Hachis Parmentier

Wow, joining a cooking club makes the weeks fly by.
I had a feeling I would like the recipe from French Fridays with Dorie this week as I am also a big fan of Shepherd's Pie. I took a few shortcuts with it to make it easier for a weeknight meal. I sauteed all the vegetables with the sausage and steak. I simmered it with beef broth instead of bullion for only 20 minutes. I did not separate the beef from the vegetables and just added the whole lot to the casserole dish. The recipe had a really nice flavor and was good for a change of pace. I wasn't a huge fan of the cube steak. Next time I would either use regular steak chopped into small pieces or ground beef. One final change was the use of Yukon Gold potatoes rather than the recommended white potatoes and didn't use nearly the amount of butter and none of the cream recommended. I used a fine shred on the microplane zester to get a full coverage of cheese on the top without making the layer too thick. I ended up using about half of the recommended cheese. Even though this is still nowhere near a light dish, it was possible to "lighten" it up a bit without sacrificing flavor.

Vietnamese Spicy Chicken Noodle Soup

Wow, is it Friday again already? I didn't realize when I posted Sesame Noodles on Wednesday what a noodley week it was going to be here. This is the third recipe from the new online cooking club called "French Fridays with Dorie". The group is cooking their way through Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan. I joined the group to challenge myself to cook and bake things that I wouldn't normally choose. Last week was a huge success when I expanded my horizons to include a dish very similar to quiche.
This week was something that I didn't really feel stretched my culinary horizons and although it made for a filling meal, it wasn't something I would make again. Despite the fact that the recipe included coconut milk, garlic, ginger, cilantro, and red pepper, and lime juice...somehow this one just came up flat. The thing I have liked most about this cookbook so far is that all the recipes I have tried have really let the ingredients shine. In the gougeres I felt the cheese really made a difference, and the same with the mustard in the tart. This week I think my ingredients fell flat and just didn't produce the flavor I would have hoped for in this soup. There is a side note in the cookbook that recommends adding curry to the soup. Looking back I would have gone with that option, but I am not curious enough to make this one again.

Gerard and Raye's Mustard Tart

When it comes to "real" food, I am not a picky eater. Some would say I am picky because I prefer fresh, local, minimally processed food, but that's another story. When it comes to social graces, I can eat pretty much anything my host puts in front of me. All but one thing...quiche. Once when I was doing a lot of non-profit fund-raising I was invited over for dinner by a potential donor. They even asked if there was anything I didn't like. Of course I said I would eat anything. To my horror I arrived to find quiche as the entree. I seriously have a hard time with even the smell, but somehow I managed to eat a few bites. Even in that situation I could take any more than that.
So, when I saw that this was the second recipe for French Friday's with Dorie, I seriously thought about skipping it. It looked just a little too much like quiche. Not to mention Mustard Tart does not sound all that appetizing in the first place. The only thing that made me want to make it was the fact that David had brought back two jars of Mustard from Raye's in Maine this fall. One jar of Hot and Spicy and another jar of Fall Harvest Cranberry. What I am finding with all the recipes I have made from this book so far is that the quality of ingredients is really important. Quite frankly I'm not sure you are going to find a better mustard than Ray's in the United States. The whole point of joining this group is to step out of my comfort zone and try some new things. I told myself I can back out for lack of ingredients, but here I had no excuse. In the end I was so glad I did. First of all, I made my very first crust and although it wasn't a pie crust, it is a start. Second, the smell of Rosemary filling my house was wonderful. This didn't smell like quiche at all. Finally, the end product was great. I could see making this many more times. Can't wait for those young asparagus in the spring.
Where's the recipe? Well, sorry friend, you will have to buy the book.

Gougeres

 

One thing I have realized about myself through this blog is that I am not a fan of repetition. I always want to be doing, trying, cooking, or visiting something new. Originally this blog started as a place where I could document all the recipes I was making. So many times I would make something and it would be really good and then of course I would forget where I got the recipe from or just forget about it completely. The idea was that I would post them here and then be able to have them again, any time I wanted. The truth of the matter is that I still don't do that. Some people find comfort in have the same dish every Friday. After years of working in a field (outdoor education) where most of my food was prepared for me, I can tell you I will never eat Pizza on Thursday again. I yearned for my own kitchen during those years. Although some of the places I worked had great food, I still had a hard time with the monotony of a weekly schedule. The only routine we have is Pizza once a week, but it is never on the same day.

One of the ways I have avoided cooking monotony is to join a variety of online cooking clubs. Unfortunately for one reason or another...too much baking, time commitment, or difficulty finding ingredients they have all fallen by the wayside. I have enjoyed being part of these online communities, but many never seemed like a good fit. When I heard they were starting a new Dorie Greenspan cooking club called French Fridays with Dorie I thought it sounded like fun. I had already ordered the book, and because it has a variety of side items, main dishes, and desserts it will ensure a more diverse experience. They also don't require you post every week to stay in "the club".
This is the first recipe from the group. Gougeres are the first recipe in the book and I suppose as good a place as any to start. They remind me of a very rich popover. They are light and airy, yet still quite cheesy. These strike me as the kind of thing where the quality of the cheese would make a huge difference. I think they would be great with a Martini or cocktail, or even beer of your choice. I see them more as an appetizer, but I did have them with a light soup. I also followed the directions for freezing them and part of me feels like they are actually better that way. They seemed to puff up just a little more. The next time I will make them smaller, teaspoon sized. That way we can pull them out for a before dinner snack.
After October I will not be sharing the recipes as they would prefer not to have every recipe from the book posted online, therefore encouraging people to buy the book. To encourage people to participate they are posting the first months worth of recipes.So I too will share them here with you.