French – Page 5 – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

2-24: Parisian Ham-Mushroom Salad

Jamie Martin Group 02: Salads, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters June 10, 2016July 8, 2020appetizers, black pepper, Cheddar, cheese, chopped, Dijon mustard, dinner, dressing, easy, egg-free, French, garlic, Gruyère, ham, herbs and spices, iceberg lettuce, inexpensive, julienned, lettuce, lunch, marinated, minced, mushrooms, olive oil, paprika, party food, red wine vinegar, salads, salt, side dish, sweet peas, tomatoes, untested, vegetables

It’s been a while since we’ve done a salad. This recipe, 2-24: Parisian Ham-Mushroom Salad sounded fancy, and I had found myself with mushrooms, ham, and lettuce. Simply Delicious leans heavily on French cuisine, so it’s not surprising to see them attempt a French salad. But is this an actual French dish, or just something made up for Americans (like the classic “Chinese” example, General Tso’s chicken)?

I Googled a bit to see if there was an actual ham & mushroom salad that was a known part of French cuisine, and I actually was able to track down a somewhat similar recipe from Raymond Blanc, a well-renowned French chef. He published a Gruyere, ham, & mushroom salad recipe in a few of his cookbooks, noting that it came from his French hometown near the Franche-Comté region (not near Paris).

14-25: Crêpes with Fruity Filling

Jamie Martin Group 14: Hot Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods May 30, 2016July 30, 2020all-purpose flour, bananas, boysenberries, breakfast, brown sugar, butter, cherries, crème fraîche, crêpes, dessert, eggs, fairly easy, French, fruit, granulated sugar, half-and-half, hot desserts, inexpensive, lukewarm, lunch, melted, milk, omelette, pineapple, powdered sugar, raspberries, salt, sour cream, strawberries, stuffed, untested, whipped

14-25: Crêpes with Fruity Filling is only the second recipe I’ve covered for Group 14: Hot Desserts, but it’s the third total crêpe recipe that I’ve tried from the book (the others being 5-22: Crêpes with Chicken and 5-24: Meat-Filled Crêpes) so far. Those two previous recipes were savory–this one is sweet.

This recipe is suggested for dessert, but I think you could have it for breakfast (or even lunch) if you wanted. If you don’t like the fruit they suggest, you can substitute your own or whatever is local/in season.

5-6: Cheese Soufflé

Jamie Martin Group 05: Eggs & Cheese, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters May 28, 2016April 29, 2020all-purpose flour, appetizers, Béchamel sauce, black pepper, breakfast, butter, Cheddar, cheese, cornstarch, creamy, dinner, egg whites, egg yolks, eggs, fairly easy, French, Gouda, grated, Gruyère, inexpensive, Jarlsberg, lunch, melted, milk, Monterey Jack, party food, salt, shredded, side dish, soufflés, stand mixer, untested, vegetarian, whipped

Soufflés are one of the stereotypical fancy foods–a harried chef attempting to keep one from falling due to its delicate, temperamental nature used to be a common comedy trope.

The two most common variations are the dessert version (like a chocolate one) and the savory version (like this recipe, 5-6: Cheese Soufflé). I’ve covered one savory soufflé dish already from this book: 4-11: Potato Soufflé with Onions.

This would be a good recipe to add some green onions or chives to–I think it would add some nice color to the soufflé without weighing it down. Simply Delicious shows this recipe in individual ramekins, but I’m going to make it all in one big soufflé dish–I have to justify its existence in my cabinet.

1-16: Mushrooms Escargot

Jamie Martin Group 01: Hot & Cold Appetizers, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters April 29, 2016January 28, 2020appetizers, bacon fat, black pepper, bread crumbs, broiled, butter, dairy-free, easy, escargot, fairly inexpensive, French, garlic, herbs and spices, hors d'oeuvres, melted, minced, mushrooms, panko, pared, parsley, party food, side dish, Silpat, snacks, snails, stuffed, untested, vegetables, vegetarian

Here’s another mushroom recipe for you. 1-16: Mushrooms Escargot is similar to the last recipe I did, 2-2: Mushrooms à la Grecque, in that it’s a fancy name for a pretty well-known dish. Simply Delicious does that a LOT. This one is essentially stuffed mushrooms, something most everyone’s familiar with.

This recipe in-and-of itself doesn’t contain or use actual snails, but it’s suggested you can add them if you want. I didn’t go quite that far (although I’m not opposed to the idea), but the mushrooms provide a similar experience that’s not quite as…exotic.

2-2: Mushrooms à la Grecque

Jamie Martin Group 02: Salads, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters April 28, 2016February 5, 2020à la Grecque, appetizers, black pepper, boiled, diced, dried herbs, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, French, garlic, gluten-free, Greek, herbs and spices, lemon juice, lunch, marinated, mushrooms, olive oil, parsley, party food, peppercorns, salt, shallots, side dish, snacks, thyme, untested, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian, white wine, yellow onions

“À la Grecque” means “in the Greek way” in French, and 2-2: Mushrooms à la Grecque is a French preparation of vegetables (in this case mushrooms) in a seasoned oil and wine marinade. Simply Delicious considers this a salad, so I guess we’ll go with that description as well.

This is essentially marinated mushrooms, a pretty classic dish. This one’s pretty simple, it holds well, and most people are into it, so it makes a good party dish too.

5-21: Omelette with Herbs

Jamie Martin Group 05: Eggs & Cheese, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters March 7, 2016October 14, 2020Alton Brown, black pepper, breakfast, butter, chervil, chives, dried herbs, easy, eggs, folded, French, gluten-free, green onions, herbs and spices, inexpensive, lunch, melted, omelette, parsley, salt, Saturday, Sunday, tarragon, untested, vegetarian

A few weekends ago, on a sleepy Saturday morning, I found myself with many eggs, some fresh parsley, and a desire for an omelette. Since I’m now at the point that every time I cook, I consider whether I could use up a Simply Delicious recipe on it, I knew there had to be a true omelette recipe in there, given their heavy reliance on French fine-dining recipes & methods. If you find yourself in a similar predicament, consider making 5-21: Omelette with Herbs.

Simply Delicious shows the half-fold omelette method in their pictures–I’ve always preferred the Alton Brown tri-fold omelette method. This is a truly classic French-style omelette, unlike the last omelette I covered (and messed up), 5-11: Country Omelette.

9-22: Meat Pie

Jamie Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses March 5, 2016July 6, 2020all-purpose flour, baked goods, black pepper, bread crumbs, brown sugar, butter, caramelized, chilled, cookie cutters, cut in, decorative, dinner, dough, egg wash, eggs, fairly hard, fairly inexpensive, flute, French, garlic, gift ideas, ground beef, ground meat, ground pork, ground turkey, lunch, melted, milk, mushrooms, nutmeg, panko, pared, parsley, party food, pastry, pie crust, pies, pot pie, revisited, roach motel apt, salt, sautéed, sun-dried tomatoes, vegetables, Worcestershire sauce, yellow onions

Meat pies have been around for a LONG time (like 9500 BCE old, according to Wikipedia). They cross a lot of cultures and are featured in some fashion in most cuisines (even if they look somewhat different–for example, empanadas, lahmacun, and samosas all are meat/pastry combinations from varied places). 9-22: Meat Pie is probably closest to the French Canadian tradition of meat pies, otherwise known as tourtière.

This one’s got some of my old notes on it–I’ve made this one before, about 6-7 years ago for my friend’s birthday party (the same friend from the 80s party in 1-22: Onion-Potato Diamonds). It was a “pie party” because he was (at the time) obsessed with the Keri Russell movie Waitress, which apparently has something to do with a lot of pies.

I made some adjustments to the recipe the first time (you can see those listed on the side), but this time, we’re going legit.

6-35: Chicken Diable

Jamie Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses March 5, 2016June 18, 2020black pepper, boiled, boneless, bread crumbs, breasts, broiled, butter, cayenne pepper, cheese, chicken, chicken bouillon, coated, cornstarch, crispy, Dijon mustard, dinner, dredged, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, French, grated, lunch, melted, olive oil, panko, Parmesan, parsley, salt, shallots, sifted, simmered, slurry, tarragon, tarragon vinegar, tenderized, untested, vinegar, white pepper, white wine

Here’s a pretty basic “chicken with sauce” type recipe that can be fancy or not-so-fancy. “Chicken Diable” or “Chicken a la Diable”, as evidenced by the name, is essentially “the Devil’s chicken”, evoking images of spices and fire. As Serious Eats notes in their version of the dish, the French have a very different idea of spiciness than some other cultures.

Everyone’s got their version of this dish–here’s Bon Appetit’s, and Google turns up many more results. Whether it’s actually spicy is up to you–if you actually like things spicy, prepare to have to add some heat to this one.

19-13: Cooking with Cheese

Jamie Martin Group 19: Basic Ingredients, Section 4: Cooking School March 5, 2016October 18, 2020blue cheese, Brie, cheese, cooking school, cottage cheese, Feta, French, goat cheese, Gorgonzola, Greek, how-to, Italian, Jarlsberg, Parmesan, Swiss

There’s a lot of recipes in Simply Delicious that use cheese–all different types. While by no means an exhaustive list, 19-13: Cooking with Cheese goes over a few different types that you’ll probably encounter in your own culinary adventures. This is part of the last section of the book, a Cooking School compendium of basic culinary reference material.

Cheese might not be a big part of your diet, but it’s always been a big part of mine (for better or worse–what can I say, my maternal grandparents were Swedish and French and lived in the Midwest USA). After the jump, read more about some common types of cooking cheese.

5-11: Country Omelette

Jamie Martin Group 05: Eggs & Cheese, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters January 17, 2016October 14, 2020bacon, black pepper, breakfast, butter, carrots, cast-iron, cheese, cooked chicken, diced, dinner, easy, eggs, French, green bell peppers, ground meat, ham, inexpensive, lunch, omelette, parsley, potatoes, red bell peppers, salt, sausage, sautéed, untested, yellow onions

This is another backlogged one from November 2015 like 14-12: Bread Pudding with Rum Sauce. You’ve probably already seen the results of 5-11: Country Omelette, but I maintain that I CAN make a good omelette–this was just not one of them.

Country omelettes are a thing, usually referred to country French omelettes. As is my problem a lot of times, I had pan difficulties which led to this one not turning out well. Maybe it’s time to do some pan shopping.