FFwD: savory cheese and chive bread

 

Once again, it’s Friday and time to post my latest attempt at one of Dorie Greenspan’s recipes from her book, Around My French. This savory quick bread (pages 34-36) came together as easily as promised. I sampled this bread each of the ways Dories suggests. I had a slice when the bread was still warm from the oven.  Once the bread cooled I cut up a few cubes and invited a neighbor over to share the bread and a glass of wine. The bread was good but the conversation was better. My favorite way to eat this bread was lightly toasted and buttered.

The cheese is both grated and cubed. The grated cheese gives the bread it’s flavor and the cubes provide a toothy cheese texture because they don’t melt completely. This is a great technique. I want to try it in quiche next. I made the cubes very small but next time I’d like to make them a little bigger and see how it changes the bread.

Kitchen tip: keep butter wrappers that have a fair amount of butter on them. Fold the wrapper over on itself to keep the butter fresh until needed to grease pans or cookie sheets. 

Notes:
Used Comte cheese.
1 teaspoon Maldon salt.
Instead of optional cayenne I added a dash of Tapitio to the milk.
Used some sliced toasted almonds I had on hand in place of walnuts.
About 40 minutes cooking time.

 Visit French Fridays with Dorie to see what everyone is doing with this recipe.

FFwD: Dorie Greenspan’s "short ribs in red wine and port"

It’s another French Fridays with Dorie. This week’s dish was started on Wednesday, finished and served on Thursday but not posted until Saturday. Things got busy. Dorie Greenspan’s recipe for “short ribs in red wine and port” can be found on pages 254 & 255 in her book around my French table: more than 300 recipe from my home to yours.

They’re predicting snow in San Francisco. Could there be a better night to come home to short ribs? Most of the cooking for this satisfying meal was done the day before which made for a relaxing dinner prep after a long day at work. The overnight chill allowed for a quick and easy removal of the fat. Broiling the meat and heating the sauce filled the house with a warm earthy aroma and just the slightest hint of Asia.  The meat was tender and flavorful and the sauce was thin but velvety rich. In the recipe Dorie warns the sauce will be thin so I wasn’t worried as I warmed it on the stove. Served the short ribs with mashed potatoes and peas. Well received by resident teen. 

Bon Appétit

Notes:

11 short ribs, about 4 inches each weighed close to 6 pounds. I had the butcher cut them in half because I like them small and it looked like they weren’t very big in the photo.

Carrots were small, used 3

Used parsnips, also small, used 2

6 cups broth

Citrus = orange

More salt?

Vegetables got soft but never really browned. The pot I used (yellow Club Dutch oven) was deep and narrow; wonder if there had been more surface space would the vegetables have browned?

Keep an eye on meat while under the broiler.

Very good.

Meat, fall off the bone tender.

Plenty left, will freeze some for future dinner. Hope it holds up.

Would make again but be sure to allow 2 days.

Store meat, sauce, and gremolata separately for tasty leftovers.

FFwD: Dorie Greenspan’s pancetta green beans

    

This dish is quick and delicious. Green beans are a family favorite and often part of our weeknight dinners. Typically I quickly steam beans and serve them plain so it was fun to give our old standby a bit of a twist. Dorie Greenspan’s recipe found on page 333 of her latest book, Around My French Table was a great discovery. The recipe made more than the two of us could eat. The next morning I quickly reheated the beans and pancetta until they got just a little brown and crisp. I cleared a spot in the same non-stick pan, added a small bit of butter and prepared and egg, over medium. I found the combination very satisfying and tasty. 

Thank you French Fridays with Dorie for keeping me cooking and trying dishes from this wonderful cookbook.

FFwD: Dorie Greenspan’s Basque Potato Tortilla or how I learned the truth about my broiler.

Here I am participating in my first French Fridays with Dorie and feeling like a screw up. There is nothing wrong with the recipe just with the cook and her equipment.  I decided this week’s dish would be perfect for dinner because my teenage son is great fan of breakfast for dinner.  Greenspan suggests serving the tortilla with bacon for an American diner meal and I knew my son would love it. The final dish was fine for dinner and very good cold in my lunch the next day but it wasn’t perfect and I know why …

When I try a recipe for the first time I always read carefully through the whole thing once before I shop, again while collecting the ingredients, and one last time before I start cooking. Well, maybe not always. I was in a rush to get dinner on the table and was multitasking. I didn’t read the first paragraph on page 143 carefully enough.  Dorie writes that “the top is almost set – there’ll be a circle of liquid or jiggly egg at the center” but I stopped reading after I saw the word “set”. Finally I figured out that 21 minutes was too long for the eggs to be on the stovetop and checked the recipe one more time.  I had let the eggs go well beyond the suggested 8-10 minutes. Lack of extra ingredients and a hungry teenager forced me to carry on.

This is when I encountered problem number two. My broiler had been pre-heating for a long time, over heated and shut itself off. I didn’t know my oven did this but now I know the truth about my oven’s broiler. The oven was warm because I cooked the bacon in there and I didn’t notice that the broiler was off.  I continually peeked through the window to see if the top had browned and it never did. I finally figured out what was going on but at that point the eggs were very well cooked and I decide to stop and call it dinner. Lesson learned.

I will do better by Dorie next time, I promise.  Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table (available on Amazon) is full of beautiful photos, delicious recipes, and headnotes that make great reading. I encourage you to find out for yourself.

Bon Appetit