Roast Chicken French Style Oh La La

There is hardly a dish more significantly French than roast chicken. It’s a universal favorite at home, in the restaurant, at the market. For us, a Saturday market lunch often includes roast chicken that I buy from a farmer who roasts them “sur place,”. It’s hot when I buy it, it’s still hot when I turn […]
SALT COD – BRANDADE DE MORUE
Salt cod becomes silken in this tempting dish from the Mediterranean coast of France.
Cherries – Under the Wire

I know I’m just under the wire with this cherry recipe, but I rushed to get it perfected so that I could share it with you. So please run to your market, get the cherries even if they’re the season’s last, and find an avocado. You’ve got a treat in store. I’m proud of this […]
Salade Niçoise Authentique

Salade Niçoise, how we all love this blend of potatoes, green beans, lettuce, tomatoes, anchovies, tuna and…WAIT !!! STOP!!! Do not EVER tell any self-respecting Niçoise that you like your Salade Niçoise with potatoes, green beans, lettuce, or tuna and anchovies at the same time. This will make you an outcast and possibly consider you a […]
Couscous
ASTUCE: Pay careful attention to these pearls of wisdom, as they will ensure perfect couscous: *The directions urge you to proceed gently, so please do. As you use your fingers and palms, urge rather than rub the liquids and fats into the couscous, very lightly, very gently. *It is very important that the couscous steams […]
Springtime Grilling

Welcome spring! Yesterday was its official debut (at 10:53 local French time, according to radio France Inter) even though I always thought it was the 21st. The date doesn’t matter because the sun knows what’s up, and so does the market. Everyone is running around in shirtsleeves (manches courtes) with their cool French sunglasses, […]
Endives Caramelisés
Light, lovely and very delicious, this dish goes well with everything – meat, fish, fowl. It is delicate and lovely and will surprise everyone who tastes it. This dish can be served wither hot or at room temperature.
Grilled Eggplant Salad

This recipe for Eggplant Salad (which I serve as an appetizer) comes from one of my favorite books, HONEY FROM A WEED, by Patience Gray (Harper and Row, 1986). The book is a love story on every level, not least about the simplicity of growing and foraging ingredients in various parts of Italy, Catalonia, The […]
Confit of Peppers

Every year I make a batch of pepper confit (confit means to cook very slowly usually in oil or fat) with Doux des Landes (capsicum annum) grown in the fields of Criqueboeuf sur Seine, hardly considered pepper country. Criqueboeuf-sur-Seine is just a few kilometers from my house in Normandy, the land of lettuce and leeks, […]
Pesto in the Mortar and Pestle
NOTE: To pit the olives, place them on a work surface, cover them with parchment or waxed paper and whack them firmly yet gently with a rolling pin. This splits them open, making the pit easy to remove. In general, olives are salty so the additional salt isn’t necessary. When looking for olives, if you […]