Concentrated veal stock is a wonderful, wonderful thing. Any veal stock is good. Use it in your cooking. But concentrated veal stock – that’s magic. Concentrating it makes it easier to store in the freezer. That way, it’s just there and ready when you need it. And you will need it with beef and with lamb. It’s not full blown demi-glace but it adds that unbelievable richness to sauces.
While a grilled steak can be pretty good I’m not happy unless there’s a sauce. For me, a pan fried steak is where it’s at. A splash of wine, a bit of stock – in this case veal stock – and a couple of flavour highlights and you move into serious territory.
The French have mastered at least 100 different pan fried steak dishes – and yet there’s no grilled steak recipes in the Cordon Bleu at Home…
French chicken in a pot. It’s a great way to mix up the Sunday roast chicken. It infuses the chicken with rich flavours and creates an unbelievably delicious sauce.
This is a simplified version of the poule-au-pot. It’s not stuffed. It’s not poached. It’s roasted. But it’s not really roasted because it’s sealed in a pot. Confused? Just go with it. It’s really, really good.
Without the truffle this soup is called potage parmentier when served hot and vichyssoise when served cold. I don’t think it has a name but truffled leek and potato is completely over the top.
This isn’t authentic. Chicken paprikash is a braised dish. This is a technique I came up with to try to get somewhere close to braised chicken flavour with crispy skin.
Invest in some fresh quality Hungarian paprika. Paprika is the star of this dish. If your star ingredient is weak your results will be weak. You can mix your paprikas up to taste as well. Want a hint of smoke? Use a bit of smoked paprika. Want some spice? Hot paprika actually has a bit of heat.
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A nicely balanced dijon based french vinaigrette is a great alternative to bottled salad dressings.