French Friday with Dorie: Cauliflower-Bacon Gratin

When I went to an Edible Landscape workshop featuring Rosalind Creasy a few years ago at the University of California, Davis, I learned that there are so many different colors of vegetables available other than what is offered to us at most grocery stores. When I am seed shopping or out grocery shopping now, I am always on the look out for more vibrant colors of vegetables. The more colorful the vegetables, the more vitamins and nutrients they offer. I was happily surprised when I found some orange and green cauliflower at one of my local grocery stores.

Dorie's gratin is so rich with heavy cream, eggs, whole milk, AND Gruyère cheese, but it is absolutely delicious and I wouldn't advise on skimping on any of it - especially the bacon. This is a crowd-pleasing dish that can be served as a side or can be the main attraction for brunch, lunch or dinner as Dorie suggests in her intro to the recipe.

We ate this alongside the chard-stuffed pork loin I made a few weeks ago and enjoyed it so much, but I will be making this again and adding it to my repertoire.

Please visit French Fridays with Dorie to see what the rest of the group thought of the dish. You can find the recipe here.

Wordless Wednesday

Winter Whites

Suzonne Stirling from Urban Comfort is one of the most talented crafters out there and I am so inspired by a few crafts she posted before the holidays that I want to share with you. Her post for these Evergreen Painted Trays has me scouring Goodwill for trays that I can paint.

Suzonne is doing a column for Momster and your can find her tutorial for the trays over there.

She also made these wonderful clay dishes imprinted with evergreen branches. You can find her how-to on her blog, Urban Comforts.

French Friday with Dorie: Crème Brûlée

I have been looking forward to making crème brûlée for the longest time and was excited when it came up for the December schedule for French Fridays with Dorie. It's been such a crazy week getting ready for Christmas and working though, that I didn't have time to make it until this morning. Since this was my first time making crème brûlée, I decided to skip the jam preserves in the recipe which sounds like a great twist, but I wanted the traditional version. After tweeting with Mardi and Cher last weekend I learned that the temperature of 200 degrees in the recipe was too low thanks to Mardi's research (Thank you, Mardi!), and so I set my oven for 250 degrees and checked the crème brûlées after 60 minutes and they looked like they were almost set, but I left them in there another 10 minutes to make sure.

After they cooled, I put them in the refrigerator to chill and left them there for most of the day until we got home from doing some last minute shopping tonight. I had to experiment with a couple of them though because I have never used the torch. The first one I used brown sugar and it burned in quite a few places, the second one I used raw sugar and John got out his larger torch which was much easier for me to handle and control than the smaller torch. We each had a taste test and it was declared a winner! The custard is so creamy and combined with the crackled sugar is so very delicious. 

It is almost 10:00 at night and we haven't eaten dinner yet (my daughter is making dinner so I am not complaining). The remaining crème brûlées will be our midnight dessert. My post is so late, but I can't wait to see what the rest of the French Friday with Dorie group thought of the recipe.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

BAKED Sunday Morning: Buckeyes

My mom and I used to make chocolate peanut butter balls and chocolate cherries every year for Christmas. We would spend hours rolling peanut butter balls and rolling cherries into soft nougat and then dip them into chocolate. We didn't have enough room to store them in the refrigerator to set, so mom would stack each sheet pan and put them out on the back porch because it was just as cold out there as the refrigerator. We made these each year for our Christmas party and even though we would eat a good share of the peanut butter balls, there were always plenty to put out for our guests.

This week's BAKED Sunday Morning recipe is similar to the chocolate peanut butter balls I used to make with my mom, but instead of dipping the entire peanut butter ball into the chocolate, you leave some of the peanut butter showing so they look like a buckeye. I think it is much easier to dip the entire ball into the chocolate and then go back and cover the hole made by the toothpick with a little chocolate. I had a difficult time maneuvering the chocolate to cover the hole for the buckeyes. After covering myself and the counter with chocolate, I finally had an idea to use the wire dipper that you dip eggs into the dye at Easter. You just have to close the wire opening where you put the egg so that it will fit around the peanut butter ball. Much easier method than using a skewer! The recipe also includes crushed graham cracker crumbs which I am not sure I liked, but the different taste didn't prevent me from eating a good portion of them.

They make a great gift for family and friends especially when you put them in Martha Stewart's holiday food packaging. Visit BAKED Sunday Mornings to get the recipe and see the group's buckeyes. 

Mom's Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

1 pound margarine (I now use unsalted butter)

2 pounds creamy peanut butter

3 pounds confectioners' sugar

3 teaspoons vanilla

3 packages of chocolate chips

Mix together the first four ingredients and knead. (Mom and I would get our hands dirty here, but you can use a mixer.) Form into balls and place on a baking sheet covered in wax paper. You can layer the balls on the sheet, by just placing a piece of waxed paper between each peanut butter ball layer. Chill the balls overnight. Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler. (We used to use Nestle's Semi-Sweet chocolate chips, but you can use your favorite chocolate.)

Using a toothpick or skewer, dip each ball into the melted chocolate making sure you shake off as much of the chocolate that drips and place on the covered baking sheet. When you have finished dipping the balls, dip the toothpick into the chocolate and cover each hole in the peanut butter balls. Chill until chocolate is set. You can use parchment paper instead of wax paper. This recipe makes enough peanut butter balls to serve for a party or give as gifts.

French Friday with Dorie: Potato Chip Tortilla

Happy French Friday! This week's recipe is what Dorie Greenspan says the French call a wink to the original basque tortilla made with cubed potatoes. I used jalapeño-flavored crushed potato chips for my tortilla, and in addition to the eggs, garlic, scallions, and minced fresh herbs of parsley, basil, and chives, I added some bacon, bits of zucchini, and a little bit of grated Gruyère cheese.

After putting the egg mixture (I used 2 eggs) into the six-inch skillet, I let it cook on medium heat for about 3 minutes until the edges had set as Dorie instructed. I then sprinkled some roasted cayenne pepper on top and stuck it under the broiler for about a minute. I really liked the flavor of this tortilla - you could taste the spiciness of the jalapeño from the chips and the cayenne pepper gave it just the right amount of heat. The crushed chips also gave this such a nice texture - almost like a quiche, but not quite as eggy.

The best part is that it takes hardly any time to make. Dorie says this is best served at room temperature and is great cut up and served for a party, but since we were doing some holiday shopping after work, I ended up making this for a late night meal last night which is the time I prefer to eat eggs. We really liked it served warm out of the oven. I am curious to see how the rest of the group served their potato chip tortilla at French Fridays with Dorie.

French Friday with Dorie: Chard-stuffed Pork Roast

When I went to the store to get the swiss chard and pork loin for this week's recipe, I was greeted in the produce section with this beautiful chard in Christmas colors.

Dorie says in her intro to the recipe that this would be a good one to fix on a worknight because it doesn't take any time at all. And she was right. Finely slicing the chard and chopping the onions and garlic took longer than prepping the pork. The recipe calls for golden raisins, but I took Dorie's suggestion and substituted dried cranberries. Once the stuffing is prepared, you slice the pork loin in half, leaving about a quarter inch from the other side so that you can open the pork up like a book. You put the stuffing on one of the sides and then tie it up with kitchen twine.

You put the loin in a roasting pan and roast in a 375 degree oven for 40 minutes or until the internal temperature of the pork reaches 140 degrees. Dorie said the meat will be pink, but if you want it more well done to leave it in longer. We do not eat pink pork at our house, so I wanted eat more well done and when I checked at 40 minutes the internal temperature was 157 degrees and just right for us.

The crushed peppercorns and coriander seed give this a nice crust and when  you bite into it you get this wonderful taste of the stuffing with the pork. Next time I make this though, I will add salt to the peppercorn mixture because we needed to add a little salt. It made a great meal and Dorie is right - this is elegant enough to serve to guests or simple enough to serve after a busy day at work. Visit French Fridays with Dorie to see what everyone else thought of this week's recipe.

How to Tie a Ribbon on a Present

I still have a lot of holiday shopping left, but one thing that I enjoy doing is wrapping my gifts early, if at all possible. It's fun to personalize the wrapping and decoration on each gift, but sometimes I have a little problem with getting the bows just right. I remembered a video that designer Eddie Ross posted on his blog a few years ago and wanted to share it with you for some wrapping inspiration. Eddie demonstrates how to tie a ribbon on a present - one where the recipient just pulls one end of the ribbon and it magically unwraps. 

Pecan Crunch Cookies

I have amassed a large number of cookie recipes over the years and some of the best ones have come from cookie exchanges. So when Di from Di's Kitchen Notebook sent invitations out to her second annual Virtual Cookie Exchange, I got so excited because this is my favorite time of the year to bake. I am late posting my cookie recipe, but Di said not to worry if we were running late because she will be posting the cookie exchange round-up on December 11th. I am really looking forward to seeing everyone's cookies and adding even more cookie recipes to my collection.

The recipe I selected for Di's Christmas Cookie Exchange is one that I got from a co-worker at a holiday party at work quite a few years ago, but I have never made them even though I got the recipe after tasting them at the party. I've had them on my "Christmas Cookies to Make" list every year, but this year I decided was the year I was finally going to make them. It took me two attempts to get them the way that I remembered them, but even though the first batch spread a little too much and got a little too brown on the bottom they tasted just as good as my second batch.

What makes these Pecan Crunch Cookies so crunchy are crushed potato chips. Yes, potato chips! These cookies are buttery, crunchy, flaky bites that are so delicious. 

They are a great cookie to package and even send in the mail because they stay fresh longer than most cookies since they have no milk or cream in them. 

Now that I finally got around to making them, I will be making another batch for our family gathering on Christmas Eve and since they have become a hit with my family I have a feeling I will be making them often throughout the year.

Thank you to Di for hosting another wonderful seasonal virtual exchange! I am already looking forward to the next one. Don't forget to visit Di's Kitchen Notebook to see links to some fabulous cookies.

Pecan Crunch Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup crushed potato chips

1/2 cup chopped pecans

2 cups sifted flour

Cream together butter, sugar, and vanilla.

Add crushed potato chips and pecans. Stir in flour. The dough will be crumbly, but don't worry. Form dough into small balls. Place each ball on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press balls flat with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar. Bake at 350 degrees 16-18 minutes. (I had to turn my oven down to 325 degrees) or until lightly brown. Makes 3-1/2 dozen cookies.

BAKED Sunday Morning: Baked French Toast

What a perfect Sunday morning breakfast! And, it couldn't be easier to put together. The hardest part was going to the store and getting the bread. I really wanted to try Challah bread for this recipe since we had never tasted it before and Whole Foods carries Challah made from a local bakery. They also had a golden raisin version which I thought would be perfect for french toast. What's great about this recipe is that you assemble it the night before, refrigerate it, and the next morning you add the nuts and bake it for 40 minutes. I used pecans instead of almonds and grated some fresh nutmeg on top before putting it into the oven.

I also substituted eggnog for the milk called for in the recipe, but still used 1 cup of half-and-half. I pretty much put eggnog in everything this time of year, so I thought it would be a good seasonal substitution. 

When you take it out of the oven, you have a lovely golden brown french toast with the custard bubbling up. I don't think I'll go back to making french toast one or two slices at a time with a griddle on the stove top. I also think this would make a perfect breakfast when you have company because you can pop it in the oven when everyone is asleep and they can wake up to the smell of cinnamon and nutmeg. 

The recipe suggests making a raspberry syrup or you can use any other fruit, but I just wanted to use maple syrup because that's what we prefer on our pancakes and french toast. I think I would like to try it with fruit syrup another time, but with it being so cold and windy out -  I heated the maple syrup before pouring it over the french toast and with the french toast still warm from the oven it just warmed us up from the inside out.

The result was layers of bread and raisins with eggnog custard. The maple syrup gave it just the right amount of sweetness and the pecans along with the crispy brown crust gave it the crunchy texture that was so satisfying. The cinnamon with the raisin challah was a perfect combination in this recipe. Yep, I don't think I'll ever go back to the stovetop method of making french toast. Visit BAKED Sunday Mornings to see how the rest of the group make their french toast and you can also get the recipe on the site.

French Friday with Dorie: Matafan

This week's French Friday with Dorie recipe is one that I am very familiar with, although we called them simply potato pancakes. My dad was a meat and potatoes man and so we ate mashed potatoes pretty much every night when I was growing up and mom would often make potato pancakes just to vary things a bit. 

I like the word Matafan instead of referring to them as mashed potato pancakes, don't you? Mat is short for matin or morning and fan is what the word faim sounds like, meaning hungry. They were eaten to stave off the rumbling and roaring sounds that your stomach makes when you are hungry. I sure wish I had eaten some of these before my meeting on Tuesday morning. 

Dorie's recipe is a lot more involved and more work than my mom's recipe though. Instead of using leftover mashed potatoes, you bake some potatoes in a pan of kosher salt to draw the moisture out of them for 1-1/2 hours in a 400 degree oven. I used some gold potatoes I had on hand and instead of the russet potatoes that Dorie suggests in the recipe and because I made these last night after work, I put them on a plate covered with kosher salt and popped them in the microwave for about 13 minutes. The salt really did draw out the moisture in the potatoes.

What's also interesting about this recipe is that you whip the whites of 2 eggs until stiff peaks form and then fold the whites into the potato batter which is supposed to make them fluffy, but my mom's were just as fluffy and she never separated the eggs and whipped some of the whites. I served my matafan as a dinner side dish and topped them with some sour cream and snips of green onion. This isn't a side that I would normally choose to serve with chicken mole, but it worked and I think they were tastier with the gold potatoes.

Be sure to check out the rest of the groups' links over at French Fridays with Dorie. You can find Dorie's Matafan recipe here.

holiday decorating

I am having a difficult time making the transition from Thanksgiving to Christmas this year. The leaves on the trees here are such vibrant colors of brown, gold, red, and green that I am finding that I am just not ready for the colors of December. The last few days I have driven by homes that are already decked out with lights and have brightly lit Christmas trees glowing through the windows. They must have elves living at their homes. I have been poring over the holiday issues of my magazines that are arriving daily and they are giving me lots of inspiration. I love the soft blues of this fabric wreath that Sweet Paul made for the December issue of Better Homes and Gardens. This would also be so pretty in soft shades of blue felt.

And just how cute are these little votives wrapped in blue velvet ribbon with a tiny pine cone spray painted white and then glued onto the ribbon? Just makes the table look so festive, doesn't it?

When I saw this spread in Better Homes and Gardens, it made me remember that Sweet Paul's Holiday Magazine is out. I took a quick look at it the day it came out, but there was so much going on at work and home that I haven't had a chance to really look at it again until now.

This is another gorgeous issue by Paul Lowe. Filled with holiday crafts, recipes and beautiful photographs, you can't help but get inspired by it. I just want to pluck one of those pudding cupcakes right off that cake stand! Isn't that faux bois background fabulous?!

I really liked this wreath composed of family photos. What a wonderful way to display both old and new cherished photographs of family members during the holidays.

Isn't this chocolate espresso flan to-die-for?! I really must make this!

You can find the December issue of Better Homes and Gardens on news stands now and you can view Sweet Paul's free digital holiday issue here. Happy Decorating!

French Friday with Dorie: Rice Pudding and Caramel Apples

For this week's French Fridays with Dorie we were given cook's choice where we could select any recipe from Dorie's book, Around My French Table. Since there have been no dessert recipes for FFwDorie for the past couple of months, I decided that I wanted to make a dessert. And, since it is Thanksgiving week and after making a very involved cake recipe last week, I decided that I wanted a simple dessert and so I selected Dorie's rice pudding with caramel apples.

I still had some leftover rice from the FFwD stuffed peppers I made a few months ago, so I was happy to see this recipe called for Arborio rice. It is an easy recipe to make, but it does require some time to cook and you need to watch the milk as it is coming to a boil. Don't walk away for a few minutes like I did because then your milk will pick that exact instant to boil over like mine did. It turned out to be okay - I just had a mess to clean up later and had a little less milk for the pudding. Once the milk boils, you turn the heat down and add the rice that you have pre-cooked for 10 minutes and 50 minutes later you have this creamy pudding.

While the pudding cools to room temperature you make the apples and caramel sauce. This is so simple to do. You put the sugar in the middle of a non-stick skillet and add a splash of lemon juice. I added some lemon juice from a meyer lemon from my little tree. Once this begins to caramelize, you add some butter, lower the heat and add some apple cider. When it boils you add the sliced apples and cook until they are tender. Then you add the heavy cream and continue to cook until the sauce turns the caramel color you want. Dorie says to cook another minute after adding the heavy cream, but it took mine about 4-5 minutes to get to the color I wanted.

Once the caramel apples cool to room temperature, you layer some of the caramel sauce along with some of the apples in the bottom of the dish and spoon some of the rice pudding over it and then top with more caramel apples. The result is a creamy caramel apple pudding that is so delicious. I am not a big fan of rice pudding, but I really enjoyed this and liked the plump Arborio rice. My husband loved it with and without the caramel apples. It is a simple, yet elegant dessert and as my son said, "A perfect finish to a meal." You can find the recipe at Epicurious.

Visit this week's French Fridays with Dorie link to see the recipes other members selected.

BAKED Sunday Morning: Boston Cream Pie Cake

The first cake I can remember making was Boston Creme Pie from a cake mix. Do any of you remember that cake mix? Boston Creme Pie was one of my dad's favorites and I enjoyed making it for him. This week's BAKED Sunday Morning recipe pays homage to this great American dessert.

I would call this a grown-up version as I followed Matt's suggestion and soaked two of the layers in some light rum. You couldn't taste the rum at all and it actually compressed the sponge layers a little bit, so I think I would omit this step the next time I make this recipe. The milk sponge layers are light and the pastry cream is so smooth and delicious. I love the twist in this recipe with making two layers of chocolate pastry cream with one layer of vanilla. 

The chocolate ganache is a perfect finish for this cake. Cutting through layers of chocolate ganache, milk sponge cake, chocolate and vanilla pastry cream is every chocolate lover's dream. This was a huge hit here and we couldn't get enough of it. While it takes some time to make, this cake is definitely worth the effort.

You can see the other group members' creations over at BAKED Sunday Mornings and you can also find this recipe there. If you haven't made this cake, I hope you will give it a try. You won't be disappointed. 

French Friday with Dorie: Braised Cardamom-Curry Lamb

Last Sunday was one of those days that I spent the entire day in the kitchen, but I didn't mind a bit because at the end of the day I had a hearty lamb stew to put on the table and a beautiful cake. The cake you hear more about when I post it for  Baked Sunday Mornings. The stew is what I will be talking about today.

I haven't bought lamb in quite awhile, so I was a little surprised at how expensive it was, but it wasn't as expensive as the duck that we made a few weeks ago. Since it was only going to be the two of us for dinner, I bought just under 2 lbs. and it ended up being more than enough meat.

The curry powder, ground cardamom, and cardamom pods smelled wonderful as they cooked in the olive oil with the garlic and onion. The addition of mint, honey, figs, some golden raisins,  and a scattering of apples gives the lamb a wonderful sweetness that balances the curry and cardamom. Dorie's recipes adds potatoes with the stew, but I had some egg noodles that I wanted to use up, so I skipped the potatoes in the stew because I didn't want to have too much starch. I added some frozen petite peas at the last few minutes of cooking.

When I lifted the lid to put the peas in, I was surprised to see that the apples had melted away and when I tasted the stew, it was a wonderful blend of sweetness and spice. We both enjoyed this dish so much and it is one that I will look forward to cooking again. 

Please visit French Fridays with Dorie to see how others fixed this recipe. From some of the comments I read on Twitter, there were some meat substitutions and some creative flavors added that I can't wait to read about.

French Friday with Dorie: Spiced Squash, Fennel, and Pear Soup

The weather has turned much colder here this past week, so I was really happy that soup was on the menu for this French Friday.

For the squash in this soup, I selected a Kabocha, a delicata, and an acorn squash. I chose the kabocha and delicata mostly because we have never eaten them before and wanted to see what they tasted like. For this recipe, you roast the squash first with a little bit of olive oil and salt.

Onion, garlic, and fennel are then slowly cooked in a Dutch Oven until softened and then ginger, cumin, and nutmeg, along with some more salt are added for flavor before pouring in the vegetable stock. The roasted squash and coarsely chopped pears are added to the simmering soup. When you can mash the squash and pears with the back of the spoon the soup is ready to purée.

While I prefer most of my soups chunky, when I tasted it before puréeing, I wasn't sure I liked the separate chunks of squash and pear with the slices of fennel and onion. But after it was pureed I loved the taste of everything blended together. I followed Dorie's directions exactly with the amount of spices and only added salt when she said to and it resulted in a perfectly seasoned soup. Topped with a dollop of sour cream and some snips of fennel brought out the smokiness of the cumin which balanced the sweetness of the squash and pears, and the ginger and nutmeg.

John also really liked it, but thinned it down a bit with more stock. He said it tasted great and warmed him up after a day spent working outside. Our daughter was here and she said that it was good, but she wished it was left chunky. I liked it so much that I had another bowl for breakfast the next morning. See what the others thought over at French Fridays with Dorie. You can find the recipe here.

BAKED Sunday Morning: Pumpkin Cheddar Muffins

These are perfect muffins to serve on a Sunday morning and served fresh out of the oven they need nothing to dress them because they are a wonderful blend of sweet and savory.

The surprise for me with this recipe is the blend of cayenne pepper and ground black pepper. When you bite into the muffins, you can feel the heat in the back of your throat. It is not overwhelming though and the peppers balance nicely with the pumpkin,  cheddar cheese, and the sweetness of the brown sugar. I used some of the leftover pumpkin that I had roasted for the Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good which, along with the sour cream and cheddar, made the muffins so moist.

The pumpkin seeds are optional, but I had roasted the pumpkin seeds from the little sugar pie pumpkins and used some to decorate each muffin top. The seeds not only gave them a pretty touch, but also gave the muffins a nice little crunch with each bite. Matt and Renato suggest using raw milk cheddar cheese in this recipe, but I used the Tillamook sharp cheddar cheese that I always have on hand and it gave the muffins so much flavor without overpowering the pumpkin. This recipe is a keeper and one that I will be making often during the fall and winter months. I had enough batter to make 12 standard-size muffins and four smaller ones.

These muffins are refreshingly different and so delicious and great to eat at any time of the day. If you have never had a savory/sweet muffin, you should try this recipe and taste them for yourself. Visit BAKED Sunday Mornings to see what the other members thought about these muffins. You can get the recipe there.