Recettes D'Hiver

France in the winter can be a glorious season. Yes, there are endless ski days in the French Alps and Pyrenees Paris sparkles under a crust of snow while the north and western coasts provide a certain gray moodiness. Even the French Riviera gets a bit nippy but still perfect for a walk along the water. It's also a perfect time for hearty French dishes, full of  wine and rich ingredients. You don't have to visit France for them. They can easily be made in your kitchen.

One of the most famous winter dishes is onion soup. This is a lush blend of caramelized onions thyme sprigs, beef stock and dry white wine.It's usually served in piping hot crocks. Thick slices of baguette topped with a blend of shredded Swiss and Gruyere cheeses. The onions are cooked first with garlic until a creamy brown and then beef broth and the wine are added. It's then ladled into individual pots and topped with the bread and cheese. Another hearty and flavorful one is cassoulet. This layered dish has duck legs cooked with cannellini or tarbais beans - which are preferred along with pancetta A pork ragu is added to the stew This is a mix of boneless pork shoulder - Boston butt- along with carrots and crushed tomatoes. Chicken broth and a variety of spices from thyme to bay leaves round out the recipe. More pork sausage,usually Toulouse, made with duck , ground black pepper and pork top it off along  garlic sausage and breadcrumbs . Keep in mind this is a labor intensive dish with the duck confit being made the day before.If you don;'t have the time , the duck legs can be confitted even three weeks before.Then the day of it's cooking the beans and ragu, and then browning the bread crumbs. The whole stew is then baked for half an hour .

For something a bit easier, think raclette. This is a popular ski resort dish  that originated in Switzerland.  Raceltte cheese is used for the dish but if you can't find it then Gruyere or Swiss also works. You can even use cheddar too! Usually a special machine is used to melt the cheese however putting it in a skillet in your broiler also does the trick.It's served with peeled boiled potatoes  along with pickled cornichons and gherkins for some tang.Also have cured meats like ham, prosciutto and slalami. The cheese is melted and then scraped over the pickled veggies and meats. It's a fun, communal dinner, perfect for a Saturday or Sunday night supper.One of the most famous winter dishes is the famed bouef bourguignon. Julia Child had the best recipe for it. This is a combination of cubed lean beef cooked with beef stock, tomato paste and red wine.Thyme, bay leaf and garlic flavor it while two tablespoons of flour thicken it.Ms Child also added braised  pearl onions - an easy make - and  butter sauteed mushrooms to it for more taste. It's the perfect dish for company but also for a Sunday dinner as well. Add hot crusty baguettes with butter and a crisp green salad as sides.

France is  beautiful in the winter. However you don't have to travel there to get tasty and hearty French winter fare. It can be made dans votre cuisine in your kitchen

Cold Temps Hot Cheeses

Cheese is one of those foods that's enjoyed all year round.It's especially good in the winter, when it's heated up.The taste becomes more intense and almost buttery in flavor. It's texture is a perfect meld of creaminess and crustiness. The best part is that it requires minimum ingredients and preparations.

One of the easiest is a simple grilled cheese. Like French toast , every home chef has his or her own way of making it. One way is just placing a slice of any cheese on plain white bread and baking for five to ten minutes in a toaster oven. The best bread for this is Pepperidge Farm sandwich bread.It has a nice sweet, homebaked taste that works well with the cheese's sharpness. You can vary both. A grilled rye topped with Swiss is nice variation. Italian bread dripping with mozzarella makes for a nice lunch.Serve with a cup of heated pizza sauce for more flavor. The diner classic The Happy Waitress is the ultimate grilled cheese. This is an open faced sandwich first layered with two layers of  bacon slices and  a generous amount of fresh sliced tomatoes.The extra baking really crisps up the baking and the three flavors together are just perfect. You can also go the French route by making the bistro favorite croquet monsieur. Gruyere cheese and wafer thin ham is placed upon slices of white bread and fried in butter. You can add sauce but it also tastes great without it too.

Fondue is the ultimate winter cheese dish. This does require a fondue pot (now on sale during the January white sales) but you can also use a sauce pan as well.The  best cheeses for it are a mix of Swiss and Gruyere but you can cook all of one or the other.White wine is added along with a dash of cherry brandy or kirsch . The bread used is almost always a stale baguette  cut into cubes.Boiled potatoes and cubed apples are also dipped into the sauce. Another tasty dish is also Swiss, raclette .This is a cow's milk, sort of resembling mozzarella in look and texture(it can be bought in the US  at Trader Joe's). It has a mild flavor  and is very soft.It is cooked on a special raclette grill that sort is like a large waffle maker. The cheese is placed on it and diners can scrape the cheese off with bread,potatoes or gherkins. In fact raclette comes from the French word racler to scrape.This is a party dish and is great for a  small dinner party of four or six.

The temps are falling.It's the perfect times for a hot , cheesy dish. You can choose the all American grilled cheese or the fun and sophisticated raclette. Any hot cheese plate is perfect for these frosty, chill days and nights.