Today´s recipe for the French Fridays with Dorie group is „Arman´s Caviar in Aspic“. I must admit that I went a bit astray this time and made Individual Rösti topped with Crème Fraîche and Caviar instead.
A simple rösti, well-seasoned grated potato, fried until golden and crunchy, and topped with crème fraîche and caviar is very hard to beat – at least that´s what my devoted taste testers conferred to me in no uncertain terms as I was mentioning Dorie´s recipe for this week. Since I am quite grateful to all of them for tolerating all my foodie experiments these last years, I was easily convinced to take a different road to caviar bliss this week. No „wiggly-jiggly cubes of lightly flavored aspic, bellies scooped out and filled with caviar“ for us, sorry, Dorie – maybe some other time...
All you really need for a good rösti is some firm potatoes, parboiled to give a soft, melting interior, and fried in plenty of hot butter and goose fat until crisp. For the topping I used Salmon Caviar (salmon roe) - although, technically coral-red salmon caviar is not „real caviar“ (the eggs of a wild sturgeon) – it tastes amazing and looks extremly pretty.
The second kind of „caviar“ I used was Sea Hare Roe – it is quite popular in these parts, not difficult to find in stores – although it tends to be a bit on the salty side and less „juicy“ than the salmon roe, it paired very well with the rösti and the crème fraîche.
Next Friday, we will be making Curried Mussels – no rösti then with the mussels, promised, come to think of it, Belgian chefs will attest to the fact that potatoes do pair so well with mussels.
To see whether the other members of the French Fridays with Dorie group enjoyed this week´s recipe, please go here.
For copyright reasons, we do not publish the recipes from the book. But you can find the recipe for “Arman´s Caviar in Aspic“ on page 29 in Dorie Greenspan´s cookbook "Around my French Table".
Happy New Year, Andrea!! I would much rather be eating your version than a fishy gelatin! The Rosti look beautiful and so appetizing with the caviar!
ReplyDeleteKathy, hope you had a great start to the New Year and that 2015 will be filled with much joy, happiness and health!
DeleteI have never heard of sea hare before - interesting. I think the rosti is way better than the aspic.
ReplyDeleteGaye, the Rösti were certainly more appreciated at our house - my beloved taste testers do not really enjoy savory aspic all that much - although, it is quite popular around these parts.
DeleteThose rosti look fabulous and far, far more appealing than aspic. Good show!
ReplyDeleteKatie, thank you kindly - at our house, rösti are a sure-fire crowd-pleaser. Every single time.
DeleteThank you for sharing the tips on how to prepare the rosti. Is the goose fat necessary or can it be substituted with another type of fat? Either way, great job. I wish I could have one of each.
ReplyDeleteAdriana, no need to use goose fat - but it makes them even more delicious and crunchy - well, a bit heavenly (if I may say so) - just use good butter instead and the results will be almost equally stellar.
Delete--I've never eaten this, but it looks quite, beautifully appetizing. xx
ReplyDeleteKim, if ever you make it to Germany, I will make sure to prepare rösti for you, they are crunchy, delicious soul food...
DeleteAs I mentioned in my post, there are much better ways to eat caviar that in/on aspic. Your rosti is one of those better ways, I'm sure. It looks fabulous, Andrea.
ReplyDeleteBetsy, ah, so true...sorry I did not take on the challenge of the caviar in aspic, usually I am not one to shy away from a recipe. But I just did not feel like it since I knew that my dear family would much rather have these lovely rösti...and so did I.
DeleteRösti is the perfect little platter to use for caviar and, served on your little Catch of the Day dish makes it even more special. I suspect you made your own crème fraîche. I agree with your thoughts on salmon roe. It's very responsible to stay away from the poor, over-fished wild sturgeon. Like some others, I have never heard of Sea Hare Roe but will research that one. Good Mom to avoid the savory aspic - you get a gold star. Is a smidgeon of duck fat the equivalent to goose fat? I can get duck fat in my local grocery stores but have never seen goose fat. Michael used to cook goose but I never have done it since. I am looking forward to making the curried mussels. I am serving them with French Fries.
ReplyDeleteMary, you know what they say, the thing about the great minds thinking alike - moules frites is the first thing that came to my mind as well when I read through the recipe for next week`s FFwD - who can say no to that and this time I will not discuss the recipe I am makig with my happy eaters beforehand!
DeleteGlad to read that you had a safe trip and that all went well - thank you for taking the time to leave me such a kind and thoughtful comment!
All the best for now!
Andrea & Co.
Eine soooooo weise Entscheidung, den Caviar auf Roesti zu verteilen... (die Aspikwuerfel sind wirklich nicht verlockend...) Der Sonnenschein (wo kommt er bloss her....) macht aus den Fischeierchen in den Schaelchen eine richtige Kostbarkeit - superschoene Fotos! Und die Roestiversion sicherlich glücklichere Testpersonen :-) Einen schoenen Sonntag!
ReplyDeleteLiebe Wally, herzlichen Dank - wir hatten tatsächlich für einen kurzen Moment Sonne, aber es war trotzdem ganz schön kalt - was man nicht alles für ein Foto anstellt.
DeleteEuch auch einen schönen Sonntag und ganz liebe Grüsse,
Andrea
Yum, now those look delicious. My husband and I each tried one aspic and promptly decided to make blinis to use up the rest of the caviar so that it wouldn't go to waste. What a pity I didn't think to make rösti instead. After reading through all of the comments from those of us who did the recipe it sounds like you made the right call.
ReplyDeleteDear Rose, I was quite impressed with your "real caviar" (recognized the destinctive design of your lovely tin) and I know for a fact that blinis with caviar are a real treat as well - blinis or rösti, both are wonderful substitutes for the aspic I think.
DeleteWunderschönst und köstlich - love your catch of the day dish!
ReplyDeleteBarbara, herzlichen Dank - den "catch of the day" Teller haben mir die Kinder vor einigen Monaten zum Geburtstag geschenkt!
DeleteLiebe Grüsse in die Provence,
Andrea
Great substitution. This dish sounds so much better than the aspic and it looks good too.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Diane - I appreciate your kind comment! For us, the rösti were far better than the aspic - but, as always, that is a question of personal preference. And I almost felt gulity fiddling around with Dorie´s recipe, almost.
DeleteDear Andrea, these look lovely. Very enticing too. I've been reading some of the aspic stories and am agreed on your choice, though this is merely my own personal taste never having quite been able to wrap my brain around the point of aspic to begin with. They are now offering a sort of wild Alaskan salmon eggs at a Farmers Market about a half hour away though I've not been back yet given my traditional early January hibernation when I like to spend quiet time doing a lot of reading and such. Loving the CCC recipes this month. See you soon! Hugs.
ReplyDeleteDear Peegy, wild Alaskan salmon eggs sound absolutely wonderful - it can be a bit of a task trying to find reasonable substitutes for the "real" caviar, I know but I did not want to skip this recipe and so we settled on the rösti which we can all agree on - you would have enjoyed a serving as well, I am sure. Thank you so much for your wonderful comment, dear friend - glad that you enjoy the January CCC line-up of recipes. Just made the Beetroot Pizza today - talk about a different kind of (delicious) pizza.
DeleteAndrea
I have never bought or used a caviar at home, I've only had it in restaurants. These look quite delicious and your version sounds better to me than the original in aspic.
ReplyDeleteAmy, these kinds of "caviar" from diffeent fish are readily available around these parts - I tend to really enjoy the one from rainbow trout or salmon - and I always add the rest to some lovely pasta with some smoked wild salmon and a bit of cream and fresh dill the next day - heavenly indeed.
DeleteAndrea, your beautiful pictures would have made even fish jello look good but I think you were wise to go with rosti instead.
ReplyDeleteGuyla, so very glad that my Rösti were a hit at our house - I think the kids would not really have enjoyed the aspic all that much!
DeleteWhile I do like aspic, I also think I prefer your rösti! Both Mark and I left comments on Saturday (he used my C&L account) and neither was able to come through. Not sure what was happening. I wanted to try again to say that I think I am making these tonight for a guest, hoping that I can get some caviar or at least good sturgeon roe!
ReplyDeleteDavid, these individual Rösti are perfect for serving guests - you can prepare them a bit in advance, keep them at room temp or in the fridge for a bit and then serve to all those hungry family members and friends that are certain to devour them! Trust me on this one!
DeleteAndrea
I think I like your interpretation the best :-) The caviar looks very well situated on those rosti.
ReplyDeleteCher, so very kind of you dear friend - I dare say that my kids would agree with you!
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