Grilled Pork Shoulder
SMOKY PORK SHOULDER EPAULE DE PORC FUMEE For the Marinade:3 tablespoons grainy mustard2 cloves garlic, minced1 tablespoon herbes de Provence (dried, from page xx); if using commercial herbes de Provence, try 2 teaspoons 1 teaspoon mild honey10 tablespoons (155ml) mild flavored beer One boneless pork shoulder that weighs about 3 pounds (1.5kg) 1. In a […]
Salted Caramel Sauce
SALT COD – BRANDADE DE MORUE
Salt cod becomes silken in this tempting dish from the Mediterranean coast of France.
Orange Marmalade
Try to find Seville (bitter) oranges for this, but if you cannot, use regular oranges. The marmalade will still be rich with orange flavor. And use organic fruit – it’s pure, and it will taste better!
Nutmeg, More Precious Than Gold
In the 14th century, a pound of nutmeg was purportedly worth three sheep and a cow; in the 17th century, the little, fragrant nut was valued higher than gold.
Thanksgiving 2023
What matters is that we are all cooking and enjoying time together at the table. List or no, one thing I never forget is to make my grandmother’s crescent rolls, which have anchored every Thanksgiving I’ve known. They require a light hand and a lot of space, for once they’re shaped, they rise for hours; […]
French Comfort Foods
So as Mother Tongue is the comfortable language (which maybe makes us think of Mother), comfort food is that which inspires comfort in the individual. Which means it’s hard to categorize a culture’s comfort foods. But I’m going to try, with a short list of foods that give me comfort and, I’ve observed, give my […]
Cook From Your Heart
I cooked for a French family to earn my keep while I studied as an apprentice chef in Paris. At first, I was completely petrified. Me, cook for French people?! I’d been an enthusiastic cook since I was a teenager so I dove in. Though I was immersed six days a week in a classic […]
Cook French: Make Tarts
The most important part of a tart is not the filling. It’s the pastry. There are three major pastry categories in the French repertoire: pâte brisée, for sweet or savory tarts; pâte sucrée, which is cookie-like and best for tarts containing creams and fresh fruit; pâte feuilleté which, when made properly, rises to the sky […]
Cooking in a Small Kitchen
It’s not space that is important, but how you manage it. My Paris kitchen has a gas stove, high ceilings, wasted corners, a big window, and easy access to the dining area. To make it workable, I immediately filled a wasted corner with a tall, narrow fridge that is almost invisible and doesn’t interrupt my […]
