Monthly Archives: July 2013
ffwd: dieter’s tartine
This week’s recipe for French Fridays with Dorie was barely a recipe. The selection was Dieter’s Tartine, an open-faced sandwich that Parisian women enjoy at the café next door to the famous Poilâne bakery.
I had no time for shopping this week, so took some liberties to work with what I had on-hand. For the bread, I used toasted a slice of the sourdough rye bread I usually have for breakfast. For the spread, I used goat cheese. I topped this with the recommended tomato and cucumber cubes, which were part of this week’s farm share, simply seasoned with salt and pepper. Finally, I sprinkled it all with herbes de Provence.
I did not have this for lunch, but rather for breakfast. Actually, my typical breakfast is toast with cheese, often goat cheese, so the fresh summery salad on top was an interesting addition to something I eat all the time.
The tartine wasn’t spectacular, but it was good. It would never satisfy me for lunch, but for breakfast, I enjoyed it.
At some point, I’ll might try this with fromage blanc, once I find some, because I’ve never tried that kind of cheese before. I won’t even try to make my own substitution because I cannot bear the sight of cottage cheese. The thought of actually ingesting it would push me over the edge.
To see what the other creative Doristas’ did with their tartines, check out there links here. You can always find the recipe in Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table.
ffwd: mediterranean swordfish with frilly herb salad AND whole-cherry clafouti
This week’s recipe for French Fridays with Dorie is Mediterranean Swordfish with Frilly Herb Salad. I do love fish, any kind of fish. Normally, fish at my house is grilled in the warm months and broiled in the cooler ones.
A fishmonger is one of the vendors at our weekly farmers’ market. They had swordfish on offer, fresh from the pier that morning. In addition, a large bunch of parsley and some dill were part of my weekly CSA share at another farm. Those fresh herbs plus a few perennial herbs (thyme, oregano, savory, lemon balm) from my backyard garden rounded out what I needed to make this meal.
The fish briefly sits in a lemony-capery marinade that reminded me of the sauce for chicken piccata (though I forgot to add the onion). While it soaks up the flavors for an hour, you can use some of that time to clean and destem the herbs for the accompanying salad garnish. I loved that the salad used whole leaves of the parsley and other herbs making this step quite simple.
This recipe gave a grilling option, but I am not the family griller. I was in a hurry the night I prepared this dish so I following the instructions in the recipe and pan-seared the fish instead. What a pleasant surprise! This was practically fast food. The swordfish cooked quickly and to perfection after just 5 minutes in the pan. The steaks had a lovely browned crust, and the tangy sauce (the marinade heated up) was delicious.
Just before serving, the herbs are tossed with a little olive oil and lemon juice. The fish is topped with sauce, and then the herb salad, which makes an impressive plating. I made a fava bean salad to fill out the plate. More on that later this weekend.
As with so many recipes in this book, I will make this one again, both as a whole and just its individual components. This new (to me) way of making fish will come in handy on a harried evening and in the winter when the grill is not an option. The herb salad is something easy made from things I always have around, especially with an herb garden just outside the kitchen door. I look forward to experimenting with different combinations.
I was AWOL last week. Endless exhausting heat and (not exhausting or endless) weekend visitors proved too much of a distraction to get it together to either shop for the ingredients for this summery dessert or, having skipped it, reading my colleagues posts. I made a third of the recipe and enjoyed two mini-clafoutis (or would that be clafoutettes) myself yesterday. I plan to catch up on posts when I check out everyone’s swordfish this weekend.
We don’t post the recipes, but you can find it in Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table. To see what other Doristas thought of this recipe, check out their posts here.
Happy Friday!
A Plateful of Happiness 