Cooking with Anne Willan’s "The Country Cooking of France"

[FrogPrincesse]

And here are the classic Gougères. Great recipe (I love the touch of interest that espelette brings), although for some reason I can't get it to work when I double quantities. I end up with soup.

 

These are great as a pre-dinner snack with wine or cocktails. I like to freeze the dough in individual portions on a sheet pan so I always have some on hand, and then I cook them at the last minute for impromptu cocktail parties.

 

          

 

Link to recipe on google books.

[FrogPrincesse]

That looks like a good way to get more squash into our diet, now that the season is here. Thanks for posting the photo and recipe.

 

You are very welcome. I am always on the lookout for good squash recipes in the fall!

[FrogPrincesse]

Galettes Bretonnes which are traditional butter cookies from Brittany. Of course the key here is to use high quality butter which Brittany is famous for. I found that the thickness was important as they become dry if less than 1 cm (about 1/3 in). I did my best to mimic the patterns I've seen in France using a fork.

 

 

Recipe on google books.

[FrogPrincesse]

Quatre-Quarts which is the French take on the pound cake. I used high quality butter and freshly milled flour. A tad dense but the nutty flavor from the flour was very nice. Best enjoyed with jam and a cup of tea. I liked that the outside was almost caramelized.

 

 

 

 

[FrogPrincesse]

Recently I was looking for a nice braised dish for a dinner party. I decided to make Carbonnade Flamande, which is a beef stewed in dark beer. I used an entire bottle of Chimay Bleue for the dish, and served it with braised red cabbage, boiled potatoes, and a magnum of 2011 Grande Reserve Chimay. The only complaint was that there weren't enough leftovers!

 

The browned meat, with the onions cooking in the background (I find that properly browning the meat is the key step is all meat braises, and like to really take my time to get to a dark brown color on all sides). This was a large piece of chuck/shoulder that I cut into smaller pieces. There is a ton of onions in the recipe, which gives a wonderful flavor not too dissimilar to French onion soup.

 

 

 

 

What it looks like after spending time in the oven

 

 

 

The red cabbage cut a bit of the richness of the dish and was a nice counterpoint. I cooked it with white wine and a few smashed juniper berries, a bit like sauerkraut.

 

 

 

Leftovers

 

 

 

[rotuts]

@FrogPrincesse  

 

that looks sooooo  delicious  .

[FrogPrincesse]

@rotuts It was, trust me!

I had made carbonnade flamande before using other recipes, and this version was by far the most flavorful I've ever made.