Warm, light with crispy edges. These were simple yet familiar and comforting.
My 18 year old son graduated from high school last week and is now studying for his final exams.
He emerged from his room, ate 3 in a row, said they were great and then disappeared back into his room with the 4th one to get on with his study.
The rest of the family filtered into the kitchen one by one and within minutes the Madeleines were gone!
Delicious 🙂
Looking forward to reading what the rest of the Cook the Book Fridays thought of this week’s recipe!
French Cheesecake or Torteau Fromager from David Lebovitz’s cookbook, My Paris Kitchen and this week’s Cook the Books Fridays recipe.
The last few weeks have been busy. We moved into the house we have been building and while the outside of the house is still looking like a construction site, the inside (especially the kitchen) is ready! I took a photo of the sky last night and it shows the state of our yard 🙂
Cooking in the new kitchen has been wonderful. It’s spurred me into a bit of a cooking frenzy! And what a week to return to Cook the Book Fridays. This French Cheesecake was amazing. David Lebovitz says “the blackened crust hides a cake with the unique flavour of a dense American cheesecake, but with the light sponginess of a Japanese cheesecake.” And that pretty much says it all.
If a light, white, sponge cake and a cheesecake had a baby, then this would be it.
I really liked the taste and texture of this cake, my 18yr old who has always stood by his dislike for cheesecake, actually liked this cake and asked for more.
I wish I left it in the oven just a few more minutes, there was a section in the centre that was a bit under done. It still tasted good though, so no one cared!
I probably would have steered clear of this recipe had it not been for this group, the burnt coloured top would have left me feeling sceptical enough to not try this. So it’s a good reminder of how good it is to push myself out of my comfort zone, thanks to the Cook the Book Fridays group 🙂
It has been a while since I cooked from David Lebovitz’s My Paris Kitchen. Actually that’s not true! There have been weeks I’ve cooked along with the Cook The Book Fridays group however failed miserably in documenting the efforts. I wrote about our horribly humid weather here in Sydney, our new puppy and just life getting in the way in the Hamantashcen post a few weeks back. I forgot to add in there that we are also building a new home. It’s getting there, very excited to try out my new kitchen…
Back to this Lamb Tagine though, it was amazing!
I was determined to make it and I even checked with the weather app to decide what day would be the coolest. It was of course mid-week and soccer training night. I was ready though! And then I realised this recipe was actually very easy and it was the perfect recipe for a mid week, soccer training day 🙂
I felt pretty accomplished when the kids came home. The house smelled amazing and they had this incredible meal on a day that we usually scape things together in a rush. That was just an additional bonus to this recipe.
All I had to do was prepare the rice.
It was sweet and rich and the lamb just fell off the bone. It was delicious. The kids loved it! It was a winner in our house. I loved the raisins and apricots in this. And the hit of spice from the cayenne pepper was perfect. Lots of different tastes and textures dancing around in my mouth 🙂
Looking forward to reading what everyone in the Cook the Book Fridays group thought!
We loved these crispy Buckwheat Crepes with Seaweed Butter.
The kids and I love our sushi. We are regulars at the local Sushi Train, so I knew these would be a hit. Everyone loved them!
It was also a good opportunity for me to use up the Buckwheat flour I had bought on my journey to get my health back.
It is what has kept me from cooking with this group and also the Tuesdays with Dorie group which I really loved.
A bout of glandular fever knocked me flat on my backside almost three years ago now. I was already run down from working with rape and domestic violence clients and it was shift work so my sleep patterns were destroyed.
Many doctors appointments later, medications, tests, experimenting with vegan and paleo food, I found a functional doctor that ran some genetic tests.
Turns out I have a gene mutation that causes my body to struggle when converting folate from food into something my body could use. Not a problem when healthy, but a disaster when run down! So not only was I short in B12 I needed a much higher dose than the average, non mutant, human! Not sure if this is the actual problem, I’ve learnt it’s never that easy over the last few years, however it’s all I have to work with at the moment.
I made a few attempts over the years to rejoin the groups however it was such a struggle physically it didn’t last long.
Weeks of supplementing with methyl B12 and methylfolate and I am hoping to rejoin this group on a regular basis and cook!
So back to the Buckwheat Crepes with Seaweed Butter that was this week’s Cook the Book Fridays recipe! I think months of cooking with Buckwheat and our love of all things sushi made this a winner in our house!
It has been 6 months since my last post. Six months!
I cannot believe how fast time is passing.
I have cooked along with the group on and off behind the scenes these past months.
However I have come undone in the sharing department 🙂
I’m not sure what happened… I think it all started when the kids made fun of my habit to avoid phone and computer updates. I succumbed to kid pressure and updated my phone but then it no longer wanted to get along with my computer. I have 6 months of photos that need downloading. The kids think my problem is with the Cloud but I don’t understand it. It reminds of me being in Chemistry classes and the teacher talking about molecules and… stuff. I can’t see it, so I just don’t get it.
I have missed being part of my cooking groups! I love that it means I cook things I might never get to, like this onion tart or Pissaladiere!
My photos are not the best but I found a way to get them up on my blog so I am happy for now!
I loved the contrast of the sweet onions with the salty olives. I used Kalamata olives, but we take our olives seriously in this house and I have a particular store I go to that I know sells the best Kalamata olives so I stuck with what I knew.
What really surprised me is how much the kids enjoyed this tart. And not one complaint about the anchovies!
I’m a bit rusty when it comes to posting online and I’m trying to not get distracted by an episode of Longmire on Netflix that my husband has playing in the background! But gee I’m glad to be back and cooking with the Cook The Book Fridays group! I can’t wait to have a read and see what everyone else thought of this recipe.
Who would have thought cauliflower could taste so morish?!
When I first explained to my 3 children (and husband) what we were having for dinner they screwed up their faces.
Thank goodness for the Cook the Book Fridays group!
Once I explained the Dukkah Roasted Cauliflower was the recipe of the week they were still skeptical however they take their food taste tester jobs seriously, so they approached the dinner table with an open mind… kind of.
I threw in some carrots to the recipe for colour and served this along side grilled scotch fillet steaks.
I’m not big on red meat so I was worried about the meal being bland however the Dukkah had more than enough flavour to carry it.
It was a satisfying and healthy meal that packed some punch!
(I didn’t even need the usual sauce I slather my red meat in so I can eat it).
My 8 year old was the hardest to sell on the carrots and cauliflower, picking up the first floret with so much hesitation and suspicion I was prepared for his usual reaction. Wrapping his hands around his throat, then his stomach while his declaring he just can’t eat it ok? He just can’t! Â I was watching him out of the side of my eye, not risking drawing his attention. If he sees me watching, he thinks he has an audience and the theatrics begin before the food goes anywhere near his mouth! Seeing me busy and not paying attention (on the outside) and watching the older two start eating I saw him put a cauliflower in his mouth. Pause. Chew a little. Then as he chewed a little more, his screwed up little face started to relax. He picked up another bit of cauliflower and then a carrot and in the end he asked for more vegetables and left most of the meat on his plate. We have a winner! Yes!
The dukkah I made had to be nut free as my 8yr old is anaphylactic to some nuts. He eats Nutella without problems and it’s made with hazelnuts however I didn’t want to take a risk so I substituted the hazelnuts in this recipe with sunflower seeds.
I’ve always avoided dukkah because of the nuts, it was great to make my own and know exactly what went into it. I think the nuts would have smelled and tasted amazing, especially coming out of the oven! I don’t think mine smelled as amazing as David Lebovitz described in his book, My Paris Kitchen, but it wasn’t far behind!
I am looking forward to reading what the rest of the Cook the Book Fridays group thought!
As the kids say, I’m so devo! (pronounced – deh-vo; translation – devastated; notation – they would be cringing if they knew I was using their words… LOL!)
I’m not devastated by the recipe (however I do think my photo has a lot of to answer for!)
I ordered David Lebovitz’ book My Paris Kitchen from Amazon, excited to participate in this week’s Cook the Book Fridays recipe and it didn’t arrive! I eagerly looked out for the delivery driver’s van every day (starting the day after I ordered the book even though I knew it was impossible for it to be shipped from the US to Australia in 1 day… right?) and nothing! 10 days of waiting and no book in sight.
So I searched until I found the recipe online 🙂
(*The book arrived today!!! The day after I made the recipe but it doesn’t matter, it’s here!!!)
I’m going to veer on a tangent for a second that will be relevant… eventually.
At school pick up, on the day I made this recipe, I chatted with my son’s teacher and discovered that she had a similar experience to me last year. She also picked up a virus that she has yet to recover from. Many appointments with doctors and specialists later, she was told, like I was, we can’t find what is wrong with you, we think it’s probably post viral fatigue… and fibromyalgia. We talked about how frustrating it was and how mentally, physically and emotionally draining it is to go through something like this. It’s still effects us most days, some days worse than others, however we were able to laugh at some of the things doctors have suggested to us along the way, like:
“You haven’t actually passed out so you’re ok”
“Stop focusing on how bad you feel”
“Take a valium every third night and you’ll be ok”
“It’s post viral fatigue and fibromyalgia”
“Post viral fatigue and fibromyalgia are not real”
And my all time favourite by a female doctor:
“I’m going to tell you what I told my patient who asked for a vaginal rejuvenation – go and get yourself a younger man and all your symptoms will disappear” (That is my husband’s favourite!)
I’ve heard so much contradicting, sometimes well meaning and other times just down right patronising and condescending statements that it took my by surprise how good it felt to just have someone to empathise with and validate my experience.
Psychology basics – empathy and validation.
Basics are good!
Basics are the building blocks, the foundations to… well everything I guess.
And that’s where this week’s recipe comes into it (finally)!
Being sick last year I had a lot of time where I could barely move and I couldn’t take in anything that was complex or required much thought, so I caught up with the Real Housewives of everywhere! (I finally know what everyone is talking about).
As I got better I moved from the housewives to watching Top Chef. I’m only a couple of seasons in and I am appreciating how important basics are to cooking. Learning to do the basics well. To me, this week’s recipe is meat and potatoes done well 🙂
The rib eye, rubbed with salt, chipotle chilli and coriander (cilantro) tasted amazing.
The mustard butter added another layer of taste, complimenting the smoky meat.
(They talk a lot about layering flavours in Top Chef and I get it now!)
And those fries! I peeled and sliced 2kg of potatoes (there’s 5 of us) and baked them in a little bit of oil, salt and rosemary. Mine didn’t have as much of the golden colouring as I was hoping for (I think because I baked them on parchment paper) but the taste… wow! The taste was amazing!
My husband and kids appreciated the meal and expressed their satisfaction repeatedly and enthusiastically throughout the meal!
They enjoyed trying new things with the French Fridays with Dorie group and are very excited that they will get to taste and give feedback on a bunch of new recipes.
What more could I ask for 🙂
I am so happy to be part of the Cook The Book Fridays group and can’t wait to catch up with the rest of the group and see what they thought of this week’s recipe. To see the full recipe, I found it on a wonderful blog called SmokySweet.
I loved this week’s recipe for Cook the Book Fridays, Madeleines, from My Paris Kitchen by David Lebovitz. Especially fresh out of the pan!
He emerged from his room, ate 3 in a row, said they were great and then disappeared back into his room with the 4th one to get on with his study.
Kitchen Therapy 