FFwD: Hachis Parmentier

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Ok guys, we are entering the forth week of cooking from the new book by Dorie Greenspan - “Around my French Table”.  This is my third contribution, since I skipped last weeks choice, the Vietnamese Spicy Chicken Noodle Soup.

But, this week I could not resist, because mashed potatoes and meat, in this case chopped meat - are like a great marriage.  

In France this is the equivalent of the English Shepard pie. “Hachis”, which means a dish in which the ingredients are chopped or minced, come from the same root as the English word “hatchet”.  I did not use a hatchet of course, but I like the mental picture of it.  The rest of the dish is named after Antoine-Augustin Parmentier, a French pharmacist, nutritionist, and inventor who, in the late 18th century, was instrumental in the promotion of the potato as an edible crop.

Let’s all stand up right now and thank THAT MAN!

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GCC: Menu 2 - Ricotta and Arugula Roulade and Quindim

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And its week two of the Gutsy Cooks Club.  

Our inaugural week was such a success, not only in participation but the choosen recipes were a total hit with the club.  Most of us are putting them on the repeat list.  I was also happy to see most of us get “gutsy” with the recipes by changing things around and getting creative.

That is the spirit guys!

And here we are in week 2.  These choices were actually ones that got my attention when I first got the book and was browsing through it, because a savory roulade? Really? And if there is anything that I like more is changing sweet staples into a savory spin off.  This was perfect; I have done so many sweet rolls before, so I was looking forward to it.

The best part of it is that my mother’s birthday was Sunday and I cooked a whole lunch for her, and this fit right into the menu nicely.  I was not even trying to make it fit, but this tells you how good this would go with any type of menu.

The roulade was pretty easy to put together, in fact I was so surprise how easy it came together.  And the taste before it went into the oven to cook was good.  So I was all sorts of exited.

This was going to be good, I thought…

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FFwD: Gerard's Mustard Tart

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I love savory tarts.  While I have a bad affair with fruit tarts, not so with savory ones.  In fact, I like them all, tomato tarts, zucchinis, with eggs, with cheese, with ricotta, you name it - A total affair of the belly.

And if you do overlook the actual tart, they are healthy too! (let me believe it ok)

So, when I saw what Dorie had choose for us to cook in the second week of French Friday’s with Dorie, I was giddy with excitement, one because it was a tart, and two it had carrots and leeks!  And if there is anything I love more in the vegetable world, is leeks.

By the way, did you know that leeks were the national emblem of Wales?

The recipe calls to use a tart dough which needs to be partially baked ahead of time. I set out to space this out in two days - but, if you are lucky enough to work from home, you can probably get this done earlier in the day and the finish the whole thing in time to put this in your dinner table.  

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