The 20 best French recipes: part 1 | Life and style | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/feb/27/20-best-fr...

The 20 best French recipes: part 1

Top chefs classic dishes from coq au vin to salade nicoise, selected by Observer Food
Monthly

Coq au vin. Photograph: Jean Cazals for the Observer

Claudia Roden, Daniel Boulud, Richard Olney, David Tanis, Hlne Darroze
Monday 27 February 2017 08.00GMT

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Daniel Bouluds coq au vin

Makes 8 servings
chicken legs 8
onion 1 medium, sliced
carrot 1 medium, sliced
celery stalks 2, sliced
garlic 2 heads, sliced in half
sachet 8 sprigs thyme, 1 fresh bay leaf, 2 tsp coriander seed, 1 tsp cracked white pepper
tied up in a piece of cheesecloth with butchers twine
bacon 450g slab, cut into cm slices
pearl onions 1kg
small button mushrooms 1kg, cleaned and trimmed
dry red wine 750ml
ruby port wine 375ml
salt and freshly ground pepper
olive oil 60ml
plain flour 30g
chicken stock 475ml
veal or beef stock 475ml

You will need extra cheesecloth and butchers twine.

The day before cooking, separate the chicken legs into drumsticks and thighs. Place in a
large bowl or container with the onion, carrot, celery, garlic and sachet. Cook the bacon
in a large saut pan over medium-high heat until just crispy. Wrap the bacon, pearl
onions, and mushrooms into three separate cheesecloth bundles and secure with
butchers twine; add to the chicken. Cover all ingredients with the red wine and port and
marinate, covered, in the refrigerator overnight.

Preheat the oven to 170C/gas mark 3. Strain the liquid from the marinated ingredients
into a large pot and bring to a simmer; reduce by half. Meanwhile, pat the chicken dry
and season with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven (or cast iron
casserole) over medium high heat. Sear the chicken on all sides until browned. Remove
the chicken, and add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic and sachet. Cook, stirring
occasionally, on medium heat until softened, about 6 minutes. Add the our and cook,
stirring, for another 4 minutes.

Add the reduced marinade, chicken, bundles of mushroom, pearl onion and bacon, and
chicken stock and veal stock. Bring to a simmer, cover with a round of parchment paper
and transfer to the oven. Braise for 1 to 1 hours, or until the chicken is tender.

Strain the chicken and vegetables from the sauce, discarding the sliced carrot, onion and
celery. Take the bacon, pearl onion and mushroom out of their bundles. If the sauce
seems too thin, return to the heat and reduce until desired consistency (it should coat
the back of a spoon). Incorporate all the ingredients back together and serve hot.

Note: this dish is great served with fresh pasta or rice. It can be kept, chilled, for up to 4
days.
Daniel Boulud is chef-proprietor of Daniel in Manhattan and Bar Boulud at the Mandarin
Oriental Hyde Park, London

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Hlne Darrozes tarragon chicken

Hlne Darrozes tarragon chicken. Photograph: Jean Cazals

for the Observer

Chicken is comfort food to me, it smells of home, of family, and can be enjoyed any time
of the year. It is one of the most satisfying meals I know. This tarragon chicken was
inspired by my grandmothers recipe, tarragon being one of my favourite ingredients.
Another thing I love about this dish is how versatile it is and can be adapted with the
seasons. For example, over the summer, I use girolles mushrooms instead of morels.

Serves 4
olive oil 30ml
salt and pepper
free-range chicken 1, jointed into six pieces
baby white onions 12
smoked bacon 160g, diced
mushrooms 16, ideally morels
white wine 200ml
chicken stock 900ml
double cream 180g
thyme leaves 1 tbsp
creme fraiche 100g
tarragon a bunch, nely chopped

In a large ovenproof pan, heat the olive oil over a medium heat. Season the chicken and
cook, skin-side down, until golden. Set aside. Add the onions and bacon and cook slowly
until lightly golden. Set aside. Brown the mushrooms and set aside.

Drain most of the fat from the pan. Pour in the wine and reduce by half. Add the stock
and reduce by half again. Add the cream and bring back to a simmer.

Add the thighs and drumsticks and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the bacon, onions,
mushrooms and thyme and cook for 5 minutes, then add the chicken breasts. Simmer
gently for 8-10 minutes, depending on their size. Remove the breasts and legs and keep
warm.

Add the creme fraiche to the sauce. Simmer until thick enough to coat the back of a
spoon.

Check the seasoning and return the chicken to the sauce with the tarragon. Serve with
rice.

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Hlne Darroze at the Connaught

Richard Olneys scalloped potatoes

Richard Olneys scalloped potatoes. Photograph: Jean Cazals

for the Observer

A quarrel rages in France as to what may be the true gratin dauphinois. Egg and cheese
are included in the recipes from old cookbooks (too far removed from the sources,
according to the purists). Nearly every reputed restaurant has its celebrated gratin
dauphinois and each is willing to divulge its recipe, usually incomprehensible and
conceived in the interest of mystication (I have eaten potatoes boiled in milk and dryly
reheated days later under a salamander in a restaurant whose publicly presented recipe
pretends that they should be poached in milk, the milk discarded, covered with cream,
and gratineed in the oven). When one gets rid of the nonsense, there is nothing very
mysterious about this dish, which suddenly becomes one of the masterpieces of la
grande cuisine.

The quality of the dish depends on a number of dierent things (but not only one quality
is the right one): the thinness of the potato slices as well as their breadth; the
proportions of the dish in which they are cooked; the proportion of milk to cream; the
heat at which they are cooked Thickly sliced potatoes piled thickly into a deep dish,
moistened only with milk, and cooked in a slow oven for 2 hours are neither less
authentically gratin dauphinois nor less good (although a totally other experience) than
paper-thin slices spread thinly in a wide and shallow dish, richly endowed with cream
and baked in a hot oven for less than half the time ... The most important factor remains
the quality of the potato and it should not be mealy.

Serves 4
garlic 2 cloves
butter
potatoes 750g, sliced thinly lengthwise on a mandoline
salt
milk
double cream

Earthenware will take the garlic better than other materials. Rub a large gratin dish with
garlic (or, which is easier and more eective, put the peeled cloves through a garlic press,
rubbing the puree and juices all over the sides and bottom of the dish and discarding any
solid debris that remains), leave for a few minutes until the garlic juice has completely
dried and is no longer tacky to the touch, butter the dish liberally, and pack in the

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potatoes in lightly salted layers. Pour over enough milk to just cover the potatoes, bring
the liquid to a boil on top of the stove (using a heat diuser to protect earthenware from
the direct ame), spread a thin layer of cream over the surface, distribute thin shavings
of butter, and bake in a 190C/gas mark 5 oven for about an hour, or until the liquid has
been nearly completely absorbed, the potatoes give no resistance to a knife point, and a
richly coloured skin has formed on the surface.
From Simple French Food (Grub Street, 14.99). To order a copy for 12.74, go to
bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over 10, online orders
only. Phone orders min. p&p of 1.99.

David Taniss braised lettuce and sweet peas

David Taniss braised lettuce and sweet peas. Photograph:

Gentl And Hyers

If your great-great-grandmother was French or British, she would have known how to
braise lettuce. Although braised lettuce was once a rather common dish, its rarely seen
in the 21st century. To me, the concept still has great appeal, but its best when the
lettuce is cooked just until tender. Add sweet peas if you are making this in the spring or
summer; otherwise, skip them and just add the herbs. Any kind of sturdy head will work
for this dish: little gem or romaine lettuce is a good choice.

Serves 4-6
little gem lettuces 6, or 2 small heads romaine
butter 2 tbsp
onion 1 medium, diced
salt and pepper
chopped ham 50g
shelled peas 150g
chicken stock or water 110ml
parsley 1 tbsp, chopped
mint 1 tbsp, chopped

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If using little gem lettuces, trim the bottoms and discard the tough outer leaves. Cut
lengthwise in half, rinse briey, and drain. If using romaine, cut the heads into quarters.

In a wide large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onion, season
with salt and pepper, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the ham, peas and
broth, and bring to a simmer. Add the lettuces in one layer and sprinkle lightly with salt.
Put on the lid and let steam for about 5 minutes, until the lettuce is tender.

Stir in the chopped parsley and mint.

From One Good Dish by David Tanis (Workman Publishing, 17.99). To order a copy for
14.75, go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over 10,
online orders only. Phone orders min. p&p of 1.99.

Claudia Rodens salade nicoise

Claudia Rodens salade nicoise. Photograph: Jean Cazals for

the Observer

Catherine-Hlne Barale, who runs a restaurant in Nice of the same name, is a

formidable elderly woman who ercely upholds Niois cookery traditions. According to
her, the true salade nioise never contains potatoes or any other boiled vegetable. Here,
then, is the real thing, made with raw vegetables only and including plenty of
tomatoes.

Serves 6
tomatoes 10 medium-sized, cut in quarters
salt
garlic 1 clove
cucumber 1 large, peeled and thinly sliced
very young broad beans or baby artichokes 200g, thinly sliced (optional)
green peppers 2, thinly sliced
spring onions 6, thinly sliced
anchovy fillets 12, cut into pieces
tuna 250g tin, aked
black olives 125g
hard-boiled eggs 3, shelled and thinly sliced

For the dressing

olive oil 90ml
red wine vinegar 2 tbsp
basil leaves 6, nely chopped (optional)
salt and pepper

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Sprinkle the tomatoes lightly with salt and let their juices drain. Cut the garlic clove in
half and rub the inside of a bowl or a large serving dish. Arrange all the ingredients
decoratively in the dish. Combine the dressing ingredients, pour over the salad, then
serve.
From Mediterranean Cookery by Claudia Roden

Topics
French food and drink/The Observer
Food & drink/Chicken/Meat/recipes

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