Your Best French Bistro Dishes

[David Ross]

16 hours ago, gfweb said:

Mushroom and pepper "souffle"

 

That looks delicious.  I'd love the recipe so I can make it this weekend.  Thanks.

[David Ross]

10 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

Those potatoes are gorgeous, @David Ross!  Thanks for posting.  I will definitely be making them.  

Thanks.  It really is an easy recipe.  Turning the potatoes out of the skillet onto a plates is a bit of a challenge, but just do it quickly and it's fine.  

[Smithy]

David, thanks for reviving this topic. Somehow I missed it the first time around.

 

The timing is especially interesting because I'm taking a cooking class (on Craftsy / Bluprint) on Northern Italian cookery. One of his dishes is frico (fricò, if you mind your diacriticals) and it is remarkably like your Pommes de Terre Macaire. They have slightly different ingredients (other than the potatoes, of course) but are enough like in technique and result that I feel like I'm getting a nudge from the Universe.  I must make one, or the other, or both, soon!

[gfweb]

7 hours ago, David Ross said:

That looks delicious.  I'd love the recipe so I can make it this weekend.  Thanks.

😀That was an old photo.  I haven’t made this in ages.
 

If I recall correctly I beat the hell out of two whole eggs with a tsp or so of water...s/p...sautéed mushrooms and peppers or sometimes onions...poured in a ramekin...topped with shredded cheese. Broiled for about 10-15 min.  It rises a little and shells out with a big spoon when done.   Sometimes I added arugula or roasted tomato.
 

I need to test this recipe.  I don’t trust that I remembered everything. Perhaps there was heavy cream too.  Apologies if it doesn’t work. 

Edited January 15, 2020 by gfweb (log)

[gfweb]

Duck breast and potatoes dauphinoise (no cheese)

 

[weinoo]

Duck confit being re-crisped with 2 kinds of potatoes.

[gfweb]

Red wine braised short rib and veg

 

[Kim Shook]

One of my favorite versions of onion soup.  And I'm ashamed to say that it's been so long since I've made it that I can't find a picture!  I need to make this soon.  It is dead easy and incredibly good.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

I think I just posted one of my favorites, oeufs en meurette, poached eggs in bacon and veg enhanced red wine sauce, often referred to as beef bourguignon with egg instead of beef.   This is ultimate comfort food.   

 

Another recent venture was a pot of rillettes, pork shoulder cubes cooked down in a bit of water and their own fat.  This is a staple pre-meal snack with baguette and cornichon, or a fine cafe lunch.

This is incredibly easy to make but I should warn that you really need to add all of the fat called for in a recipe.    I seldom allow myself to do so, and my end result would be better for it.

[heidih]

I grew up with American steaks. When I got to Corsica - steak frites was a pleasant and welcome eye opener. The frites of course wonderful. The beef - chewier and thinner than I was used to BUT really enjoyable. 

[David Ross]

@Margaret Pilgrim thank you so much for the posts, especially the poached egg in red wine sauce.  One of my favorite bistro dishes, but I had all forgotten about it until your post.  Now it's on my list.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

@David Ross  This dish has brought me the best compliment about my cooking ever from my husband.     I was enjoying this dish (oeufs en meurette) in a classic and famous little bistro in the Cote d'Or.    Husband has never like this dish at home so I encouraged him to taste this, "the real thing".     He took a spoonful, grimaced and said, "I still don't like it.   It tastes just like yours!"  

[heidih]

I posted steak frites above and forgot Moules-Frites  I refused to eat shellfish when in France (stupid teen) but the dish fascinated me visually - mussels can be beautiful . Now high on favorites list.

Edited January 16, 2020 by heidih (log)

[gfweb]

After reflection, most of what I cook (except the Italian stuff) would fit here.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Indeed!    As a culture, we're heavily "Cal-Med".   A little French here, Italian there...

[Margaret Pilgrim]

One of the most predictable items on a bistro menu is "potage du jour", a delicious, often haunting, soup made from rescued kitchen tidbits, costing almost nothing and guaranteed to assuage the diner's hunger without costly ingredients.     A staple in French homes as well as a personal stand-by for days when I've not shopped...as well as relief for the vegetable bin.  Possibilities are endless.     One or two vegetables, something from the onion family, water or broth and a blender plus oddments either dairy,veg or seafood or porky as decoration.    This is truly one of my go-tos and is even requested by family.    And leftovers = lunch.

Les Papilles, a popular Paris bistro/wine bar, includes a tureen of this kind of soup with every meal.    You are served a soupplate with a mirepoix of crunchy vegetables and crispy bacon  plus a scoop of creme fraiche or fromage blanc in the bottom and you serve yourself soup as you please.     Always different, always the same, always a highlight.

 

[Okanagancook]

Beautiful soups!  I love soups.  A soup made carefully with restraint is not easy to achieve.  

[David Ross]

Now I really have to do eggs poached in red wine.  This morning on CreateTv, (a hybrid PBS show we get that is mainly cooking, painting and crafting shows), Sarah Moulton was doing a French menu inspired by her work and friendship with Julia Child.  She did a dish of eggs in red wine.  But the serving had me.  Red wine sauce in bowl, two slices of crusty bread, the eggs, then some grilled asparagus.  Then she poured herself a glass of red wine.  I think my Superbowl menu, albeit a USA sport, should be filled with French Bistro dishes.

 

[blue_dolphin]

On 1/15/2020 at 6:18 PM, Margaret Pilgrim said:

I think I just posted one of my favorites, oeufs en meurette, poached eggs in bacon and veg enhanced red wine sauce

 

As soon as I saw this thread, oeufs en meurette came immediately to mind. I used to travel to Seattle every two weeks or so and the oeufs en meurette at Café Campagne were a frequent treat whenever I could get there.  It was served with pommes frites to get the last of the fabulous sauce - yum!

I understand they make the sauce with a rich demiglace and foie gras butter, two items that have never been found in my fridge but maybe I can try to make something that at least resembles it! 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

1 hour ago, David Ross said:

Now I really have to do eggs poached in red wine. 

 

 

44 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

 I can try to make something that at least resembles it! 

 

Suggest that you make double batches and freeze half.    Always wonderful to have on hand when the yen strikes.    Just using excellent bacon, and a respectable knob of butter at the end will bring you close enough to the real thing.

[David Ross]

3 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

As soon as I saw this thread, oeufs en meurette came immediately to mind. I used to travel to Seattle every two weeks or so and the oeufs en meurette at Café Campagne were a frequent treat whenever I could get there.  It was served with pommes frites to get the last of the fabulous sauce - yum!

I understand they make the sauce with a rich demiglace and foie gras butter, two items that have never been found in my fridge but maybe I can try to make something that at least resembles it! 

A wonderful restaurant

[David Ross]

For my next dish I'll be doing a favorite I haven't made in a couple of years, (mainly because my local seafood market closed and it's been hard to find another local source).  Brandade de Nimes, Bacalao, or as I call it for friends and family, Salt Cod au Gratin. This holiday season it was in all the supermarkets, which is a good sign to me and says folks in this area ask for it.  I but the Galeceo brand from Canada that comes in a little wooden box.  Right now it's soaking in cold water in the fridge.  I'll change the water over the course of the next day and start the preparation tommorrow.

  

 

[heidih]

Looking forward to your salt cod. When I first had it I was clueless. I was relying on some incredible give away books from local S & Ls - i would kills for those today - excellent writers. I am  sucker for the wood boxes. Back in 70's it was stocked here by Ralphs  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralphs

 

[gfweb]

Strip steak, brandy dijon sauce and roasted root veg

 

[chromedome]

14 hours ago, David Ross said:

For my next dish I'll be doing a favorite I haven't made in a couple of years, (mainly because my local seafood market closed and it's been hard to find another local source).  Brandade de Nimes, Bacalao, or as I call it for friends and family, Salt Cod au Gratin. This holiday season it was in all the supermarkets, which is a good sign to me and says folks in this area ask for it.  I but the Galeceo brand from Canada that comes in a little wooden box.  Right now it's soaking in cold water in the fridge.  I'll change the water over the course of the next day and start the preparation tommorrow.

  

 

 

My sister's hubby is a trucker, hauling seafood from Yarmouth NS to distributors in New England. Amusing to speculate if your salt cod had left the country on his truck.

When I was a kid we would get "CARE packages" a couple of times a year from Newfoundland, which always included a few big, shingle-like whole salted cod from my grandparents. I always looked forward to those arriving, because it meant homemade fishcakes (not that those really belong on this thread, but...).