French Cuisine
- If You Like it Easy and Cheesy...
- If You Like Easy Seafood Recipes
- Bouquet Garni: An Irreverent Guide
- Explore French Ingredients
- What Makes Blue Cheese Blue?
- What to Drink with Blue Cheese
- Newsstand: French Bistro Cooking
- How to Buy Dijon Mustards
- Normandy & Northern French Regions
- Steamed Clams: Great Slow Food
If You Like it Easy and Cheesy...
Posted by
Larry Ervin
Larry Ervin
Take your love of cheese one or two or three steps farther. Sample different varieties. Rumor has it that some other countries besides France make excellent cheese.
Cheese is one of my favorite things. My cheesemonger rubs her hands together when she sees me approach the cheese counter.
The French are known for their cheeses. Roquefort, of course. Brie and Camembert. Chevre and a seemingly endless variety of goat cheeses.
They're all great with just a cracker and something to sip, but if you love cheese like I do, you want to explore further possibilities:
The French are known for their cheeses. Roquefort, of course. Brie and Camembert. Chevre and a seemingly endless variety of goat cheeses.
They're all great with just a cracker and something to sip, but if you love cheese like I do, you want to explore further possibilities:
- Croque Monsieur ou Croque Madame - France's answer to toasted ham and cheese sandwiches
- Camembert from Normandy
- Fromage Bleu: 11 Cheeses Compared - Life beyond Roquefort
- Blue Cheese Potatoes Au Gratin
- Basic Cheese Omelette
- What Makes Blue Cheese Blue?
- Roquefort-Gorgonzola Alternatives
- Cheesy Peppery Cornbread Muffins
- Spicy Buffalo Wing Slaw with Blue Cheese dressing
- Mac and Cheese for Grownups
- How to Make Cheddar-Ale Soup
- Sturgeon & Blue-Stuffed Shrooms
- Pumpkin-Apple Soup & Blue Cheese
- Pumpkin-Apple Soup & Blue Cheese
- Blue Cheese Stuffed Medjool Dates
- Guinness Onion Soup w- Cashel Blue
If You Like Easy Seafood Recipes
Posted by
Larry Ervin
Larry Ervin
France is surrounded by water on three sides, so it is no surprise that the French excel at seafood dishes.
Seafood is good and good for you. None if it needs or wants long cooking, so fruit de mer is a major area of French cuisine that can be prepared quickly and usually simply.
Here are a few you might like to try:
Shellfish:
Here are a few you might like to try:
Shellfish:
- Steamed Clams a l'Indienne
- Mussels Steamed in Wine & Herbs
- Mussels with Garlic-Anchovy Sauce
- How To Buy, Store & Clean Mussels
- Scallops in Pernod-Tarragon Cream
Bouquet Garni: An Irreverent Guide
Posted by
Larry Ervin
Larry Ervin
Herbs add complexity and depth of flavor and aroma to many stews and soups. Classic French preparations can be a little fussy, but there are alternatives.
Bouquet garni is basically a bouquet, not of flowers, but of a few herbs. Cooked long in a stew they add a wonderful bouquet in the aroma sense like wine-lovers use it.
Classically, the herbs are tied with cotton string or wrapped in cheesecloth (which allows you to use loose dried herbs) and then tied. One easy alternative may the storebought, variety, already assemble in a sort of teabag.
If you decide to make your own, the traditional herbs for boeuf bourguigon are a bay leaf, a sprig of fresh thyme, and parsley stems (which you reserved from chopping the leaves).
I'm not saying the classical methods are a conspiracy of classically trained chefs but, arguably, you can get the same flavors from the individual herbs simply tossed loose into the stew. Simply fish out the bay leaf and parsley stems before serving if you want. Same for the thyme sprig, or if you use dried thyme, who's going to criticize you leave it in. Call it "rustic style." Or tell your guests that it is a family tradition (going back... gosh, minutes) to leave the bay leaf in and it is considered good luck if you get in in your serving.
Whether you decide to go classic, storebought or rustic, Beouf Bourguignon is the perfect recipe to use it.
For suggestions on using other ingredients common to French cuisine, check out Classic French Ingredients .
Classically, the herbs are tied with cotton string or wrapped in cheesecloth (which allows you to use loose dried herbs) and then tied. One easy alternative may the storebought, variety, already assemble in a sort of teabag.
If you decide to make your own, the traditional herbs for boeuf bourguigon are a bay leaf, a sprig of fresh thyme, and parsley stems (which you reserved from chopping the leaves).
I'm not saying the classical methods are a conspiracy of classically trained chefs but, arguably, you can get the same flavors from the individual herbs simply tossed loose into the stew. Simply fish out the bay leaf and parsley stems before serving if you want. Same for the thyme sprig, or if you use dried thyme, who's going to criticize you leave it in. Call it "rustic style." Or tell your guests that it is a family tradition (going back... gosh, minutes) to leave the bay leaf in and it is considered good luck if you get in in your serving.
Whether you decide to go classic, storebought or rustic, Beouf Bourguignon is the perfect recipe to use it.
For suggestions on using other ingredients common to French cuisine, check out Classic French Ingredients .
Posted by
Larry Ervin
Larry Ervin
Some ingredients are identified with French cuisine, but few are exclusive. Perhaps each town's unique bread or an ingredient whose shelf-life is measured in hours.
Here are some excellent articles on how to work with ingredients typical to French cuisine:
Dijon an other Mustards
Eggs
HerbsNicoise and other Olives
Dijon an other Mustards
Eggs
- Eggs, Make Sure They're Fresh, How to Separate Eggs, Beating Egg Whites for Meringues or Souffles
- Baked Spinach Omelette
- How to Make a Basic French Omelette
- Poulet a l'Orange Méditerranée: Citrus-Infused Chicken with Olives and Rosemary
- Tuna Salade Niçoise with Asparagus
- Comparison of 11 French Blue Cheeses
- Roquefort - Alternative Blue-Veined Cheeses
- Bleu d'Auvergne Cheese
- Chevre - Goats Cheese
- Camembert de Normandie
- Mussels - How to Buy, Store, Clean and De-Beard
- Steamed Clams a l'Indienne
- Mussels Steamed in Wine & Herbs
- Mussels with Garlic-Anchovy Sauce
- Scallops in Pernod-Tarragon Cream
- Tuna Salade Niçoise with Asparagus
- Sweet Potato Hash w- Fennel Salmon
- Pasta with Salmon and Gorgonzola
- Sturgeon & Blue-Stuffed Shrooms
- Wine-Tasting How To
- The Mystery of Chateau Petrus - The World's Most Expensive Red Wine
- Selecting, Storing and Enjoying Genuine Champagne
- Champagne Compared to Other Sparkling Wines
- The French Concept of Terroir - Climate
- The French Concept of Terroir - Soil
- Pernod - Anise-Flavored Pastis
- Scallops in Pernod-Tarragon Cream
Posted by
Larry Ervin
Larry Ervin
Blue cheese is the only food that's not only safe to eat when moldy, but actually tastes better. Some sheepherder stumbled on that fact a thousand years or more ago.
My mom taught me to love blue cheese. When eating out, she'd ask for blue cheese dressing and sometimes the waitress would say, sorry, all we have is Roquefort.
What makes blue cheese blue? The bluish veins are edible mold,: either Penicillin Roquefortii or, as with Gorgonzola, Penicillin Glaucum. While they are related to the antibiotic, I can't recommend blue cheese as a substitue. Having said that, the Romans in the first century prescribed cheese as a cure for all manner of ailments, the stinkier the more effacious.
The French and Italians will go back and forth as to which came first, Roquefort or Gorgonzola. Both have somewhat similar folk tales of their accidental discoveries (although the French version is wrapped in a love story, quel suprise), how the cheese was left too long or in the wrong cave and blue mold grew on the cheese. Somebody dared eat it and the world is glad they did.
Many blue cheeses are still aged in caves, but instead of depending on the naturally occurring mold in the caves, almost all varieties are injected or mixed with the mold before they are aged.
How long they are aged makes one difference between different cheeses. The longer the stronger. Probably the biggest factors are the kind of animal whose milk is used and what they eat, drink and breath. Roquefort is made from ewe's milk. Gorgonzola is primarily made from cow's milk. Cabrales is made from a mixture of cow, sheep and goat's milk.
Recipes Incorporating Blue Cheese?
What makes blue cheese blue? The bluish veins are edible mold,: either Penicillin Roquefortii or, as with Gorgonzola, Penicillin Glaucum. While they are related to the antibiotic, I can't recommend blue cheese as a substitue. Having said that, the Romans in the first century prescribed cheese as a cure for all manner of ailments, the stinkier the more effacious.
The French and Italians will go back and forth as to which came first, Roquefort or Gorgonzola. Both have somewhat similar folk tales of their accidental discoveries (although the French version is wrapped in a love story, quel suprise), how the cheese was left too long or in the wrong cave and blue mold grew on the cheese. Somebody dared eat it and the world is glad they did.
Many blue cheeses are still aged in caves, but instead of depending on the naturally occurring mold in the caves, almost all varieties are injected or mixed with the mold before they are aged.
How long they are aged makes one difference between different cheeses. The longer the stronger. Probably the biggest factors are the kind of animal whose milk is used and what they eat, drink and breath. Roquefort is made from ewe's milk. Gorgonzola is primarily made from cow's milk. Cabrales is made from a mixture of cow, sheep and goat's milk.
Recipes Incorporating Blue Cheese?
- Bleu d'Auvergne Cheese
- Blue Cheese Potatoes Au Gratin
- Mac and Cheese for Grownups
- Blue Cheese Stuffed Medjool Dates
- Eleven French Blue Cheeses Compared
- Alternative Blue-Veined Cheeses from Spain, Argentina and even Tasmania
What to Drink with Blue Cheese
Posted by
Larry Ervin
Larry Ervin
You're eating blue cheese. Lucky you. Depending on the variety, the cheese is salty. Makes you thirsty. But what to drink?
What to drink with blue cheese is totally a matter of opinon, and I invite you to chime in with your opinion on the discussion "What's Your Favorite Drink With Blue Cheese?"
The suggestions you see most commonly published are sweet wines: Ports, Sherries, sauternes, late harvest rieslings, etc.
Here's what I like: Hartley & Gibson's "Full, Rich Dessert Sherry." For me, the almond overtones are perfect with blue cheese. My wife, who is British, screws up her face and says, "That's an old lady's drink! My mum drinks sweet Sherry."
Whether the blue cheese you're eating is French or not, in situations where someone casts aspersions on your choice of wine pairing, I find it useful to remember one of my favorite French phrases: Chacun a son gout. Here is the pronunciation: Shah-kawn Ah Sohn Goo. Here is the translation: "Everyone to their own disgusting opinion." This phrase is most effectively delivered with a wrist wag that would probably get you killed in Napoli. (So be careful with your audience.)
If you haven't yet picked a blue cheese for tonight, check out Fromage Bleu: Eleven Cheese Compared or Beyond Roquefort: Three Alternatives You Should Try.
If you fancy cooking with blue cheese, you may be interestied in:
The suggestions you see most commonly published are sweet wines: Ports, Sherries, sauternes, late harvest rieslings, etc.
Here's what I like: Hartley & Gibson's "Full, Rich Dessert Sherry." For me, the almond overtones are perfect with blue cheese. My wife, who is British, screws up her face and says, "That's an old lady's drink! My mum drinks sweet Sherry."
Whether the blue cheese you're eating is French or not, in situations where someone casts aspersions on your choice of wine pairing, I find it useful to remember one of my favorite French phrases: Chacun a son gout. Here is the pronunciation: Shah-kawn Ah Sohn Goo. Here is the translation: "Everyone to their own disgusting opinion." This phrase is most effectively delivered with a wrist wag that would probably get you killed in Napoli. (So be careful with your audience.)
If you haven't yet picked a blue cheese for tonight, check out Fromage Bleu: Eleven Cheese Compared or Beyond Roquefort: Three Alternatives You Should Try.
If you fancy cooking with blue cheese, you may be interestied in:
Newsstand: French Bistro Cooking
Posted by
Larry Ervin
Larry Ervin
In addition to seventy-some tempting recipes, this special issue features gorgeous photography that will have you plotting our next vacation. Allons y!
Francophiles rejoice: Gourmet magazine has a special issue on newsstands now (March '08) featuring "French Bistro Cooking." You may also be tempted by National Geographic Traveller's current issue on Paris, but if you only buy one, make it Gourmet.
Chef Jean Pierre-Silva's career turns are featured, from building Vieux Moulin up to two Michelin stars to realizing that he was no longer a chef, but a manager and an accountant. Bigger is not always better, so he relinquished his Michelin stars and now runs a beach-side open-air Bistro, L'Ondine, in Cannes. On the pocket of his short-sleeved shirt, you will see embroidered, "Le Chef, C'est Moi."
If sex sell, so do sweets, especially chocolate. Gourmet's cover sucks you in with the French take on ice cream sandwiches: eye-popping Profiterals with Coffee Ice Cream filling drizzled with Chocolate Sauce. Inside, you may also drool over the mile-high Grand Marnier Crepe Cake.
Three regions get special coverage: Provence, of course, Alsace with its German influence and also the lesser known Jura, along the Swiss Border.
From Provence, the issue shows:
Chef Jean Pierre-Silva's career turns are featured, from building Vieux Moulin up to two Michelin stars to realizing that he was no longer a chef, but a manager and an accountant. Bigger is not always better, so he relinquished his Michelin stars and now runs a beach-side open-air Bistro, L'Ondine, in Cannes. On the pocket of his short-sleeved shirt, you will see embroidered, "Le Chef, C'est Moi."
If sex sell, so do sweets, especially chocolate. Gourmet's cover sucks you in with the French take on ice cream sandwiches: eye-popping Profiterals with Coffee Ice Cream filling drizzled with Chocolate Sauce. Inside, you may also drool over the mile-high Grand Marnier Crepe Cake.
Three regions get special coverage: Provence, of course, Alsace with its German influence and also the lesser known Jura, along the Swiss Border.
From Provence, the issue shows:
- Onion Tart with Mustard and Fennel
- Provencal Fish Soup
- Braised Chicken with Tomatoes and Olives
- Vegetarian Cassoulet
- Chicken in Reisling
- Pan-Seared Ribeye with Bernaise Sauce
- Seared Sea Scallops with a Tarragon Beurre Blanc
Posted by
Larry Ervin
Larry Ervin
Dijon mustard is probably the best-known of French specialty mustards. Recently the staff of Cook’s Illustrated performed a blind tasting to compare various brands.
Twenty staff from Cook’s Illustrated blind-tasted nine popular brands of Dijon mustard, to see if French brands were better than American-made. Which is the best Dijon mustard?
Of the three top-rated brands, two were French: Roland Extra Strong and DeLouis Fils Moutarde de Dijon, and the Grey Poupon, manufactured in the U.S., but in accordance with the original recipe from Dijon.
Of the three, Roland and Grey Poupon are best buys. They were less than half the unit cost of DeLouis Fils. French’s Napa Valley Style Dijon, despite its name, scored well enough to make the “Recommended” list, as did newcomer Barhyte Select which is made not far from me in Oregon.
Take care when looking for the Roland. Their “Organic Extra Strong” Dijon landed next to last in the “Not Recommended” category. Dead last was Inglehogger Hot Dijon, which most tasters found sweet and too hot, twice as hot as the next spiciest, Grey Poupon. Maille Originale, from France, and U.S.-made Plochman’s Premium Dijon were also not recommended.
Spiciness, of course, is on the tongue of the taster. Our detail-oriented friends in Vermont quantified the heat factor in the mustards by measuring the levels of mustard’s active ingredient, allyl isothioocyanate, comparing samples purchased in supermarkets or from mail-order sources, with freshly-made samples they ordered direct from the manufacturer. They found that the heat of most brands deteriorates by 75-90% in just the normal shelf-life. So if heat is your thing, look for the use-by date (some are in code) and choose a small jar with the most distant date.
Think beyond hot dog or ham sandwich: try Chicken with Creamy Dijon Mushrooms or other recipes listed in the Burgundy-Dijon section of Regional Cuisine of Northern France.
For great suggestions for other ingredients typical in French cuisine, see Classic French Ingredients.
Of the three top-rated brands, two were French: Roland Extra Strong and DeLouis Fils Moutarde de Dijon, and the Grey Poupon, manufactured in the U.S., but in accordance with the original recipe from Dijon.
Of the three, Roland and Grey Poupon are best buys. They were less than half the unit cost of DeLouis Fils. French’s Napa Valley Style Dijon, despite its name, scored well enough to make the “Recommended” list, as did newcomer Barhyte Select which is made not far from me in Oregon.
Take care when looking for the Roland. Their “Organic Extra Strong” Dijon landed next to last in the “Not Recommended” category. Dead last was Inglehogger Hot Dijon, which most tasters found sweet and too hot, twice as hot as the next spiciest, Grey Poupon. Maille Originale, from France, and U.S.-made Plochman’s Premium Dijon were also not recommended.
Spiciness, of course, is on the tongue of the taster. Our detail-oriented friends in Vermont quantified the heat factor in the mustards by measuring the levels of mustard’s active ingredient, allyl isothioocyanate, comparing samples purchased in supermarkets or from mail-order sources, with freshly-made samples they ordered direct from the manufacturer. They found that the heat of most brands deteriorates by 75-90% in just the normal shelf-life. So if heat is your thing, look for the use-by date (some are in code) and choose a small jar with the most distant date.
Think beyond hot dog or ham sandwich: try Chicken with Creamy Dijon Mushrooms or other recipes listed in the Burgundy-Dijon section of Regional Cuisine of Northern France.
For great suggestions for other ingredients typical in French cuisine, see Classic French Ingredients.
Normandy & Northern French Regions
Posted by
Larry Ervin
Larry Ervin
Your recipe guide to the regions of the northern provinces of France: Brittany, Normandy, Champagne, Paris, Orleans, Alsace-Lorraine, Burgundy and the France-Compte.
French cuisine is not a monolithic whole, but rather a mosaic of a hundred hues. each region of France sparkles with its own distinctive cuisine of its peoples, leveraging fresh local ingredients.
The influence of French cuisine has not been strictly export either, but instead a bustling exchange of ideas and ingredients with neighboring countries, one-time invaders as well as former colonies of a French Empire that once reached into five continents, from Indo-China to Morrocco to the French West Indies.
Here is a culinary sampling of Northern France's regions.
(see also the Food of Southern French Regions including Provence)
Alsace - Lorraine
Brittany
Champagne
Dijon - Burgundy
Loire Valley
Normandy
The influence of French cuisine has not been strictly export either, but instead a bustling exchange of ideas and ingredients with neighboring countries, one-time invaders as well as former colonies of a French Empire that once reached into five continents, from Indo-China to Morrocco to the French West Indies.
Here is a culinary sampling of Northern France's regions.
(see also the Food of Southern French Regions including Provence)
Alsace - Lorraine
Brittany
Champagne
Dijon - Burgundy
- Overview of Burgundy Cuisine
- Burgundian Beef Stew: Boeuf Bourguignon
- Chicken (or Pork Chops) in a Creamy Dijon-Mushroom Sauce
- Honey-Mustard Chicken
- Easy, Stovetop Coq au Vin
- Dijon Pork Chops
- Gougere: Savory Cheese Pastry
- Rack of Lamb with a Dijon-Breadcrumb Crust
Loire Valley
Normandy
- Overview of the Cuisine of Normandy
- Crêpes Normande with Apples and Calvados
- Steamed Mussels a la Normande
- French Toast with Fried Apples
- Classic French Apple Gallette
- Camembert de Normandie
- Festivals in Rouen and Bayeaux: Normandy Festivals
- Croque Monsieur et Madames
- Crêpes Suzette
- Brandied Chicken Liver Pate
- Creme Brulee
- Chocolate Creme Brulee with Hazelnut Biscuits
- Creamy Garlic Mushroom Starter
Steamed Clams: Great Slow Food
Posted by
Larry Ervin
Larry Ervin
Whether you're in a restaurant or you cooked it yourself, focus on the food and your friends around you. This may be a tough lesson for many of us Americans to learn.
One of the things I love about steamed clams or mussels --I almost steam them in wine and herbs, a la mariniere-- is that it slows down the meal. Not so much the cooking, because they are very quick to fix. But the process of eating takes longer. You are forced to pay attention to what you're doing. And it's a little messy, which suits me too. Bibs are optional, but I wouldn't recommend wearing a silk shirt or blouse to the table. You pick up each clam and fork out the meat. You toss the empty shell into a bowl, lick your fingers and grab a piece of bread to sop up some of the lovely clam liqueur in your bowl.
Food Network notwithstanding, It is a sad fact that hardly anyone in America cooks anymore. For some, cooking means microwaving some bland pre-packaged convenience food. When Americans go to a restaurant, we get edgy if we haven't been served in the first ten minutes. Is it any wonder why so few restaurants actually cook to order?
Book a table at most restaurants in Europe, and the table is yours for the evening. Meals are an event, not something to get past so you can get back to work or to a movie. Not so in America. Many restaurateurs here shoot for 3-4-5 even-6 turns on their tables in an evening.
But I can hope you came here because you enjoy to cook. I just posted a recipe I found for steamed clams in the Indian style. The French-East Indian culinary connection has eluded me. Maybe one of you can enlighten me.
For ideas about using other ingredients typical in French cuisine, see Classic French Ingredients.
Food Network notwithstanding, It is a sad fact that hardly anyone in America cooks anymore. For some, cooking means microwaving some bland pre-packaged convenience food. When Americans go to a restaurant, we get edgy if we haven't been served in the first ten minutes. Is it any wonder why so few restaurants actually cook to order?
Book a table at most restaurants in Europe, and the table is yours for the evening. Meals are an event, not something to get past so you can get back to work or to a movie. Not so in America. Many restaurateurs here shoot for 3-4-5 even-6 turns on their tables in an evening.
But I can hope you came here because you enjoy to cook. I just posted a recipe I found for steamed clams in the Indian style. The French-East Indian culinary connection has eluded me. Maybe one of you can enlighten me.
For ideas about using other ingredients typical in French cuisine, see Classic French Ingredients.
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