Cocotte eggs with Comté

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A light delicious and quickly prepared dish, an easy and elegant answer to the frequent question "what are we going to eat this evening?". Here is version with Comté (a famous cheese from eastern France, like gruyère, but much better), but it can be made prepared many different ways.

Cooking sugar

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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 cooking...

Fillet of pollack cooked in two stages

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This pollack fillet is cooked in two stages: first pan-fried briefly to seal it and colour the outside, then baked gently in the oven in a parcel (en papillotte) on a bed of melting onions, julienne carrots and peas. This double cooking will give you a fish that's lightly crisped on the outside and melting in the middle.

Fish in a salt crust

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Fish cooked in a salt crust is simply baked in the oven, surrounded and completely covered by a layer of coarse salt. This allows the fish to cook gently and it should be eaten as soon as the salt crust is opened. In this version, it is stuffed with lemon and herbs. Using a thermometer is the best way to ensure that the fish is cooked to perfection.

Tender tuna

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Cooking tuna can be tricky: undercooked it is unappetising, overcooked it dries out rapidly. Here is a method which guarantees that your tuna will be perfectly cooked and tender.

Fish in a seed crust

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Fish fillets coated with a mixture of breadcrumbs and seeds, then fried.

Jura bread

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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, served sliced and maybe reheated briefly in the oven.

Quick orange marmalade

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Just oranges (organic) and sugar in this simplified marmalade recipe.

Pollack Parmentier

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"Parmentier", in French cuisine, means topped or mixed with mashed potato. This fishy version is made with pollack (or another fish, if you prefer), poached, flaked, and mixed with cooked onions, mashed potatoes and a little thyme. This is then topped with grated cheese and browned in the oven, gratin style.

Mackerel Fillets in White Wine

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Mackerel fillets in white wine are the kind of thing we normally buy ready-made in a tin, as a quick snack. But preparing them at home is straightforward and so much better. Here is how to create this classic yourself, step by step.

Cod loin with saffron

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A thick, deboned loin of fish (cod in this case), pan-fried and served with a reduced white-wine and cream sauce, flavoured with shallot and saffron.

Pistachio ice cream

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Rediscover the real, delicate taste of pistachio in this ice cream with its very definite flavour.

Nougat

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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.

Swiss meringues

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Swiss meringues are a variant of the classic French meringue. The eggs whites and sugar are beaten together in a bain-marie at first, then beaten stiff as normal. This makes for a firmer meringue which can be used to make small items or figures to decorate cakes or ice creams (such as mushrooms, snowmen, etc.).

Fish fillet with preserved lemons

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A thick fish fillet stuffed with slices of preserved lemon - crispy on the outside and tender inside.

Chicken breasts in a potato crust

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In this recipe, instant mashed potato powder is used to give an original crusty coating to the chicken breasts. These are fried and served with peas.

Fish in a sesame crust

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Fish portions cooked in 2 stages: first in the pan, then in the oven, covered with a sesame paste which turns crisp when baked.

Real custard sauce (crème anglaise)

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Real custard or vanilla sauce consists of egg yolks beaten with sugar and cooked slowly in vanilla milk. It is the base or the accompaniment for many desserts.

Mackerel rillettes

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This recipe for mackerel rillettes (or potted mackerel) starts with poaching the fish. The flesh is then taken off the bones and forked into a seasoned mixture of butter, mustard, cream and lemon juice. In France this is traditionally eaten as an aperitif snack, served on small slices of toast.

Panettone

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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...

Finishing touches

Is an oven really ever finished? Well there are always ideas for improvements. Here are af few...
August 30^th 202480 K4.4

Basic temperature in bread-making

When making bread, it's very important to keep to the correct temperature, as yeast and sourdough are very sensitive to temperature. The dough must be warm enough for the yeast to develop and make it rise, but not too warm, which would have the opposite effect. To express this ideal dough...
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There are many recipes or foods that require a (very) precise cooking temperature: foie gras, sugar for caramel, meats and fish, and not forgetting pastries. For these few examples, getting the cooking temperature wrong can spoil the whole recipe or dish: undercooked, it's no good or misses the...
April 10^th 20255,8745

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 201154 K4.4

We all have a fridge at home – it's an indispensable 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. .
April 19^th 201131 K4.4

Can you really trust your oven? This is an important question as we are always tempted to take the temperature indicated as gospel truth and, unfortunately, this is rarely very precise. .
July 4^th 201135 K4.6

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 201223 K4.4

There are many ways of making a fruit mousse, but one of the simplest is to prepare a fruit jelly (basically a fresh fruit coulis with gelatine) and then mix this jelly before it sets completely with whipped cream. The result is perfect for filling a charlotte, for example. But do beware;...
March 6^th 201382 K4.0

You've probably heard it before: "Cover your pan, it'll boil faster", but is it true? Let's find out.
February 27^th 201534 K 13.4

In the bakery, proofing is a crucial stage in the process of making light, plump breads and pastries. During proofing, the yeast ferments the sugars present in the dough, releasing carbon dioxide which forms bubbles. This process allows the dough to swell and aerate, guaranteeing a soft, light...
September 27^th 202415 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...
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Electronic thermometer

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When cooking it is frequently necessary to know the temperature of a preparation. Sometimes it's indispensable, like for recipes using cooked sugar or foie gras.
25 K4.5