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Welcome to French Food Focus. The name describes the intent of this blog. I'll focus on food and because I live in rural France the stress will be upon French food. Not that I will limit myself to food only. There are numerous posts concerning life in France, comments on life in general and, certainly, opinions about anything that strikes my fancy.
I welcome your comments and promise to publish all of them good & bad so long as they're not offensive, pornographic or rude.   A note on why I moved.

This is our village. Our house can be seen to the left of the picture.    

We've decided to downsize. You can go to this website for full details:
www.campdelmas.com.

OR

If you'd like a vacation in France we rent out part of the house as a gite. Have a look here: www.camp-del-mas.com.

 About me

About 'My' France

Make a Comment

E-mail: yankinparisot@gmail.com
 

Recipes

 Just the actual recipes without my embellishments. Enjoy! Comments welcome!

• Bean Dip.    From my friend Patti.
  The recipe for the bean dip is so easy.... Here it is.  Maybe some time
  you can try it
  
  1 cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (or you can use fresh beans
  soaked and boiled)
  2 cloves garlic
  2 T fresh lemon juice
  1/3 cup Olive Oil
  1/4 cup loosely packed) fresh parsley
  Salt and Pepper
  1/2 Tsp. Fresh Oregano
  Brie Cheese
  Pita Bread
  
  Place beans, garlic, lemon juice, 1/3 cup olive oil and parsley in a
  food processor or blender.  Pulse until mixture is coarsely chopped.
  Season with salt & Pepper.
  Cut each pita in half and then in 8 wedges.  Arrange on baking sheet.
  Pour a small amount of olive oil on pita wedges.  Sprinkle with oregano,
  salt & pepper - top with a generous slice of brie and baked until
  melted. Top with bean mixture.
  
  You can also use any kind bread slice.  Delicious.....
   
• Mary's potato salad.  Mary was my Irish neighbor in Emeryville, California

           ingredients (this quantity will serve about 10 people.)

• 7-10 large potatoes.
• 1/3 cup Italian style vinaigrette (olive oil, white wine vinegar, Italian herb mixture, garlic, salt, pepper)
• 3/4 cup diced celery
• 1/3 cup diced white onion
• 4 hard boiled eggs, chopped up
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• about 1 tablespoon horseradish
• 11/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Boil the potatoes unpeeled. Peel as soon as you can & cut into bite sized pieces.
Mix the cut & peeled potatoes well in the Italian dressing while still hot.
Chill for a couple of hours in the fridge.
Mix in all of the other ingredients.

Season with salt & celery salt (or celery seeds) to taste.
Cool in the fridge for a further 2 hours or more.
 

• Roast pork. THE best way to roast a pork roast; try it & you will agree!

  This post, however, is far simpler. Its about my favorite way to cook a pork loin roast. Tasty and delicious. In fact as I'm writing this after dinner my sister-in-law  is still going on about how good the pork was. Nice compliment. Anyway, first you buy your pork. Look for a nice lean loin roast , not the tenderloin, but loin.

  Once you have that you want to brine it for at least 48 hours, preferably for 72 hours. Just make up a brine with roughly one cup of salt per 2 quarts of water, add about a tablespoon of sugar, then your herbs. The herbs are to your choice, but I use marjoram, thyme, crushed juniper berries, crushed black peppercorns and coriander seeds. Mix the brine well, put the pork roast in making sure its covered and put it in the fridge for the requisite amount of time. Give it a stir every so often.

  About 3-4 hours before you're going to cook it take the pork out of the fridge and out of the brine and let it rest at room temperature. Set the oven for 150 degrees F, not Centigrade.

  Now make a paste using lots of Dijon mustard, fresh sage (dry if you can't get fresh) well chopped up, and coarsely ground black peppercorns. Spread this thickly over the top of the roast then place the roast in the pre-heated oven.

  Roast for one to two hours depending upon the size of the roast or until a thermometer inserted into the middle of the roast reads 135 degrees F.

  Take the roast out of the oven, scrape the crust off into the roasting pan and set the roast onto a carving board to rest. Place the roasting pan over medium high heat, add a good dollop of dry white wine  to the roasting pan and stir around to get all of the crust and baked on bits dissolved. Add one pork stock cube (if you have one. If not its OK, the gravy just won't be quite as rich.) Turn the heat right down and when the mixture quits boiling add a generous amount of cream (the heavier the better, but if you're watching the calories you can use lighter cream or even sour cream), bring back to the boil and stir until it gravy is reduced and of a nice thick consistency. Put the heat on low and carve the roast into nice slices.

  Don't be panicked if the pork looks red. The brining process cures the meat and its perfectly safe to eat and will be the moistest most tender pork you've ever had.

  Serve with the gravy and enjoy.

  I apologize for the lack of pictures, but when I went to use it I discovered that our trusty Nikon's batteries were too low for picture taking.

  In any case its not a particularly photogenic recipe, but do try it as its absolutely delicious.
   

• Poker Pears. A low calorie dessert.
   

  I had been thinking about another low calorie dessert and here's what I came up with. I call it Poker Pears.

  Ingredients:

  • One pear per person
  • 1/2 bottle of sweet white wine
  • cinnamon, nutmeg & ginger
  • fake sugar (I use the Sweeta stuff) or regular sugar
  • One scoop of vanilla ice cream per person
  • Walnut meat
  • Maple syrup 

  Method:

  1. Trim the ends of the pears; peel them; cut them in half lengthways and cut out the core.
      
  2. In a pan just large enough to hold the pears (cut side down) pour in the sweet wine and the spices (let you taste buds guide you as to how much of the spices to use. I normally use a ratio of 2 parts cinnamon to 1 part nutmeg and 1 part ginger).
     Add water to just cover the pears; bring to a simmer and simmer (covered) until the pears are soft. This should take 20-30 minutes. Test with a skewer to gage doneness.
      
  3. While the pears are cooking take the ice cream out of the freezer and let it soften up a bit. While that's happening toast the walnut meat in the oven. Once toasted & cooled chop the walnut coarsely.
      
  4. Measure out the ice cream then mix it with the chopped walnuts and the maple syrup. (about a generous tablespoon per scoop of ice cream. Mix all together until the syrup & nuts are well distributed. Cover the bowl and return to the freezer.
      
  5. When the pears are cooked remove them from the cooking liquid using a slotted spoon. Put the pears and the cooking liquid in the fridge to chill.
      
  6. When ready to serve place two pear halves on a plate; top them with a scoop of the ice cream and serve the poaching liquid separately in small cups. A spring of mint looks nice on top of the ice cream.

  This is a lovely combination that is both easy to make and not very calorific. You can of course use low fat ice cream to keep the calories down.
   

• Bolognaise sauce for pasta. Everyone has their own version; here's mine.
   

  Ok, here's my recipe:

  Ingredients:

  1. 3 carrots
  2. 2 large yellow onions
  3. 2 stalks celery
  4. 2 Lbs high quality ground beef
  5. 1/2 Lbs smoked lardons or smoked bacon cut up into strips
  6. 2 large tins of whole tomatoes
  7. 1 tube or small can of tomato puree
  8. Garlic to taste
  9. Dried oregano, rosemary, thyme and fennel seeds
  10. Salt & pepper
  11. Red wine

  Steps:

  • Chop the carrots, onion, celery & garlic into a medium dice
  • In a large deep pot fry the lardons for 3-4 minutes over high heat.
  • Add the carrots, then after 2-3 minutes the onion, then the celery & finally the garlic. Stir well & often and continue cooking over medium heat. The vegetables should cook for at least 10 minutes.
  • Meanwhile fry the ground beef in a large frying pan until it just begins to brown. It will require frequent stirring and will best be done in 2 or 3 batches. If in batches, pour the batches as they are done into the pot with the vegetables.
  • When all the beef has been fried and added to the pot add the tins of tomatoes and mash them with the meat & veggies to break them up. Add the tomato puree,
  • Add the herbs. Quantity is up to your taste, but do be somewhat careful with the fennel seeds as they can over power the other flavors. Add the salt & pepper, again to your taste. Make sure you are stirring well as you go to distribute the herbs.
  • Finally add the red wine. A cup or two will do. Give the sauce a good stir and turn the heat down to where the uncovered pot is just gently boiling. Boil for a minimum of an hour, but up to 6 or 8 for fuller flavor. If the sauce is getting too dry add more wine.
  • Serve over you choice of pasta shape. My favorite happens to be Fuseli. I also like plenty of cheese over my Spag Bol, but its up to you. Just make sure everything is good & hot.

  This recipe will feed 6-8 very hungry people or you can put it into freezer bags  and freeze as it will keep this way for a long time.
  
   

• Three low calorie recipes. All simple & all pretty good. Weight losing made easy.
   
  • Mussel Pasta
    Clean the mussels (about 1 to 11/2 pounds per person) then cook as for Moules Mariniere .
    That is you saut?finely chopped onion & celery in a bit of butter in a deep pot. When they are soft add some wine & bring to a boil. Add the mussels & cook at high heat until the mussels open. Shake every so often. This should take about 5 minutes.
    Drain the cooked mussels over a sieve into another bowl. Put all of the juices from the mussels back into the pot and boil gently to reduce to about 1/3 of the original volume. While is is happening & once the mussels have cooled remove the 'mussels' from their shells. Keep as much of the onion & celery as possible.
    When the juice has reduced enough  thicken it with roux or cornflower. Boil up a pot of water for your pasta; then cook the pasta until al dente. Add the mussel meat back into the reduced  hot mussel juice, then add the cooked pasta. Stir well & serve immediately with parmesan cheese to sprinkle over.
    Not only is this a delicious pasta its both low calorie & low fat. Alcohol is eliminated by boiling the wine. If you want to be healthier yet use whole wheat pasta.
     
  • Tuna sandwich filling
    Nothing too innovative about this, but its a great quick lunch. Take a can of water packed tuna, open it & pour off the water. In a bowl put in the tuna, some chopped onion or shallot, chopped Cornichons (or if you can't find those use sweet gherkins) and some chopped celery. Add some ground cumin, salt & pepper and just enough low fat mayonnaise to bind the mixture. Spread the mixture over bread slices (your choice of bread type) or for an even healthier disc spread the mixture on Swedish rye crackers.
    This both quick and nutritious. You can make a batch as it keeps well in the fridge for a day or so.
     
  • Fried apple & banana dessert
    Dead simple, delicious and very low calorie. Allow one apple per person & 1/2 a banana. Peel, core and cut the apples into a dice of 1/4 - 1/2 inch chunks. Peel & slice the banana thinly. In a frying pan on high heat melt about one teaspoon of butter per apple. When the butter is foaming add the apples and toss well to coat with the melted butter. Sprinkle over a generous amount of ground cinnamon. Stir & toss the apples until they just begin to brown at the edges then add the banana slices. Continue cooking until the bananas start to brown.
    Depending upon how "good" you want to be you can serve the mixture over plain yogurt, sour cream or vanilla ice cream. For an extra kick sprinkle over a bit of ground walnut.
    This is very low calorie and very low fat and very delicious.
     
  • Cheesecake. My recipe adopted for France, but with American notes.
     

    For the Crust

          12 (180 ml) Tablespoons unsalted butter

          12 (340g) ounces of cookie crumbs (see later)

          6 (90ml) tablespoons caster sugar

     

    For the Filling

          4 eggs, separated

          24 (680G)ounces of cream cheese (see later)

          One lemon

     

    For the topping

          I used black berry puree, reduced with gelatin added, but you can use anything you
        like. The trick is to make sure it will set as a jelly once cold. Quince jelly is nice as is
        a lemon puree. Cherry is very traditional (both jam & halved cherries)

     

    Equipment:

          Mixing bowls & utensils

          Approx 7 inch spring form cake tin

          Parchment paper

          A baking pan large enough to hold the cake tin comfortably. 2?+ deep

     

    Method

    -        Line the bottom and the sides of the cake tin with the paper making sure that the paper around the side is at least 2 inches high. Use a bit of soft butter as ?glue? to hold the paper in place.

    -        Pre- heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

     

    For the crust:

          - melt the butter

          - Break the cookies into fairly fine crumbs (I bash them in a plastic bag
             with a rolling pin)

          - Add the sugar to the cookie crumbs

          - Pour the melted butter over the cookie- sugar mixture & mix well

          - Press the mixture evenly over the lined cake tin, both bottom & sides
            try to get the sides at least 1 inch high.

          - Bake for roughly 10 minutes, remove from the oven & let cool.

     

    For the cake mixture

    -        Separate the eggs into separate bowls

    -        Mix the egg yolks & the cream cheese together until smooth

    -        Add the juice & zest of the lemon to the mixture & mix in well

    -        Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks

    -        Gently fold & mix the egg whites into the cream cheese mixture

    -        Gently place the mixture into the cake tin with its crust, smoothing over the top & making sure any gaps are filled.

     

    To Cook

    -        Place the cake tin into the baking pan

    -        Carefully fill the baking pan with hot water until the level is within 1? of the top of the cake tin.

    -        Very carefully place the baking tin in the middle of the pre-heated oven.

    -        Bake for about 1 hour or until the top just browns.

    -        Remove from oven & remove the cake tin from the water.

    -        Let cool then place in the fridge.

     

    The topping

    -        As previously noted the topping needs to set into a jelly like consistency

    -        I normally use gelatin to achieve this

    -        As mentioned the topping can be anything you like.

    -        What is important is that the cake is fully cooled (at least a couple of hours in the fridge) before you put the topping on.

    -        So, prepare your topping and let it cool, but not set. Then pour it over the cake smoothing as you go. Place the cake back in the fridge (or even the freezer) until the topping has set.

    -        Now you can remove the cake from the spring form pan & carefully peel off the parchment paper. If you are brave you can lift the bottom of the cake and gently peel off one side then the other of the paper under the cake. If not just leave it and move the cake to a serving plate.

     

    Notes:

     

    -        Type of cookies. In the USA Graham crackers are used. I?m told that English digestive biscuits work well. In France I just bought some cheap sugar cookies & they were Ok. Italian almond biscuits should be excellent.

    -        Cream Cheese. Philadelphia brand is the standard in the USA. I?m told you can find it here, but I haven?t so far. The only thing that works is KIRI. Its fine except for having to peel off the foil around all those little packets. 4 of the 160 gram packets are close to the 24 ounces called for.

    - The cheese cake is best after its had at least overnight to rest & cool in the fridge.

• Prawns & Mushrooms. A new twist on an old favorite that turned out well.
   
  1. Peel your prawns if not already peeled. Cut you mushrooms into slices at a right angle to the direction that they grow. (trim off any bits, but save & use the stems); make the slices fairly thick, say about 1/8th inch thick. Chop some garlic up finely. Cut a lemon in half ready to squeeze.
  2. In an appropriately sized frying pan put in a good sized knob of butter. When it has melted & starts to foam dump in your mushrooms & garlic all at once. Toss continually until the mushrooms are just barely cooked. (you may have to add more butter). You do NOT want the mushrooms to give up thrir water!
  3. Add the prawns and cook just until pink or if the prawns are pre-cooked just until they're hot.
  4. Squeeze in the lemon juice to taste.
  5. Artistically arrange the mushroom slices & prawns over a bed of greens, your choice of type of greens (I use Lamb's lettuce or baby spinach leaves)
  6. Meanwhile quickly melt some more butter, add lemon juice & pour over the whole plate as a sauce.
  That's it! It turns out that the mushroom/ prawn combination really worked well. The flavors compliment each other. I wouldn't use stronger flavored mushrooms (wild mushrooms for instance) as they might overpower the prawns. As a bonus the colours look really nice on the plate.
   

  • Chicken parts. A new way to do chicken thighs with mushrooms & tarragon.
  Ingredients:
  
  Chicken pieces. Number depending upon how many you're feeding. I like to use the leg/ thigh piece, one per person.
  Mushrooms. I use a mix of dried reconstituted wild mushrooms plus lots of standard white cultivated mushrooms.
  A brunch of fresh tarragon.
  Full cream
  Herbs de Province.
  
  Method:
  
   

  1. Brown the chicken pieces in a bit of oil & butter on the stove top. Salt & pepper to taste.
      
  2. Place them, skin side up, in a roasting pan and season with salt, pepper and the HdeP.
  3. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30-40 minutes. Make sure the skin is crisp by using the grill if needed.
  4. Meanwhile chop the mushrooms into medium sized chunks.
      
  5. Remove the chicken pieces from the pan & pour off most of the chicken fat.
  6. Fry the mushrooms in the roasting pan tossing frequently until they just soften & scraping the pan to release the chicken juices.
  7. Add the cream. Enough to make a good thick sauce. Reduce as necessary to thicken.
  8. Add a good handful of the chopped fresh tarragon and mix it in. Remove from heat.
      
  9. Pour sauce over the chicken pieces and serve immediately.

  I served this with Garlic mashed potatoes, saut?d carrots & Broad beans., but use whatever vegetables you like and are in season.
   

  • Endive and Smoked salmon salad. Nice simple combo. Perfect for hot days.
     

    For 2 generous servings:
    
    2 heads of endive
    2-3 oz of smoked salmon
    2 tablespoons of olive oil
    Juice from 1 lemon Plus the zest from the lemon
    A few springs of fresh dill
    A couple of tablespoons of chopped chives
    Salt & pepper to taste
     

     

    1.Put the olive oil , lemon juice & zest into a bowl & mix with a fork.

    2.Cut off the root end of the endive, remove any bad outer leaves & chop the endive into about 1/2 inch rounds. Separate the rounds well & place in the bowl.

    3.Mince the smoked salmon into small pieces & add to the bowl.

    4.Chop the dill then add it and the chopped chives to the bowl.

    5.Season with salt & pepper.

    6.Mix everything very well & let rest for a few minutes.

    7.Serve on plates at room temperature & garnish with a spring of dill & a chive flower if available.

    This turns out to be a nice combination of flavors.
    
    Enjoy & let me know what you think if you try it.

     

  • Pork Terrine. Not quite a disaster, but a learning experience. Tasted good .
     

    As explained in my last post I was concerned to make a good impression food wise on our French friends. Thus I thought that a pork terrine with Cornichons & shallots would properly impress. Only problem was that I haven't made a terrine in years; pate yes, but terrine no. I was, however, using a recipe from 'The Cook's Book' so I should have been OK.
    
    Things went well at first. I soaked my pork hocks for 24 hours.
    
    They came out looking fine.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    Then they went into the stock pot for about 3 hours at a slow simmer.
    
    
    So far so good. After the hocks cooled I shredded the meat and added chopped Cornichons and shallots. I also dissolved some gelatin leaves into about a pint of the stock.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    The mix looked & tasted good. At this point things looked OK.
    
    
    
    The recipe calls for lining the terrine pan with multiple layers of cling film. I did this with no problem, but there didn't seem to be neatly as much overlap as the recipe indicated.
    
    As I started to fill the terrine it became obvious that my terrine was far too large for the amount of mixture. The mixture should have filled the terrine to over flowing. It actually came about two thirds of the way to the top. Well I didn't have a smaller terrine so I continued on.
    First I filled the terrine with the gelled stock then I cut and put a piece of cardboard on top & pushed it down - hard. Then I wrapped the whole thing in more cling film.
    
    
    This wasn't going to do what it was supposed to; namely to put pressure on the mixture to 'glue' it together. So off came the cling film & on went as much weight as I could find.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    36 hours later the terrine came out of the fridge. As you can see it didn't look too bad, but there was no way the terrine could be cut into nice neat thin slices. It just sort of fell apart.
    
    
    
    
    
    The solution was to place pieces of the terrine onto endive, add a few pieces of the cut up aspic and some mustard cream sauce with a bit of parsley for decoration.
    
    It didn't look too bad, the French loved it and it tasted good.
    
    There were, however, lessons to be learned from what could have ended up as a fiasco.
    
     

    1. Make sure you have the right size terrine!
    2. Shred your port hocks much more finely.
    3. Chop you Cornichons & shallots more finely.
    4. In fact I think it would be best to pulse the whole mixture in a food processor. Not to a paste, but to a much finer mix than I had.
    I'll try again.