How to use a forcing bag (piping or icing bag)

(Found inTexts)
The forcing bag is the tool needed whenever you need to deposit a blob of something precisely in a particular place (in a mould, a glass, on a plate, etc). Here is how you do it.
January 14^th 2011295 K 15 25 min.

Tomato feuilleté with pesto

(Found inStages)
This is a fairly simple recipe, but the result is an elegant, thin tart, bursting with delicious Italian colour. The base is a a feuilletage, but savoury this time, topped with the concentrated flavours of Italian cuisine: pesto, tomatoes and Parmesan.
September 8^th 201840 K4.1 60 min.

Pollack Parmentier

(Found inStages)
"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,...
October 1^st 201743 K4.5 60 min.

Pissaladière with puff pastry

(Found inStages)
This savoury tart is a traditional speciality around Nice, on France's Cote d'Azur. Originally, pissaladière had much in common with its Italian cousin, the pizza, but made with onions, anchovies and olives, and without tomatoes. This is a slightly different version, more friable (with a...
May 7^th 201751 K3.9 1 hour 40 min.

Mixed tomato salad

(Found inStages)
This end-of-summer recipe is very simple: just fresh tomatoes with chopped shallot and herbs in a vinaigrette, but we can play up the variety of flavours and colours to make it something with real eye appeal and, above all, delicious!
September 21^th 201647 K4.3 20 min.

Pollack fillet baked with rice and vegetables.

(Found inStages)
This oven-baked recipe teams layers of rice and vegetables (sesame-flavoured rice, sautéed courgettes, onions and tomatoes) with fillets of fish (pollack here) and thyme laid on top. Everything is then cooked together in the oven.
September 25^th 201655 K4.3 1 hour 7 min.

Caramelized brioche with pear and kiwi

(Found inStages)
This "classy restaurant" style dessert consists of a sort of dish made of caramelized brioche filled with a mix of pear compote and kiwi salad with vanilla, served surrounded by real custard (crème anglaise).
April 29^th 201298 K 15 45 min.

Aligot

(Found inStages)
Aligot is a traditional family dish from the Auvergne mountains in France. It is basically a potato purée enriched with cheese and stirred for a long time.
April 5^th 2012114 K4.2 1 hour 20 min.

Fine multi-tomato tart

(Found inStages)
This simple but very elegant tart makes the most of different tomato varieties. Their diversity allows us to create a multi-coloured tart, featuring all their attractive shades.
October 14^th 201848 K 60 min.

Greek salad

(Found inStages)
This is a classy version of that perfect summer food, Greek salad. The only difficult part is the care and patience needed for dicing the vegetables.
July 13^th 2010194 K 14.9 60 min.

Fish "à la Bordelaise"

(Found inStages)
Fish "à la Bordelaise" is a fillet topped with a crust of breadcrumbs, herbs and onions cooked in white wine, then oven-baked until golden brown. It is a classic frozen family meal that many French children have grown up with, but here is a home-made version that is far better.
February 20^th 201985 K4.4 1 hour 7 min.

Rémoulette of celeriac

(Found inStages)
This is a variation on the popular French rémoulade (a celeriac salad, similar to coleslaw). Here, a julienne of celeriac is mixed with chopped shallot, fresh herbs and a lemony rémoulade dressing.
February 24^th 201941 K 35 min.

Smoky potato and potimarron gratin

(Found inStages)
This gratin has an unusual twist: it not only combines potatoes with potimarron, the potatoes are boiled in the water left after cooking a Morteau sausage, to give a lovely smoky flavour. Guaranteed to transport your tastebuds to eastern France!
March 13^th 201942 K 2 hours 10 min.

Red cabage salad with toasted almonds

(Found inStages)
This salad has a lovely crunch to it: not just the red cabbage, but also from thinly sliced radishes and toasted almonds.
May 26^th 201939 K5 30 min.

Souda salad

(Found inStages)
The port of Souda in Crete is the inspiration for this colourful salad, combining cucumber and tomatoes with feta cheese. This salad is best served cold from the fridge, perfect for a hot summer's day.
July 7^th 201939 K 60 min.

How to prepare cucumber

(Found inStages)
Or how to start with a whole cucumber and finish with small crunchy dice, ready to be added to a salad.
August 6^th 2019240 K4.6 40 min.

Normandy seafood stew

(Found inStages)
A "marmite normande" is a combination of different seasonal julienne vegetables and a mix of shellfish, rapidly sautéed, then deglazed with cider. The vegetables and shellfish are then simmered together in cream, which intensifies the flavours while it gently reduces and thickens. This recipe is...
January 9^th 201964 K2.5 2 hours 15 min.

Bistro-style beetroot salad

(Found inStages)
Beetroot salad is a well-known classic, but have you come across the "bistro" version? The beetroot is still diced, but raw and served with croutons and fried ham in a rémoulade dressing.
December 30^th 201938 K 40 min.

Lemon tart

(Found inStages)
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 18^th 201941 K 1 hour 35 min.

Norwegian tartines

(Found inStages)
Scandinavian-style bread with smoked trout, and a fresh topping with herbs and shallots.
February 19^th 202033 K 30 min.

Webmaster tools

This page gathers in one place all the free widgets available for webmasters or bloggers to incorporate (automatically) news from the cooking-ez.com site.
August 29^th 2023235 K3.5

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 2024258 K 43.7

Slashing loaves

When it's time to put them in the oven, the dough pieces for future breads or viennoiseries need to be "lamés", i.e. made with a very sharp blade, by making quick incisions at the top, known as "grignes". Let's see how it's done.
August 29^th 2023282 K 43.6

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

The amateur baker

You may have noticed over the pages of this site, I am passionate about everything that is related to the bakery: I love making bread, pastries, maintain my leaven, etc.. This page contains links to all the different parts of the site where we talk about bread: recipes, special pages, etc.
October 15^th 2024170 K 44.1

Stand mixer tools

Whether we call it a stand mixer, food processor, or simply refer to it by brand (Kenwood, KitchenAid, etc.), this machine is a valuable tool for amateur cooks, bakers or pastry chefs like ourselves. All these machines come supplied with 3 different tools. Let’s take a look at their names and...
November 2^nd 201933 K4.5

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

How to zest a fruit?

You will have no doubt noticed that many recipes call for the zest of citrus fruit. The zest is that outer layer of the skin which adds so much flavour to a dish. There are many different ways to peel off the zest and various tools are available. Here is a summary of the “dos and don'ts” of...
November 5^th 201342 K3.8

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 mock CAP baker's certificate exam

The next instalment in my life as an apprentice baker at the French INBP professional school. I’m now halfway through training and it’s still as exciting as ever, and exhausting – but maybe I’m just getting old, or both… Anyway, a few days ago we had to go through the mock CAP exam. A sort...
May 1^st 201817 K4.4

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 first breads of humanity?

I have already told you in a previous article the beautiful story of the croissants, but do you know what it is about the bread, who "invented" it, where and when? Well, you can imagine that recent discoveries, in 2018, have profoundly changed the history of bread.
February 16^th 20199,8025

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

Zester like a pro

Have you heard of the microplane? It's an extraordinary tool that allows you to grate very, very finely, and therefore zest with disconcerting ease. Here's some information about it.
December 25^th 20204,7934.9

The perfect boiled egg

Making boiled eggs is always a delight and it pleases the young and old alike. This little transgenerational side puts them on the list of "things to do on Sunday evening when you don't know what to do" in many families (including mine)... That said, it's not that simple, you have to pay...
January 30^th 202113 K4.7

The return of the vegetable grater

If you are of a certain age (say +50) you may have known, when you were a kid, something that your grandmother had in her kitchen set, the vegetable grater. A kind of mill, to be turned by hand, and which with cutting discs of different sizes, allowed to grate a lot of vegetables, carrots first...
March 20^th 202112 K4.6

In praise of the whetstone

Have you ever seen a butcher or a chef sharpen his knife before using it? Usually he uses a special tool, a long thin cylinder made of very hard metal. And in a smooth and elegant gesture, he very quickly passes the edge of the knife against the rifle, which makes a very characteristic noise,...
June 5^th 20216,8654.8

Remove bones from fish

Let's talk about fish: It's not a scoop, it's much more pleasant to eat fish from which all the bones have been carefully removed, even if it's a rather painful and time-consuming job, the result is worthy of your efforts. Here are some important points to keep in mind.
October 16^th 20219,4095

The peak of the apple season

As I write these lines, we are in the middle of the apple season, and it's an apple year, as you may have noticed if you have apple trees around you, they are bursting with fruit! Excellent news for the people in the west of France in particular, but let's have a little thought for those in the...
October 23^th 20215,5535

How to properly roll out a pie crust?

Very often in pastry making, you have to roll out a pastry before using it for a pie or another dessert. At home, of course, you get out your rolling pin and simply roll it out. Is there a way to get an evenly rolled out dough? That's what we will see in this article.
May 10^th 20235,4324.9

In Praise of the Vegetable Mill

When a recipe or preparation calls for something solid to be pureed, as in a soup for example, the natural reflex is to take out the blender and plunge it into the saucepan. This works very well in most cases, but there are times when you'd like to puree something and at the same time remove the...
July 12^th 20236,2455

It's spinning too fast!

When you need to grate or slice vegetables, you generally use an electric machine that does all the work: a food processor, a mixer with a "slicer" extension or similar. Are these machines really suitable? Generally speaking, yes of course, but there's one criterion that often poses a problem,...
November 12^th 20237,4605