Just a French Guy Cooking

by Alexis Gabriel Aïnouz

  A CONFESSION

  Although this recipe might dazzle with its rich colours and textures, it happens that some evenings I have nothing to add to my bowl of rice. So, what do I do then? Well, I just enjoy the gentle heat coming from the bowl, the natural beauty of the long grains of rice, each one beautifully separate, and the delicate perfume of butter that I’ve gently heated until it melts before drizzling over the rice.

  Gratin dauphinois

  Make the gratin 24 hours ahead and reheat when you want to serve it as it will be even better. This is due to a complex alchemy developing between the potatoes and the cream, which changes the structure of the gratin, making it firmer and the layers more even.

  A dish from my childhood that brings back all kinds of happy memories and reminds me of the comfort and warmth of home. My mother would prepare the gratin in a large oval dish and, ever since, I’ve always made mine in a large oval dish as well – but a red one. I have an awful lot of trouble understanding why people persist in preparing their gratin in a rectangular dish and, even worse, one that’s blue.

  Serves 6–8

  about 10 medium-sized, firm-fleshed, waxy potatoes (don’t use floury ones), total weight about 1.5kg [3lb 5oz], peeled

  salt and pepper

  450ml [2 cups] whole milk

  450ml [2 cups] double [heavy] cream

  1 bay leaf

  pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

  40g [about 1/3 cup] grated cheese, e.g. Parmesan, Cheddar, Comté (strictly speaking, the cheese is optional… But is it really?)

  Cut the potatoes into 5-mm [¼-in] thick slices. Don’t wash them as it’s their starch that is going to thicken the sauce. Season the slices with salt and pepper.

  Put the potatoes in a saucepan, add the milk, cream and bay leaf and simmer gently for about 10 minutes. Lift out the potatoes with a slotted spoon into a bowl and set them aside. Season the milk and cream with the nutmeg and, if necessary, salt and pepper. Discard the bay leaf.

  Preheat the oven to 180ºC/160ºC fan/350ºF/Gas 4.

  Layer the potato slices and cream mixture alternately in a greased ovenproof dish, seasoning lightly between the layers.

  Bake in the oven for 40–45 minutes or until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a skewer or the tip of a knife. Take the dish out of the oven and switch on the grill [broiler]. Sprinkle over the grated cheese and grill until the top is golden and crusty.

  VEGAN ALTERNATIVE

  By replacing the cream with coconut cream and the milk with almond milk, plus 1 teaspoon of cornflour (cornstarch) – but following pretty much the same steps – you get a decent dairy-free alternative that’s not just fine for vegans but is also lighter. There are plenty of vegan cheeses to choose from for the crispy topping.

  Macaroni cheese gratin

  This is my version of an American classic but, of course, I’ve given it a French twist. I know a traditional mac’n’cheese must be rich and creamy all the way through but this one has a crusty topping. Sigh. I admit I’m breaking all the rules but as it’s not the only time I’ll be doing that in this book, I don’t feel too bad about it.

  Serves 6

  400g [3½ cups] elbow macaroni

  3 Tbsp salted butter

  3 Tbsp plain [all-purpose] flour

  450ml [2 cups] cold whole milk

  1 egg yolk

  400g [4 packed cups] grated cheese, e.g. Cheddar, Emmental, Fontina, Colby

  salt and pepper

  pinch of grated nutmeg (OK, I know I’ve lost it)

  mushrooms, optional (thank goodness for that)

  pinch of thyme (are you kidding?)

  Cook the macaroni in a saucepan of boiling, salted water for at least 2 minutes less than the time indicated on the packet. Drain and set aside.

  Add the butter and flour to the saucepan. Stir for a few minutes over a medium heat with a spatula until you have a smooth paste, but without letting the mixture colour.

  Add the milk, a little at a time, stirring constantly until the sauce comes to the boil and is thickened and smooth. Take the pan off the heat, mix the egg yolk with a little of the sauce and stir this back into the rest of the sauce in the pan. Add three-quarters of the grated cheese, mix it in and then season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

  Give yourself a pat on the back as you have just made a genuine fancy-schmancy French classic called Mornay Sauce – so how about that?

  Preheat the oven to 200ºC/180ºC fan/400ºF/Gas 6. Cut the mushrooms into small pieces, if using.

  Mix together the slightly under-cooked macaroni, the sauce, thyme and mushrooms and spoon into a large gratin dish. Sprinkle over the rest of the grated cheese and bake in the oven for 20 minutes until crispy on top and melting and creamy underneath.

  The weekly Chinese fried rice

  I make this recipe, or a variation of it, at least once a week. I vary it according to what I have to hand in the fridge but the method is always more or less the same. So here it is...

  Serves 2

  For an instant sauce

  1 tsp soy sauce

  1 tsp water

  a few drops of Shaoxing wine

  a few drops of sesame oil

  For the fried rice

  2 Tbsp neutral flavoured oil

  1 egg, beaten

  2 bacon rashers [slices], cut into lardons

  75g [½ cup] raw prawns [shrimp], chopped

  2-cm [¾-in] piece of root ginger, peeled and grated

  1 garlic clove, crushed

  125g [1 cup] cooked long-grain rice

  3 Tbsp peas or chopped courgettes [zucchini] or celery (or any cooked green veg, chopped or sliced, if necessary)

  To serve

  1 spring onion [scallion], finely chopped

  a pinch of chilli flakes

  Make the sauce by mixing all the ingredients together.

  For the fried rice, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large frying pan [skillet] or wok over a very high heat. Before the pan becomes too hot, pour the beaten egg into it and stir until scrambled and just set. Scrape the egg out of the pan onto a plate and set aside. Add the remaining oil to the pan and briefly stir-fry the bacon and prawns. Before the bacon starts to brown, add the ginger and garlic, followed by the rice, and stir-fry briskly for 2 minutes.

  Add the peas (or whichever green veg you’re using), the scrambled egg and the sauce. Stir-fry for 1 minute or until everything is piping hot. Divide between 2 plates or bowls and serve at once sprinkled with the chopped spring onion and a dusting of chilli flakes.

  Talking about rice...

  Leftover rice from the night before is always a bit dry, which is normally a pain but here it’s a plus. Let me explain. The enemy of caramelization is water so rice that is a little dry will caramelize and become crisp more quickly than rice that is freshly cooked and therefore still full of water. This recipe is a great way to use up leftover rice, but to avoid a potentially nasty bout of food poisoning, put it in the fridge as soon as it’s cool; if the rice is left sitting around at room temperature, any bacteria it contains will begin to grow and multiply. Use the rice the next day and make sure it’s piping hot and steaming before you serve it.

  #HACK

  6 French cheeses and 21 alternatives from around the world

  A cheese board really is the most satisfying experience you can possibly share on special occasions with your friends and family. Here is a selection of six very different but equally iconic French cheeses... BUT WAIT! Since I know that most of you won’t have easy access to them, I’m also giving you some alternatives from around the world.

  Comté

  Strength: 2 out of 5

  Stinky-ness: 1 out of 5

  Smooth and semi-hard, sometimes crumbly. A pressed and cooked cheese made from cow milk that is produced in eastern France in the Jura mountains. Comté is aged for at least 4 months but more likely for about 8 months (the bigger the rind, the more mature the cheese). It has mild, milky, caramelized and toasted aromas with a hint o
f spice like nutmeg.

  World alternatives Swiss Gruyère; young British Cheddar; Wisconsin Pleasant Ridge Reserve; Vermont Tarentaise

  Roquefort (you don’t pronounce the ‘t’)

  Strength: 5 out of 5

  Stinky-ness: 4 out of 5

  Sharp and buttery flavour. An unpressed and uncooked crumbly cheese made from full-fat sheep milk in south-west France or, more precisely, the Aveyron region. It belongs to the blue cheese family, is marbled throughout with blue-ish penicillium veins, which give it a distinct, pungent smell.

  World alternatives Italian Gorgonzola; British Blue Stilton; Danish Blue; or even Iowa Blue Maytag

  MYTH BUSTER – does cheese really stink?

  When smelling a cheese, most of us fight the sensations coming from our nose, which inevitably makes the mind shut down and prevents the experience being enjoyable! The truth is cheese doesn’t really stink; it just smells strong. So, the answer to my question is ‘no’. (Unless, of course, we’re talking Epoisses, in which case YES, cheese definitely does stink! Does that make sense?)

  Ossau-Iraty

  Strength: 2 out of 5

  Stinky-ness: 2 out of 5

  Semi-hard, smooth and mild. A pressed and uncooked cheese made from sheep milk from the Pyrenees in south-west France. As soon as you unwrap it, you immediately get the funky sheep vibe but generally it smells quite fresh and nutty.

  World alternatives Spanish Manchego; young Italian Pecorino; US Gran Queso from Wisconsin

  Crottin

  Strength: 3 out of 5

  Stinky-ness: 3 out of 5

  Small soft-ripened cheese made from goat milk. The rind is quite thin but covered with an intricate pattern of wrinkles, making it beautiful, like a maze. Inside, it’s whiter and usually has two distinct textures – creamy and chalky.

  World alternatives Italian Robiola di Capra; Bonne Bouche from Vermont; Californian Humboldt Fog

  Epoisses

  Strength: 2 out of 5

  Stinky-ness: 5 out of 5

  Brick coloured with a soft and creamy texture. A washed-rind cheese (they use brandy liquor) made from cow milk in Burgundy in central France. Its flavour is the direct opposite of its smell, as inside it’s rich and velvety.

  World alternatives

  Irish Ardrahan; German Limburger; British Stinking Bishop; Italian Taleggio

  Brie

  Strength: 2 out of 5

  Stinky-ness: 2 out of 5

  A smooth soft-ripened cheese made from cow milk with a fluffy, white, marbled rind. The inside can vary from crumbly to creamy, depending on its age. It has the aroma of fresh mushrooms but closer to cultivated than foraged fungi.

  World alternatives Since Brie is produced all over the world, tracking it down won’t be a problem. To name but a few: King Island Dairy Brie from Australia; Cornish Brie from the UK; any Brie made in the US.

  French crêpes: you can do this

  Crêpes in France are much larger and thinner than those in the UK or USA but there’s no need to feel intimidated about making them. The secret is the batter, which is runnier and thinner in France, as double the quantity of milk is added. This makes the batter spread out more quickly to the edges of the pan. Feeling better now?

  Makes 12–18 crêpes

  about 450ml [scant 2 cups] whole milk

  3 eggs

  125g [1 cup] plain [all-purpose] flour

  a large pinch of sugar

  a pinch of salt

  3 Tbsp butter

  In a large bowl, whisk together 350ml [1½ cups] of the milk and the eggs. Gradually add the flour, whisking all the time, so the batter thickens slowly without any lumps forming. I find this way of making the batter efficient but terribly slow. If you have a blender or food mixer, chuck everything in it, blitz or whizz together and that’s it. The texture of the batter should be close to that of buttermilk, so if it’s too thick, add more milk, a little at a time. Finally, whisk in the sugar and salt.

  Have a large (larger than your frying pan [skillet]) heatproof bowl of cold water to hand. Put your largest frying pan over a medium-high heat and add the butter. It will melt, become mousse-like and then start to ‘sing’ more and more loudly. When it begins to settle down – and particularly before it becomes too amber-coloured – take the pan off the heat and dip the base in the bowl of cold water to stop the butter cooking any more. Carefully pour this ‘noisette’ butter into the batter, stirring all the time.

  Wipe out the pan with kitchen paper [paper towels] and put it back on the heat. The technique for cooking crêpes isn’t complicated but it demands a certain amount of organization. So, have the bowl of batter with a ladle in it beside the hob, the frying pan in front of you, a sheet of oiled kitchen paper within reach and finally a large plate with a lid to cover it on the other side.

  Lift the pan with your right hand (I’m right-handed) and pour a ladle of batter into it. At the same time as you pour, swirl and tilt the pan in all directions. The entire base of the pan must be covered with the batter.

  When the crêpe has almost finished producing steam – after about 1–2 minutes – release it from the pan with a spatula and flip it over. Continue cooking until both sides of the crêpe are evenly golden brown. Slide the crêpe out of the pan onto the plate and keep it covered while you cook the rest of the batter, rubbing the pan between each crêpe with the oiled kitchen paper.

  SWEET OR SAVOURY?

  In France and the UK, the tradition is to eat sweet crêpes with either butter and sugar or sugar and lemon. However, after having tasted a crêpe with ham, cheese and spring onions, you’ll realize that this convention is so last year.

  4 sweet toppings for crêpes

  Even though a crêpe with sugar and butter is still my favourite, by adding a few toppings without reheating the crêpe, you can transform this little treat into a grand dessert. It works brilliantly.

  Banana, pecans and maple syrup

  1 banana, 5 pecan halves, 1 Tbsp maple syrup, finely grated zest of ½ lime

  Cut the banana into thin slices. Break the pecans into small pieces. Put these on a crêpe, drizzle over the maple syrup and scatter with the lime zest. The zest will counterbalance the sweetness perfectly.

  Yogurt, honey and pistachios

  3 Tbsp full-fat natural Greek yogurt, 1 Tbsp runny [clear] honey, 5–10 roasted and salted pistachios, chopped into small pieces

  Lightly mix the yogurt, honey and half the pistachios together and spread over the crêpe. Scatter the rest of the pistachios over the filled and folded crêpe.

  Red berries, almonds and cream

  5–10 red berries (strawberries, raspberries, blackcurrants and/or redcurrants), 2 Tbsp double [heavy] cream, a few flaked [slivered] almonds

  Roughly crush the red berries without reducing them to a pulp. Lightly fold them into the cream. Toast the flaked almonds as this will boost their flavour. Spoon onto a crêpe.

  If you’ve got some basil, scatter over a few small leaves just before serving so you can play the part of the great chef.

  Hazelnuts and chocolate

  5–10 hazelnuts, 1 Tbsp dark [semisweet] chocolate, melted, 1 Tbsp sweetened condensed milk

  Chop the hazelnuts into small pieces. Heat the chocolate in the microwave and mix with the condensed milk. Spoon onto a crêpe and scatter over the hazelnuts.

  Picture.

  Buckwheat crêpes: you can do this, too

  I said to myself that if I gave this recipe a straightforward title instead of its French name galette, you’d panic less and that would reduce the chance of you depriving yourself of a dish whose taste changed my perception of things. Whereas the taste of wheat is light, sweet and buttery, that of buckwheat is mysterious, toasty and nutty, and above all, it has a long aftertaste.

  Makes about 8 crêpes

  125g [1 cup] buckwheat flour

  350ml [1½ cups] water (add an extra 60ml [¼ cup] if you skip the beer)

  60ml [¼ cup] brown ale (if it’s alcohol-free you
’ll need a little more water)

  1 egg

  a big pinch of salt

  oil for the pan

  a bit of butter

  Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl until you have a smooth, silky batter. It’s optional, but if you let the batter rest overnight in the refrigerator, its flavour will be more pronounced.

  Put a large, flat-bottomed frying pan [skillet] over a high heat and let it heat up a bit. Dip a piece of kitchen paper [paper towel] in oil and rub it over the inside of the pan.

  Lift up the pan with one hand and, with the other, pour in a ladleful of batter. It’s important that when the batter goes into the pan you hear a good sizzling sound. Swirl and tip the pan so the batter covers the base in a thin, even layer. To start with you’ll most likely find it difficult to produce a neat, even circular shape but in time you’ll get the hang of it.

  When the crêpe colours underneath and gives off less steam, it’s time to turn it over with a spatula. Rub the cooked side with butter and cook the other side until the crêpe is done.

  It’s the texture that determines the success of the finished dish. The crêpe should be brown and satin-like, dotted with hundreds of little holes, lightly crisp on the outside and melt-in-the-mouth in the middle.

  SIMPLY THE BEST

  My favourite crêpe is served plain with no toppings. Rien. Nada. Just the buckwheat, the Maillard reaction (the browning process), the butter and me. They are the dream team and (also the best way of determining if the crêpe is good.)