simple, fresh, delicious french home cooking

French cooking is known for its delicacy, its intricacy, its complicated recipes and exacting techniques. But that is the haute cuisine, the professional chefs trying for those Michelin stars in the fancy restaurants. A lot of French cooking is done in the home kitchens by tired parents or for a group of friends on the weekend. A trip to the farmer’s market for beautifully fresh produce, some good cheese, a loaf of fresh baked bread, maybe a fish or piece of meat, and a French cook can whip up something simple but delicious for a weeknight dinner, for a snack to go with a bottle of wine and a girls’ night, or a quick entrée for a quiet date night in.

That’s what French from the Market is all about, taking fresh ingredients and making a simple but delicious meal that will satisfy body and soul. Author Hillary Davis lived in France for many years, in Paris and in the south, so she learned from the Michelin star chefs she got to interview there. But she also learned from neighbors and friends, from the farmers and the fishmongers, the cheesemakers and the butchers. They all gave her ideas on how to prepare their offerings, and she took them all and tried them. She took the ones she loved most and put them together in this cookbook, to offer them up to all home cooks wanting to find a bit of France in their own kitchens.

Davis insists that true French cooking is simple and fast, and she gives readers recipes for starters, soups, salads, mains, vegetables, and desserts that can all be made with a minimum of fuss but will impress fellow eaters. She encourages home cooks to utilize the professional chefs’ habit of getting all your ingredients and equipment together before starting the cook, also known as mise en place. Since she works at home, she works on her prep throughout the day, doing a couple things in the morning and a few more in the afternoon, so her evening cooking is even easier. And she shares her favorite French salts and mustards, so home cooks can look for them online or at local specialty shops if you want.

And then she jumps right into those recipes. Starters like Alpine Parsnip Hummus with Hazelnuts, Broccoli Terrine with Raw Tomato Sauce, Grilled Brie with Apricots and Balsamic Glaze, and Crepes with Ham, Cheese, Tomato, and Egg that can also be a lunch dish and can be whipped up quickly with store-bought crepes. Then it’s on to soups like a Sheet Pan Butternut Squash and Apple Soup, where you roast the squash and apples together and then blend them in a food processor for a simple soup with complex flavors. Or there is a Provencal Vegetable Soup with Pistou, Three-Cheese French Onion Soup, or Clear Fish Soup with Mussels and Scallops. Then there is a Saint-Tropez Crunchy Carrot Salad, Classic Bistro Green Salad, or a Wreath You Can Eat.

Seafood dishes include a Seafood Paella Camarguaise, Salmon in Parchment with Capers and Lemons, Weeknight Halibut in Basil Cream with Cherry Tomatoes, or Cod Bordelaise over Root Vegetable Puree. Poultry recipes include a Baked Coq au Vin, A Chicken in Every Pot, Easy Whole Duck a l’Orange, or a Festive Christmas Roast Turkey with Chestnut Stuffing. Meats include Normandy Pork Chops with Calvados and Apples, Veal Blanquette in a Lemony Cream Sauce, Instant Pot Beef Bourguignon, and Butterflied Leg of Lamb with Stuffed Artichokes. The vegetable dishes include Classic French Green Beans with Shallots and Almonds, Warm Leeks in Vinaigrette, Baked Omelet Parmentier, Fluffy Cauliflower and Cheese Quiche, and Sweet Potatoes Dauphinoise.

There is even a chapter on desserts, so you can finish your meal with Roasted Pears with Honey Ice Cream and Sea Salt, Caramelized Plums with Sweet Goat Cheese Mousse, Homemade Crème Fraiche and Raspberry Parfaits, Clafoutis with Loads of Berries, or a Quick and Easy Caramelized Apple and Camembert Tatin.

While Davis doesn’t specify vegetarian recipes, there are certainly many that would work of these recipes that would work or could be modified for those who don’t eat meat (vegan would be harder, as she does love her French butter). And throughout the book are gorgeous photographs of food and of French everyday life that make you feel like you should get on a plane immediately and head for the south of France and all its loveliness.

French from the Market is a beautiful cookbook, and I love that a lot of the recipes are for simple, flavorful evening meals. I enjoyed how Davis opened up her France for us and let us share her stories of food and connection. This book made me want to put some sprigs of lavender in a jar in the kitchen, buy some fabulous cheeses from Europe, and make a delicious meal I could share with family or friends. It made me want to travel to France to try out the cafes and the markets and the patisseries myself (definitely the patisseries!).

But mostly, it made me want to slow down a little, enjoy the moment and some fruit fresh a farmer’s market, and notice all the beauty around me here were I am. It’s a lovely cookbook, helping me travel halfway across the world while also appreciating what my life here in the American Midwest has to offer me, and I can’t think of a greater compliment than that.

Egalleys for French from the Market were provided by Gibbs Smith through Edelweiss, with many thanks.