FRENCH FRIDAYS: THE RED KURI IS PURTY

FRENCH FRIDAYS: THE RED KURI IS PURTY

Judy is reading about Red Kuri Soup from Dorie's Around my French Table while Philip holds up the star of the show. Note that this week the spine separated itself from my well-worn and beloved cookbook.

Judy is reading about Red Kuri Soup from Dorie’s Around my French Table while Philip holds up the star of the show. Note that this week the spine separated itself from my well-worn and beloved cookbook.

Once upon a time, in the snow-peaked Colorado High County, lived a brilliantly colored, teardrop-shaped squash named Red Kuri. She tipped the scales at three pounds, a bit hippy, you might say. It’s all about her unique essence of squash infused with chestnuts that suggests her possibilities. Her fatal flaw? If she is baked, braised, or steamed, her shell softens, is edible and, when pureed, completely dissolves. Think Frosty the Snowman.

Béatrix's Red Kuri Soup garnished with goat cheese and cranberries.

Béatrix’s Red Kuri Soup garnished with goat cheese and cranberries.

If you read last week’s Post, you are familiar with my midweek dinner party, Dorie’s Profound Sweet & Salty Nuts, and other food-fun nonsense. However, you didn’t realize we rapidly motored into serious mode, featuring a Squash Seminar followed by the tasting of this week’s recipe choice, Béatrix’s Red Kuri Soup.

The three Presenters: Judy, Philip and Donna

The three Presenters: Judy, Philip and Donna

Leave it to the French to romanticize this delicate squash, calling it potimarron. Potiron means pumpkin and marron is the word for chestnut. Perfect and parfait. First, my guest, Judy, read about the recipe from our weekly bible, Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table cookbook. Judy, who spent her career teaching Aspen’s high school kids both French and Spanish, can roll her rrrrrr’s like none other. For those of us who have spent serious money to speak san succès français, it was a revelation.

Philip’s responsibility was to hold up the Red Kuri, my table centerpiece, every time the little darling’s name was mentioned in English or in French. He was kept busy. I had previously asked the mastermind of our nature study group, Donna, to give us the lowdown on the Red Kuri from a botanist’s point of view. She did such a good job she was rewarded with the centerpiece.

It looks like a squash, it cuts like a squash, it tastes like a squash but  its delicious shell is edible.

It looks like a squash, it cuts like a squash, it tastes like a squash but its delicious shell is edible.

Because the Red Kuri is so flavorful, there’s not much work involved in pulling together this delicious soup. Dorie first tasted it at the table of her friend, Bèatrix Collet. I’ve posted her recipe below. This is a keep-it-simple dish, requiring little else for flavoring but 3 slender leeks. Use your creativity with the garnish. I used toasted walnuts and chopped apples. For my next-day’s lunch, I tried a goat-cheese/ cranberry mixture. Think also about sliced avocados, a squirt of olive oil and fresh lime juice.

Feedback from my taste testers, Steve, Jessica and Don,  who are taking their responsibility very seriously.

Feedback from my taste testers, Steve, Jessica and Don, who are taking their responsibility very seriously.

In the winter you can find Red Kuri squash, in various sizes, at most local grocery stores. Although I prefer a thick soup, it’s the cook’s preference and quite tasty, filling and satisfying either way. French Fridays with Dorie is an international on-line group winding its way through Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan. To see what my colleagues stirred up this week, go here.

Le Potimarron

Le Potimarron

The cubed Red Kuri, sliced leeks, liquid and seasonings are in the soup pot and ready to boil and simmer.

The cubed Red Kuri, sliced leeks, liquid and seasonings are in the soup pot and ready to boil and simmer.

FRENCH FRIDAYS: THE RED KURI IS PURTY

FRENCH FRIDAYS: THE RED KURI IS PURTY

Ingredients

  • For the soup:
  • 1 red kuri squash, about 3 pounds
  • 3 slender or 1 1/2 larger leeks, white part only, trimmed, split lengthwise and washed
  • 3 cups whole milk
  • 3 cups water
  • Salt, freshly ground pepper and freshly grated nutmeg
  • For the garnish (optional):
  • 1 tart apple, peeled, cored and cut into tiny dice
  • About 1/3 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts or walnuts
  • About 1/2 cup crème fraiche or heavy cream

Instructions

  1. Scrub the red kuri squash under water, using a brush, if necessary, to scrape off any stuck-on dirt. With a heavy chef’s knife, cut off the pointy tip of the squash, then cut the squash in half from top to bottom. Scoop out the seeds and the strings that bind them, then cut the squash into 1-to 2-inch chunks, shell and all.
  2. Toss the squash into a large casserole or Dutch oven. Cut the leeks into inch-thick slices and put them in the pot, too. Add the milk and water, salt generously and bring to the boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook the soup about 25 to 35 minutes, or until the pumpkin is soft enough to mash when pressed lightly with the back of spoon.
  3. Using a hand-held immersion blender, a standard blender or a food processor, puree the soup until it is very smooth. Depending on how much liquid boiled away, you may have a thick soup and a decision to make: leave it thick or thin it to whatever consistency pleases you with either more milk or more water. Taste for salt and season with pepper and nutmeg. Heat the soup if it’s cooled in the blender or if you’ve thinned it – this soup is at it’s best truly hot.

Notes

Serving: If you’re using the apples and nuts, spoon some into the bottom of each soup bowl and ladle over the hot soup; top with a little cream.

Storing: The soup will keep for up to 4 days in a covered jar in the refrigerator (it will thicken as it stands, so you might want to thin it when you reheat it) and for up to 2 months packed airtight in the freezer.

Bonne Idée: There are so many flavors that go well with this soup that you can make the basic soup and serve it several different ways. Top the soup with olive-oil sautéed bread cubes. Toss shredded sage into the skillet along with the bread. Or, use thin slices of toasted baguette sprinkled with grated cheese and run under the broiler – use a nutty cheese like Gruyere or Emmenthaler, or a blue cheese like gorgonzola or Roquefort. Why not sauté some cooked chopped chestnuts (you can use bottled chestnuts) in a little butter or oil, season with salt and pepper, chopped fresh thyme or sage. Either spoon a little over the soup or, better yet, over the crème fraiche, if you’re using it.

https://www.lightsonbrightnobrakes.com/french-fridays-red-kuri-purty/

 


 

French Fridays Under Stage 3 Drought Restrictions

French Fridays Under Stage 3 Drought Restrictions

This week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe is Two Tartines from La Croix Rouge. According to Ms. Greenspan, our leader extraordinaire, La Croix Rouge is one of Paris’s busiest, most chic cafés. Chic grabs my interest but it’s the roast beef and smoked salmon tartines that whet my appetite.

 

Two paper-thin slices of the rarest-possible roast beef is needed for this week's Tartine Saint-Germain.

Two paper-thin slices of the rarest-possible roast beef are needed for this week’s Tartine Saint-Germain.

 

Besides being just darn delish, these tartines are easily thrown together and require little equipment, dishes and utensils. Last Saturday the water guru in Cambria, where I am living this winter, invoked Mandatory Stage 3 Drought Restrictions. The crucial word here is mandatory.  Everyone has to play or fine$ are imposed. Despite our recent rains, more than 22% of California still remains in the worst category: Exceptional Drought. Unfortunately, we on the Central Coast are part of that number.

Let’s leave water issues for later and get to the tastier part of my post. Tartines are simply fancy French toasted, open-faced sandwiches topped with any spreadable ingredient that one would eat. The combinations are endless. We Americans being Americans prefer to just slap another piece of bread on top, toasting is optional, and enjoy a sandwich. A Brit, John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, claims credit for that.

 

A light dinner, Tartine Saint-Germain with roasted brussel sprouts (Spotted at the farmer's market. Sold.)

A light dinner, Tartine Saint-Germain with roasted brussel sprouts (Fresh. Spotted at the farmer’s market. Sold.)

 

The French love their tartines and there are five of them in Greenspan’s Around my French Table cookbook. We’ve made them all. You may remember the Nutella, Dieter’s and Goat Cheese and Strawberry Tartines. Of those three, I remain nuts about Nutella.

At La Croix Rouge the two most popular tartines are Tartine Saint-Germain and Tartine Norvégienne.  For the Tartine Saint-Germain,  start with a 2-inch thick slice of rustic bread. Grill or toast it on one side only. Then, slather the toasted bread with mayonnaise (I suggest using Aïoli, a garlicky mayonnaise and très français.)  Although Dorie says to thinly slice a cornichon or gherkin to lay on top of the mayonnaise before covering the tartine with rare roast beef, I suggest not. Save the pickles for the surface along with salt and pepper. Cut the bread crosswise into one-inch wide strips.  The wine is red.

 

For the Tartine Saint-Germain, I chose a Zinfandel from Peachy Canyon, another Central Coast wine.

For the Tartine Saint-Germain, I chose a Zinfandel from Peachy Canyon, another Central Coast wine.

 

Will it surprise you that the Tartine Norvegiénne includes smoked salmon?  First, repeat the bread drill.  Once toasted,  spread butter (I used homemade dill sauce) on the bread and smother it in smoked salmon. Don’t forget those one-inch crosswise cuts.  Top it off with pepper, capers and sliced lemons. The wine is white.

These were tasty, light dinners for me. Two tartines. Two nights.

 

While I'm not ready to put aside my lox and bagel with creme cheese, this Tartine Novegiénne is tasty.

While I’m not ready to put aside my lox and bagel with creme cheese, this Tartine Novegiénne is tasty.

 

Even better, these were no fuss, no mess, little clean-up, which helps as I try to restrict my water use here. Cambrians are restricted to using no more than two units of water, 1,500 gallons per resident per month. When I think of all the people in the world who have little access to water, I’m not feeling abused.

What I am feeling, however, is naive. Last Saturday I stopped by the local hardware store to purchase a bucket (for the shower, in case you were wondering). While paying, I said to the clerk, “I am a winter resident here and haven’t experienced water restrictions before. Could you give me some tips.” 

 

For this tartine, I chose a chardonnay from Terra Robles, another local winery committed to sustainability.

For the smoked salmon tartine, I chose a chardonnay from Terra Robles, another local winery committed to sustainability.

 

The moral of this story is whenever you have a question, stop by your local hardware store. Business screeched to a halt. Customers gathered around the counter and my water-saving seminar began. Within 15 minutes I knew more than I wanted to know. No dishwasher. (Okay.) Launder colors and whites together. (Maybe.) Buy bottled water for cooking and drinking and brushing your teeth. (Aren’t all those plastic bottles bad for the environment?) Your car remains dirty. ( Or, grab a sponge and that bucket of shower water.) The other tips? (You don’t want to know.)

Next week-end my friends Susan and John Lester who blog at Create Amazing Meals will be coming here to join me for “Vintage Paso: Zinfandel and Other Wild Wines.” Readers, be honest, do you think it would be rude to ask them to bathe before they come?

French Fridays with Dorie is an international cooking group working its way through Dorie Greenspan’s Around my French Table, more than 300 recipes from my home to yours. Please visit the blogs of my other colleagues who do bathe frequently by clicking here.

EVERY BITE IS WHITE – LIGHTS ON BRIGHT

EVERY BITE IS WHITE – LIGHTS ON BRIGHT

This week’s French Fridays recipe choice is Hélène’s All-White Salad, a bunch of crunch created by Dorie’s friend, Hélène Samuel. She has loved this salad since first eating it at Samuel’s cafe, Délicabar Snack Chic, located in Paris’s renown Le Bon Marché department store. Built by Gustave Eiffel in 1852 and now owned by the luxury group LVMH, the store still exists.The cafe does not. Luckily, Dorie asked, Helene shared, and the all-white salad still survives in Around my French Table.

This salad seemed comfy, a thumbs up. I located every ingredient at the tiny Cookie Crockery market in Cambria. The priciest item was organic mushrooms but the rest, celery, Granny Smith apples, Napa cabbage and Greek yogurt, cost less than the gas to drive there.The preparation was simple.The dressing, Yogurt Vinaigrette, parading as a light, low-calorie mayonnaise, went together easily.

Earlier in the day I baked Irish Soda Bread, using a recipe from Dorie’s Baking: From my House to Yours cookbook. My wine was Patelin de Tablas Blanc from Tablas Creek, one of many local vineyards focusing on grapes and blends traditional to France’s Rhone Valley.

Readers, sometimes hits turn into misses. The Vinaigrette was bland. After one glass of vino and half-way through another, still tasteless. I liked the salad ingredients, however, especially the apple/Napa cabbage/celery combo. For lunch the next day, I used the leftover “whites” and made chunky blue cheese dressing for the pour-over. Bingo. Blue is the new White.

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FIGURE IT OUT, MARY

Today’s Post marks three years of turning my lights on bright. Disappointed the salad was not the celebratory recipe I envisioned, the birthday candles went back in the box. Then, an Aha moment. The past three years have been all about hits, misses, thumbs up and never agains. Let me explain.

Irish Soda Bread - It's Almost St. Paddy's

Irish Soda Bread – It’s Almost St. Paddy’s

This blogging adventure began shortly after my husband, Michael, was moved to the Memory Care Unit with Hospice joining the private facility to assist with his care. The good news was my day-to-day caregiving responsibility was no longer needed. The Pros wanted and insisted upon taking over. The bad news was my day-to-day caregiving responsibility was no longer needed. I was undone. “Go out and make a life, Mary,” a nurse insisted.

This was not new advice. I had tried and been spectacularly unsuccessful at the new life-thing. As usual, with each crisis, I ran wailing to my professional counselor, Paige. This woman does not suffer histrionics. She is also maddeningly unemotional. After calming my waters, she asked, “Mary, what are the two things you do best?”

After some thought, I responded, “Writing and being a good grandmother.”

Well,” she answered,  “your granddaughters are nearby and you see them often. Check. That leaves Writing. Go figure it out.”

Visit over. I didn’t even get my hour.

2012 Patelin de Tablas Blanc

2012 Patelin de Tablas Blanc

THE BIRTH OF A BLOGGER

After some months of thought, I decided to blog. WordPress was beyond me so I found a web designer on Craig’s List. He put together the site you are now reading, albeit not without disaster. Within five minutes of my site going up, I totally obliterated it. I blogged about politics and hobbies and caregiving. Nothing worked. An article in Oprah’s magazine introduced me to French Fridays with Dorie. The dye was cast. FFWD created the structure I needed in my life.

Yes, Michael-visits were still unbearable but cooking the book with my fellow Doristas was salvation. Better yet, it framed my week. Here’s how it goes: 1) Read the assigned FFWD recipe; 2) Shop for ingredients; 3) Make the recipe; 4) Photograph, eat and share the food; 5) Write my piece; 6) Post on blog each Friday; 7) Link on thirty or forty of my colleagues‘ blogs to read/ comment on their sites.

You thought the life of a food blogger was easy?

My FFWD virtual friends became reality at the International Food Boggers Conference in Seattle.  Our Dorie was the keynote speaker. Fall, 2013.

My FFWD virtual friends became reality at the International Food Boggers Conference in Seattle. Our Dorie was the keynote speaker. Fall, 2013.

Michael spent two years with round-the-clock care and I launched a new life. When he died, I had a framework in place as I began to build a lifestyle alone. In addition, I had met an entire family of virtual companions who joined with my family and friends to assist me. Now, with 228 Posts under my toque, I think I’ve been spectacularly successful in doing just that.

CAN “LIGHTS” GET BRIGHTER?

Today I completed Melanie Faith’s five-week online food writing class. Her nuts and bolts course was immersion at its finest. Our class waded through a 300-page text, Will Write for Food by Diane Jacob and submitted five in-depth writing assignments. Every morning, w-i-t-h-o-u-t fail, I woke up to an e-mail prompt, our exercise-of-the-day. Writers need editors. I am pleased to have Melanie in my back pocket.

After months of deliberation I just hired a young Denver firm, Peak Solutions Marketing, to completely redesign my site. Sorta excited. Kinda nervous. (No pressure, Zoe & Kenneth) It appears I’m committed to keeping my lights on. The brighter, the better.

The High Priestess of French Fridays, Dorie Greenspan

The High Priestess of French Fridays, Dorie Greenspan

French Fridays with Dorie is an international cooking group working its way through Dorie Greenspan’s “Around my French Table, more than 300 recipes from my home to yours.” If you would like to look at our group link, go here.

SAVORY SCALLOPS KISSED BY SWEET SAUCE

SAVORY SCALLOPS KISSED BY SWEET SAUCE

Scallops with Caramel-Orange Sauce and Spiced Butter-Glazed Carrots

Scallops with Caramel-Orange Sauce and Spiced Butter-Glazed Carrots

This week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe choice is the dessert Paris-Brest, a celebratory creamy puff ring made from  light pastry dough called pâte à choux. Already this sounds complicated, doesn’t it? It was created in 1891 to honor the Union Des Audax Français, an amateur bicycle race that is still peddling strong today.

Paris-Brest is a crowd-pleaser, promising to produce ou’s and ah’s from anyone who worships at the altar of caramelized almonds, vanilla pastry cream and Crème Anglaise. That’s why I decided to save this masterpiece to bake for my spandex-clad biking buddies when I return to Colorado this spring.

INSTEAD, TRY THIS MENU

Spiced Butter-Glazed Carrots

Spiced Butter-Glazed Carrots. The carrots are dirty-fresh from Cambria’s Friday Farmers Market.

Instead I took advantage of the Central Coast’s largesse and made Savory Scallops with Caramel-Orange Sauce and Spiced Butter-Glazed Carrots. For me, it’s  make-cup week. The recipes were made in 2011 before I joined FFWD. Dorie always delivers delicious. These two sweet/savory combos were a perfect light dinner to enjoy while watching the Grammy’s.

Sea Scallops

These little guys are fresh and tasty sea scallops.

The Caramel-Orange Sauce is a sweetheart of a compliment to the scallops.

The Caramel-Orange Sauce is a sweetheart of a compliment to the scallops.

When I visited Pier 46 Seafood to buy scallops, my fishmongerette, Amber, suggested small scallops rather than the large called for in this recipe. The prep and cooking time are the same.  Here’s a tip. Dorie’s simplistic technique for the caramel sauce is one to commit to your memory bank. About those carrots? When you start with carrots just pulled from the earth, adding just a spice or two and chicken broth, there’s very little to say but thank you, Mother Nature.

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I stopped by the Hearst Ranch Winery in nearby San Simeon to pick up wine for this menu. Ryan, who was working at the tasting bar, urged me to try their award-winning Three Sisters Cuvée red wine, a mixture of Grenache and Syrah grapes. It slide down easily.

 ADAPTING TO ANY KITCHEN,  STEP-by-STEP

If there is one question nagging at you after reading my three recent posts from Cambria, I suspect it would be, “How does that woman turn out this amazing food while working out of a rental kitchen?” 

Here’s the answer, a how-to on cooking in strange spaces. My only criteria when renting a winter house in Cambria was that it be by the ocean and have a gas range. Because of a calendar snafu, my Realtors found me two houses by the ocean with gas ranges. One house for 5 weeks and the house I wanted for 8. If nothing else, I’m all about flexibility.

Traveling Tools: mandoline, electric grill, dutch oven, frittata pan, scales, Valentine molds, knives, juicer and. springform pan. Processor not in picture.

Traveling Tools: mandoline, electric grill, dutch oven, frittata pan, scales, Valentine molds, knives, juicer and. springform pan. Food Processor hidden from view..

While on-the-road most cooks know what equipment they must own, what they can live with and what, if necessary, can be purchased. This is what I packed: 1) ten cookbooks including Ottolenghi’s Plenty and Jerusalem, Madison’s Vegetable Literacy, Pereman’s Smitten Kitchen and Canal House Cooks Every Day; 2) Pensey’s spices; 3) my chef’s and paring knives; 4) equipment ranging from my food processor to a Wagner Magnalite cast aluminum pot; and 5) a 4-quart crockpot, acquired here.

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Just as important as what I lugged from Colorado is what happened after my arrival. The house is lovely but the kitchen wasn’t feeling that love. Disarray is the word.  First I scrubbed and scoured. Then I organized. I don’t mind grease and spills but I insist they be my grease and spills. After this thorough once-over and a trip to Trader Joe’s, my rental kitchen was ready-to-roll.

Having found ten cutting boards in my rental kitchen, I'm thinking of a garage sale.

Having found ten cutting boards in my rental kitchen, I’m thinking of holding a garage sale.

What is insane about this particular kitchen is what’s here and what isn’t. There are 10 cutting boards. (I plead guilty to sometimes exaggerating so I snapped a photo. Count ’em.) It’s taken me three weeks to find potholders but during that hunt I counted 36 dishtowels. Although this is wine country, I only have two red wine glasses and six white, all with various logos. There is no paring knife but several huge plastic bowls (I’m thinking pretzels). Several pieces of the Crate & Barrel dinnerware are chipped or cracked. I’ve relegated them to the garage. I couldn’t set a table for six but since I’m not here to party, I don’t care.

As for the by the ocean requirement, I have no complaint!

These gorgeous strawberries are finally showing up at our local farmers markets.

These gorgeous strawberries are finally showing up at our local farmers markets.

If you would like to see the spectacular Paris-Brest  created by my colleagues, go here. To find the recipes for scallops, Dorie’s caramel sauce and carrots, go here and here. French Fridays with Dorie is an international cooking group working its way through Dorie Greenspan’s “Around my French Table, more than 300 recipes from my home to yours.”

 

 

GETTIN’ MESSY with  MOULES  MARINIÈRE

GETTIN’ MESSY with MOULES MARINIÈRE

Cambria, California

This week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe choice is Moules Marinière. It proved to be the perfect anchor to my celebratory feast after settling into my new California digs.

Moules Marinière

Moules Marinière

Living in the Colorado Rockies is a privilege, my idea of paradise. But it’s that 4-month window of snow, cold temps and icy footpaths that, well, leaves me cold. I learned to ski at Snowmass Mountain in the late ‘70s and buckled up my last boot in the late ‘90s when my knees began sassing back at me. This month, after two loopy falls on the ice, I escaped in search of a winter paradise. My first stop was Cambria, a drowsy, seaside village of 6,000 people located on the spectacular central coast and plopped among a native stand of Monterey pines.

It’s a good choice and here’s why. To my thinking, winter shows off Cambria at its finest. It’s off-season, that fleeting moment when locals reclaim their community. Think quiet, quaint and a well-kept secret. But here’s the thing, what surrounds this tiny town is just flat-out noisy in the friendliest of ways. Besides a number of migrating species, elephant seals, whales, birds and butterflies, there’s a castle to visit and an ocean to enjoy.

The end of the trail at Harmony Headlands. My favorite spot for a picnic lunch.

The end of the trail at Harmony Headlands and my favorite spot for a picnic lunch

Added perks are the vineyards, olive tree farms, goats (think chèvre) and farmers markets. These aren’t the vineyards of boxed wine and Two-Buck Chuck.  In fact Wine Enthusiast magazine just named the surrounding Paso Robles area as the 2013 Wine Region of the Year. In all the World!  More than 200 wineries here plant and pick over 40 wine grape varieties. It’s also reasonable to assume that marching in lock step with these wine producers is a food culture of  innovative chefs  offering seasonal, farm and ocean-to-table cuisine. For a food writer like me, I’ve landed in an edible feast of experiences.

This olive oil ranch is located in Paso Robles.

This olive oil ranch is located in Paso Robles.

 

In a salute to where I landed, I made this week’s FFWD menu a true farm & ocean – to table meal. My  two-pounds of mussels came from Pier 46 Seafood, my favorite fishmonger located in nearby Templeton. To make the mussels, I used Pasolivo Olive Oil made with olives grown on their Paso Robles ranch’s 45 acres of trees.

 

Emptying Sarah's baguette basket at Hoppe's Bakery. (Sarah has applied to Colorado University's doctoral program in political science and is nervously waiting to hear from Boulder.)

Emptying Sarah’s baguette basket at Hoppe’s Bakery. (Sarah has applied to Colorado University’s doctoral program in political science and is nervously waiting to hear from Boulder.) Note the time. It is 8:20 a.m.

The best baguettes on the central coast are made at Hoppe’s Bakery in picturesque Cayugos, a 15-mile trip and soooooo worth the 20-minute drive.  If you stop by at 8am, the baguettes will be warm, the coffee, piping hot, and the almond croissants……… well, you know. I bought out Sarah’s basket and delivered two of those beauties, wonderfully warm, to my Realtors, Heidi and Janet. Since those two ladies were already having a prickly morning, the baguettes were welcomed.

Pour moi. An almond croissant. And, yes, I hung out at Hoppe's, chatted with Sarah and ate the whole thing.

Pour moi. An almond croissant. And, yes, I hung out at Hoppe’s, chatted with Sarah and ate the whole thing.

For wine, I turned to my favorite vineyard at historic Halter Ranch, and chose, at their suggestion, a fruity-tasting Sauvignon Blanc. Besides pouring superb wine, I am partial to Halter Ranch wines because of its owner, Hansjörg Wyss, a Swiss-born, billionaire businessman who donates generously to various conservation efforts in the Rockies. He also walks the walk at the 960-acre Ranch with its state-of-the art and environmentally-sensitive winery.

Halter Ranch's state-of-the-art winery.  Photo by Halter Ranch

Halter Ranch’s state-of-the-art winery. Photo by Halter Ranch

 

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There is no downside to this meal. Chop an onion, 2 shallots and 4 garlic cloves and throw into a Dutch oven filled with a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Toss some salt and pepper into the pot and soften the mixture for 3-5 minutes until it glistens. Pour in a cup of dry white wine with a chicken bouillon cube, springs of thyme, parsley, bay leaf, and lemon zest strips. In another 3 minutes add 2 pounds of mussels. After bringing this to a boil, cover the pot and steam for another 3 minutes or so, until the mussels are opened. Serve immediately with a hot baguette and toasty french fries (mine are from the local Trader Joe’s.)

Two pounds of mussels, scrubbed, debearded and ready to steam.

Two pounds of mussels, scrubbed, debearded and ready to steam.

A tip or two. I cranked up the broth’s flavoring by doubling Dorie’s suggested ingredients portions. What I used for my 2 pounds of mussels, she used for 4 pounds. Also, try this when eating Moules Marinère. Break the shell at its hinge and use one half as a scoop to detach the mussel and spoon it in your mouth. Really, no utensils are needed. As Dorie mentions, “You’re talking about an elbows-on-the-table meal and messy fingers.” 

To see how these mussels opened for my colleagues, go to our group link here. For this week’s recipe, go here. French Friday’s with Dorie is an international cooking group working its way through Dorie Greenspan’s “Around my French Table, more than 300 recipes from my home to yours.”