FFWD Endives, Apples, and Grapes

I've been making a lot of FFWD recipes the last few weeks.  When I joined FFWD in October of last year, my goal was to have made up all of the recipes that I missed during the first year by October of this year.  I'm not quite going to meet that goal (even with sharing with co-workers and the freezer it's just hard for a household of two to eat enough desserts), but I'm hoping to be all caught up with the recipes I want to make within the next couple of months....Anyway, on to this week's recipe.  I love endive and was excited about the recipe choice, but I was nervous about what Paul would think.  It didn't sound like the most substantial dinner.  I decided to pair it with whole wheat bread and cheese, because Paul could live and bread on cheese alone.  Luckily, he didn't have to.  We both actually really enjoyed the cooked endives.  I actually wish I had made more.  I was less excited about the grapes and apples for some reason (maybe just the variety that I bought), but all told I really liked this one.  I'm so glad I've discovered a new way to make endive, and would definitely make at least that component of the recipe again.

When I made the speculoos cookies a couple of weeks ago I froze the extras (I really do freeze everything), and I decided to use some to make the Cinnamon-Crunch chicken.  I know Dorie says it's better with store-bought, but I just couldn't bear to go out and buy speculoos when I had some perfectly good ones in the freezer.  I don't know if the chicken would have been better with store-bought cookies, but we really enjoyed it with the homemade ones.  We don't eat much boneless, skinless chicken--Paul always complains that it's too boring--but this was a surprisingly interesting, flavorful dish for how quick and easy it was.  This is definitely something I'd make again.

As I mentioned when we made the chicken basquaise, Paul's peppers have been growing very well this year.  They aren't nearly as big as the ones you buy at the store (do any gardeners know why that would be?), but we've been getting a lot of them, so I decided to take Dorie's bonne idee for Creamy, Cheesy, Garlicky Rice with Spinach recipe and stuff it into peppers.  We really liked this one as well.  As part of my constant quest to eat more whole grains I actually used bulgur instead of the rice, and Paul didn't even notice!  He just kept telling me how great the rice was.  I think the cheese is really what made this dish.  I used a strong robusto one that we both really like.

Last, I've been wanting to try this for a while and finally got around to making the Torteau de Chevre.  We both really love this one.  I've been eating leftovers for a couple of days now, and it seems to only get better with age.  I was worried it wouldn't be sweet enough, so I served it with a rhubarb compote.  It was very good, but I also think it's interesting enough to stand up on its own.