buche de noel

I made my Buche de Noel on Christmas Eve, not a good idea if you plan on serving the cake with Christmas Eve Dinner.  All I  have to say is there are many steps and many ingredients, but worth it!




I had to recruit my son to help make the fluffy frosting, and my husband made an extra trip to the store for eggs, but we did it.  There were only 3 of us for dinner, so on Christmas Day, I gave he other half of the Buche de Noel to my Aunt Lily and uncle Jorge.

A Merry Christmas to all!  To see other versions of the Buche de Noel, click here.

lamb & dried apricot tagine

Delicious and that is all!

This time of year, I am lucky to see daylight and days off are very few.  I had every intention to make lamb tangine on Friday night after work.  I bought all the ingredients, sadly, I did not read the directions.  I did not prep any of the ingredients, so at 7:30 pm when I got home, I was looking at 2 plus hours before seeing dinner.  No.  Too tired and hungry.  We out for pho.

Ok, this morning I read through the recipe and tonight we enjoyed a delicious lamb & dried apricot tagine with couscous and Las Rocas, Spanish blend, wine...yum!  The recipe for the tagine can be found in Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table.  To see other versions of this delicious treat, click here.

tartine de viande des grisons

Simplicity...something we need more of in life.  Tartine de Viande des grisons...simple and delicious! All you need is grilled bread, dried beef (I used prosciutto), olive oil and walnuts.

I spent all last weekend baking walnut bread, so I cheated with this recipe a bit.  Instead of using a country bread, which my walnut bread dough was, I used my walnut bread.  The recipe called for walnuts on top, so essentially, same ingredients, different assembly.

Thank you again to Dorie Greenspan for reminding us, life is too short, cherish and enjoy the simple things!  To see the recipe I loosely followed, get a copy of Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table, and to see how the Doristas at French Fridays with Dorie, FFWD, made their versions, click here.

FFWD: Beatrix's Red Kuri Soup

A great start for Thanksgiving dinner. I have to admit, with all the cooking I had for Thanksgiving dinner, I made Beatrix's Red Kuri Soup in my slow-cooker. Super easy and delicious. I also appreciated the Bonne Idee to add blue cheese...Yum! To check out other versions click here.

storzapretis, the French gnocchi

So, I am sharing this recipe as I am eating it, because I waited until the very last minute to make it. Another great recipe from Dorie Greenspan's, Around My French Table.  First off, I was going to make these lovely little dumplings last night after work, but when I read the recipe yesterday morning, I realized, this wasn't something that I could prep before work then finish when I get home. Well, that's partially true. Storzapretis (aka Spinach and Mint Gnocchi) can be made ahead, as long as the ricotta has been properly drained and the spinach pre-steamed and drained.



Not many ingredients in this, ricotta, spinach, a handful of mint, flour, egg, cheese, I used half Parmesan and half Comte.

Shaping these is not done like Italian gnocchi, but rather with the 2 spoon method to form a quenelle. Time consuming, but good therapy for me.


I put my storzapretis in the freezer for an hour.  I wanted to make sure they didn't fall apart when I put them in the boiling water.


I made sure the water was boiling hot, but before I put the storzapretis in, I turned the water to a very low simmer.  I had iced water ready to cool the storzapretis, then drained on a paper towel.
Cheater Moment: I didn't have time to make my own sauce, so I bought a very good organic sauce and covered each storzapretis with sauce and cheese, then in a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes.
So, this can be made ahead and enjoyed as a weeknight dinner, if you make a whole bunch and freeze.  To see how he Doristas did with this recipe, click here.

palets de dames

I have to admit, this is not the first recipe I have made from Dorie Greenspan's, Baking Chez Moi cookbook.  I let my husband pick any recipe for me to make for him and he selected Cheesecake, Alsace Style.  I hope we don't wait too long to make that yummy treat!!!
So I was very excited to make Palets de Dames.  As I skimmed through the recipe I remembered the word "puck", so I was expecting a very different cookie.   One thing that is for sure, this tea cookie can be made and enjoyed before you finish off your morning pot of tea.















Cream the butter, then add room temperature eggs, one at a time.

Add vanilla extract, I made my own vanilla extract months ago, to be prepared for fall baking!

Add flour, slowly, then cover the mixing bowl and chill the dough.  I was anxious to have the Palets de Dames with my tea, so I rushed the chilling.

Scoop then put in a 400 degree oven for 7-9 minutes, no longer!

I only baked off half the dough and saving the rest for later.

I didn't wait long to dip the cookies in the glaze, I could barely wait.  Also, I used a little extra milk and lemon zest instead of lemon juice for the glaze.  I didn't have any pretty sugars, so I thought the glaze alone might look too plain.  To see how the rest of the group liked this recipe, click here.
Sammi was not too interested in the Palets de Dames, so she left me alone while I baked.

Waiting patiently as the glaze dries.

Aw, finally, I can relax and enjoy!

Gateau Basque

This is a new favorite, "Thank You Dorie Greenspan".  I have to say, I have seen Gateau Basque in bakeries in both Paris and here at home, but I wasn't sure I would like it.  Well, I love it!!!  I have to admit, I made this in the late summer and the temperatures were soaring.  Not good for baking in a hot house.  Now that we are experiencing chillier Fall weather, I may make this again soon, make a nice pot of tea and curl up with a good book.  Yummy!
I promise, the hardest part is straining the seeds out of the preserves. Next time I buy seedless! The dough looks and feels very dry, but don't worry. Not pretty, but this fixes it's self while it bakes.

The recipe can be found in Dorie Geenspan's Around My French Table.  To check out how the Doristas did with their Gateau Basque, click here.

FFWD: Osso Buco a L'Arman

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What would I do without Dorie Greenspan?  Well, I would waste a lot of time online checking out a lot of recipes that don't work...seriously!  Anyway, with the rain making it's way back to the northwest, I may be abandoning many of my favorite eateries and enjoying more meals at home.

I have spent most of my life in the food and beverage industry and you'd think the last thing I would want to do is cook.  Well, you are wrong, cooking is my therapy.  Slicing, chopping, sautéing, simmering...I love it.




The Dorie recipe for this week is Osso Buco a L'Arman from Dorie Greenspan's "Around My French Table".  I had to change the process a bit, because I had to go to the office and I couldn't babysit the pot while the Osso Buco was braising.  After preparing everything on the stove, I assembled everything in my slow cooker, starting with a little of the tomato sauce on the bottom, then the veal, then more tomato sauce and the carrots on top.


Turned out great.  Tender and the flavors were a perfect balance of salty, citrus, herby, meaty...YUM!

I took Dorie's "bonne idee" and made the Orange-Basil Gremolata and the Orang Rice Pilaf to go with the Osso Buco and a lovely glass of Bordeaux!

DELICIOUS!!!

To see how the rest of the Doristas at French Fridays with Dorie made out, click here.

FFWD: sausage-stuffed cornish hens

OK, another great weeknight dinner from Around My French Table. Thank You Dorie Greenspan!  I wasn't able to complete my recipe for last week, even if it was a non-cook recipe, because I was traveling for work.  However, even if this was a catch-up week and I was super busy, the sausage-stuffed Cornish game hens were a snap to prepare.  The only thing that took a long time was waiting for the birds to defrost.
The recipe required very little prep, chopped onions, garlic and parsley.  I used mild chicken Italian sausage, bought bulk, so I didn't need to deal with the casing.  I didn't have bread for the stuffing, so I used Panko bread crumbs.  After I cooked the stuffing, I put it all in the seasoned and oiled game hens.  Into the 425 degree oven, then I used the side-side-back method for roasting and "viola!". Delicious!

I hope the other Doristas enjoyed this as much as I did!  Click here to find out. I served my hens with roasted sweet potato and creamed spinach...YUM!

FFWD: garbure from the supermarket

I was so excited for this week's recipe, garbure from the supermarket, from Dori Greenspan's "Around My French Table".  I read through the recipe, bought everything I needed.  This is going to make a perfect fireside dinner or as a weekend lunch.  I couldn't wait.  Plus, this recipe should make for a lot of leftovers for my husband and I.  OK, Everything goes in the pot!

There are a few ingredients listed as "optional", “1 duck leg, Piment d'Espelette or red pepper flakes,
1garlic sausage, cut into ½-inch-thick slices”.  I did not add the duck, however, thinking back maybe I should have.   Hmmm.

This was not bad, but it was not awesome!  I wish I could say, "just add salt", but I found this a bit bland.
So, after one serving each, this went straight to the freezer.
To see all the different versions of this recipe, click here to see what the other Dorista's have to say!