myfrenchtable

A table !!!

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Chocolate Mousse

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Chocolate mousse – an extremely easy dessert to make with only two ingredients! It’s quick, easy and tastes divine.

It is one of the most popular desserts in France which was made around Renaissance period. There are a lot of variants on this recipe, some recipes include butter or cream and some add a dash of liquor (Cointreau or Grand marnier for example) so it means that you can be creative 🙂

Ingredients :

  • 200g good quality dark chocolate (the better the chocolate the better the mousse obviously!)
  • 6 fresh free-range eggs (they won’t be cooked)

Method :

  1. Melt the chocolate using a bain-marie*
  2. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites
  3. Beat the egg whites (with a pinch of salt until stiff)
  4. Slowly add the melted chocolate to the egg yolks beating all the time
  5. Gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate
  6. Pour into a bowl or preferably, individual ramequin dishes and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours

*A bain-marie a sort of double-boiler used to melt ingredients for cooking. Here it means placing the bowl with the chocolate into a second bigger recipient containing water over heat to melt it.

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Riz au Lait / Rice Pudding

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Riz au lait is a well loved dessert here in France – so popular you can buy it in ready made yoghurt sized cartons in different flavours – vanilla or rhum and raisin for example. My youngest loves this and it’s so easy to make it has become a staple in our household. Its a perfect dessert or after school snack!

Ingredients :

  • 180g short-grain rice (almost oval or round in shape)
  • 1 litre milk
  • 100g sugar
  • 1 vanilla pod

Method :

  1. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and cook the rice in it for 3 minutes.
  2. Strain the rice
  3. Cut the vanilla pod lengthways and scrape out the seeds.
  4. Heat the litre of milk with the vanilla pod and the seeds
  5. When the milk come to the boil add the rice cook over a low/medium heat for 25 minutes stirring occasionally
  6. After 25 minutes add the sugar, mix well and continue cooking for another 5 minutes
  7. Remove vanilla pods, pour into pudding bowls and allow to cool
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Tartiflette

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A tartiflette is a gratin with potatoes, lardons and onions topped with melted savoyard cheese called Reblochon. It is a traditional mountain recipe and a perfect dish for cold weather !

It is particularly nice served with an Apremont, savoie wine.

Ingredients :

  • 1kg potatoes
  • 250g smoked lardons
  • 2 large onions
  • 150g crème fraîche
  • 1 whole reblochon cheese
  • 1 clove of garlic

Method :

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C
  2. Pre-cook the potatoes in a saucepan of salted water (traditionally the potatoes are sautéed but this dish is rich enough so I prefer to boil them)
  3. In a frying pan gently fry the onions until they are soft and translucent and then add the lardons and continue frying
  4. Remove from heat and add the creme fraîche or liquid cream and mix well
  5. Chop the potatoes and mix in with the onion and lardons
  6. Salt and pepper as necessary
  7. Cut the garlic clove in half and rub the cut sides around an oven dish
  8. Place the potato, lardon and onion mix in the oven dish
  9. Slice the cheese down the middle and place the two round halves crust up on top of the dish
  10. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown and nice and crispy
  11. Serve with a green salad

 

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Galette des Rois

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January wouldn’t be January in France without a Galette des Rois or two (or ten!). They are eaten throughout the month of January, until they finally disappear once February arrives only to resurface again near the end of December the following year.

A lof of people believe they are called the kings cake to celebrate the Wise Kings arrival at the stable on January 6th but apparently the actual reason goes back to a roman celebration. At the time, to celebrate the winter solstice, families would have a ‘raffle’ to pick a king who would be King of the household for the day. Even the servants could take part and if they won, could end up bossing their employer around for the day.

The Galette des Rois below with puff pastry and almond filling is common all over the north of France, but in the south of France their ‘galette’ is a completely different cake made with a ring of brioche and candied fruit.

The ‘fève’ is a small trinket (the french word fève actually means a broad bean which is what used to be put in the cake), usually a small porcelain figurine. We’ve had minions and star wars characters this year 🙂

In France the tradition is that the youngest member of the household goes under the kitchen table while the ‘galette’ is being cut and calls out the names of those present as each slice is served up. Whoever finds the fève is the king – or queen!

Ingredients :

  • 400g ready-made puff pastry (of course you can make your own but it’s the only pastry I don’t make myself!)
  • 100 g ground almonds
  • 75 g caster sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 50g of softened butter
  • A few drops of almond essence
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 “fève” !

Method :

  1. Roll out half the pastry into a circle and prick with a fork
  2. In a bowl mix all the ingredients together – the ground almonds, sugar, softened butter, egg and almond essence
  3. Spread the mixture over the pastry and place the fève on it
  4. Brush the edges of the pastry with water, then cover with the second half of the pastry, pressing the edges to seal
  5. Using a fork or knife to create a design on top
  6. Brush with the beaten egg yolk
  7. Bake in oven for 30 minutes until nice and golden
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Pot-Au-Feu or French Beef Stew

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Potaufeu1

A pot-au-feu is a french beef stew, which uses mostly inexpensive cuts of beef that need to be cooked for quite a long time in a bouillon seasoned with root vegetables and a bouquet garni.

According to the french chef Raymond Blanc, pot-au-feu is “the quintessence of French family cuisine, it is the most celebrated dish in France. It honours the tables of the rich and poor alike.”

It is a perfect dish for a cold January day and even when the meat and vegetables are gone you can get another meal out of it by using the broth as a soup. In France this broth is usually served with special soup pasta called cheveux d’ange (or angel hair in english) added to it.

I make this using my pressure cooker as do most french people. So I am estimating that it will take 2 to 3 hours in a regular saucepan.  If using a pressure cooker, you’ll need to cook the dish at first for 30 minutes and then remove the carrots, leeks and turnips before continuing to cook the meat and seasoning for another 45 minutes.

Ingredients :

  • 1.2kg stewing beef (I usually use cheek and tail)
  • 2 marrow bones (optional!)
  • 1 onion studded with 3 cloves
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 3 leeks
  • 1 kilo carrots
  • 3-4 small turnips
  • I branch of celery
  • Bouquet Garni
  • Salt and Pepper
  • Potatoes to serve

Method :

  1. Peel and wash the leeks, carrots and slice in half
  2. Peel and wash turnips and chop in large chunks
  3. Fill a large saucepan with 2 litres of water and add the clove studded onion, the carrots, the leeks, the turnips, the garlic cloves, the celery branch and the bouquet garni.
  4. Season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil, then add the meat
  5. Cook over a gentle heat for 10 minutes, removing  the foam the comes to the surface (this is called “écumer” in french!)
  6. Put the lid on the saucepan and cook for approximately 3 hours until the meat is really well cooked
  7. Wash and peel potatoes and cook them separately in a saucepan of salted water
  8. When your pot-au-feu is ready you can serve the broth as a starter or enjoy it the following day – its a meal in itself, really tasty and full of goodness 🙂
  9. Serve with potatoes, gherkins and strong mustard
  10. If you are having the marrow bones serve with toasted bread

 

 

Pot-au-Feu Ingredients (Image from Wikipedia)

 

 

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