A Guide To French Food - Some Interesting Facts And Information About French Dishes

You can't stay away from the French food, while in France, the country known worldwide for its numerous gastronomic delights and specialties. Certainly, the French cuisine is extremely diverse including a wide variety of foods and recipes from national and regional cuisines. France really offers one of the richest cuisines in the World.

French cuisine is often categorized as National Cuisine and Regional Cuisine. National Cuisine includes the foods that have been integral part of the French culture for ages. These foods include a variety of breads, savory dishes, desserts & pastries, and some preserved foods. Common breads in the French cuisine include Ficelle, Baguette, Flûte, Pain, and Pain Poilane (large xed vegetables), Bouillabaisse (fish soup), Les endives (Belgian endive), Boudin blanc (Delicatethick crusted circular loaf).

Savory dishes include Biftek frites (steak & fries), Poulet frites (chicken & fries), Blanquette de veau (blanquette of veal), Coq au vin (chicken in red wine), Pot au feu (beef stew with mi flavored sausage similar to bockwurst), Civet de Lapin (rabbit), Foie de veau (calve's liver), and Andouillette (chitterling sausage).

Desserts & pastries include Chocolate Mousse, Crème Brûlée, Mille-feuilles, Choux à la Crème (cream puffs), Tartes aux fruits (fruit tarts), Religieuse (chocolate éclair shaped to resemble a nun), Madeleine (small cake-like cookie), Tarte Tatin (caramelized apple tart), Gâteaux (cake), Éclairs, and Profiteroles (baked puff pastries (choux) filled with cream or ice cream). And, some typically French preserved foods include Cassoulet, Choucroute garnie, and Duck confit.

Greatly influenced by the French geography, the French cuisine also includes a wide range of regional cuisines, including foods & dishes of Lorraine, Alsace, Nord-Pas-de-Calais (Artois, Flanders, Hainaut)-Picardy, Normandy, Brittany, Loire Valley/Central France, Burgundy, Poitou-Charentes, Limousin, Bordeaux, Perigord, Gascony, Pays Basque, Toulouse, Quercy, Aveyron, Roussillon, Languedoc, Cévennes, Provence, Côte d'Azur, and Corsica.

LORRAINE dishes include Quiche Lorraine, Potée Lorraine, and Pâté Lorrain. ALSACE specialties include Choucroute garnie (sauerkraut with sausages, salt pork and potatoes), Spätzle, Baeckeoffe, Kouglof, Bredela, Beerawecka, Mannala, Tarte flambée, and Baba au rhum.

NORD-PAS-DE-CALAIS (ARTOIS, FLANDERS, HAINAUT) - PICARDY dishes include Andouillette of Cambrai, Carbonnade (meat stewed in beer), Potjevlesch (four-meat terrine), Waterzoï (sweet water fish stew), Escavêche (cold terrine of sweet water fish in wine and vinegar), Hochepot (four meats stewed with vegetables), and Flamiche.

NORMANDY dishes include Tripes à la mode de Caen (tripe cooked in cider and calvados), Matelote (fish stewed in cider), Moules à la crème Normande (mussels cooked with white wine, garlic and cream), and Tarte Normande (apple tart). BRITTANY specialties include Crêpes, Far Breton (flan with prunes), Kik ar Fars (boiled pork dinner with a kind of dumpling), and Kouign amann (galette made flaky with high proportion of butter).

LOIRE VALLEY/CENTRAL FRANCH dishes include Rillettes (spreadable paste made from braised pork and rendered fat, similar to pâté), and andouillettes (sausage made with chitterlings). Burgundy specialties include Boeuf Bourguignon (beef stewed in red wine), Escargots de Bourgogne (snails baked in their shells with parsley butter), Fondue bourguignonne (fondue made with oil in which pieces of meat are cooked), Gougère (cheese in choux pastry), and Pochouse (fish stewed in red wine).

RHÔNE-ALPES dishes include Raclette (the cheese is melted and served with potatoes, ham and often dried beef), Fondue savoyarde (fondue made with cheese and white wine into which cubes of bread are dipped), Gratin dauphinois, and Tartiflette (a Savoyard gratin with potatoes, Reblochon cheese, cream and pork).

AVEYRON dishes include Tripoux (tripe 'parcels' in a savoury sauce), Truffade (potatoes sautéed with garlic and young Tomme cheese), Aligot (mashed potatoes blended with young Tomme cheese), Pansette de Gerzat (lamb tripe stewed in wine, shallots and blue cheese), and Salade Aveyronaise (lettuce, tomato, roquefort cheese, walnuts).

LANGUEDOC dishes include Brandade de morue (puréed salt cod), Cargolade (Catalan style of escargot), Trinxat (Catalan cabbage and potatoes), Bourride (Monkfish stewed with vegetables and wine, garnished with aïoli), Rouille de seiche (Similar preparation of squid), and Encornets farcis (Cuttlefish stuffed with sausagemeat, herbs).

PROVENCE/CÔTE D'AZUR specialties include Bouillabaisse (stew of mixed Mediterranean fish, tomatoes, and herbs), Ratatouille (a vegetable stew with olive oil, aubergine, courgette, bell pepper, tomato, onion and garlic), Pieds paquets (Lambs feet and tripe 'parcels' in a savoury sauce), Soupe au pistou (bean soup served with a pistou (cognate with Italian pesto) of fine-chopped basil, garlic and Parmesan), Salade Niçoise (varied ingredients, but always black olives, tuna), Socca, and Panisses.

James Burrows writes for Holiday Velvet, a website providing listings for Hotels, Villas, Holidays in Paris, France, and Holiday apartment Rentals.

Friends Link : cuisinart multiclad unlimited 4 quart saucepan cuisinart chefs classic 10 piece cookware set

Corn Meal Will Stretch Meat Dishes

High on the list of foods that are plentiful, wholesome and inexpensive, is cornmeal. Pried mush, lathered with butter and syrup, a dessert which many of us may recall from childhood days, should make a place for itself again on the family bill of fare.
Other old-time favorites that likewise ought to stage a comeback include corn pone, Johnny cake, corn bread, corn cake and spoon bread. Although soft enough to be served with a spoon and taken with a fork, spoon bread is buttered for eating like any bread. It is excellent as a breakfast or luncheon dish, and may take the place of potatoes at dinner served with gravy.
Corn meal also is a grand meat-stretcher. The next time you have approximately two cups of left-over beef, you can-make a tasty and nourishing Hot Tamale Pie with corn meal, canned tomatoes, onion and seasoning as suggested in the recipe which is given below. Creamed beef on fried cornmeal mush squares is another worthwhile dish, while Lamb Platter with Fried Mush is in the upper brackets for taste pleasure.
Lamb Platter With Fried Mush
1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon paprika
2 lbs. lamb shoulder, boned and cut in small pieces
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
3/4 cup chili sauce
2 medium onions, chopped
10 stuffed olives, sliced
1 cup hot water
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup cold water
Sprinkle salt and paprika over meat and brown.in hot fat in skillet. Add chili sauce, onions, olives, and hot water and blend. Bring to boil and simmer 1 hour, or until meat is tender. Blend flour and water; add gradually to meat mixture and blend well. Let boil 2  minutes. Serve in platter surrounded with fried cornmeal mush. Garnish with parsley. Serves 6.
Fried Cornmeal Mush
3 cups hot water
1 cup corn meal
3/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup cold water
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
Heat water to boiling in top of double boiler over direct heat. Mix cornmeal and salt. Add cold water and blend. Add corn meal mixture to boiling water gradually, stirring constantly. Continue cooking and stirring until mixture is slightly thickened (about5minutes). Place over boiling water, cover, and cook 30 minutes longer, stirring occasionally. Pour into loaf pan, about 9x5x3-inches, and chill until firm. Remove from pan, cut into 1/2-inch slices, dip in flour, and fry in hot fat until golden brown on both sides.
Hot Tamale Pie
1/2 cup cornmeal
3/2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/2 cups irradiated evaporated milk
1 small onion
1 tablespoon fat
2 cups left-over beef cut fine
3/2 cups canned tomato
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pepper
Measure meal into heavy saucepan. Add water and V2 teaspoon salt. Boil until mixture begins to thicken, then add milk and continue boiling 8 to 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Chop onion and cook slowly in fat until yellow. Add meat, tomatoes and Va teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Turn filling into baking dish that has been greased and lined with 1/2 of the mush. Cover with remainder of mush, and bake in moderate oven (375 degrees F.) 45 minutes. Serves 6.

Master Cleanse is seriously the best diet I've ever tried for fitness - and it only takes 10 days. Click to see more
information on Master Cleanse Instruction.

My Links : cuisinart multiclad unlimited 4 quart saucepan calphalon contemporary nonstick krona-7.5 quart stock pot with vented straining

Using Lipton Soup Packets to Enhance Everyday Dishes

Ever since I discovered Lipton soup mix years ago, it has been a regular staple in my cupboard. I use it on almost all beef recipes. Whenever a recipe calls for onions or bouillon, I substitute the soup mix. I usually don't add extra salt, because it is already in the soup mix. One envelope per two pounds of beef seems to be a good ratio.

Here are some ideas for using Lipton Soup packets in your cooking.

Meat Loaf

Ground Beef Dishes

Brown two pounds of ground beef. When it is cooked thoroughly, sprinkle one envelope of soup mix over it and add about 1/2 to 1 cup of water. Cook for about 5 minutes longer, stirring the soup mix in well. Just cook long enough to have the water absorbed.

*Serve the ground beef over noodles or rice for an easy main dish.

*Mix with your favorite sloppy joe sauce and serve on buns.

*Mix with spaghetti sauce and pour over cooked spaghetti or rotini.

Meat Loaf and Hamburgers

The boxes of soup mix have recipes on them from Lipton. I especially like the meat loaf recipe and the hamburger recipe.

For the meat loaf, I follow the recipe, making these two changes. Instead of the water that is called for, I substitute canned evaporated milk. Instead of bread crumbs, I add dry oatmeal. This makes a delicious meat loaf that everyone raves about.

With the hamburgers, again I follow the recipe on the box, substituting barbecue sauce for ketchup. It adds a little extra zip.

Slow Cooker Roast

Brown a two-pound roast in shortening in a skillet. Place in crockpot. Add one envelope of Lipton beefy onion or beefy mushroom soup mix, sprinkling it over the top of the roast. Pour a jar of brown, au jus, or mushroom gravy over the meat. Fill the jar with water, replace the lid and shake it up. Then pour this over the roast. Set the crockpot on low and cook for about eight hours. You may need to gauge this and add more water, but usually you don't need a lot of water for the crockpot.

Baked Steak

I prepare baked steak in a similar way as the roast.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown two pounds of steak in shortening or oil in a skillet. Transfer to a 13 by 9 cake pan.

In a separate sauce pan, mix one package of dry soup mix, two cans of mushroom soup, and two soup cans of water. Heat and stir for a few minutes till it is mixed well. Then pour this over the steak in the cake pan. Cover with foil

Bake for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or until steak is thoroughly done and tender. Check every so often to see if more water needs to be added.

Using Lipton Soup Packets to Enhance Everyday Dishes

For ideas and tips on homemaking, cooking, crafts, family life, gardening, and family history, visit http://www.oldfashionedhomemaking.com. Or if you prefer a nostalgic stroll back to the turn-of-the-century http://www.thevintagehome.org is a growing library of information and illustrations. Learn how our ancestors kept house, cooked, raised children, celebrated holidays and weddings, quilted, decorated, had tea parties, and much more.

Visit : calphalon contemporary nonstick kitchenaid 12 piece cookware set cuisinart chefs classic 17 piece cookware set

Two Tasty Dishes You Can Prepare That Make the Most of Beef

Often we only think of poultry and pork when we want to cook cheap and nutritious meals, but if we are honest, we still crave the flavour that beef alone can offer.

Most of us lack imagination when thinking of ways to cook the beef, we mostly stick with the boring and well-known methods, meat loaf, hamburgers, meat balls, tacos and burritos.

Meat Loaf

But wait, have you ever thought of creating a salad featuring beef? There are a surprising number of wonderful recipes available that you can make with beef.

Here are two that have been created recently that your whole family are sure to savour.

Spring Beef Salad

You will need:
1 pound of ground beef
1 head of leaf green lettuce
1 head of red leaf lettuce
1/4 pound of fresh spinach
1-3 green onions
1-2 carrots
1-2 stalks of celery
1 tablespoon of fish oil
1/2 teaspoon of ginger
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon parsely
1 teaspoon tarragon
1 teaspoon of reserved green onion

Directions: In a pan, brown your ground beef, while you are browning the beef add in, fish oil, ginger, soy sauce, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

In a large bowl, rip up your lettuce leaves and spinach. Chop up carrots and celery to your size liking. Then chop up the green onions into small pieces reserving 1 teaspoon for your dressing.

In a small bowl, mix together rice wine vinegar, water, tarragon, parsely and reserved green onion, set in the fridge to chill for approximately 15 minutes.

When the ground beef is done, drain off any fat that may have come out of the beef, now put into the bowl with your salad greens. Mix together. Take the dressing you created and pour all over the top of your salad, toss some more.

Your salad is ready to serve. This is a great spring or summer salad.

Beef vegetable soup with barley

This is a nice hearty soup that is great to eat any time. You could even set this up to cook in your slow cooker for the day.

You will need:
1 pound of ground beef
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1 cup peas
1 cup corn
1 cup lima beans
1 cup chopped potatoes
1 1/2 cup barley
2 cups beef stock
4-6 cups water
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:
In a large pan, begin by browning your ground beef, sprinkle a small amount of salt and pepper while meat is cooking. When the meat is browning, add in the onion, let cook for a minute or two, this will allow some of the oils to sweat from the onion and provide additional flavor to the beef and the soup. Now toss in remaining vegetables, allow to good mixing constantly for about 10 minutes, this will help the softening process on the vegetables and also release additional flavors for your soup. Add in the stock, water and spices, cover with a lid let cook on medium heat for about an hour, checking occasionally to make sure it doesn't boil over. Then lower to simmer for about 30-40 minutes. Your soup is ready to serve.

If you prefer not to use ground beef for these recipes you can used chopped up beef of your liking. Just remember to to brown the meat before any of the other steps.

Don't forget, there are a wide variety of different cuts of beef - also quality types of beef, like Aberdeen Angus - so if you are confused over which cuts of beef to use, ask your butcher, they are usually all to happy to offer you advice. You can find many delectable beef recipes by using the the internet - there are plenty of free recipe collections up there, almost all of them will have a collection of recipes for beef. If they don't have a specialist beef recipe section, you will probably find them in the meat recipes category.

Bon Appetit!

Two Tasty Dishes You Can Prepare That Make the Most of Beef

Roger is a keen amateur chef who provides nutritional support and cookery articles for Recipes 4U (http://www.recipes-4u.co.uk), one of the most extensive free recipe collections on the internet. Recipes 4U has more than 40,000 recipes with specific recipe sections for beef recipes, vegan recipes and salmon recipes.

My Links : breville sk500xl ikon cordless 1.7 liter stainless

2000 calorie diet menus and dishes

Image : http://www.flickr.com

The plan for 2000 calorie diet limits intake of food a person 2,000 calories per day. That's about the normal amount of calories a person consumes in a day's close. But the difference between a 2000 calorie diet and a normal diet, the daily diet is 2,000 calories that come mainly from a diet of fruit, vegetables, nuts and other foods containing the food instead of food, saturated fats. After the diet of 2000 calories to maintain Hale, healthy, dynamic andlive. This meal of 2000 calories the chances of winning is to reduce the loss of your weight and maintain the desired level because there is more on the adaptation of calories and food for reasons of weight. Ideas against normal, healthy eating, because it can also be very tasty and so strongly in the diet is not a difficult task at all. Therefore, all parties needed to achieve a healthy weight loss and maintain a perfect body coveredtheir jobs properly with the 200 calorie diet plan.

Sample 2000 calorie diet plans:

In general, 2000 calories diet can be composed of two portions of fruit in the group, seven servings of Korn, eight servings of vegetables, three servings of dairy products and eight servings of meat and beans. This equates to about six grams of cereal, two half cups of vegetables, two cups of fruit, five ounces and a halfThe meat and beans, three cups of milk and six tablespoons of oil. In one calorie of meat in 2000, is intended to limit the consumption of sugar should avoid trans fats, eating plenty of whole grains, limiting the intake of saturated fat eating monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. Moreover, about 20% to 35% daily calorie intake should come from dairy products. Now we have a look at two simple and delicious 2000 calorie plans that you have an idea of how the appropriate dietbe framed.

Example schema:

Breakfast:

Two scrambled eggs, two slices of bacon, two slices of whole wheat, a cup of skimmed milk and a pinch of jam and preserves are the perfect breakfast for a 2000 calorie diet plan to do.

morning snack:

mid-morning snack of your choice can be anything, but the total caloric content of the morning meal is about 100 calories.

Lunch

You can see what you want to eat until theTotal calories for breakfast is about 450 calories. Three crispy tacos would be an excellent choice for lunch.

Taste:

Enjoy all dairy products for a snack in the afternoon. cottage cheese, low fat, low-fat cheese and yogurt, low fat are some suggestions. Only one eye on the calories, so as not to exceed 110 calories.

Dinner

Three grams of steak (baked, grilled or fried), a small baked potato, margarine, a half cup of beans(Bake), wholemeal bread and a salad of lettuce or spinach with a little 'lemon a tablespoon of grated cheese, a slice of tomato and cucumber salad dressing and 60 calories of your choice.

Bedtime Snack:

You can have strawberries for a snack before bedtime a cup of skimmed milk mixed with half a glass.

Sample Diet 2:

Breakfast (570 calories)

Three white omelet and an egg yolk with the garlic and onions, two slices of breadwith jam, yogurt and fruit, consequently, the tasty breakfast for a 2000 calorie diet plan.

Lunch (530 calories)

Lunch consists of chicken pasta salad, fruit juice and four tablespoons Vollweizenteigwaren value of 90 calories.

Snack (200 calories)

Two slices of bread with raisins a thin smear of butter.

Dinner (800 calories)

Chili con carne, salad with light dressing, a small fruit and low fatBagatelle.

Whatever plan you follow to drink plenty of fluids. Water is the best option, keep the body hydrated. You can also drink quantities of green tea, liberal and other beverages without calories. Always say no to a strict alcohol, coke, and even diet Coke. Calories drink less liquid cleans the body of all toxins and continues to turn the body's metabolism.

This plan provides 2000 calories diet does not provide very low calorie diet, like the others and are thereforemuch more reliable to follow. But it is always safer with your doctor or a lawyer to discuss your nutrition and diet and get their agreement to consult before starting your diet. This is to calm the mind, because you know you're on the right track door. Diet happy!

Go to site : lodge logic pre seasoned 9 quart dutch oven all clad stainless 12 quart stock pot