Bechamel sauce is a basic in French cooking. It’s a thick sauce made of butter, flour, milk and nutmeg that adds creaminess to a lot of famous French dishes. You can use it for making veggies au gratin with spinach, egg plant, Belgian endives or anything you like! Bechamel is often used in lasagna and eggs mimosa. You can even subsitute creme fraiche with Bechamel when making quiches! Explore

Bechamel sauce is also used in the famous Croque-Monsieur served in Parisian brasseries. Coming soon…

Preparation time: 15 to 20 minutes

Ingredients (for 2 cups)

1.4 oz (40 g) of butter
4 tablespoons (1.4 oz/ 40 g) of flour
2 cups (50 cl) of milk
1/4 teaspoon of grated nutmeg
Salt & pepper

Instructions

1/ Dice butter and melt it in a small pan over low heat. (Be careful not to let your butter get burnt! Once it gets a brownish color, it’s too late… The taste has changed and it’s pretty bad for health eating it like that. If it happens to you, best choice is to throw it out and do it again with new butter.)

2/ Once butter is melted, add all flour at once and stir energically with a wooden spoon until mixture is homegeneous.

3/ Let mixture cook for about 5 minutes stirring often so it doesn’t get burnt. (You’ll see it bubbling; mixture should keep its white color at all times.)

4/ Pour a small quantity of milk and stir. Repeat operation until you get a nice creamy texture. (If it is too liquid, just leave it for a while over low heat, it will thicken.)

5/ Season with grated nutmeg, salt and pepper and stir again. (At this point, you should taste your bechamel and adjust seasoning if needed.)

6/ That’s it! Ready to use

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.

This is a special recipe for me, one of my top 5 favorite. Again, nothing very recommended for a strict diet but believe me duck parmentier is succulent

It’s a French classic, the classy version of ‘Hachis Parmentier’ (Shepherd’s pie). The original recipe doesn’t use Comté cheese, you can replace it by parmesan cheese or simply skip the cheese part.

Preparation time: 15 minutes – Cooking time: 30 minutes – Grill : 10 minutes

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

2 legs of duck confit (Click here to buy online)
1.6 lbs (750 g) of potatoes
1.4 oz (40 g) of Comté cheese (Click here to buy online)
3 tablespoons of crème fraiche
2 tablespoons of parsley
1/2 tablespoon of butter
1 pinch of nutmeg
Salt & pepper

Instructions

1/ Peel potatoes and cut them into 2 or 4 pieces depending on their size (bigger pieces will need more time to be done).

2/ Boil potatoes into salted water for 30 minutes (they’ll be easier to mash if overcooked). Drain water and let them chill.

3/ Meanwhile,  take duck legs off their fat and separate meat from bones and skin.

4/ Rinse and dry parsley. Chop it.

5/ Heat a pan over medium-low heat, fry duck meat  with a little bit of duck fat from the can. Add parsley and leave for 10 minutes stirring often.

6/ Mash potatoes (you can use a a food mill or potato ricer, if you don’t have any use a potato masher or heavy fork.) Pour mashed potatoes into a pan heated over low heat. Add butter, cream, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Stir well.

7/ You can use either an ovenproof dish or individual round pastry cutters. Whatever you’re using grease it with a little bit of butter and add a layer of duck topped with a layer of mashed potatoes.

8/ Grate Comté cheese and sprinkle on top of duck parmentier.

9/ Heat oven on grill position and bake for 10 minutes or until cheese has a golden color.

10/ Serve right away with a salad. (If you used individual round pastry cutters, separate melted cheese with a knife and carefully take cutter out.)

Forget your instant mashed potatoes mix… Making authentic mashed potatoes is fast, easy AND tasty! Some like their mashed potatoes with a more liquid texture, don’t hesitate to add milk if they don’t look smooth enough for you.

Preparation time: 10 mn  Cooking time: 30 mn

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

2.2 lbs (1kg) of potatoes
1/2 cup (120ml) of milk
3 tablespoons of creme fraiche
2 tablespoons of butter
1 pinch of  nutmeg
Salt & pepper

Instructions

1/ Cut potatoes into 2 or 4 pieces depending on their size (bigger pieces will need more time to be done).

2/ Boil potatoes into salted water for 30 minutes (they’ll be easier to mash if overcooked). Let them chill.

3/ Peel and mash potatoes (you can use a a food mill or potato ricer, if you don’t have any use a potato masher or heavy fork.)

4/ Pour mashed potatoes into a pan heated over low heat. Add milk, butter, cream, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Stir well.

5/ That’s it, ready to serve! Easy, right?

Have you ever tried Comté cheese? It’s a cooked cheese like Gruyère although it is much tastier. It has a great nutty flavor which makes it perfect for a zucchini gratin. If you can’t find any, don’t worry, zucchini marries much more cheese varieties You can make this zucchini gratin recipe with swiss cheese or cheddar if you like.

Preparation time: 15 mn  Cooking time: 30 mn

Ingredients (for 4 to 6 servings)

2.2 lbs (1 kg) of zucchini
2 eggs
6 oz (20 cl) of creme fraiche
1/4 lb (125 g) of Comté cheese
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 pinch of nutmeg
Salt & pepper

Instructions

1/ Peel zucchini and slice top off.

2/ Cut zucchini into thin slices. (If you slice them too thick, they’ll take a long time to cook.)

3/ Heat a pan over medium heat. Add oil and cook zucchini covered for about 15 minutes stirring regularly. Add salt and pepper.

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

5/ In a bowl, mix eggs, creme fraiche, half of cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper.

6/ Pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a baking pan. Then add a layer of zucchini topped with creme fraiche and cheese mixture. Repeat with another layer of zucchini, the rest of the mixture and finish with cheese.

7/ Top with salt and pepper. (Zucchini have a pretty sweet taste, they need to get more salt than other vegetables. Don’t hesitate to try and season according to your own taste.)

8/ Bake in oven for 15 minutes or until your gratin has a nice golden color.

9/ Serve right away.

It’s a perfect side dish for lemon stuffed chicken or fish for example. For a vegetarian meal, you can serve this zucchini and Comté cheese gratin with a carrot and orange soup and a nice salad.

Have you ever tried appetizer spoons? It’s the solution to turn any dish you like into finger-food! Possibilities are endless, all you need is Chinese soup spoons and a little imagination…Mix textures and flavors, have fun! You can make sweet ones, warm ones…They’re just great when you need to feed many people but don’t have space enough to have them all around a dinner table. Parisian appartments are pretty small (or expensive!), it explains I’m a huge fan of appetizer spoons

These ones are made with smoked duck and pear slices, but what gives it a special flavor is its spice and honey vinaigrette. Four spices blend is a widely used mixture in France, made with cinnamon, ginger, clove and nutmeg. if you can’t find it already made, mix 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon with 1 teaspoon of ground ginger, 1 teaspoon of ground clove and 1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg. you can also add it 1 teaspoon of ground white pepper if you like. In that case, don’t add pepper to the below recipe.

Preparation time: 10 mn

Ingredients (for 10 spoons)

10 smoked duck slices
3/4 pear
2 tablespoons of walnut oil
1/2 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon of honey
1/2 teaspoon of four spices mix
Salt & pepper

Instructions

1/ In a bowl, blend oil, vinegar, honey and spices (including salt & pepper).

2/ Peel and slice pear.

3/ Fill spoons with a piece of pear, topped with a smoked duck slice and another pear piece.

4/ Add a little vinaigrette to your spoons.

5/ That’s it! Ready to serve

We always hear soufflé is very difficult to make. The truth is, it’s very difficult to get it to the table all nice and up but it is still very good even if you never get to that part . You can see mine got down before I took the picture and nobody complained! I cooked them as a side dish for a Bordeaux style fish and didn’t have enough space in my oven to bake them together… So, here is the rule: whatever happens, get your soufflés right from the oven to the table!

Preparation time: 45 mn – Baking time: 35 mn

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

2 lbs (900g) of fresh spinach
1/2 cup (125 ml) of milk
3 oz (85g) of butter (1/2 oz + 2 1/2 oz)
3 oz (85g) of grated cheese
4 eggs
4 shallots
4 tablespoons of flour
1 garlic clove
1 pinch of nutmeg
salt & pepper

Instructions

1/ Get a salted water filled pan to a boil. Clean and hull spinach. Leave them in boiling water for 5 mn then strain and press spinach to take water off.

2/ Peel and chop shallots and garlic. Heat a cooking pan over low medium heat. Melt 1/2 oz of butter, add shallots and garlic. Leave covered for 5 mn, moving it a few times. Add spinach. After 5 to 7 mn, add salt and pepper and set aside.

3/ Melt 2 1/2 oz of butter in a cooking pan. Sprinkle with flour, let it get a golden color and add cold milk. Add a little salt, pepper and nutmeg. Then add cheese. Stir well and take off heat.

4/ Separate egg whites from yolks. (The easiest way to do it is by taking the broken egg in one hand and let white fall in a bowl when keeping yolk over your fingers). Add yolks to cheese sauce. Beat egg whites until stiff.

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

6/ Add cheese sauce to spinach. Stir well. Fold stiff eggs thoroughly into mixture.

7/ Grease a muffin pan and fill it with mixture. Bake in oven for 25 mn.

Serve it right away

Gratin Dauphinois is a huge classic in French cuisine. It’s from the Dauphiné region situated in south eastern France (next to Italy) and made with potatoes, milk, cream, garlic, salt & pepper. Cheap, easy to make and tasty…We’re not asking for more!

Preparation time: 20m – Cooking Time: 50 mn

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs of potatoes
1/8 lbs (55 g/2 oz) of butter
2 cups of milk
5/8 cup of sour cream (creme fraiche)
1 garlic clove
Salt & Pepper
1 pinch of nutmeg

Instructions

1/ Peel potatoes and clean them. Dry them in a clean cloth. Cut them into very thin slices. (Dont wash them after cutting, it wouldn’t come out as good).

2/ Cop garlic. Boil milk with garlic, salt, pepper and nutmeg.

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

3/ Pour sliced potatoes into the milk. Let it boil smoothly for 10 mn stiring often.

4/ Grease a baking pan with butter. Dice the rest of it. Pour potatoes and milk into the pan. Pour cream and top with butter dices.

5/ Bake in oven for 50 minutes. (It’s ready when potatoes are tender and sauce slightly boiling)

Serve with meat and a salad.