194 replies to this topic

[Dorie Greenspan]

I started a long catch-up reply this morning, pressed some button and had the whole thing disappear -- aarrrgh!

Anna -- so many dinners! So many friends! I know you live in the middle of nowhere (it's true, right?), but I think I want to be your next-door neighbor. Would you let me come over and try your Thermomix? I've never played with one, but I love the way you made the Olive Sables in it.

Like you, I often can't wait to cut into the Back-of-the-Card Cheese Cake. I'd never think to serve it with the daube, but seeing them kind of together, I wonder ...

Chris -- I'm sorry that you didn't like the Pumpkin-Gorgonzola Flans, especially since yours were beautiful, but my guess is that, like you said, it's a matter of personal taste. Now that Boeuf a la Mode ... it looks great and I like that you served it with peppered noodles. What's funny is that you said that the thickened sauce might not be French. Well, I think it would be French, a more traditional French. These days, you're more likely to find pan sauces and jus than thickened sauces, but the pleasure of cooking is being able to make something just the way you like so, so I'm glad you fiddled with teh recipe.

Linda K -- I loved your comment about not taking a picture of the spinach because, well, it looked like a pile of spinach. I'm so glad you liked it. I was so excited when I figured out that I could season the spinach first! And I'm really, really happy you made the Swiss chard pancakes -- my husband keeps asking me to make them for him. In fact, he would have loved to have had the pancakes and the carrots for dinner, just as you did. Two of his faves.

Dana -- you're right, the Veal Marengo made with shanks did look 'elegant'. There are no hard-and-fast rules about the cut of meat you should use when you're cooking at home, you just have adjust the cooking time to get the texture you want. I love that you made it with shanks.

[LindaK]

Dana, veal shanks are my favorite veal cut, they always have so much flavor. Yours look delicious, I'm adding this recipe to my short list, and I don't cook meat very often.

[Anna N]

I started a long catch-up reply this morning, pressed some button and had the whole thing disappear -- aarrrgh!

Anna -- so many dinners! So many friends! I know you live in the middle of nowhere (it's true, right?), but I think I want to be your next-door neighbor. Would you let me come over and try your Thermomix? I've never played with one, but I love the way you made the Olive Sables in it.

....

Dorie, I don’t actually live in the middle of nowhere but about halfway between Toronto and Niagara Wine Country! But for 2 weeks my best friend, Kerry, and I are on Manitoulin Island which truly is a different world. Love for you to come visit and play with my Thermomix! But Kerry will be in Buffalo next weekend teaching an advanced chocolate course at Tomric and will be using her Thermomix so she has extended an open invitation for you to play if you are in that area!

Edited by heidih, 07 October 2010 - 09:13 AM.
Fix quote tag

[JBN]

Chard-Stuffed Pork Roast (page 276)

I wouldn't ordinarily bother to post about a recipe that someone else had already reported on (see: competitive cooking above), but I took a few liberties with this one that I thought worth mentioning. Instead of a boneless pork loin roast, I used half of a standing rib roast of pork that I had in the freezer. I made the stuffing as directed using red chard, but I doubled the coating mixture of crushed black peppercorns and coriander seeds. Before I cut into the meat for the stuffing, I cut along the rib bones almost to the chine and spread half of the pepper/coriander mixture in there. Then I stuffed the roast and, because I was lazy, closed it with toothpicks.

When I first removed the roast from the oven after 25 minutes, I discovered something that doesn’t seem so odd in retrospect but really threw me at the time. The top part of the roast, above the stuffing, was at 140 degrees while the part near the bone, below the stuffing, was about 125 degrees. I measured a few times so I don’t think it was that my thermometer was inserted incorrectly (e.g., in the stuffing or against the bone). Anyway, I cooked the roast another 15 minutes and then let it rest for 15 minutes more. The part above the stuffing ended up drier than I would have liked it; but the part below was just perfect—slightly pink, very juicy.

I was bit hesitant about the raisins. I don’t always like them in savory dishes. But there aren’t many here and they added just the barest hint of sweetness to every other bite or so. Quite delightful. In fact, the whole dish was quite delightful.

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[LindaK]

Tuna Confit with Black Olive Tapenade and Tomato Salsa, p 305


If this cookbook is any indication, Dorie and I both share a love of tuna, fresh and canned. I’ve been looking forward to trying some of the many tuna recipes in the book.

This one seemed to be a good place to start, especially since it holds out the possibility of that magic word: leftovers.





I’ll give this one mixed reviews. First of all, the marinade/oil for the confit is delectable. The preserved lemons add great flavor and complexity. Once cooked, it was even better. I kept a bowl of it on the table and everyone reached for it several times.

The recipe calls for cooking 1 lb tuna in the marinade in a 225 degree oven for one hour. As you can see from the photo, my tuna was fully cooked through and even a touch dry. Given that it was poached in olive oil, that was a surprise. I’ve never done any low temp/sous vide cooking, so I need to do some homework on the temperature/time—too high? too long? It’s a great idea and the flavors were good, but I’d prefer the tuna a bit more pink and less firm.

I cheated on the salsa. The recipe calls for both a tomato salsa and tapenade. I forgot about the tapenade, so at the last minute added some slivered black olives and chopped capers to the tomato salsa, which calls for red peppers and more preserved lemon. Guests were divided on the salsa—some loved it, others (including me) thought the addition of preserved lemon was too much of a good thing, given its prominence in the marinade. Everyone agreed that the tuna-salsa combination was great over mashed potatoes.

Bottom line: we all enjoyed it and I’m glad I have some leftovers to play with. This recipe has inspired me to play around with the fish poached in olive oil concept and—gulp—maybe read the sous vide topic.

[Stephanie Brim]

I'm drooling. The Cauliflower Bacon Gratin sounds so good and I don't even really like that particular vegetable! May have to buy one and make a half recipe to see if it gives cauliflower a flavor I actually like.

I'm buying this book as soon as I can get funds. Probably ordering next weekend. We need a few new dishes in the stable of recipes to cook now that we're eating more vegetables. Oh man, I'm so hungry now. Guess it's time to get started on the chicken strips, mashed potatoes, and steamed vegetables that seem so blah in comparison now.

[pikawicca]

Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good
This was amazing. My pumpkin was a little over 3 pounds, and held the full amount of stuffing. For the liquid, I used 1 beaten egg and 1/2 cup cream. Mixed the stuffing ingredients, including liquids, and left them to absorb while I tackled the pumpkin. (A curved grapefruit knife came in handy in de-stringing.)

(Baked in a 2-quart Ditch oven, lined with non-stick foil, letting the edges of the foil hang down the outside of the oven. Using the foil as handles, removal of the pumpkin to the serving platter was a cinch.)

Baked 2 hours, removing the cap for the last 20 minutes. There was a bit of liquid on top when the pumpkin came out of the oven, so I let it rest 5 minutes. Cut into quarters to serve. The texture of the stuffing was perfect, and each serving was beautiful. This is a rich dish, so with a tossed salad, it fed 4 more than adequately. I'll certainly make this every year when pumpkin season rolls around.

[chezcherie]

Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good
This was amazing. My pumpkin was a little over 3 pounds, and held the full amount of stuffing. For the liquid, I used 1 beaten egg and 1/2 cup cream. Mixed the stuffing ingredients, including liquids, and left them to absorb while I tackled the pumpkin. (A curved grapefruit knife came in handy in de-stringing.)

(Baked in a 2-quart Ditch oven, lined with non-stick foil, letting the edges of the foil hang down the outside of the oven. Using the foil as handles, removal of the pumpkin to the serving platter was a cinch.)

Baked 2 hours, removing the cap for the last 20 minutes. There was a bit of liquid on top when the pumpkin came out of the oven, so I let it rest 5 minutes. Cut into quarters to serve. The texture of the stuffing was perfect, and each serving was beautiful. This is a rich dish, so with a tossed salad, it fed 4 more than adequately. I'll certainly make this every year when pumpkin season rolls around.

i also made this last night--or a quick and dirty version, anyway. i had a small pie pumpkin, maybe 2 1/4 lb before scooping. used parmigiano-rosemary rolls for the bread, and a mixture of gruyere and a smoky cheese blend for the cheese. no egg, some cream. rubbed the skin of the pumpkin-baby with some olive oil. at 60 minutes, the skin was easily pierceable with a knife-tip. i cut it into wedges, which worked well. my husband initially commented that i'd given him too big a piece. he's not a pumpkin-fan. yeah...he ate it all. next time i will put some cooked sausage in there. and next time will be soon!

[laniloa]

Y'all are making me very hungry. This pumpkin sounds fantastic. I'm very excited to be picking up a copy of the book at Dorie's signing tomorrow.

[Dana]

Creamy Cauliflower Soup p. 68



I put this together for lunch last week along with a sandwich. I used my immersion blender to puree, and you can see it's not as smooth as it could be. It was only lunch, and I had some other stuff going on - smoothness at that point just wasn't that big a deal. I did drip a little truffle oil on top. Quick, simple easy and delish.

[millich]

Chicken,apples, and cream a la normande (p.218)
Lemon-steamed spinach (p. 331)

Perfection. Absolute perfection.

Both of these recipes have been previously reviewed in this thread, but I liked them so much I thought they warranted another post. I served them together - as Dorie recommended - and, oh my, what a wonderful meal! Neither my husband nor I are big cooked spinach fans but, served together with the chicken and apples, we loved it. Somehow, all the flavors came together to make perfection.

Sorry that I didn't take pictures but Chris posted a beautiful one on page 2 of this thread. These are recipes I intend to make over and over again. Along with the gourgeres. I can't get enough of those either.

On a side note, I hope, hope, hope that I get to meet Dorie Saturday in San Francisco!!!

[laniloa]

I had a chance to catch Dorie's reading in VA last night and found her as charming in person as she comes across in her books and here. She was also as generous with her time -- taking more than a few moments to chat with each of us as she signed books. I highly recommend catching one of her signings (check out her blog for locations).

I asked her what I should cook for dinner tonight and after asking if I wanted meat or fish (I picked meat) she immediately said My Go-to Daube...and then reconsidered because it has been a bit warm here. cafe salle pleyel hamburgers p.240 it was. A suggestion quickly endorsed by her husband, Michael, who seemed pleased that I’d be cooking them in a cast-iron pan to get all over char and not just stripes of char from a grill.

I had slow roasted some tomatoes this weekend so I used those instead of sundried tomatoes packed in oil and skipped the cheese. These were some fantastic burgers. The roasted tomatoes and briny cornichons and capers add to the meatiness of burger while also lightening the texture a bit. As Chris mentioned upthread, don't expect typically seasoned burgers, these pack a good veggie punch. I really enjoyed the onion marmalade that went with it and will be making a larger batch of that to use as a sandwich spread to add a little oomph to my lunch.

baby bok choy, sugar snaps, and garlic en paillote p. 348
I made this to go with my burger. I really enjoyed the play on flavors -- veggies often used in Asian dishes with French seasonings. The mint really made this dish pop. I think I'll add a bit more zest next time to bring out the citrus a bit more. I also want to try it with lemon as I love pairing lemon with mint.

The best part -- 3 more burgers waiting for me in the freezer.

Edited by laniloa, 13 October 2010 - 05:46 PM.

[LindaK]

Lentil, Lemon, and Tuna Salad, p. 140

Lentil salad and tuna are two of my favorite things, so I’ve been anxious to try this recipe. Last weekend I finally replenished my stash of french lentils and got around to making the tuna confit. Though this recipe calls for canned tuna, I had leftover confit so I used it here.





This is a delicious and unexpected twist on the traditional french lentil salad. The tapenade and preserved lemon are strong flavors but are used judiciously and the lentils stand up to them very well. The tuna is an inspired addition, though I think the lentil salad is good enough to stand on its own as a side dish without the tuna. I added some diced cooked carrots, mostly out of habit.

It made a great lunch and I won’t hesitate to make it with good canned tuna.

[Dana]

A couple of things from lunch today.
Bubble Top Brioche p. 496
ready to go into the oven


Out of the oven - a little darker than I would have liked. My oven is a piece of junk and sometimes decides to up the temp several hundred degrees.



And the Cauliflower Bacon Gratin several others have made. This is very different from anything I've made before - custard-y and really very nice.

[KMPickard]

My copy of "the" book arrived last week and my first perusal resulted in a long list of things I want to try. We're fortunate enough to be spending a week at a cottage up north next week and I'm planning to do a lot of cooking, reading, cooking, photography, cooking. You get the idea.

I couldn't wait until next week to start working on the list though. First up were the grated carrot salad, the curried chicken etc in papillote, and marie-helene's apple cake.

The carrot salad couldn't have been quicker. Using the food processor to grate the carrots and then mixing up the vinaigrette in the same bowl was extremely efficient. The only change I made was to substitute pecans (toasted) for the walnuts. Using multi-coloured heritage carrots, as suggested above, made the salad a visual treat. It tasted great the first day and almost as good the second day.( I, like Dorie, like a little crunch to my carrots.) My husband's comment was "please don't lose this recipe". It will go into regular rotation. It's good enough for company but not "too fancy" for just us.

The apple cake was a real winner too. I've been looking for a recipe that makes the apples the star, not just part of the supporting cast; and this is it. Using the "divers' apples was really the brilliant touch. I used Empire, Mutsu, Ida Red and Smoothee (really) - it was akin to a Golden Delicious. Because the apples are in such significant chunks the variation in texture and flavour was very apparent. Like the carrot salad, this is homely enough for weeknights but more than presentable for guests.

I had a few reservations about the curried chicken - mainly due to operator error, I think. The parcels were charming but I overcooked them somewhat and, like Chris, my chicken stuck together in clumps. The chicken breasts I got were really huge, over 2 lbs for the two, and even though I didn't use all the chicken I think the meat to vegetable ratio was off. Maybe that was the source of the problem. I'd also boost up the seasoning. My curry powder was lacking in punch. I'll try this again but perhaps I'll try the salmon-tomato papillotes first.

I think that this book is going to become as much of a favourite go-to recipe source for me as "Baking".

Thanks Dorie. You've done it again.

Kathy

[laniloa]

leek and potato soup p.66-67

I have a few different leek and potato soup versions that I make, but I hadn't seen one that included milk from the start of the simmer. I used about half called for in the recipe and it still had a very rich and creamy texture and taste. I sliced the leeks very thin and pureed about half of the soup. I prefer it a bit chunky. This was a very nice version of a classic.

[Dorie Greenspan]

Sorry to have gone silent -- blame it on book tour, a wonderful whirlwind that leaves me with no free time and not an ounce of clear-headedness when I finish the day.

I haven't had the oomph to respond, but I have been lurking and your food is looking very,very good. I'll comment more when my brain and I return to New York late next week.

In the meantime, keep cooking!

And a shout-out to Laniloa and Dana for coming to see me. I *loved* meeting you!

[Anna N]

Finally I assembled (almost) all the ingredients to make Hachis Permentier which had been on my list of recipes to make from the very moment I opened Dorie's book. I discovered I had no beef bouillon cubes so half way through the simmering of the beef I threw in a handful of dried porcini to up the umami a bit. I had some cheese bits that needed using up so the topping was a mixture of Emmenthal, Old Cheddar and Parmesan. Three of us made short work of this and the little that we simply could not stuff into ourselves went home with my son to share with his room mate.

[nakji]

Is that a French take on cottage pie?

[Anna N]

Is that a French take on cottage pie?

It is indeed!

[LindaK]

Is that a French take on cottage pie?

It is indeed!

The name is an homage to Antoine Augustin Parmentier, who introduced potatoes into French cuisine in the 18th century--in France, potatoes were previously grown only as an ornamental plant. So when you see a dish on a French menu with Parmentier in the name, you know it includes potatoes.

[Beth Wilson]

This was the first dish I tried from the book, and we had very little leftover as the aroma coming from the kitchen made us extra famished!

It got me hooked on the book. I like the idea of blending the different cheeses on it Anna. My DH can never turn down a dish with 3 cheeses in it.

[Dorie Greenspan]

So funny, I'm on the road with AMFT and last night I dreamed of hachis Parmentier. Woke up this morning craving it.

[therippa]

I couldn't take it anymore, I ordered the book. Results to follow in this thread.

[nakji]

The name is an homage to Antoine Augustin Parmentier, who introduced potatoes into French cuisine in the 18th century--in France, potatoes were previously grown only as an ornamental plant. So when you see a dish on a French menu with Parmentier in the name, you know it includes potatoes.

Interesting! In Canada, packaged foods, along with most (all?) other consumer products, have to be labeled in both English and French. Frozen versions of Cottage Pie, (billing themselves as Shepherd's Pie?) are labeled Pate Chinois. Wikipedia maintains it's a separate Quebecois dish.

Can you comment on how the French version "Hachis Parmentier" differs from a typical English preparation?

[Anna N]

The name is an homage to Antoine Augustin Parmentier, who introduced potatoes into French cuisine in the 18th century--in France, potatoes were previously grown only as an ornamental plant. So when you see a dish on a French menu with Parmentier in the name, you know it includes potatoes.

Interesting! In Canada, packaged foods, along with most (all?) other consumer products, have to be labeled in both English and French. Frozen versions of Cottage Pie, (billing themselves as Shepherd's Pie?) are labeled Pate Chinois. Wikipedia maintains it's a separate Quebecois dish.

Can you comment on how the French version "Hachis Parmentier" differs from a typical English preparation?

Without meaning at all to be facetious, I am guessing there are as many ways to describe a typical English preparation as there are with almost any dish. That said, to me the primary difference is in the choice of cut of meat. I was brought up with Shepherd's/Cottage Pies made from the leftover Sunday joint but here in Canada I usually use ground beef. Dorie's version calls for minute steak or chuck. I used chuck. The meat is cut into very small pieces, slowly simmered with aromatics and then one separates the broth and the meat and further hand chops the meat. It is a bit more of a production than my usual way of simply browning ground beef but I believe the finished product justified the more finicky preparation.

[Dana]

Meeting Dorie was one of the highlights of my cooking life. She is just delightful, open, genuine and funny. This was one of the best classes I've attended, and I've been to quite a few. She answered my millions of questions, as well as those of other attendees, gave tips and told stories. The food was just delicious. The lamb and apricot tagine is burbling away in my oven right now. (except I'm using chicken thighs, a suggestions Dorie made.) It smells wonderful. Pictures to follow.
If you ever get a chance to meet her, jump on it!!

[Beth Wilson]

The name is an homage to Antoine Augustin Parmentier, who introduced potatoes into French cuisine in the 18th century--in France, potatoes were previously grown only as an ornamental plant. So when you see a dish on a French menu with Parmentier in the name, you know it includes potatoes.

Interesting! In Canada, packaged foods, along with most (all?) other consumer products, have to be labeled in both English and French. Frozen versions of Cottage Pie, (billing themselves as Shepherd's Pie?) are labeled Pate Chinois. Wikipedia maintains it's a separate Quebecois dish.

Can you comment on how the French version "Hachis Parmentier" differs from a typical English preparation?

Without meaning at all to be facetious, I am guessing there are as many ways to describe a typical English preparation as there are with almost any dish. That said, to me the primary difference is in the choice of cut of meat. I was brought up with Shepherd's/Cottage Pies made from the leftover Sunday joint but here in Canada I usually use ground beef. Dorie's version calls for minute steak or chuck. I used chuck. The meat is cut into very small pieces, slowly simmered with aromatics and then one separates the broth and the meat and further hand chops the meat. It is a bit more of a production than my usual way of simply browning ground beef but I believe the finished product justified the more finicky preparation.

I used Stewing beef from Max Burt my local butcher extraordinaire, and cooked it in my slow cooker all day on low setting with the aromatics so it was pretty quick to chop up the bits of beef when I got home from work and threw the rest of the ingredients together and sat down to a fantastic dinner in short order. The stewing beef was still on the frozen side when I put on the slow cooker and it cooked up nicely.

Made for a quick meal at the end of a busy day. Bonus: Leftovers for lunches the next day!

[Genkinaonna]

I guess I wasn't the only one eating hachis parmentier last night! Since I didn't get home from work until 6 it was a laaaate dinner (like 10pm) but totally worth the wait. I was looking forward to eating leftovers tonight, but my dad raided the fridge at lunch and ate the rest! I also made the salted butter break ups but I think I overworked them, as I tend to do with anything remotely resembling tart dough...but they tasted good anyways, just a funky texture.

[Genkinaonna]

Damn, wish it had occurred to me to throw the meat in the slow cooker...must've used up all my brain power at work! Next time for sure!