I did not put any fruit in the mix for a change but used an apricot glaze

 on top. This was one of the most delicious tarts I have ever tasted. 

Two thumbs up for Dorie on this one. 

Per Tricia~

It has been a great "Dorie Food" week around here - first with the 

wonderful CoconutTapioca and now with this crazy good tart. 

My husband has been in his glory.

I tend to like just about any cheesecake, ricotta cake or such but don't recall 

using cottage cheese ever before. While I don't dislike cottage cheese I was

 curious to how this would fly. My answer came when the Cuisinart food 

processor turned the ingredients into a rich, creamy yellow consistency. 

It looked fabulous and only got better with each step. 

I was even able to salvage it when I forgot to throw the dried berries 

in BEFORE adding the filling (yes, they sink- all was well)

This one is a true keeper.  In my opinion the "company worthy" results

 far exceeded the effort involved. Frankly the toughest part of this for me 

was keeping the partially baked tart crust from getting too brown when it cooked 

with the cheese mixture inside. Quickly crafted foil protectors did the trick.

We enjoy strawberries with our cream cheese so in lieu of raisins 

I opted for dried strawberries, then added strawberry jam on top. 

Doris suggested the tart could be served without the glaze and simply 

have confectioner's sugar sprinkled on top. I opted for the red glazing 

and loved how it looked and tasted.

My husband thought it was fabulous. It is basically a rich butter cookie with 

a dense filling and fruit glaze. It is a wonderful rich, crazy good dessert. 

This one is going on my "go-to" list of keepers.  LOVED IT.

Happy French Friday ~

Coconut Tapioca ~ Baking Chez Moi

Per Nana~ 

This week's selection of Coconut Tapioca pudding was 

so simple to make and the results were delicious. My taste

 tester declared it a winner and I have to agree. Perfect.  

This was my first time using coconut milk and when I first opened the 

can I thought there was something wrong. I did not expect it to be solid inside, 

but it melted nicely when mixed with the other ingredients. 

A quick and easy dessert that will be a repeat. 

Per Tricia~

Dorie shares in this recipe that she didn't have an affinity for 

tapioca pudding when young, and only changed her opinion after 

tasting Pierre Hermé's wonderful rendition in Paris. No surprise. 

For me, tapioca has been a favorite for years - it is the 

coconut that I have come around to enjoying as an adult.

 I can say with certainty that I would not have made tapioca with coconut 

milk if not for this recipe. Simply would not have put two and two together. 

Boy am I glad Dorie did. 

It was a lovely contrast and along with the vanilla extract, really gave 

my usual tapioca a run for its money. And in my opinion, the large pearl 

is the only way to go. We loved this recipe and can't wait till the kids are 

home from college so I can make it for them. A double recipe at least :)

Sardine Escabeche

Per Nana~

After all the fish recipes that were recently completed, I am sure that most of the 

Doristas were not looking forward to making this dish containing fresh sardines. 

Surprisingly, Jim loves sardines and I really wanted to make them for him.

Unfortunately I had to use Dorie's bonne idée and go with the 

shrimp version since we could not find the sardines anywhere. 

The preparation was simple (with the shrimp version) - slicing the 

vegetables was a bit time consuming but it all came together in about an hour. 

I covered it and left it overnight in the refrigerator so the flavors would blend together. 

Eating this dish when it is chilled is definitely the way to go and we both loved it. 

Per Tricia~

I am not a big fish fan and did not hold out a lot of hope for loving the fresh 

sardines, but I have to admit I did want to actually try them. That has been half 

the fun of this cooking adventure. Try new ingredients, try old ingredient new 

ways, and surprise yourself.  Or on some occasions, confirm your suspicions :)  

I could not believe it was this difficult to find fresh sardines. I called many fish

 mongers, even becoming a bit more interested as the doors continued to slam. 

I ended the hunt with the call to the fish store about 45 minutes away and considered

 that the wake up call. A few told me they only get fresh ones in certain seasons. 

I had know idea. 

The good news however is that this recipe was simply lovely with the shrimp 

substitute. My husband and I both enjoyed it and I would not hesitate to 

make it again. In sardine season.....

Happy French Friday ~

Pork Roast with Mangoes and Lychees

Per  Nana~

I don't cook pork too often lately because I find it to be very dry, but using

 Dorie's method of braising the meat with the fruit makes such a difference. 

We both enjoyed it, and blending the fruit with all the other ingredients made 

a lovely and delicious sauce. I cooked rice as a side dish and with some of

 the sauce on top, it was really good. I know I overcooked the meat but I just 

can't eat pork unless it is cooked through. Thanks to Tricia for finding 

the lychees, which was a first for us, it definitely added to this recipe. 

Per Tricia~

This recipe had me intrigued from the start since I had neither 

eaten nor cooked with lychees before this "French Friday". 

 I was also simply delighted that I could find

 them in the off season in our suburban area. 

The sauce has some heavy hitters taste wise. 

Garlic, onion, vinegar, wine, honey. Wow. 

The sweet lychee along with the cut mangoes added quite a 

sweet/savory kick to the dish. Did we enjoy it - yes.

 I especially liked the combination of the mangoes

 with pork and I will likely revisit that portion again.

  It was comfort food with a kick, and a refreshing change from my 

usual pork with apples. It is always an adventure on Friday around here ~

Limoncello Cupcakes ~ Baking Chez Moi

Per Nana~

If you love the flavor of lemon, then you will love these cupcakes. 

There are three parts to this recipe (cake, syrup and the frosting) and 

each has a bit of Limoncello added, giving it a delicious lemon flavor. 

I realized as I was preparing the recipe that I only had a mini cupcake pan on hand.

 Dorie suggests filling the cupcakes with an optional bit of orange or lemon 

marmalade but since I didn't have any on hand I just eliminated that step. 

With the syrup and lemon flavored butter cream on top, we really didn't miss it. 

This was a good recipe and will definitely be a repeat. 

Per Tricia~

I just love lemon desserts so was quite excited to try this recipe.  

Lemon cake, limoncello, lemon frosting. 

Oh yes, don't forget the lemon marmalade filling. 

Yum. 

 As expected, all that lemon-boozy-zesty-sugar was delicious. 

The frosting was the biggest surprise because I could not initially get the butter 

and confectioner's sugar to meld together. I was very successful at getting a fine 

layer of sifted white sugar all over every surface in close proximity to my mixer. 

I considered it an act of faith in Dorie that I kept going. 

And faith is rewarded :) 

I do tend to like a lighter cake batter so may not revisit this particular batter, 

but will definitely repeat the concept of filling the cupcake batter with a teaspoon 

of lemon marmalade, then brushing the top with syrup prior to frosting. 

I also liked the ratio of the smaller frosting portion, which Dorie explains

 is how the French would serve these cakes. Mind you the lesser frosting 

amount is going on a cake that was basted with a lemon sugar/syrup 

concoction when removed from the oven, so there is no lack of sweetness.

Another winner from Dorie Greenspan's "Baking Chez Moi".

Salmon Tartare

Per Nana~

As pretty as this dish looks, there is no way I would eat the fish raw. 

I prepared the recipe using only a quarter of the ingredients

 simply because I did not want to add this to my make-up list. 

I used a biscuit cutter for the ring and that worked perfectly. 

I made sure I had the camera ready when I removed the ring,

 thinking it would fall apart. (It did not)

I will admit that I sampled a smidgen of the dish and surprisingly, 

I was more turned off by the lime flavor than the raw fish. For 

anyone that loves raw seafood, this is a beautiful presentation.  

Per Tricia~

I am not a fan of raw fish (possibly genetic :) and evidently I am

 also quite lazy, since the time consuming work on the limes was 

enough to sway me unfavorably against this week's recipe. 

That said, I could not get over how wonderful the aroma of the 

fresh limes, chives, mint and scallions was - not to mention 

how gorgeous all the ingredients looked as they got prepped.  

I was truly excited to give this a try. 

Unfortunately I did not care for the flavors. Not surprising, but I 

was surprised that my sushi loving husband also did not care for 

it, saying he did not like the lime/tomato combo. 

All was not lost as this recipe reminded me how much I love fresh mint 

and I now have plans to plant some fresh mint in my garden.....

Happy French Friday ~