Category Archives: French Fridays with Dorie
French Fridays with Dorie: Salted Butter Break-Ups
Sometimes, the best things are the simplest things. I think that applies to Salted Butter Break-Ups, this week’s recipe for French Fridays with Dorie.
The ingredient list is very short, just flour, sugar, butter, salt, and ice water. The steps were easy. You pulse the dry ingredients together in the food processor, cut in the butter, and then add the ice water until the dough binds into a ball. After a chilling, you roll out the dough, decorate and bake. I put it together one morning and rolled it out the next evening. The most complicated (and most fun) part was decorating with egg wash and pulling the tines of a fork through the dough. It looked très élégant.
The recipe itself was reminiscent of a pâte brisée, with a lot more sugar and salt. Special salt was called for, French sel gris (gray salt) which, I miraculously had in my pantry. I am obsessed with food. Consequently, I collect ingredients that I don’t have an immediate need for. Often, soon I’ve noticed an unusual or unfamiliar ingredient while browsing recipes, I’ll spot it at a store and can’t resist buying it “just in case”. That must have happened with the French gray sea salt.
I am a big fan of shortbread. The Butter Break-Ups were similar to shortbread, yet not exactly. They reminded me a little of Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies, which, for store-bought cookies, aren’t bad. Of course, these were better.
I expected the salt flavor to come through a little more than it did. The recipe gave a low and high measurement for the salt. I went with the high measurement, but I might increase that next time. Butter is the prevalent flavor, so my other thought is to use one of those fancy butters, like Plugra, because its richness would really shine in this recipe.
I enjoyed these cookies. They definitely resulted in a high payoff for low effort. As I said, the simplest things are often best!
Even with this simple recipe, I know my fellow Doristas (term coined by Trevor at Sis. Boom. [Blog!]) will have creatively tweaked their Salted Butter Break-Ups. I can’t wait to read about their ideas. Check it out for yourself by following their links at French Fridays with Dorie. We don’t post the recipes, but consider getting your own copy of the book, Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table. It’s a winner.
French Fridays with Dorie: Beggar’s Linguine
I had mixed feelings about this week’s recipe selection for French Fridays with Dorie. The recipe’s name, Beggar’s Linguine, is unassuming. Reading through the recipe, it was hard to get my head around just what to expect. Certainly, it was intriguing and exotic: linguine tossed in beurre noisette, a browned butter, with a variety of dried fruit and nuts. It is finished off with grated orange zest, grated Parmesan cheese, and some chopped parsley. I’d never heard of anything like it.
One of the reasons I joined this weekly cooking group is to push me outside my comfort zone once in a while. Sometimes, it’s a technique or an ingredient that presents a challenge. In this case, it was the combination of flavors.
For dried fruit, the recipe called for figs and golden raisins; for nuts, almonds and pistachios. I also threw in some dried apricots and hazelnuts for good measure. The picture doesn’t show it, but my butter browned perfectly. The overall flavor of the dish reminded me of a Christmas cake, like Italian panettone or even a good fruitcake. It was like dessert and dinner, all in one dish.
Only one half of my household will eat dried fruit (that would be me). Given that Dorie’s notes for this recipe said it shouldn’t be reheated or eaten cold, I opted to make a quarter of the recipe to feed just me. What did I think of the Beggar’s Linguine? I’m glad I tried it. I liked it much more than I expected, but given that it doesn’t appeal to the whole family, I doubt I would make it again.
I’m curious to see what my fellow FFwD bloggers thought about this week’s recipe. Check out their links at French Fridays with Dorie. We don’t post the recipes, but consider getting your own copy of the book, Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table. In fact, earlier this week, I sent a copy of this book to my sister Jane. After reading my post each Friday, she wonders whether she should own this cookbook. I decided for her.
As backup, in case I really hated this unusual dish, and so that Howard could eat dinner too, I made a reliable standard, Linguine with Clam Sauce, with the remaining three-quarters of the box of linguine. This recipe has evolved over many years. It started with a recipe from my old friend Amy, who now lives in Seattle. I have tweaked it to try to capture my mother’s version of this dish, which was one of my favorites when I was growing up. I always keep some canned clams in the pantry, so this is a quick and easy emergency dish. Here’s the recipe as a bonus, if you want to try it. It’s foolproof.
Linguine with Clam Sauce
Serves 4
1 box linguine (12-16 oz)
2 cans chopped (or minced) clams
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp butter
¼ cup white wine
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2-4 Tbsp chopped parsley
Freshly ground pepper
Cook the pasta according to package directions. When it is cooked, drain well.
While the pasta is cooking, make the sauce. First, drain the juice from the clams, reserving the juice.
Heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat until the butter melts. Add the minced garlic and sauté until the garlic is golden, but be careful not to burn it. Reduce the heat if you need to. Add the white wine and clam juice. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the parsley and the chopped clams. Simmer for 3 minutes to heat the clams through. Season generously with freshly ground pepper.
Pour the sauce over the linguine and toss well.
A Plateful of Happiness 