Friday, June 22, 2012

FFwD - David's Seaweed Sables



Life often presents us with challenges, big and small, that take us outside of our comfort zone.  Sometimes, I feel up to the challenge and tackle it head on; other times, I skirt around it or duck under it or run away from it.  Much depends on the day of the week, the mood I'm in and the kind of day I have been having.  Some days, I feel invincible; on other days, just getting out of bed is a challenge.

This week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe provided a challenge to my culinary comfort zone, a bump in the road - the recipe chosen was David's Seaweed Sables.  Unfortunately, this recipe sounded horribly unappealing to me, as it combined nori (seaweed) and icing sugar in the same vehicle.  It seemed like a massive clash of flavours to me.  However, the recipe wasn't hard, so I decided on the "what the heck" approach and made those seaweed sables.  And you know what?  They were good. I will go so far as to say that David's Seaweed Sables are downright addictive, and I had to remove them from my office so that I would stop eating them.  I figure my colleagues must have felt the same about them, because the remaining sables disappeared in a flash.

Unconvinced?  Make them, I say, and decide for yourself.  The mysterious alchemy of sweet and salty creates a moorish mixture of flavours that cannot be resisted.  To see what the other FFwD members thought of these sables, visit the LYL section of the FFwD website.

To finish off, I cannot resist posting this delightful photo of a weedy sea dragon (not to be mistaken for seaweed) that lives at Monterey Aquarium in California:


Isn't he handsome?  For an interesting novel involving a convict who eventually turns into weedy sea dragon, refer to Gould's Book of Fish by Richard Flanagan.

Have a great weekend!

21 comments:

Unknown said...

You convinced me!! Yum!!

Rose said...

I came to see if the other FFwD member in the early time zones had already posted and, sure enough! I just posted mine 45 minutes before midnight here in Europe, hopefully nobody minds. Tomorrow is going to be a heck of a day.

Happy to hear that you enjoyed this one, it's interesting that so many of my favorite recipes so far have been ones that I was the least excited about. Sadly, this one was not my favorite, but maybe it's because I paired it with some classic FFwD favorites. Oh well, better luck with the corn cakes.

Cher Rockwell said...

These did have that odd something that kept you coming back for another... Go figure!
Have a great weekend.

Johanna GGG said...

that does sound challenging but am interested to hear how much you and your colleagues enjoyed these biscuits.

cute pic - am sure you had fun in the US with your 'new' camera - never finished reading gould's book of fish - not sure why as I think it was interesting but just didn't grab me or maybe I was too distracted at the time

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

What an unusual recipe! I do like seaweed and I do love sables and I can see them going together (although I would have never thought to put them together! :P)

Finla said...

Looks yumm.But nori in the cookie well i still have to convinced by it, but then like you said i should taste it before i say no.

Diane Balch said...

It is really great to hear that people were surprised and liked this.. I was actually planning on liking this because I love seaweed and eat it plain often... I didn't go for these.

Maggie said...

I have never seen a sea dragon before, so thanks for that! I think the ocean is so weird and awesome and scary. I really liked these cookies too and it was a big surprise. I'm going to bring mine to work today and see if we can't get rid of them! :)

Ei said...

That's great that you and your colleagues loved these so much! I love when recipes surprise you. Unfortunately, I hated this particular one, but at least it wasn't expensive or time-consuming to make.

Unknown said...

I'm glad you enjoyed these! Unfortunately I did not but I guess that's why there are so many different recipes, different strokes for different folks:)

Anonymous said...

Kudos for stepping out of your comfort zone! They look great!

Nana said...

I agree, they made you keep trying to see what it was
that was so unusual. Tricia did not care for them, Hubby ate a few, and guess who ate the rest? These
FFWD recipe are making me fat. Nobody is finishing
these things but me. Yours look good, and I'm glad
you enjoyed them.

Elaine said...

I love it when you really dread something so much and then when you finally experience it or in this case make it, you end up enjoying it much more than you ever thought you would. I'm glad you enjoyed these. I also did because I love the sweet salty combo. Beautiful photo of the sea dragon! Thanks for the book recommendation - I will check it out. Have a lovely weekend! Hope you are getting over your cold.

Candy (Dulce) said...

I liked these too! I got some mixed reviews when I initially served them (as Dorie suggested - as a "nibble" with white wine), but I was shocked that when I brought leftovers to the office, literally everyone loved them.

I agree, very more ish. I think other flavor combinations would be good too.

Kathy said...

I really enjoyed these, too! Surprisingly delicious..I loved the salty~sweet taste! Even my husband, who is not an adventurous eater, enjoyed them! Yours look lovely and I’m glad you and your colleagues enjoyed them!

Trevor Sis Boom said...

I didn't bring my 'extras' to work because I figured nobody sips wine there. lol. Perhaps I should have because although I liked them well enough, the people around me at home couldn't quite figure out what to do with them.

Frankly Entertaining said...

I was a little apprehensive about these at first, but they turned out to be a huge success with my little kids. I guess you never know until you try!

The Caked Crusader said...

I have to admit the name isn't the most attractive...but then, when I thought about it, it didn't seem that different to say, a salted caramel. They sound interestin and I love the tiny weedy sea dragon!

Mary Hirsch said...

I was glad I tried this recipe but just could not get to the "addictive" or "remove the plate from my office" stage. Sometimes food is just not worth the calories and I would rather have that second glass of wine rather than a seaweed sablé. Still, I am rethinking my verdict and may put them on a plate, adding that Pink Himalayan salt, for the cocktail table during the holidays. Kinda the red/green look! BTW, I am trying to subscribe to your Blog but cannot find the place to do that. Help!

Cakelaw said...

Hi Mary, I am a technical Luddite and until right now, did not have a subscribe feature - I have just added one under the Foodbuzz advertising. Sorry about that.

Unknown said...

You have so much discipline ;-) I have trouble removing cookies from myself,lol! Everybody liked these seaweed cookies so I guess I'll give them a try myself;-)