Stop the gachis! Eat some hachis!

My dear, poor, non French people,

I'm so sorry. Désolée, vraiment. But once again, I have to tell you that we French people are superior... You know me, I don't like to brag... It's not my fault if French people always know better! 
Take recycling for example. I find it funny to see all the media attention nowadays on waste and how to not put everything in the garbage bin. Rien de nouveau sous le soleil! (Nothing's new under the sun):  French cooks have been doing it for ages.

My grand-mother Georgine (84 going on 85 and still cooking) is the perfect example. When you've been a farmer all your life, you know how precious a "fruit of the earth" is: you don't throw easily a vegetable you gave time and sweat to make it grow... Especially when you get the miserable wages a retiree farmers' widdow get in France.
"Je jette rien", she always says...  From the water to the leftovers, she never throws anything. I guess she would be very proud of this recipe: stop the gâchis (the waste), eat some Hachis!

Le Hachis Parmentier

Ingrédients

2 pounds Meat
2 pounds Potatoes
1 cup milk
4,5 oz of butter
A pinch of grated cheese
Salt, pepper, and Nutmeg




 




Many French delicacies are actually re-use from leftovers. Hachis Parmentier is one of them: for this one I used the Boeuf Bourguignon leftover I had from last video recipe. But you can also use ground beef meet, or duck confit for example...

This recipe bears the name Parmentier in honour of a great French man: Antoine-Augustin Parmentier.
Right before the French Revolution, this pharmacist discovered the way to prevent the numerous famines that were so recurringly happening in the country: to grow and eat potatoes.

At that time, people were totally disgusted with this strange root that was only fed to the pigs. It was even forbidden to grow any at some point, because it was believed potatoes could cause leprosy!
But Antoine-Augustin Parmentier discovered that it was of a great help to fight disentry, and went on a fight to make it legal and developped all over France.
After many years of lobbying, he managed to convince Louis the XVIth (yes, the one we beheaded, but that's another story). 

But nobody wanted to eat potatoes.
Food for pigs? Non merci!
So they changed its name into "Pomme de terre" : apple of the earth, so romantic!
But non. 
Toujours non... 
So they asked the king to set up a new "potato trend", by wearing a potato flower "à sa boutonnière", at his buttonhole.
So if the King said it, did the French follow? 
Non non non!
They had rather die of hunger than eat it..

And that's when Parmentier showed that he had genius.
He asked the King for a small piece of land North of Paris. He grew potatoes there, and surrounded the field by armed guards, as if what they were protecting was very valuable... 
Parisians grew suddenly very interested in this precious plant, and started to steal it at night when the guards were not looking...

Et voilà!

That's how the love between France and Potato started, and how French Fries were born...

La recette

Preheat the oven at 350°F
Grind the leftover meat of the bourguignon
Boil the potatoes for at least 20 minutes, then peel them and mash them with milk and butter, salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Spread a layer of potato purée in a large casserole dish, then spread the meat
Then spread the rest of the purée on the meat. Add some grated cheese, and hop, au four! To the oven.
Cook for at least 45 minutes.
Et voila!

Now have a piece of this delicious French comfort food... Isn't it great to recycle? Merci encore Mr Parmentier!



Bon appétit les amis!


Cécile



PS: 
If you happen to go to Paris, you should visit the Pere Lachaise cemetery. Not because you're a strange and morbid Goth, or a big Jim Morisson fan (Yes, he is buried there, even if some pretend that the casket was smaller than he was): but to go to Mister Parmentier's tomb. 
Notice the wild flowers all around. The gardeners of the cemetery never touch them: they are potato flowers planted by fans all over the world who want to pay him an hommage.

Chaud Cacao! Or the French and perfect Chocolate cake

My dear, poor, non-French people,

What does a girl need to be really French and Perfect? A pair of Louboutin? A glass of Demoiselle Champagne? The last Vanessa Bruno it-bag?  

Non non non les amis! Pas seulement!  
What she needs is also a recipe for an easy, festive and délicieux chocolate cake.   

Un gâteau au chocolat, oui madame!  

The one you can decide to bake from scratch at the last minute to celebrate a sister’s birthday, impress a mother in law, or comfort a friend (and/or yourself).
I’ve been looking for it everywhere, and I’m extremement happy to share my best find with you poor non-French people:

Le fondant au chocolat de Pierre Hermé

Ingrédients

4 eggs

1 cup sugar

8,8 oz butter

8,8 oz dark chocolate (65%)

3/4 cup flour

Pierre Hermé is French pâtisserie mega star. 

Tell his name to any French and perfect woman and she will faint quicker than an American teen in front of Justin Bieber…

Vraiment! 

If Parisiennes can queue for hours in front of a store, it’s not to get the best rebate on the next Ipad mini mini: it’s just that Pierre Hermé released his new macaron collection
(yes, there's a fall, winter, spring, summer collection, just like haute couture).

Ah la la… 
L'Ispahan 
(rasberries and sweet rose cream flavoured with litchi in a sandwich of rose flavoured macarons) 

or his incredible olive oil or figs and foie gras macarons… 

I for one am forever grateful for his great classic recipes in “Larousse des Desserts”, the French pastry cookbook bible...

And for this amazing and sooooo simple flourless chocolate cake.

Ok, it’s not diet at all…
Tons of butter, sugar and chocolate, but you just need a small bite to go straight to paradis: a place where everything is as cozy and comforting as the arms of an ideal prince charming… 

The only important thing is to use the best chocolate you can find. 
65% cocoa is obligatoire. I chose to bake this one with my precious “Piment d’Espelette" chocolate that I snuggled from my last trip to the Basque Country. The delicate red peppers add a twist of spice that I love.
If you can't fly to La Confiserie Daranatz and buy this amazing chocolat right now, you can also just add a tablespoon of Piment d'Espelette or even paprika. 

La recette

Melt the chocolate and the butter in Bain-Marie (sloooooowly)

Preheat the oven at 350°F

Mix the eggs and the sugar

Add the chocolate and the butter

Then the flour

Pour in a buttered pan

Let in the oven for 25 minutes, with the door slighly open (use a wooden spoon to put in the door for example)

This gâteau is even better the next day.
You can add apricot jam for example, and of course icing.
But I love it like that, "raw", with its cracks on the top...

Now have a bite. Did I tell you what the name of the cake "fondant" means in French?
Melting.
Now you know what a French and Perfect chocolate cake is...

Bon appétit les amis!

Be Chic! Cook Grilled Chicon!

My dear, poor, non-French people,

Let me tell you one thing. "La vie, c'est de la m...", as my grande amie Maha always says. Life is a bitch. You never get exactly what you wish for and alway miss what you don't have. 
Take me for example. I live in California, where the weather is 600 times better now than the rainy foggy Paris in November. 
And what do I dream of ? Cobb Salad on Malibu Beach ? Pas de chemin Joseph (I guess that's how you would translate "Now way Jose").
I dream about endives au jambon, les amis.

Endives au jambon

Ingrédients

6 Endives

6 slices of Jambon blanc

1,5 oz flour

1,8 oz butter

2,5 cup milk

Grated gruyere





Jambon blanc is one of the best jewel of French charcuterie. Sérieusement. 
My dear uncle Bernard pretends that the best in the world is made and sold in the Rue de Verneuil, not far from the Orsay Museum in Paris. 

But I can't afford the jet ticket to the Left Bank every other day, so I was delighted when I found a fairly ok one in the market this week.

Click on the pic to know where to buy this jambon

This white cured ham is in every French fridge. It's the main ingredient of the popular "Sandwich Parisien" (Baguette, butter, gruyere cheese on Jambon blanc) and also a must have for all the "never getting fat" Parisiennes: this ham is poor in calories and rich in protein.

Now it's parfait grilled with Endives. 
This strange vegetable is grown in the dark, mostly in the North of France, where it's called Chicon. 
You can also eat it in salad, with some blue cheese and walnuts for example, but it is a totally different plaisir when cooked: it gets bitter, but in a great way, the kind of taste you pull a face at when you're a kid, but adore when you get older. 
And it's a great veg' to keep your youth in, as it's one of the rare natural ingredient full of selenium, a great anti-oxydant.

And how do we marry them? With a great white dress, and a perfect sauce: béchamel. This French classic was invented 4 centuries ago for the young duke of Bechameil and is now synonym of French and Perfect comfort food. It's not that diet, so I invented another "girly version" without it, which is also a délice, a delight.

La recette

Preheat the oven at 450°F

Trim the endives, and caramelize them in a non stycky pan. (you can add butter if you want, but you can also try not to get too fat)

Add one inch of water, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, go for the bechamel...
Mix the flour with 10cl of milk.
Put the rest of the milk into a boil, and add the flour mixture when the milk is bubbling.

Stir Stir Stir Stir Stir Stir Stir Stir Stir Stir Stir Stir Stir

Add salt and pepper.
When the sauce has reduced enough to your taste, add the butter in small bites.
Lick the spoon and go to heaven.

Then...

Lay the cooked endives in an oven pan

Dress them each with a slice of jambon

Pour the bechamel

Add the grated cheese
(or, if you're going léger skip the bechamel part and add a pinch of cheese)

Put in the oven for 20 minutes (15 for the without sauce version)

And....

Voilà !

The French and perfect way to eat your veggies and yout protein and your calcium while giving an orgasm to your palate...

Bon appétit les amis!

Vive la saucisse !

My poor non French people,

You can't know how hard it is for a Parisienne to live in California like I do. 

Imagine, living in a place where everybody is smiling all the time! Where people actually say hello and "have a good day" in the shops or at the restaurant! I was so shocked when I first moved to LA that I thought people were actually making fun of me and were laughing in my back. Why couldn't they just groan and look depressed as any good and sensible Français would ?

But there's worse here.

The weather.

Sun sun sun! Always sun! Quelle horreur !

How can a decent human being live without rain? There are so many incredible meals you can't have if the weather is good...

That's why I clapped my hands and beamed with joie when the sky suddenly turned gray last week.
Another great occasion to watch Les Parapluies de Cherbourg!

And... to cook Saucisse de Morteau. 

 

Saucisse de Morteau aux Lentilles du Puy

Ingrédients

1 saucisse de Morteau
8 oz bacon
1 sliced oinion
1 onion on which you nail 4 cloves
3 carotts
1 cup lentilles du Puy
2 cups water
Laurel, Thyme, salt and pepper

Saucisse de Morteau is a smoked pork sausage which is made in Franche Comté, in the East of France. 

Actually, a real Saucisse de Morteau has to be made in Morteau or in its area. There's a protection on the name, as there are Appelation d'Origine Controlée for Bourgogne or Beaujolais. 

You don't mess with the Morteau: it has to be smoked with a special wood in special traditional houses. And people coming from Franche Comté venerate it as a national treasure. 

Take my friend Deborah for example: whenever you invite her, she comes with her saucisse. It's odd, but it's good!

It's very hard to find a real Morteau Sausage in the US (unless Deborah comes to visit you from France, of course), but I'm so happy I've found a very good one made here.

Now the other magical element of this recipe, is a little bit easier to find. 

Lentils.

Des lentilles, oui, mais des lentilles du Puy! These green lentils come from l'Auvergne, in South Center France. These French and perfect vegetables are loved by chefs and nutritionists aussi because of their great taste and healthy gifts. It's full of protein, fibers, and minerals. Et c'est bon !

 

La recette

Dice the onion, and cut the bacon in petits lardons.

Have them sweat for a while in a big pot, with some olive oil and/or butter.

When they are soft and melting like the heart of a teenage girl, add the diced carrots.

Make sure they have time to meet and chat a little, and then introduce them all to their new friends, the lentils.


Pour them in the pot, add enough water to cover them all

Salt, pepper, 3 leaves of laurel, the oinion and the cloves

Bring to a boil, and then let simmer for 30 minutes.

Then add the sausage. (make small holes in it with your fork before so it doesn't explode)

Cover, let sim for 30 minutes... and Enjoy!
 

Allez, bon appétit les amis!

PS:  

Ok, it's not very light, but it's a great healthy source of energy!

Did you know that there was actually a Saucisse de Morteau on the Tour de France, last year? It even passed the peloton! 

See Lance, why didn't you just have Morteau for breakfast...