Gourmet Food on a Budget — Ever Forward, Ever Flavorful
Beurre manie (manié – pronounced man-ee) is a mixture of equal parts butter and flour used as a thickener. It’s the Just-In-Time solution for thickening liquids. You’ve made a lovely stew that looks like soup because the liquid is too thin, and this is what you use to win the day.
This is a great dish to have on a cold fall or winter night and comes together quickly thanks to the help of the Instant Pot.
These crepes are inspired by a little restaurant in Hollywood that used to be my local hangout. There are a few different chicken fillings you could use for this. Because I had the ingredients for Chicken with Gorgonzola and Pistachios, I used that, but you could do this with a Mornay sauce, or even a can of Chicken a la King.
These ricotta-stuffed dessert crepes will remind you of cannoli. Flavored with rose water, mixed with chocolate chips and walnuts they are sure to delight.
Quiche Lorraine is one of my favorite quiches. The combination of bacon, cheese, and onion is simple and delicious.
Great dangers give birth to great resolutions.
~ Auguste Escoffier
Every Wednesday is Experiment Day, where I take a recipe that I have never made and make it. Sometimes, those recipes, with some modification, turn up here on The Good Plate. I really like exploring foods from all over the world, and I thought, why not pick a country, and experiment with foods from that country.
I make a lot of Italian and Mexican food, and I thought it was high time I start looking at other countries, and France was first on my list. So, this is the beginning of a Month of French.
I have always liked French Onion Soup, mostly because I really like onions, but also because I like the cheese on the top of the bowl. But then I thought about it and decided instead of putting the bread inside the bowl and the cheese on top, why not just the soup and an open-faced grilled cheese on good sourdough bread.
We could not finish all the soup in one day, so I used it to make tomato soup a day later. Wow! It was really stupendous. This is also a great soup to make if you have turkey broth that you made from a holiday turkey. I made my broth, put it in a sealable bag, and put it in the freezer.
You can’t walk down the street without seeing or hearing someone say this. Good for Game of Thrones, their catchphrase really caught on. But, there is more to it than a catchphrase.
Winter really is coming, and with it comes colder weather, shorter days and longer nights. If you are like me, winter brings something really wonderful. It brings baking season. The winter is cold, but my oven is nice and warm churning out cakes, cookies, and bread. My favorite is Pain de Mie, and I’m going to show you how I make it.
I love Chicken Cordon Bleu, but the problem with it is if you are not very careful, the cheese comes out while it is cooking and you wind up with a dried up piece of chicken with a remnant of cheese and some ham. If you’re lucky, they included sauce.
This casserole is so simple, and all the good things about the dish stay right where you want them, inside! Every bite has a little ham and a little cheese.
There is a little bit of backstory with this recipe, but, what recipes do I give without a backstory? When I was making this month’s menu, I wanted chicken and I wanted something that we would have leftovers. I made a note to make some kind of chicken casserole. Then, I was in one of my Facebook groups, and someone mentioned Anthony Bourdain’s book, Appetites. My friend, Chef John Farion CWC, introduced me to his show Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. John really loved Bourdain, and they kind of reminded me of each other. John passed the day after Thanksgiving, 2017. Bourdain passed in June of 2018. I’m sure they are together in the big kitchen in the sky.
When John and I were roommates many moons ago at the Villa Carlotta in Hollywood, California, there was a lovely French café called La Poubelle, and the owner, Jacqueline, made the best chicken crepes I have ever had. Jacqueline was good friends with my neighbor, Wally Coover, and we often had crepes at her restaurant. Jacqueline and John did not get along at all. Her daughter, Francois, has now taken over the restaurant, and the crepes are no longer on the menu. When I was thinking about John, and living at the Villa, I thought of those crepes and how delicious they were. I thought I could incorporate some of those memories into my casserole.
Coq Au Vin, a chicken with red wine sauce, is famous French comfort food that is simple to make and delicious.
Start your day with a taste of bliss by indulging in Peach Pancakes with Marsala Rose Butter Sauce. This mouthwatering breakfast treat combines the delicate sweetness of peaches, the fluffy goodness of pancakes, and the luxurious touch of Marsala rose butter sauce.