If you had to create "the" defining French cuisine menu at home...

what would it look like?

Looking to cook a dinner tomorrow, and wanted to do a nice french, from soup to nuts (or rather starter to dessert) that would kind of be the most standard french menu at a decent french restaurant, but something I'd be able to whip up at home (ya'll know my lack of ability) You guys know I don't mind hard/long process, so as long as I can get it done by say 8pm if I start at say...noon....I'm all for it.

I got Mastering the art of French cooking and the new Robuchon book, but the way they are layed out it's hard for me to put together a nice menu...

I have a bottle of Bordeaux in the wine fridge....

Consommé with Classic Cut Vegetable garnish

consommé is tough to pull off correctly, but done correctly it is magic.

Romain salad with homemade classic vinaigrette, finished with goat cheese.

Coquilles St. Jacques

French scallops are always a good call!

Beef Bourguignonne

Another classic that is timeless. Don't be lazy you are cooking French, I want to see fluted mushrooms and pealed pearl onions for garnish!

French crêpes

Finish with this classic, flaming and oh so good, 'Nuff said!

bbally's sounds pretty "classic" to me -- but may I offer an alternate menu?

Onion soup -- not as reliant on clarification, but still needs good stock (which I'm sure you have ;))

Terrine de foies de volailles -- chicken liver terrine

Lobster à l'Américaine -- especially since lobster prices are down
or
Coq au vin rouge

Frisée or curly endive salad with the aforementioned vinaigrette and cheese, following the main rather than between soup and app, in its proper place as a palate clearer

Profiteroles

Yummmmm....could not help but chime in......


Veal Banquette is also a rich heart warming dish...either Coq au vin or Beef Bourguignon are classics too.

I'm a cheese head and would opt for a cheese course.

Chocolate Moose (sp?)

The menus seem very rich.....guess that's old school cooking/eating.....

Some of the French dinners I've been to this past year were in the summer and much lighter......
Pinochine olives
crudite with bagna cruda (sp?)
cheesey gougere

Vegetable Soup, Robochon's I believe.....veg stock, large dice veg....

Chanterelle Terrine with loads of eggs cooked to sci fi raw/doneness...Robochon's again

Another meal had a wild shroom tart

Green Salad, vinagrette....so nice.....I learned to put the dressing at the bottom of the bowl with lettuces on top and mix at appropriate time.

Apricot and Walnut Breads (Robochon) to go with specific cheeses

Strawberry Cream Cake

These were prepared by a friend and his Parisian girlfriend, they transverse the atlantic living in both STL and Paris.....they met at a train station going on a wild mushroom foray.


If I were making a country French dinner tonight it'd look something like this....

Olives
Radishes, butter & salt
possibly gougere....



Daniel's soup is so simple and delicious, saute onion in pot, add cubed veg and pour water up to the veg line. Cover and boil (not hard boil but cooking) for approx 20-30 minutes until veg is tender.....puree and run through a fine mesh strainer (makes a difference in mouth feel and if you are making a nice dinner worth the effort).
Butternut Soup ala Daniel Boulud.....simple.....top with whatever suits your fancy..I serve with gouda biscuits and if handy sauted chanterelles, today I don't have any in the freezer nor are they looking good at the wholesaler so I'd top with toasted pumpkin seeds or a brittle. A buddy of mine makes his with duck cracklins and sauted duck breast....dang I love his soup!:)

Or Beet Soup Puree (again water base) with Sherry vinegar syrup and chevre

chicken liver with Grand Marnier and currants


Skate wings buerre blanc
green veg, soubise

Leafy salad no goo just good vinaigrette

Cheese Course, pull in some honey comb, nuts, pears

Chocolate Mousse or Caramel with fluer sel or both.......

Geez, every Coq Au Vin recipe I find is pretty much completely different from the next. Anyone recommend one?

Thanks for the ideas. headed to the store in a few.

If you are serving it today you can not make Coq Au Vin as it requires a prior day prep. At least the classic does.

Can you deal with this?

First, go to Chinatown and get yourself a live chicken. Slit the throat and pump the heart to save the blood.

"You guys know I don't mind hard/long process, so as long as I can get it done by say 8pm if I start at say...noon....I'm all for it."


always falls on deaf ears huh?

haha.

Perhaps Julias recipe, which is less than 2 days to make, will suffice.

OK, so my menu that I'm making today...

Soupe a l'Oignon Gratinee

Moules A La Mariniere

Faux Au Vin (Faux because I'm only taking 1 day to cook it)

Brie

Crepes Suzette


I forgot I had a tupperware of delicious Onion soup I made a few weeks ago, and some Gruyere as well, so I just threw that in there.....Mussels were 99 cents a lb so 80cents for mussels.

What are you doing to the brie? En croate

Argh! Please don't!!!!!! It's like putting the Mona Lisa in an Ikea frame! ;)

What did you get? a 'proper' Brie de Meaux?

just on some crackers. and just have some that I picked up on sale from the supermarket...nothing special, but still good.

May be so, but it puts money in the bank!:roll:

I hate to rain on your parade but you've got a soup, a soup/stew, and a stew as your first three courses. Too much liquid. You need something solid in there. Also, too heavy.

If it's not too late, you could start with a simple salad, follow with the moules, then a roast chicken with jus or perhaps a fanicer sauce, your cheese plate, the crepes Suzette and some serious coffee.

Hold off on the onion soup (a meal all by itself), and the coq au vin for other days. You've got all the ingredients to make the change -- hope this didn't get to you too late.

BDL

too late but I did skip the onion soup. And the mussels came out horrible. The faux au vin came out awesome and. Ow we are finishing up the bottle of wine before crepes. Details to follow when I'm not typing from my iPhone.

mussels were horrible.

Just steamed them in a white wine garlic (a little shallot) and bleh.




faux au vin was excellent.



ready for some flaming crepes...

substituted grand marinier with cointreau. my orange butter on the right.

don't have a crepe pan, but.....I think I can make pretty **** good crepes (and I've had them from the best) in my silly little nonstick and a few cauloused fingers for flipping.

always takes me at least 3 before I get the feel.



so then I have a little wine....


do a little dance....



and get down...





then I melt the orange butter and drag the crepes through...



and bam...a little cognac and some cointreau, a scoop of vanilla, the 80's never looked so good.


and another....









not sure why my mussels sucked so bad, perhaps bad mussels. ah well, everything else was good.


Off to LA....see you guys in a week.



Oh yeah....wine picture....very good bottle BTW, and pretty dang cheap!

If I may...
:D:D:roll:

THAT was amusing at 1AM.

Hey RPM, I'm French, born and raised there. We used to make Moules Marinieres all the time, it's pretty easy and it tastes amazing. I have no idea whether or not this recipe is considered "acurate", but it's the one I've always used.

I think steaming the mussels is not the way to go. I'll share my way, which I learned from my family or my wife's family, I can't even remember. Probably just a mix of both!


The longest part is the first one: cleaning the mussels.
Try to get live mussels (have the store employee leave a lot of air in the bag when he closes it). Add a little salt to the water in your sink and put the mussels in. Clean them by rubbing them with the back of a knife to get the corails off and pull the "moustache" as we call it, the thin hairy strand. Don't just cut it off! Pull it toward the pointy tip of the mussels until it breaks inside the mussel. That doesn't work on all the mussels but try your best.

From then on it's very easy and fast!
Chop a ton of garlic and parsley. Well it depends on how much mussel you have of course, I like to make 4lbs at a time (which is a lot). Keep it ready for later.

Heat a big stainless steel pot on medium-high heat, then cover the bottom with olive oil (maybe 2 Tbsp). When it's hot, delicately pour the mussels a little at a time. They should sizzle (of course, only the shells are touching the bottom of the pan) and start to open in a minute or two. Some mussels may not open, but you should have about 80% of your mussels wide open.

Add salt to taste. If you like pepper it's okay, just a touch then.

Slowly pour in the white wine and steer so all the mussles get too cook evenly. Continue cooking for a few minutes (no more than 5o to 10 mn I would say, but it's a feeling and a taste thing - maybe try one of them!). Don't cover the mussles with white wine. There should be enough wine to give a decent plate of broth for each guest, but in their plates the broth should be only at the bottom.

I usually add the garlic 2mnn before the end, the parsley just at the end, and serve right away.

The burner is pretty much always on medium high.

Don't cover, don't simmer, don't overcook, and always serve right away, no waiting. Tell your guests the broth is piping hot so nobody screams at you. It will be cold within minutes.

Enjoy!!

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