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The humble lentil comes into its own in this simple, earthy dish flavored with gently sautéd onions, ground spices and fresh herbs. Lentils prepared in this way can be served as a flavor-packed side dish with meat, poultry or fish, or as part of a vegetarian meal. I served the dish recently with grilled guinea hen with walnut sauce, with a spinach salad alongside, and my guests were very happy. The full meal, with recipes, is described below. Lentilles épicées aux oignons / Spicy lentils with onions Lentils have been part of the Mediterranean diet since prehistoric times, when farming was first getting started. That dates back about 12,000 years… The variety used most often in French cuisine is the small green lentil, raised on the volcanic soil of the Auvergne region. Blonde lentils, used in today’s recipe, fell out of favor in France for a time but are now being grown again and are making their way onto the menus of celebrated chefs. I discovered this dish via a Paris friend who...

One of the delights of autumn is the baked apple — pomme au four in French. Served with cream or without, it’s a classic dessert that’s both healthy and easy to make. But is it so totally basic that it doesn’t belong on a French cooking blog? I thought it over, called a couple of friends and, with their hearty encouragement, decided to go for it. I’ve been wanting to add pommes au four to the desserts on this site for a very long time. Et voilà . Pommes au four / Baked apples The impulse behind this week’s recipe was a recent visit to my cottage in Burgundy, where apples are particularly abundant this year. They were falling off the trees, in many varieties. However, as the summer was very hot and very dry, they were smaller than usual. Although in the past I’ve tended to use large apples for this dessert, I decided to give it a try with the small ones, serving two or three per portion, as shown above and, with caramelized sauce but no cream, here. There were a few big apples le...

My friend Vera, a superlative cook, served this spicy slow-cooked veal dish on the occasion of her husband’s birthday last year. It was summer, and the birthday dinner was in the garden of their country house in Provence. There were many guests and many speeches, much wine and much merriment. Cheery lanterns hung from a mulberry tree over trestle tables festooned with patterned cloths. I loved it all, but what blew me away was the food. Veau braisé aux épices / Slow-cooked veal with spices Vera must have served ten dishes that evening, including another meat dish and many sides. It was a spectacular meal. I asked her for the veal recipe the next morning, but it took me all this time to get around to making it. It’s not exactly everyday cooking, as it takes … three days. And you need to have a crowd to consume it. But the effort is worth it. How did she come up with this recipe? Vera is a multi-culti, multi-lingual person whose culinary knowledge spans the world. Born in Czechoslov...

This dish gives an interesting twist to pumpkin that may be of interest as the holidays approach. Yes, I’m thinking Thanksgiving. The combination of pasta and pumpkin is popular in both France and Italy, and the walnuts add depth. This version also has a touch of Meg thanks to the spicing — not nutmeg, as my childhood friends delighted in calling me, but cumin which, combined with a spritz of lemon juice, adds a welcome zest. Penne au potiron et aux noix / Penne with pumpkin and walnuts Other squashes, like butternut, may be substituted for the pumpkin. In fact, in Italy, the word for pumpkin — zucca — covers a wide range of squashes. So you never know exactly what you’re getting when you order gnocchi with zucca, ravioli filled with zucca, etc. I chose pumpkin over butternut because I find it easier to handle — removing the peel from a butternut squash can be a bit of a bore. But butternut is sweeter, so you may prefer it. This recipe came my way via a favorite French cookbook, ...

This is a versatile salad featuring two types of greens that come into their own in late autumn and winter: mâche (aka lamb’s lettuce) and Belgian endive. Mustardy vinaigrette sauce and plenty of garlic turn the leaves into a zesty salad that may be served as is or enhanced with walnuts, Alpine cheese and/or country ham. This adaptability will allow you to enjoy it whatever your culinary proclivity — omnivore, vegetarian or vegan. Salade mâche-endives / Salad of mâche and Belgian endive I enjoy making this salad when the days grow cool and short. This is when mâche appears at farmers’ markets in Paris. In the old days, that was the only place to find it; now you can buy it in a bag, which simplifies matters. Mâche is grown in sandy soil, and washing it clean can be a bit of a chore. The difference between the fresh and packaged sort is not significant enough to matter except for purists. Likewise, Belgian endive (aka chicory) is a winter vegetable, grown in two stages, the second...

French cheese is delicious, but some is…hm, how to put this… aromatic . Why is that? One French cheese has officially been named the smelliest in the world. Another has been banned from public transportation. A third was discovered when a cheese sandwich was accidentally left in a cave. Read all about these aromatic cheeses at Frenchly! tiktok unlimited coins tiktok mod apk unlimited coins tiktok coins free

In the old days in the US, doctors were kind of like gods–Me Important Doctor, you lowly patient, that sort of thing. You certainly didn’t ask questions or share what you learned on the Internet. It’s still like that in France. So imagine visiting a French doctor and being interrogated…in French. It happened to me, with a surprising result. You can read all about it at Perfectly Provence . tiktok unlimited coins tiktok mod apk unlimited coins tiktok coins free