Sweetcrust pastry (pâte sablée)

(Found inTexts)
Sweetcrust pastry is one of the basic pastry of French patisserie, used in many tart and cakes recipes, but it can also be rolled out and cut into biscuits, delicious with tea or coffee. This recipe is given for those who have a mixer (Kenwood, KitchenAid or other), but it can also be done with your...
July 1^st 2019476 K 24.4 35 min.

Natural leaven

(Found inTexts)
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...
April 3^rd 20201.69 M 304.0 7 days 15 min.

Leavened bread

(Found inTextsStages)
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 23^th 20171.19 M 23.8 6 hours 30 min.

Marinated tuna with herbs

(Found inTexts)
Here is a very simple recipe, preferably for a barbecue or plancha, but could be made in the kitchen. As for any summer-barbecue-backyard recipe, all proportons can be varied according to taste.
February 21^th 2011264 K4.3 1 hour 25 min.

How to heat plates

(Found inTexts)
In restaurants serving "à l'assiette", wich means that your dish is presented already served on a plate, it's very important for the plates to be hot, otherwise dishes arrive cold and it's the customer that (rightly) becomes heated. At home it's worth doing the same thing: you are sure to serve hot...
February 21^th 2011213 K 43.7 25 min.

Tomato ladybirds

(Found inTexts)
Tomatoes filled with a tuna mayonnaise and rice mixture, in a fun ladybird shape that kids will love, served with a puree of fresh garden peas. A good way to encourage them to eat vegetables.
February 21^th 2011272 K 14 1 hour 50 min.

Sushi

(Found inTexts)
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...
October 13^th 2010330 K4.5 1 hour 40 min.

Surprise eggs

(Found inTexts)
These look like perfectly normal boiled eggs, but when the shell is cracked open - surprise! They contain a mixture of scrambled egg, cured ham, fried prawns and chives.
September 26^th 2010177 K5 55 min.

Peach Melba

(Found inTexts)
Peach Melba is a famous dessert created in 1893 by an equally famous chef, Auguste Escoffier, and inspired by the singer Nellie Melba. There have been many versions of this well-known dish but, in principal, it consists of vanilla ice cream, poached peaches, raspberry coulis and sweetened whipped...
September 9^th 2012121 K3.9 2 hours 20 min.

Noisette butter

(Found inTexts)
"Noisette" means hazelnut in French. Noisette butter is made by melting butter, then boiling and raising it to a high temperature until it takes on both a light brown hazelnut colour and also a characteristic nutty smell. Compared with simple clarified butter, this noisette butter has a delicate...
December 30^th 2019121 K4.5 15 min.

How to peel tomatoes using a flame

(Found inTexts)
The classic and most usual way to peel tomatoes is by plunging them first into boiling water, then into cold. But there is another method, "flame peeling", which is quicker than boiling water as it bursts the tomato skins open very rapidly. Here is how to do it.
July 17^th 201969 K 15 min.

Asparagus "en petit pois"

(Found inTexts)
As the name suggests, this historic recipe (see below for more details) treats asparagus like peas, Napoleonic French style: first cooked the usual way, then cut small (to look like peas), cooked again in stock, and finished with a cream and egg yolk sauce.
May 2^nd 202133 K 45 min.

Small cheese and bacon rolls

(Found inStages)
These small aperitif snacks can be prepared in advance and heated at the last minute, or served cold.
September 7^th 2018353 K5 1 hour 25 min.

Benoîton

(Found inStages)
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 4^th 201846 K 4 hours 35 min.

Cretan Bread

(Found inStages)
This Cretan (or Cretan-style) bread has a soft dough, enriched with olive oil, preserved tomatoes, green olives and cooked onions.
October 24^th 201782 K4.3 4 hours 30 min.

Jura bread

(Found inStages)
This speciality bread is full of all the character of the Jura: dry white wine (made with Savagnin grapes, of course), diced Comté cheese and toasted walnuts. "Jurassic bread" was is first name... The loaves can be made long, as shown here, or as small rolls. This is ideal as an aperitif snack,...
October 24^th 201759 K4.4 6 hours 9 min.

Seeded loaf

(Found inStages)
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 24^th 2017152 K3.8 4 hours 30 min.

Tomato foccacia

(Found inStages)
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 24^th 201779 K4.3 4 hours 55 min.

Classic French white bread

(Found inStages)
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 6^th 2017293 K4.1 3 hours 50 min.

Two-olive ciabatta

(Found inStages)
Enjoy the real flavour and scent of the Mediterranean in this ciabatta made with two olives (green and black).
October 24^th 2017115 K4.3 4 hours 15 min.

Information on weights and measures in the kitchen

The way ingredients are described in a recipe varies from country to country. This difference, which is quite profound, relates not only to units of measurement, but also to the way in which they are measured: weight or volume. Let's take a look.
August 22^th 2024822 K3.7

Films and papers in the kitchen

It's now fairly easy to find a range of papers and plastic films that are invaluable, and sometimes indispensable, kitchen aids. Here's a quick overview of the main products available, and what you can and can't do with them.
August 29^th 2023574 K 93.6

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...
June 3^rd 2024728 K 413.6

chives

Chives grow in clumps, and the leaves used as a herb have an extraodinary taste. It's an essential for adding to salads, and everything else that can be eaten cold, because it doesn't like long cooking during which it loses most of its flavour.
August 29^th 202376 K3.8

rosemary

This is a kind of shrub, of which the small branches are used.
August 29^th 202347 K4.2

parsley

There are different kinds of parsley, the two main ones are curled parsley and flat-leaf (or Italian) parsley. The most important difference between the two, except the leaf shape, is taste: flat-leaf parsley has much more flavour.
August 29^th 202360 K4.1

bayleaf

Bay is a kind of laurel, grown as a shrub or small tree, of which the leaves are used, fresh or dry (other laurels are toxic). Bayleaves are used frequently in mediterraneen cooking.
August 29^th 202389 K4.2

fresh coriander (cilantro)

This is a plant of which the leaves are used fresh. It has a very subtle flavour which is remarkable in salads. It is an indispensible ingredient in Asian and Mediterranean cuisine. The seeds are also available (like white pepper grains but paler), which have a different taste.
August 29^th 202341 K4.2

sage

This is a plant of which the leaves are used. It's goes perfectly (in my opinion) with white meats like pork, veal or poultry.
August 29^th 202341 K4.2

sorrel

This is a plant of which only the leaves are used. There is a wild species, very tasty, with small red and green leaves, and a cultivated variety with large green leaves.
August 29^th 202342 K4.3

tarragon

Tarragon is a herb with strongly aromatic leaves. These are used for their characteristic flavour that goes very well with meat and fish.
August 29^th 202351 K4.1

mint

There are several kinds of mint with different flavours, some stronger than others. The important thing, if you have the choice, is to use the strongest flavour possible (crush a leaf with your fingers, and smell to compare).
August 29^th 202337 K4.2

thyme

Thyme is an aromatic plant of which the leaves are used. There are several kinds of thyme, and its flavour is very typical of Mediterranean cooking.
August 29^th 202350 K4.6

Chervil

Chervil is very similar in appearance to parsley, but its leaves are smaller, and its taste (delicate) is very different, sometimes with a slight hint of licorice.
August 29^th 202330 K4.4

Basil

This is a plant of which the very smelly leaves are used.
August 29^th 202327 K4.6

What is this site, and who am I?

The important thing is the content of the site, the recipes and information you can find, but some of you want to know who is behind it all.
August 29^th 2023210 K 44.2

Bread oven

Building a bread oven was until a few years ago a job for the professionals. But now you can buy a kind of kit which allows you to build your own bred oven without professional masonry know-how. You should know that the kits only provide the main part of oven, the hearth, where you light the fire...
October 15^th 20241.16 M3.6

Some hints for a pizza-party

A pizza party is always a very pleasant and convivial occasion. Good people (friends and family) get together to enjoy delicious pizzas, baked right in the oven. Here are a few tips to help you make yours a success.
August 30^th 2024187 K3.7

Cooking with herbs

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...
June 3^rd 2024188 K 13.9

The steam machine

Fogging is an essential element in a bread oven. It's not easy to see, but it's the presence of fog that makes breads golden brown. To get steam on a regular basis, you can put a ramekin full of water in the bottom of the oven, or spray the inside with a sprayer, but this solution requires you to...
August 24^th 202458 K4

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...
February 6^th 201148 K4.4

Kitchen ovens

You certainly have one in your kitchen, an oven, the essential tool for all kinds of cooking, whether in the kitchen of course, but also in pastry, bakery, pizza, and many others. Here is some information on its structure and operation.
May 16^th 202026 K4.4

Fried potatoes or fried mash?

In cooking there are a lot of dishes that appear to be extremely simple but which can actually prove to be very tricky. Amongst those that I'm aware of having this reputation are omelette and fried potatoes.
February 6^th 201121 K4.5

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...
February 6^th 201114 K 14.6

The ideal restaurant

Like all passionate cooks (I suppose), from time to time I dream of opening my own restaurant. I imagine loads of things: it will be like this or like that, we'll do this, I'll cook that, the room will have this or that – in short, I dream.
October 15^th 201213 K4.4

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). ...
March 26^th 201239 K4.5

Choosing a chopping board

It's a no-brainer, surely? If you want a chopping board, just find a piece of wood, and Bob's your uncle! You can happily chop away with a knife and not damage the table or worktop. But in reality, it's a bit more complicated than that. You need to be careful what you are buying, in particular the...
May 8^th 201246 K4.6

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...
January 30^th 201557 K4.0

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...
June 16^th 2021138 K4.5

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),...
November 22^th 201625 K5

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.
June 23^th 2021272 K 23.7

When should I change my knife?

I already spoke to you in a previous post about knives, those without which nothing is possible (or almost) in the kitchen, so I'm going to come back to them a bit and try to answer the question "When should I change my knife?
November 2^nd 201712 K4.7

The Holy Grail of French bakers

While browsing through the recipes on this site, you may have noticed that while I adore cooking (everything, in fact, to do with eating and drinking), I am particularly drawn to bakery: bread, viennoiseries and all that goes with them – it’s a real passion of mine; I love making them and I...
March 24^th 201815 K 34.7

Using stretch food film effectively

Maybe you use food film in your own kitchen. You know, the very thin, clear plastic stuff that you can stretch, often used to cover food and protect it from the air. It’s become so widely used that it’s now an essential item for pros. They even have a verb for it in French: “filmer”: to...
May 12^th 201819 K 14.9

The 3 essential knives

You must have heard a chef or cook say: "There’s no good cooking without good ingredients". This is very true, of course, but for any amateur or beginner it is equipment that really counts to start with. What I mean is that you should not skimp on kitchen equipment, good utensils, a food...
May 30^th 201821 K5

The march forward

When professionals get to work in their kitchen, lab or bakery, they are (if they are conscientious) very sensitive to hygiene and cleanliness. It is impossible for a good baker for example to do a day's work without regularly cleaning the table where he or she works, and it is even more...
June 30^th 202115 K5

The green of leeks

We are all, consciously or not, very sensitive to the colour of our food. That's why a red strawberry will always seem more appetizing than a pale one, even if it's not necessarily true. This is true for red, but it is also true for the green of certain vegetables.
March 30^th 202016 K4.0

Circles vs. moulds tins

If you like to bake or make quiches, pies etc. you must surely have one or more pie pans at home, in different diameters and perhaps materials. They are indispensable, without them there is no way to make beautiful pies, and they work very well, but you have another option, instead of moulds,...
October 2^nd 202012 K5

The proper use of a pastry bag

Ever used a pastry bag? Handy, isn't it, but unfortunately not very easy to fill. In fact, to be comfortable with this tool, you'd need 3 or 4 arms, which isn't very common. Does that mean it's a goner? No, of course not. Here are 2 or 3 tips to help you get comfortable with it.
December 5^th 20205,3664.7

Thermal inertia or "out of the fire"

When you're cooking, you need a lot of heat to cook, and most of the time it's on the fire, literally if you're on gas, more indirectly if you're not. An expression that comes up quite often is "Off the heat", but what does it really mean?
December 12^th 20206,4254.6