My French Kitchen: A Book of 120 Treasured Recipes

I cannot say enough wonderful things about this cookbook. People have mentioned the beautiful photos and yes, they are certainly there. The writing helps to weave a spell about the recipes. You are not just making a soup, but the soup her aunt used to make when...The recipes will knock your socks off. The roasted tomato tart is worth the price of the book. My book club was blown away by the bluberry tart. A gluten intolerant guest was thrilled with Gateau Lawrence. (Flourless chocolate. Easy, intense, and will make you a legend among your friends). The soups are excellent too. Oh yes, and the cabbage pie (galette) I made just because it sounded so weird, that was wonderful too. The recipes seem to 'work' if you know what I mean. You may choose to reduce the butter and make adjustments, but they turn out beautifully as written.One complaint and it is an issue of layout, not content. The recipe introductions are, for some mind boggling reason, printed in very light grey and can be hard to see. Probably the layout design person was in their early 20's with perfect vision! Pretty is nice, but books are meant to be read people!I'm going to get her other cookbook too, while it's still in hard cover. Buy this. You will use the recipes and love them!

The recipes are classic French and the photos are of fine quality. Not only are there recipes but there are glimpses of France itself. Love the book.

The photography in this book is so beautiful it would be worth the purchase price for that alone. The recipes are easy to create (at least the ones I've tried). Lovely book for gifting, as well as keeping for oneself.

If you loved Chocolat --the film or the book by Joanne Harris, this has some of her family recipes for French cuisine classics such as Quiche Lorraine and Coq au Vin. It's always great to have someone's personal, heritage recipes and Joanne Harris is never more captivating than when she's describing making truffles by hand or brewing up magical cups of hot chocolate. Oh, yes, Vianne's chili-spiced hot chocolate is in this book.Other than the hot chocolate recipe (which is really, really good) there are a lot of wonderful versions of the classics, with beautiful photos to delight the eye. I'm a big fan of Joanne Harris' writing (have you read The Girl with No Shadow? ) It's the sequel to "Chocolat" and in many ways, I actually enjoyed this book even more than "Chocolat." It has a lot of Harris' descriptions of cooking, and it's a wonderfully intricate story.This is a beautiful book and if you love cooking or reading "foodie books" or if you love Joanne Harris, you will like it. I really enjoyed it.

A lovely book full of pictures, not all of food, but also of those things that make the French special - an old iron door knocker, boats on a sunny day, lace curtain in a spring breeze.... There ARE pictures of food, of course, and everything looks delicious. The recipes are fairly simple and naturally include the famous "Chocolat" hot chocolate. Not just another cookbook, but a glimpse into French cooking and the French world. One of my favorites.

I love this cookbook. It’s a very interesting read. I figured out this summer that I love to read cookbooks and imagine the foods being prepared. There will be several of the recipes I’ll fix later this winter. It was inspirational to me and I’m certainly glad I picked up this jewel written by Joanne Harris, the author of one of my all-time favorite stories, Chocolat. I think you would enjoy it, too.

I have always been interested in French Cuisine and leapt at the chance for a few recipes to try! I have read almost all of Joanne Harris books...all of which have all pulled me in, not only with the characters, but the settings and, of course, the food and wine and chocolates! I have already made several of the recipes~all very good and relatively easy, but I must say, my very favorite is the Gluten-free chocolate torte called the Gâteau Lawrence! I have served this for my guests a few times and they just love it!

This book makes me want to repaint my kitchen to look rustic French and scour antique shops for French style kitchen wares. It's a feast for the eyes and imagination. The recipes are wonderful too, every classic French recipe you can think of almost is there. Plus there is a whole chapter on Chocolate, featuring the recipes from in Joanne Harris' book and film Chocolat. I originally borrowed this from the library but just had to go buy a copy. Cheaper than an airline ticket to France!

A fantastic book. It makes you feel like you are in France just reading it. Well kept and on time. Thank you.

This books works well for certain types of food lovers. It has a simple but effective formula and is deeply personal. Collections of pictures of iconic parts of France - the butchers shop, the bread shop set next to very effective menus. Joanne Harris has made this book a personal pleasure tour. If you want to indulge in some simple but highly effective recipes and enjoy the pictures then its fine for you but this is not a foodies book. Don't expect Raymond Blanc style or Kneller's French Laundry beautiful pictures - this is a book of simple pleasures and it works for all that. So buy it for a small treat but not for very serious cooking. I loved it but others wont!

Dieses Buch finde ich im Prinzip einfach klasse.Es gibt tolle Fotos, sowohl von den Gerichten als auch "Stimmungsfotos".Joan Harris schreibt zu jedem Kapitel eine kurze persönliche Einleitung und erzählt auch zu den meisten Gerichten eine persönliche Anekdote.Die Rezeptnamen sind auf Französisch, die Rezepte auf Englisch geschrieben.Die Gerichte sind zum großen Teil recht einfach zuzubereiten.Kapitel:Introduction (kleiner Essay von Harris über ihre Erfahrung mit dem Kochen)SaladsSoups and startersFishPoultryMeatVegetablesDesertsChocolateDas gepriesene "Extrakapitel" über Schokoladenrezepte enthält allerdings von diesen nur 12 (in Worten: zwölf!):Inhalt des Kapitels:Tempering chocolateMedniantsApricot trufflesNipples of venusChocolate pot (eine Art Mousse au chocolat)Gateau Lawrence (eben Schokoladenkuchen, ähnlich wie Brownies)Aouchka's chocolate cakeRoulade bicolore (Bisquitrolle mit Zartbitter- und weißer Schokolade)Chocolate cheesecakeEasy chocolate ice-creamChocolate fondueChocolate meringues (Baisers) undVianne's spiced hot chocolate.Für Fans von Joanne Harris und "Küchenlaien", die nichts Hochtrabendes erwarten, ist das Buch toll; versierte Hobbyköche könnten von den zumeist recht einfachen Gerichten enttäuscht sein.Joanne Harris macht allerdings in ihren "Einführungen" auch Appetit auf ganz einfache Gerichte, die noch leicht aufgepeppt werden.Beispiel:"Spiced red cabbage" (also: NUR Rotkohl, sonst nichts!):"This wonderfully comforting dish for autumn and winter is filled with rich sweet flavours.Best made a day ahaed and reheated,it works very well with baked ham, duck or even roast chicken, although I am happy to eat it in its own."Okay, eine Portion Rotkohl löffeln ist sicher nicht für jeden das große Highlight!Ansonsten enthält das Buch eine Mischung aus handfesten Hauptgerichten und Appetizers, bekannten traditionellen französischen Gerichten wie Ratatouille, und anderen, die wohl von Joanne Harris' Familenmitgliedern stammen ("Great aunt Simone's garlic soup" usw), vielen Gerichten, die man etwas abwandeln kann, wenn man nicht gerade für sein Leben gern mit Gänsefett kocht ("Duck confit tarte" usw.) und sowohl Büffett-geeigneten Gerichten als auch einfachen Alltagsgerichten.Zum Schluss ist noch zu sagen, dass Joanne Harris Tochter und Ehemann wohl Vegetarier sind, weshalb auch viele vegetarische Gerichte zu den "klassischen" französischen Fleischgerichten gestellt werden; darunter einige, die Tochter Anouchka selbst kreiert hat :-).ACHTUNG:Diese Ausgabe enthält AMERIKANISCHE Maße, also cups und ounces.Wer lieber in Gramm und Liter misst, sollte sich die andere Ausgabe "THE French kitchen" holen, die die gleichen Rezepte aber mit europäischen Maßen enthält.

Pretty book tried one of the recipes , made a huge portion will be eating it for days.

Book as promised