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Tag Archives: classic french recipe

French Chicken Liver Pâté

12 Sunday Jun 2016

Posted by Nadia in Appetizers, Chicken, General

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

appetizer, chicken liver, classic french recipe, pâtè

imageServes 6

Ingredients:

1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
30g / 2 tablespoons butter
2 eggs
500 g / 1 lb chicken livers
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons armagnac, cognac or brandy

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 160 C/ 320 F
In a large skillet, melt the butter
Add the onions and sauté until soft and caramelised
Add the garlic
Trim the chicken livers and pat dry
Add the chicken livers to the skillet
Add salt and pepper
Cook until the livers are cooked but still pink in the centre, about 5 minutes
Allow to cool
Place the liver and onion mixture in a food processor
Add the eggs, cream and armagnac
Blend until smooth
Scrape the pâté into a terrine dish or mould
Place in a baking pan filled with enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of your terrine
Bake for 30 minutes
Allow to cool, cover
Chill for several hours before serving
Serve with melba toast
Bon Appétit!

Make Ahead

The pâté can be covered with a thin layer of melted butter, then wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 2 months.

Alternative recipe – quick method

If you use hard boiled eggs, there is no need to bake the pâté in the oven
Cook the liver and onions as above
Process the hard boiled eggs in a food processor until smooth
Add the livers, cream, armagnac and blend
Scrape into a terrine dish or ramekins
Allow to chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours

 

 

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Ragoût de Lapin / Rabbit Stew

02 Thursday Jun 2016

Posted by Nadia in General, Rabbit, Stews

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Chicken, classic french recipe, Lapin, Rabbit, ragoût, stew

IMG_7699Rabbit is a favourite bistro dish and a family favourite in France. It is easy to find at any butcher, farmer’s market or even supermarket and the quality is very good. It is not a meat that I make very often but every time I do, I wonder why I do not use it more often as it is very flavourful, moist, tender and makes a pleasant change from chicken. That being said, if you cannot find rabbit, chicken can be used in this recipe just as well by simply adding about 10 to 15 minutes cooking time. The ragoût can be served with a long flat pasta such as pappardelle, rice or on a slice of toasted brioche. The mushroom sauce is exquisite and any leftovers can be served with pasta the next day. Qh, and be sure to have lots of crusty bread handy – you will be wanting to mop up every last bit of that sauce, believe you me.

IMG_7700Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 to 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 x 1 kg / 2 lbs rabbit, cut into pieces
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 cups cep mushrooms (porcini), stemmed and roughly chopped
1 cup button mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup dry white wine
Salt and fleshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, minced
1 teaspoon fresh parsley, minced
3/4 cup heavy cream

Preparation:

Heat the butter in a large, heavy skillet or dutch oven
Add the rabbit and sauté until lightly browned on all sides
Remove the rabbit and set aside
Add the onions and cook until nicely golden, stirring often
Add the mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes
Add the chicken broth, the white wine, salt, pepper, thyme and nutmeg
Return the rabbit to the pan
Cover and cook on a low simmer for about 40 minutes
Add the cream, cook for 1 to 2 minutes
Sprinkle on the parsley and serve immediatelyBon Appétit!

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Coq au Vin / Rooster in red wine

05 Thursday May 2016

Posted by Nadia in Chicken, General, Stews

≈ 19 Comments

Tags

Chicken, classic french recipe, cock, rooster, wine

IMG_7174Coq au vin, (“rooster/cock with wine”) is a French dish of rooster braised with wine, lardons, mushrooms and onions. A red Burgundy wine is typically used, though many regions of France make variants using local varietals. Various legends trace coq au vin to ancient Gaul and Julius Caesar, but the recipe was not documented until the early 20th century; it is generally accepted that it existed as a rustic dish long before that.
Julia Child featured coq au vin in her breakthrough 1961 cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and she frequently prepared it on the PBS cooking show, The French Chef. This exposure helped to increase the visibility and popularity of the dish in the United States, and coq au vin was seen as one of Child’s signature dishes.
The preparation is similar in many respects to boeuf bourguignon. Purists, of course, will only make a coq au vin with an actual rooster but these days, most people tend to use a high quality large chicken. The chicken is seasoned, sometimes floured, seared in fat and slowly simmered in wine until tender. The usual seasonings are salt, pepper, thyme, parsley and bay leaf, usually in the form of a bouquet garni. The juices are thickened either with a roux or by adding blood at the end. I added chocolate to enrich the sauce and think that most of you might prefer that to the blood option.

IMG_7178I usually use chicken as well but last week was  driving by the Maison Paysanne, an organic and bio store in Le Bugue, when the black board outside caught my eye. It said that you could order fresh rooster for delivery on Tuesdays and Saturdays. I stopped the car, jumped out and went to inquire. You see, I had been wanting to make a real coq au vin for some time but it is not exactly easy to find rooster these days. The friendly assistant took my name and number and said that I could choose to have it whole or cut up in pieces. I picked the cut option and left on my way. Tuesday, we stopped in at 10:30 just as the owner of the poultry farm was delivering a few roosters that had been ordered, including mine. It was perfectly cut up and vacuum packed with the size and age of the rooster on the label as well as all the details about the farm where he had been reared including date of death – the previous day – so he was very fresh. I must admit that I was rather excited about making this and as soon as we arrived home I popped my rooster in the red wine marinade where he would remain for the next 24 hours.

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Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 rooster or chicken, cut into 8, (2 kg / 4 1/2 lb)
1 large onion, chopped
1 head garlic. separated into cloves, peeled
1 bottle good red Bordeaux
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
200 g / 7 oz bacon, cut into pieces or lardons
3 tablespoons butter
1 heaped tablespoon flour
1/3 cup cognac
20 pearl onions
300 g / 10 oz button mushrooms, halved
1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Preparation:

24 hours before:
In a large dish with a lid, combine the cut up chicken, onion, garlic and wine
Season with salt and pepper
Refrigerate overnight, turning the chicken pieces once or twice
Cooking day:
Remove the chicken pieces from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels
Strain the marinade and keep the wine
In a large dutch oven or other pot melt over medium high heat 2 tablespoons butter
Add the bacon and cook until golden, remove with a slotted spoon and set aside
Add the chicken pieces and brown nicely
Add the bacon and flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring
Pour in the cognac, light a match and flambé
When the flame has died down, pour in the wine reserved from the marinade
The wine should cover the rooster pieces
Bring to a boil then lower heat, cover and simmer until meat is tender (about 1 hour for a young rooster and up to 2 for an older bird)
About 20 minutes before the end of the cooking time, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a small skillet and sauté the pearl onions and mushrooms for about 5 to 8 minutes until the onions are golden brown
Add them to the rooster
Once cooked, remove the meat to a plate and keep warm
Place the cocoa powder in a small bowl and whisk in 1/2 cup of the sauce, whisking until smooth
Stir cocoa mixture into the pot and reduce sauce over medium heat, about 15 to 20 minutes
Reduce heat to low and return the rooster pieces to the pot to warm through
Serve with boiled potatoes and freshly cut parsley
Enjoy!

 

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