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!
Tag Archives: recipe
Katherine Jones’ King Apple Chutney
This recipe was written down by Katherine Jones of Victoria at my request after I served her Chutney at a dinner and all the guests wanted to know about the ingredients, not believing me that it was apple chutney. She … Continue reading
Posted in Little help from my friends, Side, Vegetarian
Tagged apple chutney, food, king apple, recipe, recipes, verygoodrecipe
2 Comments
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
La Bouillabaisse de l’Oncle Jean-Louis
Bouillabaisse used to be the soup of the poor in the port of Marseille. You simmered the bony rock fish abundant in the Calanques in a vegetable broth and added better fish according to your budget. It means boiling on … Continue reading
Posted in Main Course, Soup
Tagged bouillabaisse, bouillabaisse provencale, fish soup, food, marseille, recipe, recipes, rock fish, soupe depoisson, verygoodrecipe
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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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Salsify in garlic butter to satisfy the most delicate palate
I was very surprised today when I saw a familiar vegetable from my youth in France, something I had not seen ever again since emigrating to Canada almost 30 years ago. This root vegetable is slightly larger than a carrot, … Continue reading
Posted in Vegetables, Vegetarian
Tagged food, French cooking, recipe, recipes, root cellar, root vegetable, salsifies, salsify, very good recipe
1 Comment
Roasted Pork Tenderloin, wrapped in bacon, more tender and moist
Sometimes you need a nice dinner that does not require a lot of work, maybe after a long day of skiing or a long day period. Most of the time spent on this recipe is roasting time, during which you … Continue reading
Lapin à la Moutarde de Dijon
This recipe is a family staple that I have wanted to feature for a long time. The delay was caused by the extreme difficulty that faced me trying to assemble the ingredients. A little bit of cream is no problem, … Continue reading
Stuff the pork loin to take on a picnic!
I don’t know what got into me when I offered to give a pound of chanterelles to all the friends who would help me with a pledge for The Run For The Cure, coming up October 2nd. But It is … Continue reading
Posted in Lunch
Tagged chanterelles, food, pork loin roast, recipe, recipes, run for the cure, stuffed pork loin, stuffing pork, 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
Steelhead trout
Winter is not the best time for fresh fish selection and this week the only choice was Steelhead trout. That was the reason I bought it, that it was fresh. I had not expected it to be so good. In … Continue reading
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
Slow cooked beef shank with tastes from Provence
Doesn’t “Slow cooked beef shanks” sound a lot more complicated and fancy than “beef stew” or “boeuf bourguignon”? Well it does, but it is not! This is a very easy to cook dinner with incredible flavours. The meat is tender … Continue reading
Posted in Main Course
Tagged Beef shanks, beef stew, boeuf bourguignon, fennel, food, french beef stew, Julia Child, provence stew, recipe, recipes, slow-cooked beef, verygoodrecipe
6 Comments
Edamame, Avocado, Beet salad : satisfy your winter craving for greens
If you scroll down all the way to the bottom of this page, you will notice a new “calorie counter” in the bottom right corner. It is very neat as it will tell you not only calories, but also all … Continue reading
Posted in Starter, Vegetables, Vegetarian
Tagged avocado, beets, calorie counter, Edamame, food, high fiber salad, recipe, recipes, vegetarian salad
4 Comments
Sable fish and Scallops on hazelnut pesto with sepia ink rotini and fresh hedgehogs
It is not heart shaped nor red but I think that plate could make a very successful Valentine’s day dinner if you are lucky enough to celebrate. Fresh sable fish, sometimes called black cod, has just arrived to Vancouver Island … Continue reading
Posted in Main Course
Tagged black cod, food, hazelnut pesto, pesto, recipe, recipes, sable fish, scallops, valentine's dinner, verygoodrecipe
4 Comments
Green Bell Peppers stuffed with Fava bean Tahini
It all started at For Good Measure, my local bulk store and a great place. I bought two cups of dried fava bean, because of a sudden craving for bean salad. I was very careful with the fava beans as … Continue reading
Posted in Vegetables, Vegetarian
Tagged bell pepper, Fava bean, food, for good measure, recipe, recipes, stuffed peppers, tahini, vegetarian, vegetarian peppers
1 Comment
Red Swiss chard, a Vitamin K trove.
This is a really nutritious green vegetable and unlike kale, rapini and collard green, it is tender, exquisite and quick to prepare. The green is not really Swiss, it was just called that originally to distinguish it from French Spinach. … Continue reading
Posted in Vegetables, Vegetarian
Tagged chards, food, recipe, recipes, swiss chard, verygoodrecipe, vitamin K
4 Comments
Too rainy to BBQ ? Bake the salmon!
The weather has been damp and grim, too cold and wet to step outside to the BBQ. Most of my friends are in Mexico or Hawaii escaping the local desolation of our rain forest climate. I had this beautiful Spring … Continue reading
Posted in Main Course
Tagged baked salmon, food, Le Creuset, maple syrup, mustard salmon, recipe, Salmon filets, verygoodrecipe
1 Comment
Gratinée Lyonnaise sounds much better than just onion soup
This is probably the best comfort food on a cold day, a great way to stave off the anxiety of a looming dark and stormy night, and assurance to bring rosy cheeks and smiles to all. Most of the time, … Continue reading
Posted in Soup
Tagged beaujolais, food, Gratinee, gratinee lyonnaise, gruyere, Le Creuset, onion soup, recipe, recipes, soup, soupe a l oignon, verygoodrecipe
2 Comments
Fresh Mayonnaise and Sauce Tartare
The first snow has arrived early in the Pacific North-West and it is an early warning to get organized for holiday cooking. You are going to need mayo, because it is a great complement to all seafood, a lot of … Continue reading
Pink onion and apple jam or is it relish?
This is just what you need to serve with sausages or to add to lamb burgers instead of the traditional Ketchup, green relish and French’s mustard. Jane provided the apples from her magnificent old tree and with a couple pink … Continue reading
Posted in Side, Vegetarian
Tagged couscous spices, food, onion jam, onion relish, pink onion, recipe, recipes
3 Comments
Looking for Cinderella’s pumpkin, is it midnight yet?
I bought a pumpkin at Dan’s Farm that may be what you are looking for. It is a French pumpkin – here is some info from a website that sells the seeds: “The Pumpkin French Cinderella, ‘Cucurbita maxima’, is a … Continue reading
Posted in Side, Soup, Vegetables
Tagged Cinderella pumpkin, cooking, food, oxo potato peeler, pumpkin, recipe, recipes, thanksgiving
5 Comments
Hedgehogs…not the chocolate kind
November is getting late in the season for chanterelles, but nature is kind to us on Vancouver Island as the even better Hydnum Repandum or hedgehog mushroom is now prime in old-growth forests. We found two kinds, the small orangey … Continue reading
Posted in Side
Tagged cooking, food, hedgehog, hydnum repandum, mushroom, recipe, recipes, wild mushroom
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Tomato sauce
Whenever I can find bushels or bags of tomatoes and vegetables for sale in the fall, I know it is time to make a batch of tomato sauce. Originally I canned it, but the extra trouble is pretty … Continue reading
Posted in Side
Tagged food, freezer tomato sauce, nutritious tomato sauce, pasta sauce, recipe, recipes, tomato sauce, vegetable tomato sauce
1 Comment
Edamame (green soya bean) salad
While there are still a few tasty tomatoes at the market, you can whip up this unusual nutritious salad in no time. I did not think much of edamame until I had them at The Marina Restaurant in a vegetarian … Continue reading
Posted in Starter
Tagged Edamame, food, green soya bean, matt rissling, oak bay marina, recipe, recipes, the marina restaurant
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Flu remedy: Chicken noodle soup with ginger or Matsutake
This is a pressure cooker recipe if you have one, otherwise a Le Creuset large stock pot will be more than fine, so long as you are patient (double the times). I always break in half and freeze … Continue reading
Posted in Soup
Tagged chicken noodle, chicken noodle soup, food, matsutake, pine mushroom, recipe, recipes
1 Comment
Golden beets, grown down the street
Carolyn and Paul down my street grow an amazing selection of vegetables, and they have generously brought me Romaine lettuce, green onions, heirloom tomatoes and a magnificent specimen of golden beet. Maybe it is the sea view, but most likely … Continue reading
Posted in Vegetables
Tagged beets with sage, betteraves, cooking, food, Golden beet, recipe, recipes, roasted beets, root cellar
4 Comments
Pine Mushroom scalloped potatoes
October 16th was Pine mushroom day in my family. The weather was perfect Indian summer and there were more than a dozen cars parked at or near my secret mushroom picking spot on Vancouver Island. It did not bode well, … Continue reading
Posted in Side
Tagged cooking, food, matsutake, mushroom, pine mushroom, pine mushroom scallopped potatoes, recipe, recipes
2 Comments
Fresh California figs and Noix de Grenoble tart
This an Indian summer dessert, as it is best made from fresh very ripe figs. In this instance, I bought a tray of fresh figs at the Root Cellar in Victoria. The crate indicates that they are either “black mission”(Halloween … Continue reading
Posted in Dessert
Tagged cooking, fig and walnut tart, food, fresh figs, noix de grenoble, recipe, recipes, tarte aux figues et aux noix
3 Comments
Pumpkin Gnocchi for Halloween
Anita Whyte and I use to work together in Toronto some years ago promoting French tourism, gastronomy and good life in general. She has not had a chance to move to the West Coast yet, so she is now a … Continue reading
Posted in Little help from my friends
Tagged cooking, food, gnocchi, halloween, pumpkin gnocchi, recipe, recipes
1 Comment
Grenoble walnut square
I grew up in Grenoble, the walnut capital of the world. In the country side around the city, there are acres and acres of walnut trees, and one can tell easily that they are walnut trees, because their shade is … Continue reading
Posted in Baking
Tagged cooking, food, noix de grenoble, recipe, recipes, square, walnut square, walnuts
5 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
Languedoc Garlic soup
Gardeners, this is for you. The home-grown garlic is ready to be picked and for this soup, the fresher, the better. My father-twice-in law Hugh just sent beautiful heads of garlic from his sunny Vancouver garden and I peeled 12 … Continue reading
Posted in Soup
Tagged cooking, flu prevention, food, Garlic soup, recipe, recipes, soupe a lail
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Poached salmon
There is really no need to own a poissonière or a turbotière to poach fish. They are great to use if you own them, but for most of us not worth the space they take on the kitchen shelf. Are … Continue reading
Posted in Main Course
Tagged food, poach fish poached fish, poached salmon, poissoniere, recipe, recipes, turbotiere
3 Comments
My Grand-Mother’s creamy polenta
Louise-Marie, or la Louise as my grand-father called her, was a great cook. She was a Savoyarde, from the region across the Alps from Italy and she was bilingual, French and Patois, the Alpine dialect spoken on both sides of … Continue reading
Posted in Side
Tagged corn semolina, food, gruyere, parmesan, polenta, recipe, recipes
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Bison Bourguignon
This does not sound right, no bisons in the Bourgogne, that’s for sure! This bison meat stew though was better than any genuine boeuf bourguignon. I know you are already thinking Julia Child and all the trouble involved with cooking … Continue reading
Posted in Main Course
Tagged Bison, boeuf bourguignon, bourguignon, cooking, dinner, food, healthy stew, recipe, recipes
7 Comments
Six root vegetable gratin
Thanksgiving dinner is coming up soon and although mashed potatoes are always high on the request list, the root vegetable gratin would be a seasonal dish that would go very well along with a turkey. It requires no work when … Continue reading
Posted in Vegetables
Tagged Celery root, cooking, food, gratin, parsnip, recipe, recipes, root vegetable, thanksgiving dinner, turnip, yam
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Vinaigrette dressing
This is a tricky recipe because it changes depending on what the vinaigrette is used with. So I will start with the basic ingredients and go from there. Quantities are more or less for one salad bowl. salt and fresh … Continue reading
Roasted Zucchini with cheese
Sharon gave me this odd colour zucchini from her Oak Bay garden explaining that this European seed produced a much tastier vegetable than the local produce, and it did! This one was hand-picked and harvested by Richard on September 15th. Growing … Continue reading
Posted in Little help from my friends, Vegetables, Vegetarian
Tagged Asiago, cooking, food, recipe, recipes, Zucchini
3 Comments
10 kg of White Chanterelles
Recipes including Chanterelles: Chanterelle omelet Chanterelle tart Chanterelle quiche . . Chanterelles in butter and parsley What do we do with 10 kg of white chanterelles? First, I air-dry them spread on trays for a day especially if they were … Continue reading
Posted in Events
Tagged Chanterelle, chanterelles, cooking, food, recipe, recipes, what to do with chanterelles
2 Comments
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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Easy moist pound cake with yogurt
This is one that you can just whip up in no time, and that is a good thing because it will disappear just as fast. We used to make them all the time when I was a kid and really … Continue reading
Posted in Baking
Tagged baking, cooking, food, nutella, pound cake, quatre quart, recipe, recipes, yogurt cake
3 Comments
Chanterelle Omelette
It was quite foggy and it rained a lot yesterday, but it was not a bad day to go mushroom picking on Vancouver Island. My friend Sharon and I covered miles and miles trying to identify new picking grounds without … Continue reading
Posted in Lunch, Main Course
Tagged Chanterelle, chanterelle omelette, chanterelles, cooking, food, mushroom, omelette, recipe, recipes, white chanterelle, wild mushroom
2 Comments
Peaches in light syrup
The peaches are best right now at the end of summer and it is tempting to buy a whole case. Of course, that is too much to eat right away for most people. Cooking them in syrup is a nice … Continue reading
Posted in Dessert
Tagged cooking, food, Peaches in syrup, peches au sirop, recipe, recipes
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Ratatouille quiche
With all the fall vegetables so plentiful at the farmers market, I made a huge amount of Ratatouille and of course, I had extra I saved for a quiche and a nice lunch. Click on ratatouille for the link to … Continue reading
Posted in Lunch, Starter
Tagged cooking, eggplant, food, peppers, ratatouille, ratatouille quiche, recipe, recipes, zuchini
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Cake au beurre (Fruit Cake)
This is the French version of Fruit cake, they just call it cake and often serve it for the afternoon snack with tea or even at breakfast, how decadent! 1 cup butter 3/4 cup light brown sugar 4 eggs 2+ … Continue reading
Posted in Baking
Tagged cake aux fruits secs, cooking, dry fruit, food, Fruit cake, raisin, recipe, recipes
1 Comment
Chanterelle Quiche
I have been picking again last week-end and found a few chanterelles. It was too dry up until now and they were small and scarce, the good thing being that the flavor is very intense. I decided to make a … Continue reading
Posted in Lunch, Main Course
Tagged chanterelle quiche, chanterelles, food, quiche, quiche aux chanterelles, recipe, recipes
3 Comments
Cauliflower Soup in less than 10 minutes
This is a light soup, no cream! Local cauliflower is at every vegetable stand right now, it is a good time to enjoy it really fresh. This recipe is one of the most simple soups to make and is a … Continue reading
Posted in Soup
Tagged cauliflower, cauliflower soup, food, nutrition, potage chou-fleur, quick soup, recipe, recipes, soup
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Chti dinner, from the North (of France)
I visited my sister in France this summer on her farm in the country. The 200 +year old farmhouse attracts family and friends and there was not a day with less than 15 for dinner. In most household this would … Continue reading
Posted in Events
Tagged belgian endives, carbonnade de boeuf, chti, endives, food, maroilles, recipe, tarte au sucre
1 Comment
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