The French Market Cookbook (12 page)

5. Spread the broccoli purée in an even layer over the rice and lentils. Top with the bread crumbs and bake until heated through and lightly browned, 20 to 30 minutes. Serve immediately, with hot sauce, if desired.

BROCCOLI

Choose heads of broccoli with tightly bunched florets—they should resist if you try to pry them apart—and stems that feel firm, not limp. Most recipes call for florets only, but it is generally cheaper to buy whole heads and save the thick central stem. Peel off any part that’s tough or browned and use the stems in broccoli soup, or grate them into a salad with raisins, sunflower seeds, and a yogurt dressing.

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FRENCH GREEN LENTILS

The French love their lentils, and they have a preference for lentilles vertes, crocodile-green lentils that keep a slight al dente texture and don’t turn to mush when cooked.

To cook green lentils, put them in twice their volume of cold, unsalted water. Cover, bring to a simmer, and cook until they reach the consistency you like, 15 to 30 minutes. As always when cooking legumes, don’t salt the water until the last 5 minutes of cooking or the lentils will be tough. You can also season them after they’re cooked.

POTATO AND CELERY ROOT GRATIN

Gratin de pomme de terre et céleri-rave

SERVES 6 AS A SIDE DISH

Gratin dauphinois is a gloriously simple dish of sliced potatoes baked in milk, with a bit of cream and a murmur of nutmeg, until they develop an irresistible browned crusty top simply from the starch content, and without the crutch of cheese.

I make it frequently during the colder months, to present as a side or serve on its own with a salad. But over the years, my rendition has evolved into a two-flavor gratin that includes celery root in addition to the potatoes; the knobby root vegetable cooks to a consistency that is very close to that of spuds, brings a welcome flavor complexity, and makes the dish feel lighter.

The trick to a successful potato gratin is first to parboil the potatoes on the stove, until the milk thickens just enough to coat them well, and then finish baking the dish in the oven. This guarantees the potatoes are cooked through, top to bottom.

1⅓ pounds / 600 g yellow-fleshed potatoes, such as Yukon Gold

2 cups / 480 ml milk (not skim, not nondairy), plus more as needed

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1½ teaspoons fine sea salt

Freshly grated nutmeg

1 small / 700 g celery root

¼ cup / 60 ml crème fraîche or heavy cream

1. Scrub the potatoes, but don’t peel them. With a sharp knife or mandoline slicer, cut the potatoes into ⅛-inch / 3 mm slices. Do not rinse after slicing.

2. In a medium saucepan, combine the potatoes, milk, garlic, salt, and a good grating of nutmeg. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat and cook, stirring the potatoes and scraping the bottom of the pan regularly to prevent sticking, for 5 minutes. The milk will thicken to a creamy consistency; if you find the potatoes are absorbing most of the milk as they cook, add a little more to the pan. You should aim to have about ½ cup / 120 ml liquid in the pan after the potatoes have simmered for 5 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
220°C. and have ready a shallow earthenware or glass baking dish, about 2 quarts
2 liters in capacity.

4. Peel the celery root, cut in wedges, and then into ⅛-inch / 3 mm slices. Be extra careful if you use a mandoline slicer, as celery root is tougher than potatoes.

5. Transfer one-third of the potatoes to the baking dish and top with half of the celery root. Dot with one-third of the crème fraîche. Top with another third of the potatoes and the remaining celery root. Dot with another third of the crème fraîche. Arrange the remaining potatoes on top, pour the milk from the saucepan all over them, and dot with the remaining crème fraîche.

6. Bake until bubbling at the edges and browned on top, 35 to 40 minutes. If the gratin is browning too quickly, cover loosely with foil and uncover for the final 5 minutes. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

7. You can bake the gratin a few hours ahead, cool, and reheat for 15 minutes in a 425°F. / 220°C. oven before serving.

CELERY ROOT

Celery root, also sold as celeriac or knob celery, is in season from late fall to early spring. It comes in gray-white heads, knobby and stringy, with a subtle flavor, sweet and earthy with notes of cumin and fennel. Choose small or medium heads that feel firm and heavy, with no darker spots or blemishes, and use within a week or two of purchasing.

EASY FRESH FIG TART

Tarte facile aux figues fraîches

SERVES 8

Having grown up in Paris, I didn’t encounter fig trees in the wild until my late twenties, when Maxence and I took a vacation on a small island in Croatia. Throughout the week, the official smell of our explorations was the peculiar scent of fig trees in the late summer heat, eerily sweet and reminiscent of coconut.

Every time I detected it, on a deserted road or a rocky trail, I would stop in my tracks and follow my nose to find the tree. If we were lucky, it would still be heavy with fruit, bursting with ripeness, a drop of syrupy sap pearling from their round bottoms.

I worried that these heavenly figs might spoil me forever, but no; I still derive immense pleasure from the baskets of French-grown figs I buy from late summer to early fall. And when “a platter of figs” doesn’t feel like enough of a dessert for company, I make this fig tart. The flavor of the figs is flattered by a touch of orange zest and ground almonds and, as the fruit turns almost jam-like, it melds into the buttery crust that supports it.

Breton Shortbread Tart Dough

Grated zest of 1 organic orange

1½ pounds / 680 g fresh figs, quartered

1 tablespoon unrefined blond cane sugar (also sold as evaporated cane juice)

1. Press the dough into an ungreased 10-to 12-inch / 25 to 30 cm tart pan with a removable bottom, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.

2. Preheat the oven to 350°F. / 175°C.

3. Sprinkle the crust with the orange zest and almond flour and arrange the quartered figs on top in a circular pattern, starting from the center. Sprinkle with the sugar. Bake until the crust is set and golden brown and the figs are thoroughly cooked, 40 to 50 minutes.

4. Run a knife around the pan to loosen, remove the sides, and let the tart cool completely before serving.

APPLE AND SALTED CARAMEL SAUCE

Sauce au caramel salé et à la pomme

MAKES ⅓ CUP / 80 ML

This caramel sauce makes a fine companion to crêpes, yogurt, and baked or fresh fruit. The subtle tang of apple cider brings a lovely balance to the flavors, but other fruit juices can be used—orange juice in particular.

Unrefined sugar contains impurities that prevent it from caramelizing properly, so I revert to regular white sugar here.

½ cup / 120 ml apple cider, hard cider, or natural unfiltered apple juice

3 tablespoons / 40 g granulated white sugar (not unrefined)

2 tablespoons / 25 g unsalted butter or all-natural unsweetened almond butter

¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

1. Heat the apple cider in a saucepan until just below the simmering point.

2. Meanwhile, put the sugar (make sure it is lump-free) in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Let the sugar melt; you can swirl the pan around, but do not stir.

3. Once the sugar is entirely melted, it will quickly take on a light amber color; remove the pan from the heat then. Wearing long sleeves and an oven mitt, pour in the hot cider with caution; it will spit and splatter and the caramel will harden. Return the pan over medium heat and stir until the caramel is melted again.

4. Put the cornstarch in a small heatproof bowl and whisk in 2 tablespoons of the caramel until dissolved. Pour back into the pan and whisk over medium heat as the mixture thickens slightly.

5. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter and salt.

6. Serve immediately or at room temperature. Pour leftovers into a jar, refrigerate, and use within a few days.

Baked Apples with Prunes And Almonds

BAKED APPLES WITH PRUNES AND ALMONDS

Pommes en chemise, pruneaux et amandes

SERVES 6

I take a special delight in the imaginative naming of some French dishes and this is one of them: whole apples baked in their skins (unpeeled) are called pommes en chemise, or apples with their shirts on. Isn’t that poetic? But really, the fondness I have for baked apples extends beyond the name; they are an easily prepared, comforting, and delicious dessert to make during the cold months, one that fills the house with a promising smell and is always well received.

Jonagold, Gala, and Braeburn apples are good choices, but try lesser-known, local varieties, too. I stuff the cores with a mix of prunes and almonds, but any dried fruit and nut combo will do; use what you have on hand. For serving, a good vanilla ice cream will never fail you, but consider making your own Apple and Salted Caramel Sauce and adding a little crème fraîche or Greek yogurt.

2½ ounces / 70 g plump pitted prunes, very finely chopped

½ cup / 70 g whole almonds, very finely chopped

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened, or all-natural unsweetened almond butter

A good pinch of fine sea salt

6 small mildly tart organic baking apples

¼ cup / 60 ml apple cider, hard cider, or natural unfiltered apple juice

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. / 160°C.

2. In a small bowl, stir together the prunes, almonds, honey, butter, and salt to form a paste.

3. Slice “hats” off the tops of the apples. Core the apples with an apple corer or a sharp paring knife. Arrange the apples in a baking dish large enough to accommodate them without crowding.

4. Fill the core of each apple with the stuffing, packing it as tightly as you can. Place the hats back on the apples. Pour the apple cider into the bottom of the dish and cover loosely with foil.

5. Bake, basting the apples with the cider every 15 to 20 minutes, until the flesh is cooked through and the skin puffy, 40 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the size and variety of the apples.

6. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Pear and Chestnut Cake

PEAR AND CHESTNUT CAKE

Fondant poire et châtaigne

SERVES 10

I fell in love with chestnut flour during a vacation in Corsica, where chestnut trees flourish on the steep slopes of the mountains in the heart of the island. The fruits of these trees are eaten as is or turned into a velvety jam, but a good portion is also dried, hulled, and milled into a fine off-white powder that boasts a one-of-a-kind flavor, earthy and sweet.

Driving up narrow, bumpy roads through chestnut groves that summer, we stopped for lunch in Evisa, a village so pretty it hurt, and at the local épicerie I bought two kilos of chestnut flour to experiment with.

This pear and chestnut cake is among my proudest successes. It is moist-crumbed, with tender chunks of fruit, and the crystals of sanding sugar sprinkled on top create an irresistible, finely crisp layer.

⅓ cup / 80 ml olive oil for cooking, plus more for the pan

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons / 200 g blond unrefined cane sugar (also sold as evaporated cane juice)

1 cup / 240 ml plain all-natural yogurt

⅔ cup / 85 g chestnut flour

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon / 140 g all-purpose flour

1½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1⅓ pounds / 600 g pears, cored and diced (unpeeled if organic)

2 tablespoons sanding sugar, for sprinkling

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. / 175°C. Line the bottom of a 10-inch / 25 cm cake pan with parchment paper and grease the sides.

2. In a medium bowl, beat together the cane sugar and the eggs. Add the yogurt and oil and beat until combined.

3. In a second bowl, combine the flours, salt, baking powder, and baking soda, stirring with a whisk to remove any lumps.

4. Fold the flour mixture and diced pears into the yogurt mixture until no trace of flour remains. The batter will be thick; avoid overworking it.

5. Pour into the prepared pan and level the surface with a spatula. Sprinkle the sanding sugar across the surface. Bake until the top is golden brown and a knife inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean, 40 minutes.

6. Let cool in the pan for 1 hour and then transfer to a rack to cool completely before serving.

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CHESTNUT FLOUR

Chestnut flour pairs well with fall and winter fruits such as oranges, apples, plums, and pears. Because it is an assertive flour, and pricier than most, it is generally used in combination with milder and cheaper flours in bread doughs and cake and cookie batters or to make chestnut crêpes as they do in Corsica.

Chestnut flour is available wherever chestnuts are grown, as well as online and in gourmet food stores, imported from France or Italy. Until you find it, you can substitute any other kind of alternative flour that will contribute interesting notes, such as buckwheat, rye, or spelt flour.

Old-Fashioned Walnut and Chocolate Macarons

OLD-FASHIONED WALNUT AND CHOCOLATE MACARONS

Macarons à l’ ancienne aux noix et au chocolat

MAKES 35 TO 40 BITE-SIZE SANDWICH COOKIES

The French word macaron has been recently popularized by the craze over the Parisian macaron, a fancy and fragile confection that comes in all colors of the rainbow—sometimes worryingly so—and any flavor you could possibly imagine.

Few people know that this particular macaron is a fairly novel invention, and just one of many macarons that have been eaten in France since the seventeenth century. Although there are many regional variations of the little cookies, the basic premise is the same: All are made from ground almonds, sugar, and egg whites, with the occasional addition of honey, bitter almond extract, or some other ingredient kept secret for generations.

Tan or golden, with a crisp exterior and a moist, chewy heart, these old-fashioned macarons are a little bit rustic and infinitely more endearing to me than their splashy Parisian counterparts. I prepare mine with a combination of ground almonds and walnuts and assemble them two by two with a dollop of melted dark chocolate. An absolute treat with a cup of tea or coffee, they may be wrapped up prettily and given away as an edible gift, too.