Mousse au chocolat

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Meg

chocolate mousse1This is a mousse for serious chocolate lovers. Its deeply seductive flavor comes from the combination of high-quality dark chocolate with cognac and whipped crème fraîche. If that sounds too devilish to you, or if you will be making your mousse for the younger set, you may omit the brandy and substitute dark coffee or vanilla. For best results, buy a couple of imported bars with a chocolate content of 70 percent. You won’t regret it.

Mousse au chocolat / Dark chocolate mousse

There are various culinary approaches to mousse. The most common, in France, is to include butter with the chocolate and eggs. Instead of butter this version instead uses cream, which I find makes a lighter mousse and one not quite so rich. It allows the flavor of the chocolate to dominate while producing the melt-in-your-mouth quality you seek from this sort of dessert. If the mousse is not sweet enough for your taste, serve with a dollop or spritz of sweet whipped cream on top.

Posted in Desserts | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Gratin de courgettes

Posted on October 11, 2012 by Meg

gratin-courgettes3Zucchini infused with thyme, garlic and nutmeg and topped with a crust of bubbling cheese — it sounds as good as it tastes. But the best thing about this dish is how easy it is to make. In the time it takes to heat up the oven, you can steam the zucchini, grate the cheese, combine the cream and seasonings, and presto — it’s ready to bake. You may need to double or triple the recipe, because it will have your happy diners clamoring for seconds.

Gratin de courgettes / Zucchini gratin

The gratin is a staple of French cuisine but every chef has a different way of preparing it. Which means you can use your imagination to create variants of this dish — experimenting with different cheeses, for example, or combining the zucchini with another vegetable.

A word on cheese. My friend Ann Mah, an elegant writer on food and travel, has a new feature on her web site every Tuesday in which she invites another food blogger to share his or her midweek cooking secrets, most recently David Lebovitz. Through this feature I discovered Chez Loulou, a site that includes a terrific guide to French cheese. France reputedly counts a cheese for every day of the week — as De Gaulle famously said, ‘How can you govern a country that has 365 cheeses?’ In fact there are many more French cheeses than that, making a guide both interesting and useful.

The gratin may be served as a side dish or as the main dish of a light meal, preceded or followed by a salad. It will marry well with a sturdy red wine.

Posted in 8. Vegetables | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Pavé de cabillaud tout simple

Posted on October 10, 2012 by Meg

pan-seared cod3Flaky, white, infused with lemon and a touch of thyme, pan-seared cod with its golden exterior is a dish to daydream about. And maybe, in the not too distant future, merely to dream about — for cod, once an abundantly plentiful fish, has been on and off the endangered species list for more than a decade. Within our lifetimes it may well disappear completely in markets from Paris and Lisbon to New York. If it’s available these days, it can be pricey. But it’s worth it, in my opinion.

Pavé de cabillaud tout simple / Pan-seared cod with thyme

Instead of debating the ethical issues of eating cod in the 21st century (issues of which there are plenty, but we have the comment space on this page for that), I’d like to bring you up to date with some site news.

Today marks once month since I launched The Everyday French Chef as an experiment, not knowing what would ensue. The result so far has surpassed my hopes. Yesterday, we had our 2,000th page view — a milestone that felt particularly well timed! As of today, I’ve begun building up the Menus section of the site with suggestions for quick seasonal everyday meals — cooking time of 20-30 minutes — composed of dishes that have already appeared on this site. Coming soon: Menus for weekends and special occasions.

If you have been enjoying the site, please don’t hesitate to subscribe by clicking on the little envelope at the top of the page. This will bring a daily email update to your inbox informing you of the recipe of the day. And please feel free to share these recipes with your friends. Many thanks for your support!

Meg Bortin

Posted in 5. Fish and Shellfish | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Salade d’automne

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Meg

autumn salad1This salad is as easy to make as it is tasty, with mixed greens, prosciutto, walnuts, garlic and a touch of mint. It makes a great first course at dinner, works well as a light meal preceded by soup, and has enough star quality to serve as a main course at lunch, perhaps with a bit of cheese to follow. You can use any number of greens, for this salad is a variation on mesclun — the Provençal salad mixture that has become ubiquitous in France.

Salade d’automne / Autumn salad with country ham and walnuts

Traditionally, to merit its name, mesclun (from a Latin word meaning ‘to mix’) had to be made from at least seven types of greens and herbs, among them chervil. I have seen and tasted mesclun made with a broad variety of leaves, and even with flowers — orange nasturtiums, for example, or purple chive flowers. But they are neither necessary nor desirable in this salad, for they would clash with the fantastic combination of walnuts and garlic that is not only delicious but also a staple of the kind of cuisine that has made Georgians — from the Caucasus, not the States — one of the longest living peoples on earth. The mint adds a rustic flavor that will have your guests begging for more.

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Soupe au potiron

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Meg

soupe potiron1When the days grow shorter and the nights brisker, one’s thoughts might turn to soup. And not just any soup — a thick, warming kind, like this pumpkin soup. It is both spicy and light, with just a touch of cream. A dash of cumin and squeeze of lemon add an edge to the natural sweetness of the pumpkin. You may prepare this soup using water or homemade broth. It takes just 10-15 minutes, not counting the cooking time (during which you may prepare the rest of the meal, or read a book or some such).

Soupe au potiron / Pumpkin soup

If you don’t have vegetable or chicken broth on hand, begin by making it. The broth recipes are included in today’s soup recipe, and also appear on the site separately in a new category called Basics. Over the next few weeks I will begin adding the main sauces used in French cooking to this category, from salad dressings like mustard vinaigrette to mayonnaise, hollandaise and beurre blanc. Dessert basics like pâte sucrée (sweet pie crust) and meringues will also be appearing in this category. Happy cooking!

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Clafoutis aux poires

Posted on October 5, 2012 by Meg

The beauty of the clafoutis is that it is so easy to make. An unpretentious French dessert, it is typically prepared in the spring, with cherries. But why wait half a year to enjoy it? In this late-summer version, pears are first caramelized and then baked in a batter of eggs, sugar, flour and milk. The result, served at tea time or after a meal,  is mouth-wateringly delicious.

Clafoutis aux poires / Pear flan

How this dessert got its name has various interpretations, but the origin that seems most plausible combines a Latin word meaning “to fill” and a French word meaning “to throw everything in.” For that is how it’s made. Once the pears are browning in butter and sugar, you throw the other ingredients into a mixing bowl, stir well and you’re done. A few moments later you have composed the dessert. Barricade your kitchen, because the aroma is so tempting that your entire household will descend on you.

Site news: We’ve been up for four weeks now, and I have to say it has really been fun. If you like the site, please subscribe by email — simply click on the envelope above and you will receive a daily update with a link to the latest recipe. FaceBook subscriptions will also be available soon.

The Everyday French Chef will be back on Monday. Happy cooking!

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Raviolis à la sauge

Posted on October 4, 2012 by Meg

ravioli sage1You’re right, you’re right. This is an Italian dish, not a French one, and more specifically a Tuscan dish — as I discovered one happy summer when some friends and I wandered down a country lane near Montalcino, past vineyards and noble cypress trees, and happened upon an outdoor trattoria  too enticing to resist. There was no menu, only the chef’s selection of the day. When the pasta course arrived — plump cheese ravioli exuding the lusty aroma of sage — we knew that we, too, had arrived at something special.

Raviolis à la sauge / Cheese pasta with sage

This dish is now Parisian as well, and not just because I’ve been making it in my Paris kitchen for the last 20 years. I see it occasionally on bistro menus — hardly surprising, since anyone who has tasted it once will want to try it again and again. If fresh sage is not available where you live, I strongly suggest you invest in a packet of seeds and grow some on your windowsill. It grows easily and hardily. Once established, you will have all the sage you need for the kitchen on a beautiful plant that cloaks itself in purple flowers in the spring. This dish may be served the first course of a large meal or on its own as the main course with a salad on the side.

 

Posted in 1. Starters, 9. Pasta, Rice, Grains | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Côtelettes d’agneau au romarin

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Meg

lamb rosemary2Rosemary grows wild in the hills of southern France, the kind of hills where shepherds still accompany their sheep in a constant search for green pastures. Maybe this is why the flavors of rosemary and lamb marry so well. Whether cooking for one, two or a crowd, this recipe is quick and ultra easy to prepare. One suggestion would be to serve the lamb with a purée of carrots — also easy to prepare and, as my student Louise would say, divine.

Cotelettes d’agneau au romarin / Lamb chops with rosemary
Purée de carottes / Carrot purée

carrot puree1Vegetable purées are served often in French cuisine — in restaurants and at home — and I will be adding many such recipes to this site as time goes on: cabbage, fennel, celery root, to name just a few of my favorites. Their simplicity complements the complexity of meat, but they are also delicious served on their own, with a salad on the side and some cheese to follow. If you would like to serve purées as a main dish, double the recipe.

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Coquilles saint-jacques au muscat

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Meg

sea scallops1Scallops sautéed to a glorious crispness, their hearts meltingly tender, with the pungency of garlic and thyme infusing a sauce of ethereal sweetness… That is what this recipe produces, and it takes no more than 10 minutes to prepare. Served on a bed of salad greens, it makes a spectacular starter or light lunch dish, and has star quality as a main dish in its own right.

Coquilles saint-jacques au muscat / Scallops sautéed in sweet wine

In former times one had to live near the sea to have access to scallops, but that is no longer the case thanks to the advent of high-quality frozen seafood. The results are almost as good with frozen scallops as with fresh ones, or arguably better if you consider the convenience factor. With scallops in your freezer you can produce this dish at a moment’s notice. As for the vin de muscat — not to be confused with muscadet! — it is a pale yellow sweet wine that has been produced in various regions across southern France since ancient times. My favorite is Frontignan, as much for the beauty of the bottle as for the delicate flavor. If muscat is not available where you live, the recipe works well with any number of sweet wines, from sweet sherry to apple jack.

Posted in 1. Starters, 3. Salads, 5. Fish and Shellfish | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Pâté de foies de volaille au cassis

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Meg

pate with cassis1First, the news. It is now possible to subscribe to this site. To receive daily email updates from The Everyday French Chef, just click the link on the upper right of this page. And now, the recipe. Although pâté is quintessentially French, there are as many ways of making it as there are regions across this multifacted land. This version is unusual in that it is flavored with crème de cassis, the black currant liqueur from Burgundy that is popular over here in the white wine cocktail known as kir. The cassis gives the pâté a slightly sweet tang (no, that’s not a contradiction), as you’ll see if you try it.

Pâté de foies de volaille au cassis / Chicken liver pâté with cassis

More traditionally, pâté is flavored with cognac or port, either of which may be substituted in this recipe with happy results. More variations: add a little fresh sage when you add the thyme, or crumble in a hot cayenne pepper for additional kick. Or, when you’re ready to serve, chop some fresh herbs on top — dill, cilantro and chervil  work well. This pâté is a nice start to a meal served with a little salad on the side, with other hors d’oeuvres, or simply on its own.

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