Crème brulée

(Found inTextsStagesComments)
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 of the former recipe, with video.

Belle-helene in a glass

(Found inTexts)
It's a recipe where you make 4 layers of different creams in a small glass: vanilla cream, small dice of pear cooked in maple syrup, chocolate mousse and whipped cream. It should be served to your guests cool but not too cold .

French dressing (vinaigrette)

(Found inTexts)
Here is a very simple recipe, but it could completely transform, maybe even transcend, your salad.

Artichoke hearts forestier

(Found inTextsStages)
This recipe is not very complicated, but does involve some work: an artichoke heart with a layer of mushroom duxelle, a layer of fried bacon, topped with a poached egg and cream sauce. Everything can be prepared in advance (the day before for example), but the final assembly should be done just before serving.

Guacamole

(Found inTexts)
For this typically Mexican recipe there are two main methods: smooth mashed avocado (made with a blender), or simple mashed avocado (made with a fork) with small pieces. And you can add, or not, finely diced tomato. You will find the first version (smooth) below.

Four-tier glasses

(Found inTexts)
This starter recipe, served in a glass, consists of four tiers of different vegetable preparations. Each can be made the day before, and it's only the assembly that is tricky.

Quick courgette soup with cheese

(Found inTexts)
This really is an express recipe, less than 30 minutes from washing courgettes to serving soup.

Broad bean salad with Parmesan

(Found inTexts)
A salad that combines crunchy almonds, tender broad beans, with the flavours of balsamic vinegar, parmesan and herbs.

Fougasse with bacon and Comté

(Found inTexts)
This is a richer version of the traditional Mediterranean recipe (originaly, it was a simple olive oil bread).

Chocolate rolls (petits pains)

(Found inTexts)
Here is a recipe for "real" chocolate petits pains, i.e. with a milk bread dough (not croissants dough) and with a stick of chocolate inside.

Morteau sausage

(Found inTexts)
In this recipe, Morteau sausages are cooked on a bed of chopped potatoes. The trick is to cook the Morteau sausage slowly, so that its delicious, smoky flavor descends on the potatoes, which are crispy on the outside and melt-in-the-mouth on the inside, a pure delight.

Lille style chicken

(Found inTextsStages)
Chicken breasts and mushrooms, cooked separately, then mixed with a tasty cream sauce before serving. It's a dish with a "cuisiné" taste, but which unfortunately is becoming increasingly rare in restaurants.

New tiramisu

(Found inTexts)
This new version of tiramisu is easier, and in my opinion much better. You will certainly appreciate, like me, the light creamy taste, this time presented in brandy goblets.

Big knife-cut chips (French fries)

(Found inTexts)
These chips (French fries) are made from potatoes steamed then fried in their skins. Usually we make big ones (3 times the usual French fry) and serve 2 or 3 per guest.

How to cook pasta properly

(Found inTexts)
Here is some advice for pasta that's properly cooked and doesn't stick.

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 dishes to your guests, and as a hot plate can wait longer than a cold one, it can sometimes help to avoid panic in the kitchen at serving time. Here are some simple ways to heat your plates.

Individual charlottes with morello cherries

(Found inTextsStages)
The French "griottines" are delicious little wild morello cherries, stoned and macerated in a Kirsch syrup, used here in individual vanilla charlottes.

Sarladaise potatoes

(Found inTextsStages)
Potatoes fried in a little goose fat, with a mixture of chopped parsley, garlic and shallot added just before serving. Greedy folks (like me) melt a few thin slices of foie gras over the top.

Coconut-vanilla cream for Elsa

(Found inTexts)
A dessert in three layers: a first of smooth vanilla cream, a second of coconut cream (also very smooth), and to finish, a thin crunchy layer of coconut tuiles. In the spirit of crème brulée: break through the crisp surface layer to discover the smooth melting coconut and vanilla creams beneath. A delight...

Chocolate cream

(Found inTexts)
A very simple recipe with a really chocolatey taste. Cream, milk and chocolate, mixed with egg-yolks and sugar, then cooked in the oven in a bain-marie, like for crème brulée.

Ice-cream and sorbets

Making homemade ice cream may seem complex, but with the right methods and a few tricks, you can achieve a creamy texture and incomparable flavors. On this page, we'll be revealing the secrets of successful homemade ice cream, guiding you step by step through the various stages of preparation. ...
August 12^th 2024476 K4.0

Homemade plancha

The plancha is a cooking method that originated in Spain. It consists of a very hot metal plate on which food, usually cut in small pieces, is cooked with little fat.Contact with the hot plate means that cooking is very rapid, only a few minutes, and there is an obvious "cooked" side. Food is well...
June 3^rd 2024285 K 43.7

Recipes

A recipe is really quite a simple thing (or should be): a list of ingredients, a method, and that's all there is to it. Unfortunately its not always the case. Sometimes you might get the impression that a recipe, found in a magazine or on a web site, has been concocted especially to make you fail:...
June 3^rd 2024209 K3.6

If you're using only the egg whites in a recipe (such as meringues ), you'll need to store the yolks until you're ready to use them again. There's nothing very complicated about this in principle - all you have to do is chill them, but there are a few pitfalls to be avoided in practice.
June 18^th 202410 K5

When it comes to serving wine, you may (like me) have a fairly simple rule of thumb: red wine at room temperature, and white, rosé, and yellow wines in the fridge until it’s time to serve them. It’s very easy to remember, but it’s a bit simplistic, and you’ll see that there’s a much...
September 23^th 20261645

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 201217 K4.4

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 201247 K4.5

You might well have noticed that there are recipes involving names that have been so overused (often for any old thing) that they have almost become common nouns.
September 25^th 201222 K4.4

In cooking, a charlotte is a delicious moulded dessert, with biscuits around the outside that have been soaked in a flavoured syrup, filled with a light cream or mousse. The charlotte is left to set in the fridge before being turned out and served in slices. It is very light and a lovely sweet...
February 27^th 201349 K4.3

For the upcoming christmas meals you too may be sacrificing to the tradition of foie gras? If so, I suggest you take a look at everything that revolves around serving foie gras: how to serve it, and what to eat and drink with it.
December 23^th 201717 K4.9

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 201825 K 14.9

Did you know that? Chive flowers are not only a beautiful purple color, but they are also edible and delicious.
May 29^th 201950 K4.4

When you cook vegetables, it's not easy to capture and preserve the flavours. It is easy to undercook, but you can make up for it, or overcook, and then it is unfortunately a bit cooked (in the sense of "ruined"). But above all, how to get the maximum of the taste of the vegetable in the pan, then...
July 12^th 201926 K4.1

I have already talked to you about herbs in cooking, and about their great power of "seduction". The example of a salad is a great classic: on its own, it's a salad, which is normal, but the same salad in which you have added finely chopped fresh herbs, just before serving, you have much more than a...
April 25^th 202013 K4.8

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 202018 K5

As I write these lines, we're deep into winter, and it's often time for raclettes, tartiflettes and other dishes that keep us warm, especially when the weather's as cold as it is right now. But we mustn't deprive ourselves of salads, precious sources of vitamins in these cold and sometimes dark...
January 11^th 20218,1104.9

Do you know the Mont d'Or, this extraordinary cheese from the Haut-Doubs in France, with a unique taste and appearance, which can be eaten both raw and cooked? I'll tell you a few words about it, and with some tips on how to choose it and cook it. .
November 27^th 202114 K5

You maybe know the "trou normand", this old gastronomic custom typically French which consists in taking a (small) glass of calvados, generally between the last course and the dessert? It's something that seems a bit anachronistic nowadays, having a glass of an alcohol of more than 60° in the...
December 18^th 202117 K4.8

If you use Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano) in your recipes, you may have already noticed: when you grate it, it becomes (very) difficult near the crust, especially if it is a slightly aged parmesan, as the cheese gets harder and harder. So we stop grating, leaving some crust on top, and a...
September 14^th 202219 K4.9

When you've finished preparing a salad, green or otherwise, it's usually time to add the dressing and toss. It's often said to "toss the salad", which means to season and mix. Is it easy? Not so easy...
March 8^th 202415 K5

If you make ice cream at home, which is a very, very good idea, you'll find a few tips and tricks in this article that should make your life easier. Combined with the site's ice cream recipes, they'll help you improve your production, to the delight of everyone around you, children first.
August 11^th 20249,6015

When dressing a salad, there's a kind of golden rule: add the dressing very shortly before serving, especially if your salad contains crunchy elements such as croutons or fresh vegetables, which will retain their crunchiness or crispiness. But, as is often the case in the kitchen, there are...
November 29^th 20248,8495

Arrange on plate

(Found inTexts)
Serving up a dish on a plate which will go directly onto the table in front of your guests. To arrange on the plate.
14 K4

Plated up ("à l'assiette")

(Found inTexts)
A dish that is served to each guest in individual portions on a plate, rather than one that is placed in the center of the table.
12 K4.4

Tongs

(Found inTexts)
For turning something easily during cooking (apple quarters for example), or removing something hot from a pan, and also for serving spaghetti.
14 K4.1