Category Archives: Family
ffwd: tzatziki
I love all the ingredients in this yogurt-cucumber dip and though I recognized the recipe’s name, I somehow never had this before. Cucumbers are in their prime (we got 6 from our CSA share this week), so the French Fridays with Dorie choice this week of tzatziki was perfectly seasonal.
After a week of family visiting and many delicious shared meals, I’ll admit, I’m happy to cooking and eating at home again. Living hundreds of miles from immediate family, I welcome our mid-Atlantic tours to see everyone, but I miss my own bed and kitchen. The highlight of the trip was a Red Sox victory at Camden Yards against the Orioles. Red Sox Nation was well-represented in the park that night, even if I was surrounded by my own family, rooting for the Orioles. And, even though, Howard and I aren’t fans of the beach, it was reassuring to see with our own eyes, the ongoing recovery on Long Beach Island after the Hurricane Sandy’s devastation last fall while we spent a few lazy and enjoyable days with my in-laws.
My Family: Pre-Game in Baltimore
You have to plan ahead a few hours for this one. Finely chopped cucumbers are tossed with salt, allowed to sit for half an hour to draw the water out, and then squeezed tight to dry them. I’m always amazed how much water comes out of certain vegetables with this treatment. I made these delicious zucchini fritters last week, and I similarly marveled at the quantity of water released by the salt. With the cukes, the white flesh took on a translucent pale green color which was surprising.
While the cucumbers are dehydrating, I mixed together Greek yogurt, minced garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, chopped dill and mint. The squeezed and now-less-watery cucumbers are stirred in.
Initially, the dip was quite spicy. This must have been the garlic because there aren’t any spicy ingredients. After a night in the refrigerator, the garlic bite mellowed, and my tzatziki was had a much smoother taste.
I served tzatziki as part of a meze platter for lunch. Tzatziki, hummus, tomato-basil salad, falafels (made from chickpea flour leftover from the socca) and slices of country bread. It was light, cool, and screamed of summer. I’m happy to have discovered this recipe, and I’ll definitely be making this one again.
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.
ffwd: peach melba
Peach Melba is a dish I hadn’t thought of in decades. When I was a child, I spent a few days of my summer vacations visiting with my grandparents, by myself. My father’s parents lived in Center City Philadelphia, so it was an urban adventure for a suburban girl. My Gram took me to museums, to lunch, and all around the town. We had a great time. My Pop-Pop worked nights, so each evening, Gram made a delicious dinner before sending him off to work.
Often, for dessert, she would make a special treat: Peach Melba. This is not something I ever had at home, or anywhere else, come to think of it. I’m sure I thought that my Gram invented it. Sliced peaches, vanilla ice cream, and raspberry sauce. Sort of a sundae, but something more.
I was thrilled to see that Dorie had a recipe to share for this dessert. I was game to try it for myself. I poached fresh peaches in a lemony sugar syrup, then boosted the syrup with cassis and vanilla extract which made it blush. For the sauce, I pureed frozen raspberries (from my yard) with a little of the syrup. For the ice cream, I was going to make a batch from Jeni’s Splendid recipe. (Have you tried this? If not, you must! It’s amazing, seriously). As usual, I ran out of time, so opted for Ben & Jerry’s instead.
In a fun glass, layer a spoonful of syrup, poached peaches (I used a quarter), some ice cream, and more peaches. Drizzle with raspberry sauce and sprinkle with toasted almonds. You have a festive dessert, and for me, a very nostalgic one, filled with happy memories of time spent with my grandmother.
Gram and Me (August 2002)
This marks the 100th recipe for French Fridays with Dorie. We’ve been at this for nearly two years, starting in October 2010. Each week, we cook a recipe from Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table. I can honestly say that, even though I am a cookbookaholic, I have never made so many recipes from a single book before. I’ve made 95 of the 100 recipes so far. It’s been a blast, and I’ve “met” so many wonderful people from around the world. I’m glad that the adventure will continue. Cheers to my fellow Doristas and to Dorie Greenspan!
You can check out other Peach Melba experiences at the LYL post for this recipe on French Fridays with Dorie.
P.S. I just diced up a poached peach in mixed it along with raspberry sauce into Greek yogurt. Peach melba was great for breakfast, too!
A Plateful of Happiness 