French Fridays with Dorie - Olive, Olive Chicken

I took the liberty of substituting two chicken breasts for the Cornish hens in this week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe, and I also grabbed a jar of black olive tapenade off the shelf, rather than making homemade. John has an aversion to Cornish hens, dating back to the dry, flavorless ones served on his Navy ship, so there you have it.

This recipe can't get any easier. I roasted the cauliflower (first tossed with a drizzle of olive oil, and sprinkle of salt and pepper) alongside the chicken (separate pans), for about 30 minutes, took it out and allowed the chicken to cook a little longer, and blanched and sauteed haricots verts in the meantime. The chicken was roasted perfectly, and I was pleasantly surprised by the wonderful taste of the olive tapenade beneath the crispy, lemony skin.

When using Cornish hens for this recipe, Dorie shares a French preparation called en crapaudine ("like a toad"). The British word for the technique is spatchcocked. Neither sound too appetizing, but the cooking time is cut in half. It is also the method used for chicken under a brick on the grill, something I still need to try. With kitchen shears or a chef's knife, the bird is cut down along both sides of the backbone, and the bone is removed. The bird is then turned over, breast side up, and flattened by pressing the heel of your hand against the breastbone, cracking it. It should now resemble a flattened toad, with its legs and wings splayed out.  Photos and/or videos are always helpful to me when learning a new method.  Here is a demonstration video by Melissa Clark for the New York Times Food, and one by Steven Raichlen (Primal Grill).  Steven removes the breast bone, and tucks in the legs and wings, for an even nicer presentation.

After gently loosening the skin, the tapenade spread underneath (a little goes a long way).  The hens or breasts are rubbed with olive oil, seasoned with a squeeze of lemon juice, salt and pepper, roasted at 500 degrees F for 25-30 minutes, and served with lemon wedges and another drizzle of olive oil.

Newf Notes:  I used bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts, which were fairly large. I roasted the cauliflower and chicken (separate pans) at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes, took the cauliflower out of the oven, turned the temperature up to 425 degrees F, and roasted the chicken for another 10-15 minutes, until the internal temperature reached 155 degrees F.  I allowed the chicken to rest about 10 minutes.

***

French Fridays with Dorie is an online cooking group, dedicated to Dorie Greenspan‘s newest book Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours.  As members of the group, we have purchased the cookbook and cook along as much as we can. There is a new recipe each week, and we post about that recipe on Friday. We are asked to refrain from posting the actual recipes on our blog. The book is filled with stunning photography, and personal stories about each recipe, which makes it that much more intriguing. I highly recommend adding it to your cookbook collection if you haven't already!

Here's another Chicken and Olive dish you must try:
Ad Hoc at Home, Crispy Braised Chicken with Olives, Lemon and Fennel

French Fridays with Dorie - Deconstructed BLT and Eggs

I'm playing French Fridays with Dorie catch up, combining this week's Deconstructed BLT and Eggs, and a recipe I missed back in early August, Simple Slow Roasted Tomatoes.

Our solo tomato plant yielded about 20 ripe Romas this week, so I took the opportunity to slowly roast them with a drizzle of olive oil, garlic cloves, fresh thyme sprigs, and salt and freshly ground pepper. I used most of them last night in Capellini Pomodoro, and the rest in this Deconstructed BLT and Eggs salad.

When chefs in France got caught up in the 'deconstructed' craze, Dorie decided to deconstruct a BLT sandwich, and then take it a step further by 'saladizing' it. At the last minute, she added a couple hard-boiled eggs and dab of mayonnaise, to make it a more substantial lunch.

Dorie uses a combination of chopped, oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes and halved, cherry or grape tomatoes. I used the rest of my Simple Slow Roasted Tomatoes, the last two ripe Romas from the garden, and an heirloom yellow tomato.

In addition to the tomatoes, Dorie tosses arugula in a simple vinaigrette of red wine vinegar, olive oil, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper, and adds coarsely chopped bacon, cubes of country-style bread sauteed in the rendered bacon fat until golden, halved hard-boiled eggs, and a dab of mayonnaise. I used uncured pepper bacon, cubed ciabatta rolls to make the croutons, and soft-boiled eggs.  I omitted the mayo.

This is another exceptional salad to add to the collection!

***

French Fridays with Dorie is an online cooking group, dedicated to Dorie Greenspan‘s book Around My French Table. As members of the group, we have purchased the cookbook and cook along as much as we can. There is a new recipe each week, and we post about that recipe on Friday. We are asked to refrain from posting the actual recipes on our blog. The book is filled with stunning photography, and personal stories about each recipe, which makes it that much more intriguing. I highly recommend adding it to your cookbook collection if you haven't already!

Another Dorie Salad:  Bacon, Egg and Asparagus Salad

French Fridays with Dorie - Cinnamon-Crunch Chicken

For such a simple recipe with only three ingredients (chicken, Speculoos cookies, and crème fraiche), that was supposed to knock my socks off, I would have been happier eating the box of cookies for dinner.  However, in respect for Dorie, I blame my disappointment on several factors:

I stopped by Albertsons first, thinking they would have Speculoos - thin, buttery cinnamon and spice cookies, aka LU Cinnamon Sugar Spice Biscuits or LU Bastogne.  Nothing even close.  I read you could substitute Gingersnaps, but that slot on the shelf was empty.  Strike one.

I then went down the aisle to the back of the store, to the dairy section, in search of crème fraiche. Strike two.  If you must, Dorie advises, you can substitute heavy cream, but not sour cream. Sour cream will curdle and break over heat (keep reading). I didn't want to make substitutions for two out of the three ingredients, so I decided to try another store.

I knew I had seen crème fraiche at Boney's, but doubted they carried Speculoos.  I abandoned Albertsons, got back in the car, and drove two blocks to Boney's. Correct in my assumptions, I was successful in finding crème fraiche, but no Speculoos. Making the decision to settle on Gingersnaps, I then debated over two brands for at least 10 minutes. Neither one contained cinnamon, but I figured I could add a teaspoon or so to the recipe. I wandered over to the meat section, grabbed the boneless, skinless chicken breasts, and then to the bakery section, where I found a more appealing package of Gingersnaps.  I tossed the organic Gingersnaps back on the shelf, grabbed a few things for a salad, and made my way to the checkout, 30 minutes later.

Once I got home, John had the stove and refrigerator pulled out from the wall and was painting in all the areas I needed to be preparing and cooking (you don't even want to know what colors we are trying to cover up in our new house). And, of course, Dooley was also sprawled out in the middle of the kitchen floor, taking his eighth power nap of the day.

I proceeded to read through the recipe, which calls for slicing the chicken breasts crosswise into one-inch strips before sautéing them in butter or oil. I felt keeping the chicken breasts whole would make for a prettier photo, so I ignored that step  (when you're a food blogger, you must consider how you are going to plate the finished dish for the camera -  I also note that a photo of this dish was no where to be found on the net).  Once the chicken is cooked, you add a cup of crème fraiche and folded-in, crunched up Speculoos to the pan.  Apparently, the cookies melt into the sauce, like they do in your mouth, and flavor it with cinnamon and spice.

In my case, I transferred the chicken breasts to a plate, and added the crème fraiche with folded-in Gingersnaps, and teaspoon of ground cinnamon, to the pan. The crème fraiche, which was not supposed to break, broke. Strike three.

I was able to make a recovery, of sorts, with some sour cream (I was out of crème fraiche at that point and had no heavy cream) and chicken broth. My pan was probably too hot when I originally added the crème fraiche, but I blame that on the electric stove we also inherited with this house and its turquoise and yellow kitchen (those colors are now on their way out,  and I'll be talking to Santa in a few months about a gas stove).

Anyhoo, in an effort to end this very long and sad story, I did not feel this Cinnamon-Crunch Chicken was a "stroke of brilliance" - as Dorie describes her friend's creation.  John said it liked it, and compared it to a Thai peanut sauce, but it was a bit sweet for my liking.  I did enjoy the salad of baby greens, apples, red onion, cashews and sherry vinaigrette...and I truly enjoyed the leftover Gingersnaps with my coffee the next few mornings.  Sometimes, things are not as simple as they may seem.

On a much sweeter note, as we roll into fall, I encourage you to try Bobby Flay's Throwdown Pumpkin Pie, with Cinnamon-Crunch topping, a much better use than on chicken.


French Fridays with Dorie is an online cooking group, dedicated to Dorie Greenspan‘s book Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours.  As members of the group, we have purchased the cookbook and cook along as much as we can. There is a new recipe each week, and we post about that recipe on Friday. We are asked to refrain from posting the actual recipes on our blog. The book is filled with stunning photography, and personal stories about each recipe, which makes it that much more intriguing. I highly recommend adding it to your cookbook collection if you haven't already!

French Fridays with Dorie: Cafe Salle Pleyel Sliders

Cooking from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours, with French Fridays with Dorie, has become Around My Coronado Patio - French Fridays with John and Denise. Many of the recipes this month have made their debut for our Friday patio soirées. It's nice having a group of friends who don't mind being guinea pigs our tasters. I don't worry about it too much, as I've come to trust Dorie's recipes. For this week's recipe, a hamburger from Cafe Salle Pieyel, I opted to make sliders.

The Cafe Salle Pieyel burger was created by Chef Sonia Ezgulian for the opening year of the Paris cafe, in the newly renovated Salle Pleyel concert hall. The burger quickly became a bestseller, and was described by the cafe's creator as having "the taste of the forbidden, the illicit - the subversive, even." The New York Times used Helene's description as the Quotation of the Day. The article, In Paris, Burgers Turn Chic, can be found here, and the original recipe, here.

So, what makes this burger so appealing? For the American, it has a sesame seed bun and dill pickles. To appease the finicky French, it has a very French seasoning blend of capers, cornichons, tarragon, and sun-dried tomatoes. It also features a red-onion marmalade and shards of Parmesan. Ketchup is rarely served, and only upon request.

Thinly sliced red onions for the onion marmalade (the original recipes uses finely chopped onions)

The French Seasoning Blend

After a few pulses in the food processor
the seasoning is mixed in with the ground chuck and/or ground sirloin

Café Salle Pleyel Sliders
Adapted from Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours
Makes 8 sliders

1 medium red onion, very thinly sliced
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon ground coriander
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup oil-packed, sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
1/4 cup drained capers
6 cornichons
1/8 cup tarragon leaves
1/2 cup Italian parsley leaves
1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin, chuck or mix
2 ounces Parmesan cheese, thinly sliced with a vegetable peeler
8 dinner rolls
2 dill pickles, thinly sliced lengthwise with a vegetable peeler

1. In a medium saucepan, combine red onion with butter, coriander and 1 cup water. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture is reduced, about 30-45 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in a small food processor, pulse sun-dried tomatoes, capers, cornichons, tarragon and parsley until finely chopped.

3. In a medium bowl, lightly mix meat with sun-dried tomato mixture and season with pepper. Shape meat into 3-ounce patties, about 3/4 inch thick.

4. Heat olive oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add burgers and cook for about 2 minutes on each side for rare or 3 minutes for medium rare (I cooked our burgers on the grill). Transfer burgers to a platter and top with Parmesan. Lightly toast buns. Place some of the  onion jam on bottom buns. Place burgers on top of onion jam. Cover with top buns and serve with pickle slices on the side.

***

French Fridays with Dorie is an online cooking group, dedicated to Dorie Greenspan‘s newest book Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours.  As members of the group, we have purchased the cookbook and cook along as much as we can. There is a new recipe each week, and we post about that recipe on Friday. We are asked to refrain from posting the actual recipes on our blog. The book is filled with stunning photography, and personal stories about each recipe, which makes it that much more intriguing. I highly recommend adding it to your cookbook collection if you haven't already!

French Fridays with Dorie - Eggplant Caviar

You know you're addicted to food blogging when you dream about food, and compose blog posts in your sleep. Normal women dream about wild sex and nude sunbathing on exotic beaches in faraway lands. Evidently, I'm no longer normal. The other morning, I stumbled out of an early morning dream about eggplants. Just as I opened my eyes and tossed the covers off, my friend's short essay about eggplants resurfaced from the nooks and crannies of my brain - it was the ideal introduction to this week's French Fridays with Dorie post.

I have to wonder why humankind ever started eating eggplants. They’re not all that appetizing. In its natural state—uncooked, unseasoned, undressed—an eggplant is downright dry, pithy and tasteless. You will never find a juicy, delicious eggplant. You will never want to chomp into one raw, as you would an apple, a pear or a peach. Oh yes, the eggplant is a fruit. Seeds on the inside; that’s the tipoff. But a strange fruit for sure. About the only way you can eat an eggplant is cooked to a fine mash, smothered in cheese and marinara sauce, saturated with olive oil—and calories. Truth be told, an honest eggplant would never claim to stand on its own in the kitchen pantheon, never presume to be more than what it is, a bland, blank canvas made to showcase the bright, bold flavors of comelier foods. On the other hand, if you can fight the urge to slice, dice and devour your eggplant—which shouldn’t really be too hard—it will reward your kindness with beauty, a gleaming purple splendor unrivaled by any other species of produce. Thus freed to embrace its truest, highest and best self, an honest eggplant can rise to the ranks of majesty.

Sandra Millers Younger

***

This week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe, Eggplant Caviar (caviar d’aubergine), is a spread/dip similar to Baba Ghanoush, but without tahini. We're addicted to the Baba Ghanoush at Apollonia Bistro, a quaint little Greek place next door to Bristol Farms in La Jolla, so Dorie's variation had a tough act to follow.

Why is it called eggplant caviar? Wikipedia explains that in some eastern European countries, such as Ukraine and Russia, "Ikra" also refers to an eggplant or squash spread which is often called "poor man's caviar." In England this is known as Aubergine Caviar. Similarly, "Texas caviar" is a type of salad or dip made from whole black-eyed peas. In the United Kingdom, "Yorkshire caviar" is a playful term for mushy peas, in reference to the stereotype of Yorkshiremen as dour folk who won't spend money on luxuries.  Okay, but I'm still perplexed.

Eggplant Caviar
Adapted from Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours
Makes about 3 cups

2 large eggplants (about 1 to 1-1/2 pounds each)
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling over the finished dip
2 cloves of garlic, minced (I used about a tablespoon of roasted garlic)
1 small onion, minced (I didn't love the raw onion flavor and texture and will try caramelizing the onions or possibly substituting a few tablespoons minced shallots next time)
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons finely chopped basil
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon Piment d'Espelette (or smoked paprika, cayenne, or other red Chile powder)
Salt and freshly ground pepper (smoked salt, if you have it)
3 Roma tomatoes, peeled, chopped and seeded (optional)

Serving suggestions: Toasted baguette slices, pita bread, or crackers

1. Preheat the oven to 400˚F. Put the eggplants on a baking sheet lined with foil, prick with a knife in several places, and roast 45 to 60 minutes, until soft and shriveled (I also like the sound of David Lebovitz' method, here, for a bit more smokiness).
2. Cool and halve eggplants; scrape the flesh into a food processor and discard the skins. Add olive oil and puree. Add remaining ingredients and pulse just to combine (If you want a chunkier texture, you can mash and mix all the ingredients in a bowl with a fork). Season to taste, with salt and pepper.

3. Spoon into a bowl, cover, and chill several hours, or overnight.

4. Just before serving, fold in chopped tomatoes, if using, and drizzle with olive oil.

Eggplant caviar can be stored, covered and refrigerated, for a few days.

Despite its deceiving name, Eggplant Caviar surely deserves a spot in your dip/spread rotation.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get naked, crawl between some crisp, cool sheets and dream about wild sex and exotic beaches in a faraway lands. After all, eggplant caviar is an aphrodisiac? Isn't it?

***

French Fridays with Dorie is an online cooking group, dedicated to Dorie Greenspan‘s newest book Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours.  As members of the group, we have purchased the cookbook and cook along as much as we can. There is a new recipe each week, and we post about that recipe on Friday. We are asked to refrain from posting the actual recipes on our blog. The book is filled with stunning photography, and personal stories about each recipe, which makes it that much more intriguing. I highly recommend adding it to your cookbook collection if you haven't already!

French Fridays with Dorie - Salmon and Potatoes in a Jar

My version of this week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe, Salmon and Potatoes in a Jar, is more appropriately called Salmon in a French Press and Potatoes in Tupperware. It works equally well in terrines, bowls, or zip-lock bags, but the ease in preparation and serving out of quart-sized jars is the main appeal. I considered going shopping, to try to find a few pretty jars for this post, but the week got away from me.

The first step is salt and sugar curing slices of salmon for 12-18 hours. I used a pound of Coho salmon, which has a bright orange-red flesh, firm texture and delicate flavor.

The next day, after the salmon is cured, it's rinsed, patted dry, and layered in a jar with sliced carrots, red onions, and spices and herbs, and covered in olive oil. In the second jar, cooked fingerling or small potatoes are layered the same way, but with some added salt and white wine vinegar, and covered with olive oil. The jars are refrigerated for at least 6 hours, and up to 3 days.

The aromatics are coriander seeds, black peppercorns, bay leaves, and thyme sprigs.

We've been on a grilled romaine kick of late, so I served grilled romaine hearts and lightly toasted baguette slices on the side. A squeeze of fresh lemon juice is also recommended.

Dorie refers to this as a no-fail knockout, and our Friday Night Cocktail Hour on the Patio crowd wholeheartedly agreed.

***

French Fridays with Dorie is an online cooking group, dedicated to Dorie Greenspan‘s newest book Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours.  As members of the group, we have purchased the cookbook and cook along as much as we can. There is a new recipe each week, and we post about that recipe on Friday. We are asked to refrain from posting the actual recipes on our blog. The book is filled with stunning photography, and personal stories about each recipe, which makes it that much more intriguing. I highly recommend adding it to your cookbook collection if you haven't already!

The full recipe can be found on Michael Rulman's blog, here.

French Fridays with Dorie - Coconut-Lemongrass Braised Pork

My original plan for this week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe, Coconut-Lemongrass Braised Pork, was to adapt it for the grill. That didn't work out, but the final dish did end up slightly different from Dories's recipe. It still had the same basic ingredients, but I used the spices as a dry rub on pork tenderloin (in place of cubed pork butt), seared the tenderloin in olive oil and finished it in the oven (rather than braising), added green curry paste to the coconut milk, and used zucchini in place of celery root.

I started by seasoning the tenderloin with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper, and I used the remaining spices (turmeric, curry powder, cardamom, white peppercorns, and coriander) as a dry rub. I seared the tenderloin stove-top, and finished it off in the oven. Meanwhile, I sauteed the onions, potatoes, carrots, and zucchini, and then added the coconut milk and green curry paste (I was unable to score lemongrass at our local market, but the curry paste does contain it), and let the sauce cook down a bit. The tenderloin emerged from the oven perfectly tender and slightly pink. Dorie suggests rice or egg noodles to soak up the sauce, and I went with rice.

Coconut-Lemongrass Pork Curry with Vegetables
Adapted from Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours
Serves 2-4

1 whole pork tenderloin (about 1 lb.)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 1/4 teaspoon mild or hot Madras curry powder (I used hot)
Seeds from 6 cardamom pods
6 white peppercorns
6 coriander seeds
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 small carrots, peeled and sliced diagonally into 1/4-inch slices
1 small onion, peeled, halved, and each half cut into eighths
1 medium zucchini, sliced diagonally into 1/4-inch slices
3 medium red potatoes, halved, and each half quartered
1 14-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk
1 tablespoon green curry paste
Cooked white rice or egg noodles, for serving

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Grind spices using a mortar and pestle. Sprinkle the spice rub over the tenderloin and rub the pork with the seasoning over the entire outside of the meat, pressing gently so the seasoning adheres well to the tenderloin.

In a large oven proof skillet, over medium-high heat, add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and heat. Put tenderloin in the pan and cook for about 4 minutes, searing each side using tongs to turn the meat. Transfer meat to the oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until internal temperature is 140 degrees F. Remove from oven, transfer to plate, tent with foil, and allow to rest while you prepare the vegetables (during resting, the internal temperature will rise to 155 degrees F).

Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan and heat over medium high. Add the onions and potatoes and saute for about 5 minutes. Add the carrots, and saute another 2-3 minutes. Turn heat down to medium, and stir in the coconut milk and green curry paste. Cover, and allow to simmer until vegetables are tender, about 5 more minutes, and then add the zucchini and lemon zest. Cover and let simmer while you slice the pork.

For serving, place some rice or noodles on the plate, add the vegetable curry, and top with sliced pork.

***

French Fridays with Dorie is an online cooking group, dedicated to Dorie Greenspan‘s newest book Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours.  As members of the group, we have purchased the cookbook and cook along as much as we can. There is a new recipe each week, and we post about that recipe on Friday. We are asked to refrain from posting the actual recipes on our blog. The book is filled with stunning photography, and personal stories about each recipe, which makes it that much more intriguing. I highly recommend adding it to your cookbook collection if you haven't already!

Just Bag It! Salmon en Papillote

I missed this French Fridays with Dorie recipe a few weeks ago, but I wasn't going to let it get by me, especially when it's so simple, healthy, adaptable, and flavorful. En Papillote, French for in parchment, is a method of cooking food in a folded and sealed pouch or parcel, and then baked. The parcel is typically made from folded parchment paper, but a paper bag or aluminium foil works equally well. The food steams in moisture from the food itself, or from added water, wine, or stock.  Vegetables, herbs and spices add to the flavor.

"A classic way to cook a fish fillet is to seal it inside a tightly folded package of parchment paper and bake it briefly in a hot oven. Known as en Papillote, this gentle method cooks the enclosed fish in its own moisture and creates its own sauce of natural juices. Cooking en Papillote is also fun – assembling and wrapping the fish and seasonings in paper – and it is thrilling to open the package at the table, revealing a beautifully cooked dish and releasing all the pent-up aromas in one heady burst...” Julia Child, from Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home.

Because we're using our new grill almost exclusively for cooking this summer, I used aluminum foil. I started by making a bed of fresh basil, sprinkled with Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.

After drizzling the basil with a little extra-virgin olive oil, a piece of salmon is laid down (you can leave the skin on, or take it off).

It's then up to you what to add.  I used minced garlic, capers, sun-dried tomatoes, thinly sliced lemon, another drizzle of olive oil, and about a tablespoon of white wine.  Asparagus, snap peas, grape tomatoes, summer squash, spring onions, shallots, Italian parsley, thyme, and rosemary are also nice options.

After sealing the aluminum foil, the pouch is cooked on a closed grill, heated to 450-475 F, over indirect heat, for about 10 minutes.  Why even bother with plates?

French Fridays with Dorie is an online cooking group, dedicated to Dorie Greenspan‘s newest book Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours. As members of the group, we have purchased the cookbook and cook along as much as we can. There is a new recipe each week, and we post about that recipe on Friday. We are asked to refrain from posting the actual recipes on our blog. The book is filled with stunning photography, and personal stories about each recipe, which makes it that much more intriguing. I highly recommend adding it to your cookbook collection if you haven't already!

French Fridays with Dorie - Cold Melon-Berry Soup with Grilled Shrimp

I've said this before about Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours, but I enjoy reading Dorie's introduction to each recipe as much as preparing the recipes themselves. When she mentions an unfamiliar region in France, restaurant, chef, or ingredient, my interest is always peaked and I start Googling! Since I've never been to France, I have much to learn.

For this week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe, Cold Melon-Berry Soup, Dorie tells us her inspiration came from a soup she enjoyed at renowned chef Alain Ducasse's former hilltop retreat, Ostapé ("in the shade of oak trees"), a 45 hectare estate located in the heart of the green Basque country, close to the village of Biddaray. The spacious guest rooms are located in the 17th-century manor house, or in five farmhouses that have been converted into traditional Basque-style villas. This looks like my kinda place!

The Navarrian restaurant serves regional cuisine using fresh, local products, including vegetables from its own garden. See the watermelon on table? Dorie says just about every restaurant has melon somewhere on the menu when they're in season.

The cold melon-berry soup is nothing more than pureed cantaloupe (or Cavaillon if you're in France), topped with melon balls and strawberries. The soup should be served in glasses, to show off its beautiful color.

I'm strawberry'ed out, so I went with raspberries. Actually, The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs, highlights raspberries with cantaloupe, and doesn't even list strawberries. Ginger, lime juice and sweet white wine, basil and mint are also recommended flavor pairings.

To the pureed melon, Dorie's recipe adds grated fresh ginger, fresh squeezed lime juice, and a pinch of sea salt.  To serve, top the soup with a little wine, a few melon balls and berries, and mint or basil chiffonade.  I used raspberries, basil, and Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand.

I had the chance to use my ginger grater I bought from our Little Italy Mercato. It works quite well, and you don't lose the ginger juice.

In an effort to make a light dinner out of the soup, I added grilled shrimp. These shrimp are from one of my newest cookbooks, Steven Raichlen's Planet Barbecue!: 309 Recipes, 60 Countries.  Grilled Shrimp Sprayed with Olive Oil and Wine is from the "archly innovative grill restaurant Etxebarri in Spain's Basque Country."  This also looks like my kinda place!

I nestled a melon ball in the curve of each shrimp, and threaded two shrimp per skewer. During grilling, the shrimp are lightly misted with olive oil and wine, and then finished with course sea salt.

Not too shabby, for a light, summer dinner on the patio.

French Fridays with Dorie is an online cooking group, dedicated to Dorie Greenspan‘s newest book Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours. As members of the group, we have purchased the cookbook and cook along as much as we can. There is a new recipe each week, and we post about that recipe on Friday. We are asked to refrain from posting the actual recipes on our blog. The book is filled with stunning photography, and personal stories about each recipe, which makes it that much more intriguing. I highly recommend adding it to your cookbook collection if you haven't already!

French Fridays with Dorie: Beet and Icy Red Onion Salad

This is a quickie post, before I dive into the holiday weekend, to get in this week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe, Chunky Beets and Icy Red Onions. According to Dorie, you might order this as a starter salad in a French bistro, but it also pairs well alongside anything grilled. Add goat cheese, cherry tomatoes, and arugula for another variation.

Roasting is my preferred method for beets, but I couldn't see heating up the house for three beets this time of year. Thankfully, Dorie introduced me to the microwave method (you can also steam or boil the beets). I rarely use the microwave, other than a quick zap if I need melted butter, but it worked fine for this purpose.

Beets from Little Italy Mercato

While the beets are cooking and cooling, whisk the vinaigrette with a lovely combination of olive oil, sherry vinegar, honey, and Dijon. The cooled beets are then cubed or sliced, tossed gently in the vinaigrette, and chilled for about an hour.

Another interesting tip when using raw onions, to give them crunch and remove any bitterness, is to slosh the thinly sliced onions in a bowl of cold water, drain, and repeat. Fill the bowl back up with cold water, add the onions and some ice cubes, and refrigerate until ready to use.

When you are ready to serve the salad, add minced, fresh herbs to the beets (oregano, marjoram, thyme, or parsley), fold gently, and season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Drain the onion slices, pat dry, and sprinkle over the top of the salad.

Have a wonderful Fourth of July weekend!

French Fridays with Dorie is an online cooking group, that just hit 2,000 members, dedicated to Dorie Greenspan‘s newest book Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours.  As members of the group, we have purchased the cookbook and cook along as much as we can. There is a new recipe each week, and we post about that recipe on Friday. We are asked to refrain from posting the actual recipes on our blog. The book is filled with stunning photography, and personal stories about each recipe, which makes it that much more intriguing. I highly recommend adding it to your cookbook collection if you haven't already!