I really enjoy reviewing cookbooks. It gives me an opportunity to see the culinary world through someone else’s eyes and tastebuds. I was pleased to be asked by Gibbs-Smith to review a new book by renowned food writer and cookbook author Hillary Davis, French from the Market. Markets have always played a big part in our choosing where to stay in France — no good market nearby? We find another place to stay. The recipes in this book illustrate why markets — and fresh ingredients — are so important.
Davis lived abroad for many years — Provence for eleven years, Paris for two, and London for eight. Her time abroad provided insights into the way people cook, eat, and enjoy their food. French from the Market is a cookbook that showcases not how a French chef (or Julia Child) might cook a dish, but how maman or grandmère does it while managing a household, children and a job. “I’d like to talk to you about the mystique of French cooking,” she writes. “Somewhere along the way, we became convinced that it is hard to do.” In this book she proves that it is not; it is accessible and it is good.
While your dish might not look perfect as if served in a Michelin-starred restaurant, when it tastes great, who cares? Today’s recipe is a case in point. Quenelles. Google them and look at the photos. They are perfectly-shaped little pillows of heaven. “So many tutorials and cookbooks wax lyrical about all the things you must do right to produce quenelles. Yet, quenelles are very forgiving. They are dumplings,” says Davis. “Just toss ingredients into a food processor and scoop that mixture into a bowl and form the quenelles.” That is what I did. And they look fine, but I’m not getting my first Michelin star anytime soon. (Note: Ms. Davis — I just saw the new French film, The Taste of Things — Eugénie makes her quenelles using the exact technique as you describe in French from the Market.)
In the book, she reminisces about her mornings dreaming of visits to markets, menus she might create, and the time she would spend in her kitchen. Each recipe is enhanced by her personal touches. I made her French onion soup, for which she used chicken broth, and it was lovely, and less heavy than when made with beef broth. I also made her duck in red wine sauce; her cooking technique was perfect, and the sauce was excellent (and abundant). Her recipes celebrate the ingredients she uses rather than the techniques and rules used by purists.
As in any real household kitchen, you can adjust recipes to suit your palate and, in some recipes, Davis gives suggestions for such. She warns of oven and cooktop variations; temperatures vary on both so be prepared to adjust times and temperatures to your own equipment. When making her Tarte Tatin with Camembert, I found this to be true — I almost incinerated the apples.
I liked French from the Market — it’s a perfect cookbook for simple and easy entertaining. The layout is elegant, the photos are beautiful, and the recipes are well-written and work well. And the good news? It will be released for sale this week. Below I share Davis’ recipe for halibut quenelles (I used sole).
~ David
Sole Quenelles with Carrot, Fennel, and Leek
To print this recipe, please click the small printer icon below.
Ingredients
- unsalted butter, for the baking dish
- 1 fennel bulb
- extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
- sea salt
- 1 medium leek
- 1 medium carrot, peeled
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 teaspoon Herbes de Provence
- 1 pound raw sole, flounder, or halibut, cut into chunks, chilled
- 1 large egg white, chilled
- 1 cup heavy (whipping) cream, chilled
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh dill, plus more to garnish
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- TO MAKE THE VEGETABLES
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Coat the bottom of a 9 × 9-inch baking dish generously with butter.
- Cut off the top stalks from the fennel and save for another use. Mince the fronds and reserve for garnish. Peel off any worn outer pieces. Halve the fennel bulb vertically, then cut it into very thin slices [across the grain] and place them in the prepared baking dish. Drizzle with a little oil and a sprinkle of sea salt.
- Slice off the dark green part of the leek (save for another use or compost) and use only the white and very light green parts. Trim off the root end, then halve the leek vertically. Rinse the leek under running water to wash away any sand or dirt. Pat dry with paper towels, then cut the leek very thinly with kitchen scissors over the fennel in the baking dish.
- Holding the carrot over the baking dish, use a vegetable peeler to peel paper-thin pieces over the fennel. Pour in the broth and season with the Herbes de Provence. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil.
- Bake for 20 minutes (about the same time needed to make the quenelles) until the vegetables are soft. Remove, but leave the foil on the dish to keep the vegetables warm.
- TO MAKE THE QUENELLES
- Meanwhile, fill a Dutch oven or deep skillet about three-fourths full of water and bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer.
- Put the fish in the bowl of a food processor and pulse 14 times, then process until the fish forms a paste and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. With the machine running, add the egg white and process for 20 seconds, or until the mixture is very smooth and fluffy. With the machine running, slowly drizzle in the heavy cream and process for 10 seconds. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides and process again until blended. Add the dill and sea salt and process for 5 seconds to blend. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and gently smooth the top.
- To form the quenelles, I use a soup spoon, or a large serving spoon to make larger ones. You can also use an ice-cream scoop. Starting at the far edge of the bowl of fish mousse, dip the side of your spoon into the mousse, pull it across to your side of the bowl, then up the side of the bowl toward you. The spoon will curl the mousse toward you and form an oval football shape, which is your quenelle. It is pretty much the same as you would scoop ice cream with a spoon toward you. You can turn the quenelle over in your hand to smooth the other side before dropping it into the simmering water to cook for about 6 minutes. Don’t overcook the quenelles, or they will become tough. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining mousse.
- To serve, remove the foil from the baking dish, divide the vegetables onto the center of each plate, place the quenelles on top, and garnish the quenelles with some of the broth from the baking dish, then with some of the reserved fennel fronds and some dill.
- Serves 4. (3 large or 6 small quenelles per person)
© 2024 Copyright Cocoa & Lavender
Mad Dog
March 9, 2024 at 7:04 amI love books like this – real French cooking! I read a lovely book by Michelin starred chef, Pierre Koffman (Memories of Gascony), where he reminisces about his childhood – it contains all his grandmother’s farmhouse recipes.
Cocoa & Lavender
March 9, 2024 at 8:51 amWow — thanks for that recommendation. I just ordered Memories of Gascony — I can’t wait to read it. Have you read The Apprentice? It is the memoir of Jacques Pépin and, similarly, it is peppered with recipes form his mother and him. I loved reading it. Real food is so much more important that fancy food.
Mad Dog
March 9, 2024 at 12:20 pmThanks for that, I’ve just ordered, The Apprentice : My Life in the Kitchen.
Cocoa & Lavender
March 11, 2024 at 9:26 amI am pretty confident that you will enjoy it. It’s a great book.
Karen (Back Road Journal)
March 9, 2024 at 7:32 amThis does sound like the perfect cookbook for you and Mark as I do know how much you love shopping at the local food markets.
Cocoa & Lavender
March 9, 2024 at 8:47 amYes, Karen, we are real market devotés. And this book does work perfectly for us.
Mimi Rippee
March 9, 2024 at 7:56 amThis is wonderful and it looks perfect! I had my first quenelle the night I got married. It was magical! This sounds like a great book. I like her approach.
Cocoa & Lavender
March 9, 2024 at 8:46 amThanks, Mimi. It was my first shot at quenelles and I expected them to look less lumpy. But they were really good. Have you seen The Taste of Things? It’s such a beautiful film.
Barb
March 9, 2024 at 9:52 amWhat an alluring plate of food! I love dumplings, so this is perfect. I shall try it soon. I made the pork medallions with mustard cream. I served it with Spätzle, which made for a very satisfying Sunday supper. Keep the savory recipes coming, please!
Cocoa & Lavender
March 11, 2024 at 9:27 amI think spätzle is a brilliant addition to this dish, Barb! I’m glad you liked the pork medallions. And these quenelles!
Jill W Becker
March 9, 2024 at 10:04 amOh my looks like a cookbook I must have.
Cocoa & Lavender
March 11, 2024 at 9:26 amI think you would really enjoy it, Jill.
sherry
March 9, 2024 at 1:35 pmI love that fishy cloth under your plate 🙂 I have been watching YouTube videos by a fella called The Anti-chef who makes Julia Child’s recipes. It takes him hours if not days sometimes to make one of her recipes and I always think – no, just no. No dish is worth all that pfaffing around! I like your homely quenelles David. And I mean that in the best way.
Cocoa & Lavender
March 11, 2024 at 9:26 amReally, Julie‘s recipes do take forever! And have often wondered if there aren’t shortcuts that would provide an equally good and product.
Thanks for liking my quenelles, Sherry. I definitely want to work on their form!
Eha Carr
March 9, 2024 at 3:07 pmAm smilingly reaching into the screen – so entirely ‘my kind of food’! And lease don’t bring up cookery books . .. probably one of my greatest weaknesses. . . don’t necessarily cook from the but they make fabulous night-time reading !!!
Cocoa & Lavender
March 11, 2024 at 9:25 amEvery time I buy a new cookbook now, Eha, I only get the electronic edition, unless it’s something really spectacular. I have no more room, but still want more cookbooks. It seems like a good compromise.
angiesrecipes
March 9, 2024 at 9:19 pmLooks so tender and great! I absolutely love sole and they ain’t cheap (more expensive than salmon) over here. And farmer markets are my happy place :-))
Cocoa & Lavender
March 11, 2024 at 9:24 amThat’s really amazing, Angie. Of all the fish that Ms Davis suggested, the only one that was reasonably priced was the soul. For us it was only $10 a pound. For perspective, halibut is usually $38 a pound.
Gerlinde de Broekert
March 9, 2024 at 11:36 pmThis looks like a wonderful dish . I never made quenelles but I have eaten them and they are delicious. I love all the vegetables.
Cocoa & Lavender
March 11, 2024 at 9:23 amThese were my first quenelles, Gerlinde, and I hope I get to make them again.
Marcelle
March 10, 2024 at 1:02 amThis dish looks light and delicious and perfect for summer to me, David! I love leeks and I don’t cook with them often enough, yum 🙂 Great pictures in this post, (as always!) and the cookbook sounds like a great one!
Cocoa & Lavender
March 11, 2024 at 9:23 amI’m glad you like the review, Marcelle. It’s nice to have a cookbook that is simple to use with good honest food.
Ron
March 10, 2024 at 3:46 amDavid, I’m with you about visual perfection on the plate. I’ve never been very good at plating, but I’ve put out many tasty plates during my cooking years. Perfect quenelles are for Instagram, and tasty ones like yours are for eating and Instagram.
Her cookbook sounds lovely. Like you guys, we love to go to the local market not having a clue what’s for dinner, and getting inspiration from the fresh local produce and proteins. Unfortunately, our market is only running for about four months of the year.
Cocoa & Lavender
March 11, 2024 at 9:22 amI think a lot of people in the US miss out on getting their food from farmers markets. Though, I must say I was disappointed during my last trip to Germany; it was very hard to find a market any longer. Very sad.
I always try to plate so things look beautiful — but it doesn’t always work. Tant pis, as they say in France.
Jeff the Chef
March 11, 2024 at 8:16 amThanks for the cookbook recommendation! I read many years ago that there are many “levels” of French cooking, and that one of them is the type of food one would expect at home, if the home cook knew what they were doing. I love that kind of food! I love the casualness of it, and the hominess of it. I think your quenelles look delicious!
Cocoa & Lavender
March 11, 2024 at 9:20 amIt’s definitely the way I like to cook, Jeff. Make it look fancy, but make sure it’s really easy.
Ronit
March 11, 2024 at 10:55 amVery intriguing book! Food markets and farm stands are really the best.
The dish looks so full of flavors, with these aromatic vegetables. I haven’t made Quenelles in ages, so thanks for the reminder! 🙂
Cocoa & Lavender
April 9, 2024 at 11:08 amI am really looking forward to the markets in Paris and the Loire Valley next month. I wish it were sooner!
Raymund
March 13, 2024 at 7:15 pmThank you for sharing your delightful experience reviewing Hillary Davis’s “French from the Market” cookbook! It sounds like a culinary journey filled with charm, authenticity, and accessible French recipes. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for this cookbook, it sounds like a gem for anyone looking to bring a taste of French market cuisine into their own kitchen!
Cocoa & Lavender
April 9, 2024 at 11:07 amI just enjoyed how simple she made everything…
2pots2cook
March 28, 2024 at 6:50 amThank you so much for mentioning The Taste of Things. To me, Juliette Binoche deserved to be, at least, nominated for the Academy award !!!
Cocoa & Lavender
April 9, 2024 at 11:06 amI agree wholeheartedly, Davorka — she was fantastic in the film.
Christina Conte
March 28, 2024 at 7:01 pmThanks for this, David! Everytime I hear “quenelles” I think of Lyon! Your presentation of the dish looks and sounds fantastic! Well done!
Cocoa & Lavender
April 9, 2024 at 11:06 amI dream of going to Lyon someday. I’ll be in Paris (which you probably now know from Jill) soon, which will be a wonderful substitute for Lyon! 🙂 Goad you liked the quenelles. Quite someone and good.
Pauline McNee
April 6, 2024 at 5:52 pmYour quenelles look delicious David, and I must try them. I need to dedicate some more time to French cooking, given my son and family live over there and I loved it. I am ordering this book, probably online, it looks great. I’ve been watching Rick Stein’s French Odyssey on SBS, and he emphasis the importance of markets, and homely style cooking in French cafes, even railway stations. No Michelin star eating for him.
Cocoa & Lavender
April 7, 2024 at 6:11 amAs I often say, sometimes the simplest recipes and dishes are the best. I don’t need foams or special sauces all the time, just good quality food. Thanks so much Pauline. I hope you enjoy the book.