Cooking from Scratch
Tomorrow is Mardi Gras, and, for some reason, it’s on a Tuesday this year. We thought that everyone should celebrate Mardi Gras, regardless of the day. And what better way to celebrate than with a cake? Kings Cake, to be exact.
Last year we made Kings Cake with a recipe that we found at Allrecipes.com, and we thought it was really good, and fairly easy, so we figured, why mess with something that already turns out?
With that in mind: Laissez les bons temps rouler.
Ireland is one of our favorite places to visit. It is amazingly green and beautiful, and pictures don’t really do it justice. The first time we visited Ireland together, we rented a cottage in the west just outside of the small town of Corofin. One day we stopped and talked with the caretaker, Paddy, who explained that he was busy applying weed killer to the grass near the edge of the driveway. Yep, without weedkiller, that grass would have taken over the driveway in a few months. At the time, we knew people who just wished they could even get their grass to grow without bald spots, and be mostly green. Ah, the luck of the Irish. Continue reading “Irish Tea Brack”
Awhile back, we went looking for those chocolate wafers that are often used to make cheesecake or tart crusts. You know the ones; they’re made by a big company whose name begins with N and ends with O, as in — once we saw the price, we said “NO way are we paying this much for a small box of cookies we could make up in 30 minutes.” So we went home, and, with a quick search on the Internet, found a recipe on the Smitten Kitchen’s website. As expected, it turned out to be really easy to make these cookies, and they tasted even better than the store-bought version. Needless to say, we’ll make our chocolate wafers from now on.
Continue reading “Famous(ly expensive) Chocolate Wafers”
Life’s uncertain, post dessert first!
A lot of people won’t try to tackle chocolate mousse because it seems too difficult. Not you, of course, you’ve been champing at the bit to whip up a batch for dessert, and so we’ll provide the easiest recipe we know. It comes from Dorie Greenspan’s Around my French Table.
Continue reading “Chocolate Mousse”
In this and the next post, we’re going to make a great little treat that would be appropriate for those who have been nice: bear paws. But, making bear paws requires two steps and the first step is to make some scratched caramel.
“Oooo!”I hear you saying, “making candy is hard. You need all kinds of specialized equipment, it’s just so not worth it to make it at home. Besides, it takes forever, right?” Continue reading “Cream Caramels”
This particular recipe from Dorie Greenspan (Around my French Table) is way too good for the amount of effort required. It is really easy to put together — the most difficult part is separating the eggs — and it makes one of the best cheesecakes that we’ve ever had. Dreamy light, subtlety sweet, with a rich cheese flavor, this cake can easily stand on its own, but it would also be great with a raspberry coulis or a really good chocolate sauce. But for now, let’s go with plain.
Continue reading “Tourteau de chèvre”
Here’s a quick, easy recipe from Around my French Table by Dorie Greenspan. You’ll want to have one like this in your list of recipes-for-special-occasions. It makes a slightly sweet tart dough, which is perfect for her Tourteau de chèvre from the same book. You’ll see that recipe tomorrow. Don’t worry, this one has to chill overnight anyway.