French Dish Challenge #1 ~ Hors D’oevres

Some of the French Gifts

I have a challenge I’d like all my readers and followers to help me with! This is not a contest, I just need some comments on what French dish you’d like to see me make, OK?

The night before our French college exchange student, Caroline, left back for her home country, she presented me with this delightful little cookbook (among many other numerous gifts for my family), called French Classics, which was published by the Australian Women’s Weekly magazine. (I’m assuming she bought it since it was published in some form of “English” language.)

I was so touched by this gesture! She knew ahead of time about all our family’s interests (via our online form) and brought gifts galore from France for our entire family! I knew she had to keep her luggage under 50 pounds, so I only bought her a slim book of Central Oregon photography as well as made her a “memory book” of all the photos I took in her three weeks here (and included some local memorabilia in it), but I was so unprepared for the amount of gifts we received from her!

She bought so much clothes during her stay and so many souvenirs I was worried we’d have to ship some things back to her. But she made it under the luggage weight guidelines, and I now know why. Chocolates, jams, caramels, an apron, a beautiful French scarf with a Renior print on it, golf balls and a photo book for the hubby, French perfume and all kinds of stuff for my daughter, the list goes on and on! I was saddened to see no beautiful French cheese though. Apparently that is banned on the list of things to cross borders, as I would have loved to have some real French Brie or Gruyere cheese! (Mad Cow disease? I don’t know!)

French Classics Cookbook

I have decided I will cook one recipe each (to start) from the four main sections of this cookbook, but I need your help deciding which one. I’ve narrowed each section down to three recipes for you to choose from, based on whether my family would actually eat it and the availability of the ingredients (and affordable) in Central Oregon in the midst of a cold wet spring. I hope you will help!

The first category is Hors D’oevres, or as I jokingly call it “Horse Doovers.” Please write in the comments below or on my Facebook post which recipe you’d like to see from me next! I’ll just whip it up (right, lol) and present it in an upcoming post. Here they are:

Pork Rilletes with Witloff and Cornichons (p.s. Witloff is Belgian Endive and Cornichons are pickles)

Pork Rilletes

Asparagus Hollandaise

Asparagus Hollandaise

Goat’s Cheese Soufflé

Goat’s Cheese Souffle

Please let me know what YOU would like to see me attempt! 🙂

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Crêpes Caroline

Crêpes Caroline

Last weekend I asked our foreign exchange student if she had a French recipe she would like to cook for the family, and if so, what would she like to make? Luckily the French word for crepes is the same as the English word, so I understood immediately what she was planning to make. I told her she could make them for us for breakfast the next morning. Around 9:30 am the next day, I asked her if she was ready to make the crepes for breakfast. She shook her head yes, then brought up the recipe on her cell phone — in French and metric! Thank goodness for Google  Translator and my handy dandy weight scale that converts to metric! (I discovered that 250 grams is 2 cups!)

Weighing the Flour

When I finally got the gist of the recipe translated, I found out we had to let the batter sit for two hours. Looking at the time, I said, “I guess we are having crepes for lunch instead!” So we ate small bowls of cereal to tide us over.

Caroline told me the French eat their crepes filled with jam. I said we like to put fresh fruit in ours. I let her assemble the first one, and she filled hers with jam and folded it over like a washcloth. I then made mine (using both jam and fruit) and showed her how to roll one up enchilada style. We sprinkled them with powdered sugar. A wonderful, light lunch!

Crêpes Caroline

2 cups flour (250 g farine)
3 eggs (3 oeufs)
2 cups milk (1/2 litre de lait)
1 tablespoon sugar (1 cuillère a soupe de sucre)
1 pinch salt (1 pincée de sel)
A little oil (Un peu d’ huile)
Let stand for 2 hours (Laisser reposer pendant 2 heures) 

Cracking in the Eggs

Add the flour to a bowl, then crack in the three eggs. Mix the eggs into the flour with a whisk until well combined. Slowly add the milk, whisking to combine. After watching her struggle with some lumps, I decided to pull out the electric mixer for her, as she was having trouble getting it to combine well. Mix in the rest of the ingredients, mixing on high until well combined. Let stand, uncovered, for two hours.

Whisking the Batter

When ready to make, heat up a medium-sized skillet to medium-high and spray with olive or vegetable oil. Pour in about 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup of batter, tilting the pan around so a thin layer coats the bottom. Cook each crepe for several minutes until the bottom stars to brown and the crepe is cooked through to the top. Using a spatula, flip the crepe over and heat about 30 seconds more.

Beautiful Crepe

Slide out of skillet and keep warm on a plate under a kitchen towel. Repeat until batter is gone. This makes about 10 crepes. Serve with jam, fresh fruit, and powdered sugar, folded or rolled any way you want!

Strawberries and Jams

Caroline is leaving back to France tomorrow, and we are all sad to see her go. She has been a wonderful addition to the family this past three weeks, and our entire family has really enjoyed the experience of hosting a foreign exchange student. If you are interested in hosting a student, please check out the Andeo organization. They are very well organized and I can’t be happier with the student we were paired with! Bon Voyage Caroline!

Crêpes Caroline

Download and Print this Yummy Recipe!