Cuisine française

I've found that often times my reading affects my cooking. When I was reading German accounts of the war, I found that my reading heavily precipitated an onslaught of German dishes: rouladen, shnitzel, sauerbraten, spaetzle and cabbage laden dishes.

As I've switched gears to my French studies, Patricia Well's The Provence Cookbook is daily used, and Ina Garten's Barefoot in Paris has made an appearance or two.

Charles de Gaulle once said , "How can anyone govern a nation that has two hundred and forty-six different kinds of cheese?" Lately, French cheese is governing my refrigerator (my mother can attest to this) with no less than 14 different kinds of cheese occupying a drawer. I've made a tremendous find at a local, organic market: a fig and apricot paste that complements brie beautifully.

Thus far, I've made Croque Monsieur (seen above and without a fried egg atop the sandwich), white beans in a light basil sauce served on baguette as a kind of rustic bruschetta, and a Chicken and Chorizo Fricassee, which is heavily Basque influenced. I've also thumbed through Dorie Greenspan's Paris Sweets and identified several pastries I'm going to attempt having found and bought castor sugar and A.O.C. French butter.

What are some of your recent dishes?

Chicken and Chorizo