Grandma's Kitchen Table

Tuesdays with Dorie: Perfect Party Cake

      This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, from the cookbook Baking:  From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan is Perfect Party Cake, can be found on pages 250-252, and was chosen by Carol of Mix, Mix...Stir, Stir. If you would like to try the recipe before buying the book, click on Carol's site above and she will have it posted today. 

      I think this may very well be the Perfect Party Cake.  The cake itself is very lovely: vanilla and lemon flavored, light, and moist, and just the right sweetness.  It was easy to mix up, ingredients readily available, and after it baked and cooled, was easy to slice, fill, and decorate.  The flavor is most excellent as I truly love both vanilla and lemon, so together it was a happy pairing. 

      The frosting was indulgently rich...a lot of butter in this buttercream frosting.  Which is why one thin slice will do you...very satisfying and filling.  It is very rich.  I have leftovers, not because it wasn't well received, but because it is so rich that a little bit goes a long way. 

      Besides butter in the icing is a meringue of marshmallowy goodness...so much fun to make and so tasty on a cake. 

      The filling between the layers is raspberry jam and more of the frosting. 

      While the recipe had several steps, it all went together easily enough, the important note here being that you should give yourself plenty of time and not be in a rush when making it.  I had plenty of time, so I enjoyed the whole process. 

      The only adjustment I made was that I only made half the recipe as a 9" size cake seemed way too much for something this rich as my guys are not big cake eaters.  Half of a 9" cake, batter content-wise, is a 6" size of pan, so I did splurge and purchase two of those as I figured I would have use for them in the future.  This is a great size, and the whole entire decorated cake, with the coconut and all fits securely and neatly under the domed cake stand without touching sides or top, something that cannot be thought of as too incidental. 

      My decorating/filling/icing skills are what they are...not professional, but it didn't make one bit of difference in how the cake tasted, which was wonderfully delicious!  Yep, I think this is the Perfect Party Cake.  Lots of variations can be easily adapted to this recipe. 

      Last photo is of Matt enjoying the cake, and you will note this week, it is a very modest piece as it truly is a rich and filling dessert.  

      Next week's recipe was chosen by Lisa of Surviving Oz, is Tribute to Katharine Hepburn Brownies, and can be found on pages 96-97.  

      

Click here and then on individual baker's blog at the site if you would like to see more of this week's recipe and the various ways in which different people interpreted their quest.  It is not too late to join us.  If you would like to bake along, simply go to the TWD site and send an email through the link listed there.  You can join in the weekly fun.  See you there!

BBA Challenge: Brioche

      The fourth Bread Baker's Apprentice challenge (from the book by the same name authored by Peter Reinhart) was Brioche, and is found on pages 123-128. 

      There were three brioche recipes included in the book:  Poor Man's, Middle-Class, and Rich Man's, each classified according to the amount of butter included in the recipe.  Rich Man's, of course, had the most butter, and is considered a fabulously wonderful bread. 

      I decided to make all three recipes, only half a recipe which was one loaf.  I made them all loaf size so that it would be easier to compare them when I finished, as that was the purpose of making all three.  How would I ever know which was best if I didn't try them all and compare? 

      The Rich Man's brioche had a lot of butter in it, was the hardest to bake (it collapsed a bit and not being a very experienced bread baker yet, I wasn't sure how to fix it, so what you see is what I got), and we actually did not care for this loaf as much as the others.  It was very rich, very buttery, and did not make good toast because it did not crisp up due to the large amount of butter in the recipe.  Alex preferred this loaf as he loves the taste of butter.  Whole loaf pictured above, and inside pictured at left. 

      The Middle-Class was less rich, toasted a little better, and was the favorite of Mark and Matt for its rich taste and melt-in-your-mouth goodness.  The whole loaf is pictured at right and the inside pictured below. 

     My favorite was the Poor Man's because it tasted rich, yet not overwhelmingly so, and it toasted nicely.  This loaf I would make again as it tasted more like a treat for a special occasion, not as an every day type bread, however. For some reason, it also baked the nicest, the photo is right, with the inside photo to the left.  

      All the recipes were fairly easy to make, and I only had trouble in the baking of the Rich Man's, the others baked up fine.  Again, this is probably more my fault than that of the recipe. 

      Would I make this again?  Probably not unless I was going to use it as a base for sweet rolls or something of that nature.  It wasn't bad, it just wasn't worth all those calories with all that butter in a slice of bread!  I thought about doing the Rich Man's again to see if I could get the loaf to turn out and then thought there really wasn't much of a reason to do that as most of us did not care for the richness of it. 

       Matt was all about the comparing of the breads, as you can see from the photo, he took two slices of each kind so he could give it "ample sampling," which really means Matt loves bread, doesn't eat anything on it, and is just delighted to be sampling anything bread-wise that comes out of this kitchen.   

      While the main group of 200 bakers are baking weekly, the Slow & Steady group consisting of Nancy, Cathy, Audrey, Jessica, Melissa, and I are baking and posting every other week to better fit into our schedules.  If you would like to see their Brioche, click on their names and visit their sites, or you can visit the main group and marvel how they are all already past Challah and on Ciabatta.  We'll get there...Slow and Steady. 

      Our next challenge:  Casatiello, which is an Italian Sausage and Cheese bread.  This will be posted here in two weeks.  As a little preview:  I have already made the Casatiello and it is my favorite so far...a big hit around here! 

 

Whisk Wednesdays: Soufflé au Comté (Cheese Soufflé)

      The recipe scheduled to be prepared for this week's assignment for Whisk Wednesdays is from Class 25, Menu 3:  Soufflé au Comté (Cheese Soufflé) and can be found on pages 82-83. 

      This was so much fun to make.  The steps were all easy, the ingredients all readily available, and the taste was fantastic. 

      I made a half portion of the recipe because it was going to be lunch and Matt is not fond of egg dishes, so it would be just Mark and I eating it.  I also don't own a 6 cup souffle dish, but the smaller one that I do own worked out just fine with the half recipe.  

      The half recipe worked out great and required only two eggs, a little over half cup of cheese and the same of milk, a little butter, salt and white pepper, fresh nutmeg, and some flour.  Took about five minutes less in the oven, so in less than 45 minutes, souffle is ready to go. 

      It is amazing how quickly it all begins to deflate when it comes out of the oven, and then when you spoon into it, it really deflates...kind of exciting to watch on a slow day and all. 

      I will make this again, Mark wants bacon in it next time, a typical guy request:  if eggs are involved around here, bacon should be close enough by.  

      If you want to see how the others did, click

here, and then on the Whisk Wednesdays connect to individual bloggers, or better yet, come and join us!  Shari has the ingredients posted on her site at the click, so while we can't post the recipe instructions, you can at least look at the ingredients, and I bet you can figure out a lot of it from there.  If you would  like to see how the other Whisk Wednesday members fared in this class, click

 The Next Assignment

The next few assignments are Menus, so we are going to make the menu for one meal (hopefully), but then post each dish separately in its own week as posting it all at once seemed a bit much, following the schedule below.
• Civet de Lapin à la Française (Rabbit Stew with Red Wine) pages 452-453 (Post Wednesday, June 17, 2009)
• Soufflé au Comté (Cheese Soufflé) pages 82-83 {discussion of soufflés} (Post Wednesday, June 24, 2009)
• Bavarois à la Vanille, Coulis de Framboise (Vanilla Bavarian Cream with Raspberry Coulis) pages 40-41 (Post Wednesday, July 1, 2009)

Tuesdays with Dorie: Coconut-Roasted Pineapple Dacquoise

      This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, from the cookbook Baking:  From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan is Coconut-Roasted Pineapple Dacquoise, can be found on pages 293-295, and was chosen by Andrea of Andrea in the Kitchen.  If you would like to try the recipe before buying the book, click on Andrea's site above and she will have it posted today.  

      Dacquoise, how very French!  And, how very tasty.  We've been doing nicely in the non-chocolate desserts in the past couple of months, and we all like pineapple, coconut, and white chocolate ganache, so I knew this would be hit around here with everyone. 

      This is not a quick dessert to make.  There are many steps and there is a lot of waiting around time, but everything is actually very easy if you just follow each step as specified.  It also helps to have Twitter buddies who are baking along with you so that when you panic about something they can assure you that you are doing the right things.  

      The meringues take 3 hours to bake in the oven...well if you measure correctly they do...I however somehow when I was figuring how to reduce the recipe in half, cut all the ingredients in half and then proceeded to figure half of 12 by 6 was 6 by 3 (which is actually half of half) and so my meringues were half size in quarter size rectangles, so they baked for 4.5 hours.  Nonetheless, they turned out wonderfully crisp and just barely tan, and tasted absolutely wonderful.  Plus there was the added benefit of having them be large and thick.  Oh, they were good.  Might do this again next time actually.  

      Between the layers of meringue are layers of white chocolate ganache and roasted pineapple wedges.  Toasted coconut is pressed onto the sides, and since we love toasted coconut, we pressed a lot.  Yep, a whole lot. 

      It chills in the refrigerator for 4-6 hours if you don't have guys hanging around wanting to "just cut it now so we can eat it."  If you have guys like that around, chilling time can be cut to two hours without losing any impact on the rave reviews.

      Would I make it again?  Oh, yes, it's quite the dessert...and one only needs a very tiny portion to be satisfied and happy, which is always nice when a little dessert can go a long way.  I love crisp and crunchy things and this was most wonderfully crisp and crunchy with a lot of ganache goodness to accompany it.

 

      The guys ranked it in the top ten mostly because it didn't contain chocolate, but they did like the pineapple and coconut very much. 

      Next week's recipe was chosen by Carol of Mix,Mix...Stir, Stir, is Perfect Party Cake, and can be found on pages 250-252.  

       Click here and then on individual baker's blog at the site if you would like to see more of this week's recipe and the various ways in which different people interpreted their quest.  It is not too late to join us.  If you would like to bake along, simply go to the TWD site and send an email through the link listed there.  You can join in the weekly fun.  See you there!

 

Whisk Wednesdays: Salade Nicoise

      The recipe scheduled to be prepared for this week's assignment for Whisk Wednesdays is from Class 25, Menu 3:  Civet de Lapin à la Française (Rabbit Stew with Red Wine).

      I tried to be a player this week and order a rabbit and stew it, but somehow I just couldn't do it.  I took a poll and no one here wanted to eat stew in summer, and they particularly did not want to eat a stew prepared by boiling a bunny.  Me either. 

      Before I joined Whisk Wednesdays, Shari had been happily cooking her way through the curriculum alone and she had done many wonderful recipes at that time.  I decided I would pick a seasonal recipe that Shari had already done from the book and substitute that in the menu.  I wanted the recipe to be able to fit in nicely with the rest of the menu, so I chose the Salad Nicoise.   It can be found on pages 218-219.  It went well with the Souffle and the Bavarian Cream dessert. 

      The salad is served cold, consists of many vegetables, lettuce, olives, canned tuna, and a vinaigrette dressing.  I am not fond of canned tuna, but I chose the albacore all-white meat tuna packed in water, and with the vinaigrette on it, it was okay. 

      Mark grilled some asparagus and a red and green pepper because we like them grilled and I needed to sub the asparagus for the green beans that are traditionally in this salad.  All the green beans at the market had rust stains on them from all the recent rain, so those did not look appealing in the least.  The asparagus looked very nice, so that worked just fine. 

      The serving plate is lined with butter lettuce leaves, and the tuna mounded in the middle, sprinkled with diced red onion.  Around it are red, orange, and yellow tomatoes, red and green grilled peppers, grilled asparagus, sliced hard boiled eggs, and boiled, peeled, sliced new potatoes with the dressing on them.  I added some kalamata olives (because I could not come up with nicoise olives), splashed a little of the vinaigrette around, and the salad was complete. 

      Lovely for this time of year.  Lovely with a souffle.  I will definitely make it again.

 

       If you would  like to see how the other Whisk Wednesday members fared in this class, click here, and then on the Whisk Wednesdays connect to individual bloggers, or better yet, come and join us!  Shari has the ingredients posted on her site at the click, so while we can't post the recipe instructions, you can at least look at the ingredients, and I bet you can figure out a lot of it from there. 

 The Next Assignment

The next few assignments are Menus, so we are going to make the menu for one meal (hopefully), but then post each dish separately in its own week as posting it all at once seemed a bit much, following the schedule below.
• Civet de Lapin à la Française (Rabbit Stew with Red Wine) pages 452-453 (Post Wednesday, June 17, 2009)
• Soufflé au Comté (Cheese Soufflé) pages 82-83 {discussion of soufflés} (Post Wednesday, June 24, 2009)
• Bavarois à la Vanille, Coulis de Framboise (Vanilla Bavarian Cream with Raspberry Coulis) pages 40-41 (Post Wednesday, July 1, 2009)

Word on the Streets is They are Having a GREAT Time

       Yep, from all phone calls back home to our house and all the other swimmers' houses, and even the word on the streets is that the OTC swimmers are having a GREAT time in Colorado.  I have two photos sent from Matt's phone yesterday, which are not the best in clarity, but I'll post them anyway as they are all reading this out there and hoping to see photos of themselves posted.  (At the top in the rings are: Blue: Chris J.; Black: Harrison W; Red: Mike V. and Mali K.; Yellow: Dion L; Green: Matt and Allie D.) 

      A cute thing Matt shared: they are most delighted with their USA Olympic passes which not only contain those words, but also grant them access to and around the center.  Being swimmers who exercise hard and like to eat, the passes entitle them to go into the cafeteria and get food any time they want it without charge.  One thing I have learned over the past few years with teenage boys is that life is about sports and food, and occasionally other things as long as the sports and food have been taken care of first. 

      Matt said that the high altitude in Colorado Springs makes exercising, swimming, dryland, and stairs difficult...just breathing properly has become an issue.  Coaches tell them that once they get through this week, returning home, the practices will seem easy because of this week's training at that altitude.  We have a swim meet coming up, so if that results in new best times, so much the better. 

     Photo at right is Mali K, Matt G, Allie D, and Chris J checking out a toboggan.

     Today they were going white water rafting for the afternoon and the excitement about the prospect of doing that was running extremely high. 

      The time has just flown by so quickly for them...in another few days they will be flying home.  Enjoy the days left, Swimmers...we miss you terribly back here, but we are so proud of you all for achieving this trip and this opportunity!

Tuesdays with Dorie: Honey-Peach Ice Cream

      This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, from the cookbook Baking:  From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan is Honey-Peach Ice Cream, can be found on page 437, and was chosen by Tommi of Brown Interior.  If you would like to try the recipe before buying the book, click on Tommi's site above and she will have it posted today. 

      Ice cream...peach ice cream, with bits of fresh peaches in it, how lovely for a summer treat.  I was able to find the ripest nicest peaches at the market, the kind that you walk by and you do a double take because you can smell the lovely aroma as you pass by, yep, those kind. 

      Peel, pit, slice, and dice the peaches.  Make the custard, mix them together, reserving half of the peaches to mix in towards the end, refrigerate the peach and custard mix, and then churn. 

      Very easy, very tasty, and very appropriate for summer. It is summer, right?  Cool temperatures, lots of rain in Indiana, thinking this might not be summer but still spring.   Doesn't matter...this Honey-Peach Ice Cream is good for any season! 

      My usual tasters aren't here this week, Mark at work, and Matt out in Colorado, so Alex graciously offered to pose with the dessert this week.  He did not, however, realize that dessert involved peaches as he is not overly fond of the peach flavor.  He tasted one tiny spoonful and declared it "very peachy."  I agree whole-heartedly:  Very Peachy and Very Good! 

      Next week's recipe was chosen by Andrea of Andrea in the Kitchen, is Coconut-Roasted Pineapple Dacquoise, and can be found on pages 293-295.

      Click here and then on individual baker's blog at the site if you would like to see more of this week's recipe and the various ways in which different people interpreted their quest.  It is not too late to join us.  If you would like to bake along, simply go to the TWD site and send an email through the link listed there.  You can join in the weekly fun.  See you there!

BBA Challenge: Bagels

      The third Bread Baker's Apprentice challenge (from the book by the same name authored by Peter Reinhart) was Bagels, and is found on pages 119-122. 

      I made bagels, can you even believe it?  And, they turned out pretty tasty, can you even believe that?  And, Matt says he likes them even more than the ones at the store, can you even believe that?  Me either, but he keeps asking me to make more of them. 

      Actually, they are fairly easy to make, very fun to boil and bake, and while I don't normally really like bagels, I had one and it was good.  All it takes is flour, yeast, water, salt, and a little malt powder or syrup.  The dough is easy, the forming is easy, the resting is easy:  it's all easy.  I thought there would be some big mystery, but there isn't really. 

      I thought they should be a little less flat looking but Matt said that I was confusing bagels and doughnuts, that bagels are supposed to be flatter and they fit better in the toaster that way.  He has eaten a lot of bagels in his life, so I am trusting him on this.  Still...just a little more puffy roundness would be nice, don't you think? 

      I made some plain, some with sesame seeds, some with sea salt, some with poppy seeds, and some with a mix of seeds and salt.  They were all eaten and enjoyed, so guess I am now in the bagel making business around here. I may branch out and do a few with fruit and nuts next time.  

      While the main group of 200 bakers are baking weekly, the Slow & Steady group consisting of Nancy, Cathy, Audrey, Jessica, Melissa, and I are baking and posting every other week to better fit into our schedules.  If you would like to see their Bagels, click on their names and visit their sites, or you can visit the main groupand marvel how they are all already on Challah.  We'll get there...Slow and Steady.  Our next challenge:  Brioche.  These will be posted in two weeks. 

 

Words Are Few and Far Between

       Haven't heard much from the swimmer out in Colorado because they keep them incredibly busy each day. 

      I guess that's good, but I miss the kid.  There are leftovers in this house.  No one volunteers to run to the store for me.  I have to do things like pump the rain off the pool cover.  And, well, I just miss him being around. 

      He did call Sunday and gush about the wonderful time he is having for eight minutes. 

      He sent these two photos from his phone.  I have to admit, he looks pretty good against that Colorado rugged mountain scenery. 

      The photo of the four boys on the rock is one from Sunday morning after Mass.  Tony took the Catholic boys to Mass with him and then showed them around the area of Seven Falls which they thought was a great deal.  

Back row: Cameron and Matt; Front row: Stevie and John. 

      He says his swim times are good and he is learning a lot.  He says the time is going too fast.  Sounds like it is everything he hoped for and more. 

      Lauren, if you are reading this, TAKE PHOTOS for me as the guys will come home with either NONE or "guy photos" of crazy things.  We miss you all!

Fridays Favorites Fare

READING:  The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz  Anniversary present...new cookbook, well ice cream sorbet, granita cookbook.  A decidedly summer kind of reading book to have in one's possession.  Actually reading a number of other things, but figured you would all want to check out an ice cream book, right? 

LISTENING TO:  Bryan Adams

PHOTO:  Iris and Peonies from our yard in vases by my kitchen sink..such a joy to have flowers around.

COOKING THROUGH:  Le Cordon Bleu at Home (Le Cordon Bleu School of Cooking), this week's assignment is Civet de Lapin a la Francaise (Rabbit Stew with Red Wine), pages 452-4533; Baking:  From My Home to Yours (Dorie Greenspan), this week's recipe is Honey-Peach Ice Cream, and can be found on page 437; The Bread Baker's Apprentice (Peter Reinhart), this week's recipe is Bagels.  You can cook/bake along, too!

FAV NEW FIND:  Sourdough bread yeast starter that I won from a give away on a fellow BBA baker's blog.  I named it Phyl after the original owner as it is traditional to name one's starter.  It's a small world as Phyl is originally from Indiana and went to Notre Dame Law School.  He has been baking for 30 years as a hobby.  His breads are gorgeous.

FAV THING TODAY:  Matt went a 21 in the 50 Backstroke today.  WOW.

GOING TO:  Have an enjoyable relaxing weekend.

PRAYING FOR:  With Flag Day coming up, praying for all the service men/women who are protecting our way of life.  Please join me.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

       Pretend it's Thursday.  That's about how far I am behind in blogging things happening around here.  So, it's Thursday, June 11th, 2009, at about 5:10 a.m. at the Indianapolis airport and Team Indy is getting ready to take off for Colorado and the Olympic Training Center.  27 Girls, 27 Boys. 

      CSC had the honor of having ten boys selected from their group of elite swimmers.  Matt was lucky enough to be one of them. 

      We barely slept through the night as we were so excited to just get going.  We were up at 4:00 a.m. more from the excitement than from the raging stormy weather, although it was a close call.  We drove through rain, lightening, thunder, and road construction to get to the airport on time. 

      I had barely enough time to line up the guys (the girls were scattered all over the area chatting), for a group photo of the ten CSC boy OTC swimmers.  Remember this was about 5:10 a.m. and all these guys are looking pretty happy to be getting on that plane that early in the morning. I've seen them plenty of times at that hour of the morning, but never looking quite this happy at that hour.  Congratulations, guys...we all hope you have a wonderful time and bring home some new best times.

      Reading left to right:  John S, Daniel H, Josh J, Nik A, Matt G, Mike V, Harrison W, Jonathan A, Stevie S, and Tyler G.

Whisk Wednesdays: Savarin aux Kiwis et aux Fraises (Rum Savarin with Kiwis and Strawberries)

      The recipe prepared for this week's assignment for Whisk Wednesdays is from Class 25, Menu 2:  Savarin aux Kiwis et aux Fraises (Rum Savarin with Kiwis and Strawberries)

.  It can be found in the cookbook Le Cordon Bleu at Home on pages 409-410.  

       Look good?  It was...very good. 

       I usually make recipes as close to the specifications as possible the first time through and then change things up a bit sometimes in subsequent trips.  This one I made in mini form as I didn't have a savarin mold (which is basically a pan with a place for a hole in the center), so I decided I would use a bundt pan, which I did have on hand, and then I decided I would make mini portions as I had a mini bundt pan also. 

      The minis, I figured would be good so that the kids could have their versions without the rum, which was at full strength alcohol and did not have the alcohol cooked out of it.  It made 5 little bundt minis, as you can see, and they turned out lovely. 

      The recipe was easy, and when it came together, I was expecting something more bread-like because it has yeast in the recipe, but it was actually more of a thick cake-like batter that never did gather into a ball like a bread dough would.  I poured it into the pan, baked it, and it came out just great.  Very cute. 

      The little bread/cake is then soaked with a vanilla rum syrup and glazed with an apricot glaze.  Thin slices of kiwi and strawberry graced the top, and since mine were minis, I could only decorate with half slices of kiwi and quarter slices of strawberries to get the proper effect and not have it look like giant fruit perched on the top.  The remaining touches were a Chantilly cream (cream, vanilla, confectioner's sugar) piped into the center hole of the little savarin and piped stars around the base of it all.  It makes a great presentation and is relatively easy to do once the little bread cakes were made. 

      The taste was very nice.  The savarin tastes like a rich bread, you can taste the yeast in it, but is lighter like a cake.  It isn't sweet like you would think it would be looking at it, but it isn't not sweet either...I know, confusing, but I can't think how to describe it.  The syrup, glaze, fruit, and whipped cream make it sweet, but the actual savarin part is just a nice bread/cake type of taste.  The only way you are going to tell from this description is to make it!  Then you can tell me how you would describe it.  Let's just call it delicious! 

      Would I make it again?  In a heartbeat.  Would I eat an entire mini?  Half would be more than plenty.  A nice treat with fresh fruit.

The Next Assignment 

• Civet de Lapin à la Française (Rabbit Stew with Red Wine) pages 452-453 (Post Wednesday, June 17, 2009)
• Soufflé au Comté (Cheese Soufflé) pages 82-83 {discussion of soufflés} (Post Wednesday, June 24, 2009)
• Bavarois à la Vanille, Coulis de Framboise (Vanilla Bavarian Cream with Raspberry Coulis) pages 40-41 (Post Wednesday, July 1, 2009)

Tuesdays with Dorie: Parisian Apple Tartlet

      This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, from the cookbook Baking:  From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan is Parisian Apple Tartlet, can be found on page 319, and was chosen by Jessica of My Baking Heart.  If you would like to try the recipe before buying the book, click on Jessica's site above and she will have it posted today. 

 

      This little tartlet was so good and so simple.  It takes about 5 minutes to assemble, using a prepared puff pastry crust which is used to make circles of dough topped with a half of an apple (peeled, cored, and cut into fourths), sprinkled with brown sugar, dotted with a little butter, and placed into the oven.  

      It cooks for approximately 30 minutes. 

      The tart is good alone or with a little ice cream helper, or in Mark's case, a lot of ice cream helper.   

 

 

 

 

 

        There are endless possibilities for changing and mixing up the filling and fruit for this little tartlet. 

      The taste:  unbelievably lovely.  Mark thought it was great and my other usual tasters were occupied elsewhere, but I have no doubt they will love it. 

      I will make this again, and again, and again...a perfect hot apple dessert. 

      Next week's recipe was chosen by Tommi of Brown Interior, is Honey-Peach Ice Cream, and can be found on page 437. 

 

 

      Click here and then on individual baker's blog at the site if you would like to see more of this week's recipe and the various ways in which different people interpreted their quest.  It is not too late to join us.  If you would like to bake along, simply go to the TWD site and send an email through the link listed there.  You can join in the weekly fun.  See you there!

The Word is Out...

      The word is out, the requests have been pouring in, and while we weren't sure if we were posting Taylor as the "girl" friend or the "girlfriend," here is a nice photo from this evening of Matt and the lovely Taylor, The Girlfriend. 

      Taylor is the same age as Matt, has just completed her sophomore year of high school (at CHS) like Matt (at GCHS), attends St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church like Matt, is a dedicated sports-minded person like Matt, although gymnastics would be Taylor's venue while swimming is Matt's, and best of all, is sweet and cute, like Matt (okay, I am a little bit prejudiced in this area). 

      They have been going out to dinner and watching a movie one night a week since about February, and as Matt's curfew is 11:00, we have been able to keep a fairly close track on it all. 

      While I wasn't sure I was ready for a "girlfriend" type thing, seeing one another just one night a week for a few hours has been fairly painless for an over-protective mother.   Matt has good taste:  she is a lovely girl with a good heart.  They both seem to have their priorities all in the right places...and as parents, we couldn't ask for more at this age. 

      So whether we are ready or not, these days there is now a girl in Matt's life who he thinks quite a lot of...and as we get to know her, so do we.

 

Whisk Wednesdays: Longe de Porc aux Pruneaux (Roast Pork Loin with Prunes) and Mousseline de Céleri Rave (Creamed Celery Root Purée)

      The recipes prepared for this week's assignment for Whisk Wednesdays are from Class 25, Menu 2:  Longe de Porc aux Pruneaux (Roast Pork Loin with Prunes) and Mousseline de Céleri Rave (Creamed Celery Root Purée).  They can be found in the cookbook Le Cordon Bleu at Home on pages 122-123.

  

      This week's LCB recipe for the Roast Pork Loin with Prunes was a big hit with everyone here.  The guys all like roasted pork and were excited to see it on the menu.  They were not a bit disappointed with the prune stuffing and sauce.  (When studying the menu, I read the ingredients of the sauce:  pan drippings, water, vinegar, sugar, and wondered how this was going to be an enhancement to the meat.  Believe me, it was.)  Can't describe the taste, sort of sweet and sort of not, lots of depth of flavor from the pork, carrots, onions, garlic, herbs, prunes, cooked together in the roasting pan, the sauce was amazingly good and complimented the pork ideally. 

      I will make this again and again as the recipe was easy and the guys really enjoyed it. 

      Really, buy the book, start cooking from it...you will be amazed at how easy it can be and how much your cooking will change. 

      Before I started cooking with this book my food was good, at least my family thought so, and I figured I was a fairly good cook.  Since I have been cooking with this book and this Whisk group, my cooking has improved immensely.  The flavors are deeper/richer, the techniques I have learned help bring out the best in the ingredients, and it is all a lot easier than you can imagine.  If there are concerns about calories, I will say this:  one is happier (even the guys) with smaller portions because the food is filling and satisfying.  The French are a bit fussy, but the results are definitely worth it.

      The second dish was Creamed Celery Root Puree and to be honest, was not such a big hit.  I enjoyed it, Mark was sort of "iffy" on it, and the younger guys decided they didn't want to eat their portion, although they did try it.  I had never had celery root before. 

      Celery root is one of those vegetables you see at the grocery store and wonder what on earth people do with it, what it tastes like, and how you would even begin to prepare it.  I thought it was quite exciting to put one of these in my cart like I actually knew what I was doing, etc., and proceed to the checkout line where the lady next to me said, "I have no idea what that is or what you do with it."  I was tempted to pretend that I did, but I said, "Neither do I, but I am going to find out." 

      I like trying something new as long as I am not in it for too much of a commitment or expense.  This filled both those requirements.  It was incredibly easy to prepare...not as daunting as it looks:  first you chop the green stuff off, then you peel the brown stuff off with a vegetable peeler or knife, and when you are left with just a big white globe, you dice it up, boil it tender, drain the water, dump it into the food processor, process, add a little butter, salt, pepper, and cream fraiche, and that's it.  Very easy. 

      I think the guys were all expecting mashed potatoes and while this had the consistency of that, the slight celery taste it has threw them off a bit and they decided that they were missing the mashed potatoes, so it didn't really have fair a chance.  I liked it, not for every day, but it was enjoyable.  Would I make it again?  Yes, I think I might, as an interesting side dish for something like a holiday meal...something a little different. 

      It was so nice this week to go out and snip my own herbs as the recipes called for rosemary, thyme, and I used chives for topping the celery root puree.  I missed that a lot over the winter.  This year I planted herbs that I knew I would be using for LCB recipes, so I'll have what I need each week.

If you would  like to see how the other Whisk Wednesday members fared in this class, click here, and then on the Whisk Wednesdays connect to individual bloggers, or better yet, come and join us!  Shari has the ingredients posted on her site at the click, so while we can't post the recipe instructions, you can at least look at the ingredients, and I bet you can figure out a lot of it from there. 

Next Week's Assignment:

The next few assignments are Menus, so we are going to make the menu for one meal (hopefully), but then post each dish separately in its own week as posting it all at once seemed a bit much, following the schedule below.
Class 25: Menu #2 (Make in one session, if you can, between May 19 and May 26)
• Salade de Foies de Volailles Tiedes (Salad of Warm Sautéed Chicken Livers) pages 306-307 (Post Wednesday, May 27, 2009)
• Longe de Porc aux Pruneaux (Roast Pork Loin with Prunes) and Mousseline de Céleri Rave (Creamed Celery Root Purée) pages 122-123 (Post Wednesday, June 3, 2009)
• Savarin aux Kiwis et aux Fraises (Rum Savarin with Kiwis and Strawberries) pages 409-410 (Post Wednesday, June 10, 2009)

Tuesdays with Dorie: Cinnamon Squares

      This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, from the cookbook Baking:  From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan is Cinnamon Squares, can be found on pages 210-211, and was chosen by Tracey of Tracey's Culinary Adventures.

  If you would like to try the recipe before buying the book, click on Tracey's site above and she will have it posted today. 

      I was so excited to see the name of this recipe as I thought, "Okay, a week without chocolate and I love cinnamon!"  Whoa, hold the horses, as I opened the book to the page listed, I saw both cinnamon and chocolate in this recipe...a nice little cake with chocolate threaded through it and frosted in a lovely chocolate frosting.  Hmmm...deceptive titling in my opinion.  I knew the guys would love it, however, and they did. 

      The recipe is very easy, either that, or I am finally getting the hang of this baking stuff.  The batter was really good, all cinnamon flavored, etc., and no chocolate in that part...I tested just a wee little bit.  Yum! 

      Batter is poured into pan, I carefully did half of the batter before layering in the chocolate, cinnamon, sugar, and espresso powder, figuring it would come out dead center like the ribbon in Dorie's photo.  No such luck, it sank a bit and came out in the bottom part, but you can still see the effect, so that was nice. 

 

      After layering the rest of the batter, it all goes in the oven for 35 minutes and rests nicely for another 15 before removing it from the pan.  Oops...had to run to the swim club before the office closed, so it sat in the pan for an additional 15 minutes, causing it to sink just a little in the middle. Nancy told me just to fill that part in with extra icing, sounded good to me, and it worked.  I was afraid the middle was not baked all the way through despite the clean knife test, but it was, and it worked out fine.  It was all incredibly easy and quick, even the frosting. 

      We had a little mishap with the camera this week and there is only one photo available of my work, the one seen at the top of this post. 

      This other photo is one of Nancy's Cinnamon Squares (okay, someone can tell her nicely that this is not a square as it would be ungrateful for me to do so since she was so thoughtfully providing me with a photo with which to pad my post).  I love the plate she served it on, and the Cinnamon Rectangle has just the right amount of ribbon of chocolate winding through the center of the cake...yep, Nancy is one fine and fancy baker.  So while mine looked and tasted okay, Nancy's is the one you should really try to emulate as hers is really beautiful.

      Word on the streets here is that it was very very good...Matt: "Excellent, Mom!"  Mark was very happy with the results also.  Alex did not care for chocolate and cinnamon together, so passed up sampling completely. Jessica thought the frosting was "really really good," and enjoyed the cake part also.

      Next week's recipe was chosen by Jessica of My Baking Heart, is Parisian Apple Tartlet, and can be found on page 319. 

        Click here and then on individual baker's blog at the site if you would like to see more of this week's recipe and the various ways in which different people interpreted their quest.  It is not too late to join us.  If you would like to bake along, simply go to the TWD site and send an email through the link listed there.  You can join in the weekly fun.  See you there!