Chocolate Financiers

French Friday with Dorie

This week's recipe is for a little french cake which derives it's name from French gold ingots. Traditionally these cakes are baked in a financier pan which consists of little rectangles, but since I don't have one of those pans (haven't been lucky enough to score one at a thrift store yet) I used a mini-muffin tin instead. Dorie suggests making berry financiers which sound delicious, but since I have made a few berry cakes recently and since I was craving chocolate, I opted to make chocolate financiers instead.

Dorie tells us that the recipe comes from Jean-Paul Hévin, a most admired Paris chocolatier. It is a simple enough recipe to make. You bring heavy cream to a boil and pour over bittersweet chocolate to make a smooth ganache. Add some whipped egg whites and some brown butter to sifted confectioner's sugar, almond flour, a little bit of all-purpose flour, some baking powder and a pinch of salt. Add the egg white mixture to the ganache and gently mix together and pour into the mini-muffin tin. My little financiers were done at 11 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

These are very moist and rich chocolaty cakes - kind of like decadent brownie bites. Check out French Fridays with Dorie to see the different kinds of financiers that were made this week.

Pierre Hermé’s Olive Sablés

French Friday Monday with Dorie

I had a jar of olives languishing in the fridge that I had bought for Dorie's olive tapenade recipe that are packed in not only oil, but also thyme and I wasn't sure how the thyme would taste in a cookie whether it be sweet or savory or a little bit of both - like these cookies. I needn't have worried; however, because the thyme not only makes these cookies smell so fragrant, but also gives them quite a punch of flavor.

You would think the surprising ingredient in this recipe would be the olives, but for me, it was the hard boiled egg yolk. I pretty much followed the recipe as written with only a few slight changes. Since I only made half of the recipe, I only needed half an egg yolk, so instead of grating the hard boiled egg yolk as Dorie directed, I just crumbled it with my fingers. I didn't have potato starch on hand, so I subbed corn starch. I used a hand mixer and after mixing my dough it never came together in the bowl even after adding just a little more of the fruity olive oil, so I dumped the crumbly mixture onto a large piece of plastic wrap and kneaded it with the plastic wrap until the dough came together and then I rolled it into a log and let it chill for 2 hours before baking.

When I unwrapped the log the fragrance of the thyme smelled so wonderful. My cookies baked for exactly 18 minutes in a 325 degree oven and were just starting to get a little color along the edges when I took them out.

These cookies are surprisingly delicious and I say surprisingly mostly because of the thyme in them. They gave the cookies an interesting and unexpected flavor. The taste of the olives are hardly detectable (well to me, but John said he could taste them) and you wouldn't even know what the black specks are if you didn't know there are olives in the recipe. The crumb of these cookies is so tender - just what you expect in a sablé. I really like the savory sweet combination as I did with the seaweed sablés we made last year and am sure I will make these again - especially since they are so easy and quick to make. My only regret is that I didn't make the full recipe so I could have a log of dough to freeze so I can slice and bake some more for another day.

Visit French Fridays with Dorie to see what the rest of the group thought about these delightful cookies. You can find the recipe here.

Ispahan Loaf Cake

French Friday with Dorie

Like quite a few people in the group, I have been looking forward to making this exotic cake. I love roses and especially old world roses that have a lovely fragrance to them, so even while this month has been a busy one for me I didn't grumble a bit when I was out on the hunt for rose syrup and rose extract. I did find them locally which I was quite relieved about as I did not have a chance to make this until after work yesterday. 

The batter for this cake was fairly easy to put together, although I seemed to dirty quite a few bowls. You stir whipped egg whites into the batter to lighten it which I have done many times, but this was the first time I had to add additional flour along with the egg whites. I really don't understand that step at all and if anyone knows why we had to do it please let me know because it seemed to make the batter a little lumpy when I added the all-purpose flour. Why go to the trouble of sifting the almond flour and the confectioners' sugar together when you are going to add unsifted all-purpose flour alternately with egg whites at the very end? I also thought the batter would be pink after adding the rose syrup, but even though it turned the milk a pepto bismol pink it didn't make a difference in the batter.

I, of course, did not divide my batter into equal thirds and almost didn't have enough to cover the top of the cake, but I actually like the look of the raspberries peeking out at the top. My oven runs hot, so I started checking on the loaf after 50 minutes and saw that it was browning along the edges, so I tented it with foil and checked every 5 minutes until it was done at 65 minutes. 

It's a pretty cake, but I was really disappointed that it wasn't pink. (Boo!) It has a fine crumb, but is very moist. I was so tired after I baked this yesterday and fixed dinner that I didn't try it until this afternoon. John had a slice as soon as it cooled, but said it had a different kind of flavor that he wasn't sure about. We both have never eaten anything with rose syrup or rose extract before. He at least had tea that his grandmother used to make him when he was a child - rosa de Castilla, but he didn't remember it tasting like this cake. He tried another slice before he went to bed, but said it didn't taste any better than earlier. 

Before I left for work this morning, John was in the kitchen slicing another piece and proclaimed that it still tasted the same. I guess he was expecting the flavors to meld or something, but he said that "flavor" was still there and he didn't care for it. I finally tried a piece after I got home from work and I have to say that I agree with him. Roses may be one of my favorite flowers, but I don't care for the flavor of this cake. Perhaps it's an acquired taste, but I am not sure I will make it again to find out if we like it better the second time around. I have a feeling that John will be slicing a piece of the cake every time he walks through the kitchen - until it's gone - just to check to see if it tastes any better.

I wonder if we are in the minority this week and will be interested in reading what the rest of the group thought. Meanwhile, on a more positive note - I also made the chicken diable last night and that was pretty darn good. I'll be doing a catch up post about it soon.

Fresh Orange Pork Tenderloin

French Fridays with Dorie

Thank goodness it is Friday. After work today, I will be thankful for a long weekend. I have to say that I am much happier about the recipes so far for February than the January recipes. This week's dish has so much flavor from just a few ingredients. After cutting the pork tenderloin into four pieces, I browned them in some butter and canola oil. Once they were browned I added the juice from a couple of oranges, some zest, sliced scallions and seeds from four crushed cardamom pods. I added the orange segments the last few minutes of cooking. Since I am a little leery about cooking pork, I tested it for doneness with an instant read thermometer.

The end result is the most flavorful dish. The sweetness from the orange slices combined with the earthiness of the cardamom makes such a wonderful sauce that is delicious served over rice. This is definitely a keeper recipe and like the brown-butter squash and brussels sprouts, it is a recipe that I will make often.

See what the rest of the group thought about it over at French Fridays with Dorie.

Brown-Sugar Squash and Brussels Sprouts en Papillote

French Friday with Dorie

'En papillote' means to cook in paper or parchment paper. This method steams the vegetables, meat or fish in squares of parchment or parchment paper and often lined in foil and then folded into packets and put into the oven. I used my Martha Wrap which I mentioned in my long slow cooked apples post a few weeks ago. Martha's wrap is foil that is already lined with parchment paper. Here in California you can buy it at Safeway, but you can also purchase it through Amazon.

For this recipe, the butternut squash, brussels sprouts and one apple are tossed in some olive oil, sprinkled with brown sugar and topped with a sage leaf before wrapping and putting into the oven.

After about 25 minutes the packets are ready to be opened and they are so very fragrant when you open them. Along with the steam that escapes you get the wonderful smell of sage.

Everything was perfectly cooked and had so much flavor. The brown sugar added just the right amount of sweetness to the brussels sprouts and a bite of apple along with the butternut squash or brussels sprouts made the vegetables taste even better. If you have kids or other family members who don't care for brussels sprouts, you should try cooking them this way. Even though I usually roast my vegetables during the winter months, we really loved the taste of the vegetables cooked en papillote and will be making this recipe again. Check out French Fridays with Dorie to see what the rest of the group thought about cooking the vegetables 'en papillote'.

Shrimp and Chinese Noodles

French Friday with Dorie

This week's recipe is a simple stir-fry dish with chinese cellophane noodles (I used chinese noodles), dried chinese ear mushrooms (I couldn't find them so I used fresh shiitake mushrooms), shrimp, tomato puree, onion, garlic, a spice mixture consisting of ground ginger, sugar, chinese five spice and a pinch of cayenne. It is supposed to be a fusion dish, but for us it just didn't work. The tomato puree was so thick and tomatoey and overwhelmed the mushrooms and shrimp. I tried to thin it down with some of the pasta water, but it was still too thick. I did like the taste of the spices in it though. The Chinese five spice was good and the heat of the cayenne at the back of the throat was nice. I think with a different sauce this would be a much better recipe.

I only made half of the recipe and there was a little bit leftover that I put in a container in the refrigerator. I had to laugh the next night when I saw John at the kitchen counter with the open container. He was scraping off the tomato puree from the leftovers and sprinkling tabasco sauce on the noodles and few remaining shrimp. He looked quite happy, so I am assuming it tasted better with the tabasco sauce. 

See what the rest of the group thought over at French Fridays with Dorie.

Chicken Liver Gâteaux with Pickled Onions

French Friday with Dorie

I hate liver. I remember my parents loved liver and onions and when we would go on road trips when I was growing up my parents would most often than not order a serving of liver and onions at the diners we would stop at along the way. I would look at them in disbelief while eating my hamburger and french fries.

I especially cannot stand the smell of liver cooking, and hated it when my mom had a craving for liver and onions and fixed them at home. The smell would send me running. I guess it goes without saying that I have never fixed liver for my family. So when I saw this week's recipe, to me, the saving grace of it was that you blended all the ingredients in a blender and poured them into ramekins and cooked them in a water bath. I thought this method would probably not have the same smell as liver frying in a pan of oil. I made this recipe primarily because I thought John liked liver. I soon found out, however, that he likes beef liver and chicken liver does not taste like beef liver. Who knew?

Before I started the chicken liver gâteaux I made the pickled onions. I thought this would be good, but when John arrived home and opened the front door, the first thing he said was, "WHAT IS THAT SMELL?!" He said it smelled like really stinky gym socks. Oh, boy. This wasn't a good start at all. I had the onions cooling on the stove and quickly put them in a jar, sealed them, and put them in the fridge. I thought they would mellow out in the fridge while I started on the liver. 

The most difficult part of making this and it wasn't really difficult at all - it was just gross - was cleaning the fatty bits or whatever they were off of the liver before putting the liver into the blender. Add eggs, cream, some milk, a little bit of brandy and some freshly minced rosemary, sage, and thyme and you have a pretty fragrant dish. I poured the concoction into the ramekins, poured hot water into the pan and slid the pan into the oven. It was a good thing I peeked in on them at 25 minutes because they were already done.

I actually had high hopes for the gâteaux by this time because they didn't look bad and certainly smelled nice...I decided that we would try just one and served it on a bed of mixed greens with the pickled onions. Well, the onions hadn't mellowed in the fridge. They were so strong that John took one bite and said, "No." He then tried the liver and said, "uh..uh." I nibbled from the other side, and for me, it was more palatable to eat it with a little bit of onion along with a little bit of liver on the fork. Otherwise, the onions were too strong and the liver - even with all the accoutrements - was, well...still liver.

Believe it or not, I am glad that I made this, BUT, I won't be making it again. Once was enough. I am curious, though, to see what the rest of the group thought about it over at French Fridays with Dorie.

Long and Slow Cooked Apples

French Friday with Dorie

This is a very easy and quick dessert to assemble, but it does require some time in the oven. Two hours to be exact. I sliced the apples very thin and layered them with melted butter and a sprinkling of sugar mixed with ground ginger and a pinch of ground coriander. And I also sprinkled a little zest of orange on each layer. Instead of wrapping the cups in plastic as the recipe suggests, I used Martha Stewart's parchment-lined foil which I love and use quite a bit. Then I put a ramekin on top for weight.

I was really surprised when I unmolded the apples and saw that they had shrunk so much. Even though I had layered the apples to the top of the cup I ended up with a little less than half of a cup of baked apples. After taking them out of the oven, I put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

The cold ice cream with the hot apples was so delicious together. My only regret is that the orange zest overwhelmed the taste of the apples. If I make this again I will omit it. John thought this was just 'okay', but my daughter really liked it and said that it made such a nice, light dessert and loved the layered effect of the apples. John thought that the apples would have been better without the orange zest and cinnamon instead of the ginger.  I thought it was good, but wouldn't mind trying it again with the cinnamon.

See what everyone else thought over at French Fridays with Dorie.

Cheez-it-ish Crackers

French Friday with Dorie

These crackers are simple and delightful nibbles of flavor. In the morning before work, I pulsed the butter, cheese, salt and cayenne pepper in the food processor and added the flour and pulsed again until the mixture turned into little clumps. I poured the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and kneaded it a little before shaping into a disc to chill. After work I rolled and cut the crackers and put them in a 350 degree oven for 12 minutes. I then sprinkled a little bit of kosher salt on them after they came out of the oven. Tasted one and then another and then another. They are flaky and soft, crunchy at the same time. These were awesome with Emmenthal, but I am sure they are just as delicious with cheddar or any other cheese. Why would you ever buy store bought crackers when you can make these in a snap?! Check out the other links over at French Fridays with Dorie to see what the other group members thought.

I hope everyone has a safe and very Merry Christmas! xx

Pork, Apples and Cream à la Normande

French Friday with Dorie

This week's recipe is supposed to be made with chicken, but when I see a recipe with apples I immediately think of pork because I think they pair together perfectly. So I was happy when I saw Dorie's Bonne Idée suggested making this with pork and asked my husband to pick up some pork chops at the grocery store. I had everything else on hand to make this dish - even the sage.

For the pork version, Dorie suggests adding some minced fresh sage to the flour mixture before dredging the pork chops and then browning them. I think I could have easily stopped right there and served them just like that because the smell of the pork chops while they were browning was wonderful.

But I continued on with the recipe and added a little more olive oil and butter before putting in the chopped apples, mushrooms, and onions. A little brandy is added, along with some chicken broth to begin the sauce and the final touch is the heavy cream. 

You can easily get this recipe done and to the table in under 30 minutes. We absolutely loved everything about this dish and it is elegant enough to cook when guests come over. I served mashed potatoes and Dorie's suggestion of steamed broccoli alongside. The sauce is just out of this world delicious and was so very good spooned over the mashed potatoes. Definitely a keeper and I am sure that I will be making it again very soon.

I have a feeling that the chicken version also got rave reviews. See what the other cooks thought over at French Fridays with Dorie. 

Top-Secret Chocolate Mousse

French Friday with Dorie

It's amazing that a little bit of chocolate, some eggs, a pinch of salt, and a small amount of sugar can make such a special, decadent dessert. No wonder the French women wanted to keep the secret all to themselves. You just have to laugh when Dorie tells you in the intro to this recipe that it ended up coming from the back of a Nestle's Dessert Bar and, indeed, I was surprised at how quick and easy this mousse was to make.

I used Trader Joe's 72% Belgian Dark Chocolate and followed the recipe as written. The recipe states that it will make four servings, but mine made two dessert-size servings. I kept my mousse in the refrigerator for a few hours. Before serving, I shaved some Valrhona white chocolate for the tops. This is truly a wonderful dessert and one that will impress guests. We savored every bite by eating a quarter of the mousse at a time. Visit French Fridays with Dorie to see what the rest of the group thought. You can find the recipe here.

Chicken Tagine with Sweet Potatoes and Prunes

French Friday with Dorie

This week's recipe is a perfect autumn dish. Onions are slowly cooked for half an hour in some olive oil until they turn a lovely caramel color. Add some chicken broth, a few crushed saffron threads, cinnamon, a pinch of cayenne, a star anise point, bay leaf and honey for a flavorful broth. To make it a little easier to eat the chicken, I used boneless, skinless  instead of bone-in chicken thighs. I browned them while the onions were cooking. The finishing touch was the prunes and sweet potatoes. 

This smelled so good while it was cooking and the most difficult part about making this dish was leaving it alone for 45 minutes. I am one of those cooks who loves to lift the lid of the pot and stir things up a bit, so I really had to walk away from the stove because Dorie gave strict instructions that it needed to cook undisturbed.

And boy was it worth leaving alone. The broth is out-of-this-world delicious and we really loved the combination of sweet potatoes with the stewed prunes. It is a lovely one-pot meal, but I served it with some white rice to soak up some of that wonderful broth. This recipe is a keeper and one that I will be making often this fall and winter. You can see more versions of this recipe over at French Fridays with Dorie.

Spur-of-the-Moment Vegetable Soup

French Friday with Dorie

There's really not a lot to say about this soup other than it is an easy and quick soup to make and perfect for a weeknight meal after a looonnng day at work. The simplicity of the broth (I used vegetable broth) seasoned only with onions, garlic, a little bit of thyme and salt allows the vegetables to be the stars of this soup. There were carrots and collard greens in our CSA farm box when I made this, so in the soup pot they went. I also added one lone potato per the recipe.

I wasn't sure what my family would say about the collard greens in the soup, but they said it was delicious (I thought it tasted really good) and since it disappeared quickly I believe it was a hit.

I served grilled pimento cheese sandwiches alongside. Yes, I am on a pimento cheese kick and if you have never had a grilled pimento cheese sandwich, I highly recommend it. It takes grilled cheese to a whole nother level.

You can see other variations of this soup recipe over at French Fridays with Dorie.

Crispy, Crackly Apple-Almond Tart

French Friday with Dorie

What a difference a week makes. Remember last week when it was still in the 100s here? Well, this week it is in the 70s and we even got a few rain showers. I was inspired by the change in weather to put some pumpkins and calendulas out on the front porch. And I was more than happy to turn the oven on this week. This is my first French Friday in months and I was glad that the recipe was a dessert. I've had a roll of phyllo dough in the freezer for over a year and this tart was my chance to finally use some of it. I also have a large bag of almonds in the freezer, so I decided to make my own almond flour. It didn't turn out as fine as store bought, but I actually liked the little bits of almond in the cream which gave it a nice texture.

I did a couple of things a little differently than the recipe. After spreading each phyllo sheet with melted butter, I sprinkled them with a sugar and cinnamon mixture and before putting the tart in the oven I brushed some warm honey on each apple slice and brushed each slice with honey again after I took the tart out of the oven.

Although it looked a little messy going into the oven, it baked up nicely and I really liked the rustic look with the curled up edges.

I served it slightly warm with a small scoop of mascarpone cheese. John preferred it plain, but I liked the combination of the cheese with the apples, honey and almonds. And the texture was wonderful - every bit of crispy, crackly as its name implies. Visit French Fridays with Dorie to see more versions of this tart.