Petit Salé Aux Lentilles is traditional French cooking. This hearty dish is a specialty in the Auvergne region of France. It’s a farm or rustic type dish, sometimes called French pork and beans.

A simple way to celebrate home-made bacon is what is called the petit salé. Petit salé, most commonly is a part of a pork (fresh not cured) like hock, belly or ribs that is salted for about 4 hours (or longer), then is soaked or rinsed thoroughly with cold water. In addition to the petit salé, smoked sausage, vegetables, fresh herbs and lentils are slowly cooked with the broth from the braising pork. These are essential to the success of Petit Salé Aux Lentilles, warm and perfect for a cold winter night. Serving this generous dish with crusty bread and a dry cider or balsamic vinaigrette perk up the flavour, a marriage made in heaven!

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Petit Salé Aux Lentilles is simply one of those comfort food that mothers like me, love to cook for their dear ones. It takes tender loving care to prepare this nourishing dish. That was what this 9th recipe challenge all about, a handful of attention, a good amount of TLC and a dash of zing, it required me nothing less!

Rôti de Porc aux Herbes is a straightforward dish that is basically pork roast, rubbed with aromatic herbs and slow-roasted. Pork roast, called Roti de Porc, is a very popular cut of meat in France. It is a deliciously decadent piece of meat that is cooked to perfection.

Rôti de Porc aux Herbes is great for entertaining, either served as a centerpiece for a special dinner party or weekend entrée or as well as a regular old family meal. It can be brought to the table for carving or served lushly like medallions on an oval platter and served with baked, roasted or mashed potato and vegetable dish. It is best paired with Beaujolais or Pinot Noir. There’s nothing like the right wine and food marriage with this pairing.

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Rôti de Porc aux Herbes, for my 8^th recipe challenge, was a pursuit of perfection. Perfectly cooked pork roast takes practice. I should know, for I have prepared it a couple of times on different occasions and thus far has not come out to desired result.

The name Gratin Dauphinois refers to the Dauphiné region of France, where a culinary method of preparing potatoes is a specialty. Gratin, from the transitive verb form of the word for “crust”, is a widely used culinary technique in which ingredients are topped with breadcrumbs, butter, or grated cheese, then baked or broiled until a golden crust forms. Gratin originated in French cuisine and is usually prepared in a gratin or baking dish and is traditionally served in its baking dish. Only the French has the word for the golden, crispy bits of food that get stuck around the edges of a baking dish. The more I realize how interesting French cuisine is, all the more I find reasons to love it.
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Gratin Dauphinois is one of the most common of gratins. The ingredients composing this typical gratin recipe are thinly sliced and layered potatoes with milk and cream cooked in a buttered dish rubbed with garlic.

Gratin Dauphinois, for my 7th recipe challenge was utterly irresistible. With its simple recipe yet oozing flavour and wonderful aroma, it is nearly the perfect potato side dish for me. An exceptionally good of its kind recipe created by man sure to become an entertaining staple and a holiday favorite. Although its ingredients are straightforward, I still made sure that I used quality ingredients to ensure success.

Ratatouille Niçoise is a traditional French Provençal stewed vegetable dish, originated in the area around Nice, Provence. It is really a summer vegetable dish, when the eggplant and the tomatoes are at their best. It is usually served as a side dish, but also may be served as a meal on its own alongside pasta or crusty bread.

Ratatouille Niçoise is a flavourful dish yet fairly simple to make. Its flavour comes from eggplant, tomatoes, onions, zucchini, garlic, green bell peppers and seasoned with a mix of herbs like herbes de Provence. These abundant summer vegetables are sautéed in olive oil in the correct sequence and then are cooked slowly with tomato sauce.
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Like almost all traditional French food, a hearty dish like this that is this simple in its seasonings and ingredients, and yet rich in flavours, are distinctive of French cuisine. Sometimes the simplest things are the best.

To not experience the culture of French food is to not truly experience France. That is why I chose Ratatouille Niçoise as my sixth recipe challenge. It is one of the quintessential recipes in French cuisine. I need to understand why the French love to cook and how they do it. In many ways, an understanding of its culture of food and recipes is an understanding of France itself.

Croque-Monsieur means “to crunch” from Croquer and “mister” from Monsieur. It is a favourite fast-food snack, nearly a comfort meal and as much as staple of school children lunches in France.

The original Croque-Monsieur was simply a good ham and gruyère or emmental cheese sandwich, fried in butter, first appeared in Parisian bars and café menus in 1910. Some uttered it was accidentally created when French workers left their lunch pails by a hot radiator and came back later to discover the cheese in their sandwiches had melted. However this sandwich was discovered and created first, this is a very popular sandwich found all over France today.
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Croque-Monsieur is relatively easy to make, although there are several variations of ham and cheese sandwich that had fashioned since the 20^th century. It is typically made with sliced ham and Swiss cheese, combined together in a good bread slice, and slathered with oozing béchamel sauce that gives the sandwich a gooey melt-in-your mouth texture after it spends a couple of minutes under the broiler. Its slightly crunchy cheese on top will find bliss in every bite when served warm.

Soupe à l’Oignon is a richly flavoured soup that is hearty enough for a full meal. A classic French favourite, served in a bowl of incredible goodness. It can be more satisfying if paired with a simple green salad and a carafe of Beaujolais Nouveau.
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The key to Soupe à l’Oignon, better known as French onion soup, is the slow cooking of the onions in oil and butter, followed by a long, slow simmering in stock. This helps them to develop the rich flavor this soup is known for. In earlier years, at least as far back as Roman times, onion soups were seen as a simple peasant meal of onions, broth, and stale bread, as onions were plentiful and easy to grow. Although ancient in origin, the modern version of this soup originates in France in the 18^th century, made from beef stock and caramelized onions, simmered slowly, placed in a ramekin with croutons and broiled with grated gruyere or emmental melted on top.

This fourth recipe challenge was all about simplicity and patience. This was not a difficult dish to make, just time consuming. Précis was simply to caramelize the onions, simmer, make the croutons and put together with the soup in a soup bowl, broil with cheese on top and serve hot. But it was the rigorous time consumed in caramelizing the onions and slowly cooking them in homemade broth and white wine, that was stimulating, that made this recipe authentic. My patience was tested indeed. I can say it was a real gourmet soup experience!

Boeuf Bourguignon is a great classic French dish known for its deep rich sauce. It was a staple in earlier years in regular households, as a peasant dish. In the 60’s, it was slowly refined and popularized into haute cuisine, a favorite menu in bistros and a main course in dinner buffets. Carefully done and perfectly flavoured, it is certainly one of the most delicious beef dishes created by man.
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It is best to cook Boeuf Bourguignon the day before serving as it only gains more flavour when reheated. Beef is braised and stewed for 5 hours (or longer) in young, full-bodied, dry red wine and beef stock. It is generally flavoured with garlic, onions and herbs tied in a bouquet and seasoned well with salt and pepper. Bacon is usually larded to keep the beef moist while cooking and to add a smoky and savory taste. Carrots and mushrooms are added for more enticing color and texture. This dish is best served over mashed potatoes.

For my third recipe challenge, Boeuf Bourguignon was the perfect choice. I felt that this called for an old-fashioned cook’s craft, and that my abilities and resources will be greatly tested by perfecting this recipe. Also I felt that through this recipe, it would be made very evident that learning French cuisine is serious business.

Fricassée De Poulet is a great old-fashioned dish, the essence of chicken in a creamy sauce. Fricassée is a method of French cooking where chicken meat and vegetables are browned lightly in butter, sprinkled with flour and then stewed in chicken broth or wine. As the meat and vegetables finish cooking, the flour thickens the liquid and makes a Fricassée sauce with no effort. This dish is best served over cooked pasta with Rosé wine from Provence or Côtes du Rhône.
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It’s the way the chicken is cut, browned in butter and stewed and the creamy sauce that make this dish so elegant yet simple but not tedious.

Tomates Farçies is a rustic and classic French side dish. It pairs perfectly with steamed or grilled fish, light creamy pasta, or risotto rice although it is yummy and healthy served on its own.
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Fresh red tomatoes are cut, cored and stuffed with bread crumbs, herbs, shallots, garlic and olive oil. In this recipe, I mixed ground extra lean beef to the filling to add a bit of taste and texture, although it’s optional. Then they are baked in the oven until the filling turns golden brown.