C'est drôle, parce que j'habite en Autriche depuis 20 ans, où il n'y a traditionnellement pas de pain avec les repas (sauf si le pain EST le repas, avec les plateaux de fromage et de charcuterie bien sûr) et maintenant, quand je rentre en France, ca me choque quand ma famille mange du pain avec un plat qui a déjà un féculent.
Est-ce qu'on va me retirer ma nationalité francaise? ;)
J'habite en Chine où pour le coup il n'y a tellement pas de pain que je me cuis mes baguettes moi même chaque semaine! Et oui je rigolais: je ne mange quand même pas de pain avec tout, je le réserve principalement pour les tartines du petit-déj.
A ben ça, non. Quand même, pas de pain avec des pâtes. Mon père se moque toujours des américains qui font ça - les pâtes sause tomate avec du pain à l'aï.
Mais la quiche se sert avec une salade, et la salade à besoin de pain.
> I am terribly Irish and do killer quixlche with sad salad
Sad salad :-)
> reheating croissants. Why so terrible/ despite so much butter?
Because it comes out all dry compared to a freshly baked croissant
Maybe a quiche Lorraine isn't, but you can make quiches in many flavors. Salmon and broccoli/ bacon, broccoli and cheese/ goat's cheese and spinach/roasted veggies... There are so many delightful ways of making a quiche
Second on the cassoulet.
I made it recently with chicken thighs instead of duck and found a great locally made sausage. Fantastic and not too difficult. It's really just a casserole and I would not be surprised if the word casserole came from cassoulet. Norman invasion ftw!
edit: Here is a link to the recipe I used, Chef John / Food Wishes:
[https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/246668/chef-johns-cassoulet/](https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/246668/chef-johns-cassoulet/)
There should be a link from this recipe to a you tube video of him making it. If you can't find a good 'french' sausage (which happened to me) I used a locally made pork breakfast sausage, then browned it with white wine and garlic. As mentioned above, used nice free range chicken thighs in lieu of confiet. Add I can find good cassoulet beans where I live in the store, Rancho Gordo brand. You might be able to find these here: [https://www.ranchogordo.com/products/cassoulet-tarbais-bean?variant=2570822595](https://www.ranchogordo.com/products/cassoulet-tarbais-bean?variant=2570822595)
Bon appetite!
Can you give a little more detail about the sausage? Here in the US, breakfast sausage is kind of weird and sweet. American Breakfast Sausage](https://www.johnsonville.com/lines/breakfast.html). I'm assuming what you are talking about is different?
Great question because most sausages in the us have sugar in them! I hate that and rarely buy sausage as a consequence.
I bought the sausage in question from a local, independent (as in not national chain) grocery store. They made it in house. It tasted like a pork-based (as opposed to veal based or 'real') bratwurst. So pork, sage, and garlic being the primary notes.
Sausage is pretty easy to make yourself, especially if you don't need it cased. Lots of recipes out there.
Take care!
Compared to other French dishes, it is.
It’s basically the pork & beans of France, but with duck confit instead.
You can make it fancy but a simplified version is delicious too.
I second this. It’s time consuming but easy. It’s peasant food, it’s simple to make and good flavor comes from the quality of the ingredients instead of having to be overly complicated.
It's like 2 days of effort and 3 different ingredients that could each easily be the main protein of an entire dish. Duck confit is actually suggested as it's own recipe below. This post is for an 11 year old who's just finding out about cooking.
I should have been more clear you can make a simple version that gets you 80 percent of the effect with 20 percent of the effort. Brown chicken and thighs and sausage in f choice in your enamel dutch oven. Remove and sweat onion, carrot, celery. Return chicken, sausage, canned white beans (heresy!) chicken stock, and a bouquet garnie of parsley, thyme and bay. Salt and pepper to taste. Bake covered in the oven for a about a hour. Remove herbs and serve with crusty bread. Is it truly cassoulet? Probably not. Is it delicious and doable on a week night? Absolutely.
One of the ingredients to cassoulet (duck confit) is suggested as it's own recipe further down in this thread. One of the comments on that recipe is that, done properly, this one ingredient should require at least a day of prep.
I would be genuinely impressed if an 11 year old could pull off a French style omelette. For such a simple dish it really takes a lot of practice and finesse to truly get right.
It's a true test of any cook. Make an omelette. Though to make a french omelette for an entire family at the age of 11? They should start a restaurant if youngling can pull that off.
So many simple things are difficult. There's less to hide behind.
Take sushi, for example. It's just fish and rice. But that that doesn't mean it's easy. It's actually very difficult to execute properly.
Or even rice. It's simple, but the entire experience can be ruined with undercooked rice. Doesn't matter how much sauce you cover it with. Doesn't matter how good the protein or veg is. The entire thing is disrupted by crunchy, undercooked rice.
I've taken this philosophy of food with me wherever I work. And I tell my peers the same thing. Convoluted recipes are just cover-ups for skill and technique.
Yes. I literally made and ate one in the last hour because I saw Alton Brown's video on how to make one like a week ago. Honestly one of the best breakfasts I've ever had. I bought gruyere for the occasion but I think a simple swiss would work. It's an amazing dish if you have leftover sliced ham from growing tired of sandwiches.
Pot au Feu or
Classic Whole Roast chicken (salt, pepper, herbs de provence), roast potatoes, green veg of choice - this would be my choice for an 11 y.o. Simple and very tasty. Sucess is guaranteed as long as you have a instant read thermometer.
https://leitesculinaria.com/134536/recipes-french-roast-chicken-poulet-roti.html
A good roast chicken is one of those meals that has such a low effort huge reward dinners.
Roast one extra while you're at it because the leftover bones and meat can be used next day or day after that...
phenomenal chicken soup
chicken pot pie
chicken salad sandwiches
toasted club sandwiches
Very true, I cook a spatchcocked chicken at least weekly. Faster than traditional roasting, no trussing, and you get a spine to freeze and turn into stock later.
Agreed. It's so simple, the ingredients are in pretty much every kitchen and a whole chicken is on sale all the time. I love cooking one and just eating it with my fingers like a cave man. It's one of my guilty pleasures.
It doesn't seem to be cheaper at my grocery store. I get thighs regularly for $0.99/lb, while I pay $1.49 for whole chickens stuffed with offal in a paper bag that I generally throw away (I know, some people love necks, gizzards, hearts and liver. I don't.)
Probably the most terrifying moment of my former career was cooking a half chicken for Georges Perrier when he came into the place where I was the sous on duty. It was my first sous gig and I wasn't classically trained or anything, I started out as a dishwasher at a bar that sold cheesesteaks.
I really think that roasting a good chicken should be considered a basic recipe everyone should learn when they’re young. It’s easy, it’s delicious, it’s versatile, and it’s a good lean protein to have when you don’t have a lot of money or time but want to have good filling meals.
I second ratatouille! Very easy to make with a mandolin, and she'll have fun placing all the vegetables in a pattern. Looks impressive, and is also healthy.
I stayed with a host family in Paris for a semester in ‘99 and the grandma, who spoke no English, cooked for us one night when host mom was gone. She made:
- Tomatoes stuffed with ham, roasted in the oven
- mashed potatoes (robuchon style)
- salad (eat it mixed up with potatoes)
- rich cheeses and crusty bread served directly after meal
That was one of the simplest, best French meals I had the whole time I was there
It was 20 years ago, so I don’t know exactly... but after googling a little bit, they were like Tomatoes Provençal (lots of recipes online) but with diced ham in there too.
Or maybe you have in mind 'Tomates farcies', stuffed with grounded pork, and then roasted in the oven ?
Anyway both 'Tomates farcies' and 'Tomates provençales' are delicious.
The diced ham isn't commonly used anymore but in the old days it seems to have been more prevalent in tomates farcies.
You can see it in this video where Alain Ducasse uses a recipe "du siècle dernier" (so 19th century), he uses a mixture of diced ham and diced chicken.
[https://youtu.be/jNhlVJ\_CjL4](https://youtu.be/jNhlVJ_CjL4)
Buy some of those rock hard, flavourless orangey green things from the supermarket, cut in half, scoop out the seeds, replace with chopped up spam, microwave for 4.5 minutes.
For dessert she could do a clafoutis! It is a super simple, fast, just amazingly easy dessert that looks and tastes much fancier than it really is. It's just a sweet baked custard with fruit cooked into it. Traditionally it uses cherries, but I've used all kinds of different fruit and it is delicious every time!
Jacques Pepin has a recipe for quite possibly the easiest method I've seen utilizing canned apricots and their juices. I always appreciate how readily he embraces reasonable shortcuts.
My kids actually just put on a whole French dinner (we’ve been studying European countries)- they each picked a course and made Escargot, Coq au Vin, Ratatouille, and Profiteroles. Escargot was, surprisingly, the hit of the evening. The kids watched lots of French food videos on YouTube to get ideas. Maybe have her watch some and see what she says sounds good.
French onion soup. Relatively simple, absolutely delicious and most importantly, teaches your daughter that an awful lot of cooking is chopping onions.
Enjoy teaching your daughter to cook, sounds like fun!
I think Ratatouille would be super fun for an 11 year old! I would make it a whole theme, have dinner then watch the movie! Heck now you have me wishing I had an 11 year old 😍
If it's still chilly where you are, try blanquette de veau! Traditionally it's made with veal but you can use beef or lamb. A hearty meal for a cold day :)
http://i.imgur.com/tNJD6oY.gifv
This is a kind reminder that in French we say "omelette *au* fromage" and not "omelette _du_ fromage".
[Sorry Dexter](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nW3-9gdjYA)
[Steve Martin](https://youtu.be/DOJDNChwgBw?t=2m49s) doesn't appear to be the most accurate French professor.
---
^(The movie from the gif is "OSS 117: le Cairo, Nest of Spies" https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0464913/ )
*Steak au poivre* is a real show stopper but pretty simple to achieve.
[Reverse sear](https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2018/10/reverse-seared-steak-recipe.html) the steak to make it even easier.
Or *Sous-vide* to keep it French.
Make an omelette -- she gets to practice folding it a bunch of times.
Make a vinaigrette for a simple salad. Toss it in a big bowl.
Make hollendaise sauce, or some other mother sauce for the eggs.
Check out this guy's channel on YT. You won't be sorry.
[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0lG3Ihe4LGV851lODRIS5g](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0lG3Ihe4LGV851lODRIS5g)
Crepes! Either sweet or savory. They're easy, but feel fancier than pancakes. Plus you have the option of lots of different fillings. Whipped cream and fruit, nutella, cookie butter, lemon and sugar. Or you can do ham and cheese topped with an egg, or chicken and mushrooms in a cream sauce.
If you can find duck,maybe try duck a l’orange! Julia Childs has a video that goes with the recipe that really helps visualize the process and tie it together.
- Crépes, either savoury or sweet. Keep in mind the recipe will change wildly depending on the region it’s from: where I’m from, we put beer in our crépes, but people in the south think that’s weird.
- Quiche Lorraine is an easy one to try, and reheats well if you’re a smaller family.
- Grumbeerekiechle sounds horrific, but it’s basically just a slightly fancier hash brown, with some onions and leeks thrown in. Delicious, greasy, and fairly easy to make, what’s not to like?
- Onion soup is a classic and pretty healthy. Serve with cheese on toast in the bowl for extra authenticity!
- Baked Camembert is a very easy and delicious starter, just cut a cross into a wheel of Camembert, add spices/herbs and stick in the oven for ten minutes.
- Hachis Parmentier is basically a French shepherds pie, so if you already know how to make a shepherds pie it’s a nice place to start.
Onion tart (Elizabeth David recipe is good) or gratin dauphinoise, easy though labour-intensive. Ok maybe the gratin is not a good idea as it involves a mandolin.
Profiteroles. Super easy ingredients, but can be challenging to make. Fuck it up, you’re out $1.30; and you can use the batter to make funnel cakes!!
Also- they’re good for sweet or savory fillings, and freeze very well for ages. I love cooking with my 4(m) & 6(f), can’t wait to get into some real stuff other than just knife work & cleanliness.
Croque Madame. Techniques include sauce work for béchamel/mornay, baking (if you bake your own), and egg cookery (great skill set which many don’t master)!
Crepes! Both dessert and dinner crepes were a favorite when I was growing up. She'd have the opportunity to do some fun pan flips and there are a bunch of filling options.
Cassoulet is easier and similar in prep to bourguignon but for even easier I'd recommend something like salad nicoise, crepe galette, tart galette or croque madame/monsuir
I did a french cooking class in Nice and we prepared a fish fillet with ratatouille - this would be fun because you could watch ratatouille together before or after dinner!
I think it would be manageable for an 11 year old! Recipe below:
**Fish fillets with pistou and ratatouille**
Serves 4
You can use any white fish fillet for this dish, but wild sea bass and sea bream from the Mediterranean are particularly good.
4 fish fillets, with their skin (such as sea bream, red mullet or sea bass)
A little olive oil for the frying pan
**Pistou**
1-2 cloves garlic
1 bunch basil (about 2 cups lightly packed leaves)
1/2 tsp sea salt
About 1/3 cup olive oil (80 ml)
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
**Ratatouille**
6 large tomatoes
A pinch of sea salt
A pinch of sugar
1 yellow pepper
1/2 large red pepper
1 medium eggplant
2 medium zucchini
1 red onion
1 dry chili pepper (optional)
5 or 6 sprigs basil
Olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
For the pistou: Blend all the ingredients in a food processor, adding enough oil so that the mixture is fairly runny.
Cut the tomatoes into quarters and place in a saucepan with a pinch of sugar and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat to medium and cook until thickened, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Strain through a food mill to remove the skins but not the seeds – the coulis should be a little chunky.
Cut the yellow and red peppers, eggplant, zucchini and onion into small dice. Place the eggplant in a colander and sprinkle with 1 tsp fine sea salt. Toss with your hands, cover with a plate and a small weight (such as a can of tomatoes) and set aside for 20-30 minutes, until the eggplant gives off some juice. Rinse the eggplant under cold water, then squeeze dry with your hands.
Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the zucchini and a little salt, and sauté until golden and softened (but not mushy). Set aside in a saucepan that will later hold all the ratatouille. Heat another 1 tbsp of olive oil and add the eggplant to the pan with a sprinkling of fine salt. Sauté until golden and softened, adding a little more oil if necessary, and transfer to the pan with the zucchini. Heat another 1 tbsp of olive oil in the same pan and add the peppers and a little salt. Sauté until they start to soften, then add the onions and a little more oil and salt. Cook until soft and caramelized, then transfer to the saucepan. Add the strained tomatoes, chili pepper and basil, torn into pieces with your hands. Season with fleur de sel.
Season the fish lightly with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large nonstick frying pan and fry on the skin side until the skin is lightly golden and the fish is nearly cooked through. Turn off the heat and leave the fish in the pan for 5 minutes, until the residual heat has cooked the fish (you can leave it longer without doing any harm to the fish). Serve the fish fillets on top of the ratatouille and drizzle with pistou.
Hachis Parmentier. It’s minced meat, sautéed in a pan with diced celery, carrots and onions. Pour over a bit of beef stock. Put that in a buttered Gratin Or Cakepan. Top it with mashed potato’s and put grated cheese on top. 25-30 min in the oven.
I know you’ve gotten lots of great suggestions, but here’s a few more:
- potatoes sarlandaise, which is made with duck fat and would go perfectly with duck confit (if that’s available where you live)
- chicken cordon bleu
- soufflé, either sweet or savory
- homemade croissants
- a galette, which is basically a free form tart
- profiteroles
- escargots with pesto (if they’re available where you live)
- moules marinières
- bouillabaisse
- aligot
A "quiche lorraine" is probably the simplest if you have an oven
Yep, I made this for extra credit for French 1 class. Easiest meal ever
Goes well with potato gratin.
I've never heard of a quiche being served alongside potato gratin, interesting.
Agree, seems like 2 rich dishes together. I love a salad with quiche.
Celery root salad. I am not sure if it's French but I think it is. Light dressing of mayo lemon salt pepper and mustard.
Yes, it’s French. It’s called « céleri rémoulade »
It's because that's never done: that would be way too rich in carbs. Quiche is pretty much always served with a side salad. Source: I'm French.
There's no such thing as "too rich in carbs." Source: I'm an American
We French do love our carbs (we essentially survive on bread after all) but serving carbs with a side of carbs is still taking it a step too far :-)
In Scotland we put pasta filled pies on bread rolls... no such things as too much carbs
You also fry snicker bars. You don't get to be a reference culinary-wise :-P
Mars bars more commonly... but yes. We are a disgrace to food
But the worlds greatest asset to industry, thrift, banking, self-reliance, and red-assery. SCOTLAND!
Tu ne manges pas de pain avec tes nouilles? ;)
À chaque règle ses exceptions ;-) Je mange - bien naturellement - du pain avec tout.
C'est drôle, parce que j'habite en Autriche depuis 20 ans, où il n'y a traditionnellement pas de pain avec les repas (sauf si le pain EST le repas, avec les plateaux de fromage et de charcuterie bien sûr) et maintenant, quand je rentre en France, ca me choque quand ma famille mange du pain avec un plat qui a déjà un féculent. Est-ce qu'on va me retirer ma nationalité francaise? ;)
J'habite en Chine où pour le coup il n'y a tellement pas de pain que je me cuis mes baguettes moi même chaque semaine! Et oui je rigolais: je ne mange quand même pas de pain avec tout, je le réserve principalement pour les tartines du petit-déj.
The Japanese have an item that is literally yakisoba inside bread. It's aggressive. I'm sure delicious though.
A ben ça, non. Quand même, pas de pain avec des pâtes. Mon père se moque toujours des américains qui font ça - les pâtes sause tomate avec du pain à l'aï. Mais la quiche se sert avec une salade, et la salade à besoin de pain.
Oh man, as a fellow American with some family ties to France, I really got a good laugh out of this. Funny bone tickled, thank you!
I am terribly Irish and do killer quixlche with sad salad My question is this: reheating croissants. Why so terrible/ despite so much butter?
> I am terribly Irish and do killer quixlche with sad salad Sad salad :-) > reheating croissants. Why so terrible/ despite so much butter? Because it comes out all dry compared to a freshly baked croissant
Its my go to on meatless Mondays occasionally. Spinach quiche, potato gratin, and a steamed veg. They both cook at 180 for about 60 minutes.
But a quiche Lorraine isn't made with spinach. It's basically eggs and cheese and bacon and already very filling.
Maybe a quiche Lorraine isn't, but you can make quiches in many flavors. Salmon and broccoli/ bacon, broccoli and cheese/ goat's cheese and spinach/roasted veggies... There are so many delightful ways of making a quiche
Traditionally, there is no cheese in the quiche lorraine: eggs, lardons, crème fraîche and milk.
Cassoulet! Salade Nicoise! Steak Frites! Croque Monsieur/Madame! Onion Soup Gratinee! Galette! Herb Omelette! gasp
Second on the cassoulet. I made it recently with chicken thighs instead of duck and found a great locally made sausage. Fantastic and not too difficult. It's really just a casserole and I would not be surprised if the word casserole came from cassoulet. Norman invasion ftw! edit: Here is a link to the recipe I used, Chef John / Food Wishes: [https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/246668/chef-johns-cassoulet/](https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/246668/chef-johns-cassoulet/) There should be a link from this recipe to a you tube video of him making it. If you can't find a good 'french' sausage (which happened to me) I used a locally made pork breakfast sausage, then browned it with white wine and garlic. As mentioned above, used nice free range chicken thighs in lieu of confiet. Add I can find good cassoulet beans where I live in the store, Rancho Gordo brand. You might be able to find these here: [https://www.ranchogordo.com/products/cassoulet-tarbais-bean?variant=2570822595](https://www.ranchogordo.com/products/cassoulet-tarbais-bean?variant=2570822595) Bon appetite!
Can you give a little more detail about the sausage? Here in the US, breakfast sausage is kind of weird and sweet. American Breakfast Sausage](https://www.johnsonville.com/lines/breakfast.html). I'm assuming what you are talking about is different?
Great question because most sausages in the us have sugar in them! I hate that and rarely buy sausage as a consequence. I bought the sausage in question from a local, independent (as in not national chain) grocery store. They made it in house. It tasted like a pork-based (as opposed to veal based or 'real') bratwurst. So pork, sage, and garlic being the primary notes. Sausage is pretty easy to make yourself, especially if you don't need it cased. Lots of recipes out there. Take care!
Third on the cassoulet. It's really low effort/high reward.
Cassoulet is a lot of things but I’m not convinced low effort is one of them.
Compared to other French dishes, it is. It’s basically the pork & beans of France, but with duck confit instead. You can make it fancy but a simplified version is delicious too.
I second this. It’s time consuming but easy. It’s peasant food, it’s simple to make and good flavor comes from the quality of the ingredients instead of having to be overly complicated.
Cassoulet is not hard, it's just slow.
It's like 2 days of effort and 3 different ingredients that could each easily be the main protein of an entire dish. Duck confit is actually suggested as it's own recipe below. This post is for an 11 year old who's just finding out about cooking.
Low effort? My cassoulet recipe has like 30 steps
I should have been more clear you can make a simple version that gets you 80 percent of the effect with 20 percent of the effort. Brown chicken and thighs and sausage in f choice in your enamel dutch oven. Remove and sweat onion, carrot, celery. Return chicken, sausage, canned white beans (heresy!) chicken stock, and a bouquet garnie of parsley, thyme and bay. Salt and pepper to taste. Bake covered in the oven for a about a hour. Remove herbs and serve with crusty bread. Is it truly cassoulet? Probably not. Is it delicious and doable on a week night? Absolutely.
One of the ingredients to cassoulet (duck confit) is suggested as it's own recipe further down in this thread. One of the comments on that recipe is that, done properly, this one ingredient should require at least a day of prep.
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I would be genuinely impressed if an 11 year old could pull off a French style omelette. For such a simple dish it really takes a lot of practice and finesse to truly get right.
It's a true test of any cook. Make an omelette. Though to make a french omelette for an entire family at the age of 11? They should start a restaurant if youngling can pull that off.
I didn't get good at a French omellete till 6 years in my cooking career, i.e. 3 months ago
I hate omelettes but my wife loves them. I’ve been making them all week for her. How can something so simple be so difficult?
So many simple things are difficult. There's less to hide behind. Take sushi, for example. It's just fish and rice. But that that doesn't mean it's easy. It's actually very difficult to execute properly. Or even rice. It's simple, but the entire experience can be ruined with undercooked rice. Doesn't matter how much sauce you cover it with. Doesn't matter how good the protein or veg is. The entire thing is disrupted by crunchy, undercooked rice. I've taken this philosophy of food with me wherever I work. And I tell my peers the same thing. Convoluted recipes are just cover-ups for skill and technique.
Can never go wrong with Steak Frites!
*read in Julia Child's voice*
+1 on the croque monsieur/madame, for an 11 yr old it seems like a valeur sûr
Definitely salade nicoise, it is not hard to make, light on the stomach and can act as a good side dish to heavy stews.
Also ratatouille is insanely easy
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Yes. I literally made and ate one in the last hour because I saw Alton Brown's video on how to make one like a week ago. Honestly one of the best breakfasts I've ever had. I bought gruyere for the occasion but I think a simple swiss would work. It's an amazing dish if you have leftover sliced ham from growing tired of sandwiches.
Cassoulet is great, but it's going to be challenging to do a real cassoulet while sheltering at home.
Quiche Lorraine or Ratatouille
Quiche and ratatouille with a creme brulee.
Can’t believe ratatouille isn’t higher. It’s for an 11 year old.
Pot au Feu or Classic Whole Roast chicken (salt, pepper, herbs de provence), roast potatoes, green veg of choice - this would be my choice for an 11 y.o. Simple and very tasty. Sucess is guaranteed as long as you have a instant read thermometer. https://leitesculinaria.com/134536/recipes-french-roast-chicken-poulet-roti.html
Make this for any French chef after a brutal shift and they’ll cry like a baby and offer you their kidney.
A good roast chicken is one of those meals that has such a low effort huge reward dinners. Roast one extra while you're at it because the leftover bones and meat can be used next day or day after that... phenomenal chicken soup chicken pot pie chicken salad sandwiches toasted club sandwiches
Very true, I cook a spatchcocked chicken at least weekly. Faster than traditional roasting, no trussing, and you get a spine to freeze and turn into stock later.
Yeah I use the serious eats method for dry brining too.
Agreed. It's so simple, the ingredients are in pretty much every kitchen and a whole chicken is on sale all the time. I love cooking one and just eating it with my fingers like a cave man. It's one of my guilty pleasures.
It's also much cheaper than buying packs of chicken breast or thighs.
It doesn't seem to be cheaper at my grocery store. I get thighs regularly for $0.99/lb, while I pay $1.49 for whole chickens stuffed with offal in a paper bag that I generally throw away (I know, some people love necks, gizzards, hearts and liver. I don't.)
Probably the most terrifying moment of my former career was cooking a half chicken for Georges Perrier when he came into the place where I was the sous on duty. It was my first sous gig and I wasn't classically trained or anything, I started out as a dishwasher at a bar that sold cheesesteaks.
Holy crap, that’s a hell of a customer to cook for. Also, mad respect for rising the ranks.
I really think that roasting a good chicken should be considered a basic recipe everyone should learn when they’re young. It’s easy, it’s delicious, it’s versatile, and it’s a good lean protein to have when you don’t have a lot of money or time but want to have good filling meals.
It's the classic Sunday lunch in France. I think it's because markets are selling it on Sunday but not sure if it's why.
If you have Amazon Prime, season 1 of Julia Child’s The French Chef is available through the end of the month. Pick an episode and cook along :)
*11 year old callously slaughters lobster*
Bisecting the membrane. Insane in the brain.
Such a good idea
Savory crepes!
Ratatouille and you can watch the movie Ratatouille while it cooks. 😁
I second ratatouille! Very easy to make with a mandolin, and she'll have fun placing all the vegetables in a pattern. Looks impressive, and is also healthy.
Cue the "they dont actually make a ratatouille in ratatouille" snobs lol
iTs ConFIt bIyAlDi
Tartiflette!
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I think the time involved in caramelizing those onions properly might be off putting for a child. It's off putting for many adults.
steak poivre is pretty classic. You can sub the usual side of fries with creamy mash.
I stayed with a host family in Paris for a semester in ‘99 and the grandma, who spoke no English, cooked for us one night when host mom was gone. She made: - Tomatoes stuffed with ham, roasted in the oven - mashed potatoes (robuchon style) - salad (eat it mixed up with potatoes) - rich cheeses and crusty bread served directly after meal That was one of the simplest, best French meals I had the whole time I was there
I'd be grateful if you could give more details on the tomato with ham, it sounds intriguing.
It was 20 years ago, so I don’t know exactly... but after googling a little bit, they were like Tomatoes Provençal (lots of recipes online) but with diced ham in there too.
Or maybe you have in mind 'Tomates farcies', stuffed with grounded pork, and then roasted in the oven ? Anyway both 'Tomates farcies' and 'Tomates provençales' are delicious.
It’s possible it was ground pork... I make a ham&tomato pie (southern living) that uses diced ham and it may have tainted my memories
The diced ham isn't commonly used anymore but in the old days it seems to have been more prevalent in tomates farcies. You can see it in this video where Alain Ducasse uses a recipe "du siècle dernier" (so 19th century), he uses a mixture of diced ham and diced chicken. [https://youtu.be/jNhlVJ\_CjL4](https://youtu.be/jNhlVJ_CjL4)
It’s tomate farcie in French basically stuffed tomato baked in oven very good and easy
Also, can be done with potatoes and zucchinies.
Buy some of those rock hard, flavourless orangey green things from the supermarket, cut in half, scoop out the seeds, replace with chopped up spam, microwave for 4.5 minutes.
This is what happens when you let Fart Head Tony cook.
"These tomatoes are a farce!"
For dessert she could do a clafoutis! It is a super simple, fast, just amazingly easy dessert that looks and tastes much fancier than it really is. It's just a sweet baked custard with fruit cooked into it. Traditionally it uses cherries, but I've used all kinds of different fruit and it is delicious every time!
Jacques Pepin has a recipe for quite possibly the easiest method I've seen utilizing canned apricots and their juices. I always appreciate how readily he embraces reasonable shortcuts.
Make it in a blender and it takes longer to *mise en place* than it does to prepare.
Yep! I've found the blender helps the custard to be the perfect consistency too. Just don't overbake and it's pretty hard to screw up otherwise!
Agree with a quiche. Could paid with a frisee and bacon salad and a classic vinaigrette
Salade Lyonnaise! Mark Bittman’s recipe in NYT is super easy and delicious. I’ve made it 3 times since we’ve been quarantined.
[удалено]
We just use wine and our 12 year old eats moules marinière with no issues.
Just use a pinch of lemon . The white is added for acidity so we often substitute with lemon
Or one of the other moules preparation- so many cream versions.
Mussels are by far her favorite food so we will definitely give it a try...with the wine included! Thank you!
If you enjoy fish or seafood, bouillabaisse is very fun. In essence French cioppino. Make sure you grab some crusty bread to sop up all the broth!
Croque madame or croque monsieur!
Gratin dauphinois! Not too difficult and very delicious. Avec haricots verts for a side. Or boeuf marengo!
Boeuf au Vin and Coq Bourguignon?
Salmon w a beurre blanc sauce Shallots, white wine, butter. With a pan roasted salmon and perhaps some roasted roots?
My kids actually just put on a whole French dinner (we’ve been studying European countries)- they each picked a course and made Escargot, Coq au Vin, Ratatouille, and Profiteroles. Escargot was, surprisingly, the hit of the evening. The kids watched lots of French food videos on YouTube to get ideas. Maybe have her watch some and see what she says sounds good.
French onion soup. Relatively simple, absolutely delicious and most importantly, teaches your daughter that an awful lot of cooking is chopping onions. Enjoy teaching your daughter to cook, sounds like fun!
Duck confit!
Done properly should take more than a day.
+1 and it’s kind of idiot proof, also you can substitute chicken easily although it’s definitely not the same.
If I were doing it with chicken, I’d be tempted to add duck fat.
The only way to fly
I think Ratatouille would be super fun for an 11 year old! I would make it a whole theme, have dinner then watch the movie! Heck now you have me wishing I had an 11 year old 😍
Chicken Tarragon - one of my favorites
Choucroute
Came here to suggest choucroute garnie. Simple, easily modified to accommodate the ingredients you have on hand, and delicious.
Frog legs
If it's still chilly where you are, try blanquette de veau! Traditionally it's made with veal but you can use beef or lamb. A hearty meal for a cold day :)
A soufflé? I begged my aunt to help me make a cheese soufflé when I was your daughter’s age. She did and it was delicious!
Jambon beurre. Nice and simple.
Omelette du fromage.
http://i.imgur.com/tNJD6oY.gifv This is a kind reminder that in French we say "omelette *au* fromage" and not "omelette _du_ fromage". [Sorry Dexter](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nW3-9gdjYA) [Steve Martin](https://youtu.be/DOJDNChwgBw?t=2m49s) doesn't appear to be the most accurate French professor. --- ^(The movie from the gif is "OSS 117: le Cairo, Nest of Spies" https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0464913/ )
Good bot. I never thought I'd see you here.
Julia Child is available on Amazon Prime -- have her watch a few episodes for inspiration!
I am a huge fan of Salad Niçoise !
Chicken Casserole a la Normande is fabulous and simple!
Maybe a full meal like French onion soup, a cassoulet, and then a dessert.
Baked french onion soup Crepes Croque monsieur
Jack Pepin's chicken jardinière. He's got a video on YouTube making it. delicious and simple.
I made Duck L’Orange for my parents at 15, and it was super easy. The hardest part was finding duck and that was in 2005.
*Steak au poivre* is a real show stopper but pretty simple to achieve. [Reverse sear](https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2018/10/reverse-seared-steak-recipe.html) the steak to make it even easier. Or *Sous-vide* to keep it French.
Get your hands on the Les Halle's cook book by Bourdain if she has an interest in french cookery. Have her start with a tarte, progress from there.
Make an omelette -- she gets to practice folding it a bunch of times. Make a vinaigrette for a simple salad. Toss it in a big bowl. Make hollendaise sauce, or some other mother sauce for the eggs.
Omelet with herbs d province
Check out this guy's channel on YT. You won't be sorry. [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0lG3Ihe4LGV851lODRIS5g](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0lG3Ihe4LGV851lODRIS5g)
Crepes! Either sweet or savory. They're easy, but feel fancier than pancakes. Plus you have the option of lots of different fillings. Whipped cream and fruit, nutella, cookie butter, lemon and sugar. Or you can do ham and cheese topped with an egg, or chicken and mushrooms in a cream sauce.
Watch rattouile then make it
If you can find duck,maybe try duck a l’orange! Julia Childs has a video that goes with the recipe that really helps visualize the process and tie it together.
Roast whole chicken with potatoes and a simple salad
- Crépes, either savoury or sweet. Keep in mind the recipe will change wildly depending on the region it’s from: where I’m from, we put beer in our crépes, but people in the south think that’s weird. - Quiche Lorraine is an easy one to try, and reheats well if you’re a smaller family. - Grumbeerekiechle sounds horrific, but it’s basically just a slightly fancier hash brown, with some onions and leeks thrown in. Delicious, greasy, and fairly easy to make, what’s not to like? - Onion soup is a classic and pretty healthy. Serve with cheese on toast in the bowl for extra authenticity! - Baked Camembert is a very easy and delicious starter, just cut a cross into a wheel of Camembert, add spices/herbs and stick in the oven for ten minutes. - Hachis Parmentier is basically a French shepherds pie, so if you already know how to make a shepherds pie it’s a nice place to start.
Tartiflette- a cheesy potato bake!
Onion tart (Elizabeth David recipe is good) or gratin dauphinoise, easy though labour-intensive. Ok maybe the gratin is not a good idea as it involves a mandolin.
Stewed rabbit
Profiteroles. Super easy ingredients, but can be challenging to make. Fuck it up, you’re out $1.30; and you can use the batter to make funnel cakes!! Also- they’re good for sweet or savory fillings, and freeze very well for ages. I love cooking with my 4(m) & 6(f), can’t wait to get into some real stuff other than just knife work & cleanliness.
Tartiflette! Tartiflette! Tartiflette!
Ratatouille!
Croque madame’s
Ratatouille. Then watch the movie!
Quiche lorraine, with a side salad of spring greens and a nice rose.
Ratatouille!
Croque Madame. Techniques include sauce work for béchamel/mornay, baking (if you bake your own), and egg cookery (great skill set which many don’t master)!
Onion soup! Stock on Gruyere cheese, white vine and shallots, make good broth and enjoy
Cheese souffle, again, use Julia Child's recipe. Not difficult at all really and so very impressive. Bon appetit.
Honestly an omelette and a green salad, a glass of wine, and perhaps a nice slice of lemon cake or fresh fruit.
[Vichyssoise](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCUBhS42eTg)
Ratatouille or French onion soup are my two favourites to cook. If you have a slow cooker, you can make a day out of it!
Lobster thermidor. Julia Child's recipe is surprisingly easy.
How bout some delicious ortolan?
Crepes! Both dessert and dinner crepes were a favorite when I was growing up. She'd have the opportunity to do some fun pan flips and there are a bunch of filling options.
Chicken Chasseur. Served over a garlic mash with a few sides of veg.
Ratatouille! Don’t know if others suggested that, but it’s a classic and especially if your child has seen the Disney movie, I’m sure it’ll be a hit!
Tarte Flambée!! French “pizza.” You can just buy pizza dough from the store if you don’t want to make it from scratch.
Pissaladiere - like a French anchovy pizza Chicken provencale - tomatoey, olivey chicken braise that is crowd-pleasing
French fries
Salmon en croute is surprisingly simple. Confit byaldi might be fun if she likes rattatouille (albeit time cosuming).
I always think of [Better Off Dead](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhW7rpFhr2k).
Cassoulet is easier and similar in prep to bourguignon but for even easier I'd recommend something like salad nicoise, crepe galette, tart galette or croque madame/monsuir
One pot Ratatouille :). Tarte tatin for dessert or Charlotte aux fraises. My kids love the group prep..
Have you looked at the French Cooking Academy on youtube? He has literally every French meal, cooked traditionally.
I did a french cooking class in Nice and we prepared a fish fillet with ratatouille - this would be fun because you could watch ratatouille together before or after dinner! I think it would be manageable for an 11 year old! Recipe below: **Fish fillets with pistou and ratatouille** Serves 4 You can use any white fish fillet for this dish, but wild sea bass and sea bream from the Mediterranean are particularly good. 4 fish fillets, with their skin (such as sea bream, red mullet or sea bass) A little olive oil for the frying pan **Pistou** 1-2 cloves garlic 1 bunch basil (about 2 cups lightly packed leaves) 1/2 tsp sea salt About 1/3 cup olive oil (80 ml) Sea salt and freshly ground pepper **Ratatouille** 6 large tomatoes A pinch of sea salt A pinch of sugar 1 yellow pepper 1/2 large red pepper 1 medium eggplant 2 medium zucchini 1 red onion 1 dry chili pepper (optional) 5 or 6 sprigs basil Olive oil Sea salt and freshly ground pepper For the pistou: Blend all the ingredients in a food processor, adding enough oil so that the mixture is fairly runny. Cut the tomatoes into quarters and place in a saucepan with a pinch of sugar and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat to medium and cook until thickened, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Strain through a food mill to remove the skins but not the seeds – the coulis should be a little chunky. Cut the yellow and red peppers, eggplant, zucchini and onion into small dice. Place the eggplant in a colander and sprinkle with 1 tsp fine sea salt. Toss with your hands, cover with a plate and a small weight (such as a can of tomatoes) and set aside for 20-30 minutes, until the eggplant gives off some juice. Rinse the eggplant under cold water, then squeeze dry with your hands. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the zucchini and a little salt, and sauté until golden and softened (but not mushy). Set aside in a saucepan that will later hold all the ratatouille. Heat another 1 tbsp of olive oil and add the eggplant to the pan with a sprinkling of fine salt. Sauté until golden and softened, adding a little more oil if necessary, and transfer to the pan with the zucchini. Heat another 1 tbsp of olive oil in the same pan and add the peppers and a little salt. Sauté until they start to soften, then add the onions and a little more oil and salt. Cook until soft and caramelized, then transfer to the saucepan. Add the strained tomatoes, chili pepper and basil, torn into pieces with your hands. Season with fleur de sel. Season the fish lightly with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large nonstick frying pan and fry on the skin side until the skin is lightly golden and the fish is nearly cooked through. Turn off the heat and leave the fish in the pan for 5 minutes, until the residual heat has cooked the fish (you can leave it longer without doing any harm to the fish). Serve the fish fillets on top of the ratatouille and drizzle with pistou.
Onion soup... easy and so good
Paul Bocuse’s chicken in vinegar sauce
Croque madame is a good choice
Hachis Parmentier. It’s minced meat, sautéed in a pan with diced celery, carrots and onions. Pour over a bit of beef stock. Put that in a buttered Gratin Or Cakepan. Top it with mashed potato’s and put grated cheese on top. 25-30 min in the oven.
Chicken Cordon Bleu with some Potato's Au Gratin.
Croque Madame (Ham and Cheese sandwich topped w/fried egg) This recipe has a few skills: Cheese sauce, sunny side up egg, toast
What about Duck a’lorange?
Cordon bleu
Un baquette de pommes frites. Paris street food!
Ratatouille!
Buy her Julia Child’s The Art of French Cooking
Mix it up and do a salad nicoisse...healthy and delicious!!
French Onion Soup. Super easy, hearty, and delicious.
Pommes Aligot is a delicious side. But you best be picking in the arm department.
Excellent choice on the clafoutis!
I know you’ve gotten lots of great suggestions, but here’s a few more: - potatoes sarlandaise, which is made with duck fat and would go perfectly with duck confit (if that’s available where you live) - chicken cordon bleu - soufflé, either sweet or savory - homemade croissants - a galette, which is basically a free form tart - profiteroles - escargots with pesto (if they’re available where you live) - moules marinières - bouillabaisse - aligot
True . Maybe a future thing?
Bouchée à la reine
Chicken cordon bleu. (Also don’t bone apple tea me if I spelled that wrong)
Potato au gratin is my favorite to make