Bastille Day - French Cuisine Recipes

This Chef is a Francophile. I like movies by Jean-Luc Godard, ye-ye pop music by Serge Gainsbourg, and pommes frites, yes French Fries.)

There is more to French cuisine than French Fries of course and I've learned how to make a few recipes for this Bastille Day on July 14th -- the cheap$kate way, of course. So read on to see scrumptious videos and food photography, that I hope inspires you to try a recipe or two. And click on any recipe name to go to my blogpost with all the yummy photos and delish recipe instructions.

This French holiday is celebrated as the turning point of the French Revolution on July 14, 1790. Hey, this sounds like a fine excuse to celebrate French cuisine, to me! So I'll start with one of my favorite ones, a hearty Cassoulet casserole.

One of my early L.A. jobs in the Biz was as a videotape editor. Lunch was often in a neighborhood restaurant run by a charming French couple. My favorite dish was a comforting plate of Cassoulet. It reminded me of a rustic home cooked all-in-one dish: a bean casserole version of Mom's Cajun rice dish, Jambalaya.

A classic Cassoulet is made with confit duck legs, sausage and white beans. I've yet to find duck for 99c or less a pound but chicken quarters from a local Latin market do fine; as for sausage, 99c only Stores always carry it.

A French mirepoix of veggies includes: onion, garlic, bell pepper, carrot and celery. They will sweeten this stew with slow cooking on the stove top and in the oven.

In fall and winter months I make a Cassoulet almost every few weeks, and always have leftovers to enjoy and share.

My next Francophile recipe really does use the cheapest veggie, onions. French Onion Soup uses half a dozen roughly sliced onions, that are cooked down until caramelized to a sweet brown hue.

 I get them from my local Latin market anywhere from 4 pounds for a dollar. Go ahead and use the least expensive white or yellow onions.

French Onion Soup comes together with red wine (cheap is okay,) a fave broth, butter, and a little flour to thicken it. A pretty simple recipe, but oh so delish, especially when it's finished off topped with cheese and a slice of crusty bread.

My favorite fries are double-fried French Fries, and that's a tasty mouthful. Soggy fries were the norm until McDonald's came on the scene and changed forever the way Americans look at French Fries.

It became all about the crunchy outside and fluffy inside. Any anyone can do it if you follow my method in the video below. But you have to go to the end of the video for my French Fry tutorial, as the first part is all about British-style beer battered fried fish.



You would think a world-famous French chef would do French Fries right? Wrong -- I reviewed Chef Ludo Lefebvre's Fried Chicken Truck.

You can get French Fries with his fried chicken. Maybe it was an off day, but the fries were limp and soggy. I'm willing to try again when I run across the truck. Maybe they are great, just not when I was there. So check out my Cheap$kate Dining Review for French Chef Ludo's Fried Chicken and French Fries Truck to see for yourself.



But Chef Ludo  Lefebvre did turn my head around for his French Cheese Omelet. Man, is it tender and so good. The French method is to whip eggs first, then lightly scramble them with butter until almost done, but eggs still slightly moist. You finish by adding cheese and gently folding the egg into an omelet shape.

My omelet experience is with middle American diner-style where the eggs are solid and a bit dry. Now I make my omelets the French way, and you can too if you follow my recipe video below.



I grew up watching Julia Child cooking French food on her Public TV cooking show. And she literally wrote the book on French cooking called "Mastering the Art of French Cooking."

Her personality was larger than life, and I had to do a video in her honor, after she passed away. My recipe homage is a bit silly, but it is done with heart. Check out my version of Julia Child's Crepes Suzette -- done by her nephew, Julian Child!

Beef Bourguignon is a classic French stew, at least until the Cheap$kate Cuisinier gets ahold of the recipe. Beef is too expensive, but pork is the right price, so I turned the recipe into a Pork Bourguignon.

All the other classic ingredients are included like: mushrooms, onions, tomato paste and of course, cheap red wine. To get that rich beefy flavor I include beef stock.

I didn't know there was a French-style Yogurt, so when I saw it at my local 99c only Store, I had to try it. Boy, is it creamy and flavorful. Yoplait is the brand and some buy this brand just for the cool jar.

I like to add fresh fruit to plain yogurt. I find that pre-mixed yogurt with fruit is loaded with sugar and way too sweet for me. Below is how I do it.

So do click on any recipe name to see my original blog post recipe, and dig in!

Viva la France and bon appetit!

Jambalaya Shoppe - Swamp Chef Cheap$kate Review

The Swamp Chef was literally born on the bayou. You've heard of a brother from another mother? Well, the 99 Cent Chef and the Swamp Chef are lads from different dad! Now, that's a story Mom will have to tell on another day.

Both chefs know how to eat cheaply, too. While the 99 Cent Chef is a city boy from Los Angeles feasting on street tacos, the Swamp Chef roams the backroads and swamps of the South, digging deep for fried and long simmering Cajun eats.

When I'm in Louisiana visiting Mom, I often run into the Swamp Chef and am only too happy to tag along and shoot him trying out the local cuisine.

Our first video together is done in Gonzales, Louisiana, known as the Jambalaya Capital of the World.

You can get Cajun-style Jambalaya all over town, but for the cheapest and tastiest look no further than The Jambalaya Shoppe.

Click on any photo to see larger.

 It is a small roadside stand with friendly service. Click here to read a nice article about their 26th Anniversary. And since the food is pre-cooked, your order is ready in a couple of minutes. And don't worry, Jambalaya tastes even better when it has been setting a while.

Cajun-style Jambalaya is different than Creole-style. There is no tomato sauce in Cajun-style Jambalaya - just meat, seasonings and rice.  You can go to New Orleans for tomato Creole-style Jambalaya.

Of course, the locals make Jambalaya the way they like it, usually with sauteed onion, garlic and Cajun seasonings. As for meat you can get chicken and smoked sausage, or pork and smoked sausage. For this Cheap$kate Review, the Swamp Chef got Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya.

You can get only Jambalaya for $6, or order a plate that comes with Cajun Potato Salad and White Beans with a small white bread Dinner Roll for $7. It's a cheap and hearty plate that will fill you right up!

The White Beans are creamy tender - almost mushy, but in a rich flavorful way. They are mild tasting and not spicy.

And the Potato Salad is Cajun-style, that is, creamy with mayo and mustard, and the potato chunks extra soft. Our Mom has a delish version a click away, here.

As mentioned earlier the Jambalaya is a dry version, kinda like Dirty Rice or a Chinese stirfry rice. The rice soaks up the browning from the meat - that is the trick to making a Cajun-style Jambalaya. You can see how our Mom does hers another click away, here.

Jambalaya meat is either chicken or chunks of tender pork and sausage. Louisiana is known for meaty and pungent Andouille sausage, but this is closer to regular mild smoked sausage, although it's a chunky and rough ground link like Andouille sausage.

The links are on the small size, but you get plenty of slices. Cajun food is spicy, but this Jambalaya is not, so go ahead and feed the kids, and set out Louisiana hot sauce for the grown ups.

You can order large buckets of Jambalaya if you are throwing a party or have visitors. They have a few other menu items that come and go depending on the season, like Gumbo and Pastalaya (just like rice Jambalaya, but made with spaghetti.) I've had it all there and have not been disappointed.

You don't come here for the ambiance, you come here to chow down! Locals get Jambalaya to go, but there's a picnic table if you can't wait. And one word of warning, don't wait until the end of the day to get yours, often they will close early because they run out of Jambalaya.

Pastalaya

You can visit their website to see what's happening foodwise and get the exact address and serving hours. There are a dozen Jambalaya Shoppes in the area, now.

It was a hot day in Louisiana when I shot the Swamp Chef, but there is a local favorite way to cool things off...a drive-thru frosty Daiquair stop. Since I was shooting, we got the Happy Hour 2 for 1 special that day. We both like a White Russian, made with coffee and chocolate flavors and milk, plus plenty of Everclear alcohol -- Ooh, Wee.

If you have never had a local drive-thru Daiquiri think of a 7-Eleven convenience store Slurpee, with a boozy kick. Daiquiris come in many fruit flavors too, Mom likes her Strawberry Daiquiri, which you can see us getting ours, here.

After picking up the Daiquiris, I followed the Swamp Chef to Jambalaya Park in Gonzales. We sat ourselves down and shot the Cheap$kate Dining Review for my food blog. And how does a Jambalaya Plate with Cajun Potato Salad and White Beans by The Jambalaya Shoppe rate on my Cheap$kate Dining Scale of 1 to 9, 9 being best?

Well, check out my video below of the Swamp Chef to find out! And be sure to come back soon, I have more Swamp Chef episodes on the way.

Jambalaya Shoppe Cheap$kate Review - VIDEO

Play it here, video runs 4 minutes 46 seconds

My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.

My favorite Jambalaya Shoppe is here:
1503 N. Airline Hwy.
Gonzales, LA 70737
phone: 225-647-6050

Restaurant Hours
Monday-Wednesday: 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Thursday-Saturday: 10 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Sunday: 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.

*They sometimes close early if Jambalaya sells out!

Jambalaya Shoppe website is www.thejambalayashoppe.com

Bastille Day - French Cuisine Recipes

This Chef is a Francophile. I like movies by Jean-Luc Godard, ye-ye pop music by Serge Gainsbourg, and pommes frites, yes French Fries.)

There is more to French cuisine than French Fries of course and I've learned how to make a few recipes for this Bastille Day on July 14th -- the cheap$kate way, of course. So read on to see scrumptious videos and food photography, that I hope inspires you to try a recipe or two. And click on any recipe name to go to my blogpost with all the yummy photos and delish recipe instructions.

This French holiday is celebrated as the turning point of the French Revolution on July 14, 1790. Hey, this sounds like a fine excuse to celebrate French cuisine, to me! So I'll start with one of my favorite ones, a hearty Cassoulet casserole.

One of my early L.A. jobs in the Biz was as a videotape editor. Lunch was often in a neighborhood restaurant run by a charming French couple. My favorite dish was a comforting plate of Cassoulet. It reminded me of a rustic home cooked all-in-one dish: a bean casserole version of Mom's Cajun rice dish, Jambalaya.

A classic Cassoulet is made with confit duck legs, sausage and white beans. I've yet to find duck for 99c or less a pound but chicken quarters from a local Latin market do fine; as for sausage, 99c only Stores always carry it.

A French mirepoix of veggies includes: onion, garlic, bell pepper, carrot and celery. They will sweeten this stew with slow cooking on the stove top and in the oven.

In fall and winter months I make a Cassoulet almost every few weeks, and always have leftovers to enjoy and share.

My next Francophile recipe really does use the cheapest veggie, onions. French Onion Soup uses half a dozen roughly sliced onions, that are cooked down until caramelized to a sweet brown hue.

 I get them from my local Latin market anywhere from 4 pounds for a dollar. Go ahead and use the least expensive white or yellow onions.

French Onion Soup comes together with red wine (cheap is okay,) a fave broth, butter, and a little flour to thicken it. A pretty simple recipe, but oh so delish, especially when it's finished off topped with cheese and a slice of crusty bread.

My favorite fries are double-fried French Fries, and that's a tasty mouthful. Soggy fries were the norm until McDonald's came on the scene and changed forever the way Americans look at French Fries.

It became all about the crunchy outside and fluffy inside. Any anyone can do it if you follow my method in the video below. But you have to go to the end of the video for my French Fry tutorial, as the first part is all about British-style beer battered fried fish.



You would think a world-famous French chef would do French Fries right? Wrong -- I reviewed Chef Ludo Lefebvre's Fried Chicken Truck.

You can get French Fries with his fried chicken. Maybe it was an off day, but the fries were limp and soggy. I'm willing to try again when I run across the truck. Maybe they are great, just not when I was there. So check out my Cheap$kate Dining Review for French Chef Ludo's Fried Chicken and French Fries Truck to see for yourself.



But Chef Ludo  Lefebvre did turn my head around for his French Cheese Omelet. Man, is it tender and so good. The French method is to whip eggs first, then lightly scramble them with butter until almost done, but eggs still slightly moist. You finish by adding cheese and gently folding the egg into an omelet shape.

My omelet experience is with middle American diner-style where the eggs are solid and a bit dry. Now I make my omelets the French way, and you can too if you follow my recipe video below.



I grew up watching Julia Child cooking French food on her Public TV cooking show. And she literally wrote the book on French cooking called "Mastering the Art of French Cooking."

Her personality was larger than life, and I had to do a video in her honor, after she passed away. My recipe homage is a bit silly, but it is done with heart. Check out my version of Julia Child's Crepes Suzette -- done by her nephew, Julian Child!

Beef Bourguignon is a classic French stew, at least until the Cheap$kate Cuisinier gets ahold of the recipe. Beef is too expensive, but pork is the right price, so I turned the recipe into a Pork Bourguignon.

All the other classic ingredients are included like: mushrooms, onions, tomato paste and of course, cheap red wine. To get that rich beefy flavor I include beef stock.

I didn't know there was a French-style Yogurt, so when I saw it at my local 99c only Store, I had to try it. Boy, is it creamy and flavorful. Yoplait is the brand and some buy this brand just for the cool jar.

I like to add fresh fruit to plain yogurt. I find that pre-mixed yogurt with fruit is loaded with sugar and way too sweet for me. Below is how I do it.

So do click on any recipe name to see my original blog post recipe, and dig in!

Viva la France and bon appetit!

Quick White Bean & Chicken Chili

If you've put in long hours at work and want to just chow down quickly, but deliciously, then try out my Quick White Bean & Chicken Chili.

And it's all made with easily attainable 99c only Store ingredients. And cheap enough from regular markets or other discount stores.

White beans are milder than most other beans. So they won't overpower white meat breast chunks in a can.  But canned beans can be very salty, even the ones I got that are "in light seasoning." To see a version where I lighten the sodium load, be sure to read Hindsight at the end of this post.

If you've never had chicken from a can, it's really quite tasty. The can size is small, like canned tuna fish, but convenient for single servings. And the texture is similar to canned tuna. Usually chunks of breast meat is used. And believe it or not it tastes like real breast meat, not a processed loaf.. Also use canned chicken to make a fantastic chicken salad with my Tuna Salad with Green Olives recipe by clicking here.

Dried or fresh chilis are the main flavor for typical beef and bean chili. I always have a bottle of deep red dried chili powder in my spice rack. Since this is a single serving (at most 2) you can use less than a teaspoon. And I like to add a little chopped onion, garlic, and some black pepper. That's barely six ingredients, and common enough that I already have most of them in my cupboard.

So read on and try my easy to make Quick White Bean & Chicken Chili.

Ingredients

• 15 ounce can of White Beans
• 5 ounce can of Chicken - very similar to a can of tuna.
• 1/2 small onion - any color. Use a 1/4 of a large or medium.
• 1 teaspoon garlic - fresh or from jar.
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• Pepper to taste
• Teaspoon oil

Directions
Roughly chop onion and fresh garlic clove (I used garlic from a jar for convenience.) Add oil to a pot over medium heat.

Saute onion for about 3 minutes. Add chopped garlic and cook another minute.

Pour in a can of white beans. Add a can of chicken. Lightly stir to mix well - I like to keep the chili chunky.

Sprinkle on 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder and add black pepper to taste.

Heat Quick White Bean & Chicken Chili until just starting to boil. Turn off heat and ready to serve. For extra flavor sprinkle  on some chopped onion, shredded or sliced cheese, and spice it up with your favorite hot sauce.

Hindsight
Now that's a lot of salt, using 2 canned main ingredients. That's why you see no additional salt in my cheap$kate recipe. The salt in this recipe mainly comes from the white beans. If you can find low sodium beans that's best. Even though the label of my beans said "light in seasonings" it still tasted very salty. Taste a teaspoon of sauce from your purchased brand to check salt level.

It's easy enough to dump beans in a strainer and rinse off about half the sauce, that should lighten the saline flavor. Or if you don't have a strainer add beans to a large bowl, add a couple cups of water, swish around and pour off 3/4's of the liquid.

You should add half a cup of water to replace the sauce. Now you can follow the directions above.

White Beans, Black Olives & Tuna

White Beans and Black Olives with Tuna - can we all get along? Of course so, when The 99 Cent Chef brings them together as a delicious bean salad.

It's a hardy serving with earthy black olives, tender beans and pungent chunks of tuna. I also add some red onion for crunch and sweet heat. And, I drizzle on good olive oil for richness, and some vinegar for a tangy finish.

Beans, black olives and canned tuna are dollar store staples, so you know this tightwad recipe is right up the chintzy chef's alley. And, I'm happy to share this delicious budget recipe with everyone.

My cupboard tinned treat requires some minimal assembly, but no cooking. Serve as a side, or load on an extra scoop or two, and it's an entree.

Ingredients

• 1 small can (5 ounces) tuna - in oil or water. Canned tuna or from a pouch.
• 1 small can (15 ounces) of white beans - drain and rinse. Okay to use any favorite canned whole bean.
• 1/2 can of black olives - drain and roughly chop. Okay to use pre-sliced.
• 1/2 small red onion - chopped. Okay to use white or yellow instead.
• 2 tablespoons olive oil - or any tasty oil. Skip oil if you use canned tuna in oil.
• 1 tablespoon vinegar - white, rice, balsamic, or any you have on hand. Can also use lemon or lime juice.
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Directions
Drain beans and rinse off any sauce. Roughly chop 1/2 can of drained whole black olives (okay to use pre-chopped 1/2 can of olives.) Chop 1/2 of a small red onion.

Into a medium bowl add beans, olives and red onion, and mix. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and one tablespoon of vinegar.

Add a can of drained tuna. If tuna is in oil, then add the oil, too (you can leave out the 2 tablespoons of oil mentioned above.) Lightly mix until tuna is incorporated - I like to leave the tuna chunky. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

French Cassoulet - Baked Beans, Chicken & Sausage

The Chef is a Francophile. I like movies by Jean-Luc Godard, ye-ye pop music by Serge Gainsbourg, pommes frites (yes, French fries), and Cassoulet: a slow-cooked hearty bean dish.

One of my early L.A. jobs in the Biz was as a videotape editor. Lunch was often in a neighborhood restaurant run by a charming French couple. My favorite dish was a comforting plate of Cassoulet. It reminded me of a rustic home cooked all-in-one dish: a bean casserole version of Mom's Cajun rice dish, Jambalaya.

A classic Cassoulet is made with confit duck legs, sausage and white beans. I've yet to find duck for 99c or less a pound but chicken quarters from a local Latin market do fine; as for sausage, 99c only Stores always carry it.

A French mirepoix of veggies include: onion, garlic, bell pepper, carrot and celery. They will sweeten this stew with slow cooking on the stove top and in the oven.

For a vegetarian version, you can add more large cut veggies (carrots, potato) and leave out the meat (veggie stock instead of meat flavored bouillon,) but still bake it and top it with bread crumbs -- baking sweetens and intensifies the flavor of veggies and beans.

 Cassoulet can be a clean-out-your-refrigerator-of-veggies dish (I like to add more veggies than normal  recipes call for).

On a cold winter day, try out this simple baked bean entree that tastes even better reheated the next day. The 99 Cent Chef's Cassoulet would make Julia Child proud.

Ingredients (serves about 4) 

• 1 lb. package Navy beans (white) for 99.99 cents
• 8 cups of water (according to package directions.)
  
• 1 cup 99.99c white wine or vegetable broth - optional.
  
• 1 chicken or beef bouillon cube or powdered ( one tbsp.) - optional.
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp. dried thyme or any favorite fresh or dried herbs.
• 1 each: whole onion, bell pepper, celery stick and carrot chopped (optional, just whatever veggie you have on hand really, including tomato.)
• 2 cloves garlic - peeled and chopped, or 2 tbsp. crushed garlic.
• 2 - 3 chicken leg quarters or about 4 - 8 chicken pieces including breast, leg, thigh and wings.
• One 12-16 oz. package 99.99 cent hot links or favorite sausage
• Salt and pepper to taste

*A nice touch is to add a layer of bread crumbs (about 1/2 cup) on top during final hour of oven baking.

Directions For Beans
Soak beans overnight in 8 cups water (or add an extra hour of cooking time to unsoaked beans). 

In a large pot (I have one that doubles for baking), add white wine (optional,) chopped veggies, herbs, chicken or beef bouillon (optional,) bay leaf, garlic, salt and pepper. 

Bring beans to a boil, cover and continue cooking over low heat until beans are tender, about 2 to 3 hours. 

Lately I've been adding greens. For quick-cooking spinach, or Swiss chard, add these when you start baking the sausage and chicken. For slower cooking collard, or mustard greens, add during the last hour of boiling beans.

Directions To Finish By Baking
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add chicken and sausage to cooked beans. 

Cooked uncovered in the oven for about an hour and a half until chicken is done (double check by piercing with a fork and juices run clear,) and liquid is reduced. Add water if liquid cooks out. 

I bake the chicken skin side up and I add a pinch of salt and pepper to the top of the chicken pieces. That way the skin is crispy and well seasoned when done. You can also remove the skin for a lighter Cassoulet. 

The sausage may need to be turned if it starts to blacken or brown too much.

For a thick sauce whisk together 1 tbsp. of flour into 1/2 cup of white wine or water and add to Cassoulet during last half hour of baking. You can also just mash some of the cooked beans and stir into Cassoulet.

If you top with bread crumbs during the last hour, the sauce will thicken on it's own -- so no flour is needed.

Cassoulet freezes fine, so don't let the large amount deter you. And it's the type of meal you can return to the next day -  it will be even better!