CYBF: Clam Chowder

It has been unseasonably warm (80s) here. Even for the deep south. So soup has not been on my mind. But it’s cooling off now, finally, again, and Dorie’s Clam Chowder seemed to be a good idea. I have never made, and have not had in years, Clam Chowder but I remember having some in Maine as a teenager and loving it.

Dorie’s version is a little bit New England version and a little it Thai with the addition of lemongrass, jalapeno, ginger and kaffir lime leaf. While I would have loved the Thai version I know The Man would not so I went with the traditional version.

The clam chowder was very good. I didn’t quite enough salt. Next time While I didn’t have any oyster crackers regular saltines were fine. With cornbread.

The recipe Clam Chowder my Way is from Dorie Greenspan’s Everyday Dorie: The way I cook. (pg 69)

More Clam Chowder is on the Cook the Books Friday webpage.

Care to join in? Purchase Dorie’s book. Cook/bake and add your link to the webpage. Easy Peasy!

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CTBF: Marinated Steak

I have been AWOL from Cook The Book Fridays. I just haven’t done a lot of cooking, or baking, lately. But Kayte pushed me back in. It wasn’t hard. I have missed cooking and baking with Dorie Greenspan. Especially since I love a good steak and love Asian flavors. This particular beef dish had Thai red curry paste, ginger, and soy sauce.

And at this point I’d like to say I liked it, but…. there was just something about the whole dish that just didn’t appeal to me. Sorry, Dorie.

I used a Flank steak and marinated it as directed. The only change I made was Parsley rather than cilantro. NOT a fan of soap!! I maybe could have marinated it longer than I did. And I used the extra sauce over some vermicelli. (A little salty)

The recipe is on page 142 of Dorie’s Everyday Dorie: The Way I Cook.

For more Steak visit the rest of the Cooks with Cook the Book Fridays.

 

TWD: Apple Season

This is apple season in the NE and other areas of the US. And the apples are delicious, available, and affordable. Perfect for making Dorie’s Caramel Apple Crisp. And it was super easy.

There are three parts to this recipe.

The Caramel Sauce. I could drink this easily!!

The Topping.

The apple prep.

Put those three together and you have a wonderful, not real sweet, and DELICIOUS!!!

It’s wonderful with Sea Salt Caramel Ice Cream!

The recipe is on page 250 of Dorie’s Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple

Visit Tuesdays with Dorie for more Crisps or see if they made the other choice: Blue Cheese Bites.

 

TWD: Tomatoes!

It is the 9th of August. The garden is over. It has been so hot and it was so dry that the garden finished early this year. We did get a lot of tomatoes, cucumbers, okra, and flowers this year. We just didn’t get enough rain at the right time.

Anyway, B has been eating a lot of tomatoes with just salt and I have been enjoying a bunch of cucumbers. I managed to salvage a couple of tomatoes for the Tomato Tart from Dorie’s Baking with Dorie (page 322)

I made one small tart for B. I am not a fan of tomatoes cooked or raw. Sauce, yes. Sundried, yes. Cooked or raw. Nope!

It is very simple to put together. Gruyere and cheddar cheese. Basil. Parsley. Honey and mustards. Super simple.

For more tarts visit with the other cooks/bakers from Tuesdays with Dorie.

 

TWD: ICE CREAM!

When I tell you it has been HOT outside I mean it’s been HOT outside. The heat index has been in the low 100 degrees for the last two weeks. And the rain keeps going around us. I don’t remember it EVER being this hot at this time of the year for so long. And I’m 70+ years old!

I am sure the ice cream companies have been selling a lot of the cold stuff. I was glad I made the coffee cake as my first TWD choice two weeks ago because Dorie’s S’Mores Ice Cream Cake has been real popular for the last two weeks. I wish it had lasted longer.

This cake is layers of three types of ice cream (Chocolate Chip, Vanilla, and Oreo Cookie), fudge sauce, and Peanut Butter Fluff filling. There is a graham cracker crust on the bottom and toasted marshmallows on the top. I had to pull out my little torch for this one.

It does take a long time to put together because it has be frozen between putting the layers together. And then it has to freeze for about 6 hours. But, believe me, it is worth it!

With the heat I bet a lot of the bakers with TWD made the ice cream cake. You can check them out HERE

 

TWD: Coffee Cake

June was just not a baking month for me. So trying to get back into it for July. Starting with Dorie’s Crumb-Topped Ricotta Coffee Cake. It is not real sweet and that is perfect. The blueberries added a little tartness and the crumb topping…oh that crumb topping…adds just the right amount of sweet crunch

It came together very quickly once the crumb topping had been chilled for a while. The addition of the brown sugar to the topping and the cornmeal is what makes it different from other crumb toppings. It was my favorite part of the cake. I even saved some to sprinkle over some ice cream.

And the cake was great with ice cream melted on top.

This is definitely a keeper.

For more coffee cakes visit Tuesdays with Dorie.

 

Cook the Books Friday: Cornmeal cake.

It has been a slow baking month for Tea and Scones. It has just been to hot to cook. With Highs in the lower 100s and Heat Indices in the 105 area turning on the oven just did not seem like a good idea. Unless I wanted to bake really early in the morning. THAT wasn’t going to happen!

We finally had rain today and the temps dropped. Seemed like a good evening to bake. And it seemed a good idea to start back baking with Dorie’s Cornmeal Buttermilk Loaf Cake, with or without berries.

Instead of the loaf I used Dorie’s idea of a skillet cake. Same ingredients. Shorter baking time.

B is a big fan of cornbread. Sweet cornbread. So I figured he would like this cake.

I used Strawberries on his half …

…and blueberries on my half.

This was very good. Not real sweet. I topped with vanilla ice cream or sweet whipped cream.

The recipe is on page 264 of Dorie Greenspan’s Everyday Dorie.

You can find more Cornmeal Cakes at Cook the Books Friday

 

EWE: Squash Season

Our garden is doing well despite the dry hot weather. The tomatoes and cucumbers are really giving us good harvests. I’ve put up 12 quarts of pickles so far. The freezer is full of tomatoes and I’ve eaten more Fried Green Tomatoes than any year previously. The only thing that did not do well was the Squash. We harvested a few before the plants gave up the ghost and died. With the few squash and zucchini I harvested I made Ellie’s Herbed Squash Casserole. In addition to the squash there was lots of cheddar cheese, Parmesan cheese, basil, and chives. Delish!!!

It was delicious. I made it for our church supper and there was very little left.

I only made one change in the recipe. Instead of whole wheat breadcrumbs I used crushed Pork Skins. Trying to make it more KETO friendly.

The recipe is from Ellie’s Comfort Food Fix. Page 224

Check with Kayte and Gaye to see if they did an EWE recipe this week.

 

WWDH: Muffins

Banana Maple Syrup Muffins are on the menu today. I made them for last Sunday’s after church social and didn’t have many left to bring home.

I love making muffins. Super simple and you don’t have to frost them. I sometimes add a simple streusel as I did to some of these.

(I have looked for the picture and it is nowhere to be found. Sorry)

When I first took them from the oven and and let them cool just enough to taste I wasn’t that impressed. They were awfully bland. I was disappointed. But the cooler they became the more the flavors of the banana and maple syrup came through. The bananas are added in chunks so there are little pieces of banana throughout the muffin. The syrup… not so much. I would add more maple syrup next time.

These are perfect for a quick simple sweet treat, but not too sweet.

You can find them on page 167 of Donna Hay’s the new cook.

Check with Kayte and Gaye for their Wednesdays with Donna Hay dishes.

 

TWD: Lemon-Asparagus Quiche

Tuesdays with Dorie (Greenspan) means something delicious is cooking in the kitchen. This Tuesday it is a quiche. One of my favorite lunch meals. I love a good rich and creamy quiche.

I have to admit I wasn’t sure about this particular recipe. Only because of one ingredient – Lemon. I just wasn’t sure if I would like the lemon in it. But I went with my mantra – Trust Dorie! Trust Dorie!

I only made one change for the recipe. I made the quiche crustless. I’m trying to be ok low carb and still eat delicious foods.

First, you cannot taste the lemon. Second, you couldn’t taste the asparagus. Maybe that was because I put TOO much herb in the dish. Overall I had to say I wasn’t impressed with this one. Sorry, Dorie.

The quiche is on page 332 of Dorie’s Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty and Simple.

This week we had a choice of the Quiche or the Mochaccino Muffins ( I made these for the last TWD for May.)

For more of these treats visit the two lists of comments. (May 10 or May 22)