French Comfort Food – Book Review and Giveaway!

theresa
Giveaways, Lifestyle
32 Comments

Teaching history, regions and cooking, the cookbook French Comfort Food written by Hillary Davis covers many of my favorite topics, including economical dishes common to French households. Beautifully illustrated with photographs by Steven Rothfeld, the book is more than just a cookbook. Reading, I learned why different regions of France enjoy different delicacies, often dependent upon the goods that the area can produce. I discovered how the location of places influences the style of cooking. Whether a place is closer to Germany or Spain highly influences the types of foods that people prefer. While learning more about a country that has always intrigued me, I tried a recipe for a flambéed chocolate omelet. In the photo gallery, you can see play by play coverage of how I cooked the dish.

French Comfort Food 

Too Good to Resist

With Valentine’s day on the horizon, I tried a romantic, festive dish to inspire readers. The dish was simple. To make the omelet, I used 3/4 a cup of semisweet chocolate, 3/4 a cup of heavy cream, nine eggs, six tablespoons of powdered sugar with some extra sprinkled on top, half a teaspoon of salt and three tablespoons of unsalted, European-style butter. The recipe only called for six eggs, so I increased the amount of each ingredient by roughly 150%.

As I cooked, I put the chocolate in a smaller cooking pot that I placed in a larger cooking pot that contained heating water. Previously, I used this method in high school to create truffles for my French language class. Since the chocolate didn’t touch the bottom of the pan, it didn’t become overheated and burn at all. Instead, the chocolate became an ooey, gooey delicious mixture that I put in a bowl with the eggs, cream, powdered sugar and salt. I put the butter in a saucepan, let it heat and added the mixture.

Flambéing was the exciting part of the meal. Watching the omelet catch fire, I didn’t know what to expect. I wasn’t sure whether the omelet could burn or whether I would need to blow the fire out. Within 30 seconds, the fire went out by itself. The next day, since I had some practice,  I tried the meal a second time when I was much more comfortable flambéing the omelet. I much enjoyed the visual aspect of the dish.

To a family accustomed to traditional cheesy eggs, a side of bacon and a chocolate pancake, the dish initially sounded eclectic. I imagined that it could taste too eggy, but I was wrong.  I ate every bit without a second thought. The taste was divine. All of the ingredients balanced each other nicely.

While I didn’t flambé the kids’ meals, I did make them small dishes as part of their breakfast. Obviously, eggs smothered with chocolate and powdered sugar became a household favorite to my kids. The meal wasn’t healthy, but I rationalized the meal because by skipping pancakes, we avoided some flour and carbs.

Giveaway

Since I’ve only tried cooking with the book out for a week, I wanted to introduce the book by showing the first recipe I attempted. I am launching a giveaway that will last for a month, through February 11th, so you can win the cookbook for free. As I try more recipes, I hope to continue to post about the successes I have in learning to cook French comfort food.

Photo by Theresa Pickett

Photo by Theresa Pickett

Click here to enter the giveaway.

Published by Gibbs Smith, the book is an absolute delight.

Stop by Twitter to share your thoughts with the author, Hillary Davis.

Connect with me via Facebook. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Disclosure

I received a free item to help inform my writing.

About The Author

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32 Responses

    • theresa

      It’s actually so good. It probably sounds odd at first to most people, but if you try it, you can see why it’s my family’s favorite now. :)

      Reply
  7. Mary Warner

    I love the Thrifty quality of French food. Cheese rinds in soup and stale bread in onion soup.

    Reply
  9. Katriza @ Everything Home Life

    Thanks for sharing, what a great giveaway! My husband thinks I live off just comfort food – (I have not a healthy bone in my body) and he wonders how I make it through the day O_O I told him it was the prenatal vitamins :) #upallnightblogging

    Reply
  21. Gennie

    I would love to learn how to cook French recipes! I’m so excited for this giveaway. Thank you so much for hosting! :)

    Reply
  22. Kim Keithline

    I love that the French are not afraid to use cream or butter in their cooking 2 of my favorite ingredients

    Reply
  23. RobynK

    This is a fantastic giveaway! I’ve always wanted to add a French Cookbook to my collection and I think this one is PERFECT :)

    Reply
  24. Suzanne

    I love the craftsmanship of French cooking; I really feel like I’m cooking when I make French food! I need to get out my french bread pans and make some more! :-)

    Reply
  26. Carolsue

    I’ve only been to one French restaurant in my life and I remember it was incredibly good–rich, tasty and yummy.

    Reply
  27. Michelle H.

    I love the flavors of French cooking. The use of olive oil, onions, bread, and the wonderful cheeses.

    Reply
  28. Laura W

    I’ve been wanting to learn to cook French food . I think it’s because of my love of Julia Child !

    Reply
  30. Laurie Emerson

    I love the taste of french cooking. It always has such a rich flavor to it and so many delicious herbs and spices.

    Reply

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