This recipe was inspired by a mashed potatoes soufflé recipe from French magazine ‘Elle à table’. It’s called soufflé because of the puffy texture the purée gets when being baked in oven. Good news is it doesn’t involve any beaten egg white! It’s such an easy recipe, I invite you to try it with any mashed veggies you like.

Preparation time: 10 minutes – Cooking time: 30 minutes – Baking time: 20 to 25 minutes

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

1.1 lbs (500 g) of broccoli
4 big potatoes
1 tablespoon of creme fraiche
1 oz (30 g) of butter
1 pinch of nutmeg
Salt & Pepper

Instructions

1/ Peel, rinse and dry potatoes.

2/ Rinse and dry broccoli.

3/ If you have a a pressure cooker, steam potatoes in it for 10 minutes after water starts boiling. Then, steam broccoli for 5 minutes. If you don’t, get water to a boil in two separate saucepans. Boil potatoes for 30 minutes and broccoli for 10 minutes. In all cases, add some salt.

4/ Preheat oven to 450° F (230° C/Th 8).

5/ Mash potoatoes and broccoli in a food processor. Add creme fraiche, half of the butter. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

6/ Grease 4 ramekins with butter or margarine.

7/ Pour broccoli purée into the ramekins. Top with a piece of butter.

8/ Fill half of an ovenproof dish with boiling (or very hot water) and put ramekin on it. Bake in oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

Serve right away.

Galettes are from France’s western region Brittany but there is no rule saying they can’t be accommodated Mediterranean style! This spring version uses ham, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese and the flavorful « herbes de Provence ».

Quick tip: When using tomatoes as a crepe or galette stuffing, you should always cook them before in a frying pan so the water they contain doesn’t soak your crepe.

Preparation time : 10 mn (+ at least 2 h in the fridge)

Ingredients (for 12 to 15 galettes)

5 cups of buckwheat flour
4 cups of water (more or less)
1 egg
1 pinch of salt
butter

Garniture (per galette)

6 cherry tomatoes (incl. 1 for decoration)
1/8 lbs (55 gr/2 oz) of Feta cheese
1 slice of ham
1 tablespoon of herbes de Provence (rosemary, marjoram, basil, bay leaf, thyme) (Click here to buy Herbes de Provence)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Salt and pepper

Instructions

1/ Blend flour, egg and salt.

2/ Gradually add water. Stir energetically until smooth. (It has to be liquid)

3/ Leave in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

4/ Heat a large frying pan (diameter of at least 15 inches is best) over medium high heat. Melt butter. (Be careful not to put too much butter, your crepes would be too greasy and not easy to cook) (Click here to buy crepes cooking material).

5/ Pour about 1/4 cup of mixture in the pan making a circle. Then tilt the pan with a circular motion so the mixture fills the pan evenly. (Note: galettes are supposed to be thin, if you make them like pancakes, it won’t be good at all)

6/ Cook galette for about 2mn or until borders peel off and bottom is slightly brown. Turn and cook the other side (1mn should be enough).

7/ Make all galettes at once, you’ll go faster serving your guests later.

Garniture

8/ Heat olive oil in a small frying pan over medium heat.

9/ Slice cherry tomatoes in half and pour them into the pan. Add herbes de Provence mix.

10/ Take most of the tomato juice off the pan. Scrub Feta cheese (keeping some aside for decoration), add to the tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper and take off heat.

11/ Melt butter in a large frying pan over medium high heat. Heat galette quickly on one side (10 sec), then turn it to the other side.

12/ Add cheese tomato mixture, then top with ham. Close borders. Leave on heat for two more minutes.

13/ Serve it topped with a cherry tomato cut in half. Sprinkle with Feta cheese scrubs and herbes de Provence. (It’s best eaten warm, tell your guests to start eating as soon as they’re served to enjoy all the flavors while it’s hot.)

If you’re looking for new flavors, check out the most traditional galette recipe: La Complète!

Eggs cocotte are perfect for every meal! That’s what I love about them. Perfect for brunch when served with a yogurt, a fruit salad and a croissant. Great with a salad or a soup as a light lunch or dinner. Egg cocotte is also a traditional entrée in many French restaurants.

It’s mushroom and ham version is called ‘oeuf cocotte à la parisienne’ (Parisian shirred egg) so I guess it’s been imagined in the City of Light. It’s incredibly tasty AND easy to make. Don’t be afraid to experiment around this recipe, baked eggs are fun to play with!

Next time try adding chives, chervil and tarragon along with the parsley. This herb mix is called ‘fines herbes’, it’s a nice twist on the Parisian shirred eggs original recipe. Don’t be afraid to try them with chicken or veggies, they taste great with a lot of different ingredients.

Preparation time: 10 minutes – Baking time: 6 to 8 minutes

Ingredients (for 1 serving)

1 egg
1 oz (30 g) of ham
2 portobello mushrooms
1 small garlic clove
1 tablespoon of chopped parsley
2 teaspoons of creme fraiche
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 slice of bread
Butter
Salt & Pepper

Instructions

1/ Preheat oven to 500° F (260° C/Th 9).

2/ Peel and slice mushrooms. (You should never wash portobello mushrooms, they would get soaked with water and loose taste as a result. Just grate stalk if there is mud and slice off the end part. Then peel off the cap by grasping the white edge with a knife and pull to peel strips off the mushroom.)

3/ Rinse parsley and peel garlic clove. Chop both.

4/ Heat a frying pan oven medium high heat, add olive oil. When it’s hot, add garlic. Move it around the pan for about one minute so the oil gets a garlic flavor.

5/ Lower to medium heat and pour mushrooms into the pan. Add parsley and a pinch of salt. Leave for 5 minutes stirring from time to time.

6/ Grease 1 ramekin with butter or margarine.

7/ Chop ham scraps and dispose some of them in the ramekin. Alternate with a layer of mushrooms and 1 teaspoon of creme fraiche. Repeat operation once. Add salt.

8/ Break the egg into the ramekin and top with a pinch of pepper.

9/ Fill half of an ovenproof dish with boiling (or very hot water) and put ramekin on it. Bake in oven for 6 to 8 minutes. (It’s ready when white is done but yolk remains liquid.)

10/ Serve with toasted bread.

Looking for a salmon alternative for this baked eggs recipe? Click here.

Please welcome Jill McKeever of SimpleDailyRecipes.com who kindly offered to guest a recipe (Thanks again Jill ):

Garlic soup may not sound like the choice soup to serve at a dinner party, yet you’ll be surprised by its mild, dare I say, sweet flavor.  If you love the taste of roasted garlic, you will love this soup.  It is extremely easy to prepare and only takes 15 minutes to bring together.

Because there’s so little that goes into this soup, it’s important to use the freshest and best ingredients you have available.  Don’t be afraid of the first ingredient, chicken fat.  It possesses great flavor that adds depth to this already delicate soup.  I recommend rendering chicken fat from poultry that has been pasture raised. If you dig making your own chicken stock, then you probably already have some on hand.

If you love to bake your own artisan breads, I suggest an Olive Oil baguette spiced with fresh ground pepper and garlic to be the toasted center of attention.  The smooth sweet garlic soup soaked into the peppery-garlic toast is a match made in heaven.

HERE’S ALL IT TAKES to serve 4 friends:

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

3 tablespoons chicken fat
1 head garlic, each clove peeled and sliced
8 slices baguette
4 cups fresh chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Instructions

1/ Heat oven to 375º for toasting baguette slices.

2/ In a medium saucepan over low heat, sauté garlic in chicken fat until tender – about 7-10 minutes total. Transfer the garlic to a plate.

3/ Brush baguette slices on both sides with garlic seasoned oil and toast in oven until they are golden brown. Transfer 2 toasts into each soup bowl.

4/ Add the cooked garlic, chicken stock, and thyme back into the saucepan and bring to a simmer for 5 minutes.

5/ Ladle the soup over the garlic toasts and serve immediately.

Recipe and photo by Jill McKeever of SimpleDailyRecipes.com. Check out her blog!

Tons of recipes combine spinach and coconut; that’s because they perfectly match together . If you never tried the combination, this soup is a perfect occasion for doing it. It’s slightly spiced thanks to half a red scotch bonnet chili pepper, a variety of hot chili from the Caribbean.  You can adapt this soup recipe’s spiciness to your own tastes: skip the pepper, use half for a slightly spiced soup or use a whole one (or two) if you like it really hot.

Preparation time: 10 minutes  – Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

1.1 lbs (500g) of fresh spinach
2 1/4 cups (56 cl) of vegetable stock
2 1/4 cups (56 cl) of coconut milk
2 garlic cloves
1 onion
1/2 lemon
1/2 red scotch bonnet chili pepper (optional)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 teaspoons of cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon of grated ginger
4 tablespoons of grated coconut for decoration
Salt

Instructions

1/ Carefully clean spinach leaves and pinch off the stems if they’re thick and tough. Chop spinach leaves roughly.

2/ Peel onion and garlic cloves. Chop onions and crush garlic cloves with a spoon.

3/ Take seeds off chili pepper and finely chop it.

4/ Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and chili pepper, take temperature down to low heat and leave them for 5 minutes.

5/ Add cumin, turmeric and grated ginger. Add vegetable stock and coconut milk and take to a boil. Reduce heat and leave covered for 10 minutes.

6/ Preheat oven on broiler setting.

7/ Add spinach and leave them for 3 minutes or until they wither.

8/ Liquidize 3/4 of the soup and put it back in the pan with the remaining quarter.

9/ Squeeze lemon, add to soup and season with salt.

10/ Grill grated coconut for 2 minutes in the oven.

11/ Serve in individual bowls and decorate with grilled coconut.