FFwD - Cafe Salle Pleyel Hamburger

I don't know if I'd call this burger "forbidden, illicit, or subversive" like the recipes originator did but I would call it good!  The combination of tomatoes ( I used slow roasted tomatoes from a previous French Friday recipe), capers, cornichons, and spices add a dimension not common in a good old fashioned American burger, but it is very good.  Fusion food is popular these days and this is a good example of the fusion of the best of two cooking traditions.

The onion marmalade was the only disappointment.  It wasn't very marmaladey...just boiled onions with a bit of a coriander flavor.  The recipe calls for 20 minutes of cooking one medium red onion in a cup of water.  Coriander, butter, salt and pepper are the only other ingredients.  I cooked it much longer than called for, more like 45 minutes and I still poured off water before serving.  If I used this recipe again I'd caramelize the onions first and use 1/4 cup or less of water.  I'm eager to read what the other French Friday cooks thought of this.  They are a creative and opinionated bunch of good cooks!

FFwD - Eggplant Caviar

I think I have food malaise.  Does this sound like a condition registered and certified by the American Medical Association or perhaps the American Psychiatric Association?  I'm behind on my Dorie posts even though I'm getting up to date on my Dorie cooking...maybe its blog malaise not food malaise...humm, something to ponder.

Dorie's eggplant caviar is good.  We enjoyed it immensely and made plans to share it with friends this weekend but somehow I'm not excited about it.  My husband loved it and said it tastes like guacamole.  Maybe that's why it didn't excite me.  I'm all in favor of eating a variety of vegetables but I want eggplant to taste like eggplant not avocado.  I feel like I'm being a grinch.  Wait until you see what I have to say about next week's French hamburger!  Check out the other French Friday cooks.  They always have great ideas and fun posts!

Happy Birthday to Me - Best Ever Banana Cake

I was going to skip this birthday; 59 is just depressing!  It feels like an ending.  A friend suggested I follow in her footsteps and go straight to 60.  Be 60 for two years.  Nines are endings but tens are beginnings!  Do you think that's true?  Feels true.

This has been an action packed year with so much to be grateful for.  I haven't had birthday depression since I turned 30 (that was a hard one) and it snuck up on me this year. Truth is 59 makes me evaluate where I am, where I've been and where I'm going and I don't like some of the things my evaluation reveals.

 In another day or two I'll pull myself up by my bootstraps and make a plan for being who I want to be.  For the next few days I'm just gonna eat the Best Ever Banana Cake.  I might eat it all!

FFwD - Citrus Berry Terrine

I love grapefruit jello!  Let me rephrase that...I love jelled grapefruit juice...especially if you put in a few pieces of fruit.  Who knew jelled stuff could taste so good?

Served with a dab of whipped cream it makes a cool, refreshing and delicious dessert on a hot summer's evening.  Something different and delicious.  I can't wait to jell lots of juices!  And I halved the recipe because I didn't think we'd be that into it!

Check our all the French Friday cooks!

FFwD - Coconut-Lemongrass-Braised Pork

I'm late posting and can't think of anything to say about food.  I have this little distraction visiting me!  How am I to think about food, write about food when all I can think of is this little monkey, our first grandbaby?

Luckily for me this week's recipe is easy and delicious.  Dorie suggests using pork butt and I was tempted to use a leaner cut like a pork loin but I had just heard Dr. Zorba on NPR talking about eating fat and how the French eat foods higher in fat than we Americans do.  He said the French eat smaller amounts of good food while Americans eat
large amounts of bad food.  My plan was to use the fatter cut of pork and eat less.  Good plan but I don't know that I ate less.  What can I do?  I am American!  Just have to work out a little more I guess.

The French Friday website is temporarily down but should be back up and running by Monday.  Stop by to see what the other cooks have done.

FFwD - Cold Melon Berry Soup

I liked this......I'm just not sure what to DO with it!  Does that make sense?  I tried this recipe a couple of different ways and like it best without the berries and melon balls called for in the recipe.  That way its more like a slushy than a soup.  I tried no topping or topping it with a slightly sweet white wine as Dorie suggests and then I tried topping it with a bit of Sofia Blanc de Blanc and decided that's my favorite.  This is flavorful and refreshing but maybe my palate isn't refined enough for this soup.  Next time we're invited to our friend's house for an afternoon of sun and swimming I think I'll take this and some cheese straws and see how it works.  That might be the perfect serving setting for this cold soup!  Don't forget to check out everyone else's efforts. French Fridays with Dorie

FFwD - Tomatoes and Salmon en Papillote

This is a good and simple recipe and I ruined it!  First I was running behind so when the closest supermarket didn't have fresh salmon I bought frozen.    I've successfully used frozen fish in the past but this was not one of those times.  The fish was bland, dry and over cooked.  I'm still trying to figure out how salmon (package said fresh caught so it should have been flavorful), basil, rosemary, lemon, tomatoes and onions could be bland!  And I think 8 minutes would have been long enough.  Do you see those potatoes, though?  They were to die for.  I had a couple of new potatoes left over from my warm weather vegetable pot au feu (still playing catch-up) so I boiled them then sauteed them in olive oil and butter.  To Die For!  Stop by the  French Friday site to see what everyone else is doing.

Blackberry Buttermilk Cake - Bon Appetit

I have a goal!  Cook at least one recipe from every cooking magazine that comes through my house.  I'm not at 100%.  I'm not at 30% but I'm getting better.

July's Bon Appetit, one of my favorite magazines, especially since Gourmet is gone (sad).  We loved this cake just as it is but I'm eager to try it with frosting.....maybe orange marmalade cream cheese....and with other fruit.  Its easy to mix up but one word of caution, the recipe says bake 1 hour and 25 minutes.  I used a 9 inch springform pan and it was done in just over 60 minutes.  Watch it closely!

The nice folks at Bon Appetit very kindly make this recipe available on their website. Blackberry Buttermilk Cake

FFwD - Chunky beets and icy red onions

I've added several new recipes to our regular meal rotation since joining FF but the past part is the techniques I've learned and icy onions is one of them.  Icy onions on chicken burgers takes them from good to oh la la!

This salad is simple and delicious.  The earthy flavor of the beets and the crunchy mildness of the icy onions blend perfectly with the slightly sweet/slightly tart dressing and oregano accents and marries all the flavors into a perfect bite of deliciousness!  If you think you don't like beets try this salad.  You might change your mind.  Be sure to check out all the french friday cooks at french fridays with Dorie.

Happily Playing Catch-up with FFwD

Its almost July and I missed most of April, all of May and cooked most of June's recipes last night! These are two of the reasons I'm so behind....one son had a wedding and the other son had a son!  So much happiness in our lives this summer; but it has been difficult to cook.  I'm back, though, and hope to get caught up soon.

This week's FFwD recipe for mozzarella, tomato, and strawberry salad is a marvel!  My first bite was a strawberry sprinkled with olive oil and fleur de gris!  Amazing!  Delicious!  I was working on a time crunch and after making a trip to my local cheesemonger was thrown when he said they were out of fresh mozzarella.  He questioned me about what I was planning for the mozzarella and suggested I try casatica.  Casatica is made from water buffalo milk and has a texture similar to mozzarella but also has a bitterness that is quite pleasing.  This is a perfect summer salad and I'll make it often.  Check out all the other French Friday cooks at French Fridays with Dorie