Top 5 traditional French meal recipes


 

As many food lovers, you probably heard many good things about French food. If you have never tasted and you are lucky enough to be in Paris at the moment, you can try to go to a typical French restaurant. French gastronomy is known worldwide for its elaborate tastes. You can catch up on the skills of a French cooker – all you need is good ingredients and patience. Indeed, you must be diligent and respect the measures. Don’t be scared of seasoning! French food is all about adding spices. Here is a top 5 of traditional French food recipes (and my favorites) you can make at home!

Poulet coco (coconut chicken)

This meal is definitely one of my favorites.

What you need for 6 people:

  •         Some rice
  •         3 carrots
  •         2 onions
  •         Grapes
  •         6 chicken burgers
  •         50cl of coconut milk
  •         Curry

To begin with, cook the rice.

Then you can start the meat preparation. Cut the chicken in small slices and cook it in a pan with a bit of oil on the bottom. Add the onions and carrots. Let it cook on a low heat. Once everything is cooked, add the coconut milk and the grapes, and let it simmer in the pan still on a low heat for 10mn.

Before serving the plates, add salt, pepper and curry to season to taste. Don’t forget to check on the rice.

When everything is ready, put the meal in a dish and impress your guests!

Quiche

What you need for 6 people:

  •         1 puff pastry
  •         2 onions
  •         200g of bacon strip
  •         40cL of crème fraiche
  •         3 eggs
  •         40g flour
  •         Salad

Preheat the oven to 210°C.

Start by spreading the pastry into an appropriated pan. Make tiny holes with a fork.

Cut the onions and cook them with the bacon. During that time, prepare in a bowl the main preparation: bend the eggs, the flour and the crème fraiche. Add the onions and bacon strip and mix everything together. Don’t forget to season to taste with salt, pepper and other spices. Pour the bowl in the pan and put the pan in the oven.

Keep an eye on it. It should be ready in 30mn!

I would advise you to serve the quiche with some salad. It’s a very good combination and it’s super healthy!

Gratin Dauphinois (potato gratin)

This meal is more appropriate for winter because it’s quite heavy and hot. Indeed, French usually don’t eat gratin dauphinois during summer.

What you need for 6 people:

  •         1kg of potatoes
  •         500g of thick crème fraiche
  •         50cl of milk

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Stir in a pan on a low heat the milk, crème fraiche and season with pepper, salt, garlic and some nutmeg. While all this gets warm, prepare the potatoes: peel and cut them in slices.

When the mixture milk-crème begins to simmer, turn off the warming plate and let steep.

Place the potato slices in an appropriate deep dish and spread the crème sauce on top of it.

Put the dish in the oven for 40mn.

Let it cool 10mn and it’s ready!

Cake aux courgettes-chèvre

Literally translated as zucchinis-goat cheese cake.

What you need for 6 people:

  •         3 zucchinis
  •         3 goat cheese
  •         3 eggs
  •         ½ onion
  •         100g of flour
  •         1 sachet of baking powder
  •         Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Cut the zucchinis in slice and cook them in a pan with olive oil. Cut the onion in small pieces and add it into the pan.

In a bowl, stir the flour, baking soda and eggs. Add the cheese cut into small dices and the cooked zucchinis.

Pour the preparation in a buttered cake dish.

Let it bake for 35mn.

It also can be accompanied with salad.

Boeuf bourguignon

The literal translation would be Bourguignon beef (with French red wine – Burgundy is the name of a wine region in France). This meal requires a lot of patience and time but French love it. The time it takes is definitely worth it. Children might not like it as it has a lot of red wine in it!

What you need for 6 people:

  •         900g of good fresh beef
  •         6 onions
  •         6 carrots
  •         1½ bottle of red wine
  •         150g butter

Cut the meat in cubes of 3cm.

Cut the onions in small pieces and cook it in a pan with the butter. Put them in a pot. Use the pan to cook gradually the meat and add it to the pot when it is ready. Add butter if necessary. Pour some wine in the pan and boil it to mix it with the meat and onion juice. Add it to the pot with the rest of the wine, water, the slices of carrots and season it with pepper, salt and herbs. Let it simmer for couple hours and cover it overnight.

The next morning, reheat several times for at least two hours. The more it simmers, the better it tastes!

Now you can become a French chef and impress your guests! The first time is not always perfect but the more you do it and the better you get at cooking French food. An advice would be to buy the ingredients in local markets. It is fresher and better than buying them in a supermarket.

I hope you enjoyed cooking like a French chef!

If you want to discover real French gastronomy cooked by awarded chefs, join us on our food tour or just look at addresses in this article. See you soon in Paris !

 

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