Double Chocolate Mousse Cake For this week’s French Friday’s with Dorie recipe, Dorie stick’s Monsieur Michel Rostang‘s name on this lovely chocolate mousse cake. My mother unfortunately is not named but she should be as she makes a nearly identical treat evey Christmas Eve and has for decades. Her simple, elegant interpretation of Busche de […]
Paris Mushroom Soup
French Fridays with Dorie Dorie’s Paris Mushroom Soup is certainly no exception to the old adage “soup is good food”. This week’s soup-making exercise reminded me how easy good soups are. This umami filled potage takes minutes to complete, and if you use the pre-sliced, packaged mushrooms, you can shave even more prep time. The […]
January 7, 2011 by 26 Comments
Speculoos (Don’t Forget the Egg!)
French Fridays with Dorie For someone who didn’t grow up with any “cookie traditions” I sure seem to baking up quite a few batches this week. I wasn’t in search of new traditions with that post but they do seem to be finding me. This cookie probably won’t become one, however as I just found […]
December 24, 2010 by 12 Comments
Her “Go To Beef Daube”?
French Fridays with Dorie I had a lot of fun today writing a particularly snarky French Friday’s with Dorie post about the concept of a needing to have a “Go-To Beef Daube” recipe. (I know. Don’t act so surprised. Me? Snarky?) Its just that the notion that anyone should be required to have a “Go-To […]
December 17, 2010 by 20 Comments
Potato Leek Soup
French Fridays with Dorie Well for once I am speechless. I just have nothing much to say. Its not that I don’t like Potato Leek soup. I do. What’s not to like? Its just that I really don’t have much to say about it. If it weren’t for the fact that I wanted to try […]
December 10, 2010 by 17 Comments
Signature Nuts?
French Fridays with Dorie I really like the idea that certain types of things can come to be thought of as someone’s “signature”. Scents, dishes, articles of clothing, even cocktails can become automatically associated in your mind with one person or one place. Coco Channel had her white pearls. Bing Crosby had that damn hat. […]
December 3, 2010 by 21 Comments
Giving Thanks for Potato Gratin
French Fridays with Dorie Would you just look at these beautiful (but shunned) potatoes? Sometimes potatoes don’t get any respect. If you can believe it, these fantastic potatoes were actually dis-invited from my family’s Thanksgiving celebration! Just like that. How rude! I mean really! To invite potatoes to a dinner (a holiday dinner no less!) […]
November 26, 2010 by 18 Comments
Caramel Topped Semolina Cakes
French Fridays with Dorie I wasn’t really all that excited about this week’s French Fridays with Dorie assignment: Caramel Topped Semolina Cake. I suppose that if this were an American Idol act Judge Randy would say, “Check it out man, I was a bit wacked about cereal in a pastry but your ok dawg. Not […]
November 19, 2010 by 25 Comments
Pumpkin Gorgonzola Flan
French Fridays with Dorie I really didn’t have the time for this week’s French Friday’s with Dorie item, Pumpkin Gorgonzola Flan. It was a squeaker! I wasn’t going to beat myself up over it, however. My blog pals, The Doristas, always forgive. They understand how hard it is to work the assignments in to weekly […]
November 12, 2010 by 23 Comments
Roast Chicken for Les Paresseux
French Friday for Dorie I was paging through “Around My French Table” with my husband and giving him French lessons. I only know the food words so when I do go to Paris as long as I stay in restaurants I’m ok. Anyway, I was telling him that “les paresseux” meant “lazy people”. When I […]
November 5, 2010 by 20 Comments
Marie-Hélène’s Apple Cake
French Fridays with Dorie I don’t know who Marie-Hélène is other than she has way too many strange letter/characters in her name that aren’t on my keyboard. When I signed up for French Friday’s with Dorie I knew I would be challenged in the kitchen to make amazing things outside my usual comfort zone but […]
October 29, 2010 by 26 Comments
Hachis Parmentier
French Fridays with Dorie If you do an image search of Google on this week’s French Friday’s with Dorie assignment Hachis Parmentier (AH_she Par ment AY) and also on Shepard’s Pie, you will see that these two dishes are essentially the same idea…or not…depending on your ethnicity. (Go ahead, click the links…I’ve done the work […]
October 22, 2010 by 17 Comments
Vietnamese Spicy Chicken Noodle Soup
French Fridays with Dorie I’ve been thinking a lot lately about “comfort zones”. You know, those states of behavior wherein one operates in an “anxiety-neutral space”. I know it even sounds boring but we all do it. You get to cruise along at a steady output comfortable in the knowledge that while what you do […]
October 15, 2010 by 27 Comments
Gerard’s Mustard Tart
French Fridays with Dorie I have this fantasy/memory playing out in my head about French cooking and how it is prepared. Its seeds were planted when I took a family vacation to France as a teenager. Our family was hosted by a business associate of my father and his very elegant wife. Their names were […]
October 8, 2010 by 16 Comments
Crust
French Fridays with Dorie I’m not one to back away from a cooking challenge but the one skill that continues to vex me is crust. No matter how many times I make it I just never really warm up to the task. I suppose I would do just about anything not to have to make […]
October 3, 2010 by 8 Comments
