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.

French Apple Tart

Tuesday with Dorie

Contributing Baker: Leslie Mackie

We are back baking with Julia this week with another recipe from Leslie Mackie. This one is a little time consuming, but so worth the effort. Instead of using a fluted tart pan, I made a rustic tart using a 10-inch springform pan. I did this primarily because my dough was a little crumbly and I found it was easier to press it into a springform pan. I probably should have added a tad more ice water to the dough before shaping it into a disc and chilling it. I used both butter and shortening that the recipe called for. 

I think what I enjoyed most about making this tart was making the filling. I used Gala apples instead of Granny Smith because I had an abundance of Galas in the fridge. Since I was using Galas, I cut down on the amount of sugar since they are sweet apples. I made my bread crumbs with Oatnut bread and added extra cinnamon. When the apple mixture was baking in the oven it had such a lovely smell. Once the apple filling was baked, it was easy to mash and spread over the tart shell and it tasted wonderful. I could have eaten a whole bowl of just the filling!

Slicing the apples into even slices is always tricky for me, but it worked out okay and we just ate the pieces that didn't make it into the tart.

I really liked the glaze on this which was made with melted unsalted butter lightly spread over the apple slices with a pastry brush (I used a silicone brush) and then sprinkled with sugar. My tart took longer to bake to a nice golden color. I took it out of the oven at 40 minutes.

There was hardly any shrinking with the apples or the tart shell and it makes such a nice presentation, but most of all, it tastes wonderful. The filling is so delicious and the bread crumbs give it such a nice texture and taste with the soft apples. The crust is flaky and actually held together quite well considering it was crumbly before I baked it.

Out of all the apple tarts I have made, this is my favorite and it a keeper recipe. A special thank you goes to Gaye over at Laws of the Kitchen for hosting this week. It is summer where she lives in Australia and I really appreciate that she turned her oven on when it is so hot there. You can see her gorgeous tart and find the recipe on her blog. Also, check out what the rest of the bakers thought about this tart at Tuesdays 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.

Pizza with Onion Confit

Tuesday with Dorie

Happy New Year! What a great recipe to start the new year off. Contributing baker Steve Sullivan's pizza dough begins with a sponge made with mixing the yeast in warm water until it turns creamy and then adding some olive oil and flour. This is a different technique than the pizza dough recipes I have tried. The crust browns beautifully without getting hard and makes a winning pizza.

As much as I liked the dough, I think I liked the onion confit just as much, if not more. No need for tomato sauce when you have s sauce of caramelized onions flavored with thyme, red wine vinegar and some red wine. I topped the onion confit  with California black olives and Laura Chenel's Chèvre goat cheese and sprinkled some freshly grated parmesan cheese over the top after pulling the pizza from the oven.

We really enjoyed this! It was such a nice change from our usual tomato-based sauce pizza. The onion confit, olives and both cheeses were perfect together. I will make this again and would also like to try using this dough with other sauces and toppings. 

Thank you to Paul from The Boy Can Bake for hosting this week. You can find the recipe on his blog and you can also check out the links to the rest of the bakers over at Tuesdays with Dorie.