French Cuisine Recipes

From Fine Cooking Magazine

Real Chocolate Mousse

From Better Homes and Gardens

The topping of tomato preserves or mango chutney over a round of baked Brie keeps this buffet table favorite lightweight and fresh flavored.

Baked Brie

From Better Homes and Gardens

A gougere is a French puff pastry flavored with Gruyere cheese. In France, the pastry is often piped into a large ring. This appetizer recipe features bite-size puffs instead.

Gougeres

From Fine Cooking Magazine

I like to have at least two pans going at once, but you can certainly make these one at a time. This recipe fits in a regular-size blender. If you want to double it, make two separate batches or follow the directions for hand mixing. You'll need some waxed paper for stacking the finished crepes.

Basic Crepe Recipe

From Parents

These thin crepes are great for breakfast or even dessert. Fill them with peanut butter, jam, or cream cheese.

Crazy Crepes

From Better Homes and Gardens

This quick-and-easy egg dish is a great choice for breakfast because you can fill it with each person's favorite ingredients.

French Omelet

From Better Homes and Gardens

Rich with tradition, this classic French peasant dish offers a robust blend of beans, meats, poultry, and vegetables in every bowl.

Country-Style Cassoulet

From Better Homes and Gardens

Soft goat cheese and an array of herbs flavor these bite-size appetizers. They're perfect for your holiday party menu or any other occasion.

Mini Puffs with Goat Cheese and Herbs

From Better Homes and Gardens

Potatoes, green beans, and tuna star in this classic French salad.

Salade Nicoise

From Fine Cooking Magazine

To cook one duck, you need about 2-1/2 cups of fat. A 4-1/2-pound duck renders at least 1 cup of fat. Ask your butcher for extra duck fat or order online. Otherwise, you'll need another cooking fat to supplement. I'd use a mild lard; its flavor isn't obtrusive.

Duck Confit

From Fine Cooking Magazine

This is a variation on a chicken fricassee, using a classic French mirepoix to flavor the sauce. The addition of a little prosciutto or ham to the mirepoix gives the finished sauce a nice depth. If the ham you choose is particularly salty, season the chicken only very lightly with salt. Serve the chicken in wide soup bowls with egg noodles or rice, if you like, and the sauce spooned over all.

Classic French Chicken in White Wine Sauce

From Better Homes and Gardens

Homemade croissants are a real treat. And this recipe makes them easy to prepare.

Baked Croissants

From Fine Cooking Magazine

A nonstick skillet is crucial so the potatoes don't stick to the pan as the liquid evaporates.

Potatoes Fondantes

From Better Homes and Gardens

Crepe recipes are back. A French import, they realized great popularity in the United States during the 1970s and still epitomize elegance in desserts.

Almond Cream Crepes

From Fine Cooking Magazine

This creme fraiche isn't as thick as the commercial product, but it tastes terrific. We developed this recipe using ultra-pasteurized heavy cream because it's most widely available. If you can find regular pasteurized heavy cream, use it: Your results will likely be thicker. Also, if it's a warm day, the cream may thicken in a shorter amount of time.

Homemade Creme Fraiche

From Food & Wine

To give his crepes a subtle, nutty flavor, Mike Price browns the butter for his batter. "Any jam will go with hazelnuts and chocolate," the chef says. "You can't screw that up."

Brown-Butter Crepes with Nutella and Jam

From Food & Wine

F&W's Grace Parisi shares a classic recipe for mussels in white wine, then creates amazing alternatives with clam broth, sake, and lager.

Sauvignon Blanc-Steamed Mussels with Garlic Toasts

From Food & Wine

Michael Ruhlman, co-author of Thomas Keller's sous vide bible, Under Pressure, likes to drop a Cryovac'd tri-tip straight from the butcher into a water bath.

Sous Vide Tri-Tip with Cilantro Butter

From Food & Wine

"I've been making this dish for a while," says Rajat Parr. "It's basically India meets France. The first five times I went to France I went straight to Burgundy. I took my first trip in 1997 because of a 1986 Domaine Francois Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Clos I tried when I was working as a bartender at Rubicon in San Francisco. I was like, Oh my gosh, what is this wine?"

Coriander-Crusted Duck Breasts

From Food & Wine

Wine-bar owner Pierre Jancou (who shares cooking duties with Ewen Lemoigne) is fanatical about ingredients: He gets his chicken from the same poultryman as Michelin-three-star Alain Passard. The chicken is first poached, then seared so the skin is golden and crispy.

Chicken with White Wine and Creme Fraiche

From Food & Wine

Wrapping a meaty bird like squab in bacon, then roasting it with fresh table grapes makes for an enticing main course that's salty, sweet, crispy, and juicy all at the same time. Count Paolo Marzotto, an active sportsman, loves this dish with the partridges he hunts; squab is a delicious alternative.

Roast Squab with Bacon and Grapes

From Food & Wine

When he was working as a caterer, Patrick O'Connell would often study the cookbooks at his local library during his downtime. He discovered his affinity for French food while reading the works of legendary writer Elizabeth David; he especially loved the sorrel sauce he found in her 1960 book, French Provincial Cooking. When he opened The Inn at Little Washington in Washington, Virginia, he experimented with sorrel in lots of different ways, eventually creating this exquisite, tangy mousse.

Sorrel Mousse with Lemon Cream

From Food & Wine

Chef Robert Wiedmaier gives butchering demos at the Butcher's Block in Alexandria, Virginia. At his restaurant next door, Brabo, he serves elegant dishes, like this veal chop. To make the wine sauce even more complex, use demiglace (concentrated veal stock) instead of beef stock and flour. Demiglace is available from dartagnan.com.

Pan-Roasted Veal Chops with Cabernet Sauce

From Food & Wine

Michael Emanuel (an alumnus of Berkeley's Chez Panisse) tops this pizza with an irresistible mix of Provencal flavors: salty-sweet roasted squid, creamy aioli, and crushed red pepper (French piment d'Espelette would also work well). The remaining aioli can be used as a dip for vegetables or a spread for sandwiches.

Squid Pizza with Saffron Aioli

From Food & Wine

Verjus, a cooking liquid pressed from unripe grapes, is a staple of classic French cooking; chefs love it today for its pleasant tang, which is much milder than vinegar. David Page uses verjus two ways here: to help baste the lobster as it roasts and to brighten a jalapeno-and-tarragon-inflected vinaigrette served over the sweet meat.

Roasted Lobsters with Verjus and Tarragon