I like the challenge of going into the kitchen and creating a dish with whatever ingredients happen to be around. So the other day I made a zingy salad from a couple handfuls of lettuce leaves bathed in a garlicky mustard vinaigrette, topped with croutons straight out of the oven. I didn’t exactly create it because I’ve been making this salad for years. The pleasure was in finding the fridge nearly bare and still being able to produce a tasty lunch.
Salade à l’ail aux croutons / Salad with garlic and croutons
Usually I serve this salad as a first course, followed by anything from steak or Provençal chicken to pasta, for example penne à l’arrabiata or spaghetti with garlic and olive oil — these last two choices being vegan, like the salad itself. The point being that this salad packs a punch and deserves a main dish that will not be overwhelmed by the garlic. If you like, you can top the salad with crispy bacon cubes in addition to the croutons.
As we head toward spring, I’m finding myself increasingly wanting salads after a long, wintry spell of indulging in comfort food. And I’m not alone. The most popular recipe on this site has long been salade verte à la française, the classic French salad of Boston lettuce in a mustard vinaigrette, first published nearly eight years ago.
I find this surprising, and yet the statistics are there. As you may have noticed, there’s a list of Most Popular Recipes at the top right of this page. I update it from time to time using the Site Stats module attached to my web publishing software. I checked just now, and that basic French salad is right up at the top — for the past week, the past month and since it first appeared, with more than 30,000 of the site’s 1 million plus views over time.
Of course, looking at statistics over time doesn’t give a true picture of what’s currently most popular, because recipes that were posted several years back can accumulate more views than newer recipes. I recently tried to add a list showing which recipes had been most popular over a shorter period but, being technically challenged, I failed.
Maybe I’ll manage some day. In the meantime, here are some dishes that didn’t make the all-time top 10 but were among the past year’s 10 most popular: couscous royal (couscous with lamb, chicken and merguez), cerises à l’eau de vie (cherries in brandy), poule au pot (chicken boiled with vegetables) and artichauts vinaigrette (artichokes with vinaigrette).
Why these recipes? I have no idea, but suspect that somewhere along the line someone may have tweeted them or linked to them, sparking a burst of interest among people who then retweeted them, sparking more interest. This happened last August when someone with a huge Twitter following tweeted my recipe for coulibiac (fish pie in puff pastry), causing the site to crash repeatedly for a day due to the increased volume of clicks. And by the way, coulibiac briefly bounced French green salad out of the top spot as a result.
I find it interesting to try to imagine why certain very simple recipes remain consistently popular — for example, porc grillé aux herbes de Provence may sound sexy in French but it’s basically just pork chops. Yet it’s in the number two spot. And what’s so special about oeufs mimosa, the French version of deviled eggs, which features in the past year’s top 20, just behind the more exotic roast quail? And why do French classics like boeuf bourguignon or blanquette de veau rank well down on the all-time list?
It’s a puzzle. Perhaps it’s the very simplicity of certain dishes that explains their appeal — in which case this week’s salad with garlic and croutons fits the bill.
Happy cooking.
A couple years back I was served this intensely flavorful French dish of lamb and beans on a cold winter’s evening by an English friend who happens to be a superlative cook. Snow was drifting down outside her cottage as a maddeningly delicious aroma wafted from the kitchen — rosemary, thyme, bacon, garlic, tomato and lamb. When I asked for the recipe, she said she didn’t have one — she’d been making it so long that she did it by instinct.
This is a French take on that cold-weather classic, split pea soup. A traditional dish in Alsace, where it is known as as erbsesupp, it has a smoky flavor, imparted by bacon, while a drizzle of cream lends a soothing touch. It’s hearty enough to stand on its own as a lunch dish, perhaps accompanied by melted cheese on toast or some cold cuts. And it can be made in less than an hour.
This festive chocolate-pear dessert is the brainchild of the chef 
Preparation is fun. Pear halves are sautéd in butter and sugar until they caramelize and are meltingly tender. The ganache, a classic of French cuisine, is a mixture of high-quality dark chocolate and warm cream, stirred together until they form a smooth, rich sauce. The dessert is refrigerated until set, and may then be served sliced — or whole, to achieve a Yule log effect.
The site now counts more than 400 recipes — phew! — and I have a list as long as my arm of recipes still to come. Most I have posted with a blog entry, but every so often I slip one in surreptitiously for inclusion in the site’s 
And so I leave you, dear readers, with hopes that 2021 will be a year of peace, joy and a return to life as we’ve known it. The Everyday French Chef will be on vacation on New Year’s Day, with my next post arriving on Friday, Jan. 8. Until then, here’s wishing you good health, happy holidays — and happy cooking.
Pastilla, a splendid savory pie, is worth a thought for a festive dinner as we gallop toward the holiday season. Crisp pastry encases chicken and almonds simmered to melt-in-your-mouth tenderness in exotic spices. The pie is sprinkled with powdered sugar to lend a seductive sweetness that will have your guests asking for more. But beware — making pastilla is a bit of a production. In other words, this is not an everyday dish
Pastilla was traditionally made with pigeon, but these days chicken is generally used. In France, pastilla is often served as small individual pies. But for a festive occasion like Christmas, New Year’s or Hanukah, a large pie makes an impressive presentation. One pie will serve 10 as a starter or 6-8 as a main dish. Preparation takes several hours, but if you’ve got the time and the patience, it’s well worth the effort.
Paris bistros often serve fish in a lemony cream sauce that I’ve never seen served in a French home. Why not, one wonders? It proved remarkably easy to prepare when I tried it out in my kitchen the other day after scouting around online for tips. And the beauty of this sauce is that it may be served over any type of filleted fish — cod, haddock, salmon, sea bass, you name it — and would also be delicious over scallops, lobster or other shellfish.
The sauce is a mixture of cream, butter, lemon juice, salt, pepper and fresh herbs. Chives are traditional, but you can branch out and use the herb or your choice, for example dill, tarragon, cilantro, thyme, parsley or chervil. Unlike sauces involving egg yolks (
A pumpkin soufflé might be just the ticket this year for those of us who are under lockdown but still want to celebrate Thanksgiving. Here in Paris, where the lockdown is in effect until at least Dec. 1, a friend and I who give a gala dinner every year have begun thinking about how to get creative when gatherings are essentially banned. For the moment, we’re planning a twosome — meaning roast turkey with stuffing is off the menu. What is to be done?
My role as the token American was supposed to be simple — to make cranberry sauce and bring it to Blanc’s table in Vonnas, just south of Burgundy. At the last minute, I was asked to provide cornbread as well (oops, not my specialty). When we sat down, Georges Blanc produced a roast turkey unlike any I’d tasted before — stuffed with veal, pork, walnuts and thyme — and a fabulous 
Strong drink may be needed to get through the next couple of weeks, so here’s a rum cocktail from the French Antilles and crispy cod fritters to go with it. The cocktail, ti punch, is based on rhum agricole, a clear rum distilled from cane sugar juice with a flavor remarkably different from other rums on the market. Add some lime juice and raw sugar, and your mood will definitely improve. The fritters are fun to make and come with a spicy salsa.
Let’s start with the cocktail. 
Now for the fritters. 
The fritters marry well with 
Some days you just need a nice bowl of soup. And the French take on broccoli soup is just right for easing body and soul given the climate of this turbulent autumn (and I’m not talking about the weather). The basic recipe is ultrasimple. Broccoli is simmered with potato, leek, and garlic, then puréed to smoothness. Add a dash of lemon juice, stir in some cream and top with croutons. That’s the French way — but there are many variations…
You can go Italian, stirring in some olive oil and topping each bowl with grated parmesan. For a Spanish flavor, add chorizo chips. Or — one of my favorites — skip the cream and instead add finely grated ginger and a swirl of coconut milk. All of these versions are healthy and tasty, and two are vegan — with croutons (no cream), and with ginger and coconut milk.
One day a colleague of mine at the International Herald Tribune arrived with a bagful of quinces and handed it over. ‘Do you know what to do with these?’ he asked. Thus began my adventure in cooking with quince, a fruit I had rarely encountered before. Every autumn I try my hand at one dish or another. This year, I made chicken with quinces, a dish richly spiced with cumin, cinnamon, coriander and saffron, and sweetened with honey.
If you’ve never encountered a quince, it’s an exquisitely perfumed yellow fruit that looks like a cross between an apple and a pear. In France, it is mainly used to make pâte de coings, a sturdy jelly that is served in sugar-coated squares. In Spain, this firm jelly is known as membrillo and is served with Manchego cheese. Other countries, like Iran and Azerbaijan, use quinces in various savory dishes, often paired with lamb or poultry.
