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Larry Ervin's BlogPosted by Larry Ervin Chicken a l'Orange, Mediterranean-Style Posted by Larry Ervin Find the definition you need in one of these sections arranged alphabetically: A - B Glossary of French Culinary Terms C - E Glossary of French Culinary Terms F - O Glossary of French Culinary Terms P - Z Glossary of French Culinary Terms You may also find Lynn Smythe's Herb & Spice Glossary to be another useful resource. Posted by Larry Ervin Here are some possibilities for those days when the hunter in you takes over from the gatherer:
Posted by Larry Ervin Who wants to heat up the kitchen when it's hot? Even a simple green salad can make a meal if you top it with some cooked chicken slices or some nice tuna or salmon. And I certainly wouldn't want to forget the cheese. Here are some other tasty possibilities: Posted by Larry Ervin 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:
And, yes, some not nece-celery French:
If blue is your thing, if you crave Cabrales, gorge yourself on Gorgonzola, rave about Roquefort... check out my Blue Cheese Lover's Cookbook. Posted by Larry Ervin 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:
Fish Posted by Larry Ervin 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 . Posted by Larry Ervin Here are some excellent articles on how to work with ingredients typical to French cuisine: Dijon an other Mustards Eggs
Posted by Larry Ervin 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?
Which Cheese to Buy?
Other Ingredients in French Cuisine? Posted by Larry Ervin 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: Posted by Larry Ervin 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:
From the Languedoc, you'll see an interesting and possibly controversial:
From Alsace, an Alsatian take on Coq au Vin:
This issue presents a good mix of challenging recipes with those any home cook will want to try, including excellent an approachable dishes using classic sauces:
Posted by Larry Ervin 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. Posted by Larry Ervin 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
Franche-Compte Region (Swiss Border) Loire Valley Normandy
Paris
Travel in France Posted by Larry Ervin 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. Posted by Larry Ervin French cuisine is not a monolithic whole, but rather a mosaic of a hundred hues. From Provence to Normandy, Alsace to Bordeaux, 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 index to France's Southern regions. (See also the Food of Northern French Regions.) Bordeaux The Mystery of Chateau Petrus - The World's Most Expensive Red Wine Cognac - Charente Region Chicken Liver Pate with Cognac Gascony and the Basque Region Honeyed Pork with a Spiced Crust Loire Valley Overview of the Wines and Cuisine along the Loire River Lyon ProvenceOverview of Provence and it's Famous Dishes Artisanal Wines of the Languedoc-Roussillon Blind-Tasting Winners from Languedoc-Roussillon Smoky Provencal Bluefish with Anchiode Steamed Mussels Provencal in Wine and Herbs Seared Scallops in a Pernod-Tarragon Cream Sauce Tarragon Poached Salmon Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette Rustic Chicken Liver Pate with Pistachios French Recipes with Foreign Influences Travel in France Posted by Larry Ervin French chefs and culinary institutes have tried, with some success, to keep French cuisine out of the hands of any but the elite. It need not be so. 90% of the techniques of French cuisine are within the reach of the home cook. Here are a few of the basics, none of them mysterious. Basic French Cuisine Techniques Crepes Au Gratin Bain Marie Beverage Techniques Braising Desserts Meringue Meringue Basics
Omelette En Papillote-Cooking in Parchment Paper Packages Poaching Quiche Saboyan French Sauces Classic French Soups
Steaming Focus on IngredientsCheck out Classic French Ingredients . |
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