French Fridays are Finally Underway!

 I've finally gotten my act together.  I was so excited to start cooking through Dorie's new book when I first heard about it.  I mean, have you seen Around My French Table?  Just the cover will make you drool.  But somehow, October 1 sneaked up on me and I totally missed making the first recipe, then the second.  They were all on my list of things to make, but the Fridays came and went and no Dorie.  

So here's what you missed.  Week one: Gougeres.

Gougeres are basically french cheese puffs.  They're made with the same light, airy dough as cream puffs- pate a choux.  I like to think that this is what fancy French people eat as a snack.  I told my husband that and he said, "I wanna be French."  In my version, I used gruyere cheese and fresh goat's milk and they tasted like a dream.

Week Two: Gerard's Mustard Tart.

I'm not usually a big mustard person, but this was a great tart, just like Dorie said it would be.  The mustard is subtle after baking and I love the simplicity of the carrots.  I used green onions instead of the leeks called for in the recipe.

 This week: (Spicy) Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup.

I've never made a soup with rice noodles before.  I'm not sure I've even eaten rice noodles before, but these were good.  I didn't have fish sauce or dried red chilies available, so this soup ended up being milder than it should be, but I liked it that way.  It was like a Vietnamese version of the kind of chicken noodle soup you have when you're sick.  It was comforting and tasty.

I liked all three of these recipes, but I think I like the gougeres best.  Can't wait for the next recipe- Hachis Parmentier (French Shepherd's Pie)!

You can find all of these recipes in Dorie's book, Around My French Table.