Harry Eastwood Inspired French Cooking

Art of the French Omelette

If you’ve heard of French omellete recipes, there is a lot of debate about what this actually means. And with so many recipes that mention French omelette, there are many more that usually have ingredients inside the omelette itself. Here’s a little secret I want to share with you.

What makes a French Omelette?

The one truth about making an omelette using French methods is very simple by definition. This includes eggs and butter and in reality, that’s all there is to it. The egg must be prepared in a way that the texture is very soft and fluffy, so obviously it needs to be whisked so you get evenly created bubbles all throughout the mixture.

When it’s cooked, the texture is intended to be silky and moist and isn’t supposed to be overcooked. As long as you have a delicately cooked egg, this is how your finished recipe should be. Another vital ingredient is butter, which gives added flavor to any omelette. Too often, this is replaced with low-calorie alternatives that were never a concern 50 years ago.

Now that leaves us with the burning question about fillings. And this is where adding white pepper is all part of the charm of French cooking. The pepper flavor remains but doesn’t pepper your omelette surface with little black specks. You also shouldn’t have any ingredients that are showing on the outside of the egg, so it’s better to be added within the centre.

This is where using medium-high heat is essential to get a wonderful yellow egg color that’s cooked but not brown in color. This not only makes it a challenge for those who are new to French cooking. You can’t use standard cooking pans, this will call for a cast-iron pan because of the evenly distributed heat.

It also requires that you’ve seasoned a pan to get the best non-stick surface that keeps delicate ingredients like an egg from sticking at all. Butter is a natural non-stick additive for omelettes so cooked egg slides out with little or no effort. This can be problematic for some Teflon-coated pans that can ruin cooked omelettes right away. We saw this omelette pan article where omelettes were made with various pans showing more or less the same results regardless of the type of non-stick pans used.

If you keep in mind all of these elements, the art of the French Omelette will be a cinch for making in your home kitchen. If not, your not really cooking the French way, which is why French cooking includes these specific rules. Here’s my favorite recipe for making a simple French omelette that sticks to these exact requirements.

As the great chef, Julia Child, once noted, read through the entire recipe before making your first omelet. Egg recipes move very quickly and there is no time to consult your recipe once you’ve begun the process.

French Omelette Recipe

Sammy

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Total Time 15

Course Side Dish

Cuisine French

Calories 325 kcal

Ingredients

4 Medium eggs (range free)
5 Grams Butter (or 1 teaspoon olive oil)
White pepper
2 Slices Bayonne ham (thin sliced)
2 Tablespoons Fresh chives (finely chopped)

Instructions

The secret to this recipe is getting your eggs to be fluffy enough so your cooked French omelette will be light and fluffy. You could use a fork which will take forever, though a handy kitchen whisk makes small bubbles in your egg mix that works wonders. Add white pepper (and salt) for seasoning.
Use a frying pan that will be large enough for all of your eggs. Any standard large pan is perfect yet a pan that heats quickly including a cast-iron pan is best for French cooking. Heat your pan over medium-high heat and start to melt your butter. This should be spread over the entire surface and up onto the sides of your pan.
When the butter becomes foamy and starts to lightly brown, it’s ready for adding your whisked egg mixture. As the sides of the mixture start to cook this needs to be dragged down to the liquid centre. You now quickly allow more uncooked eggs to coat along the sides.
This method helps keep much of your egg staying undercooked to get a fluffy centre. As you finish off your omelette, you then add your slices of Bayonne ham in the centre and cover this with half of your chives. Save the rest for topping it off. The rest of the eggs around the sides will be golden brown as they are folded over.
You want to fold the entire omelette in half and shuffle your pan to release the rest of your omelette from the pan. This is then transferred to a serving dish where you add the rest of the chives on top.

Keyword french Omelet, french omlete, french omlette

French Style BBQed Pork Tenderloin

Pork tenderloin is one of the best crowd-pleasers for a great choice cut of meat. When you cook this BBQ style, you can be sure that this will satisfy those who are looking for tender and juicy BBQ meat. But what happens when you put a little Harry Eastwood influence with some very original French BBQ flair into the mix? You get a BBQ port tenderloin that will leave you speechless!

What Makes French BBQ Different?

The traditional herbs and spices that are more common in France all come down to a basic combination called herbs de Province. It’s a combo that uses rosemary, thyme, oregano, savory, and marjoram. On that note, you can’t forget that fennel seeds, bay leaves, tarragon, chervil, and even lavender are part of this mixture. If you love the taste of dried basil, parsley, and sage are popular ingredients to add to your herbs de Provence.

Yet, with French BBQ, these flavors might change the taste of the meat, which to say the least might start tasting too traditional and more like a country-style dish rather than what we’re looking for in BBQ. This recipe does take advantage of thyme and lemon zest to give the pork flavor a distinct lingering aftertaste. The addition of honey and soy sauce with garlic brings out the grilling punch that makes BBQ meat delicious.

Obviously, you can draw the comparison here that shows you can still have plenty of French influence without spoiling the tenderness you get from pork tenderloin. But to keep this select slab of meat from drying out on the BBQ, you’ll certainly need to take plenty of care for allowing it to marinade properly. The thicker your tenderloin cut happens to be, you must allow 1-hour per 2 pounds of meat.

So- Let’s get started!

Marinated Pork Tenderloin Recipe

This barbecue favorite is perfect for the summer with a distinctly French flavor written all over it. This recipe is ideal for up to 6 people and can be prepared in less than 1-hour depending on your meat thickness. You’ll need:

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Course Side Dish

Cuisine French

Servings 6 Peoples

Calories 250 kcal

Equipment

Microwave
Large bowl
Spoon
Plastic cling wrap
Fridge
Kitchen brush
Foil
Grill or Smoker

Ingredients

1 Pork Tenderloin (2lbs)
2 Tablespoons Olive oil
2 Tablespoons Lime juice
4 Tablespoons Soy sauce
1 Tablespoon Honey
1 Garlic clove (crushed or minced)
1 Lime (whole zest)
1 Portion of thyme (about a handful)
Salt and pepper (to taste)

Instructions

Prepping Your Marinade

This marinade is prepared beforehand and should allow your meat to properly absorb these flavors for no less than 1-hour. If you have a larger or thicker portion, let it marinade for 1-hour (for each 2lbs.) accordingly. Try to use honey that isn’t too thick, so place it into a microwave to make it thinner and easier to mix your marinade. The important part of this recipe is using a fine grater to zest your lime.
The smaller the zest pieces are, the better off your meat will absorb these delicate flavors. You don’t need to tenderize your tenderloin other than slicing it down the middle to help it lay flatter on your BBQ. For thicker cuts, you can create a flank-like cut with two slices on opposing sides of the tenderloin to create a scalloped edge that helps to make the piece wider.
Into a large bowl, add all of your marinade ingredients and mix them well with a spoon. You now add your prepared meat and then place this into the fridge. Flip your meat after each hour to ensure the marinade is coating the tenderloin on all sides. You should cover the meat with a plastic cling wrap so there is less chance the garlic and soy sauce aren’t scenting anything else in your fridge.

Grilling Your Tenderloin

This will be much better if you have a BBQ that has a closing lid so the cooking time is shorter, but always be sure to cook your tenderloin on indirect heat. This will help make the pork deliciously tender. It will take 15 to 20 minutes depending on the thickness of your pork for the tenderloin to cook. Once you lay the tenderloin slab onto the grill you also want to sear it on both sides if you like the grilled appearance.
After this, place your slab onto the indirect heat and let it cook until it’s done. If you want to add more marinade, this can be swabbed onto the surface (using a kitchen brush) on your pork for added flavor.
Beware, pork quickly becomes dry and overcooked. The sweet spot for your tenderloin is 145°F. This means you should pull the tenderloin off the grill when it hits about 140°F and wrap it in foil to let it rest on the counter while the carryover finishes it to completion (145°F). There are endless grill thermometers that will help you keep an eye on the internal temperature while its sitting inside your grill or smoker.
When it’s done, all you need to do is slice and serve.

Healthier French Style BBQ

Everyone wants to eat healthier these days but there’s always some new cooking hack that somehow bends the rules. Now grilling BBQ dishes can be packed with flavor that usually comes from sauces and fatty rendered meats, but here’s one method you’ll be happy to hear is actually healthy for you.

Finally, a French-style BBQ to cheer about

Harry Eastwood might have cornered the market on healthy French alternative cuisine and does have great meat recipes in her best-seller cookbook “Carneval”. But when it comes to cooking the best BBQ dishes that actually taste good, you might be scratching your head. We’ve found one such recipe that will change your mind about eating healthy with a grill chicken recipe that gives French BBQ a run for the money.

The real secret here is selecting your chicken that fits the bill for getting the best flavor here is to choose a free-range chicken. The tougher the bird you can find -the better. The whole secret here is that free-range organic birds are stronger and will have more muscle mass. You want a chicken that can run a marathon rather than the farm-bred birds raised in chicken mills.

French Style Healthy BBQ Chicken

Free-range chickens eat everything they can find including bugs, grass, and anything they can get a hold of. Because their meat has become so dense, the cooking time is increased which gives you a perfect excuse to slow-cook your bird on the grill. Add just the right amount of stuffing inside and you can take the toughness out of the picture right away. You also want to have a BBQ grill that is set up to smoke if you want added smoky flavor.

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Course Main Course

Cuisine French

Servings 1 Chicken

Ingredients

1 Whole free-Range Chicken (1.5 to 2lbs)

Stuffing ingredients

1 Tablespoon olive oil (yourchoice) (your choice)
200 Grams Wild mushrooms (girolles, ceps, or chanterelles) rough chop in small bits
1 lemon (freshly squeezed for the juice)
2 Tablespoon fresh parsley (finely chopped)
1 Small Amount of lemongrass (thinly diced)
2 Tablespoons Fresh tarragon (finely chopped)
2 Garlic cloves (peeled and finely minced)
2 Slices Prosciutto (finely chopped)
1 Tablespoon Crème Fraîche (half fat)
Salt and pepper (to taste)

Instructions

Prepping your stuffing
About the time you get everything ready prepared, you'll need to ready your BBQ grill for grilling. Start with a good selection of pure charcoal that will give the chicken a great flavor. Apple and cherry wood are good choices but don't forget that maple also gives a sweeter BBQ taste you might enjoy if you aren't into smoky flavors. You'll need to take a large griddle and heat it up on your grill.
Add your olive oil, and once the griddle is nice and hot, now add your mushrooms and fry them until they get golden brown. After this, you put these mushrooms aside into a large bowl along with all of the stuffing ingredients. After everything is mixed in your stuffing, add the salt and pepper last to get just the right taste. The next step is prepping your chicken.
Stretching the skin
Unlike stuffing a turkey, you're going to loosen all of the skin on your chicken so you can separate it from the meat underneath. This will take a bit of care because you don't want to get any holes in your skin. Working your fingers under any spot all over your bird is best all the way down the legs and around the breasts. The next step is tricky but you need to stuff your stuffing full of the mushroom stuffing mixture.
It doesn't need to be more than inch all around for slow cooking. Tie off the legs if they're not sitting too far from the body. You also want to tie off any loose skin with cooking twine where the neck used to be. The next step is to put your chicken into a shallow baking tray and place this into your BBQ grill. Don't worry about covering your chicken, the first 40 minutes is essential to let it sit in the liquid that collects.
Creating a basting sauce from the liquid
After you've let your chicken cook in the BBQ grill for 40minutes, you remove the chicken from the baking tray and carefully put it onto the indirect heating area of your grill. The leftover liquid is then simmered down with a touch of sugar to help it thicken up easier. This can be used as a glaze that you apply every 10 minutes to get a glaze on your chicken skin. When the internal temperature of your chicken reaches 165 degrees, it's done.
After a total of 60 to 90 minutes in the grill, the glaze will help prevent your stuffing from totally drying out and keep the meat nice and tender. When you're ready, place the chicken on a cutting board and separate the legs and meaty pieces onto waiting for serving plates. Serve with any low-calorie side dish you like. Enjoy!

Keyword chicken, healthy bbq,

Grilled French Style Sausage

This is another great twist on Harry Eastwood’s Turkey sausage recipe except we’re adding a French grilling version. This recipe calls for using Toulouse sausage made from pork. While turkey is generally healthier, this pork sausage is only 150 calories per sausage link which is still pretty tame considering the original recipe with a Turkey sausage is 440 calories per serving. Plus, the grilled liquid from the sausage itself is enough to replace certain ingredients.

Is There A French Grilling Method?

We often look at French cuisine as a highly technical art of cooking on the stovetop, but the French would highly disagree these days. They have honed their skills to the point of purity rules that include only pure wood and pure charcoal mixtures. It’s also an unknown trend that began almost 30 years ago throughout big and small French cities. Thanks to emerging cookbooks on the French method of grilling, the word is getting out quickly.

Toulouse Sausage

Sammy

We recommend that you fire up your grill using only the best charcoal and wood to give your grilled foods taste remarkable. Keep in mind that a single sausage link will feed up to 4 people if you slice the link into1-inch thick slices. You can follow this handy recipe for Toulouse sausage or buy them already made at specialty French import shops. Here's how to make your sausage grill up just right:

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Course Main Course

Cuisine French

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

1 Toulouse sausage sliced into 1-inch rounds (or moredepending on each person)
9 Cups baby spinach (organic spinach stuffed into ameasuring cup)
¼ Cup of chicken broth (low sodium variety)
1 Large Lemon (zested)
1 Large Lemon (juiced after being zested)
Salt and pepper (to taste)
1-2 Tablespoon garlic (freshly minced)- Optional

Instructions

Prepping your ingredients
Start with your outdoor grill that will serve as your cooking surface. You want to use a cast iron griddle so that any liquid that comes out of your sausage will become extra flavoring for your broth sauté. Place your griddle onto the direct heat to get the best sear on your sausage. As it starts to grill and melt away the fatty juices, you can flip each of them to get a great crust that fries them evenly and quickly.
After this, you want to move your griddle to medium heat and add your chicken stock. If you want to have more garlic flavor you can now add freshly minced garlic. Toulouse sausage already has a lot of garlic, but an extra tablespoon or two won't hurt this recipe much at all. Give this a little stir and then add your lemon zest and juice followed by your baby spinach leaves. Now cover the griddle and let this simmer for 5 minutes.
After this, you can remove the cover and let the remaining steam boil off. Move your griddle to the indirect side so the remaining steam vents away. At this point, you want to give this a taste so you can determine if you need to add extra salt or pepper. Mix the entire mixture by tossing the spinach and sausage together and serve this on a plate. This will make 4 equal servings or two very-hearty larger servings.
Serving sides
One great added side dish to this is freshly baked cornbread, which isn't typically your local French recipe either. You can slice a fresh baguette into thin slices and grill them with a bit of butter and garlic basted on top. Alternatively, you can dip these slices into the liquid left-over in your griddle and grill this directly on your BBQ to toast them up. If you want to give your bread a little smoky flavor, you can also close the lid for a minute or so.
The best wine to add to this recipe is always going to be a wide range. If you enjoy red wine you can always choose a good merlot or cabernet sauvignon. There is also chardonnay if you prefer white wine that goes well with Toulouse sausage. If you prefer very good red wines, the best choices are often from Napa Valley, while Australian white wine has been getting rave reviews recently. Of course, you can never go wrong with any red or white French wines.

Keyword french, healthy bbq,, sausage

Tasty Smoked Lamb Burger

The reluctant vegetarian Harry Eastwood may once have been an activist in her early angst days, but she made good on her quest to find solace in what makes a perfectly normal meat-eating diet worthy to embrace. In this wonderful recipe from her epic meat bible “Carneval”, Harry shows how BBQ and a bit of nostalgia for smoking food can make this lamb recipe become the feast of all seasons.

BBQ is all about smoking food?

We all know how grilling anything on the BBQ will add a certain amount of smokiness to your food. It’s a flavor that you can’t get in a conventional frying pan and will often turn ordinary burgers into a memory that people remember every time you have a grill party. To recreate this Harry Eastwood dish in a whole new way, you’ll certainly want to bookmark this page for upcoming grill parties. Here’s how we do French BBQ even better;

Smoked Lamb Burger

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 1

Total Time 1 15

Course Main Course

Cuisine French

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

800 Grams Minced Lamb Shoulder (80/20 mix)
2 Tablespoons Chopped Fresh Mint (finely chopped)
2 Tablespoons Chopped fresh parsley (finely chopped)
2 Tablespoons Chopped fresh dill (finely chopped)
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard (your choice)
Teaspoon Dried chili flakes
4 Sun-Dried tomatoes (finely chopped with salt and pepperadded for taste)

Garlic/Cilantro Mayonnaise Topping

8 Tablespoons Mayonnaise (your choice)
1 Tablespoon Lemon or lime juice (fresh squeezed)
2 Garlic cloves (peeled and minced)
1 Small Bundle fresh cilantro (finely chopped)
1 Pinch of smoked paprika
Salt and pepper (to taste)

For Building Your Burger

12 Slices of Halloumi cheese (thin sliced)
6 Hamburger Buns (freshly baked)
1 Bunch of baby spinach leaves
1 Red Onion (peeled and finely sliced)

Instructions

Prepping your ingredients
You'll want to start up your BBQ grill and set aside your favorite smoking wood for the lamb and Halloumi. This is subjective but most folks will recommend Olive, Apple, or Pecan wood. You can't go wrong with hickory or mesquite if you prefer smokier flavor likewise. Since the halloumi often tastes great with Oakwood, it works great with lamb burgers too. The added mint and herbs will set off the flavor of lamb additionally.
Start with mixing your minced lamb with all of your herbs, mustard, chili, seasoning, and sun-dried tomatoes. After this, you form these into six individual patties inside an emptied tuna tin with both the top-bottom ring removed. This forms the best-shaped burger form. Place these into the fridge until you're ready to grill.

Keyword french, healthy bbq,, lamb burger

chicken in white plate with lemon and vegetables on wood table Featured image

Our Favorite Eastwood Dishes

As a nation, we’re embracing low-calorie foods more and more with many changes in the way we look at healthy eating. French chef Harry Eastwood has some of our favorite dishes that will satisfy your craving for healthier dishes that are still packed with plenty of flavors.

Roasted chicken

Here’s a great twist on free-range chicken that will change your concept of what stuffing is really used for. Most of us think of chicken stuffing as being a great side dish that is delicious and filled with lots of bread crumbs and spices. This stuffing also serves as a tenderizer for your chicken, since this is free-range chicken. Instead of being finished off in a saucepan, this stuffing is marinated underneath the skin of your chicken.

This is somewhat awkward if you don’t have much experience pulling the skin away from a whole chicken. The trick is to start at the base of the neck and slowly work your way down the breast. When you’ve reached the hind legs (drumsticks), then you’re ready to start adding the stuffing underneath the skin. This stuffing mixture includes roughly chopped wild mushrooms, parsley, lemongrass, tarragon, minced garlic, and sliced prosciutto.

Kung Pao chicken

Who doesn’t like Chinese food with lower calories and is much tastier if you prepare this meal in a traditional wok. What is not mentioned is how old your wok must be nor how much of the wok has buildup flavor. If you are unaware of wok cooking, you aren’t supposed to clean the inside surface of your wok. This helps to preserve seasonings that were built up from previous wok dishes.

Typically, you use a paper towel to wipe away any oil and leftover food within the wok itself. What’s left is a surface that includes seasonings that are lining the surface of the steel. Because you’re using free-range chicken, this is cut into thin strips and placed into a tablespoon of cornflour and then one tablespoon of water is added to this. This helps make a paste that covers the chicken strips. These are added immediately to a hot wok.

The marinade is added right after this with other ingredients, and then finally the vinegar, sugar, and soy sauce to thicken this mixture further. After it gets thick, it gets served with rice and chopped cilantro on top.

Gourmet lamb burger

Everyone likes a great hamburger and what better way to enjoy hamburgers than to add a different type of hamburger meat. This version uses a lean lamb with only 20% fat content, so it’s going to give you plenty of flavors and lower calories. Harry likes to add chopped mint, parsley, dill, Dijon mustard, dried chili flakes, finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes, and salt and pepper to taste.

What gives this burger a real kick in the mayonnaise sauce with minced garlic, finely chopped cilantro, smoked paprika powder, and a dash of fresh lemon or lime juice. The final touch is grilling fresh Halloumi cheese. This classic Greek cheese is made from goat or sheep and gives the lamb tempting and tasty squeaky cheese flavors. This gives your lamb burger more salt with a fine creamy aftertaste.

Top this burger off with purple onion slices and a sweet chili marmalade or jam. Be sure to buy top-quality burger buns that are fresh and not the typical store package variety.

Gratin Dauphinois

While we’ve saved the best for last, this southern French recipe is just the perfect side dish that is enjoyed with just about any kind of meat. Now this version of Gratin Dauphinois requires waxy potatoes that are Charlotte potatoes that need to scrubbed rather than peeled. They’re sliced thinly into coin size slices using a mandoline slicer. You can do this by hand if you like, but a mandoline makes slicing them evenly a lot easier.

It’s important to get your bring your skim milk to a slow simmer beforehand so these potatoes don’t start to brown. In this recipe, you’re also adding a whole bulb of garlic that is bashed and peeled. When the potatoes are soft but not totally cooked, these are strained and then added to your casserole dish with grated Gruyére cheese and 3 tablespoons of crème Fraiche, then baked in an oven for 20 minutes until it’s golden brown on top.

The remaining milk can also be saved and used as a base for garlic-flavored béchamel for other sauces if you like. Bon Appétit!

Boeuf Bourguignon: The Evolution from Julia to Harry

The evolution of a classic French dish like Boeuf Bourguignon is a hard act to follow if you happen to liken it to the mighty French chef Julia Childs. Yet, Harry Eastwood is no second banana when it comes to reinventing the wheel for a traditional beef burgundy stew.

A historical dish in the making

When we’re talking about traditional French cuisine, it’s easy to imagine that a recipe has a long-standing history behind it. That couldn’t be further from the truth, since this beef stew is not really that old at all. It’s actually an invention that began in the 19th Century and sprang out of variants that also appeared in the mid-19th Century -likewise. So how exactly did an obscure beef stew cooked in deep red wine gain such popularity?

Well, for most Americans who grew up watching television in the 1960s and 1970s, Julia Childs might as well be credited to introducing French cooking and cuisine.

Her televised cooking show introduced a culture and method of creating French meals that look fun and highly cultured. As if most of us still remember her getting tipsier after adding a dash too much of cooking cherry. Well, after all, it was considered social to drink like a fish…

How times have changed

These days, we have seen many changes in social attitudes about beef and Harry Eastwood is no slouch when it comes to observing these changes. In a world where Veganism and Vegetarianism are on the brink of self-destruction, even an ex-Vegetarian like Harry admits to the big lie we’ve all been fed. There is nothing wrong with eating meat and without a healthy, daily amount of lean red meat.

In fact, no amount of supplements containing natural iron and protein can prevent illness and muscle loss. But the most important part of Harry’s contribution to French cuisine is not shying away from the same mob that wants to cancel her writing career. This is how she has redefined Beef Burgundy stew that has a careful balance of nutrition and outstanding flavor.

What makes the Eastwood version so different?

Oh, did we forget to tell you that ingredients count when it comes to making plenty of flavors? Of course, Julia Childs would disagree, yet she might even agree to the scientific changes that make this recipe work like a charm. Here is a side by side comparison of each ingredient:

Boeuf Bourguignon

Julia's Version & Harry's Version

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Ingredients

Julia's Version

6 Slices of bacon (cut into Lardons)
3 Tablespoons olive oil
3 Pounds stewing beef (2" cubes)
3 Cup red wine (chianti or deep red)
1 Carrot
1 Onion
2 Tablespoons flour (all-purpose)
1 Pinch course salt
2?-3? Cups beef stock
2 Cloves garlic (crushed)
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
1 Bay leaf (crushed)
? Teaspoon thyme
18-24 Pearl onions (small)
3 Tablespoons butter
1 Pound White mushrooms (quartered)
1 Herb bouquet
4 Sprigs parsley Chopped parsley
2 Sprigs thyme Chopped parsley
1 Bay leaf Chopped parsley

Harry's Version

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
900 Grams shin or leg of beef f (cubed) - 1.9 Lbs.
1 Bottle red wine (Burgundy or deep red)
250 Grams baby carrots
250 Grams baby onions (or shallots)
3 Tablespoons flour (all-purpose)
Salt and pepper (to taste)
300 ml Cegetable or chicken stock 1.2 cups
4 Cloves garlic (minced)
2 Cinnamon sticks (optional)
10 Grams butter 2.5 tablespoons
250 Grams button mushrooms
1 Herb Garni bouquet
1 Celery stalk Chopped parsley
3 Bay leaves Chopped parsley
Thyme sprigs Chopped parsley

Healthier- without sacrificing taste

With this side-by-side comparison, you can immediately see some things are obviously missing from this recipe. The bacon is gone, the excess of pearl onions is gone, and the liquid stock is much lighter. The amount of meat is half of what it was but is leaner and less fatty. While the amount of butter and natural fats are decreased, the number of vegetables and spices add to the flavor signature.

Julia’s original recipe takes 6 hours to render down, while Harry’s only takes a total of 3.5 hours total! What’s even more fascinating is that the original recipe serves 4 people while the new version serves a total of 6. If you want to get really technical, Julia’s version is 970 calories per serving, while the Eastwood variant is just 362 calories. Talk about a big difference in shaving calories without losing any flavor.

What is adding so much flavor?

The celery stalk that is sliced up within the herb Garni bouquet is just part of a standard flavor trick that is commonly used with chicken or vegetable stock. It’s a flavor enhancer that’s further enhanced by the addition of minced garlic and bay leaves. While the wine is simmering down, these flavors are enhanced even more as the lack of fat in the Eastwood recipe replaces fats from the bacon and the butter.

Wine also preserves the moisture of the meat but doesn’t make vegetables like the mushrooms, baby onions, and the baby carrots turn mushy. Another interesting fact is that Shin beef and the Spruce (leg of beef) are very tough lean cuts that need something to tenderize them. This is where the tannins help to tenderize these cuts of beef so they are as tender as they can get.

Tannin-powder wiight surface — Tannin-Powder

The cinnamon is not actually French but actually helps with the flavor of the beef and wine. These sticks need to be removed from this finished stew mixture so you don’t crack a tooth.

What this meal is served with

This dish is best served with mashed potatoes with light butter and salt. You can also consider lightly fried potatoes or fresh green beans that are sautéed French style. This means they are sautéed with garlic and parsley. Perhaps a combination of both will complete this meal as you like. Go figure that this recipe will likely become one of your traditional meals sometime soon. Don’t forget to choose a quality red wine, enjoy!

Things We’ve Learned from Harry Eastwood

It’s no surprise that Harry Eastwood has revised French cooking in many ways to recreate classic French dishes with lower calories. But that’s only scratching the surface since Harry has a unique style that stands on its own for a whole new generation that is seeking to be more health-conscious.

Mentally embracing the process of cooking

Harry had grown up in France since the tender age of 4 and embraced many facets of eating styles that many of us are exposed to. She was an avid animal activist in her early years of being an extreme Vegetarian and partook in demonstrations that were opposed to the eating of veal. After three years of opposing the eating of meat and dairy, she made a conscious decision to return to eating meat and dairy in a whole new way.

Carneval book and harry eastwood — “Carneval”, published in 2016

Harry then went on to spend the next 15 years researching meat in all of its aspects and even served as an apprentice to a butcher in her early 20s. Her book entitled “Carneval“, published in 2016 is her love letter of 100 meat-inspired recipes and sauces from around the world. Her quest for knowledge now embraces free-range, organic, and select farm meat varieties. She even includes a Foie Gras Maison recipe in her book that’s also ethical.

If that’s not enough, Harry places more emphasis on a method of cooking that replaces the deep-seated tradition of using many types of fats, butter, and sauces in her recipes. Her process of alteration rather than substitution has drawn minor French food criticism

Longer meal periods

The French are accustomed to having a lunch that lasts at least 2 hours and is a leisurely traditional affair. Harry Eastwood understands that these meals are served in three plates of lunch over that period, allowing you to digest this meal proportionately. But one of the drawbacks to today’s lunch breaks will encompass eating a large meal in a very short amount of time. Harry is a firm believer in taking time to eat rather than eating all at once.

This is not always easy for most working-class people, which often need to eat their meal at their desk or on the go. The only time we can usually enjoy this freedom is on the weekend. This isn’t a bad thing, but of course, breaking bad eating habits is fairly difficult if you don’t have a flexible lunch schedule already.

Changes in deep frying

Harry also has a different approach to deep-frying that gives the surface of many traditional fried French foods have a different texture and crunch. Instead of breading the surface of something that’s fried, her method is to double-breaded twice. This means that it’s dropped in egg and then into breadcrumbs a second time so it gets very crispy. There’s no mention if she is using Panko bread crumbs, which would be crispier with just a single coating.

For the hot oil, she is only using 3 tablespoons of oil instead of a saucepan full of oil. This ultimately means that the level of oil is more akin to pan-frying than regular deep frying. The oil that is absorbed into breaded meats will instantly make the surface crispy, while the pan heat will cook the meat within the breaded coating keeping in the juices. You can see a sample of this recipe used for breaded camembert cheese.

Her fried chicken recipe is likely cooked Sous Vide beforehand before it gets breaded, so the chicken is cooked to perfection.

More vegetable dishes

Harry is still a big fan of vegetables, not that her past has anything to do with this, but the generous use of veggies that are commonly found in French dishes. Her approach to eating more vegetable side dishes and mixed meat and veggie meals is one of the hallmarks of French cooking. Of course, the essential part of eating vegetables is that they will be at their peak of freshness.

One of Harry Eastwood’s favorite choices is organic and pesticide-free, but you can get around this by simply finding a local Farmer’s Market that will offer cheaper alternatives.

The organic food you buy at the supermarket that is marketed towards vegetarians is often three times the cost of regular fruits and vegetables. This is why we recommend Farmer’s Market fruits and veggies that are using natural pesticides that are cheaper than the store.

Use of leaner meats

Another solution that reduces the calories n French cooking from the perspective of Harry Eastwood is to use lean and select cuts of meat. While most French recipes call for rich and adequate cuts of meat that release natural flavors and fats as it cooks. The older methods that used richer and fattier meats also took a lot of time to render down. Harry’s method has simplified this time constraint by today’s standards by using leaner and tougher meats.

The advantage is that these parts of beef and pork must be requested at a local butcher that you trust. This way, these cuts of meat will be cheaper for you since they are not the typical pricier select cuts of meat. They will need preparation to help tenderize them a bit more than usual, but the result is meat that is tender and tasty with lower fat content. This makes Harry Eastwood’s French recipes better suited for low-calorie recipes as a whole.

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Poulet au Vinaigre Deux

Poulet au Vinaigre is a classic French dish that has its roots in the bistro world, much more so than the world of Cordon Bleu cooking. Although many versions do go with the classic approach to French cuisine and a cream based sauce, this dish has evolved in the last few decades to be a darling of the nouvelle world. As a result, we get to look at a much lighter, more approachable dish that is easy to replicate.

It brings flavor profiles from many directions. As the name suggests, it is chicken with vinegar, so you get that tanginess. There is some butter, so you get that richness. Garlic, shallot and dry white wine help with the piquant aspects, along with a nice dollop of tomato paste. Finally, fresh tarragon brings along garden flavors and the mild anise components for which it is famous.

Poulet au vinaigre recipe

Historically, this was a dish that was made from one cut up chicken, with light and dark meat, since that is the way the chicken came from the market or the yard. No we have the luxury of choices in the market, and for this we choose chicken thighs. With the bone, and with the skin. They cook evenly, have a bit more flavor, and are fatty enough to stay moist throughout the process.

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Ingredients

8 Chicken thighs
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Large clove shallot coarsely minced
3 cloves garlic sliced
1 Cup chicken stock
1 Cup dry white wine
1/3 Cup red wine vinegar
1 ½ Tablespoon tomato paste
2 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon fresh tarragon minced

Start with eight chicken thighs and trim the skin to remove the major fatty stripes down the sides. Pat the chicken dry and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper on both sides. In a twelve inch skillet over medium heat add olive oil until it begins to glisten. Place the chicken skin side down and let it cook without moving for 8 minutes.

Flip the chicken over and repeat the process, allowing the bottom side to brown evenly, another 8 minutes. Remove the chicken and set aside. Drain off all but two tablespoons of the oil from the pan.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Add your shallots and garlic and sauté moving constantly until golden brown. Add all the liquids, wine, stock and vinegar and use to deglaze the pan. Keep stirring to remove all the nicely colored bits and pieces in the skillet. Add the chicken back to the pan and place uncovered in the middle of the oven.

Check after 30 minutes, looking for 190 degrees internal temperature for the chicken. Remove the chicken and set aside, preferably on a warmed platter.

Return the skillet to a medium high heat on the stovetop. Whisk in the tomato paste and bring to a boil.

Continue simmering until the sauce has reduced down to around 1-1/2 cups. Remove from heat, whisk in butter and tarragon. Pour the sauce over the chicken pieces and put the platter on the table for a classic bistro style meal.

We used a little extra chopped tarragon for garnish and served with cubed and pan fried potato.

For a similar tutorial check out Glen and Friends in this video:

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Dumb Things American’s Believe about French Food

For far too long, many people have developed this odd notion that French people are eating unsavory and disgusting things. But the culinary history of France might just surprise you about the ideas that American’s still believe about French cooking.

The difference between stereotype and prejudice

To be completely honest, there are two types of people in this world that have two points of view. As education is an important part of a culture, higher learning doesn’t always mean you will have the right opinion. In fact, some people who hear about history might just have their facts totally wrong. The perpetuation of rumors isn’t always as it seems, just as a factual record of French history gives a clear truth about what is true and what is not.

A stereotype is essentially a step toward discrimination without learning any factual reason for a possible truth. It’s forming an opinion about a race or culture, in this case, the food that’s enjoyed by French people.

This is how derogatory words such as ‘Frenchie’ or ‘Frog’ sum up the lack of understanding of a cultural background whatsoever.

Those who are uneducated about French food that’s considered weird, also feel all French people are alike.

Moving onto Prejudice, any statement that is considered prejudice is 100% testable based on the argument of presented facts. When facts become truths, these are very hard to question after that. Prejudice offers a look into cultural differences that allow for the argument to help justify the truth based on cultural preferences and practices. This is why stereotype claims fall short of actually being proven correct at all.

What do most Americans hear about French cooking?

For most Americans, the French people have been a punching bag since the very inception of America itself. Many of these stereotypes are perpetuated in movies and television, so you have to wonder why these are started in the first place. In other words, name one disaster film where the world was ending, that the entire city of Paris was immediately wiped off the map- at some point…

Despite this, we have less appreciation when hearing about French waiters and their lack of seeming to care about customer service. The truth is that many hired French waiters are paid a good salary. There are perhaps one or two waiters if the restaurant can afford a second employee. They aren’t working for tips (as American waiters do), so there is an emphasis placed on being cheerful or friendly toward the customer.

With that being said, here are good examples of French foods that are misunderstood and considered disgusting.

Frogs

You only have to understand the issue of why frog, or in this case, frog legs are considered a favorite of French cuisine. It should be noted that frog legs have been long enjoyed in Chinese, Indonesian, Turkish, and Vietnamese dishes for many centuries before. It was only until the Middle Ages that frog legs made their way to French monasteries. Perhaps the most famous mention came from Alexandre Dumas who wrote the original Three Musketeers!

Frog legs are hard to distinguish from chicken or even quail, yet- for most folks, this thought is so horrific. Perhaps it’s because the idea of eating an amphibian rather than accepted forms of meat is crossing the line. Many frog legs are popular when they are soaked in buttermilk and then breaded and fried. More often than not, they are served in tomato sauce or cooked in butter, garlic, and parsley.

Snails (Escargot)

Another fine example of cringe-worthy delicacies is the consumption of snails. Not this is truly a French invention and was first introduced in 1814. The introduction actually came by a last-minute decision when a visit by the Russian czar Alexander the First with Napoleon’s chief diplomat. While this was during the war, food was scarce and the Inn where the dinner was to take place was out of food.

The innkeeper has to think creatively to find something to cook from his garden. He spotted plenty of garden snails which sparked an idea. What he concocted later went on to become a sensation that evolved into a very specific cooking method.

These days, snails go through many steps of purging, salting, and boiling long before it gets to any dinner plate. The addition of creamy butter, garlic, and parsley along with baguette makes this delectable.

Horse

Yes, it’s true without any wincing involved, French people love eating horse meat.

While the UK had placed sanctions on their citizens eating horsemeat in the 1800s, this didn’t stop French and German people from enjoying it. At a time when many families were struggling throughout Europe, many outside the UK were lining up in droves to purchase a cheaper source of meat. By 1866, France finally legalized horsemeat by popular demand.

Just when you would like to think again, the UK also now allows a certain amount of mixed horsemeat into beef. Since 2012, Taco Bell across the UK now serves 50/50 blends of beef and horsemeat in their tacos! Before you knock it, horsemeat often tastes better than beef in many ways. For others, it might have a gamey taste similar to venison. It depends on how it’s prepared so not every recipe will have a gamey flavor left-over.

Goose liver (Foie Gras)

If you’re into fine dining, you probably have heard of Foie Gras, which is the height of high living! Goose liver is specially prepared by overstuffing geese through a standard feeding method. The upstanding ethical terrorists at PETA will tell you how terrible these geese are being treated, but it’s hard to believe that PETA would be buying Foie Gras anyway. When a goose is ready to be slaughtered after 8 to 10 weeks, all parts of the goose are used.

This includes the meat, various body parts, and organs are used after a goose is selectively cut apart by trained butchers. These days, Foie Gra is an ethical issue for animal rights activists, but somehow the practice of making Foie Gras dates back 4,200 years, tells a different story.

Steak Tartare

It might make the hair on the back of your neck stand up on end, but steak tartare is a tasty French starter. All of the stories you’re told in America seem to crumple apart about eating raw meat, but that’s where steak tartare is very different. Getting fresh meat from a trusted butcher will ensure that your meat is free from bacteria. Often, high-end French restaurants practice the same process, so no one ever gets sick.

Now here’s the real fun part about steak tartare in France. It’s often a favorite when it’s made from horsemeat, so you’ll understand how embedded this dish is for French culture. This dish isn’t actually French and comes from the Tartars that originated from Central Asia and eventually moved westward. The meat originally used was either camel or horsemeat, so once again, across Europe, horses have also been considered a good source of meat.