Blog Archives
french fridays with dorie: cocoa sablés
One of my favorite cookies is Dorie Greenspan’s World Peace Cookies from her Baking cookbook.
When I saw Cocoa Sablés on this week’s French Fridays schedule, I assumed that we were making World Peace cookies. I’ve made them many times before and adore them. The AMFT version weren’t exactly a renamed version of the old favorite. They were more like a fraternal twin, and they did not disappoint.
I absolutely love the convenience of homemade slice-and-bake cookies. Stash them in the freezer, and you can have an instant snack on a whim.
This shortbread-like cookie comes together in the stand mixer easily. I accidentally rolled my logs much skinnier than Dorie did. They were a little over an inch, instead of a little under two inches. Honestly, this wasn’t deliberate. The type in the book is small, and even though it said 1¾ inch, I read 1¼. These cookies are rich, so my little coins (they were about the size of quarters) were the perfect size.
My book group came over this week, so I made these cookies as refreshments. The book we read, The Known World by Edward P. Jones, won the 2004 winner of the Pulitzer Prize in fiction. This beautifully-written novel about a black family of slave owners in antebellum Virginia told a wonderful, if disturbing, story. As always, we had a lively discussion, some of it related to the book, most of it not. The cookies got positive reviews. So did this lemony artichoke dip.
My yield was nothing like Dorie’s. She said the recipe would make 36 cookies. Granted, my rolls were skinnier. I shaped my dough into more than two rolls, not just because they were thinner, but because I find shorter rolls easier to handle. I baked about half the dough and got over 60 cookies. I plan to put the other rolls in the freezer for later.
I was short on time, so I didn’t coat the logs with egg and roll in sugar as suggested. I’ll have to try that variation when I bake the rolls from the freezer. I can imagine the effect will be pretty.
One thing that always trips me up when I make rolls of icebox cookies is how to store them while chilling or handle them while slicing so that one side doesn’t become flat. Hopefully, I’ll learn a new trick from one of the other participating bloggers’ posts. If you have some thoughts, please share!
To read about the other FFwD bloggers chocolatey experiences, check out their posts at French Fridays with Dorie. We don’t post the recipes, but you should treat yourself to this book. There are so many winning recipes, it’s worth it.
french fridays with dorie: cheese soufflé
This week’s recipe for French Fridays with Dorie was Cheese Soufflé. I’m not sure I even ate a cheese soufflé before. I know I never made one. However, eggs and cheese are two things I love, so in spite of the intimidation factor that goes along with souffle, I was excited about the challenge.
Whenever you read about soufflé, there are a multitude of warnings about avoiding big thumps in the kitchen while it’s baking and being sure the diners are seated before you take it out of the oven. Couple that with the fact that I always find beating egg whites downright scary. I’m never sure about the distinctions between the different descriptions of “doneness”. For this recipe, I wish there had been a video version.
I had a soufflé dish, but it was smaller than the one called for. That was OK because it was just the two of us for dinner and I knew leftovers weren’t going to keep for this one. So I made two-thirds of the recipe.
First, you make a béchamel sauce, which was something I’m comfortable with. Dorie has you strain the sauce which I did, but thought was an overly-fussy step that I will skip next time. Then you beat in the egg yolks and stir in the cheese. Now it’s time for the scary eggs. I used the stand mixer and beat them until I thought they were firm, but still glossy. Then it’s time to fold the egg whites into the mixture. I still had some white bits showing but Dorie said that’s better than overmixing.
Now, the soufflé goes into the oven. Here’s where I went a little off track. I was making a smaller soufflé, but I wasn’t sure how the adjust the baking time. Mine was smaller, though obviously bigger than the individually sized ones on the next page in the cookbook which cook for 25 minutes. I baked mine for about 25 minutes and then carefully opened the oven to check.
Bella Admires My Souffle
The top was a gorgeous golden brown, and it seemed firm but slightly jiggly. So, I thought it was done. I quickly spooned it onto waiting plates. Oops! Only the top two-thirds of the soufflé was perfectly cooked. The bottom third was still runny. How to recover? Pop the remaining mixture back into the oven to at least cook for another 10 minutes, and immediately sit down to eat the cooked part.
Despite my timing mishap, we deemed the soufflé a success. It wasn’t as difficult or time-consuming as I had assumed. It was also delicious. I might be going out on a limb, but I actually could see making this on a weeknight. With a simple arugula salad, this was an elegant supper.
This is one reason I participant in this group. What a pleasant surprise to discover something so frightening at the outset was highly doable! I’m thrilled. Click here to see what my fellow Doristas are up to with their cheese soufflés.
We don’t post the recipes, but consider getting your own copy of the book, Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table.
Next week we’re making Cocoa Sables, an amazing cookie that even a non-chocoholic like me adores.
A Plateful of Happiness 