120 French recipes. Page 2 of 5. Compare ingredients and cooking times. Black Rice Walnut Madeleines, French Crepes, Potato Leek Soup.
A 15-minute rest in the fridge before baking helps the batter rise into the madeleine's raised hump. Black rice flour gives the crumb a purple cast, and coarsely chopped walnuts turn up here and there.
On Paris streets, crepe sellers spread the batter across wide round griddles, fill it, and hand it over folded into a paper-wrapped triangle to eat while walking. The crepe itself tastes of little more than butter and egg. Nutella and strawberries suit it as well as Gruyere and ham. The batter needs at least an hour in the fridge but keeps for up to two days; mix it the night before and the morning only needs a hot pan.
Sweating the leeks and onion in butter over low heat for about six minutes, glossy but never browned, is what keeps this soup mild. The body comes from puréed potato, and once chilled, the finished soup can be served like a vichyssoise.
Simmered slowly with pork shoulder and sausage, the white beans start to break down and thicken the broth on their own, without any roux. The work starts the day before, with the beans soaking for at least 8 hours.
Three onions cooked slowly in butter for more than 20 minutes, until deep amber, are nearly the whole tart. There is only enough egg and cream custard to hold them together, and Gruyere on top bakes into a salty brown crust.
Spoonfuls of meringue poached in milk float like islands on cold crème anglaise, with thin threads of caramel across the top. Each side of the meringue gets only a minute, setting the outside while the inside stays airy, a clear contrast with the smooth custard underneath. Whipped whites deflate if they wait, which is why the custard comes first and goes into the fridge.
Because this soup is served cold, it gets seasoned a little more heavily than usual while still warm. Chilling dulls the taste of salt. Only the leek whites go in, cooked gently in butter without browning, and the soup stays a pale cream color.
Grated Gruyere and Emmental melt into gently steaming white wine to make a thick, glossy dip for cubes of baguette. Tossing the cheese with cornstarch first keeps it from seizing into clumps, and the wine and lemon juice cut the richness and salt of the aged cheeses. Too much heat splits the fondue into oil and lumps, so the wine never reaches a boil.
With butter at half the weight of the flour plus three eggs, this loaf bakes up yellow inside, with a soft crumb that pulls apart in strands. The crust turns a deep golden brown, and the bread needs to cool completely before slicing or the tender crumb squashes under the knife.
Golden chicken thighs simmer in a sauce of browned mushrooms, shallots, white wine and tomato in this French hunter-style braise. The skin is left undisturbed until it releases on its own; lifted too early, it tears. When the sauce runs slowly off a spoon, it is done, and mashed potatoes or crusty bread take care of whatever sauce remains.
A thin, deep caramel-colored crust crackles when bitten, giving way to a soft custard center scented with vanilla and dark rum. This is a bake to plan ahead: batter for these small Bordeaux cakes needs at least a full day of resting in the fridge.
Pounded chicken breast rolled around ham and Emmental, breaded and pan-fried in butter and oil, shows a ring of melted cheese in every slice. Tucking in any exposed cheese keeps it from leaking into the pan.
Added in a lump, chestnut paste leaves dense streaks through the crumb, so it is loosened with a little milk first and then mixed evenly through the batter. Any bite of the moist center tastes of chestnut and honey. The batter is chilled before baking, and when it meets a hot oven the middle shoots up into the signature hump.
The chicken thighs get only a light golden sear, which keeps this cream sauce pale and mild rather than turning it into a brown stew. Onion, garlic and mushrooms softened in butter give the sauce its sweetness, and the cream is reduced just until it coats a spoon thinly. Baguette or boiled potatoes soak up whatever sauce is left.
Chestnut paste folded with whipped cream is piped in thin strands over small butter cupcakes until each one looks like a tiny Mont Blanc. In Japan the Mont Blanc is closely tied to autumn, and the cupcake format makes it easy to serve one per person rather than cutting a whole cake.
Slice into the breaded chicken and melted garlic-parsley butter runs out from the center. The butter is frozen into a firm cylinder before it is wrapped, so it survives the cooking. The pan only browns the crust, and the oven at 190°C finishes the inside.
A short bake in a very hot oven sets the sides and top like cake while the center stays as melted chocolate that runs out at the first spoonful. Since the cakes are turned out onto the plate, the ramekins are buttered and coated with cocoa with no gaps. The batter can wait in the ramekins in the fridge; baked straight from cold, it needs 1 or 2 minutes more.
Cherry tomatoes burst as they cook, and their juice mixes with salty black olives, capers, and thyme into a bright southern French sauce. Skin-on thighs are essential: searing the skin over high heat until deep golden gives both crisp texture and the browned layer in the pan that white wine later dissolves into the sauce. The finished sauce is reduced just enough to coat a spoon thinly and cling to the chicken rather than run off.
A spoon breaking through the thin, set crust finds hot chocolate cream underneath that is still half liquid. The table and any vanilla ice cream should be ready before the ramekins enter the oven, since it starts to sink almost as soon as it comes out. The butter and sugar lining gives the batter something to climb, and without it the rise tilts or splits.
Sealed in parchment, the cod steams in its own trapped vapor and stays moist from edge to center. White wine and lemon perfume that steam, while thyme brings out the sweetness of the zucchini and cherry tomatoes. Opening the packet at the table releases all of the aroma at once, which is part of the point. Foil works in place of parchment, and carrots, asparagus, or spinach can stand in for the vegetables.
Hollow choux shells filled with cold vanilla cream start as a paste cooked in the saucepan, and in the oven the water in that dough turns to steam and inflates each mound. The shells must be completely cool before filling, or the cream melts. A fresh one gives a crisp crack and then cold custard, but moisture from the cream gradually softens the pastry. Fill them close to serving, or refrigerate filled puffs and eat them within two to three hours.
Simmered gently in red wine, chicken pieces take on the wine's fruit and tannin, ending in a dark, concentrated sauce. The flavor foundation is laid at the start, when the chicken is browned in batches to leave a brown crust on the pan that the wine then dissolves. Bacon lardons, shallots, and garlic build on that base. Better wine gives a deeper sauce, and the dish improves if made a day ahead and reheated.
From the Limousin region of France, this dessert starts with a batter much thinner than pancake batter, poured over cherries and baked into something closer to soft custard than cake. The edges puff and brown while the fruit leaves pockets of juice around it. Made with plums, apricots, or blueberries instead of cherries, it goes by another name, flaugnarde.
Tender scallops, a light cream sauce, and a crisp Gruyere and breadcrumb crust all land on the same spoon. Scallops toughen quickly, so the pan sear is brief and the oven finishes the warming. Reducing the white wine by half concentrates its acidity, and with cream and lemon juice the sauce stays bright instead of heavy. Any surface moisture on the scallops turns to steam and blocks browning, so they are pressed thoroughly dry first. Bake and serve them in ramekins or scallop shells, with baguette for the leftover sauce.