Healthy, French, Home-cooking, always fresh, (almost) no cream required!
This is about simple cooking for my kids away from home, family and friends and friends of friends. Not quite recipes, just inspiration.Often, no exact quantities, certainly no scientific potions, but a bit of magic and lots of love! and you could always ask for more details.
Share my love of cooking, enjoy the Pacific West Coast bounty and help me pass along the French Heritage from my Grand-mothers and my Dad who taught me.Salt and Pepper
Even when I don't say so, use Baleine sea-salt and fresh ground pepper from your Peugeot pepper mill, goes without saying!
Category Archives: Appetizer
Tender but Crunchy Asparagus on Sunday Brunch to fight the hang-over!
Asparagus is in season at last in the Pacific North-West. I have been wanting to replicate the fine local fresh asparagus I ate in Provence at my brother’s about a month ago but my experiment with Mexico grown spears was … Continue reading
Posted in Appetizer, Vegetables, Vegetarian
Tagged Asparagus, food, recipes, verygoodrecipe
3 Comments
Orange Recipes for Halloween Dinner
https://thecookingfrogblog.com/2011/10/30/halloween-squash-or-pumpkin-au-gratin/ https://thecookingfrogblog.com/2010/05/06/carrot-salad-summer-crudite-may6-2010/ https://thecookingfrogblog.com/2011/01/31/roasted-yams-a-la-canadienne/ https://thecookingfrogblog.com/2010/11/02/soupe-a-la-courge-at-aux-chataignes-served-in-a-pumpkin/ https://thecookingfrogblog.com/2010/06/12/stuffed-orange-peppers/ https://thecookingfrogblog.com/2010/06/16/roasted-butternut-squash/ https://thecookingfrogblog.com/2011/03/31/blood-orange-tart-with-pistachios/
Posted in Appetizer, Dessert, Lunch, Main Course, Side, Soup, Starter, Vegetables, Vegetarian
Tagged food, halloween recipe, orange, recipes, squash, verygoodrecipes
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Antipasto Pickle Preserves, a taste of summer to last through winter!
Although I have been eating this delicious antipasto since I moved to Victoria nine years ago, I never knew how to make it. Then last month, I was given the original list of ingredients from Grandma O’Brien by her grand-daughter … Continue reading
Posted in Appetizer, Little help from my friends
Tagged antipasto, antipasto preserve, cast iron pot, cookingfrog, food, foods, Le Creuset, recipe, recipes, verygoodrecipe
1 Comment
Quick Rock Crab Cakes
It had been a long day sailing from Ucluelet through Clayoquot Sound on the way to Hot Springs Cove. 48,7 nautical miles, most of those on the big Pacific open Ocean on the West Coast of Vancouver Island, in swells … Continue reading
Posted in Appetizer, Starter
Tagged Clayoquot Sound, crab, crab cakes, food, recipe, recipes, Rock Crab, Sea otter, seafood, verygoodrecipe
4 Comments
BC Spot Prawns on Local Greens
The spot prawns were so tasty! They were a gift from the Forbes family, owners of Critters Cove Marina in Nootka Sound on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. I think that I must particularly thank the boys, Bryce and … Continue reading
Posted in Appetizer
Tagged Critters cove marina, food, Nootka sound, Prawns, recipe, recipes, spot prawns, verygoodrecipe
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Oysters not quite Rockefeller, a nice treat for Mother’s day
Not that we are necessarily poorer up North in Canada, it is just that our local Pacific Fanny Bay oysters are usually sold shucked and not in the shell. So no way to bake them on the half shell. It … Continue reading
Posted in Appetizer, Main Course
Tagged fanny bay oysters, food, oysters, oysters rockefeller, recipes, verygoodrecipe
2 Comments
Soupe de moules aux légumes (mussels in vegetable soup)
Months including an “R” is the best time to eat shell fish, the saying goes. This is not only a safety recommendation, the hot months have no “R”, but also a matter of taste. The colder the water, the better … Continue reading
Posted in Appetizer, Lunch, Main Course, Soup
Tagged food, French mussels recipe, mussel soup, mussels in sauce, recipe, recipes, soupe de moules
4 Comments
The Caviar of the poor, it’s eggplant!
I have been thinking about old family recipes, traditions I could pass on. This one came from my Aunt Marie-Paule, born in the Savoie region and a pharmacist in Paris for most of life. She bought her own small community … Continue reading
Posted in Appetizer, Vegetarian
Tagged caviar, Caviar d'aubergine, eggplant, eggplant caviar, food, French cooking, french cuisine, recipe, recipes
4 Comments
Fanny Bay Oyster Fritters, a New Year’s day appetizer for Kings
This is a Lucy and the Frog… I executed Lucy Waverman’s recipe (pasted below) from the Globe and Mail to the letter. It was easy, clear and incredibly good! My choice was the local Fanny Bay oysters from Vancouver Island, as we … Continue reading
Posted in Appetizer, Starter
Tagged fanny bay oysters, food, lucy waverman, new year appetizer, oyster fritters, oysters, recipes, seafood
4 Comments
Chanterelle and onion tart, could be my best chanterelle recipe? tell me!
Saturday November 6 was probably the last good day to pick chanterelles, as the heavy rain wants to turn them into mushy fungi. The rain, however, did not stop Michel, Dunnery, Jules (the mushroom sniffing Jack Russel) and … Continue reading
Posted in Appetizer, Lunch, Vegetarian
Tagged chanterelle tart, cooking, food, onion chanterelles tart, recipes, vegetarian
7 Comments
Duck pâté with olives
This is a good appetizer to share and it has to be made in advance which is convenient on the day of the party. Pretty much, you should start in the morning by roasting a whole 5 pound duck in … Continue reading
Chanterelle mini-tart appetizer
That was a lot of chanterelles we picked and they have been on my menu every day. Last night was a more unusual appetizer, kind of a tapenade of chanterelles in a small tart shell. This a good use for … Continue reading
Posted in Appetizer
Tagged appetizer tart, chanterelle tapenade, chanterelles, chanterelles tart, cooking, food, goat cheese, recipe, recipes, sun-dried tomatoes, tarts
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Brandade de saumon
This would normally have been made with salt cod, but we have overfished, alas, and there is hardly any cod left. I feel that we should not eat anymore for now, and decided to make brandade with another plentiful fish, … Continue reading
Posted in Appetizer
Tagged Brandade, brandade de saumon, cooking, food, french, Provence, recipe, recipes
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Hot Artichoke dip
This is just a quick dip. Chop together in the food processor one can of artichokes hearts, 2 sliced green onions, 5 green olives, 5 black olives, both pitted, 1/2 tsp seasoning salt, two small cubes blue cheese, 1/4 bunch … Continue reading
Creamy Hummus with zing!
Summer time is here and the need for healthy snacks to take sailing or to parties. My version of hummus is easy, all the ingredients are readily available, completely healthy. It is very low-fat, and check that zing! Chop three … Continue reading
Posted in Appetizer
Tagged appetizer, chick peas, cooking, dip, food, hummus, low-fat, recipes
3 Comments
Baby white turnips
They are irresistible right now, so fresh and sweet. Vantreight Farm grows them in Sanichton, just north of Victoria on Vancouver island and I keep buying more at the” Root Cellar” produce stand. I have had them as a side … Continue reading
Posted in Appetizer, Vegetables
Tagged appetizer, baby turnip, baby white turnip, cooking, food, recipe, recipes, root cellar, turnip, vantreight farms, vegetable, white turnip
1 Comment
Fanny Bay Oyster shot
Last night for a small dinner party at home, I thought I should have an appetizer other than a cheese tray (kills your appetite) or cold cuts (I had made the country pâté* for first course), so I chose something … Continue reading
Posted in Appetizer
Tagged cooking, digby scallop, Fanny bay, food, oyster, recipe, recipes, scallop, watercress
2 Comments
Country pâté : home-made at half the fat
Pâté is always a successful appetizer, it goes well with any wine and it can be made well in advance for a party or to bring to a potluck. In fact, it tastes better after 48 hours. The recipe below … Continue reading
Posted in Appetizer
Tagged chicken liver, cooking, country pate, fat, food, health, nutrition, pate, recipe, recipes
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