Citrus Berry Terrine

A recipe that clearly states it will take 2 hours to chill and then another 4 hours to firm....is not typically a FF recipe that you start at DINNER TIME on the designated Friday.  But such was the week.  After traveling last weekend for fun and then off for the entire week for business, "better late than never" was the attitude du jour.  And the payoff was worth it ~



Per Tricia ~

My family loves fruit and Jello, and with the

 continued excessive heat we have had - this week's

recipe was much anticipated. 

 It was a simple addition of fruits to

 plain gelatin, though I did wish I had gotten the

 canned citrus or even the pre-sliced jarred variety. 

It had been a long day (week :) and somehow the act of

 cutting up pink grapefruit seemed like it took longer
 than it should have.  As in "forever".......

But what a beauty. 

 The gelatin behaved exactly as Dorie suggested

 it would (but of course !) and by the time I added

 all the beautiful fresh fruit the dish looked amazing.

  Leave it to Dorie to elevate what  I might only have
served at home into something "company worthy".

This recipe was as pretty as it was tasty.

  I am so excited to add such a simply and delicious

dish to my summer arsenal.  Even if I won't be serving

 it to Nana (she is not a fan of gelatin, or berries....)

My husband was also pleased that this

 week's "clean up" involved significantly less pots :)

 Oh, what they do for Dorie food.

And when in Rome - or at least Baltimore - I made

 sure to stop at the famous "Lexington Market" as I headed

 out of town today.  Opened in 1782, it is 229 years old and
 still going strong.  There are over 140 vendors and it was

 an amazing culinary adventure.  Since I had to hurry home

 to make a terrine, I focused on the crab cakes and cookies -

both of which I had learned I HAD to get before leaving town. 

The crab cake shop I aimed for was Faidley's and

the bakery - Berger's.  I got the "house specialty" in both

and hit the road -air conditioning running full blast

 to keep it all safe.   Mission accomplished.

I made sure to share with Nana and she reported back

that the crabcakes were indeed the best she has ever

 tasted and the cookies were amazing.  Now I have

 to get her to try the terrine...........

Per Nana~

Tricia was on her own this week as I took a pass on

 making the berry terrine.  I'm not too big on berries,

other then strawberries, and I can not

tolerate gelatin of any kind.

I will, however, post the recipe for the Nutella

 pie that was pictured in last week's post.  Anne

 of "Cocoa and Quinoa" had asked about it, and

now that I know my  #2 grandson liked it,

I will gladly do so.   

SWEET NUTELLA PIE

---

1   8oz package cream cheese

1   cup Nutella spread

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 large Cool Whip  (8 oz)

1 graham cracker or chocolate prepared crust

Cream together cream cheese, sugar and Nutella.

Add 1/2 half of cool whip and pour into shell.

Top pie with other half of cool whip and chill until firm.

I sprinkled cocoa over the pie, but I'm sure some shaved chocolate would be nice.

Coconut Lemongrass Braised Pork

This one was certainly an adventure and Nana and I both
enjoyed trying many ingredients we had not cooked with before. 
Of course the fact that I read the calendar wrong and was prepping
for the berry terrine (until Nana mentioned she had picked up
lemongrass and celery root) kept it a lively week as well. 
The results ?  Surprisingly mixed.  Nana loved hers while I will
not be revisiting these pages again myself...... 



Per Nana~

When the temperature reaches 95 and above,

 you should check with your elderly neighbors.  

 Well, if your elderly neighbor is lucky enough to have

 air conditioning...... "forgetaboutit".  

 She is probably busy cooking.

This week I made good on all my cooking

 promises (and I had made a lot...)

 

 A blueberry tart and a Nutella pie for both grandsons,

 and an Apricot tart for hubby.  

Also in the mix was this week's recipe of coconut-

lemongrass braised pork.  Let me tell you, by

 Thursday evening I didn't want to know about food.  

( Thank Goodness we have a 50th Anniversary affair to

 go to on Saturday  and  "yay"  -I don't have to cook)

This recipe was fantastic and definitely will be revisited.

One of the things I love about cooking with Dorie

 is learning  about new ingredients.  I have never used

 lemon grass, celery root or coconut milk before.    

Dorie suggested a pork butt for the recipe, but I

 only know of smoked pork butts so I decided on

 a pork tenderloin, which worked wonders.  

I found the cutest tiny potatoes at Wegman's,

 used a few carrots, and at the end I threw in some left

over fresh corn kernels, and fresh string beans

all from the farm stand.  Great way to use leftovers.

Hubby was chomping at the bit about the delicious

aromas coming from the kitchen so I cut him a break 

and we had an early dinner.  We both loved it.

Can't wait for that apricot tart with a little whipped cream.

Tomorrow we diet.....

Per Tricia ~

While I do not plan to cook this recipe again,

it is not because we "didn't like" it. 

 It was simply underwhelmingly.

  With all the new and wonderful exotic ingredients

 (ok, at least to me.....) that went into that pot ~

 I was very disappointed that the results tasted so bland. 

 Tumeric, cardamom, exactly 6 coriander seeds....not

 to mention a host of others, I was expecting quite the results. 

The only thing we could taste was the tumeric and curry.

 Just keeping it real. 

 I still enjoyed the whole process and the kitchen

 smelled amazing.  And Nana and I shared a great laugh

over the consistency of Coconut Milk ~ we both

 expected it to "pour" out of the can like condensed milk.

  The best part of the effort - I got to enjoy the lovely

 aroma of fresh lemon grass. I LOVE this stuff and made

 everyone in the house come and sniff it

(the part that did not go into the pot :)

  When they are waiting for "Dorie food" to cook, I

 can get them to do just about anything.......

P.S.- the "best" part of this French Friday ?  Nana and I bit

the bullet and booked a September trip to France !!

Cold Melon-Berry Soup a la Nana

As the heading indicates, Nana "took one for the team" this week.  The only downside of enjoying a wonderful vacation is coming home to all the responsibilities that have built up while we were out sunbathing.  Even though this recipe is remarkably simple, I couldn't get my act together to secure a "dead-ripe" cantaloupe in preparation.  But I look forward to revisiting this before the melon season ends.

Per Nana ~

I waited patiently all week  for the cantaloupe

 in the fruit bowl  to ripen to the point of

perfection as I looked forward to making this

 week's recipe of cold melon-berry soup.

Today I bought the most perfect strawberries

 and mint leaves and found a small piece of

 fresh ginger.  I have never used fresh ginger

so I really had no clue about it.  I used my favorite

 kitchen tool, the handy zester, and grated away. 

After adding the ginger to the liquid melon

I decided to research fresh ginger.  

I had no idea it was supposed to be peeled.  Oops!

Too late to worry about it now.

I chilled the soup and the melon balls for a few

hours and found it interesting that the 

liquid thickened as it chilled.

After assembling all the ingredients, I

added a dessert wine called Vin Santo

 and topped with the mint.

The presentation was quite pretty, but unfortunately,

neither Hubby  nor I cared for the end result. 

 Perhaps using Vin Santo instead of the wine Dorie

 mentioned was the problem, or maybe my lack

 of knowledge about ginger  made it too strong.  

Thankfully I decided to prepare a single

serving and enjoyed the  remaining delicious

 fruit sans the soup.

Salmon & Tomatoes En Papillote

Nana and I are on week 2 of a lovely vacation on Martha's Vineyard. We originally intended to post last week but took one look at the kitchen of our rental and agreed that we were not risking any deposit on beets.  Way too much white ! 
 

But salmon is another story - especially when visiting
 a fishing community.  We enjoyed visiting the picturesque
 town of Menemsha and purchasing our fresh salmon
 from one of the adorable little fish markets. 

Menemsha is a gorgeous little fishing village
with an active marina, beautiful beach and little
 fish shops where folks not only purchase "to go"....
but also buy prepared food which they
 promptly sit and enjoy. 

The sunsets are perhaps the best part of this location

 since the beach faces Vineyard Sound, which allows you to 

see the sun setting over the horizon of water.

  The gentle waves here are as though you are on a lake,

 as opposed to the typical crashing

 waves on the ocean side of the island. 

It just makes everything taste a little bit better. 

 Not that this salmon needed any help......

Per Nana and Tricia-

This was as easy as we anticipated. 

Chop a few choice ingredients and make packets in

tin foil to be baked at high temperature. 

Most of the ingredients we bought fresh from
the local market here and even found some
 organic red scallions that werebeautiful and
 added a nice additional color to the dish.

So easy, yet Nana and I had not
prepared salmon this way before. 

But we will be again. 

 We especially like the idea of preparing this all in

 advance when you have company coming - and

simply being able to bake it quickly. 

As usual, Dorie made a great Friday even better ~

PS:  Instead of enjoying Dorie's beets last Friday,
we indulged in fresh lobster rolls from the
weekly fundraiser at the Grace Church
 of Vineyard Haven. 

 Not French, but definitely wonderful ~

Mozzarella, Tomato and Strawberry Salad

We have enjoyed many wonderful Italian food traditions over the years, as Nana married into an Italian family.  I am blessed with the joy of having both Italian and French lineage, which makes for some lovely meals. 

A standard that we typically serve as an appetizer or first course would be a Caprese salad (Insalata Caprese).  I can not count the times that Nana or I have made this, but I can tell you with complete certainty that it has never before included a strawberry.  Until this French Friday........

Per Tricia ~

This week was even easier than ever, with the toughest

part of the "recipe" involving driving to the store to get

the ingredients.  And luckily, my husband handled that :) 

 I was surprisingly curious to taste this "old favorite"

 with a new twist and it did not disappoint.

In addition to the sliced fresh strawberries, mozzarella,

 fresh basil and cherry tomatoes, I added some olive oil,

Maldon sea salt and cracked peppercorns. 

 I did not have the pink ones Dorie suggested using

and opted not to ask hubby to look for them at the store.

  Why ruin a good thing. He might have then asked how

much the Maldon sea salt cost ......

In addition to the strawberries being new on the

"Caprese" plate, I typically do not add a vinegar to this

combo..... but did this time per Dorie.  I used a Raspberry

Champagne vinegar and it was a lovely compliment

to the flavors.  My husband, older son and I shared a plate

and we all agreed that we really liked the combination. 

 We also thought the "kick" of the fresh basil, as well as the

vinegar, was what really brought together the individual

 items on the plate. They made the dish. 

 I will gladly use this as a new way to enjoy these ingredients

 during the summer months - a keeper for sure.

Per Nana ~

Normally, I use fresh mozzarella from the

Italian  Market, but since I had some Polly-O

This is not my idea of a caprese salad

because of the strawberries. 

 I didn't particularly care for the combination.   

 left  from making a Manicotti dish, I wanted to use it up.  

However, let it be known there is no way this

 can compare with a fresh mozzarella.

The dish is quite impressive looking, but it just didn't work for us.  

Roasted Rhubarb

This week's selection falls under the "recipe that is more like a technique" category.  We always enjoy those because they are quick, simple and typically bring us back to some basics we love but haven't prepared in a while.  Roasting, yes.  Rhubarb ?  Not so much.  Neither of us could recall having much rhubarb experience - eating or cooking it.  Which made the simple act of roasting turn into much more of an adventure.....

Per Nana ~

When I was growing up my parents had a huge vegetable

garden on our property.  I guess it was really known as a

"Victory Garden" during World War II.  

My mother grew rhubarb and always made jams and other

 good things, but I would never even try to eat it. 

 I was not into fruit back then.

So today I actually purchased rhuburb for the first time.  

 I had to "Google" to learn all about it.

Voila!  

I made the roasted rhubarb recipe from FFWD.  

 I'm not at all certain if the results

are correct, but it was an excellent dessert.

I drizzled some honey on top and chilled it for a few hours.  

We enjoyed a small dish with a dollop

of whipped cream after dinner. 

 

  

Guess what  my new favorite dessert is? 

  Next time it's going on top of vanilla ice cream.

Mmmmmm.

Per Tricia ~
(update - I forgot to include the "finished product shot" when I first posted this. I laughed out loud when one of the comments asked if I remembered the roasting part :) Though I do have my days......)

I am slightly embarrassed to say that I somehow

managed to mess up this utterly simple recipe. 

 Not possible, you say ? 

 I am blaming the Rhubarb :)

 I am actually relieved about it because I could not

 reconcile my own "taste test" to the raving review

 Nana had provided.  I gave her a sample the following

day and the minute she saw it she knew something was amiss. 

 We had teased about the fact that our local market

 only had 4 pieces of rhubarb left -I had said that

Nana and the local Doristas must have wiped them out.

  It was just under a pound and mostly green, but I

adjusted the recipe slightly for weight and forged ahead. 

 I had all taste testers available plus a visiting

friend of my older son.  And all of them wanted to like

 this dish but were suspect from the moment I starting

 cleaning the "celery looking stuff". 

Since I had a lemon on hand I decided to use that zest

although I would have preferred the orange flavor.

 I initially thought that the dish simply ended up with

 too much of  a lemon flavor- the first question from my hubby

was "how much lemon is in here ?".

  It was not that anyone officially disliked the results

(with all that sugar, how can you go too wrong ?) but

 no one wanted more than their small taste test. 

And none of us would have associated the results

 with something you might add to ice cream. 

 I had been all excited to try some of my new

Savannah Bee Company honey that I procured

 on my Hill's Kitchen visit in DC, but after

 tasting the dish I decided to save my honey.

 Luckily I had Nana to set me straight.

  After tasting my sample she promptly told me

to "throw the rest out". 

 We had a good laugh and she has promised to make

 my family a batch.  And we will be inviting 

my son's friend back for the rhubarb redemption....... 

Cola & Jam Spareribs

As we have often found with the FFwD recipes, the higher the expectations....the greater the disappointment. 
These ribs cooked to perfection and were "fall off the bone"
tender, while having a lovely thick glaze and crust ~
what a great combination.  Unfortunately, none of us cared for
the flavor of apricot and ginger.  While we will not be revisiting
this recipe, it did inspire us to cook ribs more frequently -
since our guys all LOVE them ~





Per Tricia~
                                                            

I knew I was in trouble when my 15 year old said

he was actually concerned about this one because he

 did not like the smell coming out of the kitchen. 

 Normally he would not have cared so much, but

he LOVES ribs and could not bear the thought of this

 actually turning out to be a disappointment.

The ribs looked magnificent as they marinated and 

cooked, but we could not get our heads (or tastebuds)

 around the ginger~apricot~cola combo.

 We are big fans of BBQ'd ribs and tend to look for well

known "rib joints" - esp when we travel in the South. 

"Sticky Fingers", "Germantown Commissary", "Calhoun's"

and others dictate our stops while traveling :) 

While we did not think it actually possible for us

to dislike a rib recipe, this one ended up coming the closest.

  My 15 year old made it through only two ribs and did

not finish his plate - a first.   My husband and older son

were more gracious about how well they thought

 Dorie's cooking time and method were, but also

 agreed they did not care for the sauce. 

Rather than protecting my feelings at dinner

not turning out as hoped, I think they were actually

 defending Dorie more than me :)  They do not want the

FFwD gravy train of goodies to halt no matter how

 unusual a rib dish may turn out......

Per Nana ~

To tackle the recipe for this week's spareribs, I bought

a small rack of baby back ribs at our local Wegman's supermarket.

  It was just the perfect size for Hubby and myself.

Following the recipe was easy, since there was not

 a lot of prep work.  I made the rub using the spice called

"Chinese Five Spice Powder".  I thought it it might be

 something really exotic, but when I found it in the

Giant supermarket, I decided it wasn't.

I cooked the ribs according to Dorie's instructions, and

 they cooked to perfection.  The ribs were served with coleslaw,

which was a nice side dish.

 Overall, however, we were disappointed

with the flavoring of the ribs.  While I would use this recipe

 for a reference in cooking ribs, I would definitely

 not repeat the spices, cola or jam portion.