This IS a recipe, but I have a story to tell first: The summers between 5th grade and 7th grade I stayed with my great-aunt and great uncle in France. They lived in Nice, in the same tiny apartment that my grandmother grew up in. On the weekends we went and stayed at their chalet…
Category: French recipes
POMMES DE TERRE AU LARD: Potatoes With Bacon
Lard actually means bacon in French, rather than the rendered pig fat that the word means in English. This can be confusing sometimes. The word for lard in French is saindoux. With all the potatoes in the garden, and the bacon curing process finally finished, I decided to give this recipe a try. When…
POMMES DE TERRE A LA MAITRE D’HOTEL
In the garden, the potato plants have keeled over and turned brown, a sign that they are not going to grow much larger, and are ready to dig. They are not as large as they have been in other years, perhaps because it has been very dry and I haven’t irrigated them. But they taste,…
SOUPE A L’OIGNON: Onion Soup
The onions are bulbing beautifully. This year we were careful not to water them, and they are keeping very well. They are very strong – I’ve never shed so many tears while slicing onions before. Through gardening, I have not only been impressed by how much flavor home-grown vegetables have, but also the remarkable lack…
CARROTTES A LA MENAGERE
I finally got some carrots from the garden this season. I have been making do with inferior store carrots. My first planting did not like the hot weather in the fall, but the second planting was finally ready to pull. It’s always a challenge to actually get carrots into the kitchen: they are very popular…
OMELETTE AUX FINES HERBES
I often make omelets for breakfast, and I thought I knew quite well how to cook them. Following this recipe, however, the omelet turned out extra good. I was also glad to find a recipe that called for chervil, as it is still thriving well in my garden. This recipe is also in two parts…
RESTES DE POULET: A LA VIENNOISE
Leftover chicken is never as good as the first day it was cooked. The white meat dries out, and the skin is no longer crispy. I have a usual repertoire of chicken salad, chicken omelets, chicken and rice, and chicken soup in which I make use of the leftovers. But this recipe blew all of…
POT-AU-FEU (French Beef Stew)
What do you think of when you think of French cuisine? Most people will imagine rich cheeses, baguettes and wine. Steak Tartare or French onion soup. Or maybe teeny, tiny blobs of food on a huge plate, like French Laundry. This week’s recipe is THE classic French supper. This is the dish that Gervaise Macquart,…
COEUR DE BOEUF – Beef Heart Stew
Now that we have lots of beef, it will be easy to find recipes in La Cuisine to try. As R. Blondeau says, “Beef is the base of our cuisine; if the flavor and quality changes with the cuts of meat used, it remains nutritious and enjoyable.” Most of the beef from last week is…
HORS-D’OEUVRES DE LEGUMES: LES RADIS
I usually grow the long, white daikon radishes for pickling in my fall/winter garden. They take about as much space as some of the smaller radishes, but they can get enormous. The winter rains and cold snaps make them sweet and delicious. This fall, my first planting was fiery hot and spicy because of…
OEUFS DUR AUX CREVETTES – Hard-Cooked Eggs With Shrimp
With Valentine’s day just behind us, all the stores seem to have seafood on sale. Ethan found some good shrimp for me. Shrimp was my favorite childhood food. Ethan was always crazy about salmon, but he feels funny if he eats shrimp. On the rare occasions we get seafood, it’s invariably salmon, not shrimp. So…
POTAGE AU POTIRON (Pumpkin Soup)
Here is the next French recipe from “La Cuisine,” featuring two things we’ve got from the farm: Pumpkins from last year’s summer garden (I still have six! The Seminoles keep so long!) and milk. According to Chef R. Blondeau (the author), soup must be served at the beginning of dinner if it is not part…
Toadstools And Fairy Rings 