It’s freezing cold in Paris… I’ve been dreaming of potatoes and melted cheese for days! French traditionnal cuisine is full of that kind of dishes from our mountain regions. Tartiflette is one of them. Do I need to say my favorite? All I can say is, if you’re a cheese lover definitely go for it!

Each time I’ve been living abroad from France, Reblochon was THE cheese I always brought back with me when I had a chance to visit my homeland. Now you know what to get when someone asks you what souvenir you would like from France! If you can’t wait to try it, here is Reblochon cheese I found on amazon. I’ve been impressed by its price though, much more expensive than what it actually costs here.

But lets get back to this tartiflette recipe. By now, you all understood Reblochon cheese is the main ingredient for this dish! I’m not a conservative cook when it comes to traditional dishes. As long as it tastes good, it doesn’t matter if you didn’t use the original ingredients…but I can’t think of anything that could replace Reblochon in Tartiflette. Sorry

The hot melted cheese combines with the white wine and cream to form an inimitable sauce, I’m just telling you this…

Preparation time: 20 minutes  – Cooking time: 45 minutes

Ingredients (for 6 servings)

1 Reblochon cheese (500g – 1.1 lbs)
2.2 lbs (1 kg) of potatoes
0.5 lbs (250 g) of bacon, diced
1 cup of creme fraiche
3 tablespoons of small chives
1 tablespoon of butter
1 glass of dry white wine
1 onion
Salt and pepper

Instructions

1/ Clean potatoes and cut them by half.

2/ Boil potatoes into salted water for about 30 minutes (They’re ready when a knife enters easily). Then, you’ll take them off water and let them chill.

3/ Meanwhile, peel and slice onions.

4/ Melt butter in a frying pan. Add sliced onions.

5/ When onions are translucent, add bacon dices and leave over medium heat for 5 more minutes stirring often.

6/ Preheat oven to 460° F (240° C / Th 8).

7/ Peel and slice potatoes.

8/ Rinse and dry small chives. Chop them.

9/ In a bowl, combine creme fraiche with wine and small chives. Season with salt and pepper.

10/ Grease an ovenproof dish. Start by arranging a layer of potato slices at the bottom of the dish. Top with bacon dices and onion, then spread the  cream mixture on top. Repeat with another layer of everything.

11/ Grate Reblochon’s rind lightly with a knife. (Don’t take it off! Just grate what’s coming off easily).

12/ Slice Reblochon cheese into 2 thinner circles, each one having rind on one side and inside cheese on the other side.

13/ Place both circles on top of the potato layers with the rind side up and bake in oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until crust is golden and cheese sauce is simmering.

Serve immediately with green lettuce and vinaigrette.

I’ts perfectly fine to eat the Reblochon’s rind (it’s the best part!), although if it’s a few days old it might have a pretty strong taste

Appetizer spoons are great for an « apéritif dinatoire » when your guests are only going to eat finger food. But they’re also perfect as an elaborated amuse-bouche to be served before a nice meal. We’re in the middle of holiday season, it’s a perfect time to share with you this delicious coconut ceviche recipe. Believe me, it would make a great appetizer for your Christmas or New year’s eve dinner.

Ceviche is a Peruvian dish in which citrus marinade contributes to « cook » the fish. That’s why the indicated marinating time can vary depending on your tastes. If you like eating raw fish, then you won’t let it marinate for long. On the contrary, if raw fish doesn’t appeal you at all, you can even prepare it the day before so it marinates overnight and gets a harder consistence.

Preparation time: 10 mn – Marinating time: 15 to 30 minutes

Ingredients (for 10 to 15 spoons)

1/2 lbs (225 g) of white fish fillets (sole, bass, hake, cod etc.)
1 lemon
1 lime
5 tablespoons of thick coconut milk
1 tablespoon of small chive
1 tablespoon of cilantro
1 teaspoon of turmeric
1 teaspoon of grated ginger
1 teaspoon of grated coconut (optional)
Salt

Instructions

1/ Rinse fish fillets and dry them with kitchen paper. Take bones away and dice them (size around 1 square inch).

2/ Rinse and chop small chives and cilantro.

3/ Rinse lime and lemon and grate their zest (optional: you can keep some for decoration, you’ll grate the rest over the spoons before serving them).

4/ In a soup plate, combine fish, lemon and lime zest, small chives, cilantro and a pinch of salt.

5/ Squeeze lime and lemon and add juice to the fish mixture. Cover and refrigerate at least 15 minutes (depending on how raw you want to serve it).

6/ Combine in a bowl coconut milk and turmeric.

7/ Fill spoons with ceviche (leaving lemon juice in the marinating plate) and coconut sauce.  Top with grated zests, ginger and coconut (optional).

This baked eggs with salmon recipe is perfect for a brunch or a nice ‘entrée’. As a starter, it would also be great with a glass of good white wine. In French, we call them ‘oeufs cocotte’ which would be translated as ‘chick eggs’ (special thank to Clotilde from Chocolate & Zucchini for her great translation) . Once you’ve tried these ones, don’t hesitate to try new combinations. What about replacing salmon and chives by mushrooms and parsley?!

Preparation time: 5 minutes – Baking time: 6 to 8 minutes

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

4 eggs
7 oz (200 g) of smoked salmon chopped scraps
6 tablespoons of creme fraiche
2 tablespoons of small chives
4 slices of bread
Butter
Pepper

Instructions

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

2/ Grease 4 ramekins with butter or margarine and chop small chives.

3/ Dispose salmon chopped scraps in the ramekins. Pour small chives on top keeping some aside for decoration. Add half a tablespoon of cream into each ramekin.

4/ Break one egg into each ramekin and top with creme fraiche and some pepper.

5/ Fill half of an ovenproof dish with boiling (or very hot water) and put ramekins on it. Bake in oven for 6 to 8 minutes depending on how you like your eggs cooked.

6/ Top with some more small chives and serve with toasted bread.

The herb mix used in this stuffed chicken breasts recipe is commonly used in French cuisine, we call it ‘fines herbes‘. It’s a mix of chives, chervil, parsley and tarragon… Perfect with fish and white meats.
I cook herbed mascarpone stuffed chicken quite often because it’s really easy and quickly made. Fines herbes are really tasty and trust me the herbs and wine sauce is to die for with mashed potatoes .

Preparation time: 10 mn  Cooking time: 20 mn

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
9 oz (250 g) of Mascarpone cheese
4/5 cup (20 cl) of dry white wine
2 tablespoons of butter
1 handful of chives
1 handful of parsley
1 handful of chervil
1 handful of tarragon
Salt & pepper

Instructions

1/ Preheat oven to 350° F (180° C/Th 6).

2/ Rinse and chop chives, chervil, parsley and tarragon.

3/ In a bowl, combine mascarpone cheese with herbs. Season generously with salt and pepper.

4/ Open chicken breasts by entering a knife in the center. Slice to both sides being careful not to break it.

5/ Stuff them with the herbed mascarpone. (If there are thiner parts of the chicken breasts you can’t stuff, top the stuffed chicken breast with a layer of herbed mascarpone and finish with a layer of chicken.)

6/ Dispose chicken breasts in an ovenproof dish. Pour white wine over them and top each chicken breast with a piece of butter. Top with salt and pepper.

7/ Bake in oven for 25 minutes.

Serve right away with boiled potatoes, rice or broccoli. Perfect with mashed potatoes.

Here’s a great appetizer recipe, very easy although it takes a little time  to make .
It’s very common in France to have friends over for a pre-dinner drink (apéritif). But we also often invite them for what we call « apéritif dinatoire » which means there is no dinner after it, you eat while drinking! In these occasions, I make different finger-food like Spanish tapas. It’s important to vary tastes and types so your guests don’t get bored.  There are tons of delicious recipes I’ll try to share with you in the finger-food pages.

Preparation time: 15 minutes – Marinating time: at least 30 minutes

Ingredients (for 20 skewers)

20 toothpicks

20 tomatoes cherry
20 small mozzarella balls
10 basil leaves (5 if they’re big)
2 tablespoons of parsley
2 tablespoons of small chive
2 tablesoons of olive oil
salt & pepper

Instructions

1/ Chop parsley and small chive. Pour mozzarella balls in a bowl. Add olive oil, parsley, small chive, salt and pepper. Cover and leave aside for at least 30 mn. (If you can leave it overnight, even better).

2/ Cut tomatoes and basil leaves in half. On a toothpick, line up one half of tomato, a piece of basil leaf, a mozarella ball and finish with the second tomato half.