Everyday Dorie: Roast Chicken with Pan-Sauce Vinaigrette

July 14, 2023 at 4:13 pm | Posted in cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, other savory, savory things | 1 Comment
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roast chicken with pan-sauce vinaigrette

Roast Chicken with Pan-Sauce Vinaigrette is another “chicken in a pot” dish where the chicken gets roasted in a covered Dutch oven, along with some aromatics and liquid (here, white wine). Cooking it this way makes a moist, but pale-skinned bird. No matter– you can brown the skin under the broiler a bit more at the end of cooking, like I did. The mellow garlic that was roasted along with the chicken and the flavorful pan juices are incorporated into a mustardy vinaigrette that makes an absolutely delicious sauce to serve with the chicken (although full disclosure: I used more drippings and less water than Dorie said and made my vin to taste, because I refuse to measure for things like that).

We are a family of just two, so my “big” Dutch oven is only 3.5 quarts. I brought home a small chicken to fit nicely in it, and I adjusted down the recipe’s roast time a bit to not cook the heck out of it. I could not bear to throw out the schmaltzy carrot slices that were roasted in the pot with the chicken, so I plated them, and some roasted broccolini, with the meat and vinaigrette. I don’t roast a whole chicken that often, but when I do, I’m always happy to have leftovers for a couple of days and bones for a small batch of homemade stock.

roast chicken with pan-sauce vinaigrette

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.

Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Cottage Peach and Strawberry Cobbler

July 11, 2023 at 9:32 pm | Posted in BWD, groups, pies & tarts, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 6 Comments
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cottage peach and strawberry cobbler

Of course I bake a pie every now and then, but in the summer when I buy too much fruit (if there even is such a thing) at the farmers’ market, what I really like to bake are cobblers, crisps and crumbles. So much easier than pie, IMO, and every bit as good, with whatever fruit you have in abundance. I took Dorie’s Cottage Berry Cobbler and, taking inspo from her “Playing Around” variation, swapped a combo of peaches and strawberries for the mixed berries. If you wonder what a “cottage cobbler” is, the cobbler biscuits here have cottage cheese in the mix…a sweeter take on the Cottage Cheese Biscuits we made last year. Diane pointed out a typo in the cobbler biscuit recipe, which I saw too late, so mine didn’t have quite the amount of flour they should have had. The cobbler was totally delicious anyway, but mine definitely looks like it came out of an old cottage kitchen oven…the biscuits didn’t hold the same modern, cool-looking and well-defined shape the photo in the book shows. There’s plenty of time left his summer to try again, though!

If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan yet, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!

Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Cheddar-Scallion Scones

June 27, 2023 at 11:17 am | Posted in biscuits/scones, breakfast things, BWD, groups, other savory, savory things, tuesdays with dorie | 2 Comments
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cheddar-scallion scones

I have a job through the summer testing recipes for a savory baking cookbook, and my freezer is stuffed with odds and ends of different breads, puff pastry hand pies and cheese muffins. You’d think maybe I wouldn’t have the appetite for one more savory breakfast treat (and you’d be mostly right), but these Cheddar-Scallion Scones looked to good to skip out on.

Cheddar cheese and a bit of paprika make these bake up beautiful golden. I egg washed my biscuits and decorated them with some extra scallion greens. I was annoyed to forget the mustard powder in the dough (what kind of lousy recipe tester am I?!), so I sprinkled a bit on top at the half-time baking rotation. This cheddar-scallion combo makes these good for not just a scrambled egg breakfast, but as a sidekick to any number of things…we had a couple with BBQ chicken the other night. I made six petite scones from a 1/3 batch, so I have a few added to my freezer stash of savory goodies, but I have a feeling they still won’t last very long.

If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!

Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Rhubarb-Bottom, Strawberry-Top Tart

June 13, 2023 at 7:13 pm | Posted in BWD, groups, pies & tarts, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 4 Comments
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rhubarb-bottom, strawberry-top tart

Right now is the right time, at least if you live around these parts, to be making this Rhubarb-Bottom, Strawberry-Top Tart. Dorie’s famous Sweet Tart Dough is the base of this springtime tart, with a layer of candied poached rhubarb hiding under a strawberry pastry cream. I halved a bunch more berries, tossed them in the rhubarb poaching liquid and let them land where they wanted to on top of the tart. I probably could have had triple the rhubarb going on in here, I love it so, but this was a delicious beauty.

If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan yet, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!

TWD BWD Rewind: Father’s Day Blueberry-Cherry Pie

May 30, 2023 at 5:12 pm | Posted in BWD, groups, pies & tarts, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 5 Comments
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father’s day blueberry-cherry pie

Well, I made this Father’s Day Blueberry-Cherry Pie last June, right on schedule with the TWD group, but then I didn’t feel like writing a post. Father’s Day is about to roll around again, so here she is. What I remember most about this pie was how much I loved the glaze on the top crust…that’s a good add to a double crust pie. Blueberry and cherry is a combo that’s hard to beat. I do think I added a little extra thickener to the mix. Pretty sure my dad would like a slice of this one.

If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan yet, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!

Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Smoked Salmon Roll-Up

May 23, 2023 at 2:55 pm | Posted in BWD, groups, other savory, savory things, tuesdays with dorie | 3 Comments
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smoked salmon roll-up

Cream cheese and lox on an everything bagel, but make it a cake? Ok, here’s your Smoked Salmon Roll-Up. I do have a bagel shop less than a block from my house, but this is a cool idea and a fun twist on a favorite combo. A thin sponge with everything bagel seasonings gets rolled around a spiral of cream cheese and smoked salmon with dill, capers, chives, scallion and plenty of lemon juice. Everything is salty and zippy.

I’m the only real smoked salmon lover in this house, so I scaled this down to a third of the recipe and baked the sponge in an 8-inch square cake pan. My roll-up is tiny, but cute. I had a little crack in the center of my cake, so I decided to do the cucumber garnish on top to cover it up (a roll-up cover-up). Looking at this photo, I wish I’d shaved my cuke on the mandolin to look like fish scales, instead of just hand-slicing them and having them sit a little funny. A fun and tasty bake, though!

If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it twice a month. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!

Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Curd, Cream and Berry Cake

May 9, 2023 at 1:37 pm | Posted in BWD, cakes & tortes, groups, layer cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 8 Comments
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curd, cream and berry cake

This Curd, Cream and Berry Cake is a showstopper…something to impress mom, and make tons of washing up! It’s kind of an update on the Victoria Sponge, and its many components include: a hot milk sponge cake split into two layers, mounds of mascarpone whipped cream, lemon curd, lemon soaking syrup and lots of fresh berries.

I don’t have much experience with making hot milk sponge, but it’s super light and nice and it cut in half beautifully, so I’m into it. The cream filling was supposed to be a mascarpone-meringue-whipped cream concoction, but I decided to skip the egg white meringue step, figuring it would hold up better without (and hadn’t I dirtied enough bowls already?). Mascarpone-whipped cream is my fave way enjoy whipped cream anyway and it stays pretty stable for a few days, too.

I really debated what to do about the lemon curd component for this. I made just a half size (6-inch) cake and, adjusting the recipe, would need just 2 tablespoons of curd for dotting around the berries. It didn’t seem like enough to really justify making or buying it. I thought about just using jam instead. Then I found a recipe for whole-egg lemon curd that looked quick and easy and wouldn’t leave me stuck with a bunch of whites. I made 1/3 of that to use one egg (and I strained it before I chilled it). I wound up with at least twice what I needed but decided to fold the excess into the middle layer of cream for an extra-lemony filling.

If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan yet, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!

Everyday Dorie: Hot or Cold Beet-Fennel Soup

April 28, 2023 at 6:48 pm | Posted in cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, savory things, soups | 2 Comments
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hot or cold beet-fennel soup

Wow, I had to really hunt around for this photo of Hot or Cold Beet-Fennel Soup. I made it a while back, and I thought that meant late fall of this past year. Turns out I made it in February 2021. Time continues to be a fast-moving blur. 

This is a puréed soup that begins with cooking down fennel and some other aromatics, moves along to simmering beets in stock, and ends with everything soft and whizzed up in the blender. You can serve this soup hot or chilled and garnished with whatever floats your boat (or floats on top of soup). I went chilled, with shaved fennel, crème fraîche, caviar and pink peppercorn. This was nice for lunch, and apparently it is still fresh in my mind, as I thought I made it just a few months ago, but I’ve made some heartier and more flavorful variations of beet borscht even more recently that I’ve liked better. 

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.

Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Cinnamon-Raisin Bread

April 25, 2023 at 10:30 pm | Posted in breakfast things, BWD, groups, sweet things, sweet yeast breads, tuesdays with dorie, yeast breads | 5 Comments
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cinnamon-raisin bread

For the past couple of years, I’ve been playing around with sourdough bread at home. While I enjoy the long process and the suspense of making naturally leavened bread, my results can still be a bit hit-or-miss. Baking a yeast bread, like this Cinnamon-Raisin Bread, every once in a while is kind of nice. I was able to mix this dough up in the morning, give it two quick rises and butter up a nice, thick, squishy slice for my after-lunch snack. Looking to boost the standard white bread flavor of the recipe a bit, I did replace a little of the AP flour with whole wheat (something like 75-100 grams worth) and added in a fat tablespoon of my sourdough discard. Although the black tea idea sounded nice, I soaked my raisins in a combo of hot water, more cinnamon and Combier.

I used my 9″ pullman pan here because I like its straight sides, but it’s a bit smaller than my regular 9″x5″ loaf pan, so this was a seriously high riser. (If I make it in the pullman again, I’ll probably scale the recipe back to 75% of the original.) Nervous that it might explode in the oven, or something like that, I scored the top of the loaf before buttering and cinnamon-sugaring it. My bread came out of the oven sporting a golden brown bouffant. I will definitely be having another slice with breakfast tomorrow, and I’m very much looking forward to it.

cinnamon-raisin bread

If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!

Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Mocha-Walnut Torte

April 11, 2023 at 7:40 pm | Posted in BWD, cakes & tortes, groups, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 7 Comments
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mocha walnut torte

A Mocha-Walnut Torte is the answer to the question of what to make for your GF friends, for Passover, for whenever you need a super-elegant yet super-easy dessert. This slim, flourless chocolate cake is made using the separated egg method, with meringued whites providing the bulk of the lift. A ground chocolate, walnut, coffee and spice mixture gives it flavor. I added a splash of nocino liqueur to the blend. Dorie gives the option of a ganache topping, which I viewed as mandatory, and a sprinkle of walnuts. Delicious cold, it kind of reminded me of a nutty candy bar.

If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan yet (you can also find the recipe here), get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!

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