Recipes

Before getting into the Christmas spirit, the French from Alsace and Lorraine first get ready for the feast day of St Nicholas, on December 6. Just like in Germany and most Western Christian countries, St Nicholas Day is a big celebration in Alsace – almost as important as Christmas.

What would a French Holiday Season be without a few slices of delicious Spiced Bread? Fragrant, sweet and comforting, it is simply a must. This recipe, by French Pastry Chef Michalak, combines sweet honey with bright citrus flavors, and is perfectly spiced. A pure pleasure!

With its elegant braided look and subtle hints of cardamom, this Braided Cardamom Pain au Lait is the Finnish version of the milk buns French kids love to devour for breakfast. I am a huge fan of brioches! (What French isn’t?) And I feel it is safe to say that the French do own the craft of brioche-making, with as many delicious variations as there are French regions. But today’s recipe is not French. What I call a “Braided Cardamom Pain Au Lait” is also known as a Finnish Pulla …

A very slow-cooked beef stew with bright flavors that are meant to develop with time… It is said that Provençal Daube is best enjoyed re-heated the next day (perfect for cooking ahead). Since visiting and falling in love with Marseille two years ago, I have been on a Provençal cooking streak. Growing up in Brittany, on the opposite side of France, Provençal cuisine was mostly foreign to my palate as a child. But as I reached my twenties, I started to explore new recipes, and for some reason, have always …

After a wet summer, we’ve had an amazing Autumn here in Niagara (or should I say “Indian Summer”?). The weather has been unseasonably and delightfully warm and dry all throughout the middle and end of October. With this warm spell, grape harvest is still in full swing in our local vineyards. And this year’s grapes are full, rich and heavy. So, in celebration of this glorious season, I am sharing with you an old-school recipe that couldn’t be a better fit for this situation: a Grape Harvest Cake, from Moissac, …

At the heart of the Franco-Swiss border, the Jura region is home to a gorgeous mountain chain covered in lush evergreen forests and woods. Aside from being a nature-lover’s paradise, the region has a strong culinary profile, producing some of France’s most exceptional honeys. Honeys made from pine, fir, acacia, chestnut and wild flowers, by bees able to enjoy the purity of the Jura mountains. Naturally, honey features in many regional specialties of Jura, such as the Wine and Walnut tart and, of course, this delicious Honey & Walnut cake …

Now that you’ve managed to make and maintain your own liquid sourdough starter, you’re ready to make this Classic French Boule Bread in your Dutch-Oven. A French staple!  The “Boule” ( French word for  “ball”) is a traditional shape of  French bread, resembling a squashed ball. This loaf shape is so traditional that it is the reason why a bread baker is referred to as a “boulanger” in French, and a bread bakery a “boulangerie”. So, when it comes to bread, we can’t really get more authentic than this, can we?

If you’re getting your hands wet in the art of bread-making, you will soon find that owning a jar of sourdough starter is a game changer. Because behind every great loaf, there is likely a great starter. So what is a sourdough starter and why would you need it? A starter is what we call a preferment – a mix of water and flour, meant to cultivate and maintain wild yeast and bacteria. When baking breads, this “living” mixture is used as a “head start” for your dough, making it …

As I mentioned in an Instagram post earlier this week, Pear is often the underdog when it comes to Fall and pie season – with apple & pumpkin running the show .. but not in France! Classic “Bourdaloue Tart“ (pear & frangipane), Pear & Chocolate, Pear & salted Caramel, Pear Tatin, Pear Flognarde (half way between a clafoutis and a Normandy Flan)… you name it, the French love pear tarts and pies! This Pear Walnut Honey tart, inspired by a recipe from Saveurs Magazine (one of my favorite cooking magazines …

Here it is, the infamous Calvados and Apple Flan from Normandy! On a recent trip to Normandy, we ate at La Ferme St Michel, and I had the most amazing Calvados and Apple Flan for dessert. It was tender, fruity and intensely fragrant, thanks to the Calvados Apple Brandy. So of course, as soon as I was back in in my kitchen in Canada two weeks later, I couldn’t resist making one (and it certainly won’t be the last one I will be making this fall/winter)! Being from Brittany, I …