I spent some time this weekend catching up on magazines and noticed that two featured French twists on classic dishes in their February issues.
Provence Herbs in Linen Bags from I Dream of France
First, InStyle showed baking halibut wrapped in parchment paper with herbes de Provence. This is our favorite way to prepare fish at home, including sole and salmon. (Aluminum foil instead of parchment works fine.) We also like to wrap lighter-flavored fish with lemon and onion slices, with a little bit of salt and thyme. Just bake at 350 degrees and check every few minutes until the fish flakes with a fork. Wrapping the fish keeps it from drying out while it cooks, and doesn’t make a mess in your baking dish. Easy and healthful — who says French cooking has to be complicated?
Daniel Boulud's Lasagne Photographed by Kana Okada for Elle Decor
In Elle Decor, Daniel Boulud’s column shares a recipe for chicken lasagne with spinach and mushrooms. This is on my to-do list for sure! This recipe is very old-world European because it has you make bechamel (white sauce) instead of the ricotta cheese mixture that is more typical in the States.
This month’s Elle Decor is also the International Issue, which I love because all the articles are republished from other editions of Elle Decor. The pieces are shorter than what usually appears in the American edition and have a different style of writing. Naturally, they feature a Paris apartment filled with art, checkerboard marble floors, klismos chairs, and a copper bathtub. However, my favorite was from Elle Decoration Russia, which showed a traditional Russian country cabin (called an isba) reproduced inside a Moscow apartment. The owner actually took a wall from an old cabin and had it re-installed inside the apartment to be as authentic as possible. My favorite detail was the kitchen’s painted cupboards, beautiful and special.
–Brett
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