Reducing red wine adds depth to these duck legs oven-braised with shallots, carrots, parsnip, garlic and thyme. Recipe below.
I ATE A LOT OF DUCK IN OMAHA. When we told friends about our plans to spend several days in Nebraska on our recent road trip, everyone told us to be prepared to eat a lot of beef. Nobody mentioned duck. The first night, I ate a duck leg in red wine that inspired this week’s recipe. Continue reading “French cuisine, by way of Nebraska: Red Wine-braised Duck Legs”
An Alsatian take on classic coq au vin, Coq au Riesling combines chicken, lardons, shallots, mushrooms and dry Riesling wine in a braise that’s even better the next day. Recipe below.
WE SOMETIMES THINK OF NATIONAL CUISINES IN MONOLITHIC TERMS. “How about Chinese tonight?” “Nah, I’m in the mood for Italian.” But countries large and small are made up of regions, each with their own distinct cuisines. So you get classic Northern Italian dishes and Southern Italian dishes. North Indian and South Indian. And Chicago restaurateur Tony Hu has built a career of highlighting regional Chinese cuisines, with individual restaurants serving the foods of Szechaun, Hunan, Beijing, Shanghai, Yunnan… Continue reading “Coq au Riesling: the other famous French chicken”
Crisp, pleasantly bitter frisée is dressed with a simple vinaigrette and topped with bacon and a poached egg for this classic French starter inspired by a recent visit to New York. Recipe below.
What is it with the French and salads? Granted, they do most food things well, but salads are an example for me of why their more complex dishes are so transcendent. It is because even the simplest things are treated with respect and done just so.
Several years ago, Marion and I were in Paris. Suddenly famished one afternoon, we stopped for a quick lunch at a frankly nondescript sidewalk cafe—the kind of place charitably described as “this will do”—along Rue de Passy. We ordered quiche and salad, expecting an okay slice of the former accompanied by a miserly handful of mixed greens. What arrived at our table were generous slices of quiche, each teetering atop an abundant salade composée. Continue reading “A classic French salad, by way of Manhattan: Salade Frisée aux Lardons”
A pair of simple, delicious French recipes this week—Mussels steamed in wine with shallots, garlic and lots of parsley and oven-fried pommes frites flavored with herbes de Provence.
“LAFAYETTE, WE ARE HERE.” Those famous words, marking our returning the favor to France in World War I for their vital assistance in our Revolutionary War, were undoubtedly followed by the less well known, “Now, when do we eat?”
Because in addition to contributing to American independence, the French are rightly far more known for their contributions to food and cooking. And not just for their stellar, elaborate concoctions. It’s more their understanding of how a few well-chosen ingredients perfectly combined can become something wonderful—and their daily celebration of food in even the simplest dishes. So when I saw that this week’s post would go up on Bastille Day, that was all the excuse I needed to feed my inner Francophile in the kitchen. Continue reading “Bastille Day a perfect excuse for sailor’s mussels, frites and all things French”
Hearty pot roast gets big flavor thanks to capers, onions, garlic and anchovies in this simple dish from the South of France, Grillades à L’Arlésienne. Recipe below.
A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO, I ADMITTED TO BEING A MAJOR FRANCOPHILE when I wrote about roasting chicken on a bed of lentils. That caused our friend Karin to tell me about three different French cookbooks. Already having more cookbooks than we have shelf space for, I immediately headed for the library website and ordered them. Of course, all three showed up within days of each other. Continue reading “A taste of Provence: Layered Pot Roast with Anchovies, Capers and Garlic”