French Fridays with Dorie Archives - Page 8 of 9 Kitchen Conundrum

Focaccia- Tuesdays with Dorie

February 5, 2013 by Renee

I have really enjoyed the French Fridays with Dorie cooking group. It’s been a fun way to make sure I get some blogging in each week in addition to my own (mis)adventures in the kitchen and beyond and I’ve also been able to read some really great new blogs from this endeavor. A big plus.

So, because I have had a lot of fun with that group, I have now also joined the Tuesdays with Dorie- Baking with Julia group. There are only two recipes a month so it’s not as intensive and it’s baking- so it’s guaranteed to be all yummy things! (I hope!)

The first recipe I have joined in with is Focaccia. The host this week is Sharmini of Wandering Through. Make sure you visit her blog for the recipe and visit the LYL section of the Baking with Julia website to see how everyone else did.

This foccaia is much like the breads we made at Kea Artisanal but with a few less toppings. In this recipe, I used some whole wheat flour as we are low on AP flour. But it didn’t affect the rise in any way. It still came out fluffy, chewy and had a nice crunchy crust.

A generous drizzle of olive oil that I brought home from Puglia this summer and some roasted garlic with rosemary on top made this a wonderful meal with some sliced tomatoes and mozzarella.

As with the French Fridays with Dorie group, I can’t reprint the recipe. But you can purchase the book here.

Brown Sugar Squash and Brussels Sprouts en Papillote- French Fridays with Dorie

February 2, 2013 by Renee

When I saw this recipe on the list I was excited to make it as it contains some of my favorite flavors- squash, apples, brown sugar and Brussels sprouts. After last weeks less then stellar recipe, my anticipation grew throughout the week waiting for Friday to arrive. Unfortunately, I spent most of Friday in bed with a migraine so Ari took the helm for this recipe.

The recipe was as easy as could be. I had bought pre-cut squash rather then having to deal with peeling and butchering a whole one. Oddly, the recipe says papillote- which traditionally is parchment paper, but in the directions it says aluminium foil. Ari stuck to the traditional method and used parchment but I am sure either would have been fine.

After filling the four packages, he had some of the vegetables leftover so those were baked separately in a roasting pan. I am so glad there was more than those four packages left! He brought me up a tray with a single package in it and I sent him back for the all the rest!

The squash and apple were soft and tender and Brussels sprouts were sweet with the brown sugar. It was incredibly good and I am happy to say, that this recipe will definitely be made again (& again)!

Sorry, but I cannot share the recipe- but you can (and should!) buy the book and cook along with us. It’s great fun! Every Friday we make a new recipe. And I can’t wait for next weeks! For details and to see how others are recreating the dishes from this awesome book, check out the FFWD site.

Buy the book:

Shrimp and Cellophane Noodles- French Fridays with Dorie

January 24, 2013 by Renee

Of the three dishes we have made since we joined French Fridays with Dorie, this was by far the easiest and the quickest to prepare. This Shrimp and Cellophane Noodles recipe is Asian inspired with an attempt at being Italian. It certainly seems a bit confused. Since I am the only one who would even consider eating the shrimp, I reduced the portion size to just one bowl.

It’s always fun to bring out the wok and the smell of sizzling onions and garlic is a fond scent wafting through the house. Like popcorn in the microwave, it draws peers from around corners with the expectant question “What’s ya makin’?“. But unlike the cheers freshly buttered popcorn, or a Chicken Pad Thai would bring, one mention of mushrooms and shrimp sent everyone scampering away deflated.

Ah well. I continued on.

The ingredients are simple- Chinese Five Spice, sugar, a dash of Cayenne mixed with onions and garlic. A bit of sesame oil, shrimp, mushrooms and noodles. Sounds good right? It has spice, heat, and sweet. But then you throw in a strange homage to Italy in the form of tomato puree and the whole dish takes a nosedive. All of the characteristic Asian flavors were masked by the tomatoes. While I do think the puree was supposed to be the acidic feature- ginger, lime and soy sauce would have made a welcome replacement for the tomato puree.

So while this dish LOOKS great, it isn’t. At least not for me. I wonder what the original dish Dorie’s friend made tastes like. Because I would hope it was better than this recreation and that I made some terrible mistake along the way.

Meanwhile, I will have to make a real stir fry to make up for it.

I cannot share the recipe (and I’d advise you to skip this one anyways)- but you can (and should!) buy the book and cook along with us. It’s great fun! Every Friday we make a new recipe. And I can’t wait for next weeks! For details and to see how others are recreating the dishes from this awesome book, check out the FFWD site.

Buy the book:

P.S. The noodles we used are Banh Pho medium sized. We make Pho and Pad Thai a lot here and have several bags in our pantry at any given time. So we just used them. I don’t think they affected the flavor in any way! I am so looking forward to next week’s dish!