****The winner of Ang Pompano's anthology DEVIL'S SNARE is Traveler, and the winner of Daryl Wood Gerber's MURDER ON THE PAGE is DebRo. Please contact me raisleib at gmail dot com with your snail mail addresses! Congratulations!
LUCY BURDETTE: We have a vaguely French theme going on this week, starting with Monday and ending with a bang--I insist you come back to meet Jane Bertch tomorrow! Plus, I wanted to stay as far away from the toxic election as possible. So here are three of the best French recipes I've shared over the years, beginning with Pat Kennedy's sausage and potato casserole...Do leave comments about your favorite French foods, or tell us if you don't like it!
PAT KENNEDY: This recipe is from the The French Chef Cookbook by Julia Child -- a compendium of the recipes she demonstrated on her first PBS television show. I always say that I learned to cook watching her because I made at least one thing from the show every week. This is not a low-calorie dinner, more of a comfort food dish. But as Julia said, “If you’re afraid of butter, use cream.”
I've loved all the Julia Child TV shows and recently read MY LIFE IN FRANCE by Julia, written with her great nephew Alex Prud’homme. It’s an amazing story about a woman who started her life's journey not knowing how to cook anything, and became the expert on French food in the US and abroad, with multiple complex cookbooks to her name. So I had French food on my mind when I saw fresh endive for sale at the farmers market. I asked the question “what would Julia cook?“ Maybe it would have been something like this…Belgian endive with asparagus in a creamy sauce...
This gougeres recipe comes from another American food icon, Dorie Greenspan, although I think the same directions can be found in many cookbooks, from Mastering the Art of French Cooking all the way to The Joy of Cooking. I remember my mother making these puffs for parties. She was a plain co
ok, but this was one of her fancy company dishes. She would stuff them with tuna fish or maybe shrimp salad and serve them as hors d’oeuvres. Hayley Snow's mother Janet also served puffs like this at a funeral reception in A DISH TO DIE FOR.
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| Mom with party food How about you Red Readers, are you fans of French food and French chefs? |
Why, yes, I do enjoy French foods . . . omelettes, souffles, and quiches are all dishes that we enjoy; also coq au vin; mousse au chocolat is one of my favorite desserts . . . .
ReplyDeleteI can see I'm going to be hungry all day!
DeleteI do love French food, although I won't eat some of the animals they'll cover in garlic sauce and call dinner. But starting the day with a buttery croissant or a chocolate croissant, oo-la-la.
ReplyDeleteIt has to be a really good croissant though, right Judy?
DeleteMais ouis, but of course! Potatoes Daphinois, pain au chocolat, omelets, Quiche Lorraine (which used to be my go-to dish for company when I was single. If the man I was dating enjoyed it, my regard notched way up).
ReplyDeleteOne of our all-time favorite family recipes is what the French chef Bertrand Bouquin at the long-gone Maisonette in Cincinnati called Chicken Grandmere. A lovely, comforting stew full of root vegetables, with a little bit of bacon to make the sauce silkier. He shared the recipe not long before the restaurant was finally closed--a great loss to our area--in a magazine interview, when asked what he cooked for his family at home. The Maisonette, by the way, was the only 5-star restaurant in the US east of the Mississippi, an honor it held for 41 years.
The restaurant sounds divine Karen! I just looked up chicken grandmere and see I'm going to have to make it...
DeleteLucy, be sure to use a recipe that includes root vegetables. Celery root is the absolute key to this recipe, and if it doesn't mention it, look for one that does. I often also add turnips, which add a bit of sweetness to the stew.
DeleteIt is SO good, especially served with a crusty bread for sopping up the luscious sauce.
Here's the recipe from the James Beard Foundation website. I"m going to make this if I can find the celery root (celeriac) which I love. Much more common to see in the UK. https://www.jamesbeard.org/recipes/chicken-grand-mere-francine#
DeleteI love all of it. The joys of a even simple fresh perfect baguette with good butter and a cafe au lait are heavenly. I make coq au vin and beef bourguignon, thanks to Julia Child, as well as her perfect pie crust. Tartes, salade Nicoise, you name it!
ReplyDeletebaguette out of the bakery=the best!
DeleteI have made her French Onion soup. ;-). -- Storyteller Mary
DeleteBien sur! I am enjoying my pain au chocolat & croissants for breakfast while in Montreal. I also bought canneles (French pastries) at the salon du chocolat, as well as boudin blanc sausages and pate at the Atwater Market yesterday.
ReplyDeleteLike others, I often make boeuf bourguignon and coq au vin at home.
I love boudin! We would get it in the North African section of Grenoble when I lived there.
DeleteYou're in heaven Grace!
DeleteI totally loved to watch Julia Child's cooking show back when it was airing on PBS. Don't ask me why since I never really wanted to try to cook or eat any of the recipes but I did love to watch her make the stuff.
ReplyDeleteMy palate is pretty basic with no real desire to push it out further than the stuff I already like, so the closest I get to wanting French food is on the rare occasion that I have french fries. LOL.
Ha! Which the Belgians will tell you they invented, Jay!
DeleteI love that you loved watching Julia Child Jay!!
DeleteI love French food. Recently, I found a small restaurant, Bluestone Cottage, on Roblin Boulevard that is open for breakfast and lunch. It makes an awesome croissant egg, ham, and cheese sandwich. I have my egg scrambled! It’s to die for 😋 I drink a mimosa with it ❤️
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful name for a restaurant Dorothy, and a treat of a breakfast!
DeleteI can’t say that I really know French chefs because we have very good chefs here in Quebec.
ReplyDeleteI’m not very fancy but I love simple French food like omelettes, galettes bretonnes, pot au feu, croque-monsieur, baguettes et croissants . What I prefer is soupe à l’oignon gratinée.
Danielle
Oh, now I want that soup Danielle!!
DeleteHi Pat - welcome. I am reading a great book, "DEARIE, The Remarkable Life of Julia Child," by Bob Splitz. And it IS a remarkable story. I never knew much about Julia's life in China and Sri Lanka during WWII when she was with the OSS (now the CIA) and it really was her introduction to food. Spitz' book is being made into a play and will be debut at the La Jolla Playhouse in 2025.
ReplyDeleteWonderful, I would love to see that play!
DeleteHi Pat, wonderful blog. I was watching the Martha Stewart Documentary last night and I caught a glimpse of Julia Child cooking with Martha. I remember watching Julia's cooking show on tv. And I saw the movie with Meryl Streep.
ReplyDeleteInteresting journey about French food. The first time I tried French food, I am sorry to say that I did NOT like anything except the sweet desserts. I was only 8 years old and I loved bland food with no spices. Since then, my tastes evolved and now I like some French foods like Croque Madame, French Onion Soup, Salad Greens with goat cheese and Salmon. When I visited Paris, the food was wonderful! I noticed more goat cheese in Paris cheese shops than here in California.
Diana, hard to expect too much from an 8 year old palate, right? Believe it or not, goat cheese is one of my least favorite--and I'm a cheese lover!
DeleteThank you, Lucy! I am always amazed to see children liking spicy food or adult food Now I add Salsa to Taco Tuesday meals. For many years as an adult before allergies (I think it started with perimenopause), I could eat anything! I did not like bell peppers until I was 20 years old living in England. The vegetables in England were wonderful! Love goat cheese too. Though I am a cheese lover, sadly cheese does not like me anymore.
DeleteDiana: I love goat cheese as well as sheep cheese (and sheep yogurt). I love the tang of the goat cheese and the creamy, smoothness of the sheep's milk.
DeleteDefinite fan, but in moderation. I make Pierre Franey's Chicken Breasts with Mustard Sauce as part of my regular rotation, and Tomato Cheese Pie from the Time Life Foods of the World series when I have a fresh tomatoes. I do not like heavily sauced offerings, but I love Provencal style cooking.
ReplyDeleteOh I'd eat that tomato cheese pie in an instant. I made one for us a while back, but it was heavy with cheese and butter that I though I might kill my husband:)
DeleteLove tomato cheese pie! A friend made tomato cheese pie and brought it to Thanksgiving dinner, I had a very tiny piece and savored the taste. No allergic reaction this time!
DeleteI do like French foods…..quiches, omelettes, beef bourguignon, etc. Also frogs legs and escargots .
ReplyDeleteDianne Mahoney
You can have my frogs' legs Dianne, I'm a little squeamish!
DeleteI always think French cuisine is too high calorie. Then I really thought about it, the provincial cooking uses less expensive cuts of meat and features vegetables. A little butter goes a long way in adding flavor. Today's Saturday soup will be Chicken with Rice Provencale.
ReplyDeleteI think traditional French cuisine is making a comeback after years of turning away from butter, cream, and other calorie and cholesterol rich foods. Maybe we've all gotten tired of foods that don't give us as much pleasure as these do. What do you think?
DeleteI think you're right, Susan!
Deleteso interesting Susan! Coralee, your soup sounds yummy!
DeleteI love the butter-rich dishes of French cuisine, but I'm not fond of cream sauces on things. Especially sea food! When I first moved to Maine in the late eighties, you could get fish done in two ways when eating out. In "nice" restaurants, it was covered in some variation of a white sauce, or baked in the same. In waterfront dives, it was fried. Not that I don't love me some friend fish, but it was a delight when chefs started serving simple fillets with interesting seasonings. It comes right off the boat here, take advantage of that!
ReplyDeleteI meant FRIED fish, but I do also like eating seafood in the company of friends!
DeleteWe'd eat fish with you any day Julia:)
DeleteI love watching Jacques Pepin in his cooking at home videos. He makes it all look so easy and encourages variations and substitutions. My kind of cook!
ReplyDeleteHe's a dream, isn't he Pat? He lives in our CT hometown so we've gotten to see him in action over the years.
DeleteI like an occasional French meal, but mostly find that it’s too rich for me.
ReplyDeleteMany years ago my parents hosted a French high school student for six weeks one summer. She made delicious crepes snd taught my youngest sister how to make them. My sister excelled at it, and often made them for the family in the following years. I would love to have one (or twelve-:) right now!
DebRo
What a lovely memory, DebRo. Did she stuff the crepes or serve them simply?
DeleteI do love so much French food, although tend more towards the country French rather than the haute cuisine rich sauces. Fortunately (or not, lol!) we now have a local bakery that makes croissants and baguettes to rival anything in Paris.
ReplyDeleteOh you are so lucky Debs!!
DeleteQuiche Lorraine will always be a favorite. I looked up Julia's recipe and writing about it, and the secret to the perfect texture is simply cream whisked into the eggs. I think the use of Gruyère cheese probably makes quite a difference, too. I have to share this quote of hers about this dish. "But what an easy, pleasant way to entertain. You’d have a guest or two for lunch and you'd serve them a quiche hot out of the oven. What a welcome when you enter a home that's filled with the warming aroma of buttery pastry baking." Here's a link to Julia's recipe: https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/quiche-lorraine
ReplyDeleteMy regret in my trip to Paris and the river cruise to various points north on the Seine was that our schedule in Paris never allowed for an evening meal at a carefully chosen French restaurant. We were usually so tired that we just ate at one down the street from our hotel, which was just okay. If I ever return to Paris, I will do things differently. There was a boulangerie across the street from us, which I visited multiple times, but I rather wish it had been a pâtisserie instead.
I'm a fan of ALL food, but I don't think a person has ever really eaten bread unless they've had it in France - it just hits different, as the kids say. :)
ReplyDelete