french chocolate mousse recipe image

French Chocolate Mousse Recipe

Oh, how this French chocolate mousse tested my patience! But I guess that’s what happens when you decide to follow a recipe from a sacred French establishment like Le Cordon Bleu. Recipe failure is also bound to happen when you’re attempting to recreate perfection off a distant memory. When I set out to make this mousse, I wanted to recreate the mousse I had at the corner cafe, steps away from the Sacre Coeur Cathedral in Paris. The mousse was as rich and thick as it was light and fluffy; a contradiction that seems impossible, but yet is magically so. 

Profiteroles Recipe on a plate with warm chocolate sauce

Profiteroles Recipe

One of my good friends sent me an article recommending this classic French bistro right before one of my trips to Paris. It was a picturesque restaurant right near Place des Victoires in the 1st arr., and was conveniently named Bistrot des Victoires. The restaurant’s menu featured a lot of my favorite bistro items like steak frites and soupe à l’oignon, so I knew that I definitely wanted to pop in. The restaurant served a tasty steak, but what’s always stood out in my memory from that night were the profiteroles I ordered for dessert. They were so wildly decadent that I just couldn’t help but clap my hands in glee over the dessert presented before me. 

Beef Bourguignon: slow-cooked beef stew served with carrots, mushrooms, and mashed potatoes. Recipe via MonPetitFour.com

Beef Bourguignon: A slow-cooked Burgundy meal

The French are known for their talent and skill in their culinary creations, but perhaps one of their most loved dishes is actually one of their most simple. Beef Bourguignon is a beef stew consisting of beef that has been braised in red wine, beef broth, and infused with flavors of garlic, onion, and herbs. It was actually a meal made and eaten by peasants in historical France, but now it’s become a “fancy” dish to enjoy by people around the world. While it’s name and appearance can look fancy, I’m here to tell you that it’s actually a really easy dish to create.

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. 

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.