I would like to know if any body had some fast and easy French recipes i could make.
I would like them to be as authentice as possible.
Thanks to everyone who responds
Merci!!!!
if they are from the internet could you post the link to???Any fast and easy French Recipes?
Quiche Lorraine
This is a well-known French recipe that can be served as a “starter” course, or on its own for
an easy dinner, along with a salad for example. Serves 6 as an appetizer and 2-3 as a main
course.
8 oz. (250 g) short (shortcrust) pastry (see below)
8 oz. (250 g) thinly sliced bacon
2 oz. (50 g) butter
3 eggs
1 cup (8 fl. Oz/250 ml) heavy (double) cream or crème fraiche
freshly ground pepper
6 pinches of freshly grated nutmeg
Heat the oven to 425 deg F (215 deg C). Lightly butter a deep 9 to 10 inch (24 cm) tart pan.
Roll out the pastry and line the tin, crimping the edge. Refrigerate until needed. Slice the
bacon into small pieces. Melt half the butter in a nonstick skillet and lightly fry the bacon,
stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. One can also wrap the bacon in one or two paper
towels and cook it in a microwave until almost done, not too crisp. Drain the bacon on paper
towels.
Break the eggs into a bowl and beat with a fork until blended, adding the cream, pepper, and
nutmeg.
Remove the tart pan from the refrigerator (see below). Scatter bacon over the bottom of the
pastry. Pour in the egg mixture and dot with the remaining butter. Bake for about 30 minutes
or until the quiche is lightly browned. Serve hot.
Wine pairing- We had a nice white Rueda wine from Spain which worked well. A white
burgundy (chardonnay) or riesling would also work well.
Pate Brisee
Short (Shortcrust) Pastry
For approximately 8oz. (250g) pastry (enough to line one 9-10 inch (24-26 cm) pan:
1¼ cups (5 oz/150 g) all purpose (plain) flour
3 oz (100 g) soft butter
1 ½ tablespoons water
½ teaspoon salt
If possible, prepare the pastry the day before, so that it loses all elasticity and is easy to roll out.
Place the flour, butter, water and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Mix for 30 seconds, or
until the pastry comes together into a ball. (This can also be done by mixing with a knife or fork
by hand). We found that more water was needed, so add a tablespoon at a time until you get a
good dough texture. Wrap the ball of dough in plastic wrap, without further kneading, and chill
thoroughly. Remove the pastry from the refrigerator 1 hour before it is to be used, and let rest
at room temperature.
Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface; transfer to pan. If possible, return pan to the
refrigerator for an hour before baking; although this is not absolutely necessary- the pastry will
cook better if pre-chilled. We did this and it worked well.
Provencal Beef Stew
serves 6-8
Here’s a fairly simple French country dish for a winter night. In addition here's a link for a
week of dinner recipes from the Cordon Bleu cooking school. Enjoy!
2 pounds boneless beef chuck shoulder roast, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup dry red wine
3 cups ready-to-serve beef broth
1 can (14 ½ ounces) diced tomatoes with garlic, untrained
1 tablespoon Herbes de Provence (see below)
1 pound new potatoes, quartered
2 small zucchini, cut lengthwise in half, then crosswise in ½ -inch thick slices
2 small yellow squash, cut lengthwise in half, then crosswise in ½ -inch thick slices
½ cup French nicoise olives, pitted and cut in half
¼ cup chopped fresh basil
Grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
Combine flour, salt and pepper. Reserve 1 tablespoon flour mixture. Lightly coat beef with
remaining flour mixture.
Heat 2 teaspoons oil in stockpot over medium hear until hot. Brown ½ of beef; remove from
stockpot. Repeat with remaining 2 teaspoon oil and remaining beef. Remove beef from
stockpot.
Add onion and garlic to stockpot; cook and stir 3 to 5 minutes or until onions are tender. Add
wine; increase heat to medium-high. Cook and stir 1 to 2 minutes or until browned bits
attached to stockpot are dissolved. Stir in broth, tomatoes, Herbes de Provence and reserved
flour mixture. Return beef to stockpot; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover tightly and simmer 1
½ hours or until beef is fork-tender. Add potatoes, zucchini and yellow squash to stockpot;
continue simmering, covered, 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Add olives and basil;
cook, uncovered, 2 to 3 minutes or until olives are heated through. Serve with cheese, if
desired.
Option- Instead of beef, Linda made this with pork about two weeks ago, and it worked very
well. Substitute pork roast for the beef in the same amount. Bon appetit!
Herbes de Provence:
We bring a stash home from France every year. If you can’t find it in the store, you can make
your own.
3 tablespoons dried marjoram
3 tablespoons dried
3 tablespoons dried
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
Combine all ingredients. Mix well and spoon into a jar. Makes ¾ cup.
Salade Nicoise - Salad of Nice (pronounced- sah l’odd’ knee swaz‘- accent on second syllable
of both words)
How about a simple and healthy dish for a weeknight dinner? This old stand-by favorite from
the south of France is more of a summer dish, but who cares? Every French cook has her own
recipe, so feel free to add or subtract ingredients as you like.
Serves 4-
-One head of lettuce or one bag of pre-cleaned lettuce
-Two cans of premium tuna. (Get the solid tuna, not the mashed up stuff used to make tuna
salad sandwiches. For example, Bumble Bee Solid White Albacore works well). You could also
pre-cook a tuna steak and cut it up into pieces if you want to be really authentic.
-Four medium sized potatoes, boiled, peeled, cooled, and sliced.
-Four tomatoes, sliced.
-4 hard boiled eggs, peeled and quartered.
-15-20 premium black olives (i.e., not the little ones from a can- use good olives).
-½ lb. fresh green string beans, steamed or boiled in water until crisp.
Dressing-
To be authentic, use extra virgin olive oil, or mix that with tarragon or wine vinegar. Salt and
pepper to taste. You can really use any kind of salad dressing you like, however. We
sometimes use ranch dressing, which isn’t very French.
Toss everything but the eggs, and arrange those last on the top so they don’t get mashed.
Then sprinkle the dressing on top of everything. You can also arrange in a more layered
fashion. Layer the lettuce on the bottom of a plate, and then place the tomatoes, green beans,
potatoes, tuna, and eggs. We normally just toss the salad, however, and put the eggs on last.
Serve with a Provence rose, chardonnay or other white wine, or pinot noir if you prefer red.
Variations- Tuna is actually a variation from using anchovies. Not everyone likes anchovies,
but those can be added as well. Some like to add artichoke hearts, or chopped green peppers
as well. Voila!
Mousse au Chocolat
The secret to this favorite dessert is to get the texture right. It took me three attempts, but I
finally got it. Pay CAREFUL attention to the directions below. Mousse means bubbles, or foam
in French. The result should be a rather light and fluffy chocolate mixture, not a hard sludge (it
was good tasting, but sludge nonetheless). Thanks to our old friend and neighbor in Toulouse,
Christine Pistre, for her recipe. She always made the best mousse au chocolat, which we first
sampled over 20 years ago. Also thanks to our friend Steve Kautz, my go-to man in tough
cases like this. Steve is a Cordon Bleu chef and owns Barracuda Bob’s in Colorado Springs.
Great food and great value. Their motto is: High Altitude- Beach Attitude.
Serves 4-
U.S. Measurements Metric Measure
¼ lb. 125 g dark chocolate of good quality
7 tbsp. 100g butter (About 10% less than a ¼ pound)
3 eggs separated
2 tbsp. 2 cuilleres a soupe sugar
Preparation:
Place a metal mixing bowl over boiling water (level of water is below bottom of mixing bowl.
Melt the chocolate and the butter in the bowl while stirring constantly.
Mix the three egg yolks and the sugar very well. Pour this into the bowl with the mixture and
keep stirring until the mixture thickens (about two minutes or so- stir fairly vigorously- you don‘t
want scrambled eggs to form in your chocolate!). If the butter separates, then pour off the
excess. If it doesn’t, that’s fine too. (I had both happen for some unknown reason- it worked
either way). Take this off the heat for 5-10 minutes while you make the merengue as follows:
With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they form cloudy peaks, in other words a
merengue. Beat for about two minutes or so and you should have a bowl full of foam..
HERE’S THE IMPORTANT PART-
The airy lightness, or the mousse, comes form the foamy egg white merengue. With the
mixture still warm, but OFF THE HEAT, GENTLY fold the white merengue into the chocolate
mixture by hand with a wooden spatula. Start with about a quarter of the whites and continue
until it is all mixed with the chocolate. If you do this with a blender, all the bubbles or foam will
dissipate and your mousse will be sludge. The same thing will happen if the mixture is still on
the heat.
Pour into separate cups or serve out of your bowl after about 3 hrs. in the refrigerator. Can be
kept in the refrigerator and eaten for several days.
Good luck, enjoy, and I hope it works on the first try!
Ratatouille
This month’s recipe is a favorite southern France veggi dish: Ratatouille (pronounced
rat-tatoo-ya). This version comes from A Little French Cookbook by Janet Laurence. It’s
always a bit dangerous to use a Brit’s interpretation of French food, but this one isn’t bad;-)
Both U.S. and metric weights and measures are included.
4 oz./ 150 ml virgin olive oil
1 lb./ 500 g onions, finely sliced
1 lb./500 g tomatoes, skinned and chopped
1 lb./500 g eggplant, cut into 1 in./20 cm. Cubes
1 lb./500 g red and green peppers, seeds, etc., discarded, cut into 1 in./20 cm. Pieces
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
¼ tsp. Ground coriander
3 parsley sprigs, a bay leaf, sprig of thyme and marjoram, all tied together
(You can also substitute a tablespoon of herbs de Provence if this is easier)
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
1 lb./500 g zucchini, cut into 1 in./20 cm. Thick slices
Chopped basil or parsley
Heat oil gently, add onions and cook until well softened. Add tomatoes, cook until yielding
juices and then add the eggplant, peppers and flavorings and cook gently on top of stove, or in
preheated oven at 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) for 45 minutes. Add zucchini and cook 45
minutes more. Add salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Drain off juices and boil to reduce
to syrup liquid. Pour over the vegetables, add the chopped basil or parsley and serve.
Moules Marinieres (Seaman’s Mussels)- Mussels in White Wine Sauce
Our Normandy guests saw this dish on almost every menu. Moules-frites is a Normandy
staple. Here’s a recipe that will remind you of your tour that you can serve for friends and
family. This version comes from “A Little French Cookbook” by Janet Laurence.
4 lbs. fresh mussels (Note- buy only fresh mussels no sooner than a day or two at the most
before making the dish. They don’t keep that well. We usually special order them from the
supermarket fish department).
1 large onion chopped
4-5 sprigs of parsley and a small sprig of thyme
Fresh ground pepper
4 tbsp butter
½ cup dry white wine
½ cup water
2 tbsp butter cut into small cubes
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp chopped parsley
Clean mussels thoroughly, discarding any that won’t close. Place onion, sprigs of parsley and
thyme and black pepper in a wide, thick-bottomed pan. Add the 4 tbsp of butter and the wine
and water. Place half the mussels in the pan, cover, and place over a high heat for a few
minutes, shaking the pan every now and then so the mussels cook evenly. Check after several
minutes and remove mussels as they open. Keep the mussels in a warm serving dish.
Discard any mussels that won’t open. Repeat with remaining mussels.
When all the mussels are cooked and removed from the pan and set aside, strain the juices in
the pan and reduce to half. Take off the burner and whisk in the small cubes of butter to
thicken the sauce slightly, and then whisk in the lemon juice. Check the seasoning, add a little
more salt or wine if necessary. Add the chopped parsley and cook for another minute, then
pour the sauce over the mussels and serve immediately.
Serve with French fries, and a bottle of white wine. In Normandy the favorite is a Muscadet
from the Loire region. Those on our tour learned to eat these and look like a local, i.e., use an
empty mussel shell as pincers to grab each mussel out of its shell.Any fast and easy French Recipes?
I shouldn't be taking the two points because the only recipes I know that are french are french fries and french toast. I feel guilty. Sorry.
If this one taste good, you can call it french ..
1. boil a big pot of water and put a whole pack of spaghetti for 10 minutes or less (make sure it is not over or under cooked)
2. drain off the hot water, rinse with cold water
put back the spaghetti to the same pot and turn the heat to hi.
3. put in 1 and half cup of vegetable oil (any oil except Oliver oil, avoid shortenings)
4. pour in one cup of soy sauce
(oil and soy sauce can be adjusted on your next batch)
5. under high heat, stir for 4 minutes and serve
6. it tastes great !!
Fast and french..........french fries!!!!!
Surrender.
Fast and French do not go together as French cooking takes TIME. Sigh. For a classic dinner try coq au vin.
For ';quick'; French appetizers, my friend always makes these little hams and Boursin cheese roll-ups (spread cheese on thin ham slices, roll up, and slice) or these prunes (yeah, weird, I know) with bacon wrapped around them (served hot).
Other than that, French cooking is really fussy... just like the people!
