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List of recipes using Water: 132 recipes

List of recipes using Water
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Starters

"Buttonhole" quail eggs
"Buttonhole" quail eggs
This little appetizer consists of a small finger of toast, a slice of cured ham and three quail egg yolks arranged on a rectangle of egg white. It is a bit tricky to make, but very attractive to serve, and delicious, of course.
June 26th 2011187 K5 60 min.
Du Barry soup
Du Barry soup
Du Barry is a creamy cauliflower soup, including small whole pieces of cauliflower.
October 17th 2018274 K4.5 1 hour 1 min.
French onion soup
French onion soup
This warming onion soup is an emblematic French dish, both in bistro cuisine and home cooking. This is a very classic version. The long, slow cooking is the secret to revealing its full flavour.
December 30th 201974 K 23.8 2 hours 30 min.
Hummus
Hummus
Hummus (or houmous), is one of the famous and delicious Lebanese "mezzes".
May 30th 2020343 K4.7 20 min.
Kale and potato soup
Kale and potato soup
Kale, potatoes and croutons for this simple but delicious soup.
February 11th 202418 K 55 min.
Leek and Jerusalem artichoke soup
Leek and Jerusalem artichoke soup
Jerusalem artichoke and leek is a much rarer combination than the classic potato and leek, but it works rather well, as you will see in this recipe.
April 28th 202137 K 55 min.
Leek and potato soup
Leek and potato soup
A classic of French family cooking.
October 3rd 2010493 K5 45 min.
Mushroom velouté
Mushroom velouté
This smooth, creamy soup with its lovely mushroom flavour is quick and easy to make.
May 10th 2023156 K4 55 min.
Pumpkin (or potimarron) soup
Pumpkin (or potimarron) soup
A smooth and fragrant soup, it's much better with potimarron (Japanese chestnut pumpkin) than ordinary pumpkin.
October 13th 2010343 K4.1 1 hour 10 min.
Quick courgette soup with cheese
Quick courgette soup with cheese
This really is an express recipe, less than 30 minutes from washing courgettes to serving soup.
October 13th 2010272 K5 30 min.
Sesame fried scampi
Sesame fried scampi
Scampi, coated with a sesame crust, fried quickly, and served with a herb salad.
November 11th 2012308 K5 35 min.
Sorrel soup
Sorrel soup
Smooth with a slight sharpness, this soup has a very particular taste.
May 8th 2011405 K3.8 1 hour 4 min.
Soup Cornouaillaise
Soup Cornouaillaise
This rustic soup comes from Cornouailles in Brittany – France's very own Cornwall. It is made with fried bacon and onions, and thickened with a little buckwheat flour, typical of the region.
May 9th 202134 K 45 min.
Super-green, super-thrifty soup
Super-green, super-thrifty soup
It's all too easy to just throw away the leaves or other green parts of our usual fresh vegetables. This is a real shame, because most of them can be cooked, as in this very green soup that uses up radish tops, spring onion greens and pea pods. I'm sure you'll get how it's "green" in every sense: economical, simple and a way to reduce waste.
June 24th 202042 K 55 min.
Turnip and Jerusalem artichoke soup
Turnip and Jerusalem artichoke soup
This soup combines the earthy flavours of Jerusalem artichokes and turnips. This is the chance to use not only the roots, but the turnip tops as well, if possible.
May 22th 202537 K
Turnip top soup
Turnip top soup
It may no longer be widely known these days, but the leafy tops of certain root vegetables are edible, so it's a shame to waste them. Better still, the leaves can be made into interesting accompaniments for their root vegetable, or soups with amazing flavours. In this recipe, I will show you how to make a soup with turnip and radish leaves.
April 10th 201964 K 45 min.
Winter vegetable soup
Winter vegetable soup
A warm, comforting winter vegetable soup whose recipe can be adapted to whatever vegetables you find on the market.
March 9th 20258,911 1 hour

Sea food

Langoustine gratin
Langoustine gratin
This elegant gratin has a layer of brunoise vegetables in the bottom, with langoustine tails (scampi) cooked in two stages on top, finished with a thick creamy sauce, made with the December 30th 201980 K3.9 2 hours 15 min.
Langoustine sabayon tart
Langoustine sabayon tart
For this recipe, the tart cases are made with sheets of filo pastry. These are filled with langoustines coated in a delicious lime-flavoured sabayon.
July 2nd 201480 K3.8 1 hour 6 min.
Salmon chard rolls
Salmon chard rolls
For this dish only the green part of the chard is used. The blanched leaves are rolled around grilled salmon portions. The rolls are served coated with a savoury lemon August 8th 2010178 K3.8 1 hour 25 min.
Turban of sole with langoustines
Turban of sole with langoustines
The turban is made from a rolled fillet of sole poached in fish stock. Each turban is then filled with sautéed langoustines and a tasty cream sauce, flavoured with langoustine stock. This dish takes quite a long time to make because of the langoustine stock, but you will really impress your guests.
November 23th 2014105 K4.1 1 hour 45 min.

Meat

Confit of carrots with bacon
Confit of carrots with bacon
As with any confit, these carrots are cooked long and slow. This is done in the oven in chicken stock, with the carrots rolled in a strip of bacon or cured ham that has been lightly fried.
April 16th 201757 K4.8 2 hours 35 min.
Fillet of beef in a rosemary crust
Fillet of beef in a rosemary crust
This is a sophisticated way to cook beef fillet (tenderloin): we make an unleavened bread dough (which will not be eaten), adding plenty of salt and lots of roughly chopped springs of rosemary. The beef fillet is seared all over in a frying pan, then wrapped in the dough before being cooked in a hot oven.
August 26th 202168 K 14.8 50 min.
Quick chicken curry
Quick chicken curry
This curry is quick to make if you have left over cooked chicken, and is always delicious.
August 25th 2011278 K5 35 min.
Rabbit civet "à la normande"
Rabbit civet "à la normande"
In French cooking, "à la normande" means there are apples involved, as Normandy is famous for them. In this twist on the classic civet, the rabbit meat is cooked on the bone in cider, after marinating overnight. The sauce is made at the end with the cooking juices and cream.
March 26th 201769 K4.6 15 hours 3 min.
Sausage and lentils "en cocotte"
Sausage and lentils "en cocotte"
This is a casserole-style version of the traditional French sausage-and-lentils recipe with a special feature: the lentils are cooked in just the right amount of water. The other ingredients add flavour as does, most importantly, the sausage (preferably smoked). When pricked, this will release its full flavour into the lentils during cooking. Not only will the lentils be perfectly cooked and extra-tasty, thanks to the sausage, they are ideal to serve with the sausage itself.
February 5th 2017151 K4.5 1 hour 5 min.
Sausage and mashed potatoes
Sausage and mashed potatoes
Sausage and mashed potato, a classic family favourite, served here with a delicious reduced gravy.
June 8th 20256,166 45 min.
Steak burger topped with egg
Steak burger topped with egg
A succulent steak burger, topped with a perfect egg. Here are all the tips you need to produce this simple but delicious dish.
June 22th 2013267 K4.9 55 min.

Miscellanous

Cassoulet
Cassoulet
Cassoulet is typical, even emblematic, of southern French cuisine. It is a "slow food" casserole in which meat and vegetables, particualrly dried beans, are cooked together for a long time. Here is a simplified version of this famous dish.
September 17th 2021222 K4.1 16 hours 9 min.
Cheese tart
Cheese tart
This is a very simple recipe for a "Pontarlier" style cheese tart that allows you to prepare a number at the same time. They freeze very well, so you can easily stock up for later.
February 3rd 201397 K4.2 5 hours 10 min.
Chicken pie
Chicken pie
Apart from the obvious chicken, this pie's puff pastry "lid" also conceals mushrooms, bacon, hard-boiled eggs and leeks.
May 10th 2023124 K4.3 2 hours 30 min.
Couscous
Couscous
In couscous, the meat and vegetable mixture is rather long to cook, but not difficult. And the couscous itself (a kind of coarse semolina) is simple and quick to prepare.
November 16th 2017527 K4.3 2 hours 40 min.
Creamy risotto with diced vegetables and flax seeds
Creamy risotto with diced vegetables and flax seeds
Risotto is one of the great Italian recipes. It's the special way in which rice is cooked and mixed with several other things, which produces this famous dish. One can make different flavour risottos, here is a fairly simple recipe with diced vegetables and flax seeds.
February 21th 2011263 K 14.2 1 hour 50 min.
Eggs meurette
Eggs meurette
Eggs meurette or "œufs à la bourguignonne" is a great classic of French cooking, and of Burgundy in particular. It consists of poached eggs on a bed of fondue onions and bacon, served on a slice of fried bread. This is topped with a tasty reduced red wine sauce.
March 29th 2020207 K 14.1 1 hour 15 min.
Morel risotto with Vin Jaune and Mont d'Or
Morel risotto with Vin Jaune and Mont d'Or
This is a rather special risotto recipe with Morel mushrooms, cooked with Jura Vin Jaune wine, and with Mont d'Or cheese added just before serving to make it extra creamy. With the trio of morels, Vin Jaune and Mont d'Or, this is an ideal way to bring together the delicious flavours of the Franche-Comté region.
September 4th 201868 K3.8 1 hour 55 min.
Provençal braised carrots
Provençal braised carrots
Chunks of carrot (different coloured varieties here), braised in a vegetable stock with herbes de Provence and served on a bed of couscous.
January 27th 201972 K 1 hour 15 min.
Spaghetti Bolognese
Spaghetti Bolognese
Spaghetti "bolognese" (after the town of Bologna, Italiy) is a well-known dish, but so often amounts to nothing more than pasta topped with minced meat in a plain tomato sauce. Here is a more traditional version, in which the sauce is made with tomatoes, herbs, red wine and - of course - meat.
September 29th 2022117 K3.8 1 hour 20 min.
Zucchini and potato scarpaccia
Zucchini and potato scarpaccia
Scarpaccia is a recipe from Tuscany, Italy, a simple but delicious zucchini and potato cake with Parmesan cheese.
October 16th 202425 K5 1 hour 30 min.

Desserts

Caramel rice pudding
Caramel rice pudding
We start with a classic rice pudding and add beaten eggs, this is poured onto hot caramel in the bottom of a dish, and then cooked in a bain-marie in the oven until firm like a cake.
February 11th 2011263 K5 1 hour 40 min.
Caramel semolina pudding with raisins
Caramel semolina pudding with raisins
Semolina pudding, like rice pudding, is a throwback to another era – time to rediscover its delights! This is an updated version, with a caramel sauce and raisins. Its smooth, creamy texture comes from the custard added towards the end.
December 30th 202061 K3.3 50 min.
Chocolate eclairs
Chocolate eclairs
This might appear to be a straightforward recipe: choux pastry, chocolate confectioner's custard and fondant icing, but in practice it is quite technically tricky and all three stages need care to produce a perfect result. But don't let that discourage you; there are demonstration videos and I will take you through the whole process, paying particular attention to the most difficult stages.
February 6th 2011310 K 34.5 3 hours 55 min.
Clementine cake
Clementine cake
This easy-to-make clementine cake is an end-of-year delight for the clementine season. It's a cake with a double clementine flavor: the whole fruit in the dough on the one hand, and a syrup made with their juice to punctuate...
August 28th 202514 K 1 hour 7 min.
Dandelion flower jelly
Dandelion flower jelly
With dandelion flowers and a hint of lemon, here's how to make a delicate and surprising jelly, which in franche-comté (eastern France) is called "cramaillote", or sometimes "dandelion honey".
April 27th 20259,858 1 1 hour 50 min.
French Family Cake
French Family Cake
The idea of a "family" cake can mean so many different things, depending on where your family came from. This French version consists of a layer of pears in liquid caramel, topped with a basic cake mixture, similar to the four quarters recipe.
October 12th 201479 K4 1 hour 15 min.
Gingerbread
Gingerbread
Maybe this recipe will bring back memories.
February 21th 2011291 K4.2 1 hour 4 min.
Grapefruit cake
Grapefruit cake
A moist, triple grapefruit cake: zest, juice and syrup.
March 24th 202421 K 2 1 hour 20 min.
Hazelnut and orange cake
Hazelnut and orange cake
A very elegant cake topped with a sprinkling of hazelnut crumble, and with a double helping of orange flavour from chopped candied peel and the orange syrup soaked into the cake after cooking. The recipe is rather sophisticated, inspired by those used by pastry cooks at the INBP. It is a bit trickier than a basic cake, but the result is well worth it.
January 23th 201955 K5 2 hours 15 min.
Kouign-amann
Kouign-amann
Kouign-amann is a traditional cake from Brittany. the name means butter cake in Breton (Kouign = cake, amann = butter). It is a sort of caramelized millefeuille, crunchy on the outside and melting in the middle.
May 24th 2018147 K4.3 6 hours 40 min.
Lemon and lime custard tart
Lemon and lime custard tart
This is a delicious version of the classic French baker's "flan", with the twin flavours of lemon and lime. It involves two different confectioner's custards poured one on top of the other. This gives an attractive layered effect when the tart is cut. Not just pretty, it is delicious.
December 30th 201973 K 3 hours 15 min.
Lemon tart
Lemon tart
Lemon tart (tarte au citron) is one of France's great classic desserts, though there are many different versions. This is more or less the classic version, with sweetcrust pastry and a creamy filling that uses both lemon zest and juice for a deliciously tart tart!
September 18th 201950 K 1 hour 35 min.
Mint and chocolate cream
Mint and chocolate cream
Inspired by the chocolate cornstarch cream, this cold cream, with the very matching flavors of mint and chocolate, will give you a delicious and quick dessert.
July 10th 202229 K 45 min.
Minted Melon
Minted Melon
It is tempting to call this a melon Mojito: little balls of ripe melon in a light Mojito-flavoured syrup with mint, rum and lime.
September 13th 201567 K4.5 45 min.
Mojito peaches
Mojito peaches
A simple fruit salad of white peaches bathed in mojito flavours: lime, rum and mint (with a delicate hint of vanilla).
August 2nd 202041 K 40 min.
Nonettes
Nonettes
Nonettes are small, jam-filled cakes from a bygone age. They originated in Dijon, where they were made by nuns (hence the name, which means "little nun" in French). The traditional version is closer to the French "pain d'épices", but this recipe has a more of a citrus flavour, made with marmalade.
June 2nd 2015100 K4.4 1 hour 50 min.
Nougat
Nougat
Nougat is a sweet made with honey and almonds that has changed very little since ancient times. The nougat we know today is the Montelimar variety, in which egg whites are added to the basic recipe for a lighter texture. Here is a simplified version.
June 19th 2013130 K 15 1 hour 45 min.
Quick orange marmalade
Quick orange marmalade
Just oranges (organic) and sugar in this simplified marmalade recipe.
February 26th 2014161 K3.9 1 hour 15 min.
Rum babas
Rum babas
Rum baba is a classic French dessert, consisting of a small cake soaked in rum syrup and filled with a little Chantilly (whipped cream).
November 24th 2013106 K3.7 3 hours 35 min.
Shortbread tart with sweet apricots and rosemary
Shortbread tart with sweet apricots and rosemary
In this shortbread tart, the apricots, which are generally rather acidic after cooking, are first poached in syrup to give them a particular sweetness, which goes very well with the rosemary.
September 8th 202418 K 1 2 hours 3 min.
Toffee apple upside-down cake
Toffee apple upside-down cake
With a flavour reminiscent of the French classic tart tatin, this cake is made with a ring of tart apples arranged on a layer of caramel, then covered with the batter. After baking, the cake is turned out while still hot so that the caramelized apples are on the top with the moist cake underneath.
December 4th 201658 K5 1 hour 50 min.
Valay-Brest
Valay-Brest
A Valay-Brest is a mini eclair, filled with apple-flavoured confectioner's custard and topped with a rectangle of walnut nougatine.
May 14th 201480 K4.1 1 hour 30 min.

Baking

Ali Baba bread
Ali Baba bread
This bread is so-called because its magical sesame flavour is non-negotiable! The triple dose comes from tahini (sesame paste), sesame oil added to the dough before kneading, and toasted sesame seeds both in the dough and on top of the loaves. The texture is soft, rather like ciabatta, but with a very distinctive taste - so "open sesame" and enjoy!
December 10th 201755 K5 4 hours 25 min.
Aperitif rolls
Aperitif rolls
These are small, bite-sized, soft bread rolls made with bacon bits and topped with grated cheese.
October 24th 2017129 K4 2 hours 35 min.
Bacon rolls
Bacon rolls
These tasty little rolls are enriched with bacon bits and toasted sesame seeds. The slightly flaky texture comes from lard, folded in like for puff pastry. Served sliced, these make an ideal savoury snack to share with friends over a drink.
October 24th 201773 K4.6 3 hours 40 min.
Benoîton
Benoîton
This curious name (explained below) applies to a small bread fingers made with a blend of wheat and rye flour, enriched with raisins and almonds.
February 4th 201858 K 4 hours 35 min.
Ciabatta
Ciabatta
Ciabatta is a small, very soft Italian bread. The name means "slipper". It normally takes a long time to prepare as a special leaven called "biga" is used, but this simplified version is quicker and just as good.
October 24th 2017297 K3.8 3 hours 25 min.
Classic French white bread
Classic French white bread
This is the recipe for classic, everyday French bread raised with yeast. French bakers call this "pain courant". It is quicker and easier to make than leavened bread or new leavened bread, so ideal for a beginner.
June 6th 2017308 K4.1 3 hours 50 min.
Cornmeal baps for Anne
Cornmeal baps for Anne
These small round baps are made with a mix of wheat flour and fine cornmeal. The dominant corn gives a moist and very yellow crumb.
October 24th 2017267 K4.3 5 hours 55 min.
Cretan Bread
Cretan Bread
This Cretan (or Cretan-style) bread has a soft dough, enriched with olive oil, preserved tomatoes, green olives and cooked onions.
October 24th 201795 K4.3 4 hours 30 min.
Fougasse with bacon and Comté
Fougasse with bacon and Comté
This is a richer version of the traditional Mediterranean recipe (originaly, it was a simple olive oil bread).
October 24th 2017346 K4.1 3 hours 9 min.
Franche-Comté sticks
Franche-Comté sticks
Thin baguettes made with Morteau sausage and cancoillotte cheese. The cancoillotte is added in the form of crumbled metton curds (normally melted in milk to make the creamy cancoillotte). Sliced thinly, these sticks make an ideal aperitif snack for sharing with friends.
October 24th 2017118 K4 5 hours 30 min.
French baguettes
French baguettes
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 dough, which is also very different.
October 24th 20171.09 M 364.7 5 hours 6 min.
Leavened bread
Leavened bread
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.
May 23th 20171.22 M 23.8 6 hours 30 min.
Lumberjack turnovers
Lumberjack turnovers
These are small stuffed bread turnovers (similar to calzone), made with fougasse dough and filled with bacon, mushrooms, onions, cheese and tomato sauce. Lovely and golden-brown after baking, they are best eaten hot or while still warm.
May 10th 2023124 K5 3 hours 45 min.
Mixed seed grissini
Mixed seed grissini
Little crusty bread sticks of Italian origin, these are delicious for aperitifs, plain or with dips like tuna rillettes, guacamole or houmous.
February 21th 2011275 K4.2 2 hours 30 min.
Mustard baps
Mustard baps
These baps are perfect burger buns: soft, with a distinctive mustard flavour and the added crunchy texture of toasted mustard seeds. These will give your burgers a gentle hint of mustard, but without the normal "bite".
December 30th 201950 K 2 4 hours 45 min.
Natural leaven
Natural leaven
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 history...(note: the ancient Egyptians seem not to have had exclusive knowledge of the process: in Germany evidence of cooking a fermented dough has been found from 8000 BC (the Neolithic era). The...
April 3rd 20201.72 M 304.0 7 days 15 min.
New leavened bread
New leavened bread
This new recipe for leavened bread is simple and delicious, but needs rather long resting times. If you'd like more more information about making your own bread, look at this dedicated page.
December 30th 2019922 K 34.3 7 hours
Olive and pesto bread
Olive and pesto bread
This bread with olives and pesto has a very Italian flavour: a ciabatta dough, herbes de Provence and green olives. The loaf is baked in a tin, with a thin layer of pesto spread in the middle between two pieces of dough, and green olives (with stones removed) pressed into the top.
October 24th 201779 K3.8 3 hours 60 min.
Panettone
Panettone
Panettone is a brioche-style Italian loaf, made with dried fruit (raisins and candied peel) and flavoured with left-over citrus fruit. The recipe is a bit complicated but, above all, it takes time, a great deal of time...
April 15th 2020151 K5 1 day 1 hour 20 min.
Peanut rolls
Peanut rolls
Combining soft and crunchy textures, these flavour-packed peanut rolls are delicious just as they are, but they are also ideal for burgers.
October 24th 201791 K4.6 4 hours
Pitta bread
Pitta bread
This Lebanese speciality is made as a flat round pocket, which can be filled with all manner of things.
January 8th 2025533 K 14.5 2 hours 50 min.
Pizza dough
Pizza dough
Pizza dough is a lind of bread dough with olive oil, which make it softer.
July 14th 2025516 K4.6 12 hours 60 min.
Poitevin twist
Poitevin twist
This short baguette, from the Poitou region of western France is soft-textured, made with walnuts, walnut oil and goat's cheese. As the name suggests, the bread is twisted, rather than slashed, just before it goes into the oven.
December 19th 201871 K 3 hours 20 min.
Raisin breads (pains aux raisins)
Raisin breads (pains aux raisins)
Raisin breads (pains aux raisins) are one of the three viennoiseries found in all good French bakeries, along with croissants and pains au chocolat. It is a delicate roll of yeast-based flaky dough (the dough of croissants) filled with custard and raisins.
November 27th 202234 K 2 hours 45 min.
Seeded loaf
Seeded loaf
This seeded bread is based on a French baguette dough, with a mix of dry-roasted seeds added (poppy, millet, linseed, sesame...). Delicious on its own, this bread makes excellent toast to go with foie gras, adding an amazing complementary crunch.
October 24th 2017166 K3.8 4 hours 30 min.
Special small breads
Special small breads
When you are have mastered the basic leavened bread, you certainly ought to try special breads: with nuts, cheese, seeds, etc... Here is a series of recipes, based on traditional leavened bread.
October 13th 2010395 K4 6 hours 30 min.
Tomato foccacia
Tomato foccacia
Foccacia is an open-textured Italian bread. The French sometimes refer to it as the Italian fougasse. This version is made with preserved tomatoes, green olives and parmesan.
October 24th 201790 K4.3 4 hours 55 min.
Two-olive ciabatta
Two-olive ciabatta
Enjoy the real flavour and scent of the Mediterranean in this ciabatta made with two olives (green and black).
October 24th 2017127 K4.3 4 hours 15 min.

Drinks and cocktails

Blackcurrant liqueur
Blackcurrant liqueur
The fruit liqueurs (or "creams" in French) are a mix of neutral alcohol in which fruits are macerated, and sugar syrup. They are the basis of the very famous "Kir", mixture of dry white wine and blackcurrant liqueur. This recipe is for blackcurrant, but it can be made with other soft fruits like raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, etc.
August 3rd 2013866 K 44.7 55 min.

Recipes for kids

Italian hot chocolate
Italian hot chocolate
This delicious, custardy chocolate treat is made in minutes. A treat for kids (and big kids) to enjoy at teatime, or any other time.
April 26th 2020172 K 10 min.

Basic recipes

Butter cream
Butter cream
Butter cream is made with egg yolk, sugar syrup and, of course, butter. These days it has fallen rather out of fashion, probably because it's very rich, but it still has its aficionados. Here is the classic plain version, which you can lighten and flavour as you wish.
October 13th 2010335 K4.4 60 min.
Chocolate Chantilly
Chocolate Chantilly
If we look at the more scientific side of Chantilly cream we can see that it's mainly cream, and cream is a mix of very small droplets of milk fat and water, which is called an emulsion. When we whip this emulsion, we incorporate air into it and so create a mousse or foam. In the end Chantilly is a foaming emulsion. The interest of this observation is that we can imagine doing the same not only with cream. We just need water and...
September 25th 2013183 K5 15 min.
Choux pastry (pâte à choux)
Choux pastry (pâte à choux)
Choux pastry is used for making profiteroles, eclairs and other small pastries.
February 13th 2022544 K4.5 1 hour 4 min.
Citrus crunch
Citrus crunch
These are fine crumbs of candied citrus peel. It can be used to sprinkle a dessert or other preparation to add both crunch and the flavour of the chosen citrus fruit. It is easy to prepare well in advance, and will keep in an airtight jar. This recipe is given for clementines, but can be made with all citrus fruits: lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit...
February 2nd 2016240 K3.7 1 hour 20 min.
Citrus syrup
Citrus syrup
This citrus-flavoured syrup blends the bitterness of the zest with the delicious acidity of the juice. It can be used to soak biscuits or cakes when making desserts. You can make this with whatever citrus fruits you prefer. It can be prepared in advance and will keep for several days.
December 30th 201977 K 1 hour 15 min.
Green parsley tahini sauce
Green parsley tahini sauce
This greeen sauce with tahini and parsley is an excellent accompaniment for lots of vegetables (raw or cooked) and also goes well with poultry.
April 8th 202056 K 9 min.
Italian Meringue
Italian Meringue
Italian meringue is made with sugar cooked to 120°C or 248°F. This is different from the French, which is made from caster sugar. The cooked sugar gives a softer meringue which can be added to other preparations or use as it is.
June 2nd 2015479 K4.3 30 min.
Pilau rice
Pilau rice
Pilau rice (also called "restaurant rice" in France) is a way of cooking rice that's very different from using a rice-cooker. In this recipe, the rice is first "pearled" with onion in olive oil, then chicken stock is added, and the whole lot is put in the oven. This produces a very tasty moist rice, which can easily be kept waiting without drying out.
February 21th 2011396 K 14.4 35 min.
Pistachio powder or paste
Pistachio powder or paste
Pistachio paste has a similar texture to almond paste, but the similarity ends there, as its flavour and colour are quite characteristic.
October 13th 2010388 K 154 50 min.
Poaching syrup
Poaching syrup
Less sweet than normal sugar syrup, poaching syrup is specially for slow cooking fruits to be used in other recipes.
September 2nd 2012300 K5 15 min.
Potimarron (Japanese chestnut pumpkin) purée
Potimarron (Japanese chestnut pumpkin) purée
Potimarron can be easily made into purée, you don't need to peel it, which makes for a quick and delicious recipe.
October 13th 2010332 K4.6 1 hour 15 min.
Praline
Praline
Praline is a preparation of caramelized nuts (in this case almonds), with a very characteristic flavour. Either crushed or as a paste, it is used to fill or flavour all manner of things like creams, chocolates, biscuits, etc.
August 3rd 2012273 K3.5 55 min.
Puff or flaky pastry (pâte feuilletée)
Puff or flaky pastry (pâte feuilletée)
Puff pastry is an incredible assembly of thin layers of butter enclosed in thin layers of dough. After cooking this give a succession of thin crisp pastry leaves that produce exceptional desserts or pies. It's a jewel of French patisserie. Making your own puff pastry is not very difficult, it's just a little work with a good recipe (like this one!). This recipe is for quick puff pastry ("feuilletage rapide") perfect for beginners.
January 19th 2011460 K 63.3 2 hours 45 min.
Quince and apple compote
Quince and apple compote
This compote is a tricky balancing act between the characteristic quince flavour and just enough apples to sweeten it. You should end up with a compote that has a delicate quince flavour rounded out by the apples and brown sugar.
December 30th 2019121 K3 60 min.
Quince compote
Quince compote
Quinces make an excellent compote, full of their delightful perfume and flavour. However, preparing the fruit is hard work, so here's a recipe to show you how to manage this.
November 11th 202047 K 55 min.
Red mixed pickle
Red mixed pickle
This mixed pickle is made with a variety of vegetables left to mature for 2 weeks in diluted vinegar. The result is similar to gherkins and can be added to lots of recipes, or eaten with a snack or sandwich. This red version gets its name from beetroot and red cabbage, which eventually colour everything else in the jar.
April 29th 202053 K 1 hour 30 min.
Stewed apple (compote)
Stewed apple (compote)
Here is a very basic but delicious recipe, and the pitfalls to avoid.
November 8th 20172.44 M 14.8 1 hour 15 min.
Stewed apricots
Stewed apricots
Here is how to make delicious stewed apricots, both an easy and a more sophisticated way.
July 12th 2023807 K 143.5 1 hour 20 min.
Stewed plums
Stewed plums
Quick and simple, stewed plums can also be spread like jam.
June 27th 2010477 K2.6 40 min.
Sugar syrup
Sugar syrup
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.
February 21th 2011762 K3.5 8 min.
Vegetable stock
Vegetable stock
Vegetable stock is a very easy and versatile basic recipe. It can be used in many different ways: for cooking rice, making soups, sauces, etc. It's a good idea to keep a supply of vegetable stock in your fridge or freezer.
October 5th 2011277 K4.3 1 hour
Yeast-based flaky dough (for croissants)
Yeast-based flaky dough (for croissants)
This yeast-based flaky dough (or croissant dough) is where puff pastry meets a yeast dough (such as brioche dough). This means that not only will we get flaky layers, but the dough will also swell and rise. The method is along the same lines as for a feuilletage: the basic dough is first kneaded, then layered with butter and folded over several times (in...
June 9th 2019163 K 4 3 hours 60 min.

Tips and tricks

Cooking sugar
Cooking sugar
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 used by English-speaking chefs, but there are other stages and terms in other traditions. Best to use a thermometer, and be guided by temperature, as the English terms commonly used in domestic...
April 3rd 2019505 K4.9 45 min.
How to cook pasta properly
How to cook pasta properly
Here is some advice for pasta that's properly cooked and doesn't stick.
July 18th 20191.16 M4.4 25 min.
How to cook rice in rice-cooker
How to cook rice in rice-cooker
Cooking rice in a specially adapted "rice-cooker" is practical and quick: you don't have to watch it during cooking, it's fast (15 minutes) and the rice-cooker switches automatically to "keep warm".
February 21th 2011934 K 24.9 20 min.
How to fry eggs well
How to fry eggs well
You've probably heard the expression: "S/he can't even cook an egg," suggesting that the person referred is a hopeless cook. In reality, frying eggs well isn't as easy as it might appear. The two most frequent errors: the white develops a brown crust around the outside which is unpleasant in the mouth, or the yolk is surrounded by white that is still raw and runny. Here is a foolproof and easy method that will help you avoid both.
March 11th 2018515 K 14.6 20 min.
How to heat milk without it catching on the bottom of the pan
How to heat milk without it catching on the bottom of the pan
Very often when you heat milk in a saucepan, it forms at the bottom of the pan (especially if the milk boiled) a sticky and brown bottom of milk that burned and attached. To avoid this here is a very simple and very effective tip.
February 21th 2011260 K 24.2 1 min.
How to prepare endives
How to prepare endives
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.
February 14th 2012473 K3.7 30 min.
How to prepare Jerusalem artichokes
How to prepare Jerusalem artichokes
Jerusalem artichokes are quite an unusual vegetable with a strong artichoke taste, if you want to use them in a recipe, here is how to prepare them.
January 11th 202330 K 20 min.
How to rehydrate dried mushrooms
How to rehydrate dried mushrooms
Rehydrating dried mushrooms restoes them to something like their fresh texture, ready to use in a recipe. You will see that there is more to it than simply leaving them to soak in water. At the same time, we can also make a delicious mushroom "jus" to use in recipes. Throughout the recipe, I have used morels as the example, but the same applies to any other dried mushrooms.
April 5th 2017359 K4.8 1 hour 10 min.
How to seal a terrine or casserole dish
How to seal a terrine or casserole dish
The French have a term for it: "luter", which means to seal around the lid of a cooking dish with dough. The dough forms a crust and hermetically seals in all the steam and flavours while the dish is cooking in the oven. This is a good way to concentrate flavours. The dish is brought to the table sealed and the crust broken open in front of diners so that everyone can share the delicious smells as they are released at that fleeting moment. It is possible to use ordinary January 11th 2017192 K3.7 35 min.
How to use gelatin
How to use gelatin
Gelatin is a gelling agent use in some desserts where a rather firm texture is required when cold. It can also be used to stabilize a dessert (mousses especially) that you need to keep longer than usual.
July 9th 2018421 K4.8 7 min.

World recipes

Chicken nems
Chicken nems
Nems are probably the best known Far Eastern dish in France. These small crispy rolls can be made in different flavours: chicken, crab, pork, etc. Making your own is not very complicated, the only difficulty is in the rolling stage. You will find in this recipe full details on how to successfully make chicken nems. [Translator's note: the "rice paper" used here is not the same as the rice paper used in England under macaroons, it's sold in packs of thin round translucent wafers, rather like...
April 6th 2017518 K3.8 2 hours 25 min.
Chorba
Chorba
Chorba is a spicy meat and vegetable soup, typical of the Maghreb. This is my own personal version.
May 4th 2012154 K5 2 hours 8 min.
Minestrone
Minestrone
Minestrone is a traditional Italian soup. It is made with a mix of vegetables and a poultry stock. It is quite simple to make, but preparing all the vegetables takes time. There are doubtless as many minestrone recipes as there are Italian cooks, but here is my version.
May 29th 2011181 K4.3 3 hours 30 min.
Naan
Naan
Naan is a type of Asian bread made from wheat flour. This kind comes from the Punjab region of India.
September 25th 2011197 K4 3 hours 45 min.
Nachos
Nachos
Nachos (or tortilla chips) are small Tex-Mex snack triangles, often served with guacamole. Authentic nachos are made from tortillas, cut into triangles and fried, but here is a lighter, oven-baked version. The recipe is very simple, though the cutting out is a bit of work, and I've given you 2 methods for this.
November 4th 202052 K 1 hour 6 min.
Paella
Paella
Paella is a traditional Spanish dish made with round rice, associated mainly with the Valencia region. The name comes from the large two-handled pan in which it is traditionally prepared. This is an adapted version with a mix of meat, vegetables and shellfish.
February 21th 2011354 K4.1 2 hours 60 min.
Papadums
Papadums
Papadums (pronounced "poppadoms") or papad are very thin, crisp Indian crackers. They are often served as an aperitif snack in Indian restaurants. The tricky part of making them at home is rolling them out thinly enough.
June 26th 2014111 K4.5 25 min.
Sushi
Sushi
Sushi is probably the best known element of Japanese cooking outside Japan. For the Japanese it's a culinary art learned over time from masters, but we can make simplified and easier sushi which are still pretty and delicious. The most common types of sushi are nigiri: a little oval-shaped mouthfuls of rice topped with raw fish, and maki: a nori seaweed roll filled with rice and other delicious ingredients.
October 13th 2010347 K4.5 1 hour 40 min.
Taos hotpot
Taos hotpot
This hotpot inspired by a stay in Taos (New Mexico) is a mix of different meat and vegetables cooked long and slow, served with polenta. The preparation is rather long, as is the cooking time, but it reheats very well.
January 10th 201852 K 3 hours 15 min.
Vietnamese prawns
Vietnamese prawns
In this recipe, the prawns are first lightly fried, then spiced up with a piquant sauce.
May 26th 2013158 K4.3 55 min.

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