French – Page 4 – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

16-15: Tarte Tatin

Jamie Martin Group 16: Pies & Cakes, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods September 23, 2016July 31, 2020all-purpose flour, apples, autumn, baked goods, broiled, butter, caramelized, chilled, cut in, dessert, dough, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, fall, farmers market, French, granulated sugar, Hutton house, Labor Day, party food, pastry, pie crust, pies, powdered sugar, revisited, salt, summer, tart, vegetarian

I’m not going to write a long dissertation on the origins of the well-known French dessert, Tarte Tatin–I’ll let Wikipedia handle the background of it. Instead, I’m going to focus on my history with 16-15: Tarte Tatin, evidenced by my mom’s handwriting all over the front & back of the recipe card.

Since she and I already had plans to go to a local farmers’ market for this year’s Labor Day BBQ supplies and apples were plentiful, I decided to bring back an old classic for us to cook together. 🍏

Most versions of Tarte Tatin are somewhat similar–it’s a pretty basic recipe. My mom’s notes claim it’s “easy”, and she stands by it to this day. Her other notes turned out to be helpful as well–the importance of good note-taking.

5-19: Eggs en Cocotte

Jamie Martin Group 05: Eggs & Cheese, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters September 21, 2016October 14, 2020black pepper, breakfast, butter, Cheddar, cheese, chives, chopped, cream cheese, creamy, easy, eggs, French, gluten-free, grated, Gruyère, half-and-half, herbs and spices, inexpensive, lunch, melted, minced, ramekins, salt, shredded, untested, vegetarian

Here’s another Simply Delicious recipe that exists outside of this book: 5-19: Eggs en Cocotte is a version of a pretty well-known French way to cook eggs. Variably known as shirred eggs (although that’s slightly different), this is a really easy (and delicious) breakfast or lunch option.

Cocotte has a rather interesting meaning outside of the culinary world–I’ll leave it to you to find out. 👄

17-1: Croissants

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods August 28, 2016August 23, 2020all-purpose flour, baked goods, breakfast, brushed, butter, chilled, croissants, dough, egg wash, eggs, fairly inexpensive, flaky, folded, French, gift ideas, granulated sugar, hard, kneaded, lukewarm, pastry, poppy seeds, proofed, salt, snacks, untested, vegetarian, yeast

Croissants are a culinary item that have been around for well…a really long time. Crescent-shaped rolls are a part of several cuisines–one example would be the kifli from Eastern Europe, versus the well-known Western European version, like 17-1: Croissants. 🌙

Wikipedia mentions that frozen pre-formed croissants are pretty readily available these days (and have been since the 1970s), so making this recipe’s truly a labor of love–it takes a good amount of effort, as noted above.

14-3: Grand Marnier Soufflé

Jamie Martin Group 14: Hot Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods August 16, 2016July 30, 2020all-purpose flour, butter, cornstarch, creamy, dessert, egg whites, egg yolks, eggs, fairly expensive, fairly hard, folded, French, Grand Marnier, granulated sugar, half-and-half, hot desserts, liqueur, liquor, melted, milk, orange juice, paper collar, parchment paper, party food, powdered sugar, roux, soufflés, stiff peaks, untested, vegetarian, whipping cream

My posting’s slowed down a bit (and my husband Adam has been cranking out his posts like crazy), but I am still cooking (and eating) from this book. It’s good to take breaks every so often, and rather than abandon the blog for those break times (as I have in the past), I’m glad that he’s here to keep it alive and to lend another voice besides my own. Just wanted to get that out there. I’ll pick it back up to speed soon, but for now I’m enjoying watching it be interpreted through someone else’s eyes for a bit.

I find myself with extra heavy whipping cream now and then due to other cooking activities, and I’m the only one in the house that can consume it without much gastrointestinal distress. When I have excesses of ingredients, I try to find Simply Delicious recipes to burn off that kill two birds with one stone–using up a recipe AND the cream, 14-3: Grand Marnier Soufflé is one of those recipes.

I’ve permanently borrowed a bottle from my parents (when you’re in your 30s, parents don’t seem to mind as much if you raid their liquor cabinet), and it’s what we’ve been using for flambéeing and any other instances that call for brandy/cognac/Grand Marnier. Why buy a brand new bottle when there’s plenty of barely touched ones sitting at their house? 🍾

3-3: French Onion Soup

Jamie Martin Group 03: Soups, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters July 29, 2016August 10, 2021all-purpose flour, appetizers, bay leaves, beef bouillon, beef broth, black pepper, boiled, bouquet garni, broiled, butter, caramelized, Cheddar, cheese, consommé, dinner, dried herbs, easy, egg-free, French, French bread, grated, Gruyère, herbs and spices, inexpensive, Jarlsberg, lunch, melted, parsley, salt, sautéed, side dish, simmered, soups, Swiss, thyme, untested, vegetable bouillon, vegetable broth, vegetables, vegetarian, white wine, yellow onions

It’s the middle of summer right now, so soup’s probably not your first thought. However, I continue to be surprised that how no matter how hot outside it is, people still enjoy soup. So here’s a classic: 3-3: French Onion Soup.

Simply Delicious cites Les Halles (the Parisian farmers’ market, not the NY restaurant where Anthony Bourdain worked) as the originator of French onion soup. I wasn’t able to directly verify that with 5 minutes of lazy Googling, but I did find a food timeline that gives a bit of the dish’s history–I suppose their claim is totally still possible.

8-5: Beef Stew Provençale

Adam Martin Group 08: Beef, Section 2: Main Courses July 12, 2016October 4, 2020bay leaves, beef, beef stew, black olives, boneless, braised, butter, carrots, casserole, celery, chuck roast, crushed tomatoes, dinner, dried herbs, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, French, garlic, gluten-free, herbs and spices, julienned, linked, lunch, melted, pan-fried, parsley, Provençale, red wine, red wine vinegar, salt, sautéed, sirloin, slow cooker, stews, untested, vegetables

Editor’s note: AHOY-HOY to everyone visiting from HungryBrowser.com! If you’d like to know more about this site, please visit THE COOKBOOK PROJECT–it’ll tell you what this is all about. I’m not the only author on this site–my husband Adam wrote the post below (it’s kind of a teamwork thing–there’s a LOT of recipes in this book). Thanks for stopping by, and feel free to check out some of the other recipes we’ve done! — 11/01/17

Beef Stew – Another classic recipe that Simply Delicious cannot get quite right. This dish tastes delicious, but isn’t quite what I would consider a beef stew. It’s almost like a simple Boeuf Bourguignon.

I used a slow cooker instead of the oven for cooking this dish. I apologize that some of the photos are blurry from trying to shoot down into that very slow cooker. Without any other photos in focus, I chose to display some of them in this post just for posterity.

1-4: Ham and Cheese Sandwich

Jamie Martin Group 01: Hot & Cold Appetizers, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters June 23, 2016December 24, 2019appetizers, basil, broiled, butter, Cheddar, cheese, cooked chicken, dinner, easy, egg-free, French, fried, Gruyère, inexpensive, lunch, melted, pan-fried, panini, parsley, party food, salt, sandwiches, smoked ham, snacks, tarragon, tomatoes, untested, waffle iron, white bread, yellow mustard

Hope you’ve been enjoying my husband/co-writer Adam’s posts–he’s having fun writing them. I’m a bit behind on my own posting, so this is one I “cooked” a while ago. 1-4: Ham and Cheese Sandwich is exactly what it sounds like, hence the quotations around “cooked”–it’s basically a grilled cheese with ham in it.

As in 2-24: Parisian-Mushroom Salad, this is a French recipe somewhat simplified–the running theme throughout much of Simply Delicious. The croque monsieur is indeed a well-known French recipe, and lots of different takes on it exist out there.

2-24: Parisian Ham-Mushroom Salad

Jamie Martin Group 02: Salads, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters June 10, 2016July 8, 2020appetizers, black pepper, Cheddar, cheese, chopped, Dijon mustard, dinner, dressing, easy, egg-free, French, garlic, Gruyère, ham, herbs and spices, iceberg lettuce, inexpensive, julienned, lettuce, lunch, marinated, minced, mushrooms, olive oil, paprika, party food, red wine vinegar, salads, salt, side dish, sweet peas, tomatoes, untested, vegetables

It’s been a while since we’ve done a salad. This recipe, 2-24: Parisian Ham-Mushroom Salad sounded fancy, and I had found myself with mushrooms, ham, and lettuce. Simply Delicious leans heavily on French cuisine, so it’s not surprising to see them attempt a French salad. But is this an actual French dish, or just something made up for Americans (like the classic “Chinese” example, General Tso’s chicken)?

I Googled a bit to see if there was an actual ham & mushroom salad that was a known part of French cuisine, and I actually was able to track down a somewhat similar recipe from Raymond Blanc, a well-renowned French chef. He published a Gruyere, ham, & mushroom salad recipe in a few of his cookbooks, noting that it came from his French hometown near the Franche-Comté region (not near Paris).

14-25: Crêpes with Fruity Filling

Jamie Martin Group 14: Hot Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods May 30, 2016July 30, 2020all-purpose flour, bananas, boysenberries, breakfast, brown sugar, butter, cherries, crème fraîche, crêpes, dessert, eggs, fairly easy, French, fruit, granulated sugar, half-and-half, hot desserts, inexpensive, lukewarm, lunch, melted, milk, omelette, pineapple, powdered sugar, raspberries, salt, sour cream, strawberries, stuffed, untested, whipped

14-25: Crêpes with Fruity Filling is only the second recipe I’ve covered for Group 14: Hot Desserts, but it’s the third total crêpe recipe that I’ve tried from the book (the others being 5-22: Crêpes with Chicken and 5-24: Meat-Filled Crêpes) so far. Those two previous recipes were savory–this one is sweet.

This recipe is suggested for dessert, but I think you could have it for breakfast (or even lunch) if you wanted. If you don’t like the fruit they suggest, you can substitute your own or whatever is local/in season. 🍒🍍🍓

5-6: Cheese Soufflé

Jamie Martin Group 05: Eggs & Cheese, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters May 28, 2016April 29, 2020all-purpose flour, appetizers, Béchamel sauce, black pepper, breakfast, butter, Cheddar, cheese, cornstarch, creamy, dinner, egg whites, egg yolks, eggs, fairly easy, French, Gouda, grated, Gruyère, inexpensive, Jarlsberg, lunch, melted, milk, Monterey Jack, party food, salt, shredded, side dish, soufflés, stand mixer, untested, vegetarian, whipped

Soufflés are one of the stereotypical fancy foods–a harried chef attempting to keep one from falling due to its delicate, temperamental nature used to be a common comedy trope.

The two most common variations are the dessert version (like a chocolate one) and the savory version (like this recipe, 5-6: Cheese Soufflé). I’ve covered one savory soufflé dish already from this book: 4-11: Potato Soufflé with Onions.

This would be a good recipe to add some green onions or chives to–I think it would add some nice color to the soufflé without weighing it down. Simply Delicious shows this recipe in individual ramekins, but I’m going to make it all in one big soufflé dish–I have to justify its existence in my cabinet.