baked eggs

Baked Eggs (les oeufs en cocotte)

For me, food doesn’t always have to be a quick and easy affair. I enjoy the taste of meat that’s been slow-cooked for hours, or bread whose yeasted dough has rested overnight. That said, I can definitely appreciate a quick and effortless meal, especially when it’s incredibly delicious. These baked eggs with fresh herbs don’t have to be reserved for a special occasion, even if they look all formal set up in those pretty little ramekins. They’re so simple to make and they give a whole new meaning to creamy, dreamy eggs. 

Oreo Truffle Robin Eggs

Oreo Truffle Robin Eggs

Like many Americans, the French love to celebrate Easter. However, Pâques (Easter in French) is often celebrated over the course of a few days rather than just one Sunday like Americans do. In France, Easter is usually a long weekend sort of affair, which many of the French use as a chance to take a break from work and get out of town. That said, French kids still get up on Easter day and go egg-hunting like American children, and most of the time, they’re looking for chocolate eggs. It was with this spirit in mind that I created these Oreo truffle robin eggs. 

poulet frites

Poulet Frites

If you remember from a previous post, I talked about a cafe near the Sacre-Coeur Cathedral that I visited during one of my trips to Paris. The cafe had a drool-worthy chocolate mousse that I often dream about and went on a recipe hunt to recreate (which I successfully did here). It also had one of the best poulet frites dishes I’ve ever enjoyed in Paris. Now, everyone and their maman believes they’ve got the recipe for the best roast chicken, and I won’t argue that they don’t. Roast chicken can be enjoyed in so many different ways, and I’ve experienced tasty roast chicken many times in many different places. But there was something unique about the roast chicken I had at this cafe near the Cathedral; it had been lightly coated in a gravy-like sauce that seemed to make the chicken all the more juicy and flavorful. 

pasta with asparagus

Pasta with Asparagus

When I was younger, I used to dread Sundays. As a child, it meant early bedtime for school the next morning, and as a teen, it meant a copious amount of schoolwork that had been left undone the entire weekend. Now, Sundays are one of my favorite days of the week. Sundays are a day for me to relax and refresh. I enjoy a lazy breakfast, pick up groceries and fresh flowers from the farmer’s market, and then I spend the day cooking and eating a long, languid meal with family and friends. Lunch might start with a little bruschetta or garlic bread, maybe some mixed olives. Then there’s a light arugula salad and a main course made with the seasonal produce I picked up at the market. This Sunday, the menu featured pasta with asparagus, mushrooms, and creamy chèvre. 

Sole Meunière: Fish pan-fried in a lemon-butter sauce. 10 minute meal! Recipe via MonPetitFour.com

Sole Meunière

While I’m usually prepared to slow-cook, braise, and marinade my meats and poultry, I can’t say the same for fish. I’ve learned that fresh, wild-caught fish is most delicious when it’s romanced with simple ingredients. This sole meunière is the perfect example of that. A light dredge in flour, then the fish is off to a pan of brown butter to become succulent and moist beyond belief. This easy fish recipe is then finished off with a drizzle of lemon butter sauce and a garnish of parsley.

french baguettes

French Baguettes Made at Home

On my last trip to Paris, I reserved dinner at a cozy piano bar/restaurant in the 6th for the night of my arrival. When we sat down, I was still pretty delirious and jet-lagged, so I wasn’t really paying attention to anything other than my friends who were chatting with me. In fact, for a moment there, I completely forgot I was sitting in a cafe in Paris, France. It wasn’t until I absent-mindedly tore a piece off of the baguette on the table and put it in my mouth that I realized I was in my favorite city in the world. I immediately thought oh my goodness! The bread tasted incredible! Seriously, truly incredible. It tasted the way bread in France can only taste. A lot of people ask me how to make homemade baguettes like that, but non, ce n’est pas possible.

honey and orange madeleines

Honey and Orange Madeleines

I’ve always been naturally inclined to love anyone or anything with the name Madeleine. This is because I used to be obsessed with the cartoon “Madeline” as a young girl. I loved to watch the 12 little French girls go through daily life in Paris and experience French cultural traditions, such as enjoying a gouter, or late-afternoon snack, like most French children do. Le gouter can be anything sweet, like a chocolate biscuit, bread with jam, or even these honey and orange madeleines.

clafoutis aux poires

Clafoutis aux Poires

While I enjoy making delicate profiteroles or a frosted cake, I’ve never been one to take myself too seriously when it comes to the details of pastry making. I feel there’s a constant battle within me between my perfectionist tendencies and my impatient side. The perfectionist in me demands frosted cakes be smoothly finished, while my lack of patience will hold me back from creating something as intricate as handmade meringue flowers for the top of the cake. I admire those of you who commit to the art greatly, but it’s just not my cup of tea. That’s why French country cooking has always been my happy compromise. A dessert like this clafoutis aux poires delivers the elegance and beauty my perfectionist side seeks, and yet maintains the simplicity and ease that my impatient side is all too eager to take advantage of.

french beignets

French Beignets (boules de Berlin)

It may seem like the title of this post is a bit redundant considering beignets are French by origin, but I felt the need to clarify because of the variety of beignets that now exist throughout the world. Particularly, I felt the need to distinguish these beignets from the ones you’d find in New Orleans or many American bakeries. When I first when to Paris, I spotted beignets on a street vendor cart, not knowing they were beignets. They were round rather than square, like the beignets we often eat here in the States. When I actually bit into one, I found them much more cake-like than the beignets I was accustomed to. The beignets I’ve eaten in the States have often been somewhat hollow-like, much lighter and crisper than the French beignets I ate abroad. Since enjoying the soft, pillowy rounds that I enjoyed in Paris, I haven’t been able to eat any other kind of beignet; French beignets are simply divine. 

Crème d'asperges: creamy asparagus soup via MonPetitFour.com

Crème d’Asperges (Asparagus Soup)

I always think it’s so interesting how our tastes change as we grow older. Things we used to love, we may not be as excited about anymore. Likewise, things we used to hate, we may have a newfound adoration for. Take asparagus, for example. I used to cringe when my mom would serve a platter of roasted asparagus with dinner. Now, I’m more than happy to find them on my dining table, as evident by the recipe I shared for asparagus with hollandaise sauce. Since asparagus season has begun, I thought it only right to share another one of my favorite asparagus recipes, crème d’asperges. 

hazelnut chocolate cake

Hazelnut Chocolate Cake with Caramel Marshmallow Ice Cream

On occasion, I get the temptation for something utterly tantalizing and decadent. Actually, who am I kidding? I constantly find myself battling the temptation to indulge. In Paris, this battle proves to be most difficult and constant since there are an endless amount of patisseries lined up along the cobblestone streets of the city, featuring gorgeous cakes, tarts, and confectionaries. While indulgence can come in the form of a butter cake, such as the creme brulee cake I made last week, I find that nothing beats an intensely rich and moist chocolate cake. This hazelnut chocolate cake is the kind of cake that commands you to close your eyes and release a sigh of pure contentment. And if that wasn’t enough, I paired this cake with my favorite no-churn, caramel marshmallow ice cream for ultra decadence. 

winter citrus salad

Winter Citrus Salad

Before I started shopping for my produce at the farmer’s market, I really didn’t know which fruits and vegetables belonged to which season. Aside from the watermelon that I could only find in the summer, I was pretty clueless when it came to choosing the best produce for the season. It wasn’t until I bought a particularly sweet and wonderful batch of oranges during one winter day at the farmer’s market that I realized there was a difference. There are definitely fruits and vegetables that have heightened flavor and quality during certain times of the year, and this includes the oranges and spinach I used to create this winter citrus salad. 

pear feta tart
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Pear Feta Tart

I’m not much of a sports fan with the exception of enjoying a good hockey game. That’s why if you asked me when the Superbowl is, I wouldn’t be able to tell you. I’d just know it’s sometime in February. The date that I am aware of is the date of the Oscars (which is February 28th this year). Watching the Oscars has always been me and my mom’s thing. We usually make a few different finger foods or snacks, pour ourselves a glass of wine, and comment on red carpet attire and cheer our favorite movies on. Sometimes we haven’t even seen all the movies but cheer for them anyways because our favorite actors or actresses are in them (I mean, anything with Leo deserves an Oscar, right?). So you can understand that my idea of “game day” food is really just “girls’ night excuse to eat and drink” food, because that’s all I’ve ever known. While other people are making hot wings or blending their own salsa, I’m here creating this pear feta tart for my glass of cabernet. Fancy? Not really, because you’ll see how easy it is to whip up in the video below.

concombre a la menthe

Concombre a la menthe

One of my favorite things about French food is its simplicity. You may be thinking that French food seems quite complicated, but I would guess that you’re thinking of fancy Parisian restaurants that specialize in haute cuisine. Real French food is simple, uncomplicated, and incredibly delicious. Take this concombre à la menthe salad, a simple medley of sliced cucumbers and mint with a light yogurt dressing. You can whip up this salad in a matter of minutes, serving this dish as a light accompaniment to some grilled beef or lamb. 

Mille-Feuille Café: coffee-flavored napoleons made with pastry cream and puff pastry. A French dessert recipe via MonPetitFour.com

Mille-Feuille Café

A thousand layers of buttery goodness, that’s what this mille-feuille is, and it’s also quite literally what mille-feuille means in French. Mille-feuille, or a thousand leaves in French, refers to the pastry dough that the dessert is made with, which is called pâte feuilletée. Pâte feuilletée is the equivalent of puff pastry, producing numerous golden, flaky layers that are as crisp and airy as they are buttery and indulgent. Classic mille-feuille can be made with any number of fillings, including pastry cream and jam. For this mille-feuille café, I’ve flavored the pastry cream with a bit of instant espresso powder, in addition to adding a splash of brewed coffee to the glaze. 

tarte au sucre

Tarte au Sucre

I know some of you are making New Years resolutions to avoid all carbs and/or sugar, but consider this recipe for one of your cheat days. This tarte au sucre is a wonderfully simple and classic afternoon treat many French children grow up eating after a day of school. Like a tarte tropezienne, which is a brioche cake with a custard filling, this tarte au sucre derives much of its sweetness from one particular component in the dish. In a tarte tropezienne, that is the custard filling. In a tarte au sucre, that happens to be the caramelized sugar topping. Unlike an American cake, this tart’s “cake” layer is really just a yeast dough with minimal sweetness. That’s why this tarte can be enjoyed as a sweet snack after school (or mid-workday) rather than a decadent dessert that would usually be enjoyed after a meal. 

pot au feu

Pot au Feu (Beef Stew)

When you find yourself cozying up by a fire with your feet in socks and a blanket over your lap, there’s no better time for a comforting meal of pot au feu to warm your belly. I know this because I grew up eating this dish, long before I even knew what it was called. It’s the kind of meal that haute cuisine scrunches its nose at, but secretly devours with fervor and delight. Pot au feu, literally meaning “pot on the fire,” is a French beef stew made with meat, potatoes, carrots, and any other vegetables you can get your hands on. It’s uncomplicated and incredibly satisfying, making it a revered dish in France. 

Frisee aux Lardons: Endive salad with bacon, a fried egg, and a light vinaigrette. Recipe via MonPetitFour.com

Frisée aux Lardons (Salade Lyonnaise)

The French have this very strict attitude about meal time. I don’t just mean their behavior during meal time or what they’re eating. I’m talking about actual meal time. Breakfast, should they choose to eat it, is early in the morning, lunch is from 12pm to 2pm, and dinner is 7pm and after. If you try to hop into a restaurant around 2:30 or 3pm, you better hope you have luck on your side that day as most restaurants begin to close down for the afternoon. This is always an adjustment for me as I don’t always manage to eat within those time frames, especially when I’m dealing with jet lag and find myself waking up at 10 am in France! If you find yourself hungry at 3pm, looking for a late lunch, your best bet is to stop into a boulangerie and grab a sandwich or head to a brasserie where you may find a tasty frisée aux lardons. 

galette des rois

Galette des rois aux pommes (King’s cake)

You know what I love about the French? They never stop feasting. Just when everybody here in the States is stocking up on green smoothies and kale salads, the French are out buying frangipane-filled pastry cakes from their local boulangerie. While we’re taking down our Christmas decorations and sulking over the end of the holiday celebrations, the French are preparing for yet another chance to gather together and eat like royalty. This, my friends, is why I love the French so very much. In the spirit of embracing my Francophile tendencies, I’m putting off my salad recipe until later this week. Instead, I share this Galette des rois aux pommes with you. 

peanut butter white chocolate bark

Peanut Butter White Chocolate Bark

Who knew slabs of peanut butter and white chocolate could be so good? Well, I did! And I mean that in the least snootiest way. I have years and years of peanut butter eating under my belt to know that if you throw peanut butter into the mix, the result is pretty much always going to be fantastic. As a kid, my family used to joke that if you took a look at my insides, they were probably coated in peanut butter. I ate peanut butter, Skippy Peanut Butter to be specific, everyday in a PB&J sandwich and in almost any baked good that I could get my hands on. Till this day, I still sometimes find myself sticking a spoon straight into a jar of peanut butter for a quick, afternoon pick-me-up. It was actually during one of these indulgent moments that I thought about making this peanut butter white chocolate bark with it.