Recettes Faciles

For my birthday, my labmates bought me a gift, much to my surprise: a cookbook of basic French home cuisine, Recettes Faciles by Francoise Bernard. There aren't that many pictures, but there are hundreds of recipes ranging from boeuf bourguignon to veloute d'asperges by way of clafoutis and profiteroles au chocolat. The recipes are given alphabetically, but the indexing of the recipes is really useful -- there is an index by ingredient, one by course, indices for dishes that take only 15 minutes or 30 minutes to make, an index of economical dishes, seasonal meal suggestions, wine, food and cheese matching, etcetera. Maybe they're just simplified, easy recipes, but I think the high quality basic ingredients I can get in France by going to the open air market and the small local shops make even a simple dish absolutely satisfying. I'm quite pleased to give Francoise Bernard a seat on my shelf next to Marion Cunningham. Merci beaucoup, MMC!