Cookbook Review: The Little Paris Kitchen and raspberry and almond tartlets (+video)
Sometimes French food takes precision and patience, but in 'The Little Paris Kitchen' BBC star Rachel Khoo balances classic recipes with simplicity to make French cuisine achievable every day.
Rachel Khoo's tartlets are simple and divine. Use raspberries, or any tart fruit to compliment the sweet almond cream, and top with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Laura Edwins/The Christian Science Monitor
There's something about Paris. It seems like a right of passage for cooks to visit France, study pâtisserie at Le Cordon Bleu, fall in love with the French markets, stroll along the Seine, and then return home to open a bakery, write a cookbook, or blog about their experiences.
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Laura Edwins works with the web team and social media team producing content and managing social media platforms at the Monitor. She writes for the web, and occasionally for Stir It Up!
Laura holds a Master's in Journalism from New York University, and a Bachelor's of Communication from the University of Miami.
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We've heard again and again from Julia Child, Ina Garten, and countless others that French food does not have to complicated or scary. We know with varying degrees of difficulty American ingredients can come together to create such wonderful things as baguettes and croissants, to béchamel and crème anglaise, and other favorites like beef bourguignon and croque madames.
But somehow fitting French cuisine into my everyday routine hasn't been so seamless. I love The Barefoot Contessa's chicken with 40 cloves of garlic and if I follow her recipe it comes out perfectly, but peeling all that garlic really does take some time. And yes, I would love to master brioche buns, but no, I don't have the patience to wait overnight while the dough rises, then 2 more hours the next day while it rises again.
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British chef and BBC television personality Rachel Khoo, who also made the Paris pilgrimage, manages to both simplify and shake things up in her cookbook, "The Little Paris Kitchen." First released in Britain to wide acclaim, "The Little Paris Kitchen" is filled with French classics with a twist, like a barbeque version of coq au vin on skewers and ideas for variations on crème brûlée with additions such as lavender, orange zest, and even black pepper.
While there are some dishes that require precision and patience, many of Ms. Khoo's recipes are so simple I found myself thinking, "That's French? I could cook that tonight!" Her poisson meunière (fish with lemon and brown butter sauce) was only slightly different from my usual fish routine, with the delicious additions of flour for dredging the fish, and capers to finish. Her poulet aux champignons avec une sauce au vin blanc (chicken and mushrooms in a white wine sauce) was a breeze, and came together even faster than her estimated 30 minute cooking time.
Best of all, she has plenty of dessert ideas that don't require yeast, crème pâtissière, or ramekins. I tried, and fell in love with her tartlets aux framboises et amandes (raspberry and almond tartlets), which call for either a tart pan, or tartlet pans (which I do happen to have) but could also work in a shallow pie pan. I used raspberries on half of my tartlets, and strawberries on the others. They were delightful; warm and gooey, sweet and tart, with a flakey, buttery crust. I topped them with homemade whipped cream (one task I'm almost always willing to sacrifice time for) but whipped cream from a can or vanilla ice cream would have been just as good.
(See next page for recipe)
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