French Recipes and Cookbooks

• Andouillette - Andouillette is a type of sausage that historically comes from Lyon, Cambrai or Troyes. Traditionally it is made from the stomach and colon of a pig, but nowadays the contents may vary, though it usually includes the intestines of a pig, cow or calf. It has a rubbery texture, and very strong animal-like flavor and smell, that if you are unused to it, you may find disconcerting or even unpleasant. Andouillette is usually eaten hot, but may be sliced and eaten cold.
  
  
• Beef Bourguignon (French: Bœuf bourguignon) - A stew prepared by cooking beef in red wine with carrots and onions. Garlic and herbs are used for flavoring, and lardons (cubes of bacon prepared from the back fat of a pig) are usually used in the recipe. The dish is garnished with mushrooms and onions.
  
  
• Blanquette de veau - Veal poached with aromatic vegetables in water or stock. The vegetables are then discarded and the sauce thickened by adding cream and egg yolks. Mushrooms and onions are also added to and cooked in the sauce.
  
  
• Bouillabaisse - This is a fish stew, from the Provençal region, and especially the city of Marseille. The dish is prepared by cooking a variety of fish and shellfish (as many as a dozen varieties) with celery, leeks, onions and tomatoes, in stock flavored with herbs and spices. When the dish is served, the fish and stew are placed in separate bowls, and the stew is poured over "rouille", which is French bread seasoned with bread crumbs, olive oil and chili.
  
  
• Coq au vin - This well-known French dish is prepared by fricasseeing chicken in wine with lardons (cubes of bacon prepared from the back fat of a pig), mushrooms, and garlic. Traditionally, older roosters are used when preparing coq au vin, as they contain more connective tissue, which results in a richer broth. According to legend this recipe was eaten by Julius Caesar during his conquest of Gaul, but it unclear if this story is actually true.
  
  
• Escargot - Snails - often eaten as an appetizer - normally cooked in garlic butter.
  
  
• French onion soup - According to legend this soup was invented by King Louis XV (or perhaps King Louis XIV) when he returned to his hunting lodge and had to improvise a new recipe from an almost bare larder. This soup is made from onions and beef broth, and topped with cheese and croutons.
  
  
  
• Pot-au-feu - A spicy stew made with beef and vegetables (carrots, celery, leeks, onions and turnips).
  
  
• Quiche - Quiches are baked dishes made with heavy cream, and eggs in a pastry crust. Traditionally cheese is not used when making quiche, but nowadays, most recipes do include some cheese. Quiche Lorraine is simply quiche with some bacon in the mixture. Quiche Alsacienne is the same as Quiche Lorraine, but with onions added.
  
  
  
• Crêpes - Crêpes are thin pancakes made from wheat flour that are originally from Brittany (French: Bretagne). There are both savory (crêpes salées) and sweet (crêpes sucrées) varieties available.
  
  
• Éclairs - Éclairs are hollow baked pastries (made from choux pastry - a very light version of pastry), which when cool are filled with pastry cream (crème pâtissière), custard or whipped cream, and then topped with either chocolate or icing.
  
  
• Profiteroles - Like éclairs, profiteroles are made from choux pastry, but they are however much smaller. They are normally filled pastry cream (crème pâtissière) or whipped cream, sometimes glazed with caramel, and often served with chocolate sauce.
  
  
• Chocolate mousse - A creamy dessert made from eggs and cream, and flavored with chocolate.
  
  
• Crème brûlée - A vanilla custard base topped with a hard layer of caramel made by burning sugar under a grill, blowtorch or other intense heat source.

• Recipes and Cookbooks

Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook: Strategies, Recipes, and Techniques of Classic Bistro Cooking By Anthony Bourdain Bloomsbury USA Released: 2004-09-23 Hardcover (304 pages) List Price: $37.50 Lowest New Price: $20.79 Lowest Used Price: $22.15 Usually ships in 24 hours (As of 03:06 Pacific 13 May 2008 More Info) Click Here Product Description: In this long-awaited cookbook, Anthony Bourdain reveals the hearty, delicious recipes of Les Halles and the provocative tricks of the trade that have made him a celebrated name across the globe. Before stunning the world with his bestselling Kitchen Confidential and A Cook's Tour, Anthony Bourdain spent years serving some of the best French brasserie food in New York. With its no-nonsense, down-to-earth atmosphere, Les Halles matches Bourdain's style perfectly: a restaurant where you can dress down, talk loudly, drink a little too much wine, and have a good time with friends. Now, Bourdain gives us his Les Halles Cookbook, a cookbook like no other: candid, funny, audacious, full of his signature charm and bravado. So bring a sharp knife, a big appetite, and a willingness to learn, as Bourdain teaches you everything you need to know to prepare classic French bistro fare. While you're being guided, in simple steps, through recipes like roasted veal short ribs and steak frites, escargots aux noix, and foie gras aux pruneaux, you'll feel like he's in the kitchen beside you-reeling off a few insults when you've scorched the sauce, and then patting you on the back for finally getting the steak tartare right. As practical as it is entertaining, Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook is a can't-miss treat for cookbook lovers, aspiring chefs, and Bourdain fans everywhere.

The French Market: More Recipes from a French Kitchen By Joanne Harris William Morrow Cookbooks Released: 2006-06-27 Paperback (256 pages) List Price: $19.95 Lowest New Price: $8.35 Lowest Used Price: $7.98 Usually ships in 24 hours (As of 03:06 Pacific 13 May 2008 More Info) Click Here Product Description: Following the success of My French Kitchen, bestselling author Joanne Harris and Fran Warde present a deliciously simple collection of recipes that draw inspiration from the rural markets of Gascony and emphasize rustic, fresh flavors and a relaxed, tossed-together style. From large, lumpy tomatoes bursting with taste, to sun-ripened melons, to goat cheese rolled in fresh herbs, and to locally produced organic honey, this is food as nature intended.