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: verygoodrecipe
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
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
Red Lentil Tandoori Dahl with Eggplant to serve with Easter Lamb
It all started about a month ago, Valentine’s day to be exact. I was serving dinner for three couples and the theme was red. So, there I was looking at a bag of split red lentils and wondering how to … Continue reading
Downton Abbey’s Dark Chocolate Bread Pudding with Salted Caramel Sauce
Last night, I was invited to dinner and showing of Episode 1 Season 3 of Downton Abbey, a casual Sunday night with friends. They roasted the Rosemary lemon chicken, a free range tender and tasty bird from Metchosin, raised with … Continue reading
Posted in Dessert, Events
Tagged bread pudding, caramel sauce, downton abbey recipe, food, recipes, verygoodrecipe
5 Comments
Thanksgiving Dinner with all the trimmings, Caramelized Parsnip and Carrot fries
For some curious reason, which I did not figure out, my Canadian family’s Thanksgiving dinner was hosted today, Saturday, in prime Haliburton cottage country in a solid wood chalet by chilly Lake Kushog (believe me, I actually had a short … Continue reading
Posted in Little help from my friends
Tagged food, parsnip, parsnip fries, recipes, thanksgiving dinner, trimmings, turkey, verygoodrecipe
4 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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Cream or not Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup
Saturday, I picked wild white chanterelles in the pouring rain and tonight the forecast is warning against frost. The Indian Fall is not that hot this year and I am making mushroom soup to warm up. The best way to … Continue reading
Posted in Soup
Tagged chanterelles, chanterelles soup, food, mushroom, mushroom soup, recipes, soup, verygoodrecipe
4 Comments
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
Heirloom Tomato Salad
It used to be that there were no really good tomatoes until the middle of summer, the kind that ripened on the plant in dry heat under the hot sun. They were firm, really red, sweet but with still a … Continue reading
Posted in Starter, Vegetables, Vegetarian
Tagged basil, food, French tomato salad, heirloom tomato, recipes, shallot, verygoodrecipe
2 Comments
Wild fiddlehead and fresh Fava bean salad
Tis the season to get in the woods and pick edible greens. Fiddleheads (or crosses de fougères in French) are a delicious vegetables full of vitamins. They must be picked while they are still completely rolled up, and only the … Continue reading
Posted in Starter, Uncategorized, Vegetables, Vegetarian
Tagged crosses de fougeres, fava beans, fiddleheads, food, goat cheese, recipes, salad, verygoodrecipe
2 Comments
French Crêpes are always fun to make!
February 2nd is Chandeleur day in Europe, it is a day of purification after winter when all candles are lit in celebration. It marks the end of winter and was officially the first day of the sowing season. Hence, the … Continue reading
Posted in Baking, Dessert
Tagged candelmas, chandeleur, crêpe, crepes, dessert, food, french crepe, verygoodrecipe
6 Comments
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
Leg of lamb roast with goat cheese & grainy mustard stuffing
Supermarkets in North America are having giant turkey sales for Easter. They could give it to me for free and I would not want it. I cannot celebrate Easter without a spring lamb roast. We used to have the full … Continue reading
Posted in Main Course
Tagged food, lamb roast, leg of lamb, recipes, stuffed leg of lamb, verygoodrecipe
4 Comments
Poulet Chasseur
The morels are not out on Vancouver Island and this is a good time of year for recipes with white mushroom. I found some baby white mushroom the other day at the grocer and that put me in the mood … Continue reading
Posted in Main Course
Tagged chicken hunter, food, poulet champignon, poulet chasseur, poulet saute chasseur, recipes, verygoodrecipe
2 Comments
Topinambour, the Jerusalem artichoke now called sunroot.
The French is topinambour, in English it used to be the Jerusalem artichoke but stores are now calling it sunchoke or sunroot, maybe because it is neither from Jerusalem nor a member of the artichoke family. It is a tuber … Continue reading
Posted in Vegetables, Vegetarian
Tagged food, jerusalem artichoke, recipes, root cellar, root vegetables, sunchoke, sunroot, topinambour, verygoodrecipe
6 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
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
Quiche with spinach
There is a good idea for a quickly prepared impromptu lunch. Pretty much your regular “quiche lorraine” recipe with added spinach. We had that today with a fresh beet salad on the side. It was a perfect winter lunch. For … Continue reading
Roasted Yams à la Canadienne
You might think that yams are sweet enough, but… if you are Canadian or leave in Canada and have to go through the Canadian winter, you might think that you can’t get enough calories from vegetables alone to keep you … Continue reading
Posted in Vegetables
Tagged food, maple syrup, recipes, roasted yam, Vegetables, vegetarian, verygoodrecipe, yams
3 Comments
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
Good old Times Butter Tarts from home-made Lard
When it comes to baking, Sharon is a perfectionist. And that is our luck because she has allowed me to share her recipes for the best butter tarts I have ever had. I say recipes, because we are not talking … Continue reading
Posted in Baking, Little help from my friends
Tagged baking, butter tarts, food, home-made lard, lard, leaf lard, recipes, verygoodrecipe
2 Comments
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
Cauliflower au gratin (gratin de chou-fleur)
This is to me the ultimate French vegetable cliché, as it is so often on the menu of French restaurants abroad along with coq au vin and escargots. I used to serve it at Restaurant Chez Solange in London where … Continue reading
Posted in Vegetables
Tagged calcium, cauliflower, food, gratin, Le Creuset, recipes, sauce blanche, Vegetables, verygoodrecipe
6 Comments
Ratatouille
The best thing about Ratatouille is that the whole house will smell as if you are in Nice. Therefore, make it sort of at the last minute so that when the dinner guests arrive, they will become instantly ravenous. Most … Continue reading
Posted in Vegetables
Tagged cocotte, eggplant, Le Creuset, peppers, Provence, ratatouille, recipes, verygoodrecipe, zuchini
3 Comments
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