Mastering the Art of French Cooking review

"Mastering the Art of French Cooking"
by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck, is perhaps the greatest French cook book ever written. It is a two volume set that has been around since the early sixties, and is still a best seller today.

There are some very challenging recipes in these two volumes, but many are quite easy to follow, and even the most unskilled chef will find something easy that they are able to master.

The book teaches everything from the selection of ingredients to the right accompaniment for each dish. It breaks down each recipe into a series of easy to follow steps designed specifically with North Americans in mind. The recipes are quite detailed, and some even take up several pages.

Anyone looking for a good reference book on French cuisine should definitely give this set a try. You won’t be disappointed.

Buy it now from my Amazon store:

Hollandaise Sauce Recipe

A tasty and versatile sauce, Hollandaise sauce may be a little tricky to make, but it is well worth the effort. Thought to be named for a similar Dutch sauce, Hollandaise sauce is a rich and creamy French sauce that can be used on asparagus and other vegetables, fish and Eggs Benedict. You can add a touch of class to any meal with this Hollandaise Sauce recipe.

Ingredients

• ½ cup butter
• 1 egg yolk
• Juice from 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp water
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Mix the egg yolk, lemon juice, water, salt and pepper until smooth
2. Heat the mixture over low to medium heat. Care must be taken to ensure the mixture does not begin to boil or burn.
3. Add butter a small amount at a time while continuing to stir the mixture. As the butter melts, continue to add more until all of the butter is melted and mixed in.
4. Keep on low heat. Serve over vegetables (such as asparagus or potatoes), fish, or Eggs Benedict (For eggs benedict, toast ½ English muffin, add a poached egg and a slice of cooked ham, and top with sauce)

The sauce will not keep long once removed from the heat, so be sure to serve immediately. Enjoy!

French Dessert Recipes: Creme Brulee

Why not start with everyone’s favorite: dessert! There are many delicious French dessert recipes: Custard, Chocolate Éclairs, Chocolate Fondue, Mousse, Truffles, Crème Brulee, Crepes, Flan, Lemon Meringue Pie…(ever wonder why so many desserts have French sounding names?)

Among other things, the French are very famous for their desserts, and with good reason. With so many rich desserts to choose from, it’s a wonder there are so many skinny French people! This seems to be due to the fact that the French savor their food, and rather than eat piles of sweets every day, they prefer to enjoy one delectable delicacy per day.

One of my favorite French desserts is Crème Brulee. It isn’t too sweet or rich, it’s just right to hit the spot after a meal. I’d like to share an easy recipe with you that takes just a few minutes to make but is sure to impress your guests.

Crème Brulee

Ingredients:
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup light cream
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3 ½ tbsp white sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar

Equipment:
- mixing bowl
- whisk
- baking tray
- 4 ramekins (ceramic serving dish)

1. Mix the egg yolks in the mixing bowl with the whisk until they are smooth.
2. Mix the vanilla extract into the egg yolks.
3. Add the white sugar to the mixture and mix until it is well blended. Be sure there are no clumps.
4. Add the cream and the milk, mix until smooth, and let sit for 30 minutes.
5. Pre-heat oven to 310°F
6. Put about ½ inch of water in the baking tray
7. Divide the mixture into 4 equal parts and put it in the ramekins. Place the ramekins on the baking tray
8. Bake for 10 minutes. The cream will get thicker, but watch it and do not let it get hard or brown.
9. Remove from oven and let cool for 30 minutes. Put the ramekins in the fridge for at least 2 – 3 hours.
10. There are 2 ways to do this last step. The proper way is with a torch. Evenly spread the brown sugar on the 4 creams and use the torch to caramelize the sugar. Be careful no to burn them. If you don’t have a torch, pre-heat your oven to “Hi” on the grill position. Put the creams in the oven (with the brown sugar) for 3 – 5 minutes. Again, be sure to watch them and make sure they don’t burn.
11. Serve immediately

Your guests (or family) will love you and be impressed with your culinary expertise. Enjoy!

French Food Recipes

French cuisine has developed over centuries to become known as the most refined style of cooking in the world. It wasn’t until sometime after World War I that French cuisine became what it is known as today. It is now considered an art form, and great care is taken in the preparation and serving of French Dishes.

While French food recipes may seem somewhat of a mystery to the non-initiated, they can actually be quite simple. Hollandaise sauce, for example, generally requires about 4 ingredients and about 15 minutes to prepare. The secret to French cooking lies not in the complexity of the dish, but the artfulness with which it is prepared.

One of the things that I love about French cooking is that it is very much about savoring the experience of dining, and not simply eating to fill a hunger. Great emphasis is placed on presentation and flavor, and many chefs will go to great lengths to make sure a dish is prepared just right.

Fortunately, this great art form is not strictly the province of the elite. There are plenty of recipes, books and classes out there to help us culinary savages to enjoy the finer points of haute cuisine without the high price tag. While it may be difficult for the average home cook to capture the full essence of French cooking, there are many recipes that are simple to make that can be recreated by anyone with a little skill.

From simple breads to French Onion Soup to Duck a L’Orange and Crème Brule, there is a French food recipe for everyone, and this blog will be dedicated to bringing it all home to you through recipes, reviews, and product recommendations. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do!