French Food Cont.

Hey fellow adventurers! I made (with help) some popular French food with my husband and family. First, I’ll talk a little bit more about French food and then I’ll share the recipes I followed. As well as pictures of the food I made.

I’ve already somewhat covered this but I want to talk about every day, non-restaurant etiquette. The French have family-style sit down meals three times a day with lunch being the most important. And no snacks! In France, eating is something to be savored not on-the-go or while distracted. Even coworkers eat together family-style. If a coworker were to grab a bite to eat by themselves, it would be considered rude or an insult. Lunch and dinner are generally three course meals. Three course meals typically consist of an appetizer (salad, soup, paté), the main course (generally a meat or fish dish with potatoes, rice, pasta and/or vegetables) and a cheese plate or dessert. French kids must eat the same things as the adults do. There’s no kids’ food versus adults’ food. The French believe in teaching kids how to eat healthy at a young age so they carry those good habits into adulthood. There’s also an emphasis on locally grown, fresh food in French cuisine.

I tried to make beignets which is a French doughnut. However, I failed miserably… whoops!

My husband took over and they were beautiful! We cheated and used pre-made batter from World Market but I’ll provide a recipe for those that love to bake (or you can be lazy like me). They were so good! They were light, fluffy and didn’t have an overwhelming flavor so presumably taste like whatever you pair them with (powdered sugar for us). If you do make these, I highly recommend you drink coffee with them! We had an iced mocha with ours (café Au chocolat?) and it made the whole meal that much better! We ate it on my back patio, with the café music playlist I mentioned at the end of the music post, so that it felt like we were eating on a café terrace. Recipe here:

http://www.jocooks.com/bakery/pastries/beignets/

And for lunch I made croque-monsieurs for my family (my family do eat meat so I’ll share pictures of both the meat and vegetarian version). Croque-monsieurs are baked or fried ham and cheese sandwiches that are typically served at French Cafés. I followed the same recipe for both versions and in the vegetarian sandwich, switched out the ham for a soy lunch meat substitute. My family loved the meat version! As for me, I really enjoyed the vegetarian version but I might use a more flavorful lunch meat next time. Recipe here: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/croque-monsieur

Vegetarian version:

Regular version:

I wanted to make a vegetarian French onion soup as well but I got sick so it never happened. I’m sorry. I’ll still provide the links to the recipe I was going to make and the meat version. I’ve had French onion soup before though. It’s pretty salty with a (obviously) strong onion taste, and a lot of cheese! For those who’ve never had it, it tastes like a liquid form of onion potato chips with cheese on top. I’m a fan and would highly recommend it if you like onions. Once again, I’m sorry that I can’t vouch for either of these recipes.

Vegetarian version: https://www.google.com/amp/www.homesweetjones.com/2015/01/best-vegetarian-french-onion-soup/amp/

Regular version: https://www.google.com/amp/www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/french-onion-soup-recipe2-1947434.amp

And that’s it for the food section of France! If there were any recipes that you felt should have been included or just want to share, please feel free to comment below! Or if you made any of these recipes, feel free to share pictures! I would love to see! Until the next adventure!