Here Comes the Sun

After all the rain we got last week, the sun is out and the skies are a gorgeous blue with beautiful white, puffy clouds. I have been itching to get outside and do some work in the garden and since I have a few days off of work that is just what I am planning to do.

I stopped by Whole Foods on the way home from work. I just love it when they put out their organic herbs and vegetables. I bought some flat leaf parsley, thyme, rosemary, and chives so I can have fresh herbs again. We had so many days of freezing temperatures that I lost most of the herbs I was growing and I felt double the pain every time I had to buy them at the grocery store for French Fridays with Dorie. It gets a little costly to keep buying them fresh at the store, so until the ones I am growing from seed are ready I thought I would buy a few of these in the meantime. There's just nothing like fresh herbs to cook with, is there?

BAKED Sunday Morning: Malted Crisp Tart

Good morning! This is just one of those weeks and I am even running behind schedule for my BAKED Sunday Morning post. Oh, well. We just had a fabulous morning treat with our coffee.

I started making this tart last night, but fell asleep on the couch while the pastry cream was chilling, so I made the chocolate ganache and assembled it this morning. This is definitely a tart that you want to make in two different days because of the many steps. I made the brown sugar crust in a 9-inch spring form pan and that went very well, but I almost gave up on the caramelized crispies step because I kept stirring and stirring and no caramelization was happening. Finally, after probably 15 minutes (seemed like an eternity), the thin, dry layer of sugar that had formed on the bottom and sides of the saucepan starting dissolving and Viola! Caramelized Rice Crispies!

Of all the pies and tarts I have made, this one was not only the most time consuming, but also the most flavorful because of the layers of brown sugar crust, chocolate ganache with crushed malt balls and caramelized rice crispies, pastry cream with whipped cream mixture, and the final decorative layer of crispies with whole malt balls. This is a dessert to impress and one I would be proud to serve to dinner guests. The texture of this satisfies my love of crunchy and smooth desserts. We loved the smooth, silkiness of the chocolate ganache and pastry cream mixed with the crunchiness of the malted milk balls and caramelized crispies. Don't be intimated by the number of steps and ingredients. Pace yourself and make this and you will have a perfect dessert for your next party.

I can't wait to see what the other BAKED members did with this tart. You can check their tarts out over at BAKED Sunday Mornings, along with the recipe.

Next BAKED Sunday: April 10 - Carrot Coconut Scones with Citrus Glaze

French Saturday with Dorie: Scallops with Caramel-Orange Sauce

I had a huge project at work this week and had no time to cook at all. Since I didn't cook this week's French Friday with Dorie recipe ahead of time, I didn't think I was going to even make this week's recipe, but my husband (who loves, loves scallops) bought the sea scallops and I fixed them for our Saturday lunch along with Dorie's Spiced Butter-Glazed Carrots.

All I can say is, WOW! I am so glad that I made both the scallops and the carrots. My husband and son both loved the scallops, especially the second batch that I made (I got better with the high heat and fast cooking) and the spiced butter-glazed carrots my son liked them so much he copied the recipe and is taking it back to school with him.

Even though this was the most expensive FFwD recipe so far, every morsel was worth it. The caramel-orange sauce only gets better as it sits and the orange flavor really sings when it is heated through again.  The next time I make the scallops I will do the caramel-orange sauce a few days ahead because it will give it a chance to thicken.

I am anxious to see what my fellow FFwD members thought about this recipe. You can visit their links over at French Fridays with Dorie. 

You can find the Scallops with Caramel-Orange Sauce on pp. 317-319 and the Spiced Butter-Glazed Carrots on p.335 of Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table.

Next French Friday: Quinoa, Fruit, and Nut Salad

Rainy Day Comfort Food

This past Sunday was one of those rare days when I didn't want to venture out of the house. The rain was pelting down most of the day with 40-50 mph winds whipping around. Definitely a day I didn't want to venture out even to the grocery store. We spent most of the day in our jammies and when it came time for dinner I needed to come up with a recipe that I had all the ingredients in the pantry. I was flipping through some of my issues of Everyday Food for inspiration and came across a recipe in the March issue that didn't require me to run out to the store. And best of all, it called for papparedelle pasta which I had bought at World Market some time ago and had been wanting to try.

Like all of Everyday Food recipes, this one doesn't have a lot of ingredients and it is quick and easy to prepare. A hearty pasta dinner was on the table in under 30 minutes. We all loved this recipe and it was even better the next day. I will be adding this one to my repertoire. 

Papparedelle with Creamy Chicken Sauce adapted from Everyday Food

1 tablespoon olive oil

7 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces

Salt and pepper

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 can cream of mushroom soup 

1 pound of papparedelle

1. In a Dutch oven heat oil over medium high heat. Salt and pepper the chicken pieces and cook about until they are almost cooked through, about 7 minutes. 
2. Add the onion to the dutch oven with the chicken and cook until the onion is translucent, about 6 minutes.
3. Add the garlic cloves and cook for about 30 seconds only.
4. Add the heavy cream and cream of mushroom soup and let it come to a boil, stirring occasionally.
5. Reduce the heat and cook for about 15 minutes, until the sauce is thickened.
6. While the sauce is thickening, start another pot of salted water to boil for the pasta and cook it al dente.
7. Drain the pasta and reserve about a cup of the pasta water. 
8. Add the pasta to the chicken and sauce along with some of the pasta water. You may not need the entire cup of pasta water - you just want enough to add some more flavor to the sauce.
9. Serve immediately. 

Vintage Flair

In case you haven't seen it on newsstands yet, the 2011 issue of Flea Market Style is out. I didn't even stop to look at it before I bought it because I knew it would be chock full of ideas for reusing and repurposing vintage finds. Turn old silver serving trays into mirrored wall art and tiered dessert stands. Blend the old with the new to create your own unique decorating style. There is even a trip to one of my favorite California Flea Markets - the Alameda Point Antiques Faire.

This issue is filled with so much inspiration, including ideas for using vintage packaging for a bit of nostalgia at your next bake sale or birthday party.

Just puts me in the mood to go to antique stores and flea markets, instead of work.

French Friday with Dorie: Salted Butter Break-ups

When I first read the name for this week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe, I wasn't sure if it was crackers or cookies. Turns out they are more like a cookie, but the dough is pretty much a pie or tart dough - only with more salt, and more butter.

Here's another Dorie recipe that couldn't be easier or quicker to put together. Just flour, sugar, sel gris (grey sea salt), butter and some cold water and you have a beautiful buttery dough. After chilling for an hour, Dorie says to take a fork and make a cross hatch pattern across the rolled out dough. I decided to try something a little different and I can't take credit for the idea because I remember seeing an image on one of the blogs I read where the person had placed a doily on top of the dough and with a rolling pin rolled over the doily so that the pattern of the doily was imprinted in the dough. If anyone has seen the photo I am talking about, please let me know so I can properly give them credit for the idea. I usually 'pin' images and ideas I see on Pinterest, but for some reason I didn't pin it that night. I have since gone back to almost every blog I follow and have not been able to find that photo again.

I made two different batches of the salted butter break-ups and as you can see with the first batch (left image above) I didn't press down hard enough when I was rolling over the doily so the pattern wasn't that noticeable after baking. The second batch (right photo above) I used a rectangular doily that I had and pressed much hard with the rolling pin and the pattern turned out really nice during baking. I think the doily pattern would turn out even better on a dough that doesn't have as much butter in it as this one does.

My brother-in-law joined my husband, son, and me for dinner last night and I served the salted butter break-ups for dessert. All of us really enjoyed them. How could we not with all that wonderful butter? They were crispy on the outside and moist and buttery on the inside. My brother-in-law was the only one that could taste the sea salt though.

Visit French Fridays with Dorie and see what the other members thought of this week's recipe.

You can find this recipe in Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table, pp. 400-01.

Next French Friday:  Scallops with Caramel-Orange Sauce