French onion soup, page 118

We love this soup, we have made it before á la Julia Child. It was one of the first thing I made from her classic book.

David uses chicken stock not beef stock and it is just as good. I did not follow his recipe to the letter. I did not use balsamic vinegar. I used cognac. It takes such a long time to caramelize the onion that I did not take any chances. I know I love cognac. The last time I made this soup from Julia’s book I only had some crappy sugar and it burnt I almost cried. It ruined everything. This time around the onion was a bit on the light side, I was so stressed it would burn so I kept the heat too low. Well live and learn.

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Sweet Chili Chicken Thighs, page 114

Every one loved it. My son does not eat chicken so I also made the pork loin version. Both are very good. I will make this again. I don’t usually do Asian cooking so this was an exception and a very nice weekday dinner.

Almond Stripes, page 296

Fresh out of the oven

This was a simple recipe and very easy to make. That being said it was not an easy task to pipe, it was way to dense. I ended up cutting a bigger hole in the piping bag and omit the piping tip.

Forgot the icing sugar on my first batch.

My DH liked at lot for me it was a bit too plain.

Chocolate-Coconut Tart, page 168

My son made me this rolling pin at school.  I love it!

This was a straight forward tart.   I love that it is not too sweat it is just perfect.  It reminded everyone of a Bounty bar only better.  I got good comments on how smooth the chocolate was just like store bought.  I made all the components the same day I served the cake and Dorie is right.  The tart shell is best the day it is made.  Always trust Dorie.

Comté and ham wafers, page 45

Loved it!

I used the Icelandic version of cheddar cheese.  We do not get many imported cheeses and the one we do get are very expensive.  So no comté and no original cheddar cheese.  I used some thyme from my mother in law.  The dough rested in the fridge for about an hour and was easy to work with.  I love slice and bake, you can make the dough in advance and bake when you are ready and it only takes a few minutes.  I did not use the ham, we do not get very good ham up here.  David talks about cutting the cheese with a chef knife.  I used my box grater and than started cutting the cheese with the knife but lost my patience and dumped all the cheese in. Baked the wafers for 15-20 min and they were delicious when cold. Loved it whit a cold beer.

My Newest Gougères

I just go this beautiful book and I just want to make every recipe.

I used a rather mild cheese so next time I would use Parmesan.  The pecans added a very nice touch.  Loved it.

Chocolate Cream Puffs with Mascarpone Filling, page 233

Maybe not the best of pictures but was this ever good.

Every one loved it.  We have profiterole as our Christmas Eve dessert.  I was not sure the filling would be nicely received as it is not traditional but no complaints.  I made the dark chocolate sauce to go with it.

All in all I would do this one again.