Recipes: 447 results
Crème brulée
(Found inTextsStages)Crème brûlée (burned cream) is quite easy to prepare: it's a simple egg-cream dessert. The only difficulty is in making the delicious crunchy caramel layer on top. The perfect crème brulée (for me) is a cold and soft cream, with on top a nice hot caramel crust. This is a completely new version...
1.6M 74.3 4 hours 38 min. December 31th 2011
Sugar syrup
(Found inTextsIngredients)This syrup is mainly used as a basis for all sorbet recipes, which consist of this syrup and fruit pulp, but it can be also used to soak biscuits for example, or for fruit salads.
735K3.5 8 min. February 21th 2011
Tartiflette
(Found inTexts)A personal version of a classic recipe from Savoy.
586K 14.6 1 hour 27 min. September 16th 2019
Hummus
(Found inTextsStagesIngredients)Hummus (or houmous), is one of the famous and delicious Lebanese "mezzes".
325K4.7 16 min. May 30th 2020
Icelandic-style fish and vegetable pie
(Found inTextsStages)This recipe is made from vegetables cut small and blanched, mixed with pieces of salt-cod and cream, then baked in small soup dishes with a puff pastry lid.
268K3.9 4 hours 35 min. September 7th 2018
How to cook hard-boiled eggs properly
(Found inTextsStagesComments)A hard-boiled egg is properly cooked when: shell is not broken, white and yolk are firm, yolk is only yellow with no traces of green around it. Here are some tips to make this easy.
1.4M 65 1 hour 28 min. November 4th 2013
Green parsley sauce
(Found inTextsStages)This sauce, with a great parsley taste, is perfect with steamed vegetables or fish. At the bottom you will find the coulis version of this recipe.
498K 44.3 23 min. February 21th 2011
Natural leaven
(Found inTextsStagesIngredientsComments)Leaven is a natural raising agent, a fermented mixture of water, flour and the microscopic yeasts which are present in the air. It's a delicate living substance, sensitive to the external environment. The recipe is around 4000 years old and dates back to the Egypt of the Pharaohs, via a beautiful...
1.7M 304.0 7 days 15 min. April 3rd 2020
Leavened bread
(Found inTextsStagesIngredients)It might be harder to achieve good results than with traditional yeast bread, but what a flavour! It also keeps better. This recipe is designed for baking bread in a wood-fired oven but, of course, you can use the conventional oven in your kitchen.
1.2M 23.8 6 hours 26 min. May 23th 2017
Pizza dough
(Found inTextsIngredients)Pizza dough is a lind of bread dough with olive oil, which make it softer. This is the same dough that I use for pizzas and flammenkuches, this is no doubt incorrect, but it's very good nevertheless. At home we used to make pizza dough quite thick, and flammenkuche as thin as possible.
496K4.6 1 hour 59 min. August 27th 2020
How to prepare tomatoes
(Found inTextsStages)Yes, I know you will say to me: why peel tomatoes? The answer is very simple: it's much better, gives a better texture, softer in the mouth. The skin is tough, adds nothing to the taste (and you will have noticed that commercial tomatoes have practically no taste), and finally it's there (on/under...
322K 24 40 min. June 6th 2012
How to cook bacon and remove excess fat
(Found inTextsStagesComments)To prevent excess fat in a recipe using bacon, you can "blanch" it before use, leaving most of the fat in the pan with the water.
371K 44.8 14 min. February 21th 2011
You should not soak strawberries in water
(Found inTextsStages)When using strawberries in a recipe, the usual way is to soak in water, which is actually a very bad idea. Just look at how to preserve them here.
159K3 10 min. February 21th 2011
How to prepare a bain-marie
(Found inTextsStages)A bain-marie is the best way to cook or heat a preparation gently without risk of burning.
505K5 7 min. July 5th 2013
French baguettes
(Found inTextsStagesIngredientsComments)This classic of French baking is rather different from the recipe for leavened bread, it's a question of making a good crust and light crumb along the whole length. To succeed, you should know that there are two secrets: water first of all (much more than for normal bread), and the working of the...
1.1M 364.7 5 hours 6 min. October 24th 2017
Hotpot my grandmother's way
(Found inTextsStages)If you like slow-cooked dishes prepared with loving care (mitonné), you will certainly love this hotpot recipe, with the taste of Franche-Comté, inspired by my grandmother. It's an old-fashioned dish full of flavours and aromas, cooked vegetables, stock, smoked sausages, all cooked long and slow.
329K5 4 hours 7 min. February 21th 2011
Cooking sugar
(Found inTextsStagesIngredients)Cooking sugar, which is one of the basics of patisserie and sweet-making, is a delicate operation in which sugar is heated from 100°C or 212°F to 180°C or 356°F. Here is some information on this tricky subject. [Translator's note: the terms used below correspond to the French tradition, as often...
477K4.9 43 min. April 3rd 2019
Blackcurrant coulis
(Found inTextsStages)Blackcurrants make a very good coulis, but it's a bit more difficult than with other fruits. Here is a simple method to help you succeed.
436K 23.5 25 min. February 21th 2011
Red rice pannequets
(Found inTextsStages)This is a kind of small crusty parcel with flax seeds, filled with a mix of red rice, diced courgette and smoked ham.
226K4 2 hours June 12th 2011
Endives
(Found inTexts)A very classic recipe, but which can easily fail due to two main errors: too much water in bottom of dish because endives give off a lot, and endives that are too bitter so that children hate it. Here is a method which avoids these two problems.
307K5 1 hour 29 min. February 14th 2012
Pages: 15 results
Calculator for water temperature in bread-making
The temperature of the water, known as "process water" ("eau de coulage" in French), in a bakery recipe is very important, here is a small calculator allowing you to determine it quickly and simply.74K4.4 August 29th 2023
Electronic controlling of a pump
How to switch on a pump with a timer automatically using high water level .168K4.4 August 29th 2023
Home made plancha
Make you own plancha and cook the Spanish way on this scorching hot metal plate.254K 43.7 August 29th 2023
Information on weights and measures in the kitchen
Weights, measures and volumes in a recipe.819K3.7 December 10th 2023
Herbs in the kitchen
Herbs: there's nothing else so small that can add so much to a recipe. They are not only for garnishing, but are a true part of the dish, sometimes one of the main ingredients. A small example of the "power" of herbs: you make a chopped carrot salad, which is very good with a vinaigrette, but if you...183K 13.9 August 29th 2023
Slashing loaves
Cutting the top of the loaf so that it rises better during baking: slashing.279K 43.6 August 29th 2023
Small history of elements classification
History of the classification of the elements down the centuries.40K3.9 August 29th 2023
Ice-cream and sorbets
All about ice-creams and sorbets, their differences and how to make the most of them .422K4.0 August 29th 2023
The amateur baker
You may have noticed over the pages of this site, I am passionate about everything that is related to the bakery: I love making bread, pastries, maintain my leaven, etc.. This page contains links to all the different parts of the site where we talk about bread: recipes, special pages, etc.163K 44.1 August 29th 2023
Flours
At the most basic level, wheat grain is put through a mill, which produces a white-ish powder flour... Well, actually it's not quite that simple. First of all we need to distinguish between the different grains that can be made into flour: wheat of course, but also rye, barley, buckwheat, etc. So we...721K 413.6 August 29th 2023
Blog articles: 65 results
The power of sayings and beliefs in the kitchen
One day, in the comments on the recipe for beaten egg whites, a young woman asked if you could beat egg whites stiff while having a period, as a friend had told her it wasn't possible. Sometime later another person commented that for mayonnaise it had been (get this!) scientifically proven that a...47K4.4 February 6th 2011
Properly cooked! (the taste)
Going out to a restaurant is getting harder at the moment. In France, at least, you have to try and find one that has agreed to pass on the new lower rate of VAT at anything other than a symbolic level, and there aren't many. And then, most importantly, you have to find a good one: one where you...13K 14.6 February 6th 2011
Cream and sauces
Have you ever wondered why making beautiful tasty sauces is so easy when you use cream? First of all, we need to be aware that some flavours only dissolve in water, while others only dissolve in fats. This phenomenon leads to this kind of accident: If you put a chocolate mousse uncovered...17K4.4 October 15th 2012
Good fridge management
We all have a fridge at home – it's an indispensible part of the kitchen and so much a part of the furniture that we tend not to pay it much attention. But often, out of habit, we don't use it properly. Here are a few tips to help you get more from your fridge. .25K4.4 April 19th 2011
The time of the jams
We are well into summer as I write this, and this is the time when most of the fruit is giving or about to give in full. And for many of us, it will also be the time for jams and jellies, one of the best ways to preserve fruit for the next winter.23K4.5 July 12th 2021
Butter doesn't make you fat, unless you eat too much of it.
Whenever I'm discussing cooking and recipes, there is one idea which comes up frequently, like this: "Oh no! But that's got butter in it" (I should add, for the sake of accuracy, that this is something I hear more frequently from women, who are almost all concerned with keeping their figure). ...38K4.5 March 26th 2012
Markers in cooking
When it comes to cooking, there is only one real rule, and that is that there are no rules! By that I mean that everything is possible, everything can be combined, everything or almost everything can go with everything, but you have to like it, you have to find it good. I have friends who...7,1395 July 3rd 2021
Different kinds of pastry and dough
When cooking in general, and particularly in baking, we can make and use many different kinds of pastry and dough. All built on the same "base": flour - a powder to which we add fat, liquid or both to produce the dough which is then cooked. .105K 14.0 November 6th 2012
Raising (or leavening) agents
When we want to make a dough or batter rise when baking, either in patisserie or bread-making, we need to use a raising agent or leavening agent, one of which is called leaven. In the context of baking, a raising agent is simply what "makes something rise". It is a substance which, when added to...51K4.8 June 16th 2021
Making the most of seeds: Dry roasting
In cooking, and particularly in baking, there are a lot of seeds we can use, such as linseed, sesame, poppy, etc. Usually, recipes simply say to add them just as they are to the mixture or dough. To make a seeded loaf, for example, prepare a plain bread dough as usual, then, towards the end of...56K4.0 January 30th 2015
One should cover a pan while heating?
Cooking abounds with old sayings and proverbs, which are sometimes useful tips and sometimes myths. We learn or hear them somewhere, and often trust them completely, even when they're wrong. I propose simply to verify them, to see whether they are real useful tips that we can use, or just...26K 13.4 February 27th 2015
Steam for baking bread
What does steam have to do with bread-making? This is not only a bakers' secret, it is something you might not think of at all: if you make bread and bake it like a cake, you will end up with bread, but pale and with a thick, hard crust – a long way from the golden-brown crusty loaf you had in...136K4.5 June 16th 2021
Perpetual stock
It's something you have probably have done yourself: cooked or pre-cooked vegetables before adding them to a recipe. This is almost always done the same way: peel the chosen vegetables (carrots, for example), cut them up, boil them in salted water (using a tablespoon or so of coarse salt per litre),...23K5 November 22th 2016
Children and vegetables
This is an attempt to address the question that all parents and grandparents, maybe you included, face so often: how can we get children to like vegetables? And at the same time, we might get away from the familiar, day-in, day-out round of pasta, chips, toast.. Well, I can hear you say, it's...11K5 March 9th 2017
A few tips for effective kneading at home
When you have to knead dough for bread or some other recipe, you may well use a food processor or the type of machine known as a stand mixer. The best-known brands are Kenwood and KitchenAid. They are useful tools, but here are a few tips to help you get the best out of them.267K 23.7 June 23th 2021
Vegetable soups
As I write this post, we are slowly slipping into winter, and this late autumn is the perfect time for soups, especially vegetable ones. Soups, that somewhat "soft" dish, often associated with our childhood, infallible remedy against a cold evening or an ugly weather, or both.7,4365 December 5th 2017
There is vanilla and vanilla
The vanilla is a delicious taste that can be found in many many dessert recipes, creams (the cream and the cream for example), ice creams, but also cakes and entremets. Whenever you need to add this vanilla note, you have several possible choices because vanilla is commercially available in...8,5715 December 14th 2017
The golden-brown finish on puff pastry
Let's take a look at the tricky matter of producing puff pastry with an attractive, golden-brown finish. French pastry chefs call this "dorure" (literally, "gilding"). Behind this quirky term there lurks a real problem (and the solution): when using puff pastry (pâte feuilletée) for a pie, or...40K 24.6 February 8th 2018
Egg yolks and caster sugar
We often come across recipes where we need to mix egg yolks with caster sugar. This would appear to be a very ordinary and simple thing to do but, be warned, these two ingredients can behave oddly together.72K 24.4 February 15th 2018
The mock CAP baker's certificate exam
The next instalment in my life as an apprentice baker at the French INBP professional school. I’m now halfway through training and it’s still as exciting as ever, and exhausting – but maybe I’m just getting old, or both… Anyway, a few days ago we had to go through the mock CAP exam. A sort...16K4.4 May 1st 2018
Lexicon: 11 results
Bain-marie
(Found inTexts)Method of gently heating something over hot water without direct contact with heat.
741K 1
Dry roasting
(Found inTexts)Dry roasting (torréfication in French), usually seeds (sesame, linseed,...) or nuts (almonds, walnuts, ...), means to heat without water or fat, in the oven or a heavy pan, to drive off all water they contain.It make seeds crunchier, very pleasant in the mouth, with an improved flavour.
741K 1
Poolish
(Found inTexts)Poolish is a fermented batter, generally a mixture of water, flour and yeast which acts as the leaven for certain kinds of bread dough.There are distinct bread types, depending on the rising agent: yeast-raised bread, poolish bread, and leavened bread.Although it doesn't have the full flavour of a...
741K
Blanch (almonds etc.)
(Found inTexts)For almonds (or other nuts), blanching is the process of plunging in boiling water in order to remove the skins easily.
741K
À l'anglaise (English style)
(Found inTexts)French cooking term, said of a cooking, rather of vegetables, which is done in a large volume of boiling salted water.
741K
Utensil: 9 results
Short-handled brush
(Found inTexts)This is a small hand brush with very fine bristles, used for gently brushing the dough during bread making, to remove excess flour. Very useful, indispensable even, for bread recipes where the soft dough has a high water content, like French baguettes.
741K
Skimmer
(Found inTexts)Used for removing the froth that forms on top of some liquids during cooking like soups, stock, jams, etc. Sometimes it's used for removing something from liquid, like vegetables in water for example, but this is not the ideal tool, it's better to use an araignée (spider).
741K
Araignée (spider)
(Found inTexts)A kind of skimmer, like a shallow wire basket on a long handle. It's ideal for removing something solid from a liquid, like vegetables in water for example. .
741K 1
Wooden leaven spoon
(Found inTexts)For use when refreshing, mixing or taking out leaven. It must be kept exclusively for use with leaven, and never washed with soap or any chemical product (only hot water).
741K
Oven brush
(Found inTexts)Once the embers have been removed from the oven, the ashes missed by the rake need to be swept out, and for that you will need an oven brush.
741K
Steam machine
(Found inTexts)It's essential to have a lot of steam in the oven during baking to get lovely golden crusty loaves.Bakers have a special steam control on their ovens which injects water at the start of baking. With a wood-fired bread oven a simpler system is needed.I've try several systems and ideas, here is the...
741K
Salad spinner
(Found inTexts)A salad spinner is a simple device: a kind of mesh basket which is spun by turning a handle on the lid. As the basket turns very fast, any items in it are forced agaisnt the sides by centrifugal force, and the water (or other liquid) they contain is spun off and collects in the bottom of the...
741K
Ingredient, product: 8 results
salt
(Found inTexts)Salt is more than just a condiment, it plays an important role in bringing out flavours in recipes.There are two main types of salt:Sea salt: made by evaporation of sea waterRock salt: extracted from minesThese two kinds are then factory refined to produce the very fine white powder that we know as...
741K
water
(Found inTexts)What could be simpler than water? It is true that for most recipes that require it, ordinary tap water is fine. The exception is for sorbets, which can sometimes be affected by the slight chlorine taste of tap water. For sorbets, it is better to use bottled water, or - a more economical solution -...
741K
apricot glaze
(Found inTexts)Apricot glaze is an apricot jelly (strained jam), used to coat tarts, to protect them from the air and give them a glossy appearance.
741K
fondant icing
(Found inTexts)Fondant icing is a mixture of sugars and water, in the form of a white paste, fairly hard when cold, but which softens when warmed. It's used for icing the tops of cakes and pastries such as millefeuilles or eclairs. It can be used white or coloured.
741K
Chicken or beef stock cube
(Found inTexts)It's beef or chicken stock, concentrated and dehydrated (all water is removed). It's very useful to increase the taste of sauces, soups and others. .
741K