Category Archives: French Fridays with Dorie
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!
ffwd: café style grated carrot salad
I want to love carrot salad. I’ve tried lots of variations on it, and I just can’t get the right mix of flavors to tickle my palette. I was hopeful about this week’s French Friday with Dorie’s recipe: café style grated carrot salad, where the grated carrots are dressed with a honey mustard dressing. Optional ingredients are suggested. In the spring, I tried it with chopped chives, but this time I went with chopped toasted walnuts.
CSA Carrots
The salad is pretty, a burst of orange to complement most summer plates. The dressing is tangy, but also a little cloying at the same time. The nutty flavor of the walnuts was nice, but not enough to wow me. You can’t beat the easy of putting this salad together. I shook the dressing up in a jar, grated the carrots in the Cuisinart, toasted the nuts stovetop for a few minutes, and voilà! Not bad, but not the ultimate carrot salad I seek. J-OK (just OK) as my sister Jennifer says.
I don’t really have anything else to say about the carrot salad. I will show off my Quiche Caprese that I made in honor of Julia Child’s t100th birthday on Wednesday, August 15. Only the custard base was Julia’s recipe, from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The rest is just an inspired tribute. I whisked a tablespoon of pesto into the custard. Then, I arranged sliced tomato and fresh mozzarella over a partial-baked pastry crust. The custard was poured over and baked until set. I had enough for a full tart plus a little tartlet. A slice accompanied by some carrot salad made a colorful plate.
Happy 100th Birthday, Julia!
Happy French Friday, all!
A Plateful of Happiness 