French Recipes & Cookbooks

How to Cook dishes from France

• Andouillette - A traditional French sausage, from Lyon, Troyes or Cambrai. Andouillette may be eaten hot or cold, and has a very strong odor that some people consider very unpleasant, and is very much an acquired taste. Please note: The prepared version of andouillette sold in the United States is not the same!
  
  
• Beef Bourguignon (French: Bœuf bourguignon) - Beef stew cooked in red wine, flavored with garlic and herbs, carrots, onions and lardons (bacon from the back fat of a pig), and then garnished with onions and mushrooms.
  
  
• Blanquette de veau - Veal, mushrooms and onions cooked in a thick cream sauce.
  
  
• Bouillabaisse - A fish stew, originally from Marseille. Usually a variety of different fish and shellfish are used to prepare the soup, as well as celery, leeks, onions and tomatoes. The stew and the fish are usually served in separate bowls, with the vegetables poured over French bread seasoned with bread crumbs, olive oil and chili peppers ("rouille").
  
  
• Coq au vin - Chicken fricasseed with wine, lardons, mushrooms, and garlic. Traditionally, older roosters are used in the dish, as they contain more connective tissue resulting in a richer broth.
  
  
• Crêpes - Thin pancakes made from wheat flour. Originally from Brittany (French: Bretagne), they come in both savory (crêpes salées) and sweet (crêpes sucrées) varieties.
  
  
• Escargot - Land snails cooked with parsley butter. This dish is often served as an appetizer.
  
  
  
• French onion soup - A soup made from onions and beef broth, topped with cheese and croutons. According to legend the soup was invented by King Louis XV of France.
  
  
  
• Le Tourin - A traditional soup from the Dordogne region. It has a strong garlic flavor, and is best served over thinly sliced bread.
  
  
• Lobster Thermidor - A creamy mixture of lobster meat with egg yolks, brandy or sherry, a little powdered mustard, and an oven-browned cheese crust, stuffed into a lobster shell.
  
  
• Pot-au-feu - A spiced beef and vegetable stew. Typically carrots, celery, leeks, onions and turnips are used in the dish.
  
  
• Quiche Lorraine - This is a baked dish made with heavy cream, eggs and bacon in a pastry crust. The traditional recipe does not contain cheese. A variant of the recipe, which differs by the addition of onion, is known as "quiche Alsacienne".

• Chocolate mousse - A creamy dessert made from eggs and cream, and flavored with chocolate.
  
  
• Crème brûlée - A custard base, usually flavored with just vanilla, and topped with a hard layer of caramel made by burning sugar under a grill or other intense heat source.
  
  
• Éclair - A hollow baked pastry, allowed to cool, and then filled with pastry cream (crème pâtissière), custard or whipped cream, and then topped with chocolate or icing.
  
  
• Profiteroles - Small baked pastries filled with pastry cream (crème pâtissière) or whipped cream. Often served with chocolate sauce.

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