Savory Recipes
To start of this chapter, I would like to quote Lucien Hérard, Grand-officier de la Confrérie des Chevaliers de Tastevin, et Commandeur des Cordons Bleus de France:
"Les recettes Bourguignonnes offertes ici sont en tout point traditionnelles et sans doute paraîtront-elles désuètes, "obsolètes", dans le climat alimentaire de ce dernier quart de siècle.
En effet, nous connaissons d'une part l'invasion du hamburger et du hot dog, ces deux symboles du fast food [...], venus d'un pays qui, en matière de gastronomie, a généralement fait preuve d'un mauvais goût très sûr, et d'autre part l'engouement pour ce que l'on nomme la "nouvelle cuisine" [...] qui consiste à servir des légumes presque crus [...] et à cuire n'importe quoi avec n'importe quoi" (Les Meilleurs Recettes Bourguignonnes).
This quote says a lot on Burgundy cuisine: nothing is "new", and no vegetables are "raw"!
Unfortunatelly, Burgundy wines are not described in this page, but for those of you craving for wine knowledge, visit the Burgundy Wines website, or Wine & Voyage, where several discovery tours are suggested!
- Gougères
These wonderful bite-size cheese puffs are very popular in Burgundy. Nothing like a cold Autumn day in the vineyards and a gougère bought in a local French bakery!
Gruyère is added to a normal "pâte à choux". They are perfect as appetizers, or during a wine tasting.
Yield: 60 small gougères
Ingredients:
5 to 6 eggs
100g butter
200g flower
3 dl water
120g Gruyère (grated, after having been rubbed with a garlic clove)
Preheat the oven at 225°C (th.705)
In a large saucepan, put the water, the butter (cut up into small pieces), salt and pepper. Bring to a boil.
Turn the heat off, and add the flower while stirring. Add the eggs one by one.
If the eggs are having trouble incorporating themselves to the dough, turn the heat on again.
Add the grated cheese.
With a spoon, make small piles of dough.
- Tip: if you have a little extra grated cheese, put a little on top of each gougère. You can also try replacing the Gruyère by époisse, or cheddar. The results are all wonderful!
- Nettle and Snail Soup
Broth
1 onion
1 shopped carrot
2 shallots
several bacon strips, or lard
1 bouquet garni (parsley, thyme, bay leaves, sage)
1/2 L of white wine (Aligoté)
1 tsp. salt
pepper
Nettle butter
Wash and prepare the nettles (only the leaves)
Parboil them in salted water for 3 minutes, then drain them
Blend them, and slowly add 100g of soft butter until they form a smooth paste. Do not forget to add salt and pepper!
Boil the snails in the broth.
After 5 minutes, slowly add the nettle butter. Whisk vigorously.
Taste and check for salt and pepper.
Serve in small bowls.
- Tip: toasted bred rubbed with garlic is excellent dipped in the soup!
- Oeufs en Meurette
What makes this delicious recipe quite complicated is poaching the eggs in a hot red wine gravy. Once you have got the hang of it, it is hard to stop!
Yield: 6 people (2 eggs per person)
Ingredients
4 dl good quality Burgundy red wine
1 chopped onion
1 chopped carrot
200g lard/bacon
30g flour
100g butter
3 Tblsp. olive oil
thyme, bay leaves, nutmeg, salt, pepper
12 small slices toasted bread
2 garlic cloves
In a frying pan, heat 50g of butter and the olive oil, and fry the bacon until crisp. Remove and drain on kitchen paper.
Saute the onion and the carrot. Add the red wine and seasonings.
While this simmers at low heat for 10 minutes, prepare the "beurre manié" (see below), with the flour and 30g of soft butter.
Incorporate it to the wine and let simmer a few minutes.
Sift the wine sauce, put the carrot, onion and bacon mix aside.
Put the wine back in sauce pan, add the rest of the butter (20g), and keep warm.
To poach the eggs
Fill a sauceapn with water, and add salt and a cup of wine vinegar. Bring to a boil.
In a cup or small bowl, break an egg, and slowly let it slide into the boiling water. After 30 secondes, use a skimmer to take it out of the water.
Place it on a tea towel, in an oven dish, and put in the oven (60°C°, therm.1). Poach eggs 2 at a time.
To finish the dish, prepare the bread croutons, rubbing them with garlic. Place them in an oven dish with the carrot, bacon, and onion mix and the poached eggs carefully places on top of them.
Only add the sauce when ready to serve!
Tips: - only use 100g of lardon, and replace the other 100g by streaky bacon strips!
- serve as an appetizer (only one egg per person), or as a main course (two eggs), with a salad and a crisp baguette to soak up the rich sauce!
- Traditional French Onion Soup!
French onion soup is based on beef broth or beef stock, traditionally served with garlic croutons and cheese. Although ancient in origin, this dish underwent a resurgence of popularity in the 1960s in the United States due to a greater interest in French Cuisine.
Onion soups have been popular at least as far back as Roman times. They were, throughout history, seen as food for poor people, as onions were plentiful and easy to grow. The modern version of this soup originates in France in the 18th century, made from beef stock and caramelized onions. It is often finished by being placed under a grill in a ramekin, traditionally with croutons and gruyère melted on top. The crouton on top is reminiscent of ancient soups.
There are many different versions and types of onion soups.
The following recipe uses red onions, chicken broth, anise, and red wine.
Serves 4
Active time: 20 minutes
Start to finish: 45 minutes
- 2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
- 2 cups water
- 2 whole star anise
- 6 black peppercorns
- 2 lb red onions, sliced
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup Burgundy red wine
- croutons or thin slices of bread rubbed with garlic
- 1 1/2 cups grated gruyère or parmesan
- salt and pepper
Bring the chicken broth, water, and spices to a boil: remove from heat and let steep for 15 minutes.
Fry the onions in the olive oil. After 15 minutes, they should be a deep golden colour. Add the wine and boil until the quantity of wine has reduced, about 1 minute.
Add the broth to the onion and wine mixture, and simmer for 10 minutes.
Preheat the broiler.
Serve the soup into 4 ovenproof bowls. Place the croutons or bread slice on top and sprinkle each bowl with grated cheese.
Broil for about 10 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbling.
- Quiche Lorraine with no crust!
Quiche Lorraine is one of the French's most typical dishes - it is quick, simple, and delicious. Most people make it with a crust, but you can also experiment and take away the crust. This way, you are left with only the good stuff!
Ingredients
1 1/2 tablespoons of bread crumbs
2 chopped onions
1 cup lardons (or chopped bacon)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
250g of grated Comté
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
Preheat oven to 425°F with rack in the middle of the oven.
Butter the Quiche dish, then spinkle with fower and bread crumbs.
Fry up the onions and the lardons/bacon - you can add a little olive oil if necessary, but the bacon should produce enough fat - until pale golden, on a medium-high heat.
When golden, spread in quiche dish and cover in cheese.
Mix together milk, cream and eggs with some pepper and salt. Pour over the onions and cheese.
Bake until it is golden, about 25-30 minutes.
Coll slightly before serving.
Bon Appétit!
- Boeuf Bourguignon
"Learn how to cook -- try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless and above all have fun." – JULIA CHILD
Bœuf Bourguigon is a famous traditional French recipe. It is one of the many examples of peasant dishes being slowly refined into haute cuisine. It consists of a rich stew prepared with beef slowly braised in red wine – and as you might have guessed, preferably a full-bodied Burgundy red wine. After the hours of slow simmering, you can add vegetables such as carrots, whole onions, potatoes, parsnips and turnips. You can also add a typical bouquet garni – a bundle of herbs usually tied together with string (thyme, bay leaves, parsley…).
The meat used for beef Bourguignon should normally be Charolais meat – one of the most famous cattle in France. In fact, it is so famous that every year it is celebrated in late August. Farmers, tourists, beef lovers and musicians all gather up to celebrate the Charolais beef – and to eat Beef Bourguignon!
Traditionally, this recipe should be made two days before serving, so that the meat can soften, and all the aromas melt together.
To accompany this delicious meal, there are many different versions of what’s best. Some say home-made oven-baked French fries are the best. Others will argue that mashed potatoes with butter and parsley are the only possible solution to absorb all the sauce. Pasta is also a common choice. I personally have a preference for roasted parsnips!
- Sauce Époisses
As many of you discovered during your wanderings around Burgundy, there is this wonderful raw milk cheese called Époisses. It can be eaten cold with bread, or incorporated into a sauce. This sauce can be eaten with chicken, beef, you name it!
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of heavy cream
- 1 chicken bouillon cube (stock cube)
- 1 Époisses
- Pepper - salt is not necessary because the cheese is already quite salty
Heat the cream in a sauce pan, and add salt.
Add the bouillon cube. When it is dissolved, add the Époisses (in chunks) and reduce the heat to very low.
Leave on low heat for a minimum of two hours to allow the flavor to develop. Be careful to not let it burn.
And now, pour over everything!
Bon Appétit!
- Rabbit in a Mustard Sauce
In French, this recipe is called Lapin à la Moutarde. Being a Burgundy speciality, it goes without saying that the mustard to be used is Dijon mustard.
This is a very simple recipe that can last a week !
Ingredients
- 1- 1 box of lardons or 5 strippes of bacon, chopped
- -- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- f- flour
- 1- 1 rabbit, cut into 4 or 5 pieces
- - 750 ml chicken stock
- 1- 1 cup white wine
- - - thym, salt and pepper
- - ½ cup Dijon mustard
- 1 - ½ cup heavy cream
Method
1. In a large sauté pan, fry up the lardons/bacon with the onion and the garlic. No butter of oil are necessary.
2. While they are browning, pat the pieces of rabbit with flour.
3. When onions are golden, add the rabbit and fry until golden.
4. Add the chicken stock, white wine, thym, salt and pepper, and leave it to simmer for an hour and a half.
5. Remove the rabbit and turn the heat to high to boil the sauce down. Then turn off the heat and add mustard and cream.
6. Add rabbit to the pan and turn the heat on low. Let this simmer for 5-10 minutes.
Options
If you want to have vegetables with this rabbit stew, add them to the pan during the last 20 minutes of the simmering. They will cook with the rabbit.
If you want to add mushrooms, try frying them in butter and lemon juice, and then add them to the pan.
Bon appétit !
- Burgundy Wine Sauce (Red or White)
When eating a nice piece of chicken or a steak, it is nice to have some sauce to pour over it!
To make this simple wine sauce, use the skillet in which you cooked the meat - it only takes a few minutes.
Ingredients:
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, diced.
- 3/4 cup of Burgundy wine
- butter
- olive oil
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Optional:
- herbs (dried or fresh)
- diced carrot
Preparation:
Heat skillet used for cooking the meat.
Add a little olive oil and butter. Once melted, add the onion, and after a minute or two, add the garlic. Make sure to not let the garlic over cook.
When they are browned, add the wine and scrape down the edges with a spatula to make sure nothing burns.
Leave this to simmer on high heat for 30 seconds.
Add the cream and herbs. Do not forget to salt and pepper!
Do not hesitate to taste to make sure the balance is good - sauce are quite easy because you can just add more of an ingredient if it is missing.
Pour over meat.
Bon appétit!
