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Appetizers

Bistro French Onion Soup

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Onion soup french gruyere

A drunken Bistro French Onion Soup with thyme, wine and a final touch of Brandy, then gratinated with a piece of toasted bread and exquisite Gruyere cheese until golden perfection. There is nothing like a fuming hot onion soup! Bistro French Onion Soup contains all the best from France: Red wine, bread and cheese. This gratinated soup, which means it needs to finish up in the oven, will warm you up guaranteed on a cold winter night. This version is made with olive oil instead of butter, red instead of white wine and a touch of thyme, garlic and Brandy to give it a more fragrant touch. That moment before getting in… is as lovely as cracking into a creme brulée. This soup dates from the 15th century; although many variations exist here and there, the French gratinated one is the best known worldwide. It used to be a soup for…

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Appetizers

Savoury Soufflé with Thyme

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Savoury soufflé

Savoury Soufflé is an airy and cheezy bite with some Mediterranean touch of thyme to make your other half flip! Nothing is more satisfying than dipping your spoon in this fluffy cheese cloud. This Savoury Soufflé is a fun bite into a cheese cloud and notes of thyme. Soufflé is usually sweet, but this version is savoury and served as an Appetizer or Entrée as you wish! This recipe says for two people as a main meal, so if you want to serve four small starters, use the exact quantities. The Show Must Go Down Soufflés are pretty easy to make… although they can infuriate some…They look fabulous puffing up in the oven, but when you take them out, they deflate. However, if they are well cooked, they will stay puffy for a good minute or two, just enough to bring to the table. The bottom line, make sure your…

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France

Healthy Chicken Florentine

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Healthy Chicken florentine

Healthy Chicken Florentine is a delicate and ancestral dish from France, a simply grilled chicken breast served on a spinach bed with unctuous Mornay sauce and extra grilled pine nuts to bring in a welcomed nutty and crunch touch. Healthy Chicken Florentine is such a simple and comforting meal. The term florentine is French to say from Florence, Italy. This dish was brought by Italian Catherine de Médicis and her love for spinach over in France when she married Henri II. The dish is usually; a protein (can be chicken, pork, egg, etc.) on a bed of spinach and topped with Mornay sauce (a cheezy Bechamel). Being a calorie bomb, this sauce… I didn’t make the protein swim in like most recipes for Chicken Florentine out there. I’ve simply added a bit to prevent the meal from getting too heavy, and frankly, it’s sufficient! Nutty Note I’ve added a few grilled…

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Main Meals

White Asparagus Crepe

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White asparagus crepe buckwheat

Inspired by the traditional German White Asparagus with ham and hollandaise sauce meal, this version comes with a buckwheat crepe and some extra baby spinach leaves. It’s the season again for those spring veggies! Those are one of a kind; I knew they existed but never had the opportunity to try them out until I met my Bavarian in-laws. It is more tender and delicate than its green peer. Also, a bit more technical to prepare than the green type but in the end, it’s a more delicate, tender version that is too little known. So hopefully, this White Asparagus Crepe will make you switch from green to white! Eastern Europe Favourite In Germany, they have the “Spargelzeit,”, or the asparagus period from late April to early June, where they open little shacks by the road with white asparagus stands. Each is selling the freshest of these! The whiter and thicker,…

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France

Buckwheat Crepes with Mushroom

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mushroom Crepe

Buckwheat crepes with mushroom filling are crunchy, gluten-free, savoury thin crepes filled with the best seasonal mushrooms, smooth thyme-aromatized bechamel and baby spinach. You can find all kinds of filling with these gluten-free savoury crepes. A popular one would be ham and cheese with an egg on top. For this one, I’ve used lovely seasonal mushrooms. To go with the mushrooms, what better sidekick than thyme to aromatize the smooth bechamel it swims in? Plus, to give it a little crunch, a few baby spinach. Buckwheat Crepes with Mushroom Filling will become one of your favourite low-carb recipes! Galette or Crepe? Buckwheat Crepes are also known as Galettes Bretonnes in France. They are made of water and buckwheat flour which is gluten-free. Sometimes, an egg is added to make it crunchier. Simple! Some versions mix regular flour with milk, like a typical white crepe. A true Galette Bretonne should be…

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Canada

Bouilli or pot au feu québécois

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Beef Bouilli or pot au feu québécois

Bouilli or pot au feu québécois is a traditional beef stew from Québec, Canada inspired by the famous dish ‘pot au feu’ from France. A simple stew made of root vegetables, beef and pork belly cooked slowly until tender. As a kid, I used to visit my grandparents once or twice a year. They were living in a small and remote village far away in the forest called Lac-des-Aigles (Eagles lake). We would always arrive in the late afternoon and the cast iron pot would already be doing its magic on the stove for hours… leaving behind this fantastic homey, comforting stew smell. In the pot was a succulent and traditional meat stew called Bouilli in Quebec. A winter dish to warm up the bones This recipe is a flashback to those nice visits to my grandparent’s place. My grandma would make this recipe starting from when the root veggies would be fully grown in September…

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Breakfast

The art of French Omelette making

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french Omelette

A perfectly cooked omelette the French way is velvety yellow on the outside and creamy on the inside, folded into 3 to stuff or not. Once you learn the technique you’ll never see eggs the same way! Omelette is the French way of doing eggs, just like the Spanish have their tortilla de patata, the Italian their frittata, the Japanese their square omelette. The art of French Omelette making is quite a fast and precise way. Some people add a little milk or water to the egg mixture before cooking it in the pan. I, usually, prefer my omelette with a touch of milk, a pinch of salt and pepper. In this version, I’ve used olive oil instead of butter, simply because I believe it’s healthier, and especially with the Mediterranean aromatic herbs crusted goat cheese that I’ve used for the topping, it fits perfectly. Butter is usually used… it’s a French recipe after all.…

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Main Meals

Beef Bourguignon Pasta

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Beef Bourguignon Pasta

Beef bourguignon is French people’s favourite beef stew made from a lot of red wine, bacon bits, mushrooms, carrots, onions and aromatics. This version comes with a twist; it is Served on pasta instead of potatoes, Because why not? Beef Bourguignon pasta or spaghetti is a “mashup” dish between France’s beloved ‘Boeuf Bourguignon,’ served with potatoes and Italian Ragu pasta. I like potatoes… but my husband does not so much… so he always asks me to make his boeuf bourguignon on pasta. I agree with him; pasta and a little extra parmesan give the dish a new dimension. The pasta soaks up all the goodness from the stew better than potatoes. Boeuf Bourguignon on pasta But either way, the base of the recipe stays the same; braised beef cubes in a dutch oven simmered in a red wine sauce. So you decide which pasta or potatoes makes you salivate more.…

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Appetizers

Morbiflette

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Morbiflette is a potato gratin on steroids! The Morbier cheese is melted on top of a creamy, winy and aromatic bed of potatoes. A pure delight for cheese lovers! Morbiflette is a tartiflette (potato covered with cream, fresh bacon bits, onions and reblochon cheese) but with Morbier cheese instead! If you are, like me, a cheese lover… This is the dish for you! Morbier isn’t a comparable cheese except maybe to Raclette cheese for its texture. Although its taste is bolder and brings in a lovely mineral tang no other cheese has. You’ll see, this cheesy dish is so simple and addictive… one bite is just never enough. Morbier Cheese Origin The protagonist is Morbier, a semi-soft cow cheese with a layer of vegetable rye in the middle. Two decades ago, the cheese was created by the cowherds from a calm land in the East part of France called the Franche-Comté region. This is where they…

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Fish & Sea Food

Sole en Papillote

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Sole Papillote

Fish en papillote is such a flavourful and healthy way to eat fish. It’s mainly used to cook those really lean, flaky fishes because it keeps all the humidity that the lean fish would lose by other ways of coccion, like pan frying, simple oven, etc. It’s simply an aromatic vapor that cooks you fish, and when the time come to open those little puffy bags, all that aromatic vapor hits your nose, no better way to start a nice light diner. For this dish, I’ve used a beautiful small soles. This fish really gain from the papillote humidity, simply add some aromatics of your choice; here, I’ve used a bed of bell pepper slices, then topped with tomatoes, olives, thyme and garlic with a touch of olive oil and white wine. You can also make those papillote with aluminium foil, it’s easier to close up hermetically, but be careful… if you use…

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