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
Chanterelles with butter and parsley
The end of August is that time when the first chanterelles spring out of the moss on the slopes of old forests. This year is not a good one yet, as we have not had much rain. But my tenacity … Continue reading
Crunchy Cucumber salad
This is another one of many different “crudités” that French people will prepare for a Sunday lunch, along with grated carrots, red cabbage, macédoine, etc… Field cucumbers are best. If the skin is coarse and bitter, peel the cucumber first, … Continue reading
Posted in Starter
Tagged crudites, cucumber, food, grainy Dijon mustard, recipe, recipes, vinaigrette
1 Comment
Pain d’épices du goûter
Literally, a spice bread usually served to French children after school as a snack, either plain or with unsalted butter and sometimes jam as well. I used to love it when I was a kid. It was store bought and … Continue reading
Posted in Baking
Tagged children treat, cooking, food, gouter, honey, honey cake, pain d'épices, recipe, recipes, spice bread
2 Comments
Soupe au pistou
This is the recipe from Bistrot le Paradou in the village of Paradou near Fontvieille in Provence. They shared the ingredients but did not give any details on the how to, so I am going to give some explanations based … Continue reading
Posted in Soup
Tagged basil, coco beans, food, France, haricots coco, paradou, pistou, pistou soup, Provence, recipe, recipes, soupe au pistou
6 Comments
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
Leave a comment
Old Fashioned Apricot Jam
Mamie Odette made apricot jam every year, and this right into her seventies and even maybe eighties. This is the only jam she would make, she thought that it was the only jam worth making at home. I don’t quite … Continue reading
Cauliflower salad
This is one of my favorite salads, the best way to eat cauliflower in my opinion. This is a French classic family recipe, nothing fancy, just the fact that the cauliflower is cooked. Start by removing all the leaves from … Continue reading
Posted in Starter
Tagged cauliflower salad, cooking, food, French cooking, french salad, recipe, recipes, salade de chou-fleur
Leave a comment
Tomates farcies, a wonderful alternate to burgers
If there is no BBQ available, ground beef will do very well in “tomates farcies” or stuffed tomatoes, a perfectly healthy dish for a student budget. You need two small to medium size tomatoes per person. A large one would … Continue reading
Posted in Main Course
Tagged budget meal, cooking, food, french cuisine, ground beef, ground bison, recipe, recipes, stuffed tomatoes, tomates farcies
2 Comments
Penny Pierce’s cold squash and zucchini soup
This recipe and pictures were sent by Penny Pierce from Lakefield Ontario. The vegetables are from her own garden. Here is what she did: “I used one green zucchini (this light green variety is nice and buttery) and the yellow … Continue reading
Posted in Little help from my friends, Soup, Vegetarian
Tagged cold soup, food, recipe, recipes, soup, squash soup, zuchini soup
2 Comments
Cucumber soup
I was given two small home-grown cucumbers by Carling today, the dark green coarse skin garden kind which is so tasty. Perfect for a refreshing chilled soup. I peeled them, cut them in quarters lengthwise, removed the seeds and put … Continue reading
Posted in Soup
Tagged chilled soup, cooking, cucumber soup, food, low-fat, recipe, recipes
4 Comments
Gazpacho
It is so hot in Spain in the summer that it is almost impossible to eat solid food at lunch time. The best thing to do is to have a refreshing Gaspacho before the siesta, a light tasty cold soup … Continue reading
Posted in Soup
Tagged cold soup, food, gaspacho, gazpacho, recipe, recipes, ripe tomatoes, soup
2 Comments
Greek Salad
Can you chop vegetables? Then you can make Greek salad in no time. No cooking, no waiting, an easy dinner for a hot summer night. So I don’t get too many things dirty, I start by making the dressing right … Continue reading
Fresh cream of pea, no cream required
This is a cold soup with a light green colour, nothing to compare with traditional Royal Navy style pea soup, more like a contemporary designer pastel…The taste is also completely different because there are no split peas in it, but … Continue reading
Posted in Soup
Tagged buttermilk, cold soup, cooking, Cream of pea, food, fresh pea soup, low-fat, no cream, nutrition, pea soup, recipe, recipes, root cellar
Leave a comment
Chicken in “Gros Sel”
Of course, this dish is for show, pretty amazing when you break the salt crust to deliver a moist chicken with incredible flavour. No such thing as dry chicken breast. It is not a lot of extra work but there … Continue reading
Posted in Main Course
Tagged chicken, coarse salt, cooking, food, French cooking, french cuisine, gros sel, kosher salt, moist chicken, recipe, recipes, salt
2 Comments
Pommes Mousseline (aka mashed potatoes)
At a restaurant, people eat “pommes mousseline”, but at home they eat “purée” and here it is mashed potatoes. Of course, one can have great mashed if they add enough cream. But, at home, I prefer this much healthier recipe … Continue reading
Posted in Side
Tagged cooking, food, mashed potatoes, pommes mousseline, puree, recipe, recipes
1 Comment
Gateau de semoule better than cream of wheat pudding!
This was another favorite of Mémé Marie-Louise always pushing for healthy desserts. This meets her criteria with lots of iron, low fat, and a delicious taste. Frankly, you could do worse than eat this for breakfast! Soak 3/4 cup golden … Continue reading
Posted in Dessert
Tagged cooking, cream of wheat, food, gateau, pudding, recipe, recipes, wheatlets
2 Comments
Cream Spinach
Another favorite at Chez Solange Restaurant in London in the seventies where I started as a waitress with a French accent. It is often served with a roasted ham with tomates provençales on the side for a colorful plate. Interesting … Continue reading
Posted in Vegetables
Tagged cooking, cream spinach. Epinards a la creme, food, recipe, recipes
1 Comment
Cheese Soufflé, a French family tradition
This is perhaps the ultimate cliché of French home-cooking, a staple of a typical French diet. It is always exciting as you never know if it is actually going to rise and even worse, you never know how quickly it … Continue reading
Posted in Main Course
Tagged Cheese souffle, food, french, French cooking, pictures, recipe, recipes, soufflé au fromage, souffle
1 Comment
Fresh Peas in artichoke hearts, a highlight of French cuisine
I had not eaten this in years and years. Typically, you would not eat this at home, as it takes some trouble, but it used to be a classic in restaurants in France on the Sunday menu as a side … Continue reading
Posted in Vegetables
Tagged artichokes, food, food photography, France, french cusine, peas, photography, pictures, recipe, recipes
2 Comments
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
Sorrel not spinach!
Gardeners, I am telling you, this is the most rewarding crop you will ever plant in your garden. Sorrel looks likes a bit like lettuce, a bit like spinach, grows easily, and is the tastiest vegetable. It can be added … Continue reading
Tarte au Citron
This is my absolute favorite dessert, ahead of chocolate mousse and tarte Tatin and even Paris-Brest. It takes a bit of time but it is well worth it. The pastry: It is a pâte sucrée. Mix 1 + 3/4 cup … Continue reading
Posted in Dessert
Tagged food, lee valley tools, lemon dessert, lemon pie, recipe, recipes, tarte au citron
5 Comments
Daube de Provence
My maternal grand-mother, Mamie Odette, was born in Molière-sur-Cèze north of Alès in the Gard in the heart of Provence, in 1900. Her father was the guard at the railway crossing and she married a tax collector who was a fine gourmet. … Continue reading
Posted in Main Course
Tagged beef stew, cocotte, daube, food, Le Creuset, pressure coker, Provence, recipe, recipes
4 Comments
Fresh Snap Peas
Snap peas are eaten whole, unlike greens peas that need to be shelled. They are also different from snow peas (pois gourmands) which are flat. They should be really fresh, as peas do not save more than a couple days. … Continue reading
Canard aux olives
This is a roasted duck with green olives. I bought a fresh grade A Canada duck weighing two kg and that was just enough for three. Duck meat is very tasty, rich in nutrients and quite different from chicken. It … Continue reading
Leek salad
Leek salad is a staple of French home cooking coming back to the menu about twice a month. Even children don’t seem to mind eating that vegetable, maybe because of the nice vinaigrette dressing. Choosing the leeks is the most … Continue reading
Posted in Starter
Tagged food, leek salad, leeks, mustard, recipe, recipes, salade de poireaux, vinaigrette
3 Comments
Claziena Mooy’s Ginger Cookies
Claziena, born in Heemskerk, Netherlands, emigrated to Nova Scotia with her husband Cornelus and nine children in April 1939 and they bought a dairy farm in the Annapolis valley. She was an accomplished baker, but her daughter Dora is even … Continue reading
Posted in Baking
Tagged cookies, dutch cookies, food, ginger, ginger cookies, ginger snaps, recipe, recipes
9 Comments
Strawberry delight
The local strawberries are ready for picking almost everywhere in Canada. There are so many good things to make with them, but if you want to really enjoy the amazing strawberry flavour, here is what my grand-mother used to do … Continue reading
Posted in Dessert
Tagged cooking, food, local strawberries, opinel, recipe, recipes, strawberries, yogurt
Leave a comment
Pacific Fanny Bay Oysters in blue cheese sauce
Fanny Bay oysters are farmed on the East coast of Vancouver Island. They are a fairly large and very tasty oyster that is best eaten cooked. You will need an average of four oysters per person as a main course, … Continue reading
Posted in Main Course, Starter
Tagged blue cheese, Fanny bay, fanny bay oysters, food, oysters, recipe, recipes, vol au vent
Leave a comment
Tomato Pie
The tomatoes are starting to have taste and it is going to get even better with the sun coming out for summer. This pie is a very good recipe for very ripe or even over-ripe tomatoes. First, drop 5 tomatoes … Continue reading
Posted in Starter
Tagged food, kalamata olives, quiche, recipe, recipes, sun-dried tomatoes, Tomato pie, tomatoes
1 Comment
Petits pois à la française
French for… green peas a la French! Green peas are a staple of British cuisine. Curiously enough, the French thought they should have their own way of cooking peas and serve them neither steamed nor mushed. This is what they … Continue reading
Posted in Vegetables
Tagged butter peas, dinner, food, France, green peas, peas, petits pois, recipe, recipes
2 Comments
Beurre Blanc sauce on Spring Salmon Steak
Tonight was Father’s Day dinner and we had wild Pacific Spring salmon, also called Chinook or King salmon. It was served with a sauce au beurre blanc, fresh peas, and Ravioles de Romans. Ravioles are a small herb ravioli from … Continue reading
Posted in Main Course
Tagged beurre blanc, chinook, cooking, dinner, food, France, king salmon, recipe, recipes, spring salmon
Leave a comment
Cole slaw
Nice name for a cabbage salad…. which is exactly how it is made. Cut the green cabbage into quarters, remove the white hard core, shred with a knife, a mandoline or a food processor. Make a dressing in the serving … Continue reading
Les Frites
When my brother finished his degree at the Lausanne Hotel school, he had to report for compulsory military service in France for one year. Like all new recruits, he had to do “les classes” or new recruit break-in for three … Continue reading
Roasted Butternut squash
We seem to have had a cold snap with fierce winds here in Victoria and felt like a lamb roast dinner to warm up. One of the vegetables was a roasted butternut squash. I used to make this the traditional … Continue reading
Posted in Vegetables
Tagged butternut, cooking, dinner, food, maple syrup, recipe, recipes, roasted squash, squash
6 Comments
Tarte aux poireaux
Leeks are so tasty and so healthy that, in France, cooks almost always add one or more leeks to vegetable soup. As a filling for the tart, they have an intense flavor and are a nice way to get all … Continue reading
Chocolate tea biscuit brick
This is another recipe from my childhood. Biscuits Brun had a gigantic tea biscuit factory on the outskirts of town. The Brun family built it in 1883 primarily to make biscuits for the military. The first war made them a … Continue reading
Posted in Dessert
Tagged biscuits brun, chocolate, cooking, food, lu, recipe, recipes, tea biscuit
3 Comments
Morel cream sauce on Roast Chicken
In Ontario, we used to go Morel picking in the Ganaraska Forest and come back with baskets full of the delicious spring fungi. My luck has not been good here in BC, I have not found my own spots and … Continue reading
Posted in Main Course
Tagged chicken, cooking, dinner, food, morel, morel cream sauce, morels, recipe, recipes
2 Comments
Stuffed orange peppers
This is an easy thing to make, it looks amazing, the ” but” being that it takes time to make. Mostly time to cook though, not a lot of work, so a pretty good menu choice. Most people will eat … Continue reading
Posted in Main Course
Tagged cooking, dinner, easy, food, orange peppers, recipe, recipes, sausage, stuffed peppers
5 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
Macédoine de légumes or Russian Salad
The question is : have you eaten your seven vegetables today? The answer is likely negative unless you had Macédoine de légumes for lunch. Let me explain, the name comes from Macedonia, the country formed by a bunch of smaller … Continue reading
Posted in Lunch, Vegetables
Tagged carrot, cooking, corn, food, green bean, lunch, macédoine de légumes, mayonnaise, nutirtion, peas, recipe, recipes, turnip
5 Comments
Onion Quiche (really tarte à l’oignon)
I got help today. When my husband makes apple pie, there is always enough pastry left for a small quiche for lunch the next day. The dish is only 8 inches in diameter and the amounts given below for the … Continue reading
Posted in Lunch
Tagged cooking, food, lunch, onion, onion quiche, onion tart, quiche, recipe, recipes, tarte a l oignon
Leave a comment
Sweet salmon dinner in 15 minutes
Running late today and a million excuses for it. The best one is that I got a new PC and I am still setting it up, so bear with me. That does not count as a valid excuse for not … Continue reading
Posted in Main Course
Tagged dinner, food, main course, mango, orange peppers, recipe, recipes, salmon
3 Comments
Duck noodle soup
No one is sick but I don’t like freezing much, so after the duck, comes the soup. I still had both carcasses, the wings, and necks so I cooked them in the pressure cooker with a clove garlic … Continue reading
Posted in Soup
Tagged duck soup, food, health, nutrition, recipe, recipes, soup, udon noodle
4 Comments
Canada duck with cherry jus
The simple way to make duck is to roast it in the oven exactly like the roast chicken from May 27th, except longer, much longer… and even then my last duck was not tender. So unless you are cooking magrets … Continue reading
Posted in Main Course
Tagged cooking, duck, duck fat, food, jus, matsutake, pine mushroom, recipe, recipes
2 Comments
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
Mousse au chocolat des écoliers
There used to be no school on Thursday afternoon in France when I was a kid. Usually, we celebrated by having a dessert at lunch that was not just a fruit like the other days. Most popular were mousse au … Continue reading
Posted in Dessert
Tagged chocolat, chocolate mousse, cooking, dessert, food, grand marnier, mousse au chocolat, poulain, recipe, recipes
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
Leave a comment
B.C.’s free lunch:Dungeness crab with garlic butter
Who says there is no free lunch? Well there is in BC if you get a tidal waters fishing licence for $21/year. With a licence, you may catch and bring home four Dungeness crabs every day for lunch or dinner … Continue reading
Posted in Main Course
Tagged cooking, crab, dungeness, fishing, food, Le Creuset, recipe, recipes, stock pot
3 Comments
The Cooking Frog's Blog 
You must be logged in to post a comment.