Preparation : 20 minutes – Cooking time : 20 minutes
Necessary equipment: Non-stick
Crèpes Suzette
Category Archives: French Recipes
Quince Jelly Recipe
Quince Jelly Recipe
Quince is our last jelly-jam of the year before the winter cold arrives. While we are enjoying the most glorious autumn, the morning freezes are arriving and I figured this is the last chance to get those remaining quinces and make some nice jelly to enjoy this winter. This strange and inedible fruit makes a sublime red jelly that goes so well with foie gras or served with game.
Ingredients
1 and 1/2 kilos of quince
800 grams of sugar
Instructions
- Peel the quinces and cut in 4ths. Then cut out the cores and tie them up, with the peels in a cheese cloth. Put this and the quince into a pot and just cover with water, about 1.5 - 2 liters.
- Bring to a boil, cover and let cook about 45 mn on a medium fire, until the quinces are very tender.
- Then drain all of this (peels and cores too) in a large sieve, pressing at the end to obtain more juice.
- If your sieve has large holes, put a cheese cloth inside to prevent the pulp from passing as this would make your jelly a bit murky.
- Measure the juice you’ve obtained and count 800 grams of sugar for 1 kilo of juice.
- Put this into a pan, on the fire and add sugar, the juice of 1 lemon and a vanilla pod (optional).
- Bring to a boil and let cook until it reaches 104° - 105°Celcius.
- This takes from 20 - 30 minutes.
- As soon as it has reached this temperature, the jelly is done.
- Pour while hot into sterilised pots and let cool.
Salade Tri Color
Salade Tri Color
Ingredients
Red Bell Peppers
Green Beans
Mushrooms
Instructions
- Marinated Red Bell Peppers
- Red bell peppers, thinly sliced garlic cloves, olive oil and salt.
- In a hot oven, roast peppers just long enough for the skin to start blackening but not too long as to cook the peppers, otherwise they will be mushy. Peel skin while still hot and take out all seeds and inside membranes. Then slice lengthwise.
- In a square or rectangular dish or tupperware place a layer of peppers, then salt, garlic slices and cover with olive oil. Keep layering in the same manner until all peppers are used, then cover and refrigerate. This is good to eat a day later and you can keep it easily for a week.
- Extra-fine Green Beans “al-dente”
- This is best with the super extra-fine greens beans that usually come from Kenya but otherwise use the finest you can get, take out strings.
- If you only find bigger ones, cut lengthwise.
- Bring to boil a large pot of water, add lots of salt, and then the green beans.
- The salt is very important to keep them from discoloring.
- When cooked to a still-slightly-crunchy state, take out of hot water and immediately cool in cold running water.
- Refrigerate and when ready to serve, add vinaigrette to taste.
- If serving hot, just reheat in a pan with a very little water in the bottom.
- The key to keeping them green is the very hot water, salt and cooling immediately, so even if you plan to serve hot, you should do all this and then heat up again.
- Mushroom Salad
- Rinse mushrooms under cold running water (do not immerse) just enough to get any dirt off.
- Slice thinly, with a good knife, to get pretty and neat slices. Immediately add a little lemon juice to prevent coloring.
- Just before serving add vinaigrette.
- Arrange the three ingredients on plates in a pretty and neat way (I use my hands).
Roasted-Marinated Bell Peppers
Roasted-Marinated Red Bell Peppers
Ingredients
Red bell peppers
Salt
(I use Fleur de Sel but regular salt is fine)
Garlic cloves
Olive oil
Instructions
- Heat the oven broiler to 400F and arrange a rack in the upper third of the oven.
- Put a sheet of foil in the bottom as the liquid from the peppers will drop down.
- When oven is hot place the peppers directly on the rack and roast, turning once so they blacken a bit on both sides, about 15-20 minutes.
- Remove from oven, place in a plastic bag and let cool for about 20 minutes.
- Peel the skins off and slice open to get out all the seeds, liquid and cut out the membranes.
- Then cut in strips lengthwise about 1/3 “ wide.
- Place strips neatly in a rectangular or square shaped container layer by layer.
- Sprinkle each layer with salt, garlic and cover with olive oil.
- Refrigerate.
- I suggest you prepare a day or more in advance and you can keep this well refrigerated for at least a week.
Rabbit in a Riesling Jelly
Rabbit in a Riesling Jelly
Ingredients
1 rabbit - completely de-boned, gutted, etc.
Try to get your rabbit provider to do this for you as it is quite a lot of trouble to do yourself (but do-able).
Thin slices of back fat (barde), enough to line the bottom of the terrine.
250 grams of thick bacon slices, cut into small strips
2 carrots- sliced
2 small to medium onions – finely sliced
2 bay leaves
2 cups of white wine, preferably riesling
1 shot glass of cognac
2 sheets of gelatin or 1 envelope of unflavored gelatin powder (Knox?)
Thyme, salt and pepper
Instructions
- Line the bottom of a terrine with fat strips.
- Put a layer of rabbit, then bacon pieces, onions, carrots, salt, pepper thyme and bay leaves (torn into bits).
- Continue making several layers until all ingredients are placed in terrine (do not press the ingredients down because you want to keep air pockets that the wine and gelatin can fill in). Cover with wine.
- Put cover on terrine and bake in oven at 350° Fahrenheit, for 1-½ hours.
- Then add cognac and finish baking for another 30 minutes.
- When terrine is done baking, carefully pour out hot liquid and mix with the gelatin powder.
- If you are using gelatin sheets, soften them in cold water for 5 minute beforehand.
- Then re-pour this gelatin-wine-cognac mixture back over the rabbit terrine. Refrigerate overnight or longer!
- Serve cold, sliced, on lettuce leaf and with some pickles.
- Trick to getting it out of the terrine: Soak briefly in hot water, just enough so that it comes out of terrine when turned upside down. You should pass a knife around the sides before turning upside down. I recommend you cutting the slices yourself before serving as it will fall apart easily. Use a very sharp or electric knife. You can also cut and serve directly from the terrine mold if you will only be serving some of the slices.
Omelette Mère Poulard (Mother Poulard)
Omelette Mère Poulard (Mother Poulard)
Mère Poulard makes the most legendary omelette in France. Cooked over an open fire, in a copper pan with a very long handle. Although her recipe is a well kept secret, many french chefs claim to know the secret and there is a plethora of theories.. no whites, whites whipped separately, adding creme fraiche, using good fresh normandy butter, etc etc. But no one really knows! So if you visit Mont Saint Michel, and can afford a €35 omelette, it’s a historic experience.
Ingredients
4 eggs
12 cl of creme fraiche
Salt and pepper
40 gr of butter
Optional: Mushrooms, cheese and lardons.
Instructions
- In a bowl, crack open 2 eggs.
- Add the yolks of 2 more, leaving 2 whites aside.
- Whip the eggs on low speed for 5 minutes and add the creme fraiche, beating for another 3 minutes.
- Add salt and pepper.
- Whip the 2 other whites into soft peaks and fold gently into the rest of the eggs.
- Melt butter in a non-stick frying pan and pour egg mixture into the hot pan.
- Cook slowly until the surface is still slightly liquid, fold in half, about 5 minutes.
- If you add cheese, sprinkle on top while cooking.
- Mushrooms and Lardons should be fried separately and sprinkled on top before folding.
- Serve immediately while it’s still hot, with a green salad and/or fried potatos.
Salt Crusted Sea Bass
Salt Crusted Sea Bass
Ingredients
• 1 very fresh fish, preferably sea bass or other fish with good scales.
Be sure to keep head, tail and scales but empty and cut off the fins.
• Rock salt, enough to create a bed under the fish and cover the fish with about
½ inch thickness (approximately 4/5 kilos for a 1.5 kilo fish).
* Egg whites 1-3 depending on how big your fish is and therefore how much salt
you will use (approx. 3 whites for 4 kilos of salt).
• Herbes such as rosemary and thyme or herbes de provence.
• Optional, lemon, celery, fennel or bay leaf.
Instructions
- Heat oven to 475° F.
- Pour rock salt into a large bowl, Mix in egg whites and herbes, with your hands or 2 big spoons until homogenously moistened.
- Stuff the empty fish cavity with lemons and bay leaf, or other things that inspire you like fennel.
- Put approximately 1/3 of the salt into the bottom of large roasting pan. Pack firmly the remaining salt over fish to completely cover it. This creates a crust that seals in the moisture.
- Bake at 475 degrees F
- Aproximately 30-35 minutes for a 1.5 kilo fish.
- Let rest out of oven for another 10 minutes
- In the baking pan, crack the crust with a knife and peel off salt crust, carefully.
- Clear all the salt away from fish or it will be too salty.
- Then peel off skin with a knife and spoon and serve.
- I generally serve directly from the baking pan because it is difficult to maneuver the fish without getting the salt all over.
- Serve with a Beurre Blanc and Steamed Potatoes or Braised Endives.
Salade Frisée aux Lardons
Salade Frisée aux Lardons
Ingredients
1 head of Chicory lettuce,
Lardons(thick slices of bacon cut in small strips-see image)
Eggs (1 or more)
Vinaigrette
Instructions
- Wash and spin dry chicory, cut or tear into small bits and place in a large bowl to be able to mix with vinaigrette more easily.
- Fry up lardons (I keep the fat and pour over salad).
- Boil eggs to “soft-boiled”…. 4 1/2 – 5 minutes in a large pot of boiling water with a little vinegar. To prevent eggs shells from cracking, I pour lots of salt over them while carefully placing them in simmering water.
- Vinegar makes the egg white coagulate in case the shells do crack.
- While eggs are boiling, mix chicory with vinaigrette, place in serving bowl.
- This is best served in a large “open” bowl.
- Sprinkle lardons over the salad and drizzle fat over(optional).
- When eggs are cooked, hopefully just right, crack the shell in half, with a knife, and slice through the egg.
- Spoon out egg halves carefully and place on top of salad.
- Salt and pepper the eggs and serve immediately while eggs are still warm.
Moroccan Chicken (Poulet Marocain)
Moroccan Chicken
Ingredients
1 nice big chicken
1 large onion, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 big moroccan pickled lemons
Green olives (pitted)
1-2 cups water or chicken broth
Olive oil, salt
2 tsp of Ras El Hanout
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1-2 cups water or chicken broth
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250°C
- Rub oil all over chicken and sprinkle with salt.
- Bake in oven for approximately 1 hour.
- While chicken is roasting, chop onions and brown in a little olive oil
- in a large pan.
- Add Ras El Hanout, cumin, turmeric, and pepper to onions.
- Cook about 10 minutes, stirring, until onion is cooked.
- Add chopped tomatoes. Cut lemons into small slices and add to pan.
- Add a little water (or chicken broth) and let simmer, adding liquid
- regularly to always have just the right saucy-juicy consistency.
- When chicken is done, take out of pan and carve, then arrange on a
- serving platter and keep warm.
- Mix the “jus”of the chicken in with the sauce and pour sauce around chicken.
- Serve immediately with plain couscous
Crémet d’Angers
Crémet d'Angers
Ingredients
300 grams of fromage blanc
The closest thing would be farmer’s cheese or cottage cheese
75 grams of white sugar
20 centiliters of whipping cream
2 egg whites (use the yolks for mayonnaise!)
Instructions
- Drain cheese for 24 hours (Draining containers: 1 per person or 1 big one)
- Prepare small containers that have draining baskets inside, lining them with gauze
- Beat the cheese with sugar until smooth
- Whip the cream until well whipped
- Beat egg whites until they hold a soft peak
- Blend the 3 ingredients very gently and fill containers as full as possible
- Let drain for another 24 hours in refrigerator
- When ready to serve, take draining basket out of container and carefully turn over onto plate, peeling the gauze off carefully
- Serve with a Rasberry Coulis
7 Hour Lamb
7 Hour Lamb
There are many versions of this in France, a classic dish that is often served on Easter Sunday. This is my “Lots to do today+Dinner party+No time to slave away in the kitchen” version. You will impress your guests as they dig in with a spoon and they will think you did spend your day cooking!
Ingredients
1 leg of lamb
Keep the bone in but have just enough cut off so that it fits in your dutch oven. Oval ones work best.
10 garlic cloves
6 tomatoes
3-4 onions
1- 1/2 cups of beef bouillon
Beer or red wine to cover leg of lamb
I use a Belgian Abbey beer, Leffe Blond
Herbes de provence
(savory, marjoram, rosemary, thyme, oregano)
Espelette pepper (Basque chili pepper)
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Brown well the leg of lamb on both sides in the dutch oven with a little oil or butter. Throw in whole garlic cloves and let them brown a little.
- Cut onions into 6-8 parts and brown in another frying pan.
- Cut tomatoes into 4ths then add the onions and tomatoes to the lamb.
- Add herbes, peppers, beef bouillon and then add beer or wine to just barely cover the lamb.
- Bring this to a simmer and keep it at a very low simmer for 7 hours.
- Be careful not to let boil strongly as this will toughen the lamb.
- Half way through, carefully turn the leg over with 2 large spatulas or very large spoons.
- 30 minutes (or earlier) before you are ready to serve, if there is too much liquid in the pot, raise the heat to reduce this to a nice thick saucy consistence. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed.
- Carefully lift the lamb out, keeping it on one piece, and place into a serving plate, deep enough to hold the sauce and vegetables. Serve with large spoon.
- I serve this with couscous/semolina in a separate dish.
Mousseline de Choufleur Caviar
Mousseline Choufleur Caviar
Ingredients
½ cauliflower broken/cut into bouquets
1 cube of chicken bouillon
20 cl (1cup) of whipping cream* (crème liquide)
juice of ½ of a lemon
a “filet” (Tbsp) of hazelnut oil
caviar or lumpfish roe (black fish eggs)
salt and pepper
Instructions
- Boil a pot of water with the chicken bouillon.
- Wash the cauliflower bouquets and put in boiling water (with the chicken bouillon) for about 15 minutes, until tender.
- Drain cauliflower and mix in food processor or blender with ½ of the whipping crème, the lemon juice and hazelnut oil.
- Whip the other ½ of whipping cream until firm, add salt and pepper, then add this to the cauliflower preparation, folding in gently so that the whipped cream doesn’t fall.
- Put in pretty glasses or verrines and chill in refridgerator for 2 hours.
- Serve cool/cold with a small spoon of caviar or lump eggs on top.
- 20 centiliters is equivalent to 0.84 cups but you can use a full cup!
- http://www.convertunits.com/from/cL/to/cup
