Bastille Day - French Cuisine Recipes

I'm a Francophile. I like movies by Jean-Luc Godard, ye-ye pop music by Serge Gainsbourg, and pommes frites, or French Fries. So man the barricades and check out my cheapSkate revolutionary recipes on Bastille Day.

There is more to French cuisine than French Fries, of course, and this Chef de Cuisine d'Internet has tossed Molotov cocktail recipes on Bastille Day. So keep scrolling for scrumptious videos and food photography, which I hope inspires you to try a recipe or two. Follow this rebel rousing cheap$kate as I storm the Ivory Tower of haute cuisine!  And click on any recipe name to go to my blog post for all the riotous recipe instructions.

This French holiday is celebrated as the turning point of the French Revolution on July 14, 1789. 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 cheap chicken leg quarters from a local Latin market do fine; as for sausage, any local favorite you find on sale is fine.

A French mirepoix of guillotined veggies includes onion, garlic, bell pepper, carrot, and celery. They will sweeten this stew with slow-cooking on the stovetop and finish with baking in the oven to crisp poultry skin while thickening the rich sauce.

In the fall and winter months, I make a Cassoulet every few weeks, and there are always 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, often 2 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 and 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's all about the crunchy outside and fluffy inside. And 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 a British-style Fish & Chips recipe.



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 entertaining 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 with his French Cheese Omelet. Man, is it tender and so gooood. The French method is to whip eggs first, then lightly and continuously scramble them with a little butter until almost done, with the 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 PBS 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 hold 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 Oui by Yoplait at my local 99c only Store (the photo below is from a few years ago), I had to try it. Boy, is it creamy and flavorful. 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!

Vive la France and Bon Appétit!

Cinco de Mayo Recipes - Mexican & French Recipe Battle Royale

On the 5th of May, 1861, Mexico battled and defeated the French invading army. It became a celebrated holiday, starting in the United States.

And here in Los Angeles, the clashing continues in the Cheap$kate Cocina. For my latest recipe roundup, it's Mexican versus the French, redux, and the battlefield is the palate. Can we all get along? Forget about it—bring out the heavy artillery and let's duke it out plate vs. plate.

Skirmish One is a Fried Feud: Tacos Baja Fried Fish Tacos vs Ludo Truck French Fries and Fried Chicken.

Forever on lists of best taco joints in Los Angeles, Tacos Baja makes one of the most delicious Fish Tacos in town. These battered deep-fried filet torpedoes of perfection are also one of the best deals around, especially on Wednesdays, when they are sold for only 99 cents!

Fish Taco

The Fish Taco is loaded with a Mexican machete-chopped tomato/cabbage slaw that is topped with cream and chile sauce. When you try to pick up the taco, half of the slaw is left on the plate, so be sure to get a forked slaw detector and sweep over the plate to get all that spilled.

The deep-fried batter is well-seasoned and cooked to perfection. The fillet has a thick seasoned crust, and the bass fish filet is flaky and moist - a detonated depth charge of flavor.

This Mexican Pescado Taco is a winner, even at the regular price of $1.69 per taco. Your strafed taste buds happily surrender to such crunchy deliciousness. To see what I'm writing about, just check out my video review below. (And click here to see my cheap$kate recipe you can make in your own foxhole.)

Tacos Baja

16032 Whittier Blvd.
Whittier, CA 90603
Phone: (323) 887-1980. For the Tacos Baja website, click here.

The French return fire with Top Chef star Ludo Lefebvre's fried chicken, fast food truck. How does the Ludo Fried Chicken Truck compare to Tacos Baja Fried Fish Tacos?

  

You would think Chef Ludo has all the culinary training to deliver a coup de grâce with his fried poultry ordinance. Not so quick, mon ami. Fried chicken is a Southern staple, so you'd better have a toothsome battle plan. 

Compared to the Colonel's KFC, the Ludo Truck's Chicken Strips ranks as a Private. Fried chicken, when done right, has moist meat with a brightly seasoned, crunchy coating. While Ludo's Chicken Strips meet the first requirement, it deserves a blindfold and firing squad for an under-seasoned coating. Chicken Strips start with a handicap -- the skin is usually removed, so the crust has to be exceptional. 

Chef Ludo needs to bone up on Southern fried chicken seasonings, especially if Chicken Strips are the ordnance of choice -- or take your fried chicken strips in a more original and delectable direction.

Chicken strips, Fries, and Dipping Sauce

Now the white meat tenders are moist, and are a generous portion, even at $5.50 for two. While the coating is crunchy enough and not objectionable, it's just bland and boring. I expect more from a Top Chef contestant.

Another item I have tried from Ludo Truck is the French Fries -- and I hate to say it, but no improvement here. Chef Ludo should just wave a white flag and surrender.

French Fries

You would think French Fries from Frenchman Ludo Lefebvre would be a direct bullseye hit, wiping out other fries contenders, but they are more of a warhead dud. These French fries are limp and under-seasoned. Maybe because I am more of a Belgian double-fried crispy fries type. (Chef Ludo, you can check out my recipe video for a better French fry by clicking here.)

Even though the Ludo Truck fries seem fresh and thick-cut, almost any fast-food burger joint makes them better, even when made from frozen, pre-cut spuds. Don't fill your mess kit with this meal; stick to MRE's. Okay, at ease... now check out my video below to get all the so-so-tasty details.



So in this battle royale, Mexico blows the French out of the water, and not because it's cheaper, it's just tastier.

Sortie two is War of the Soup recipes: Calabasita vs French Onion Soup.

Calabasitas is a Mexican veggie stew made with a bunker-full of summer squash. It's spicy comfort food, a dish often ordered by my late wife at a local Hollywood Mexican restaurant and shared over a Happy Hour of frosty margaritas.

Along with squash, you need an ammunition belt of onion, corn (fresh or from a can), tomatoes, a can of mild green chiles, cilantro, and finally, some melting cheese as a topping.

Be sure to choose a cheese that is firm, like Jack, mozzarella, Swiss, mild cheddar, or my favorite, Mexican Queso Fresco (avoid processed American cheese; it will melt into a soup - save it for a grilled sandwich).

This was cheap back in the day.

They say the military marches on its stomach; well, Calabasitas is hearty enough to satiate any soldier's appetite.

So, how does Calabasitas stand up to French Onion Soup?

French Soup

Sweet caramelized onions in a broth of red wine, and the beef flavor is a full-on invasion of savoriness. It takes a lot of slow-cooked sliced onions to make a French Onion Soup. But the time invested is worth it. And when you add a thick slice of toasted French bread and a slab of melted cheese, well, you have to succumb to this flavor bomb.

So in the battle of the soups, the white flag of surrender is waved by Mexico - France gets the win, but just barely. There, you have your revenge for the last culinary resounding defeat.

 Finally, clash three is a Battle of the Breakfast: Huevos Rancheros vs a French Cheese Omelet.

I've been making Huevos Rancheros often lately. And the reason is: it's the bomb! You got corn tortillas, creamy refried beans, crumbly Mexican cheese, and fried eggs topped with more cheese and tangy salsa. 

You are hit from all sides with this Gatling gun of disparate flavors. And it's an easy recipe to make. Just heat up some tortillas and refried beans to add to your fried eggs. I prefer Mexican cheese, but you can use what you have on hand. Deliver the coup de grâce with your favorite salsa, either fresh (simple recipe click here) or from the jar.

Just check out my video below to see my cheap$kate version.

It's Guerrilla vs. Classic Warfare. The technique is paramount to making a French-style Omelettte. I took me several counter-offensives to finally conquer it. 

French Omelette

Mainly, you gently stir the omelet until it is almost done but still slightly moist, then add the cheese and fold the egg. It's served with a damp interior. 

Oh, and you fry the omelet in butter; so in your own battle of the bulge, fitting into your fighting gear will be a lost cause.

Once you've tried my version of a French Omelette, you will never surrender to any other kind. Check out my video recipe below and start your own cooking maneuvers.

So, who won the War of Breakfasts? Man, it's a tough decision...I can't decide, so I'll call a truce in this kitchen combat zone - both recipes are victorious!

Everyone is a winner in this war of appetites, so don't wait to be drafted; just volunteer from my recipe boot camp and give any of the above battle-tested recipes a try. 

*Click on any recipe name to see the original blog post recipe or review.

Bastille Day - French Cuisine Recipes

 I'm a Francophile. I like movies by Jean-Luc Godard, ye-ye pop music by Serge Gainsbourg, and pommes frites, or French Fries. So man the barricades and check out my cheapSkate revolutionary recipes on Bastille Day.

There is more to French cuisine than French Fries, of course, and this Chef de Cuisine d'Internet has tossed Molotov cocktail recipes on Bastille Day. So keep scrolling for scrumptious videos and food photography, which I hope inspires you to try a recipe or two. Follow this rebel rousing cheap$kate as I storm the ivory tower of haute cuisine!  And click on any recipe name to go to my blog post for all the riotous recipe instructions.

This French holiday is celebrated as the turning point of the French Revolution on July 14, 1789. 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, any local favorite you find on sale is fine.

A French mirepoix of guillotined veggies includes onion, garlic, bell pepper, carrot, and celery. They will sweeten this stew with slow-cooking on the stovetop and finish with baking in the oven to crisp poultry skin while thickening the rich sauce.

In the fall and winter months, I make a Cassoulet 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 and 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's all about the crunchy outside and fluffy inside. And 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 a British-style beer-battered fried fish recipe.



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 with his French Cheese Omelet. Man, is it tender and so gooood. The French method is to whip eggs first, then lightly and continuously scramble them with a little butter until almost done, with the 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 PBS 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 hold 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 Oui by Yoplait at my local 99c only Store (the photo below is from a few years ago), I had to try it. Boy, is it creamy and flavorful. 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!

Vive la France and Bon Appétit!

Cinco de Mayo Recipes - Mexican & French Recipe Battle Royale

 On the 5th of May, 1861, Mexico battled and defeated the French invading army. It became a celebrated holiday, starting in the United States.

And here in Los Angeles, the clashing continues in the Cheap$kate Cocina. For my latest recipe roundup, it's Mexican versus the French, redux, and the battlefield is the palate. Can we all get along? Forget about it—bring out the heavy artillery and let's duke it out plate vs. plate.

Skirmish One is a Fried Feud: Tacos Baja Fried Fish Tacos vs Ludo Truck French Fries and Fried Chicken.

Forever on lists of best taco joints in Los Angeles, Tacos Baja makes one of the most delicious Fish Tacos in town. These battered deep-fried filet torpedos of perfection are also one of the best deals around, especially on Wednesdays, when they are sold for only 99 cents!

Fish Taco

The Fish Taco is loaded with a Mexican machete chopped tomato/cabbage slaw that is topped with cream and chile sauce. When you try to pick up the taco, half of the slaw is left on the plate, so be sure to get a forked slaw detector and sweep over the plate to get all that spilled.

The deep-fried batter is well-seasoned and cooked to perfection. The fillet has a thick seasoned crust, and the bass fish filet is flaky and moist - a detonated depth charge of flavor.

This Mexican Pescado Taco is a winner, even at the regular price of $1.69 per taco. Your strafed taste buds happily surrender to such crunchy deliciousness. To see what I'm writing about, just check out my video review below. (And click here to see my cheap$kate recipe you can make in your own foxhole.)

Tacos Baja

16032 Whittier Blvd.
Whittier, CA 90603
Phone: (323) 887-1980For Tacos Baja website, click here.

The French return fire with Top Chef star Ludo Lefebvre's fried chicken fast food truck. How does the Ludo Fried Chicken Truck compare to Tacos Baja Fried Fish Tacos?

  

You would think Chef Ludo has all the culinary training to deliver a coup de grâce with his fried poultry ordinance. Not so quick, mon ami. Fried chicken is a Southern staple, so you'd better have a toothsome battle plan. 

Compared to the Colonel's KFC, the Ludo Truck's Chicken Strips ranks as a Private. Fried chicken, when done right, has moist meat with a brightly seasoned, crunchy coating. While Ludo's Chicken Strips meet the first requirement, it deserves a blindfold and firing squad for an under-seasoned coating. Chicken Strips start with a handicap -- the skin is usually removed, so the crust has to be exceptional. 

Chef Ludo needs to bone up on Southern fried chicken seasonings, especially if Chicken Strips are the ordnance of choice -- or take your fried chicken strips in a more original and delectable direction.

Chicken strips, Fries, and Dipping Sauce

Now the white meat tenders are moist, and are a generous portion, even at $5.50 for two. While the coating is crunchy enough and not objectionable, it's just bland and boring. I expect more from a Top Chef contestant.

Another item I have tried from Ludo Truck is the French Fries -- and I hate to say it, but no improvement here. Chef Ludo should just wave a white flag and surrender.

French Fries

You would think French Fries from Frenchman Ludo Lefebvre would be a direct bullseye hit, wiping out other fries contenders, but they are more of a warhead dud. These French fries are limp and under-seasoned. Maybe because I am more of a Belgian double-fried crispy fries type. (Chef Ludo, you can check out my recipe video for a better French fry by clicking here.)

Even though the Ludo Truck fries seem fresh and thick-cut, almost any fast food burger joint makes them better, even when made from frozen, pre-cut spuds. Don't fill your mess kit with this meal, stick to MRE's. Okay, at ease... now check out my video below to get all the so-so-tasty details.



So in this battle royale, Mexico blows the French out of the water, and not because it's cheaper, it's just tastier.

Sortie two is War of the Soup recipes: Calabasita vs French Onion Soup.

Calabasitas is a Mexican veggie stew made with a bunker-full of summer squash. It's spicy comfort food, a dish often ordered by my late wife at a local Hollywood Mexican restaurant and shared over a Happy Hour of frosty margaritas.

Along with squash, you need an ammunition belt of onion, corn (fresh or from a can), tomatoes, a can of mild green chiles, cilantro, and finally, some melting cheese as a topping.

Be sure to choose a cheese that is firm, like Jack, mozzarella, Swiss, mild cheddar, or my favorite, Mexican Queso Fresco (avoid processed American cheese; it will melt into a soup - save it for a grilled sandwich).

This was cheap back in the day.

They say the military marches on its stomach; well, Calabasitas is hearty enough to satiate any soldier's appetite.

So, how does Calabasitas stand up to French Onion Soup?

French Soup

Sweet caramelized onions in a broth of red wine, and the beef flavor is a full-on invasion of savoriness. It takes a lot of slow-cooking sliced onions to make a French Onion Soup. But the time invested is worth it. And when you add a thick slice of toasted French bread and a slab of melted cheese, well, you have to succumb to this flavor bomb.

So in the battle of the soups, the white flag of surrender is waved by Mexico - France gets the win, but just barely. There, you have your revenge for the last culinary resounding defeat.

 Finally, clash three is a Battle of the Breakfast: Huevos Rancheros vs a French Cheese Omelet.

I've been making Huevos Rancheros often lately. And the reason is: it's the bomb! You got corn tortillas, creamy refried beans, crumbly Mexican cheese, and fried eggs topped with more cheese and tangy salsa. 

You are hit from all sides with this Gatling gun of disparate flavors. And it's an easy recipe to make. Just heat up some tortillas and refried beans to add to your fried eggs. I prefer Mexican cheese, but you can use what you have on hand. Deliver the coup de grâce with your favorite salsa, either fresh (simple recipe click here) or from the jar.

Just check out my video below to see my cheap$kate version.

It's Guerrilla vs. Classic Warfare. The technique is paramount to making a French-style Omelettte. I took me several counter-offensives to finally conquer it. 

French Omelette

Mainly, you gently stir the omelet until it is almost done but still slightly moist, then add the cheese and fold the egg. It's served with a damp interior. 

Oh, and you fry the omelet in butter; so in your own battle of the bulge, fitting into your fighting gear will be a lost cause.

Once you've tried my version of a French Omelette, you will never surrender to any other kind. Check out my video recipe below and start your own cooking maneuvers.

So, who won the War of Breakfasts? Man, it's a tough decision...I can't decide, so I'll call a truce in this kitchen combat zone - both recipes are victorious!

Everyone is a winner in this war of appetites, so don't wait to be drafted, just volunteer from my recipe boot camp and give any of the above battle-tested recipes a try. 

*Click on any recipe name to see the original blog post recipe or review.