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Long and Slow Apples- French Fridays with Dorie

January 11, 2013 by Renee

Long Slow Apples

Long Slow ApplesAs you know from my post yesterday, I just discovered what I had been missing for the past couple of years and how I am jumping in at the last minute to play French Fridays with Dorie where bloggers cook through her award-winning book, Around My French Table.

I am thrilled that my first assignment is dessert. Long and slow apples. This simple, elegant dessert has a very modest ingredient list, in sharp contrast to the lengthy baking time – four hours to be exact.

Slicing the apples as thinly as possible (with a mandoline or slicer) is the key to achieving the delicateness of this sweet, luscious dessert.

The apple slices are layered  in ramekins and brushed with melted butter and spiced sugar. They are then baked at a low heat for all those hours, yielding the most tender, juiciest, sweetest bites of velvety goodness.

Long and slow. The best things in life are worth the wait. And these apples are no exception.

Unfortunately, I cannot print the recipe- but you can (and should!) buy the book and cook along with us. There are just three weeks of January recipes posted on the FFWD site and I am not sure how many, if any, recipes are left in their entire schedule. But, even after their regimen ends, I plan to keep on going and cook from the book and post on Fridays until I have completed them.  Or at least until the end of 2013. Consider it my resolution.

Buy the book:

greenspan

frenchfridayswithdorie16

 

Filed Under: Eat, Cookbooks, Desserts, French Fridays with Dorie Tagged With: Apple, Baked Apples, Dorie Greenspan, French, French Fridays with Dorie

Dorie Greenspan’s Cookbook ‘Around My French Table’ Arrived Today!

January 10, 2013 by Renee

How excited was I when I heard that I had won the very first cookbook giveaway of the year on Sis Boom Blog? I would have done a cartwheel if a) I wasn’t in bed in my pjs and b) it wasn’t the middle of the night. Ok, ok! I really just didn’t want to hurt myself again. But that doesn’t lesson my excitement in any way! I was doing cartwheels in my head.

I don’t know why, but for some reason, this book has eluded my shelves. Considering I am a huge Francophile with a pre-disposition to all things Paris (it is my most favorite place in the entire world-I did get to live there for a month last year!) and I have collected several hundred cookbooks there is no excuse as to why it’s been vacant from my repertoire. So I was beyond thrilled when Trevor (@sisboomtweet) from Sis Boom Blog sent me this gorgeous book.  How had I missed this one? (facepalm)

This book marks James Beard Award Winner, Dorie Greenspan’s tenth book and was the 2011 IACP’s Book of the Year. Filled with over 300 recipes, this substantial book isn’t just a cookbook. It also features wonderful snippets into Dorie’s French life with rich and lively stories and “Another Bonne Idee” for several of the recipes. It’s personal and personable and makes me long even more for France.

I know I am (embarrassingly) late to this party, but Dorie has a weekly French Cooking Club to go along with the book. Aptly called French Fridays with Dorie, this club chooses recipes from the book to complete and you link posts regarding how they turned out on Fridays. They have been cooking every week since the book came out in 2010. But there are three weeks left for their January schedule. So I am joining along with them!

Here’s the list:

January 11, 2013: long and slow apples (p.390)
January 18, 2013: chicken liver gateaux with pickled onions (p.190)
January 25, 2013: shrimp and cellophone noodles (p.322)

I am not sure if there are more after that- but in any case- I think I will continue on my own. At least for 2013.

A French cookbook and French Fridays. Now that is a great way to start off my year!

Merci Beaucoup to Trevor and Bon Appetit!

 

Buy the book:

greenspan

Filed Under: Kitchen Sink, Cookbooks, French Fridays with Dorie Tagged With: Cookbook, Dorie Greenspan, French, French Fridays with Dorie, Paris, recipes

A Small Taste of Paris for the Rest of Us- French Onion Soup Recipe

January 21, 2012 by Renee

French Onion SoupWith Renee off living the good life in Paris for the month, the rest of the family is home braving the New York winter.  My cooking while she has been gone has taken a much more kid friendly flavor, though I do try to slip in some more adult foods now and then.  With the snow falling today, I figured  it was a perfect day for a taste of France to warm us and at least be with Renee in spirit.  On a cold snowy day like it is here in New York today nothing warms better then a hot bowl of soup and no soup says France to me more than a steaming crock of French Onion Soup.

 

Ingredients

5 Medium Onions sliced thin

½ stick of unsalted butter

1 clove of garlic chopped fine

3 tbsp dry white wine

1 bay leaf

2 sprigs fresh thyme

4 cups beef stock

Salt and pepper

4 – 1/2inch thick slices French baguette

1 cup grated Gruyere Cheese (or Swiss)

 

Method

In a stock pot, melt the butter over low heat, then add the sliced onions and garlic and sauté till nicely browned (about 35-45 min).  Don’t rush this step; keeping the heat low will let the onions caramelize slowly and evenly without getting crispy.

Add the wine, and using a wooden spoon scrape the bottom of the pot for any bits and pieces that have stuck.

Add the thyme sprigs and bay leaves.

After about a minute, add the stock. Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste.  Its best to leave it a bit under salted as the soup will reduce while it is cooking and the final flavor can be adjusted before serving.

Let the soup simmer for about an hour.

While the soup is simmering toast the baguettes slices.

When the soup is ready remove the bay leaf and thyme sprigs.

Ladle the soup into 4 oven safe bowls giving each a good helping of the onions at the bottom of the bowl.

Pre-heat the broiler in your oven. (If you don’t have an in-oven broiler, you could use a blow torch to melt the cheese.)

Place the bowls on a baking tray, and float a slice of the toasted bread in each bowl, then cover with the grated cheese.

Place the whole tray under the broiler till the cheese is lightly browned and bubbly.

Carefully remove the hot bowls from the oven,  serve and enjoy a small taste of Paris!

 

 

Filed Under: Eat, Featured Posts, Soup and Stews Tagged With: France, French, French Onion, French Onion Soup, Gruyere, Paris, Recipe, Soup, onions

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