Friday, January 27, 2012

Broth-Braised Potatoes - French Fridays with Dorie

This week's recipe for our FFWD group was another easy, quick, most ingredients already on-hand recipe from Dorie Greenspan's cookbook Around My French Table.  This week we made potatoes.  I've always been a potato girl & I enjoyed trying them made a different way.



In a large pot, I brought some broth, EVOO, water, garlic, lemon zest, a bay leaf, sage, salt, and pepper to boil.  The smell was very comforting like homemade chichen noodle soup.  The potatoes were cooked until soft in the broth.  We didn't really make a dinner that went with potatoes but just threw them on the table with the other items we were having for dinner that night so the family could try & comment on Dorie's recipe.  I think the overall concensus was that they were good, but we weren't dying to make them again ... I think due to the sage.  Our Arizona taste buds aren't used to a lot of rosemary, sage, thyme, and other flavors that the French seem to love.

Thursdays are my crazy day and I'm always looking for something easy for dinner.  Last night I had a banana, some berries, a loaf of bread, and Dories potatoes that needed to be used up, so we made some banana pancakes & french toast ... with berries on top.  Then I fried up the rest of our broth-braised potatoes.  Because there were already flavored, oiled, and seasoned, I pretty much just threw them into a skillet and let them brown.  I LOVED them like this with a little ketchup!!  The texture was great and all the flavors came together really nicely.

If you're interested in taking a peek at this recipe, someone else published it HERE.

In other cooking and food news, last weekend was my husband's birthday and he wanted pies ... cream pies.  I searched through lots of cookbooks and found two new recipes that I wanted to try.

First up was a chocolate-coconut pie  ... the crust was made of only butter and coconut!  And then the filling was a bittersweet chocolate ganache ... definitely a winner!  The only change I'd make would be to have less crust in the area of the pie pan where the bottom meets the side ... don't know if that has an official name ... and put that extra coconut around the edge of the pan for a prettier upper crust showing around the edge of the pie pan ... if that makes any sense.


Second up was a banana cream pie. The pudding had cinnamon and nutmeg which gave it some interest and the then whipped topping had just a touch of sour cream.  Lots of yummy flavors that came together nicely.  I used Dorie's sweet tart dough rather than a traditional pie crust.  I love the more cookie-like crust, but next time I think I'll try to make the crust a little thinner.


We are planning more birthday celebrations this weekend, so I need to come up with another dessert idea ... any suggestions? ideas? requests?

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18 comments:

Karen @ SoupAddict said...

Hash browns and beautiful pies - a successful foodie week, I'd say!

Anonymous said...

Ooh! I'll have a huge slice of the chocolate coconut pie!

Cher Rockwell said...

I wish I had thought to make hash browns with my leftovers. They had to be good.

Kris' Kitchen said...

Well...I liked the thick coconut crust...I'd probably make it thicker.

I liked these potatoes fried too.

Loved these pies...I dream about eating more of them. DId you know that last Monday was National Pie Day?

Adriana said...

I'm also regretting not pan frying my leftovers (or the original potatoes!). I wasn't crazy about the potatoes, but the smell of the broth was amazing.

Unknown said...

You've been a busy baker! Boston cream pie is my husband's favorite dessert. We ate all our potatoes so we didn't have any for hash browns the next day:(

Anonymous said...

OOoo hash brown. Now I'm distracted. I already used all my "leftovers" in salad but may just have to make another batch to give the hash brown a go!

That's a lot of pies...and they look so mouthwatering. May I suggest the banana peanut butter cream pie from BAKED Explorations? I made them not too long ago and highly recommend it.

Anonymous said...

Well who can focus on potatoes with all those delicious pies in your post. I LOVE banana cream pie and that chocolate one doesn't look half bad either. Looks like your husband was well looked after on his birthday.

Elaine said...

Both of your pies look fabulous! And Dorie's potatoes sound like just the right side to banana pancakes and french toast.

franklyentertaining said...

I'm intrigued by the coconut crust. I think I might give it a try on a cheesecake. I love all the new ideas that I get from the Dorie crowd!

Mary Hirsch said...

Your hubby is a lucky guy - loved the dessert. Now, back to the potatoes. Although I loved the potatoes and I, too, threw them on the table with a meal that, perhaps, didn't do them justice, I liked them as hashbrowns even better. A reason for potatoes, huh?

Unknown said...

This is my first visit to your site and I'm sorry I didn't visit sooner! I'm also in the FFWD group and made these potatoes this week. We enjoyed them and next time will cook the leftovers up for breakfast like so many others did.
Yours pies look delicious and I love your cake plate!
Have a wonderful weekend;-)

Erin said...

Oh my gosh, that chocolate coconut pie looks amazing! Yum....... Ok, back from daydreaming about pie, the potatoes were good, not amazing, but I like the idea of hashbrowns, I might have to do that with my leftovers, a hashbrown frittata or something.

Candy (Dulce) said...

Oh my goodness, your chocolate coconut pie looks amazing!! One of my favorite flavor combinations!!!

I think your 2nd use of the potatoes sound like a great idea too! I liked these, but hey, there's nothing wrong with a little home-fries that are already nicely flavored! Good idea!!

Liz That Skinny Chick Can Bake said...

I think I would have loved these potatoes if I'd then FRIED them! In lots of butter :) Your pies look outstanding...lucky hubby!

Anonymous said...

Hash browns sound good, but now my potatoes are all gone. Happy Birthday to your husband.

Christy said...

Looks like you had a terrific cooking week! And those pies look amazing !

Kathy said...

I never got to make last weeks potatoes. My aunt passed away and I had a house full of out of state family staying with me. I am looking forward to trying them. I love that you fried them up for breakfast.
Love, love, love your Coconut pie! Coconut is one of my favorite ingredients! This must be coconut week in the blogosphere.

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