FFwD - Deconstructed BLT and eggs

This is a good salad but somehow I have nothing more to say about it.  Well I could say I should have halved the recipe!

When I googled the oeufs mayonnaise Dorie talks about in the introduction I came across this blog Sophie Cuisine.  Its in french but the link is a translated page.  I love the "yes, yes they say it all. But I say: No brainer" about how to boil eggs.  Cooks are a pretty opinionated bunch about lots of things, aren't we?

We enjoyed this salad but in America its a pretty basic dish.

I just read over my post and realized if anyone not participating in FFwD read this it would make little sense!  Mais bon...

See what the other French Friday cooks thought about this one.

FFwD - Honey Spiced Madeleines

These are my honey-spiced madeleines.  Sad don't you think?  The flavor was good...I got a few ridges...they're kind of a disaster though.  The sticking was only one of the problems.  The texture was off.  I had no honey on hand so used brown sugar and agave syrup.  Maybe that's why they stuck.  There was simply no 'rapping' or 'gently prying' them out of the pan.  I had to dig them out!

I've made madeleines several times with only minor sticking problems.  I think it was the idea of having to photograph them.  It made my madeleines insecure about their appearance.

Since I didn't want to be defeated I decided to try again.  I was going to use Dorie's Classic Madeleine recipe because the honey-spiced ones were tasty but I like the light pure flavor of the classic madeleines. Then my new Bon Appetit arrived with an Orange-Blossom-Honey Madeleines recipe and I decided to give it a go because I have this goal of cooking at least one recipe from every food magazine that comes to my house.

These stuck only a tiny bit and I was able to 'rap' and 'gently pry' most of them out of the pan.  I was running out of light so didn't get a photo but I even got one perfect madeleine with the bump!  I wonder if the sticking issue was due to the agave syrup/brown sugar combo or because I chilled them in the pan.  On the second try I chilled the batter before filling the pans.

One bump out of 22 madeleines made from the same batter in the same pans and baked in the same oven. Makes me wonder if the bump has something to do with how the pan is filled.  I need to ask my pastry chef friend if that is the secret!  And by the way...these madeleines are very good but the orange blossom aspect might be over rated.  Any honey would do!


You'll want to go by the French Friday site and see what the other FFwD cooks are up to.  

FFwD - Corn Soup

Note to self  - do not use white bowl to serve white soup!

This picture does not do justice to the soup!  I made a few changes to the recipe such as 3 ears of corn did not seem 'corny' enough so I used 6.  Also instead of 2 cups of water I used 1 cup of vegetable broth.  It is delicious this way.  Sprinkle some red pepper flakes on top and voila!  Delicious!

I found a crispy baked kale recipe on someone's blog and now can't find it again.  As soon as I do I'll post a link because its yummy!  I used decorative kale because that's all my grocery store had but you can use green kale.

I think I'm caught up now!  All my FFwD posts are up to date...I think.  I'd better go back and double check, though.

French Fridays with Dorie

FFwD - Creamy, Cheesy, Garlicky Rice with Spinach

I'm trying to catch up on my French Friday posts.  I have reasons for my procrastination, good reasons!

One of my good reason:)

This week's recipe is what I call a short cut risotto.  I have a friend who works in a restaurant and told me about this technique.  You parboil the rice in chicken stock and then finish it as you would traditionally  by adding stock a ladle full at a time as the rice absorbs it.  That's why if you order risotto in a restaurant you can be served in under 45 minutes!

This is fast and easy, especially if you cook the spinach in advance.  I doubled the garlic and added crushed red pepper flakes.  Next time I will halve the cheese but we really, really liked this!  I'm sure I'll make it again and again!

Don't forget to stop by the French Friday website to see what the other FFwD cooks did this week!

FFwD - Cinnamon-Crunch Chicken

Since I couldn't find speculoos, a thin, buttery cinnamon and spice cookie, that the recipe calls for I used the next best thing an American cook might consider...Teddy Grahams! Admittedly there wasn't much crunch but  one must make do with what one has, n'est-ce pas?

This recipe has only three ingredients, chicken, cookies and creme fraiche.  I think it needed a few more.  It was a bit bland. Truthfully, mine became a kind of cinnamon pepper chicken in creme fraiche and I ask you, what's wrong with that?  While the recipe as a whole didn't excite me I was happy to cook with creme fraiche.  I see it in recipes all the time and Dorie often recommends it in her recipes but I never actually tried it.  Dorie's right...sour cream isn't the same thing...not at all!  Its more like a cross between buttermilk and sour cream with a tad of heavy cream thrown in.  I'll warn you though, it is a bit pricey $5.99 here in OKC for a 6 oz. tub!

Check out all the cooks in our French Fridays with Dorie project.  We have fun and learn tons.  You might even want to join in!