This is my “secret” recipe, that I make for the guests who stay in our Chambres D’Hotes – Bed and Breakfast! (Not so secret anymore!) It is always popular, and makes a nice change from the usual pork rillettes, and it is MUCH lighter in fat as well. Serve these rillettes as I do, with triangles of hot toast and a selection of cornichons, pickled onions and a good quality or home-made confit d’oignons…….a good Dijon mustard is also “le Must Have” as well as a selection of salad leaves! I have a recipe for confit d’oignons posted on Zaar: Recipe #211001
A classic French Bistro recipe, and one that is SO easy to cook; the lamb in this recipe is cooked after 5 or 6 hours, but 7 hours is the traditional French timing for ‘gigot a la cuillère’ – a joint that can be carved with a spoon, hence its name! You will need a very large ovenproof casserole with a lid or a large, deep roasting tin, which you can cover tightly with tin foil – or, this can be cooked with GREAT success in the crock-pot. This lamb is just divine when served alongside gratin Dauphinoise and steamed haricots verts. I add lots of garlic for quite a pungent flavour – adjust the garlic and seasonings to personal taste.
I found this on another site and tweeked it just a little, adding lemon juice. Great with a holiday meal, or any weeknight is great too.
I adore moules, mussels, and this is the classic French recipe for them. Moules Marinières is also commonly known as Sailor’s mussels or Mariner’s mussels. The dish consists of delicately steamed fresh mussels in a white wine, garlic, parsley, butter, onion and cream sauce. Moules Marinières can be served as an appetising starter or even a light main meal. It is delicious served with fresh crusty bread or with frites (chips/fries). There is nothing more mouth-watering than a huge bowl of artistically presented mussels, yet the fun part is eating them. The best way is to use an empty mussel shell as the “spoon” in which to pick the remaining mussels from their shells and then eat them. It’s a brilliant excuse to use your fingers to eat rather than the usual knife and for – very tactile! A traditional French recipe will use butter, however the butter may be substituted for a few tablespoons of olive oil for a healthier option – I sometimes use a mix of butter and olive oil I hope you find the step-by-step photos helpful, this recipe was used in the September 2008 Cooking School for the TOTM – hopefully, the photos will debunk the myth that mussels are hard to prepare and cook, NOT so! Bon Appétit!
This is a traditional Basque salad dressing. So tasty on a green salad with just a touch of garlic salt – but then all Basque’s can’t get enough garlic.
