French Fridays with Dorie: December Round-Up

Since it's January, it does seem like a good time to clear the decks on the December cooking from Around My French Table (did everyone remember that I was in that cooking group--I did). Back in November I decided that I wasn't going to let cooking clubs take over my blog quite as aggressively as they have my life, and thus I would only do monthly roundups of my French Fridays with Dorie cooking. Somehow that seems to have translated into losing most of the pictures, so this round-up will be mostly text-based, an overview for the curious.


There were five recipes for the month, of which I made four. The butter-glazed carrots will have to wait, but not too long, if I know the carrot fiend with whom I live.

Sweet and Spicy Cocktail Nuts, page 18 -- Made 'em last night.

Photo by Matt Korahais

An egg white, a little sugar, some spice (more and bolder next time), some salt, and as some people in the blogosphere say, causing me to giggle hysterically every time--"Walla!" You know how Bush mentioned the internets and now they're called that? Yeah, unfortunately it's like that. Voila!

I covered the bowl, ate one, and then went back and uncovered it for another. This may go badly. Also, note the lovely bowl, courtesy of Stacey.

My Go-to Beef Daube, pages 244 and 245 -- I bought beef for you, Dorie, and I never buy beef. I made stew for you, Dorie, and I love making stew. My version was a bit quick and dirty, but it was eaten. Stew rarely goes astray. I found it a little acidic for my palate, which is odd given that I eat unripe fruit and suck lemons. But there you have it.


Leek and Potato Soup, pages 66 and 67 -- My Christmas weekend dinner, breakfast, lunch, snack... Somehow, Matt never got any, nor any chance to photograph. I had it all. I made the basic recipe, garnished it with parmesan croutons (from SCRATCHbread's country parma loaves). Then I added more potatoes, because it was like a delicious warm milk. I think perhaps a potato weight would have been helpful. But then I've been whining about the fact that this book doesn't have weights in general, so chalk me up for a whiner and move on. The soup was great.

Photo by Matt Korahais.

Speculoos, pages 406 and 407 - Not my favorites, only in that they were like yet unlike the fiercely spiced, barely sweet gingerbread that I crave. No fault of the cookies themselves, which I had great fun shaping in many shapes. I have a great many cookie cutters and they don't get put through their paces enough.

Photo by Matt Korahais.

Looking forward to another month with this book, which is more than the sum of its parts, making these recipes.

Presentation, Presentation, Presentation; or My Love Affair with Pie Crust

French Fridays with Dorie marches on (see all those vegetables, Mom & Dad?). It's so early in this challenge that I haven't even started messing with the recipes yet. I made this one straight up, a simple tart crust, a simple quiche filling of dairy, eggs, mustard, pepper. The trick of this tart is all in the presentation, something I rarely give enough to. I can make many delicious things, but when it comes to plating, or arranging them in an aesthetically pleasing way, I'd do better with an assistant. In this recipe, Dorie Greenspan herself acted as my assistant, thoughtfully providing a clear guideline to making this one of the prettiest food items I've ever crafted, wedding cake included.

All I had to do was to cut a bunch of CSA carrots and leeks into matchsticks (they were no match for my newly sharpened knife), steam them for a few minutes (several people also suggested microwaving them, which would have probably worked well), and then arrange them facing in. And just look at that.

Not quite as pretty as the photo in the book, but not far off. And really, really good. Especially the tomato variation pictured on part of tart #2, above. Actually, according to the book, the tomato version is the classic, and the carrot is the variation. Either way, this tart is going to turn up a lot in my kitchen from now on--it's a classy potluck offering, and it was great for lunch. Welcome to the '70s. Or was it the '80s that were the heyday of the quiche?