Fish-Free Salad Niçoise, a recipe in River Cottage Veg, written by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
This week we celebrated the autumnal equinox in the northern hemisphere. Folks, it’s fall. I’ve never picked a favorite season. Love them all…….Retreat (winter), Rebirth (spring), Relax (summer) and Regroup (fall). Autumn, to me, is about lists, to-dos, projects, planning and catch-ups. Simply put, it’s getting your ducks-in-a-row.
Today I’m posting three ya-gotta-try recipes from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Veg cookbook. I’m a bit tardy because my Cottage Cooking Club colleagues chose these recipes for August and September. Missed the August deadline but in under the wire for September. Here’s a bonanza, a trifecta of delicious menu suggestions. Since these recipes are already published on the Internet, I can share them with you.
Duck eggs are larger than those laid by chickens. Their shells are various pastel colors.
I’m a fan. Just love Salad Niçoise. That’s why this salad, Fish-Free Salad Niçoise, works. No matter what’s on the menu, you can still enjoy its flavor but without the tuna and anchovies. What might be blasphemy to the French is still darn spectacular and was the perfect foil to roasted shrimp. Last week I traded Sunday supper for technical assistance from my computer guru, Zoe Zuker. One might say, shrimp, this salad, crusty herb-buttered bread and a bottle of Peachy Canyon’s Zinfandel solved all my technical glitches.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I will now admit to using duck eggs in this salad. Since discovering the gorgeous eggs at our farmers market this summer, I’ve become a fan. No, no, no, these beauties are not from your run-of-the-mill Mallards but rather from domesticated Pekin and Welsh Harlequin Ducks. I didn’t know if Zoe would be squeamish about this so I didn’t dish about the ducks. Since my computer is now humming along, I am baring my soul.
Hard-boiled Duck Eggs
Fish-Free Salad Niçoise
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 pound new potatoes
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
7 ounces green beans, cut into roughly 1-inch lengths
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 or 3 Little Gem or similar lettuces
A handful of small Niçoise olives (Cailletier)
About 12 large basil leaves, torn (or use small ones whole)
Dressing:
1/2 small garlic clove, crushed with a little coarse sea salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
A pinch of sugar Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1. You can cook small new potatoes whole, but cut larger ones in half or smaller so the pieces are all roughly the same size. Put the potatoes in a saucepan, cover with cold water, add salt, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 8 to 12 minutes until tender, adding the beans for the last 4 minutes of cooking. Drain, tip into a bowl, and leave to cool.
2. To cook the eggs, bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Add the eggs, return to a simmer, then cook for 7 minutes. Remove the eggs from the pan, lightly crack the shells, and run the eggs under cold water for a minute or two to stop the cooking. Leave to cool, then peel and quarter the eggs.
3.To make the dressing, put the garlic, oil, vinegar, mustard, and sugar into a screw-top jar, season with salt and pepper, and shake until emulsified.
4. Halve, quarter, or thickly slice the cooked potatoes. Put them back with the beans, add some of the dressing, and toss together gently.
5. Separate the lettuce leaves and gently toss in a bowl with a little of the dressing. Arrange the lettuce, potatoes, and beans on a serving platter and distribute the olives and eggs over the salad. Scatter with the torn basil, trickle over the remaining dressing, and grind over some pepper. Serve.
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Pasta with Fennel, Arugula and Lemon
If you delight in the faint flavoring of licorice, you’ll love Hugh’s unique Pasta with Fennel, Arugula and Lemon. Quickly thrown together, it’s easily made and even more easily enjoyed.
This ribboned pasta was glorious. Buy the best-quality pasta you can find.
Mix together the sliced fennel and sliced garlic and sauté for ten minutes.
Pasta with Fennel, Arugula and Lemon
Serves 2
Ingredients:
1 large fennel bulb
1 tablespoon canola or olive oil
1 garlic clove, slivered
5 ounces pappardelle, or other pasta
2 or 3 good handfuls of arugula
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons crème fraîche
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Parmesan, hard goat cheese, or other well-flavored hard cheese.
1. Put a large saucepan of well-salted water on to boil so that you’re ready to cook the pasta while the sauce is coming together.
2. Trim the fennel, removing the tougher outer layer or two, then slice thinly. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and fennel and sauté gently for about 10 minutes, until the fennel is tender.When the fennel is almost cooked, add the pasta to the pan of boiling water and cook until al dente.
Add the arugula to the fennel and stir until wilted, then add the lemon zest and crème fraîche. Stir well until the crème fraîche coats all the vegetables, then add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Drain the pasta well, toss with the fennel mixture, and serve right away, with grated cheese.
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White Beans with Artichokes
What is best about my last recipe, White Beans with Artichokes, is that I always have these ingredients on hand. This could be lunch, a side for dinner, a filling and nutritious snack or a tasty addition to a buffet table or potluck gathering. Link to the recipe here.
Mise En Place – Here’s what you need for this recipe.
Heating the garlic, artichokes and, eventually, the beans.
The Country Cottage Club is am international group which is cooking it’s way through Hugh Fearnlet-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Veg cookbook. To see more of Hugh’s recipes, link to his Pinterest page here. If you are interested in joining our adventure, go here.
Pear and Almond Cream Tart, my French Fridays recipe choice this week.
In early June, while shopping at our local Farmers Market, I spotted my friend, Judy Wrigley, walking towards me. Following the Hi’s, How are yous, she got down to business. “Mary,” she asked, “can you help me bake a paté sucrée? Show me how to do it right?”
Just to be clear, Judy is no slouch in the kitchen. Last December, at a holiday dinner party I attended, she served a Bûche de Noël with Marzipan Mushrooms as a finale to her spectacular homemade meal. However, being of sweet tooth rather than sound mind, I agreed. Whether a caveat or just hedging my bets, I suggested it be a collaboration. We decided to wait until Fall and cooler weather for our pastry project.
As a reminder, a Paté Sucrée Tutorial: “Leave it to the French to create a pastry dough specifically for tarts,” explains Renee Schettler Rossi, editor of Leite’sCulinaria. “Although it isn’t nearly as ridiculous as it may sound when you consider that pastry for a tart must be sufficiently sturdy to support itself—and whatever luscious filling you’ve decided to heap upon it—after the tin has been removed. It took quite a lot of egg yolks and sugar to create a solution, but the result, known as pâté sucrée, was worth it. It’s more tender and chewy than flaky and crispy,”
It’s all about the sweet pastry dough which is easily made in a food processor.
First on the schedule, Judy makes paté sucrée.
Pastry Overload. We made and refrigerated six sweet pastry dough disks
Remembering I had missed the French Fridays week when my colleagues made a Poached Pear and Almond Tart, this would be a perfect make-up opportunity. Judy’s request became reality last Wednesday at 9am when I drove over to her house in Mountain Valley. Earlier in the week we worked out our schedule, timing, necessary ingredients and equipment list.
Because paté sucrée needs to be refrigerated at least 1 or 2 hours, the day before I made three different versions of the sweet pastry dough using recipes from Dorie, Leite’s Culinaria and Bon Appetit. (You can link to each recipe.) I also mixed together Dorie’s knock-em-dead Almond Pastry Cream. (If all else failed, we could take 2 spoons and just devour Dorie’s divine bowl of cream.)
Judy wanted to make a strawberry tart with mascarpone pastry cream. Shortly after I arrived she put together her pastry dough and stuck it in the freezer. Together we had six paté sucrée disks (and, enough pans) for our play day. For fillings we wanted to try almond and mascarpone pastry creams, lemon curd and various jams, all topped with fresh fruit.
After filling the unbaked tart shell with almond cream, I placed sliced canned pears on top.
Carefully.
Strawberry-topped Tart with cooked Mascarpone Cream
We were most satisfied with our beautiful and delicious Pear and Almond Tart. While freshly poached pears are more desirable for this tart, Dorie admits French cooks often use canned.pear halves. Although I tried all three pastry recipes, what worked best for me, the most manageable, was Leite’s Culinaria. Judy preferred the Bon Appetit recipe. Most of my colleagues swear by Dorie’s sweet tart pastry.
So many pans. So much dough.
Some tips from our baking day:
1) Be organized and prepared for disappointments or disasters. We practiced rolling out the dough, over and over, tossing two attempts.
2) For the pear tart, use canned pears. Dorie’s correct, there is little
difference.
3) I would not cook the mascarpone pastry cream as we chose to do. Just fill a pre-baked tart with Dorie’s no-fail Cream Cheese Pastry Cream (or, your favorite mascarpone pastry cream) and top with any fresh fruit.
Dorie’s Cream Cheese Pastry Cream
For the filling:
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
⅓ cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
¾ cup cold heavy cream
Put the room temperature cream cheese in a large bowl and sift the powdered sugar over it. With a sturdy rubber spatula or sturdy whisk, stir everything together. Add the vanilla and continue to stir. In a separate large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream until it holds firm peaks. Stir about a quarter of the whipped cream into the cream cheese ( You don’t have to be toooo gentle. This is more about getting the textures of the cream cheese and whipped cream similar to each other.) Gently fold in the rest of the whipped cream in 2 or 3 additions (This time, be ginger, as not to deflate the whipped cream.)
Our favorite. The star of the show.
Although every week I cook virtually with my French Fridays colleagues, this was tartful reality and a successful learning adventure. Why not take your cooking show on the road, sharing your skills, friendship and flour.
The question is….. should I kick off this post with The End? Or, do I stir things up and toss the lentilles du Puy in the pot. Better yet, chicken joke, anyone?
Q:What did the bad chicken lay? A:A deviled egg
C’mon, follow me, let’s see where my words need to wander?
French Lentils, this week’s French Friday’s recipe choice. Dorie finally spills the beans on her delish adaptions.
I’m hooked on a Barbara Kingsolver quote from Animal Dreams: “The very least you can do in your life is figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof.”
For two years, since Michael died, my hope has been to find that roof of contentment and mindfulness and hang out under it. I needed to enjoy being Me again, making every day an adventure. Thankfully, I’d already built a structure, a framework for my future. I only questioned if I could close the sale.
Celebrating Summer’s End at Betsy’s Last Night for Whites pre-Labor Day dinner party. Carl Schiller Photo
Joyfully, it’s been a wildly successful summer for me. The same cannot be said for our World. I’ve consciously decided this blog will not deal with the world’s injustices. Those problems cannot be solved here. I’ll continue to tell stories, make you laugh (admit it, my posts are smilers). I’ll try to inspire you with ideas, suggestions and hopes. Then, there’s the food. Almost 200 posts later, is my cooking improving?
Chicken, Peppers, Onions and Peas are tossed together in a spicy curry seasoning. Note the yellow coloring of the sliced chicken pieces. To my thinking, the spicier, the tastier.
Let’s first talk about Curried Chicken, Peppers, and Peas en Papillote. (Here’s the recipe.) Whether a newbie or pro, this is dinner party fare. En Papillote means in paper. That’s how you cook this spicy chicken and veggie medley, in a pouch of foil or parchment. This takes 10 minutes to assemble and 20 minutes to bake before being whisked to the table for its Voila! moment. Each guest opens his own poultry pouch. I suggest you crank up the spice by doubling the curry powder or adding Aleppo Pepper or Cayenne.
Four poultry pouches, ready for the oven.
Freed from its pouch of foil, this curried chicken with peppers, sliced onions and peas looks good enough to eat.
I served French Lentils, this week’s recipe choice, with the curried chicken. All lentils are not born alike. Brown lentils are soft, turn mushy and best for soups. Use the more colorful lentils in purees and Indian cooking. For this recipe you want dark green lentilles du Puy.
Be sure to buy the beautiful and special lentilles du Puy
These babies remain firm when cooked, are nutty in flavor, taste delicious as a side dish (serve warm) or salad (room temperature). Your local grocery store probably carries them. Don’t settle for less. Here’s the recipe. If serving lentils hot from the pot, drizzle olive, hazelnut or walnut oil and a splash of lemon juice on top. Or, if you have a favorite vinaigrette, use that instead. Always dress lentils while hot so they can absorb the seasoning.
Our end-of-summer hike last week-end to Lake Hope, an alpine lake in the San Juan Mountain Range near Telluride. Tag Liebel Photo
Last year an exasperated friend suggested to me that Life cannot be perfect. Although he’s right, of course, there’s nothing in my DNA that allows that thinking. This summer I finally managed to complete My Version of Perfect. (Long may it last!). I believe anyone can flourish in the landscape where they’re planted just by dovetailing their passions into the Life they’ve been dealt. That combo makes magic.
One of our majestic resident moose at the just-as-majestic Maroon Bells. USFS Photo
Although every day has been memorable, with adventures I’ve often shared in this blog, here are two more moments:
Most Bizarre Memory – When I’m not doing a Ranger patrol, I often hike up Smuggler Mountain, a short, in-town “bit of a huff” and good exercise. One morning I was hiking down, closely followed by a fifties-something couple. During those 30-minutes, oblivious to my presence, they had a serious (and, loud) conversation, discussing where to buy Weed (Pot) locally, the various choices available, price comparisons and preferences of friends. (I knew those friends.) Not good hiking form, that’s for sure, but very entertaining.
2) Funny & Heartwarming Memories – On a recent Saturday, I rangered the Crater Lake Trail at Maroon Bells. During my patrol I encountered 451 hikers (we carry counters), answering many questions. These were two:
“Ranger, hey, do you carry Nitroglycerin?” a hiker yells, as he approaches me.
Be still my heart.
Further up the mountain, I spot his friend, slumped on a rock, holding his head in his hands. I’m now thinking that even if that guy doesn’t have a heart attack, I might! In the end, after TLC and water, the hiker survived without needing the Nitroglycerin tablet that I did not have.
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Later, as I was hiking down from Crater Lake, I spotted two boys, with their Dad, hiking toward me. The first young man, about 10, totally stopped in the middle of the trail. I couldn’t pass him.
“You ever hike those?” he asked seriously, pointing with his thumb to the mountains behind me.
“What?” I asked.
“The Bells,” he replied.
“No,” I said, shaking my head. (Egads, the peaks of the Bells are over 14,000’.)
He thought about this for a few seconds. “Too dangerous, huh?”
I nodded in agreement. Too dangerous. He hiked on, followed closely by his brother. As his Dad walked by, I muttered, “Your son has made my day, just by thinking I could.”
According to the Colorado Mycological Society there are 200 varieties of mushrooms growing in our Valley’s high-alpine climate and 800 statewide. In the Aspen area, the most prized edible fungi are Porcini (King Bolete), Chanterelles, Oysters and Morels. Although I have taken mushroom courses and have also foraged for them, my mantra has always been, “When in doubt, throw it out.”
In truth, most mushrooms I gather never cross my lips.
This week’s French Friday’s recipe, Chanterelles with Napa Cabbage and Nuts, was a perfect menu choice right now. Luckily, I was able to find some thin-stemmed, fan-shaped golden beauties.
Mise en Place
Napa Cabbage – You will notice later that I used three times the amount Dorie specified in her recipe.
First, however, let me introduce you to this nine-pound, nine-inch Western Giant Puffball.
Western Giant Puffball – an enormous mushroom
My friend, Donna Chase, called me last week with the exciting news that she had acquired a huge puffball. “When I was at the grocery store,” she said, “this guy had found it and asked if I wanted it.”
“Did you know him?” I wondered.
“Well, no,” she answered. “And, it smells. Steve [her husband] told me not to bring it in the house.”
“Where is it?” I asked.
“In the house,” she replied.
“If I can’t find chanterelles,” I told her, “I can always make Puffball with Napa Cabbage and Nuts.”
The next morning, another friend and I showed up at Chases for a puffball viewing. I was given the honor of slicing it open. If the interior was white, it’s considered edible. If it’s green-brown with a putrid odor, I’d be forced to continue hunting for chanterelles. These photos provide the verdict.
I eventually did find chanterelles at my grocery-of-last-resort, The Butcher Block. The Block is a great meat/gourmet market but très cher. The mushrooms cost, Gulp! Gulp!, $39.50 a pound. I was hosting a luncheon meeting during the week so this dish would be a unique appetizer. Very appropriate, in fact, since my luncheon colleagues were both terrific cooks and local Naturalists. They know their mushrooms. A bad one in the basket? They’d spot it.
Marcia Johnson, Executive Director of the Forest Conservancy, trims stems off the chanterelles.
On Wednesday, the three of us hunkered down around the cookbook and read the recipe carefully. Since this is a last minute, quickly concocted dish, we divided the chores: slicing, dicing, shredding. It is exactly nine minutes from the moment EVOO warms in the pan to when the mixture is plated. All hands on deck for the dash to the table.
My friend and fellow chef, Donna Grauer, minces the shallot.
The Accolades:“Earthy. Rocky Mountain Foie Gras. Sublime. Rich. A Little Dab Will Do Ya.”
Shallots and chanterelles, nicely coated with olive oil and on the fire.
Chanterelles with Napa Cabbage & Nuts is a stand-up/clap-your-hands appetizer. Donna’s warm baguette with herb butter was perfect for sopping up the juices. Dorie suggests serving this also as a side to a meat dish or with an herb salad for lunch. To my mind, this very special chanterelle mixture should bask in its own spotlight, sharing the stage with no one.
The complete recipe is here. My additional tips are:
1. I would add 1 cup of shredded Napa cabbage instead of the 1/3 cup suggested by Dorie.
2. Since the chanterelle blend is very rich, a 1/2 to 3/4 cup serving is sufficient.
3. Have all your preparations completed and ingredients ready before pouring your first tablespoon of oil into the skillet.
Enjoy.
Whoops! No photographs of the plated chanterelles – don’t they both look smug?
Read about my colleagues’ foraging skills on our French Fridays link right here. As I mention each week, we are an international cooking group having a wonderful time working our way through Dorie Greenspan’s Around my French Table.
During the three years of cooking-the-book, Around My French Table, I’ve been forced into the grain business. We corn-fed Iowa girls know a thing or two about grains. Yes, corn is a grain. The Quaker Oats factory in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, near my home town, is still the biggest cereal mill in the world. Our neighboring states, Kansas and North Dakota, are considered the Wheat Belt to Iowa’s Corn Belt. And, in Manchester, even as kids, we had a slight understanding of the soft Commodities Market.
Mise en Place, the ingredients needed for the salad
Dorie, however, has forced me to keep ingredients such as barley, bulgar, farro, quinoa and wheat berries in the pantry next to my rice bags and Quaker Oats box. While I’m no stranger to couscous, it’s not a grain I use often. This week’s French Friday’s recipe, Dorie’s Couscous Salad, reminded me again that salads do not always have to include lettuce.
The broth, the spices, dried fruit and couscous – ready to blend together
Couscous is a staple in North African cuisine. Geographically, think of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco, former French protectorates. It’s their day-to-day spices, a combo of ginger, turmeric, cinnamon and cumin, that make this salad so special. The couscous is cooked in spice-laden chicken or vegetable broth but once it’s cooked, the fruit and vegetable choices are yours. What’s in your fridge or fruit bowl today? Couscous salad is calling. If made a day ahead, cover tightly and refrigerate.
I raised the lid to say, hello. Still cooking.
Since Dorie’s recipe is already in cyberspace, I am printing it below. Here are my additional tips:
1.This recipe makes beaucoup de couscous, ten healthy portions. Besides my lunch, I fed the entire front office staff. (That’s why they love me.)
2. I needed more chicken broth while cooking the couscous. Make extra dressing for taste if served immediately and, definitely, if you’re refrigerating overnight.
3. I substituted dried, tart Montmorency cherries for the raisins and omitted the cilantro. The toasted chopped almonds are a crunchy touch.
Served with a smashed avocado and feta cheese sandwich on whole wheat toast, this was a delicious and filling lunch.
Quite a lunch – Couscous Salad and Stuff-on-Toast
Couscous Salad, Dorie Greenspan,Around My French Table
Ingredients:
2 cups chicken broth
2 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt
1 T ground ginger
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cumin
1 10-oz box quick-cooking couscous (or 8 0z of larger couscous and let it sit about 20 minutes to cook)
1/2 cup raisins (dark or golden)
1 small cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, an cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 red pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 carrot, trimmed, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and thinly sliced
1 cup thinly sliced sugar snap peas
1 can chickpeas, drained, rinsed, and patted dry
zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup toasted chopped almonds
Preparation:
Bring the broth, 1 T olive oil, garlic, 1 tsp salt and other spices to a boil in a medium saucepan. Whisk the broth just to make sure the spices have dissolved, then stir in the couscous and turn off the heat. Scatter the raisins over the couscous, cover the pan and let sit for 10 minutes.
Fluff the couscous with a fork and turn into a large bowl. Stir in the vegetables, chickpeas, and lemon zest.
Combine the lemon juice, another tsp of salt, and the remaining 1 T olive oil, whisk. Pour over the couscous and toss well. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Set aside to cool. Add cilantro and almonds at serving time.
Member of the Clean Plate Club
If you would like to know more about grains, here’s the Whole Grains Council website. Besides Dorie’s interesting grain recipes, Deborah Madison also includes unique dishes in her Vegetable Literacy cookbook. Find my colleagues’ take on couscous on our French Fridays link. As I mention each week, we are an international cooking group having a wonderful time working our way through Dorie Greenspan’s Around my French Table.
Roasted Peppers, this week’s FFWD recipe, are a versatile, delicious and healthy veg,
This week’s French Friday’s with Dorie recipe choice is Roasted Peppers. In the spirit of full disclosure, I will admit I’d never roasted peppers before. That’s why I am able to promise that these are the most delicious peppers I’ve ever roasted. Like many of you, I get my roasted peppers from a jar and always have one jar in the fridge with two unopened jars as back-up in the pantry.
Before the fire…..
After roasting my own peppers, adding fresh herbs, garlic cloves and salt/pepper, I promise you this. Jarred roasted peppers will never grace my kitchen again. The technique and process are fun. Granted, it takes time, is messy and heats up your kitchen. I cranked up my oven to 500 degrees F rather than the 425 degrees F suggested by Dorie. (Instead of the oven, in hot weather, use your grill.)
Ready to roast in my 500 degrees F oven
But the rewards are many and plentiful, adding flavor, color and depth to a myriad of dishes. “In France, roasted red peppers slicked with olive oil, sometimes scattered with garlic, and often speckled with herbs are a time-honored bistro dish,” Dorie suggests. “They’re served as a starter with a fork, a knife and plenty of bread.”
Blistered and charred – that’s the look we’re wanting
Dorie serves her peppers as an appetizer with a fork, knife and crusty bread.
Need an alternative? I scoured the Internet and searched through my cookbooks. Here are some other great ideas to pepper-up your menus with this versatile, nutritious vegetable:
1. Red Tomato, Red Onion and Roasted Pepper Relish, an alternative to pickle relish
2. Red Pepper Hummus
3. Deviled Eggs
4. Muhammara – a hot pepper dip which blends roasted peppers, lemon, olive oil, pomegranate and walnuts. (used in Middle Eastern cuisines)
5. Roasted Pepper and Tomato Pasta Sauces, pureed or chunky, regular or meat-based.
6. Topping for Pizza, Bruschetta, Flatbread or Galettes
7. Roasted Red Pepper Soup, Bisque or Gazpacho
8. Fold into pasta or grains for an additional kick.
9. Stir into egg, chicken, tuna and potato salads.
10. Roasted Pepper Puree
11.Serve as an additional filling for fajitas
12. Roasted Pepper Dip (pureed with sour cream, Greek yogurt or cream cheese)
13. Fold into scrambled eggs, frittatas and omelets.
14. Stir into mashed potatoes (sweet potatoes, also), mashed celery root or cauliflower.
15. Add as an additional item to any sandwich.
16. Add to the steaming broth for mussels and shrimp.
17. Add roasted peppers to traditional condiments and side dishes like Ratatouille, Gremolata, Shakshuka, and Harissa (which already uses some roasted red peppers)
18. Add to roasted vegetables like corn, green beans, brussels sprouts, artichokes or zucchini.
19. Use it in your preserved lemons recipes which turns the preserved lemons into a delicious relish.
20. Have I missed anything? Now, it’s your turn.
Check out these food sites where I gleaned these many ideas: here and here and here and here and here. My Colorado friend, Michele, who blogs at Cooking with Michelle, offers many unique recipes. You’ll find Dorie’s version here. Pinterest offers other suggestions. Can’t find a particular recipe? Contact me. I’ll send it your way. Find my colleagues’ roasted peppers on our French Fridays link. As I mention each week, we are an international cooking group having a wonderful time working our way through Dorie Greenspan’s Around my French Table.
If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck. And, these are duck eggs, fresh from our local farmers market. Another first for me.
