Macarons (the original French macaroons)

(Found inTextsComments)
This recipe really is "of the moment": the success of these small, highly-coloured cakes, in an infinite variety of flavours, is impressive. It's a recipe which needs some care, in order to produce a result worthy of a professional pastrychef. No problem, I will guide you through the recipe,...
October 3^rd 20191.58 M 714.6 2 hours 40 min.

Home-made terrine of foie gras

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Preparing your own home-made foie gras from raw is immensively satisfying: good quality liver and a simply amazing flavour – much better than anything you can buy. This recipe is a bit tricky, but quite within everyone's grasp, as long as you follow the 3 most delicate stages carefully. These are,...
December 17^th 20235.23 M 64.2 4 days 15 hours 50 min.

Natural leaven

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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.

How to prevent bad breath after eating garlic

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The main problem with garlic, is that even a long while after eating it, you often still have the smell on your breath.
February 21^th 201171 K 24.3

Avengers' potatoes

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Lurking behind this strange name (see reason below) is a kind of potato-cheese gratin, which is wrapped in thin slices of bacon. It's cooked first on the hob, then in the oven.
February 21^th 2011299 K5 1 hour 55 min.

Endives

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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 14^th 2012312 K5 1 hour 30 min.

Blackcurrant, vanilla and lime verrine

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Vanilla-lime, confectioner's custard and blackcurrant coulis, topped with a layer of whipped cream (chantilly) and dusted with a little matcha green tea powder. Light and flavoursome.
September 12^th 2010189 K4.9 1 hour 9 min.

Quick chicken curry

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This curry is quick to make if you have left over cooked chicken, and is always delicious.
August 25^th 2011266 K5 35 min.

How to prepare cucumber

(Found inTexts)
Or how to start with a whole cucumber and finish with small crunchy dice, ready to be added to a salad.
August 6^th 2019241 K4.6 40 min.

How to prepare 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.
February 14^th 2012460 K3.7 30 min.

How to prepare cockles

(Found inTexts)
Cockles are small Atlantic shellfish which can be used in many delicious dishes. However, they need to be prepared with care before cooking. Here is a simple way to do this.
March 13^th 2013537 K 13.7 1 hour 55 min.

Pear charlotte

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A charlotte filled with pear mousse (made with whipped cream and pear coulis).
April 7^th 2013127 K4.1 13 hours 60 min.

How to keep a tart pastry case crisp

(Found inTexts)
The problem with tarts, and fruit tarts in particular, is that the filling (fruit, cream or whatever) ends up soaking into the pastry and turns it soft. Here is a professional tip for avoiding this problem: spread a thin layer of white chocolate, which does not have a strong flavour, in the bottom...
June 12^th 2013164 K4.7 1 hour

Baby courgette salad

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Early in the season, it is easy to find young courgettes that are still small and delightfully crunchy raw. They are ideal for this salad recipe, combined with radishes and tuna in a lemon mayonnaise.
July 31^th 201937 K 25 min.

How to cook hard-boiled eggs properly

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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.
November 4^th 20131.37 M 65 1 hour 30 min.

Blanquette of veal

(Found inStages)
Blanquette is a classic dish of French family cooking, but can also be found in bistros. Veal is cooked slowly, and the sauce is thickened with a mixture of egg yolks and cream. I have set out a rather special way of making it.
February 5^th 2015412 K4.4 2 hours 50 min.

How to prevent a sheet of paper sliding

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If you put cooking parchment on a baking sheet, you will find it slides all over the place, which is annoying.
February 21^th 201167 K4.5 3 min.

How to keep meat tender after cooking

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When you cook meat, the cooking heat causes the juices to run back inside, so the outside dries up somewhat. Here is a tip to avoid this.
February 21^th 2011115 K4.3 5 min.

Clarified butter

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This is a way of melting butter to eliminate all the impurities. The clarified butter can then be heated without spoiling, and is more digestible. It is ideal for cooking at high temperatures where small black specks would spoil the appearance, or for emulsified sauces like béarnaise or mousseline.
June 21^th 2017456 K4.2 2 hours 15 min.

Sweetcrust pastry (pâte sablée)

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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.

Website technical evolution

This page lists all the improvements/modifications that have been made to the site, in chronological order. .
August 29^th 2023206 K3.8

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

Advice on heating oven

For good results with a wood-fired oven, it's very important to manage the heating process well. Here is some advice to help you succeed in this delicate operation.
August 24^th 2024177 K4.0

A mist free mirror

I don't know if you're like me, but I find it very annoying after a shower or bath to have to wipe down the bathroom mirror 36 times with a towel just so I can see myself shaving (or putting on make-up for the girls).How do you solve this tricky problem? First of all, by looking at the cause of the...
August 29^th 2023219 K 13.6

Home Automation and CP290 with Excel

If you're using a CP 290 interface to do a bit of home automation and, for example, regulate your heating, you must have used the "Lighthouse" software under DOS and Windows 3.1. Apart from the fact that this software is in English with AM and PM times, and that it wasn't very user-friendly, the...
August 29^th 2023145 K4.2

Solar lighting

As you know, every square feet of our planet receives huge amounts of energy which is sent by the sun. This energy, free, infinite, non-polluting is at our hands, but unfortunately for some sad reason we continue to use fossil fuels with all their harmful consequences to our environment.Is it...
August 29^th 2023236 K4.0

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

Nutritional information and ingredients

For each recipe you will find on this site, dietary information is calculated. It is thus presented to you: Protein weight in grams (gr)Weight of carbohydrates in grams (gr)The weight of lipids in grams (gr)And finally the energy value, expressed in kilo-calories (1 kilo-calorie = 1000 calories) and...
August 29^th 2023520 K3.5

Recommended Dietary Intake or RDI

The various agencies and organisations in the field of nutrition have defined a standard measure for the necessary daily nutritional requirements; these are the RDI or "Recommended Dietary Intake".The RDI represents the required energy, expressed in kilo-calories or kilo-joules, which our food needs...
August 24^th 202460 K4.1

Start off well to cook well

What do I need to get started in the kitchen? First of all, a good website! That's it, you're there ;-), then a minimum of equipment, and the few products you should always have in your cupboards or fridge. Here are a few things to help you make your choices.
August 29^th 2023308 K 13.6

Soured dough

Underneath this strange name lies a baking secret: when you want to give a bread or pastry dough (without leaven, but with yeast) a certain percentage of fermented dough must be added, i.e. the same dough made the day before, and left to ferment overnight in the refrigerator.
August 25^th 2024146 K 24.1

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

Make your own hot-wire or styrofoam cutter

A filicoupeur is a hot-cutting tool for polystyrene, which can be used to enhance any piece of polystyrene you've salvaged, and to do all kinds of things with it: model building, model making, arts and crafts, and so on. See here how to make your own.
February 20^th 2024509 K 433.5

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

Devising a recipe

A question I'm often asked is: how do you come up with your recipes? How do you perfect them? This is something I've already mentioned on this page, but I'll take this opportunity to go into a bit more detail.
October 15^th 201214 K4.4

A memo of utensil weights

You will no doubt have come across this problem while cooking: after starting a recipe, when you already have some ingredients in a pan and have maybe cooked them, you need to know the weight of the pan's contents so that you can take half out, or add the same weight of sugar, for example.
May 9^th 201124 K4.6

Too much sweet and savoury

There is a food trend which is creeping in everywhere in France right now: mixing sweet with savoury. In some restaurants, it is becoming difficult to order a classic dish, like “roast veal” for instance, without being served fruits in the garnish or honey/conserves/syrup in the sauce or cooked...
November 3^rd 201123 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

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...
July 3^rd 20218,0795

The secret of cooking until "done"

This is a real chef's skill: being able to look at a fish fillet cooking and say, "Stop – that's enough, it's cooked". I always admire this ability to see at a glance if something is done. It is what sets the professionals apart from us mere amateurs. And it's true that how fish is cooked is...
November 26^th 201216 K4.4

How to choose a good password

These days more and more websites ask you to create a user account, so that you can be identified before being allowed to access some service or other. To create an account you need to choose a user identity. This is simple, as your email address is used in most cases (ann.other@gmail.com, for...
March 29^th 201317 K4.1

20 measures to protect your privacy

As we use more and more new technology, we leave ourselves increasingly vulnerable to companies who make money out of collecting our personal data. For instance, when we use the internet, we need to be wary of what is collected about what we do, our habits, etc. Here is a list of simple...
April 16^th 201318 K3.9

Foie gras without force-feeding: it can be done

I adore foie gras... I willingly admit it, I adore foie gras: the texture, the taste, the festive aspect – I enjoy all of it. I really love eating it, preparing it and, most of all, sharing what I have made with my family over Christmas and New Year. ...but then I begin to have doubts Of...
December 15^th 201445 K4.4

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...
March 9^th 201712 K5

Candied fruits: don't get ripped off

Do you like candied fruit? You might like to nibble a handful or add it to a recipe, like a classic fruit cake or delicious Italian specialities like panettone or sicilian epiphany pie.
June 21^th 201757 K 24.2

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

Fats for cooking

If you need to fry or sear anything a frying pan or saucepan, the temperature is likely to be high. In particular, I have cooking red meat in mind. In this case, what should fat should we use? And at what temperature?
January 23^th 201817 K5

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...
February 8^th 201842 K 24.6

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.
February 15^th 201875 K 24.3

Rosemary in recipes

Rosemary, as I’m sure you know, is a culinary herb, one of the famous French "herbes de Provence", and is very effective in bringing a real taste of the Mediterranean to any dish. The classic way to use it in a recipe is to add a sprig or two and leave it in during cooking as a way of...
April 18^th 201820 K4.7

The taste of raw tomatoes

Let's take a look at tomatoes, which are still in full bloom at the end of summer (as I write these lines), and which make for delicious salads. I had already talked to you about the interest of peeling tomatoes, which gives them an extraordinary sweetness in the mouth, but let's talk about the...
September 8^th 201812 K4.9

Brioche for a savoury recipe

When we make brioche, it is generally sweet, that is to say that in the dough there is sugar or honey or dried or candied fruits, or even sometimes the 3 together. It's normal, it's very good, it's a pastry. But you may also need brioche for a savoury dish, like a sausage or a sausage in brioche...
June 30^th 20199,2924.9

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