Thrifty recipes for shrewd cooks! Simple, everyday ideas to make your meals and your money go further. Traditional dishes from my childhood in France, plus great food places in and around Sussex. It's not just the food you cook, it's the day you make of it!
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I suppose it's called like that...
because you make it with old bread, that would be "lost" (as in wasted) otherwise. I have no idea if that's the correct explanation but it makes sense to me. This is another snack my grand mother would make us (only every now and then, it's not like we had that every day) when we came back from school
I don't know if it's because we grew up in the countryside...
but most of the stuff we used to eat was local to our region. No one made a fuss about it, it's just the way it was (and still is). Most of the dishes I remember are fairly simple and unfussy, using what you would buy at the market in the village or home grown(so it's pretty much very seasonal stuff as well). Don't know if it's a French thing (it's a much talked about topic in England at the moment but it seems like a recent issue people here are getting aware of).
My grand dad had an amazing vegetable garden (the size of a couple of football pitches!) and spent every day more or less looking after it,
Anyone who's been to the Alps in winter...
is bound to have tried this yummy recipe. Not low fat at all but exactly what you need after a hard day on the slopes! (after an afternoon snack of chocolate sandwich...calories don't count when you are skiing!!). This also was a favourite of mine when I was a student since it takes no time to prepare and is fairly cheap dish to make when you live in Lyon. It's called tartiflette and uses a great, great cheese called reblochon.
it's one of the specialities of Lyon...
along with cervelles de canuts or salade lyonnaise. I must admit I haven't make one for ages. Last time I cooked one was for a dinner with some friends in London about 5 years ago! But we used to love that dish and I really should put it on our family menu soon again. We used to eat it with a home made tomato sauce and sliced quenelles on Saturday evening at my grandparents, all 12 of us around the table in their dining room, most of the times after a very long apérétif including a few glasses of kir for the grown ups, glasses of orange juice and handfuls of salted peanuts for us!.
Here's what you need to make it:
400g of chicken livers
3 slices of white bread
200ml of double cream
2 garlic cloves
1 shallot
1 egg yolk, 2 egg whites
1 tablespoon of brandy (optional)
1 big handful of parsley
1 onion (white)
1 can of chopped and peeled tomatoes
olive oil
salt and pepper
Mix together the chicken livers, bread, garlic and shallots in a food processor.
Add the egg yolk, the brandy and the cream. The mix should be a little bit runny.
Whip 2 egg whites and add them carefully to the mix.
Add the finely chopped parsley and season well.
Pour the preparation in a pudding dish.
Place the dish in a roasting tray with an inch of water at the bottom
Cook in a hot oven (200-210) for around 45 minutes until firm. (To check it's cooked, put a knife through the middle of the cake; if the blade is clean when you pull it out then it's cooked)
in the meantime, chop an onion finely.
Pour a little olive oil in a pan and cook the onion on low heat until tender but not colored
Add the tomatoes
season well and cook for 10-15 minutes
remove from the heat and puree to a smooth consistency (you can even sieve it for a better result)
serve the cake warm with tomato sauce on the side and chunky slices of sourdough bread to mop it up!
We used to have an "EMT" class...
from the age of 11 to 14 in our school in Le Bois d'Oingt. It was I suppose the equivalent to Home Economics class. One week we'd do a crafty thing of some sort (like a letter tray out of halved wooden pegs for Mother' Day!) and the other week we'd cook. Cooking lessons happened in the big refectory where lunch was served and although the recipes were quite basic, I still remember them so my teacher did a good job. We made "quatre quart" one week. Another one we made corn flakes rocks. No gastronomique challenge but still a good idea to make with kids...and get them to eat cereals!.
all you need is
About 300g of corn flakes
100g of milk chocolate
Melt the chocolate in a bowl (either in the microwave or better on top of a pan of boiling water on the hob).
Pour the cornflakes into the bowl and mix well
Make little piles of chocolate covered cornflakes and drop them into small paper cases
Let them set in the fridge for a few hours
There are brilliant
as a take away snacks or for pic nics!
On sundays we often used to cook...
or rather bake! We've all got a bit of sweet tooth in our family (except maybe my mum who's the most disciplined and can resist the temptation of puddings rather well).
When we were still all living at home, the big "thing" when we had people coming round for dinner or Sunday lunch was pudding...or rather puddings.
We used to make something call "chariot de desserts" (a trolleyfull or puddings). Every one would contribute, including our guests more often than not. We'd have a very small portion of everything...which is probably why I can never decide what to choose when we go out and often ask to "swap" mid course....or end up ordering a selection of staters instead of a main course. The list of what you could find on the "chariot de desserts" goes on and on but amongst the favourites are quatre-quart, oeufs a la neige (meringue mix poached in vanilla flavoured milk and served on a creme anglaise- a light and slightly runny custard to an Englishman- with crisp caramel bits on top) and my dad's chocolate tart.
As Oscar Wilde said "I can resist anything but temptation"!
You'll need:
a ready made shortcrust pastry (or even better make your own. See my recipe here... en francais!)
200g of chocolate (dark or milk)
1 pint of single cream
2 gelatine leaves
100g of butter softened
100g of almonds (powder)
1egg
100g sugar
1 tablespoon of dark rhum (optional)
Here we go:
Make (if you decide to- it tastes much better if you've got the time) and blind bake your pastry according to the instructions on the paquet or for 10 minutes with dry beans and a further 5 minutes without
Prepare your frangipanne: mix together the butter and sugar until you get a creamy mix, then add the rhum, almonds and egg until you get a smooth paste
spread on your pastry
cook for 10 to 15 minutes in a moderate oven (180 degres) until it sets and just starts to colour
Remove from the oven and leave to cool
put your gelatine leaves in warm water to soften them
Melt your chocolate over a pan of boiling water, add the cream and stir well
Drain your gelatine leaves and add them to the chocolate and cream
Stir well until completely disolved
Check the frangipanne is nearly cool before spreading your chocolate mix on top
Leave to set in the fridge for a good few hours (best make it the day before)
Ta-dah!
What can I say...Enjoy!
Something else with chocolate in? try this recipe
Rather have a fruity pudding? here's one and another
If you are still reading,
then I have won half of the battle already! Only saying that because so many people think celeri must be on the list of "the devil's garden" . Hand up if you only use it chopped with a dip (for the "healthy apérétif club!") or put 1/2 a stalk with a carrot and onion to start a stock...or not at all!
Hopefully you'll be surprised by this recipe.
Not sure who I get it from. But I CAN remember eating this as a kid (yeah, really, celeri and tomato when I was little...and I have got the proof it's not a lie: our 2 little ones wolfed it down tonight for dinner).
One of the specialities from Lyon is called
"quenelles". It's a fish dumpling made from semoulina, eggs and traditionally, pike (not a very well known fish in England). It's got a consistency between a souffle and a gnochi. You buy them raw and cook them in a variety of sauces including sauce Nantua (crayfish sauce)
anyway, here's how you make it:
Put a pan of water on the hob
When the water is boiling, drop in 1 egg per person and cook for 10 minutes
Meanwhile, defrost about 500g of frozen spinach/steam the same amount of fresh spinach for a few minutes in the microwave
Drain if needed
spread evenly at the bottom of a gratin dish
Peel and quarter your boiled eggs and place them on top of your spinach
Make a white sauce: melt 20g of butter in a pan, add a tablespoon of flour then whisk in 1/2 pint of milk and heat gently until it thickens, without stopping whisking.
Add 100g of grated cheese to your sauce.
Season and grate some nutmeg in if you like (goes really well with spinach)
Pour the sauce on top of the spinach and eggs, making sure you cover the eggs
Oven cook for 10-15 minutes until the top is bubbly and golden
You can save time by cooking your eggs in advance!
We were really lucky me and my sisters...
I realise now. My dad's mum, "Mamie Titus" -her name was Juliette but her and my grand dad used to have a tiny black poodle called Titus. Guess we came up with that name when we were fairly little since I can't actually remember- anyway, "Mamie Titus" used to make loads of yummy stuff for us, including quince paste. She'd leave it to set, cut it in squares and give us a few to take to school for our morning snack. And as you never grow up in the eyes of your grand parents, she used to give me a little tupperware filled with quince paste squares even when I was coming back from Uni!...laugh all you want, I still have that little plastic box in my drawer all these years after and it's now one of my "treasures". Silly stuff since it's just a plastic box, but each time I use it it makes me smile, thinking of her....
Halloween, pumpkin...
means the perfect time for a roasted pumpkin, cream and cheese soup. Just as well I am off to visit the pumpkin man in Slindon next week with the kids! If you live anyway near, go and have a look for yourself, it's a feast for the eyes...
There's even a dinosaur made out of pumpkins...
But back to my repice: Imagine sitting at the dinner table looking, staring rather at a whole oven-roasted pumpkin. Lift the lid: inside is the most creamy- yummy-delicious soup/stew of cooked pumpkin, creme fraiche, cheese and garlic croutons. That's just the kind of dinner we got at this time of the year when we were little. I even THINK mum cooked it in the fireplace a couple of times (we had, at the time, an impressive open fireplace made of big stone panels in our house -I am sure that she kept it hot in the ambers wrapped in foil...mmmm...will need to ask her about that).
Here's how you make it:
you'll need...
1 pumpkin (as big as your oven will take)
250g of full fat creme fraiche
200g of grated cheese (gruyere or comté if you can since it makes the best "strings", alternatively you can use cheddar)
3ro 4 slices of good bread (not sliced bread, a good sourdough loaf for example)
2 cloves of garlic
olive oil, salt and pepper
1 roasting tray, big enough to sit your pumpkin in
1 laddle to serve
here we go...
Cut the top of the pumpkin, remove the seeds and discard (or keep them, dry them and plant them of you have a big back garden!)
Grill your slices of bread then rub well with garlic cloves cut in half (alternatively, use white slice bread and remove the crust)
cut the bread slices in 3 or 4
now build your soup: put a layer of garlic croutons at the bottom, then add a couple of tablespoons of cream and sprinkle some cheese
season well with salt and freshly ground pepper
repeat as many times as necessary to the top
put the lid back on
place your pumpkin on a roasting tray
Cook in a medium oven (170-180 degres for a fan assisted oven) for anything from 1 to 3 hours depending on the size of your pumpkin. Check regularly by dipping a long knife into the pumpkin (careful not to pierce the bottom). When all the pumpkin is soft inside, it's ready. Scrap the sides carefully and mix everything a little or a lot.
Serve with more garlic rubbed grilled bread on the side
That has to be in my "top ten" homely food...and you won't be bothered by vampires this Halloween!
Apologies for not showing up for a few days...
not that I received bags (or even 1) complaint or sympathy message wondering what had happened to me! (lol).
Since I feel you really want to know more.....I travelled to Wales to run 13.1 miles on Sunday morning, along with 8000 other fellow runners in the Cardiff Half Marathon. And yes I completed it, although not as fast as I was hoping but still in a respectable 2h 11.
The good thing about a 2 hours run is that it gives loads to time to think, and you better think of stuff or it gets pretty boring after the first few miles. Guess what I spent more of my time thinking of? Food bien sur....weird i know, running and thinking of cooking at the same time maybe.
Anyway, thinking about my childhood memories, one that stuck was coming back from PE days at school to my grandparents' house. I have already mentioned they used to look after me and my sisters after school and always made great snacks for us..it's all there.
One of my favourite childhood snack
was the mightly chocolate sandwich!
When I was little, we used a lot a very simple recipe book called...
"100 desserts (legers), 50 trucs (faciles)" (100 (light) deserts, 50 (easy) tips). It was created by "Maizena" brand (cornstarch you find in every French cupboard) and I think you had to collect points on the back of the paquets to get a copy. It's a bit old fashioned but a great great GREAT little book to have on your shelve (only need basic French to understand most of it). Anyway, this is the one and only book that has made it all the way here and followed me through 6 moves in and around London then to Surrey and finally Sussex! I use it regularly since a lot of the recipes are very easy hence brilliant to make with a toddler. If you speak a bit of French, you can order a copy here. The recipe I made on Tuesday with Tom is "le quatre-quart" (The 4 quarters). You don't really need the book to remember any ingredients at all, but the book prompted me to make it.
You'll need...
3 large eggs
equivalent weight of butter (soften), flour and sugar.
1 heaped teaspoon of baking powder
The basic repice...
Work your butter in a soft creamy consistency.
Add the sugar, then the eggs one by one, the flour (sifted) and the baking powder.
Pour into a buttered and floured cake tin
Bake in a medium hot oven (180 degres) for 40 minutes
now, you can from there add:
some grated lemon or orange zests
a tablespoon of dark rhum for the grown ups
candied cherries and orange peels
raisins (soaked in more rhum of course!)
or make a "gateau marbré" (marbled cake)...Me and my sisters just loved that one!
Divide your batter equally in 2 salad bowls.
In one of them add about 80 g of dark unsweetened cocoa powder or 60g of chocolate melted with 2 tablespoons of milk.
Pour the plain mix in the cake tin then pour the chocolate mix in the middle (or pour a bit of plain then a bit of choc then....you've got it- for a more "artistic" result!).
Once cooked you'll end up with a "marbled cake"
this is the perfect recipe to use as a base for a birthday cake. Or for "holiday baking" since it's a vrey easy recipe to remember!
Remembered this dish yesterday...
thinking about what we used to eat often in wintery days. My grand-dad Jean used to grow lovely, cream colour, perfectly shaped chicories in his cellar. Him and my grand-mother Juliette lived in a village house with a vaulted cellar underneath. In winter you had to be ever so careful when going there since there was a very steep slope from the house down which used to get regularly frozen!
That cellar had the most wonderful smell of compost and cleaned wine bottles drying on a "herisson"
It was a bit of a magic place...
Coming from not far from Lyon...
"the (French) capital of food" as it is known, I could do a whole blog just on dishes and restaurants to visit there!
Here's a start anyway...
If you go there one day, try a "Bouchon", a traditional bistro style restaurant. Go to the Rue des Marroniers and take your pick (I recommend "le bouchon des carnivores" as long as you are not vegetarian, it used to be a slaughterhouse! they've kept it fairly rustic and the meat is truly delicious), or venture in narrow streets of La Croix-Rousse or another old part of the town, Saint Jean to find dozens of lovely places where you'll have a great dinner for the price of a main course in a pub in England!. The best way to find a place to eat, something to do..in Lyon is to consult "Le Petit Paumé", the best guide you'll find. Or email me and I'll do my best to guide you.
Anyway...
here are a couple of dishes which are both quick to prepare, really yummy and typical of Lyon. the first one is quite aptly named
"salade lyonnaise"...
ingredients:
a nice green salad (not iceberg but proper lettuce leaves),
PLUS
(per person)...
1 egg
about 50 g of "lardons" or thickly cut unsmoked bacon cut in little matchstick size bits,
salt, pepper, red wine vinegar, olive oil and French mustard for the dressing.
first, put your bacon bits in a frying pan without any added fat and cook them on fairly high heat til crispy and brown.
Whilst they are cooking, heat some water in a small pan. When boiling, add 2 tablespoons of vinegar to it. Crack an egg in a small bowl, carefully to avoid breaking the yolk.
With a spoon, get your boiling water to swirl,
tip your raw egg in the centre of the pan and use your spoon to bring back any bits of egg white towards the centre.
Cook for a couple of minutes then remove and dry on kitchen paper.
Make your dressing with 1 part vinegar to 3 parts olive oil, add mustard to the taste, season and mix well. You can put all the ingredients in a clean jam jar to save time, then put the lid on, shake well
To make your salad, put some green leaves on a plate, top with the warm bacon bits then the poached egg., spoon a tablespoon of dressing on top...et voila!
another great, easy and healthy recipe is "cervelle de Canut" ("Canut's brains". the Canuts were people working in silk workshops in Lyon around 1830). My dad just loves this although his version is definitely 100% vampire proof!
We have it on toasted slices of rustic bread -like Pain Poilane or any nice loaf of bread...
Cervelle de Canuts:
Mix (to taste)...
full fat fromage frais (you can find this in most supermarkets now)
a lot of finely chopped fresh chives (sorry- dry herbs won't work here),
as much crushed garlic as you like (or finely chopped shallots),
a little salt and loads of freshly crushed black pepper.
Make it a bit in advance and serve it chilled either in "tartines" (spread on bread sliced) or as a dip with bits of bread or raw vegetables like sticks of carrots, peppers....
Note- Not recommended prior to a night out or a date!
One thing I used to do when I was "littler" around this time of the year...
was to go pick wild mushrooms with my dad on Saturday or Sunday mornings.I have great memories from it(although at the time I am not sure I realised how nice it was): The damp woodlands, that lovely smell of earth and leaves early morning, the foggy view of the Beaujolais hills around us,...no wonder I like nothing better than getting my hands mucky in the garden now I am living away from home!
when we were lucky, we used to pick a whole basket of chanterelles, trompettes-de-mort and mousserons. Sometimes even a cepe (porcini)! Then back home, clean them with a little brush before cooking them. Most often in an omelette.
Sometimes pan fried with a little butter, a little garlic and a little cream. No diet food, i know but my take on it is "as long as you eat everything in moderation ,you can enjoy a bit of everything".
Enjoy them or their own or as the most wonderful sauce to go with simply roasted chicken breasts.
Have a go!
(this will feed 4 people)
ingredients:
a bowlfull of wild mushrooms (You might not have the time or the inclination to go hunt wild mushrooms first, but you can pick some from the supermarket/deli. A big bowl full or a smaller pack mixed with regular button/chestnut mushrooms- to keep the price a bit lower since they don't come cheap).
4 chicken breast, skin on and on the bone if possible
olive oil
100ml of single cream or more to taste
salt and pepper
a knob of butter
1/2 garlic clove
Season the chicken breasts with a little salt and lots of pepper
Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan, drop 4 chicken breasts in it and cook on high heat until the skin is golden and crispy.
Transfer the chicken into a roasting tin, non skin side down and finish to cook in the oven at 180 degres (it should take about 15-20 minutes to cook your chicken properly depending on how thick the breasts are)
Grab that frying pan the chicken was in and melt a little knob of butter in it (you really must use proper butter, especially with wild mushrooms, otherwise the taste just wont be the same...doesn't have to be a lot, 20 g is enough).
Stir your cleaned mushrooms in the melted butter for a few minutes until soft.
Add 1/2 clove of finely chopped garlic (if you like it, works without), stir for another minute or 2 on medium heat (you don't want the garlic to colour or it wil lget bitter).
Pour 100ml of cream in the pan then scrape the bottom of your pan whilst stirring. All the bits of chicken that have stuck to the bottom of the pan will get mixed with the cream to make a yummy sauce.
Season to your taste.
Plate your chicken, pour the sauce on top and enjoy with steamed green beans for a lovely alternative to a Sunday Roast!
Feeling guilty about all that cream and butter? Then make up for this fairly rich meal by going for a walk after lunch if you didn't walk for miles in the morning looking for the mushrooms!
PS: J, sorry I changed my mind about which recipe to post. WILL put the coq au vin on soon as well 
This used to be my favourite dish for a long time when I was little, my mum could tell you so...
Those big cabbage leaves cooked with yummy sausage meat inside, taking on the taste from the meat juices. yum ,yum, yum!
I remember coming back from school on cold wet evenings in autumn and finding the fire lit up in the living room, the house smelling of wood burning and looking outside the window at 5 o'clock to find out it's already dark. I love it, those shorter days are so cosy. Perfect to snuggle up
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