My Top 10 Favorite Links for French Fridays with Dorie in 2011

The beginning of January is a time for reflection on what we've accomplished in the past year as well as a time  to be inspired as we look forward to the new year.  In that spirit and just for fun I'm sharing my favorites from French Fridays with Dorie beginning with the very first recipe I made back in March from Around My French Table, #1 Cheese and Chive Bread,  One of my resolutions from last year was to join an online cooking group and become a regular participant.  I chose to become a Dorista primarily because of my love of French cooking and the opportunity to cook/bake from Around My French Table with a group of like minded individuals.  We have been asked not to share the recipes on our blogs but many of these recipes are available from various sources, most often from Dorie Greenspan, the author of Around My French Table on her blog or elsewhere.  I do highly recommend picking up a copy of the book so you can have easy access to all the recipes and beautiful photos.  Please follow this link to French Fridays with Dorie to check out the delicious weekly offerings from the rest of the group, affectionately known as 'Doristas', a name that I believe was coined by our very own member poet, Trevor at sis.boom.blog.

What I didn't realize at the time I started cooking with the group was that I was going to make wonderful connections with other French food loving people from all over the country and world!  I would like to invite the group to my home for a cup of tea and a plate of  my #2 favorite Salted Butter Break-Ups.  I bake a lot of cookies and these are favorites because of 3 main things, #1 You get to use sel gris, french sea salt, in a cookie dough containing a small brick of unsalted butter(yum!), #2 You get to pound the dough with your rolling pin, some days that can feel pretty good and #3 Accuracy doesn't count, you can break up these cookies with reckless abandon.


Number #3, I'm starting to feel like David Letterman, is Chocolate Eclairs with Thick Ganache, one of the top ten signs your waistband is getting tight!



I can't forget about the recipe for #4  Bistrot Paul Bert Pepper Steak which  includes flaming Cognac in the sauce!  I did save a few calories by serving my steak with oven roasted wedges of potatoes, lightly coated with olive oil, of course.

I made #5 Tourteau de Chevre several times last year and was asked to share the recipe-seeing it again inspires me to make another one.

#6 Spinach, Potato and Bacon Quiche makes a satisfying offering to your guests as a starter, as well as a main dish for a lunch or brunch.  How can you miss with such a versatile dish in your repertoire and that is why it earned a highly coveted space on my FFWD top 10!!

Arriving at #7 we have Melon Berry Soup with Triple Ginger Cookies which I enjoyed and enjoyed!


I put my own twist on #8 Corn Soup with Tomato and Sugar Snap Pea Salad by adding a crunchy salad as a topping on the corn soup.  I can't wait until next Summer when fresh corn is available to make this again.


I guess it was just a few weeks ago that I was baking Christmas Cookies- feels like last year.  One of my favorite new cookie recipes this year was...#9 Speculoos with Nutella Sandwich Cookies, the dough baked up like a charm and made my house smell like Christmas.


 And last but not least... #10 Bubble-Top Brioches and A Weekend In Paris.  What can I say about a weekend in Paris, it went by in a flash and the memories are like a delicious dream.  Dorie's recipe for bubble top brioches also worked like a dream and I  made these rolls several times around the holidays.

Bonne Année!  Happy New Year!  I hope you enjoyed my Top 10.