Two recipes for the weekend from my new French book.

Lunch in the country, wherever you may be.

It might seem odd that I’m here, writing in English about my French book, written in French, for the French.  After all this time, believe me, I still find it slightly odd myself (and completely blissful) to be making them.  It’s also lovely to write about my bookbabies without the the hum of a hard sell in the background, unless, of course, you like to read and cook from French cookbooks, in which case, voilà!  

My apologies to any of my French readers who are here and who might not enjoy reading my English, but the truth is that (even more so than in my mother tongue), my imperfect French always needs editing. (I  just corrected “mourir” in the title - the title! - of my previous post) and I would be horrified to write here the way I do in my French books without the comfort of my editor sweeping up after me, correcting my masculines and  feminines and, with such a light touch, all sorts of other horrors to which I’m oblivious.  If it’s urgent, I get to send any short pieces of French writing to my daughter, Victoire, who in those moments plays three tunes simultaneously in her head - French, English and “mama” - and can harmonise them in writing when I desperately need her to.

So to celebrate the publication of “Un Déjeuner à la Campagne”, I have this morning visited Google Translate in order to post a part of my lazy, hazy intro and two of my favourite recipes from the book, which you can easily make over the weekend and I hope you’ll enjoy. I’ll write much more on what the book is about and how it was made, and post in a separate section very soon.

Photo: Joann Pai. Styling: Trish Deseine

Un Déjeuner à La Campagne

We all have a memory of a lunch in the countryside. Whether as a child with our grandparents, or older, in a country house, rented for the holidays or a weekend, belonging to generous friends, or - even better – our own. My inspiration for this collection of recipes and tables comes from the rituals learned and invented since my arrival in France, thirty-five years ago. The rickety wooden trolley overladen with plates, cutlery and dishes of food, which rolled over the stone floors from the tiny kitchen of an old Normandy cider press, to arrive at the dining table, set by the fireside in autumn, or with a view of the valley in summer. Lunches where the children were obliged to taste everything, even a tiny mouthful, but were allowed to leave the table after the main course before returning at dessert time, the ones which started exactly at midday, opening oysters in the kitchen with a cold glass of the little Saint-Véran we loved so much, and ended around four o'clock, after naps under the parasols or the catalpa tree. The tables imagined like paintings, in the colours of seasonal flowers, on a pretty tablecloth and with well-polished silverware. And if today these lunches allow us to dream a while of a healed planet, to meet with friends and family, to feast and share the joy of quite simply being alive, they are, above all, memory-making time machines, at once reviving the past and creating indelible moments of happiness we will carry with us always.

Salade Piémontaise

This poor salad, so delicious and so badly treated by industrial caterers, deserves to be revisited with affection and good, fresh ingredients. The potatoes can be cold or (the way I like them) slightly warm.

Photo: Joann Pai Styling: Trish Deseine

For 6-8

Prep: 15 minutes

1 kg new potatoes, boiled or steamed, peeled and cut into chunks

4 hard-boiled eggs, cut into quarters

About 10 gherkins, sliced into discs

2 nice firm tomatoes, cut into 2 cm pieces

200g chunk of cooked ham, cut into cubes

For the mayonnaise sauce

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

2 egg yolks

1 tbsp. tablespoon white wine or cider vinegar

25 cl  sunflower oil

15 cl  whipping cream

Salt, freshly ground pepper

Make the mayonnaise by emulsifying the egg yolks with the mustard, vinegar and a little oil with a whisk, then continue to whisk while pouring in the rest of the oil in a small stream. Once you have obtained a nice firm mayonnaise, add the cream to finish the sauce. Add salt and pepper.

Put all the ingredients in a large salad bowl, pour in the sauce and mix gently.

Garnish with chopped flat-leaf parsley if you like, but definitely plenty of pepper, and serve.

Oeufs Meurette

A rich and comforting dish. Add mushrooms for even more consistency.

Photo: Joann Pai Styling: Trish Deseine

For  6

Prep 5 -10 minutes Cooking:  25 minutes

30 g  butter

4 to 5 shallots, peeled and minced

1 small onion, peeled and minced

1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

1 tbsp. cornstarch

75 cl  red wine

1 bouquet garni

6 eggs

A dash of vinegar

150 g  bacon lardons

Heat 1 knob of butter in a pan and sweat the shallots, onion and garlic, without letting them brown. Sprinkle with cornstarch and stir. Pour in the wine, add the bouquet garni and mix well with a wooden spoon.

Leave to simmer and reduce over low heat for around 20 minutes, to obtain a very thick and shiny sauce. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

Poach the eggs in boiling water with a little vinegar for about 3 minutes. Drain them and trim them if necessary to give them a nice shape.

Brown the bacon and add it to the warmed sauce. Pour the sauce into the plates, place an egg in each and serve with toasted bread.