This fluffy cheese omelet, a classic of French cuisine, is the last thing I expected to write about when I returned from Provence last week. I’d picked up three new recipes, including one for a fabulous garlic spread that is served in the region but largely unavailable elsewhere in France. Well, dear readers, I made it twice — and both times it was a dismal failure. So I consulted my fridge to see what else I could make on short notice…
Omelette au fromage / Cheese omelet
Yes, I had eggs, yes I had a block of cheese, yes I had a little butter and olive oil as well as some fresh basil to scatter over the omelet. Easy peasy. And to my surprise, I found that after posting recipes here for over a decade — there are now more than 500 on the site — I had never shared this absolutely essential French dish. There’s a technique to making it in the French style, and this is explained in the recipe.
Cheese omelets are served across France both at bistros, generally accompanied by French fries, and at home at lunchtime, suppertime and, more recently, also for brunch (a meal that is catching on over here, although not traditional). The cheese is generally Comté, Gruyère or Emmenthal, which hail from eastern France near the Swiss border. But I’ve experiemented a lot and can testify that this omelet is also delicious with cheddar, gouda with cumin and many other cheeses.
The omelet was a handy solution after my two attempts at crème d’ail resulted in a garlic spread that I wouldn’t serve to my dog, if I had one. No comparison to the version we picked up at the market in Apt, a charming town in Luberon region. After tasting it I wanted to ask the vendor for his recipe but, alas, the market is only on Saturdays and I was leaving on Thursday. Maybe next year.
The second recipe I picked up was for making green olives in the Provençal style. These superb olives are known as picholines. They’re available at farmers markets elsewhere in France but not always easy to find. The recipe came my way when the gregarious landlord of our rental stopped by to clean the pool and we began conversing about his olive trees. It’s a recipe I’d like to try, but unfortunately I don’t have a fruitful olive tree in Paris. (There’s a small one on my veranda, but this year it produced exactly one olive…).
The third recipe is for caponata, a Sicilian take on ratatouile that includes black olives, celery and capers as well as the other ingredients and is served cold, never hot. This deeply flavorful dish was brought to our table by our friend Christian, a superlative cook, and he was kind enough to share the recipe. But I’ll wait untili next summer to post it as I first need to check in with my Sicilian friend Gisella, another fabulous cook.
So there you have it. Even though it’s still officially summer and we’re in a new round of the Olympics here in Paris, there’s a whiff of autumn in the air. Residents who fled the first round are returning in droves, the kids go back to school on Monday and the first bounty of the fall season is appearing at markets. Today I bought girolles, the larger French cousin of chanterelles, and the year’s first plump grapes are also on offer.
Here’s wishing you a gentle rentrée (post-summer return to reality). And… happy cooking!
This dish of fish in a tomato-coconut-lime sauce hails from Brazil, where it is known as moqueca. I discovered it at the home of a friend in the English countryside, and found it so wonderful that I had to share it with you. Jane, the friend in question, learned to make it while her husband was serving as a senior British diplomat in Brasília. They entertained a lot and, as she put it, this is a great party dish because it can be largely prepared in advance.
This summery salad of roasted eggplant with tomatoes and sweet red pepper is a versatile dish that may be served as a starter, as a side dish, as part of a mezze spread or as the star of a vegetarian meal. It is similar to its French cousin, 
This deeply flavorful Moroccan dish of garlicky chicken infused with cumin and coriander on a bed of meltingly soft peas makes a fine family supper or a festive dish for special occasions. And as we are reaching the tail end of the season for fresh peas, this is a good time to try it out. The recipe is easy but takes time as the chicken needs to marinate before going into the oven. The peas are cooked separately, and everything is combined at the end.
Forget maple syrup, bring on the powdered sugar. French toast, French style, is mainly served as a dessert or an afternoon snack. Known as pain perdu (‘lost bread’), it was a poor man’s dish until, according to lore, it was discovered by the nobility in the 16th century, becoming a favorite of King Henri IV. From the king’s table, French toast made its way abroad, and the rest is history.
These days French toast is rarely seen on bistro menus. It is most commonly served in French homes for the afternoon goûter (snack), a national institution for French schoolchildren to tide them over until French dinnertime, around 8 p.m. But this can also be a sophisticated dish. Serve it at your next brunch, with fruit and/or bacon, and prepare for applause.
French garlic soup from Provence is called aïgo boulido, which translates amusingly as ‘boiled water’. Well, you can believe me — it’s a lot tastier than hot water. The garlic is boiled until soft, allowed to steep with fresh sage, thyme and a bay leaf, puréed with an egg yolk and olive oil, and served over toast topped with freshly grated cheese. Pale yellow, creamy and deeply flavorful, it’s a delight to the palate and the eye.
Springtime in Paris means rhubarb and strawberries, and they combine delightfully in this light, bright dessert. The mousse can be whipped up — literally — in just a few minutes. The rhubarb is softened with sugar, the strawberries are puréed, the mix is lightened with a beaten egg white and whipped cream is folded in at the end. Topped with strawberry pieces and perhaps a sprig of basil or mint, the mousse makes a lovely end to a meal.
Snow peas, fresh peas, asparagus and chives star in this bright green medley of spring vegetables bathed in a French-Asian fusion sauce. With the sun making timid appearances and the chestnuts finally in blossom, it’s beginning to feel like spring in Paris. I’d been planning to make this dish for a long time, and at last it was the right season. So I headed to the market, where spring veggies were out in abundance — except for snow peas…
Succulent spicy meatballs served in broth with cream and topped with fresh dill — now that’s what I call comfort food with a capital C, except that this dish is light, not heavy. I first made it on a winter’s evening and have since repeated it many times as it proved very popular here at home. What inspired this creation? I may have had Swedish meatballs on my mind, but I added cumin, ground coriander, cayenne and cilantro to spice things up a bit…
This open-face pita sandwich with shrimp in curried mayo set on a bed of bacon and arugula and topped with fresh dill is an example of why I have often thought this site should be renamed ‘Meg Has Lunch’. Like many dishes proposed by The Everyday French Chef, it was invented one day when I went into the kitchen at lunchtime wondering what to make, checked the fridge to see what we had on hand and came up with a felicitous combination.
With Easter just around the corner, here are some seasonal recipes you may wish to try for a holiday meal: 
