What the French Eat, Part 2

This is Part Two of What the French Eat, based on the dishes our extended family prepares and eats while vacationing in Brittany. For Part One (and lots of additional information, click here).

FRIDAY

LUNCH – Picnic on the beach. Hard-boiled eggs, cherry tomatoes. We had sandwiches on buttered baguettes with salami, slices of Swiss cheese and pickles. We also had chips and Rice Krispie treats (guess who made those). 

DINNER – Spaghetti carbonara. Do you know how to make that? I can do a recipe post for you if you like. We also had a cheese platter and a green salad.

SATURDAY

LUNCH – Cooked and quartered potatoes, stir-fried in oil with onions and salt. Hamburger patties. A cheese platter. Fruit salad. And everyone (but me, because of the gluten) had Quatre Quart, which is like a long pound cake with their fruit salad.

DINNER – For dinner we had a tarte à la moutarde, recipe here, plus two quiches (since there were so many of us). The quiche recipe is here. Green salad. A cheese platter. Cream desserts and store-bought chocolate mousse. The store-bought variety is generally very good in France.

SUNDAY 

LUNCH – Roast chicken from the butcher. I have a pretty good roast chicken recipe here, which tastes similar to the butcher’s. Ratatouille, recipe here. White rice, followed by a cheese platter and ice cream.

DINNER – Mussels and French fries, recipe here. Green salad. Yoghurt for dessert.

MONDAY

LUNCH – We needed to use up some leftover spaghetti carbonara, so we made that with zucchinis “au gratin”, which means prepared with eggs, cheese and milk as a quiche, and topped with grated Swiss cheese before being baked. Our nuclear family left quickly after that because we wanted to go to Dinard and get ice cream.

Snack: We went out for ice cream and coffee!

DINNER – Crabs (tourteau). The tutorial is here. We ate it with homemade mayonnaise and bread, and a few of us had yoghurt afterwards. Whole crab can be quite filling.

TUESDAY

LUNCH – Tabouli (mine was made with quinoa, but everyone else with couscous). There was also another Lebanese dish that I don’t know the name of. You take two blocks of feta, and mash it with some olive oil. And you add chopped red peppers to that (and maybe a minced scallion?). It was delish. Sausages – chipolata and merguez. Brownies from the Joy of Cooking recipe, topped with vanilla ice cream. (That was mine). Here’s the gluten-free version.

DINNER – Pasta with smoked salmon and caramelised onions. This is another recipe I need to make for you. It was amazing. Green salad. Leftover mussels without the shell, tossed to make a mini salad. Yoghurt.

WEDNESDAY 

LUNCH – Roast pork with a sauce made of mustard, green onions, white wine, crème friache, honey and thyme. We had this with potatoes sautéed in butter. Green beans tossed with garlic. Broccoli with butter and salt. There was a cheese platter (of course), and fruit salad.

DINNER – Rice (and leftover tabouli). Gratin aux courgettes – basically scalloped zucchini, similar to what we had for lunch on Monday but without the spaghetti. Cheese platter and cream desserts (yoghurts, chocolate pudding, etc).

THURSDAY

LUNCH – Cold potato salad with olive oil vinaigrette and chives. Leftover homemade mayonnaise. Pickled herring, smoked haddock, and anchovies seasoned in olive oil. Green salad. Ice cream (that needed to be eaten since we were leaving the next day).

DINNER – Buckwheat galettes. Recipe here. We wanted to take advantage of the Breton specialty for our last night there. Green salad to finish it off. Yoghurt. It seems we ate a little heavier this second week than we did the first. This was not planned.

I hope you enjoyed the virtual foodie tour. Do you think you’ll try any of these dishes at home?

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