6 easy French recipes to bring France to your home

There is more to French cuisine than cuisses de grenouilles (frog legs) and escargots (snails).

In fact, many French people never ate these two dishes.

In this article, Akita Ropiquet shows you how to make some of his favorite easy French recipes from the comfort of your home and offers interesting cultural insights about each dish.

I encourage you to adapt the following recipes to your kitchen ustensils and the ingredients you can find in your country.

Make it your own and enjoy!

1. Blanquette de veau

La blanquette is a traditional French dish made with meat, carrots and a butter sauce.

It's regularly mentioned in the famous French movie: OSS 117.

The main character is a secret agent from France. But the movie is more a parody than a French adaptation of James Bond.

It is hilarious!

Each time OSS117 (the main character) has to report to his boss or meets another secret agent he uses the following code:

OSS117: - Comment est votre blanquette ? (How is your blanquette?)

Boss: - La blanquette est bonne. (The blanquette is good.)

You can watch the scene here

What you need for a blanquette de veau for 4 people

• 1kg veal
• 4 carrots
• 4 leeks
• 300g mushrooms
• 1 onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 shallots
• 1 lemon (or lemon juice)
• 2 eggs
• 1 coffee cup of crème fraiche
• 30g of butter
• 1 glass of white wine (dry, if possible)
• salt, pepper

You can also add celery, mixed herbs and parsley.

Preparation: ~2h

How to make blanquette de veau

1. Cut the veal into pieces.
2. Boil the meat for 1 minute.
3. Rinse it and throw away the water.
4. Cut the carrots, leeks, onion, garlic and shallots.
5. Put them with the meat in a stew pot. Add the wine, salt and pepper. Add water so that the meat and the vegetables are submerged.
6. Put a lid on the stew pot. Boil and let it cook for 1h30.
7. Brown the mushrooms with the butter for 10 minutes.
8. Right before serving, mix the eggs and the crème fraiche. Add the sauce and the mushrooms to the stew pot.
9. Squeeze the lemon and add it.

2. Cassoulet

Le Cassoulet is a regional speciality from Languedoc, in the South of France. It’s made with white beans, meat and tomatoes.

There are many ways to make a cassoulet because a lot of towns have their own recipe.

In 2008, when Obama was elected for the first time, some French journalists went to Times Square in New York and waved a big banner with the word Cassoulet.

These journalists were part of the popular Le Petit Journal. It’s a comedy news show where they make fun of the news, politicians and famous people.

For a cassoulet for 4, you need

• 400g dried white beans
• 200g tomato concentrate
• 2-3 duck legs confit (or geese)
• 250g sausage(s)
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 onion
• salt, pepper

You can also add pork rind, peanut oil, mixed herbs and cloves.

Preparation: ~2h30

How to make cassoulet

1. The night before: Soak the beans overnight in cold water.
2. On the day, boil the beans for 30 minutes. Then let them drain.
3. Brown the onion and the garlic.
4. Put the duck legs confit in a frying pan and cook them over a very low heat.
5. Grill the sausage(s).
6. Put the beans, tomato concentrate, onion and garlic in a casserole dish. Submerged with water. Cook over a medium heat for 1h30.
7. Add the duck and sausage(s). Cook over a low heat for 10-15 minutes.

3. Tartiflette

This traditional French dish comes from Savoie. It’s an oven dish with melted cheese on top.

It’s made with potatoes, lardons, onions and Reblochon, a typical cheese from Savoie.

Ingredients for a Tartiflette for 4

• 1kg potatoes
•  Reblochon cheese
• 2 onions
• 150g lardons
• 10cl liquid cream
• salt, pepper

Preparation: ~1h30

How to make tartiflette

1. Boil the potatoes for 30-40 minutes. Then peel them (that’s optional!) and cut them into slices.
2. Brown the onions and lardons for a few minutes.
3. In a baking dish, place one layer of potatoes, one layer of Reblochon, one layer of onions and lardons and finally one more layer of Reblochon. Finish with the cream on top of it. (You can also put everything in the dish without any particular order!)
4. Put it in the oven at 180°C (350°F) for 15 minutes. The Reblochon must be a little brown on top.

You can serve with some lettuce and red wine.

4. Crozets

Les crozets are a kind of pasta from Savoie. They are square, small and thick.

The following recipe is an oven dish with melted cheese on top and crozets inside.

To serve Crozets for 4 you need

• 300g Crozets (small thick square pasta from Savoie)
• 4 slices of raw ham (or lardons if you want)
• 1 onion
• ¾ of a Reblochon cheese
• 50cl liquid cream
• salt, pepper

Preparation: ~45min

How to make crozets

1. Boil the Crozets for 15 minutes.
2. Cut the ham into small slices.
3. Cut the Reblochon into dices.
4. Brown the onions.
5. Let the Crozets drain and then put them in a baking dish.
6. Add the cream, ham and onions. Finish with the Reblochon.
7. Put it in the oven at 180°C (350°F) for 5 minutes.

You can eat it with some lettuce.

5. Galettes de sarrasin

Les galettes de sarrasin are savory crepes made with buckwheat flour. It’s a typical dish from Brittany and one of the easiest French recipe to make.

To serve 10 galettes you need

• 330g buckwheat flour
• 1 egg
• 75cl water
• 10g coarse salt

You can also pour a little beer to add some flavor.

Preparation: ~30-60min (without the resting period)

How to make galettes

1. Blend everything.
2. Let the dough to rest for at least 1 or 2 hours in the fridge
3. Put some oil or butter in a frying pan.
4. Pour a thin layer of the liquid dough in the pan.
5. Heat it for a few minutes over a low heat.
6. Turn it over and heat it for a few minutes.

You have two options here: prepare all your galettes and then add the ingredients inside. Or put the ingredients inside while it’s heating.

The kind of ingredients you put inside are up to you but we usually eat galettes with savory food.

Try it with some ham, cheese, eggs, vegetables, meat, …

The most typical galette here in France is la complète (literally the complete). It’s a galette with ham, grated cheese and an egg.

When you go to Rennes or Brittany, you will find galettes saucisses (saucisse is French for sausage).

These are galettes rolled around a big sausage. If you go see a game of the local soccer team Le Stade Rennais, you will see a lot of people eating some galettes saucisses around the stadium before the game.

There’s even a song about galette saucisse that you will hear in the stadium before the game.

6. Crêpes

After eating galettes, you can finish your meal with crêpes, another traditional French recipe.

The main difference between crêpes and galettes is that galettes use buckwheat flour.

To serve 10 crêpes you need

• 1/4L milk
• 125g flour
• 2 eggs
• 25g oil
• 2 pinches of salt
• Sugar, nutella, jam, honey, whipped cream, powder chocolate, fruits, …

You can also pour a little beer to add some flavor.

Preparation: ~30-60min (without the resting period)

How to make crêpes

1. Blend everything.
2. Let the dough to rest for at least 1 or 2 hours in the fridge.
3. Put some oil or butter in a frying pan.
4. Heat it for a few minutes over a low heat
5. Turn it over and heat it for a few minutes.
6. Make a few like that and then serve it warm.

A glass of cider is the perfect beverage to drink with crêpes.

---

I hope these easy French recipes made you salivate. Now time to go shopping and let France enter your kitchen!

Have you ever tried these recipes? How was it? Tell us in the comment section bellow!