Admittedly, I am not a big eater of potatoes. I think of them more as a vehicle for other things: cheese, sauces, crunchy. I don’t think I have ever boiled potatoes and just eaten them that way.

So, I was a little tentative about this French Fridays with Dorie. Surprisingly, I thought the broth gave these potatoes a lot of flavor. Unfortunately, it was mostly of the bay leaf, which I didn’t really like. If I make these again, I think I will omit that and maybe up the garlic? Yes. More garlic (the answer to every question, ever asked). YES IT IS.

Notes: 1. I halved the recipe, worked fine. 2. I used a mix of potatoes (like I did for the roasted chicken a couple of weeks back)! 3. We had the potatoes with some roasted broccoli and sauteed chicken, which was very good.

Here are my photos and a . . . → Read More: FFwD: Broth-Braised Potatoes]]>

Admittedly, I am not a big eater of potatoes. I think of them more as a vehicle for other things: cheese, sauces, crunchy. I don’t think I have ever boiled potatoes and just eaten them that way.

So, I was a little tentative about this French Fridays with Dorie. Surprisingly, I thought the broth gave these potatoes a lot of flavor. Unfortunately, it was mostly of the bay leaf, which I didn’t really like. If I make these again, I think I will omit that and maybe up the garlic? Yes. More garlic (the answer to every question, ever asked). YES IT IS.

Notes:
1. I halved the recipe, worked fine.
2. I used a mix of potatoes (like I did for the roasted chicken a couple of weeks back)!
3. We had the potatoes with some roasted broccoli and sauteed chicken, which was very good.

Here are my photos and a link to everyone’s Broth-Braised Potatoes.

Braising liquid, heating up.

Not a lot going on here. Potatoes in, starting to cook.

I hit the potatoes with a little more salt and pepper after removing them from the braising liquid.

With broccoli and chicken. This chicken. Very good!

Okay, so I almost forgot about this French Fridays with Dorie but I’m glad I didn’t, this was a very interesting FFwD experiment. I made a number of changes, mainly because I wanted to work with what I had on hand. Here’s how that went:

1. First off, I made a half recipe, so I had one potato that was about 3/4 of a pound. 2. I used a…sweet potato! I know, it’s probably not a real matafan then, but I had about 5 red potatoes (which I figured wouldn’t work at all) and 1 perfectly sized sweet potato. So, there you go. I used that. 3. I added about 1/2 tsp curry powder to the batter. 4. I went ahead and still oven roasted the potato on the bed of salt. I’m not sure it had the same effect, but is seemed interesting. 5. Strangely, I thought the sweet potato and . . . → Read More: FFwD: Matafan (Fluffy Mashed Potato Pancakes)]]>

Okay, so I almost forgot about this French Fridays with Dorie but I’m glad I didn’t, this was a very interesting FFwD experiment. I made a number of changes, mainly because I wanted to work with what I had on hand. Here’s how that went:

1. First off, I made a half recipe, so I had one potato that was about 3/4 of a pound.
2. I used a…sweet potato! I know, it’s probably not a real matafan then, but I had about 5 red potatoes (which I figured wouldn’t work at all) and 1 perfectly sized sweet potato. So, there you go. I used that.
3. I added about 1/2 tsp curry powder to the batter.
4. I went ahead and still oven roasted the potato on the bed of salt. I’m not sure it had the same effect, but is seemed interesting.
5. Strangely, I thought the sweet potato and curry powder combination tasted like pumpkin pie.

Here’s a link to everyone’s FFwD posts this week.

Pre-oven, on a bed of kosher salt. Waiting…

Experimental curry powder added to the mix.

About to fold in the whipped egg white.

I used olive oil rather than butter. Just because it seemed more sensible.

Golden and flipped over. They seemed to poof up quite a bit while cooking!

Stacked up on the plate, ready to eat.

Oh geez, I have been so lazy. I’ve made a couple of really nice meals lately and been out to dinner twice and I’ve blogged about none of these things. I need to get my act together here. Let’s kick that off with this week’s French Fridays with Dorie, shall we?

I am a huge fan of lamb but almost every lamb stew I’ve attempted I’ve been disappointed with…until now. I loved this! I’m not sure even why this is the one lamb stew to rule them all, but it was. It just worked for me, you know? I used my sweet curry powder from Penzey’s and also ground cardamom seeds (I ground them in the coffee grinder), so the cardamom was very fresh tasting. I also added a pinch of dried ginger and extra garlic. Oh and a dash of cayenne for a little heat. . . . → Read More: FFwD: Braised Cardamon Curry Lamb]]>

Oh geez, I have been so lazy. I’ve made a couple of really nice meals lately and been out to dinner twice and I’ve blogged about none of these things. I need to get my act together here. Let’s kick that off with this week’s French Fridays with Dorie, shall we?

I am a huge fan of lamb but almost every lamb stew I’ve attempted I’ve been disappointed with…until now. I loved this! I’m not sure even why this is the one lamb stew to rule them all, but it was. It just worked for me, you know? I used my sweet curry powder from Penzey’s and also ground cardamom seeds (I ground them in the coffee grinder), so the cardamom was very fresh tasting. I also added a pinch of dried ginger and extra garlic. Oh and a dash of cayenne for a little heat. Oh, now that I’m thinking about it, I only added one diced apple. Mainly, because it was a fairly big one.

We had this over some cooked bulgur (normally, I would have gone the rice route, but I had bulgur in the fridge). I also served some garlicky yogurt and toasted flat bread on the side.

We’re not supposed to post the recipe for FFwD, but I found it online here, so knock yourself out: Scrumptious Seattle.

Okay, here are links to everyone’s posts and here are my pictures!

Mint ready to be de-leaved and stems tied together.

Onions, spices, plus I added a chopped yellow bell pepper to the mix.

Diced lamb added in. With all the other stuff in the pan, it didn’t sear that well, but it seemed to work out fine in the end.

A fig. Calimyrna to be exact.

Everything added and ready to braise.

Fresh mint leaves on top, about to dish up.

This week’s French Fridays with Dorie is the beloved French onion and olive pizza-like tart. This week actually worked out really well for me, even though I did not really follow the recipe as directed, but that I got to use up a bunch of leftover refrigerator items that I wasn’t sure how I was going to be able to use up. Hooray!

1. Instead of making the crust, I used about 12 sheets of phyllo dough, from a defrosted package that had been in the fridge for a few days. Perfect! I really had no idea what I was going to do with that before I had to toss it. I brushed the sheets lightly with olive oil in between the layers.

2. I didn’t have Nicoise olives but I did have a can of really good Spanish black olives. I couldn’t really justify going out and buying . . . → Read More: FFwD: Pissaladiere]]>

This week’s French Fridays with Dorie is the beloved French onion and olive pizza-like tart. This week actually worked out really well for me, even though I did not really follow the recipe as directed, but that I got to use up a bunch of leftover refrigerator items that I wasn’t sure how I was going to be able to use up. Hooray!

1. Instead of making the crust, I used about 12 sheets of phyllo dough, from a defrosted package that had been in the fridge for a few days. Perfect! I really had no idea what I was going to do with that before I had to toss it. I brushed the sheets lightly with olive oil in between the layers.

2. I didn’t have Nicoise olives but I did have a can of really good Spanish black olives. I couldn’t really justify going out and buying new olives when I had some that would would work perfectly well (although not super authentic).

3. I had a small amount of sheep’s milk feta left from a package I opened a few days prior. Yeah, I know I broke every pissaladiere rule, but I crumbled it on top. And it was delicious! So be it.

4. I only used about 1/2 tsp anchovy paste in with the onions, as jwa doesn’t really like get into the anchovies. He still commented on the “fishiness.” *sigh*

Anyway, let’s get on with the pictures and links to everyone’s posts this week.

Onions before slicing. Mine were pretty big so I only used four. Yes, this was also a job for the onion goggles.

Sliced up and in the pan with bay leaf, 1/2 tsp dried thyme and olive oil.

About 40 minutes later, the magic has happened.

On the layered phyllo, about to go in the oven.

After about 20 minutes.

Mmmmm, delicious!

Time for another French Fridays with Dorie? Yep, it sure is! This week: Buckwheat Blini with Smoked Salmon but even though I work at a place that uh, actually mills flours and I have access to all kinds of flours I don’t even know what to do with, I didn’t manage to get some buckwheat flour in time before I needed it for this recipe. Doh!

I had to use regular whole wheat flour for the buckwheat flour. Even so, these were really delicious!

Notes: 1. I let my batter sit in the fridge overnight, it got all bubbly. 2. I used a scalloped biscuit cutter to give the blini pretty edges. Plus, this way I also got to snack on the trimmings while waiting for jwa to get home! 3. I didn’t have dill on hand, so I garnished each with a cilantro leaf and also . . . → Read More: FFwD: Just Wheat Blini with Smoked Salmon]]>

Time for another French Fridays with Dorie? Yep, it sure is! This week: Buckwheat Blini with Smoked Salmon but even though I work at a place that uh, actually mills flours and I have access to all kinds of flours I don’t even know what to do with, I didn’t manage to get some buckwheat flour in time before I needed it for this recipe. Doh!

I had to use regular whole wheat flour for the buckwheat flour. Even so, these were really delicious!

Notes:
1. I let my batter sit in the fridge overnight, it got all bubbly.
2. I used a scalloped biscuit cutter to give the blini pretty edges. Plus, this way I also got to snack on the trimmings while waiting for jwa to get home!
3. I didn’t have dill on hand, so I garnished each with a cilantro leaf and also some finely diced red onion.
4. I held mine in a 200 degree F oven for about 30 minutes, I think it made them firmer. They were no problem to pick up and eat like a cracker.
5. I think these will definitely be an appetizer at Thanksgiving!

You can see everyone’s posts here! Okay, photo time:

The batter the next day, all bubbly and ready to add the eggs.

Post flip, nice and golden brown.

I made a half recipe and still ended up with more blini than jwa and I needed for a first course. So, someone is getting a stack of mini-pancakes tomorrow!

making the edges nice and scalloped with a handy biscuit cutter.

Salmon in place, creme fraiche and herbs to come.

Delicious!

Completely unrelated, but here is my awesome Halloween score this week! Life-size! He’s sitting at the dining room table right now…