Friday, March 22, 2013

ispahan loaf cake: French Fridays with Dorie


I made two cakes recently.  One was the Ispahan Loaf Cake - an interesting blend of ingredients - I just had to try it.  And it was okay.  I think I might like it better with something other than raspberries.  The cake crumb was good, and I think it does need another flavor to set off the faint rose flavor.  I'm just not liking the raspberry tartness and seeds in the mix.

The cake was easy to work with - no trouble getting it out of the pan.

The raspberries held up well during the baking.  

The "other" cake...Martha Stewart's Coconut Cake from her baking book...it's yum!
I think that next time I make the Ispahan Loaf Cake I will just make a bunch of raspberry coulis and drizzle it in 3 rows where the berries are supposed to go.

To see what other doristas did this week with this recipe, you can visit French Fridays with Dorie.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies: Tuesdays with Dorie

Mocha in my chocolate chip cookies.  Interesting thought.  I called them grown-up cookies, since I had to dole them out carefully to the grandkids.

Yes, they tasted good.  But I have to confess.....I like my chocolate chip cookies with little to no chips.  

I finally had to admit this to myself when I decided that my very favorite cookies in the whole wide world are: (drum roll....) Tate's Chipless Wonders.  Every summer I head to the Wellfleet Market and grab MANY packages of these wonderful treats so I can make every beach picnic perfect! (For anyone that ever went to Wellfleet on Cape Cod in the "olden days", the market used to be called Lema's.)  I have yet to see any Tate's Bake Shop goods in Texas. :-(  

So when this recipe called for 16 ounces - you know, a pound, of chocolate chips.....I had to come up with an amount of chocolate chips that I could live with (that means eat) so the chocolate and coffee could balance out for a "mocha" taste.  


6 ounces....that's what I came up with.  
And that was balanced with 3 Starbucks Via instant coffee singles packages.




And just a few "chocolate chip bumps" in my cookies....pretty good!   Oh, and I also like crunchy cookies, so I tend to overcook any cookies that look like they want to turn out to be soft......


I probably won't make these again with any chocolate chips.  I am tempted to make them with just a little coffee and no chips and see how that works out.  The coffee was a nice touch to the dough....we shall see!

To see what other doristas did this week with this recipe you can visit Tuesdays with Dorie.  Thanks to Peggy of Galettista for hosting this recipe; you can visit her blog here for the recipe.





Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Croissants: Tuesdays with Dorie

NEVER SAY NEVER!  Do I say that often?  Yes, but this time it really caught me by surprise.  I am finally finished with 2 days (should have been 3, note to self) of making croissants.  And what did I say before they went into the oven?  NEVER DOING THIS AGAIN......


And then I tasted one (okay, 5).....


OMG, these are so good....so melt in your mouth. So I am already planning what to do with the second half of the dough (it's a no brainer.....almond is coming soon!)



Okay, a quick confession....I shortcutted the heck out of this recipe.  The butter never really came together, I just scraped it out of the mixer and formed it into the oval.


And this is the sad version of the rectangle before the first refrigerator stint.  I will admit by the 3rd turn the rectangle was starting to take shape, but the camera was not in my thoughts by then...


Looks good, huh?  Well, truth be told, with half the dough I got 26 triangles (supposed to be 14).... Now what to do?  Ummm, let's call them mini croissants, eh?  In reality, I was pretty uneven in the rolling, so some of my extras probably came from intermittent thin dough rolling.  HOWEVER, I will note after the fact, 
that some of those thin croissants were mighty tasty!!



What can I say?  I love them.  Enough said.


What a wild ride this one was!  Thanks to Amanda at Girl+Food=Love for hosting this recipe.  To see what other Doristas did with this recipe, you can visit Tuesdays with Dorie.





Friday, March 1, 2013

chicken breasts diable: French Fridays with Dorie

Welcome March...cause February was so out of character.  I don't know whether it's global warming or if 2013 is going to be the best stone fruit year ever....


Both my plum trees are blooming in February!  And I saw a pink bud or two on my peach tree already. But my nectarine tree is still waiting to show it's blooms.  So what will March bring?



Well, for French Fridays with Dorie, March brings new recipes!  And Chicken Breasts Diable was a really good start to the month.  





I used a small yellow onion instead of a shallot, but it cooked up so pretty in the pan after searing and cooking the chicken breasts.



I used smooth dijon mustard since that's what I had, plus I wasn't sure how much "diable" I wanted in the sauce.  It turned out wonderful!


So another great recipe from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table.  To see what other doristas did with this recipe, you can visit French Fridays with Dorie.