FFwD: Crab and Grapefruit Salad

This one was pretty short and sweet; crab, veggies, grapefruit, herbs and a little extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice.  Toss it all together and viola, lunch!

Nice and fresh,  you could really taste all the ingredients because there wasn't much of a dressing.  The recipe said to dry the grapefruit in paper towel for several hours, key to keeping your salad from getting soggy.  Next time, I'd probably leave out the mint.  I like mint, but not really in my food.

FFwD: Cocoa Sables

I gave up chocolate and desserts for Lent, so this one was a hard one to make.  I had to make it quickly and get it in the fridge fast, to keep my fingers out of the dough.  Instead of adding chopped chocolate to the batter, I added mini chocolate chips.  Since this is a dough that you can freeze, I baked just enough for the kiddos and hid my stash in the freezer.  Can't wait to try them myself, but the little ones enjoyed them for dessert.

Happy Friday!

TWD: Irish Soda Bread

fSince the recipe said this was not going to be a bread to keep very long, I thought it would make a perfect rainy day kid activity.

My little baking assistants vetoed any raisins, currents or any other dried fruit.  They did decide on some food coloring to make it more festive ;)

It doesn't get much easier than this, throw all the ingredients in the bowl, mix, shape and bake!  Not sure why one loaf rose more than the other, maybe because I helped my son measure his flour and let my daughter fly solo?  It was nice with a little butter and strawberry jam, but it did turn to stone quite quickly.

This weeks Tuesday's with Dorie recipe was selected by Cathy at My Culinary Mission and Carla at Chocolate Moosey.

FFwD: cheese souffle

I've baked sweet souffles, using Julia Childs, Mastering the Art of French Cooking cookbook.  For this recipe, I referred to MAofFC on how to handle the egg whites because I know that's the key and I can never remember exactly what to do.  The eggs should be room temperature and after they've increased in volume, you add a 1/4 t. cream of tartar and a pinch of salt.  She also says to add the egg yolks to the bechamel sauce while it's hot, so I did that too.

I knew this might not be a hit with my kids, so I took back up quesadilla orders for them.  My husbands on a total health kick (he's turning 40 this year, need I say more) and was worried about all the calories he was going to consume.  Now, I had already hid the whole milk carton and evidence of all the cheese lurking in my sauce :)  After moaning about how unhealthy it was going to be, he had 3 portions! 

Final verdict, kids thought it tasted like scrambled eggs, husband prefers a souffle he can add Grand Marnier too.  I thought it needed some fresh herbs and maybe bacon, because it did sort of remind me of breakfast.  

FFwD: saint-germain-des-pres onion biscuits

I love biscuits and being from the South, I could quit happily have eaten these with some cream gravy and nothing else.  But, being a good Mom and wife I thought I should put together something a little more substantial for dinner :)

I remembered a Barefoot Contessa recipe for a Chicken Stew with Biscuits in her Family Style cookbook.  Substituted Dories onion biscuits for Ina's... complete meal!

One of my favorite dishes my Grandma made was chicken & dumplings, husband doesn't like dumplings so I never make it.  I've found my solution, chicken & biscuits!  Since I baked mine in my chicken stew I'll have to rely on all the other Dorie bloggers to see what the texture was like baked on a sheet pan.  In the stew, they were perfect, soft, full of flavor and totally reminded me of good old-fashioned chicken & dumplings.

Happy Friday!

TWD: Rugelach

I made this a week early, wrote the post, couldn't figure out how to set the date to post in the future, so here's my late rugelach homework.

This was a totally new one for me.  I've never made or eaten Rugelach, so I had no idea what this one was going to taste like?  Definitely more of a pastry than a cookie.  I used walnuts, hazelnuts, dates, apricots and dried cranberries for the filling.  The dough was very easy to make, I even used light cream cheese and it worked out fine.

I loved the apricot spread with almonds and wish I had made more to use on toast.  Maybe I'll make more with my leftover dried apricots :)

I really enjoyed these and think you could really play around with different fillings.  I'm thinking... a pumpkin puree in place of the apricot spread, maybe mix walnuts & pecans and for the fruit filling - dried cranberries or raisins and chocolate chips.  Not sure if it would still be considered Rugelach, but I think it would be delicious with all the cinnamon sugar.

This week's recipe was hosted by Margaret and Jessica.  You can check out the recipe on their blogs.

FFwD: Roasted Salmon with Lentils

Always nice to follow up a flop recipe with a success ;)  I make salmon probably once a week because it's so quick and easy.  I've never used lentils as a side dish (only in soups) and was pleasantly surprised with the result.  The lentils really gave the salmon a nice warm, earthy flavor.  This one is a keeper!

What a short post, hope everyone else enjoyed this weeks recipe!

Happy Friday!