Everyday Dorie: Lower East Side Brunch Tart
July 10, 2020 at 5:11 pm | Posted in breakfast things, cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, other savory, savory things | 8 CommentsTags: brunch, everyday dorie, savory, tart
Today’s Lower East Side Brunch Tart was made in tribute to our Cook the Book Fridays friend Ro of the blog Chez-Nana, who passed away last month. Nana and her daughter Tricia blogged Dorie’s recipes together for many years and many books, and I probably got to “know” them first through TWD…it was always fun to see the duo’s different takes and opinions on the same recipe. Nana rarely skipped a post and never failed to leave kind and encouraging comments for everyone. This savory tart– a delicious quiche-like take on bagels and lox, dressed with all the traditional garnishes– was one Nana nominated several times, and so our posts are dedicated to her this week.
Nana was a real New Yorker, born on Roosevelt Island and raised on Staten Island. I’m just a wanna-be, but I am going on my 25th year here, and I knew I had to do this tart right for her. I bought my smoked salmon and cream cream cheese at Russ & Daughters, the famous LES appetizing shop that Dorie references in her recipe intro. Their cream cheese is soft and divine, and they slice the salmon thin as tissue. In fact, not two seconds after I bit into this fabulous tart, I realized I should have photographed it with a wispy slice of the coral-colored salmon on the plate as well. My best ideas always come to me after the fact, but I’m pretty sure Nana would have left me a sweet comment here anyway!
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan (it’s also here), and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see all of our tributes to Nana this week.
TWD DC Rewind: Sesame-Sea Salt Cookies
June 30, 2020 at 10:21 am | Posted in cookies & bars, DC, groups, savory things, snacks, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 2 CommentsTags: cookies, savory
One year ago, the group made Sesame-Sea Salt Cookies. For some now-forgotten reason, I didn’t. I almost bypassed them now, too (just out of laziness), but I don’t want my list of skipped recipes to grow too long…when I realized I could have this dough done with a few quick zips in the food processor, I thought, “why not?”
Rather than roll out the dough and cut it into rounds, I scooped it into little balls, which I then flattened into pucks and popped into a greased muffin tin to chill before seeding and baking. I quite like this muffin tin method and since I only did one-third of the recipe, it wasn’t much effort for six cookies.
These do have a nice sweet and salty balance to them, and a delicate, buttery shortbread crumb. We had a few last night with white wine and sharp cheddar and I’ll probably do something similar with the rest tonight.
For the recipe, see Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of this week’s rewind on the TWD Blogroll!
Everyday Dorie: Summer Vegetable Tian
June 26, 2020 at 4:46 pm | Posted in cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, savory things, veggies | 3 CommentsTags: everyday dorie, savory, vegetables, vegetarian
My neighborhood greenmarket is rockin’ right now (in a very safe and socially distant way, of course), and it was easy to get everything I needed for this Summer Vegetable Tian. A tian is a lot like ratatouille, with layers of tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini and red onion soaking up garlic, thyme and EVOO. You bake the heck out this until the veggies collapse into squishy, olive oily goodness. Dorie says it’s borderline vegetable jam. And seriously, don’t skimp on the oil– just mop it up with a piece of nice bread.
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan (it’s also here), and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see all the tians the group made this week.
Everyday Dorie: Three-Pepper Burgers
June 12, 2020 at 12:01 am | Posted in cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, other savory, savory things | 6 CommentsTags: burger, burgers, everyday dorie, savory
I made these Three-Pepper Burgers for Memorial Day dinner, and boy, that seems like a long time ago now! I tweaked the recipe to make them into turkey burgers (meaning I used ground turkey and a spoonful of bread crumbs to help bind it), since I don’t eat beef. The meat is mixed up with herbs, cheese and, of course, three types of peppers— roasted, pickled and spicy. I didn’t have any hamburger buns and I didn’t really feel like buying any…with only two of us, a bag of buns winds up taking space in the freezer forever. I did have some mini pitas on hand that were actually the perfect size to hold a burger. And since they are a little lighter than a regular bun, I could eat more sweet potato fries!
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan (it’s also here), and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see all the burgers the group made this week.
Everyday Dorie: Ponzu Chicken
May 22, 2020 at 12:01 am | Posted in cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, savory things | 7 CommentsTags: chicken, everyday dorie, savory
I should call this particular Ponzu Chicken the “pandemic pantry version.” I made a few fiddley-dos to get this dish on the table for dinner, but I don’t think they strayed too far from the original. Ponzu sauce is the star of a spicy marinade that flavors chicken breasts. I had neither ponzu nor chicken breasts. Hmmm…I did have boneless, skinless chicken thighs (which I prefer anyway) and I know how to concoct a faux ponzu from tamari, mirin, and mixed citrus juice. I went with it and marinated my thighs for for several hours before cooking them up in my cast iron pan. I gave the thighs a bit more time than breasts would have taken, and made sure they were cooked through by checking their internal temp. I poured the leftover marinade straight over the thighs in the pan (rather then transfer them to a plate) near the end of the cook time, and basted the meat with it as it came to a boil and reduced down to a sticky glaze. I had some leftover veggies from Chinese take-out the night before and some fresh ramen noodles in the fridge to serve with it…a yummy hodgepodge.
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see what else the group made this week. Next time, we’ll go back to making the same recipe as a group.
Everyday Dorie: Western Frittata
May 8, 2020 at 4:22 pm | Posted in breakfast things, cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, other savory, savory things | 9 CommentsTags: breakfast, eggs, everyday dorie, savory
I have made many versions of this Western Frittata since getting the book Everyday Dorie— most of them were not even very Western. I also have many photos of the many versions and I don’t even exactly remember what I put in them. I think this particular one is probably more of an Italian Frittata…looks like I used sun-dried tomatoes, red peppers and pesto. I can’t be sure because there are so many things you can do with a frittata. It’s a lot like the Ginger Fried Rice we made, in that it’s a fridge-raiding, use what you have, get rid of bits and bobs kinda thing. It’s perfect for what’s going down right now, and I mix it up on the regular now that I’m making breakfast for two every.single.morning.
I have a small cast iron pan, so I do roughly a half-recipe of Dorie’s frittata, except instead of four eggs I only use three because I prefer them a little thinner and they cook a little quicker.
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to what everyone made this week.
Tuesdays with Dorie DC: Cocktail Puffs
May 5, 2020 at 8:11 pm | Posted in DC, groups, savory things, snacks, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 4 CommentsTags: baking, cookies, savory, snacks
In addition to my daily afternoon tea time, I have daily pre-dinner apéro time. That sounds fancier than it is– last night we had popcorn– but the point is that I’m on the look out for some good savory snacks. Cocktail Puffs are in the “cocktail cookies” section of the book and, filled with anything from olive tapenade (my choice) to pesto to cheese, they sounded promising with a half-glass of wine.
The full recipe makes 50 puffs. Even if NYC is quarantined through summer, I don’t know if I can deal with that many! I need some snack variety, so I made just a quarter recipe. The dough is a snap to do in the food processor, and a combo of cold yogurt and butter, plus one fold of the dough, makes it flaky. It’s also soft and requires a lengthy chill time. I know my focus is not the sharpest these days, but I had to read the instructions like 5 times to figure out how the heck to form the puffs. There was a lengthy description of measurements and the cutting of strips, and, as a visual learner, I wished for an illustration. But I think I got it in the end and I was totes ready for a cocktail after that.
When I pulled my puffs out of the oven, I dusted them with a little paprika. I liked them…they were flaky and savory…but I would have liked them a little bigger. They were thimble sized, and I wish they had been double that to get more puff and filling. Also, I couldn’t help but think that they’d work just as well with bought puff pastry. On the flip side, it probably means this dough would be good used in other ways, too, so maybe I’ll give that some thought.
For the recipe, see Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and please join us anytime!
Everyday Dorie: Lettuce Soup
April 10, 2020 at 11:30 am | Posted in cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, savory things, soups, veggies | 10 CommentsTags: everyday dorie, savory, soup
This month for Cook the Book Fridays we’re using what we have and making anything we’d like/are able to from Everyday Dorie. I do my absolute best even in “normal” times to not throw out food and, at one point many months ago, had made mental note of a recipe for Lettuce Soup in the book. I thought it would be a good way to repurpose some limp leaves if need be. Fast forward to now and, with limited trips to the grocery store, I bought a three-pack of romaine hearts. By the time I got down to the last of the three, it looked more ready for lettuce soup than for salad!
I did have to make a few “use what ya have” mods to my batch of soup. The recipe uses three types of onion: regular, shallot and scallion. I just went with a bit more yellow onion in the base and cut up some chives to garnish it before serving. I could tell, given the ingredient list, that this would be a thin soup, one that my husband would not have found substantial enough for dinner. I had one lonely medium-size potato on the counter so I diced it and added it to the pot when the broth went in to simmer. The cooked potato acted as a thickener when I blended the final soup later. Dorie also calls for two types of lettuce…I had the romaine, but not the butter lettuce. I did have a little spinach, though, and I threw in just a handful, which had the added benefit of boosting the green color.
A little goat cheese, some garlic oil and those chives dressed up my lettuce soup, along with tapenade toasts on the side. It was a good dinner and a satisfying way to use things that needed using. For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see what everyone else made this week.
Tuesdays with Dorie DC: Garam Grahams
March 17, 2020 at 10:29 am | Posted in cookies & bars, DC, groups, savory things, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 7 CommentsTags: baking, cookies
Boy– a lot has happened in a week! The restaurant I cook for in the now-ghost town of NYC is closed, and while my job is 86’d for the time being, I am thankful to be healthy and will try to put my self-isolated energy into some long-neglected household organization projects, as well as some more fun cooking and baking stuff. I’ll start here….with cinnamon and honey and earthy notes of cumin and coriander, these Garam Grahams ride the line between sweet and savory and are in the “cocktail cookies” section of the book. Like the last time we made graham crackers, these are speedily whizzed together in the food processor. Unlike the last time we made them, though these have garam masala and black pepper for a funky Indian-ish twist. Sounds weird, but tastes good.
They’re finished off with a dusting of sugar, salt and pepper before going into the oven. I don’t know if you can really tell from the photo, but I used a coarse gold sanding sugar to give them a bit of Bollywood sparkle. I think they go as well with wine or beer as they do with a cup of chai or coffee…whichever best helps calm anxious nerves.
For the recipe, see Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and please join us anytime!
Everyday Dorie: Ginger Fried Rice
March 13, 2020 at 4:03 pm | Posted in cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, other savory, savory things, veggies | 7 CommentsTags: everyday dorie, savory
This Ginger Fried Rice is a quick and tasty homemade version of a favorite take-out treat. In fact it’s better, because it’s fresher, less greasy and has more veggies. If you have some leftover cooked rice, this is a great way to use it up, along with those stray bits of this and that you might like to clear out of the icebox. Dorie says it’s a good recipe for fridge-raiders, a group I normally belong to, although in this particular case I did need to go out and get some stuff.
I went with Dorie’s suggestions for onions, garlic, baby bok choy and shrimp. I took a total cheat on the cabbage and carrots and bought a bag of coleslaw mix, which contained both and saved me the step of having to thinly slice them. Egg is a must in my fried rice (in fact if I order it out, I usually ask for extra egg), so I pre-scrambled a couple of them before getting along with the rest or the stir fry.
There’s a kick of fresh grated ginger, of course, to flavor the dish, but also a sweet and spicy sauce of ponzu, gochujang and honey. I don’t have any poznu in the fridge, but I do have soy and bottled yuzu juice, so I used a mix of that. I actually have to admit that I never measure anything for a sauce like this. I just get the general idea and then add the ingredients to taste. My taste buds told me this needed some sesame oil, so I added that to my sauce, too.
This is one I’ll make over and over again. For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see how the group liked this one.
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