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I think this will be my final post about cooking from the Bonne Femme Cookbook. Not that I am planning to stop cooking from it, just that there is only so many times you can rave about how scrumptious and simple these dishes are. Easy to make, easier to eat. They are so tasty and soul satisfying – I’ll be going back to this one for years to come.
This week I made:
Roasted Butternut Squash Bisque with Sweet Curry, page 75
Osso Bucco-Style Chicken Thighs, page 171
Tagliatelle alla Bolognese Francese, page 226
One Bonne Started Salad, page 31
Let’s start with the soup and salad!
I’m constantly amazed with the depth of flavour that these recipes are able to achieve. The ingredients are really given a chance to shine and there is nothing more comforting than a nice meal of soup and salad, unless it’s paired with some fresh bread. The one thing that I have to say confused me was why this soup is called a bisque. That got me wondering why any soup was a bisque. So I took a look and apparently bisque’s are made with fish stock. One question answered… but I still don’t see how this was a bisque. Oh well I just call it yummy.
** Update: I guess if I say I’m going to also talk about the salad I should talk about the salad. It was so good it wiped my memory clean. Simple, clean and amazing. Everything a salad should be.
Butternut Squash Yummy with Sweet Holy Crap Curry
Next up the Osso Bucco-style Chicken Thighs. So tender, so flavourful so easy to make. The only small pet peeve of mine. I had made some beautiful crispy chicken skin at the start of the recipe, which of course added to the over all flavour of the whole dish, but then you braise the thighs so when you actually go to eat the skin, it’s slimy and not as appetizing. So I offer you a couple of suggestions. 1. Don’t get attached to the idea of eating the skin, and just take it off before you chow down, or 2. Take off the skin before you braise the thighs and save it like a weird food horder until it’s time to plate it up and serve.
I’m not even 100% sure the skin would stay crispy or un-eaten long enough for dinner if you use option 2.
Finally the Bolognese Francese – so good. So damn good. I loved this recipe! That is honestly all there is to say. Make this … you won’t regret it.
It’s like a hug on a plate.
Ok… one little thing to say – don’t use whole wheat pasta. The colour of the sauce on the brown pasta wouldn’t do justice to the amazingness you would be about to put into your mouth. So get a different kind – I went with spinach.
Next week I’ll announce my next book – any suggestions??
Time for another edition of: Why Can’t Jodi Read a Recipe?!?! It’s a mystery really. Though sometimes I make changes on purpose. It is a real testament to the Bonne Femme Cookbook that I am able to bastardize and play with Wini’s recipes and they still come out amazing. Imagine what they would be like if I learned to follow instructions… one can only dream.
Let’s start with the Walnut Gateau from page 346. I will start by saying that I never use a separate bowl for my wet and dry ingredients. Never. Does it harm my baked goods? Not that I can see. Does it make less dishes for me in the end. Yes. One bowl baking wins. So I basically followed the recipe word for word… minus the part about the separate bowls for wet and dry ingredients then mixing them together. Oh and I used a different shaped pan… because I like to be difficult.
It turned out really good. It’s a nice cake, not too sweet which I really enjoyed. We ate it with just a touch of powdered sugar on top – stellar. I didn’t even feel too unhealthy for having seconds. We brought the cake with us over the holidays to some friends we were having dinner with. Last time we went I brought a lemon pie. Our friends have a 2 year old daughter and when she had a bite of my lemon pie she started to cry. True story. I’m happy to report that the walnut cake went over much better.
If I had a stamp that said ‘Maya Approved’ I would put it right on this picture.
Next was the Poulet Pot Pie on page 218 that I changed just because I’m a bad ass. Actually it was because it was after Christmas and instead of Chicken left overs I, like 90% of others, had turkey. So it became a turkey pot pie. And honestly, it was one of the best pot pies I have ever made or eaten. And I’m actually a pretty big fan of pot pie. Pastry, gravy and meat? Hells yeah. This one was so simple I could cry and tasted better than 90% of ones I’ve eaten before. Maybe 95%. It’s so simple Hubs could make it… in fact I think he should *hint hint hubby*.
Kicking ass and taking names.
The thing I liked most about this pot pie was how light it felt. There were loads of veggies and while it was comforting I felt good for eating it. The only crust is the puff pastry on the top (a delish and time saving alternative to pie crust), so I think that helps.
The next dish I made this week was the Flank Steak with a Warm Sherry Vinegar and Garlic Vinaigrette. I’m not too proud to admit that I literally licked the frying pan that I made the sauce in after the steaks were cooked. It was cooled of course. I’m not that daft. But lick the pan I did. It was perfection – just the most amazing thing I have made from this cook book yet. I have yet to purchase Sherry Vinegar so this was actually a Sherry Wine and Garlic Vinaigrette… simply phenomenal.
Steak… I’m going to have your babies.
Well played cookbook – these three recipes are simply fab. Next week let’s cook:
Roasted Butternut Squash Bisque with Sweet Curry, page 75
Osso Bucco-Style Chicken Thighs, page 171
Tagliatelle alla Bolognese Francese, page 226
One Bonne Started Salad, page 31
So this week I tasked me… and you since this is a cook along book club… with:
Beef Bourguignon, page 184
Any Night Baked Rice, page 239
Turnip Gratin, page 267
How were your results? Mine turned out pretty darn good. But if I had a tagline for this week’s recipes I would say: a dish too many. Let’s start with the Beef Bourguignon.
While tasty and tender and oh so good. I would not exactly call this simple. As a cook with out a dishwasher – by which I mean no machine to wash my dishes, hubs is normally tasked with it but too many pots and pans = a cranky hubby – asking me to use multiple bowls, pots, etc is tedious. And will more than likely result in me not following your directions exactly. Case in point the Beef Bourguignon. By the time I got to step 5 where it asks you to remove beef (aka dirty a slotted spoon and bowl) and reduce the pan juices to 2 cups (dirty a measuring cup) then in another small bowl whisk butter and flour together (another bowl and probably a fork or small whisk)… I gave up. Beef stayed in the pot, juices remained un measured (and as it turns out a bit too much) and butter and flour were added as is.
In the end I lived, hubby still complained about the amount of dishes, but agreed that it was darn tasty.
I served the Beef on the Any Night Baked Rice from page 239. Mistake. The rice was too good to be sauced up like that. If I’m going to put effort into making flavourful rice, I’d like to taste it. Once it was under the Bourguignon sauce, I might as well have just made white rice. That isn’t saying however that this rice isn’t great. It is. In fact it’s so good you will want to have it on its own. I just suggest making it when you are going to be eating it plain, and not under something else.
Finally came the Turnip Gratin from page 267. Another case of tasty… but too many damn dishes. I ended up skipping the last step. I made the turnip, added the cheese (which is a wonderful and unexpected delight) – at which time I had a pot, a masher a grater and a fork dirty. Enough. Adding the cheesy turnip mixture to a baking dish, then dirtying a dish for the bread crumbs and baking just seemed like too much effort. I can see how the crunch of the toasted bread crumbs would be wonderful with the turnip… but in every cooking session there comes a time when you look at your mountain of dirty dishes and proclaim the meal ‘good enough’. That point for me was after step two of the Turnip Gratin.
So what’s on deck for next week?
Walnut Gateau, page 346
Poulet Pot Pie, page 218
Flank Steak with Warm Sherry Vinegar and Garlic Vinaigrette, page 126
Happy Cooking!
This is my first time cooking from the Bonne Femme Cookbook. I think I can sum up the experience with the word ‘fantabulous’. From Urban Dictionary, fantabulous is defined as “Sort of like “fabulous” but much more fabulous than the word “fabulous” can convey. Like supercalifragilisticexpialidocius but shorter and easier to spell.”
Yep. These recipes were fantabulous.
The Bonne Femme Cookbook promises ‘simple, splendid food that French women cook every day’ and that was definitely delivered. In this session I made:
Lemon Saffron Rosemary Wings from page 9
Butterhead Lettuce Salad with Walnuts and Comte from page 44 &
Roasted Root Vegetables from page 265
Let’s start with the Lemon Saffron Rosemary Wings. I didn’t use saffron, I used the turmeric option listed in the book. This was just an economic consideration. Because saffron is the hand picked stigmas of the saffron crocus, you can imagine that it gets a bit pricier than other spices. Plus I already had turmeric and being lazy and cheap won out on this one.
Finger licking good indeed… just remember that turmeric leaves a nice yellow colour all over your fingers and mouth – your husband might not tell you that you have made a mess all over your face but I will… because we’re friends.
Another thing I changed was the amount of wings I made. Since I was using this as the protein in a meal, and not just an excuse to eat a pound of wings on my own, I only made one pound and divided them up between hubs and I. However I did not change any other measurement meaning that my wings got a large dose of flavour. It was wicked. They were so bright with the lemon zest and the fresh rosemary was to die for. The only thing, I found them a touch salty. I think if I were going to put that much flavoring on only one pound of wings instead of two, I would cut back on the salt a touch. Though, I am sure if you were to make the recipe properly it would be perfect.
Next on the list was the Butterhead Lettuce Salad with Walnuts and Comte. Well I actually used Emmental… again, it was a substitution that the book said I could make, not something I just did because I read the recipe wrong… again. I did however make one of those mistakes with the dressing. Turns out I did not have sherry vinegar, just sherry. Oh well – I can tell you that it is still very tasty substituting one for the other in this recipe.
It was worth me burning my arm on the pan to get the walnuts toasted. I’m not even being sarcastic.
I like to describe this simple, yet flavorally (yes I know I just made up that word) complex salad as a tripod. Take away any one of the three legs (Boston lettuce, toasted walnuts or cheese) and it wouldn’t be half as amazing as it was. In fact it would fall flat. But this salad not only stands tall, it works so wonderfully with this dressing I think I would eat a big bowl of it all on its own. Though getting me to eat a big bowl of something isn’t much of an accomplishment, but I would definitely enjoy it more than some of the other things I’ve eaten a big bowl of in the past… looking at you chef boyardee.
Finally this meal rounded out with roasted root vegetables from page 265. Ever since I started making roast chicken on a bed of root vegetables from Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc At Home, I have fallen in love with vegetables prepared this way. But let’s face it… you don’t always want or need a whole roast chicken. This easy recipe does nicely. The added balsamic vinegar adds a nice layer of flavoring to the vegetables that I really enjoyed. The only thing I would say is to use red skinned potatoes with the skin washed but on. Otherwise with turnips, peeled potatoes, parsnips, etc – it looks pretty white. Luckily everything cooks differently and some gets brown, others stay white and there are always the orange carrots to break it up a bit!
Makes me actually look forward to my veggies!
Moving forward through this amazing French cookbook I will be cooking the following – feel free to get a copy of the book and cook along with me! Leave me some comments and let me know how the recipes work for you.
Beef Bourguignon, page 184
Any Night Baked Rice, page 239
Turnip Gratin, page 267
Happy Cooking!
Two posts in one day?? Go team! Well… they kind of go together so I figured I would post them on the same day. Wini Moranville is the author of The Bonne Femme Cookbook – the next book in my cook along book club project! She has graciously given me a bit of her time to answer some questions. Thanks so much Wini!
Simply Fresh – In the ‘About Wini’ section of your book’s website, you mention that you have been spending the summers in France since the early 90s. In all that time, while learning the French Food culture, what would you say was the biggest surprise, or difference, in the way the French approach food compared to us those of us in North America?
Winni Moranville - For me, what is surprising is how little the French fuss when entertaining. Most cooks that I know on this side of the Atlantic really knock themselves out when gathering friends in their homes. But I just loved the easygoing way that French women cook for friends. They’ll bring a few of their favourite dishes to the table, yes, but round out the offerings with the best artisanal foods their towns offer: great charcuterie and olives, fabulous cheeses and breads, and gorgeous pastry-shop treats. Often in my book, I offer ways to round out the menu with such items so you truly do not have to go crazy in the kitchen when having guests.
What has been your favourite French dish to eat out? And which is your favourite to make at home?
I love Sole Meuniere (sauted sole finished with a browned butter) and other bonne femme classics, like choucroute garnie, coq au vin, beef bourguignon, and any number of French daubes (stews). In summer, I’m a huge fan of composed salads—I just love the way the way chefs at seaside resorts combine really good fresh ingredients for main-dish salads.
Many of these dishes are also home favourites, but at home, I cook a lot of dishes in the “Sauté, Deglaze, and Serve” mode. I devote an entire chapter to the book; each recipe calls on sautéing the nights meat in a pan, deglazing that pan with wine and broth while stirring up those yummy pan juices; each recipe comes with its own touch, apples and apple brandy for Chicken Calvados, olive and garlic with lamb chops, capers and mustard for pork chops, etc. It’s 30-minute cooking at its true-to France best.
Thanks so much Wini!
What made you decide to write a cookbook?
As a food writer and editor, I was often surprised at how many home cooks think that French cooking is expensive, indulgent (lots of butter and cream), and difficult. Yet everyday French home cooking isn’t necessarily any of these things. French women work outside the home as much as we do—but at the end of their days, they want to eat splendidly, night after night. I decided to write a book about how they do it.
My readers and I are planning to cook a few recipes from The Bonne Femme as part of our Cook Along Book Club – do you have any recommendations for recipes from the book that we simply have to make?
That’s a hard question! I suggest making whatever sounds really good to you. As for my personal favourites: For sit-down start salads, I love the Roasted Beet Salad with Blue Cheese, the Melty Goat Cheese Salad with Honey and Pine Nuts, and the Belgian Endive Salad with Blue Cheese and Walnuts.
For a quick weeknight meal, try the Pork Medallions with Apricot-Sage Sauce (use pork chops if you prefer), the Chicken Francese, or the Coconut Shrimp. Serve these with Any-Night Baked Rice. Also try the Choucroute Garni Mardi Soir—even if you think you don’t like sauerkraut, you should give this a try—once you’ve had sauerkraut the French way, you may change your mind.
For friends, try my Blanquette de Pork or the Boeuf Bourgignon. Both are great with the Any-Night Baked Rice.
For dessert, everyone should try Floating Islands at least once in their lives—and remember, you don’t have to make the caramel and chocolate sauces yourself. Buy high-quality purchased sauces (make sure the caramel sauce has butter or cream as an ingredient). I would also suggest the Crêpes Belle Helene, and the Chocolate-Cherry Pound Cake Bonne Femme.
If you could let the masses know anything about French cooking and cuisine, what would that be?
That the joys of the French table are open to everyone, no matter where you live or what your means. The French prove again and again that you can live modestly, yet dine splendidly, night after night.
And the winner is… ‘Mountain Girl’!! I will be in contact shortly to get the info to ship your prize. And what a prize it is! The Bonne Femme Cookbook – simply French cooking that real people make everyday. Let’s get cooking!
Here are the first 3 recipes that I am going to start with:
Lemon Saffron Rosemary Wings from page 9
Butterhead Lettuce Salad with Walnuts and Comte from page 44 &
Roasted Root Vegetables from page 265
Pick up a copy of the book and cook along with me!
A new year, a new cook book for our cook along book club. I’m super excited about this one and I think you will be to. So much so that I’m offering one to my Canadian readers. That’s right everyone, no need to live in Ottawa to win this great book!
Entering is simple. I’m going to post a picture below… you give me a caption for it! Just write a comment on this post. Every comment is an entry in the draw – I’ll choose the winner a week from today (January 9, 2011, 2012… it’s going to take me a bit to get used to that) using random.org . Good luck everyone! Happy cooking.
Enter your caption here… and by ‘here’ I mean in the comments section.
Ha! Remember the last time I wrote a cook along book club post and apologized for being tardy. Well this late post makes that one look on time in comparison. I have to apologize… I am sure I had good intentions – yadda yadda yadda.
So the final two recipes I was making came were:
Italian Sweet Potato Gratin, page 199
and
Japanese Noodles with Tomatoes, page 230
As always, I managed to “read” the recipes in my typical fashion. What resulted was an Italian Potato Gratin that was amazing… but made with regular potatoes. I bought sweet potatoes. I intended to use sweet potatoes but come time to find them my fridge did that thing where it becomes an endless void of ingredients and they were nowhere to be found until the completed dish was in the oven. Then of course they were the first thing I found while getting a drink. Looking up at me as if to say “Ha ha… you suck at hide and seek. Tag! You are it.”
Not my greatest photo moment.
The gratin was flavourful, simple to make and when you and your hubby are less than sober and willing to eat something straight from the pan – this makes a wonderful dish.
Sigh… now I remember why I put off writing this post. I didn’t even take a picture. I believe at this point I was an ‘unstoppable eating machine’.
I did slightly better with the Japanese Noodles. Not totally, but a bit. I made them! I took a picture! I enjoyed them. But I could not find the soba noodles that were required. I believe this would have required a trip to some where other than Loblaws where people just give you blank stares when you ask them for anything a bit out of the box. I have gotten the same looks for evaporated cane sugar and certain spices. They may be slow… but they eventually catch on. There, there Loblaws – it’s going to be ok.
Back to the noodles. I used Udon instead and I gotta say – darn tasty. Here is a look at how the recipe changed after I got a hold of it. Not because I wanted to change it… again because I seem to have issues following recipes to the letter.
***
So let’s move on to another book. I promise to be a bit more on the ball with this one. I plan to get started in the New Year – so everyone has plenty of time to pick up the book, or order it from your library to cook along with me! It is called Bonne Femme By Wini Moranville and it promises simple French recipes that real women use everyday. I think I might be able to pull this one off. A new post to come with what we will be cooking in the New Year.
Better than that how about getting the book for a friend? Or a relative? Then you and they can cook together, along with the blog and test out some new and fun recipes! There is no better way to get your cooking juices flowing than by just jumping in.
Happy cooking!
For some reason I was sure I wrote this post forever ago! Sorry to all following the book club… seems I was a bit tardy.
Well in this post I will be covering:
Mushroom Walnut Spread, page 66
Curried Lentil Burgers, page 151
Pasta with Tomato Peach Sauce, page 233
First the Curried Lentil Burgers. Why? Because it’s fun to shake things up every now and then. I loved the flavours of these burgers. They were so packed with Indian inspired flavours that I could forgive the texture. They made a great mash, but they did not hold together as I had hoped they would. This has been my problem with homemade veggie burgers no matter what I make them with. They always fall apart. But these were by far the best tasting homemade burgers I have ever made. I also found that 6 burgers (as recommended) were way too big, 8 smaller ones would have been better and maybe would have had a better chance to keep their shape. But, the left overs reheated the next morning with a poached egg on top… just amazing. I think I’ll hang on to this recipe as a breakfast hash.
Next the Walnut and Mushroom Spread. I’m always on the lookout for a good appetizer or something that I can bring with me to parties and this is just another one to add to the list. But I may be bias as I love mushrooms and walnuts happen to be my favorite nut. But really, what better indication that you are going to like a new recipe then to know you already like all of the ingredients individually. And this combination is not one I would have come up with on my own. It’s a real winner.
Finally the pasta with peach and tomato sauce. I made this when Ontario peaches were at their height and I was in love. The sweetness of the peaches with the acidity of the tomatoes was a real thing of beauty. I love shaking up the traditional tomato sauce on pasta when ever I can. It seems like I’m having it once every couple of weeks, so it’s great to try something new. This was also a big hit with the family… but 99% of the time pasta always is.
Next post will be my last from this book, got to get it back to the library! I’ll be making:
Italian Sweet Potato Gratin, page 199
Japanese Noodles with Tomatoes, page 230
Happy Cooking!
I always love new book time for the cook along book club, so many new recipes to choose from! A new style to work with and new tips and tricks to learn. Let’s get cracking.
This week I made:
Ginger Orange Tea, page 44
Yellow Split Pea Dip, page 71
Sweet Potato – Walnut Salad on Arugula, page 89
Ok. The ginger orange ‘tea’ was simple and really flavourful. I loved the kick of the ginger but I am definitely a ginger lover. There is nothing in the world that can’t be made better with a kick arse ginger cookie. I decided that rather than put the ginger loose into a pot of water and then strain it out, I just put the boiling water into a tea pot and put the ginger into my infuser the way I would with tea leaves. It made clean up way easier. Beyond being tasty, I believe this would be the ultimate ‘get better’ drink. Not that I’m looking forward to using it during cold and flu season.
The yellow split pea dip was really tasty! A little time consuming for dip, but well worth the effort. We eat a lot of humus and tzatziki in my house and it was nice to get away from them for a bit. I also loved that this recipe was one of the only ones where I had everything I needed right in my fridge/cupboard. That goes a long way to my enjoyment of a meal and the ease of it’s preparation! I know I’ll be making it again, even if it’s just because it’s good and I probably have everything I need.
Finally the sweet potato and walnut salad. Over all I enjoyed it. I liked the way the sweet potato played with the bold and bitter arugula. But I find I’m not the biggest fan of arugula that I want it to be the main source of greens in my salad. So while I liked it the first time I had it. I enjoyed the left overs even more when I had them on a bed of mixed greens including arugula. This salad is a bit more complex than your average mixed greens, and a bit heartier so it really gives it that feeling of a meal. Even hubby, who for some reason hates the idea of salad (or soup for that matter) as a meal, felt satisfied with this. I just may change that man yet.
Moving on to next week! Here are the three recipes I’m going to be making:
Mushroom Walnut Spread, page 66
Curried Lentil Burgers, page 151
Pasta with Tomato Peach Sauce, page 233
Happy cooking!
