Sparkling wines are becoming more popular than ever before. After a few years of growth, the sparkling wine market has finally reached saturation. There are now literally hundreds of sparkling wines from small regional producers to global behemoths. If you’ve never tasted sparkling wine before, imagine the fizziness of a prosecco with a lower price point and more accessible production methods. Barton and Guestier have been producing sparkling wine in France since 1664 when they started making a sparkling wine called the Blanc de Blancs. The word “blanc” means “white,” but it also means “fruity.” This is because white grapes are often filled with flavors that can be extracted and concentrated into a Here’s a list of the top 8 popular brands and their production regions.
Champagne is France’s biggest export, with about 2.4 billion bottles sold each year. The Champagne region is located in the far north of France and produces most of the world’s sparkling wine. Most Champagnes are made from pinot noir grapes, although some winemakers also use chardonnay and Pinot Meunier.
This is a sweet white wine from the Pays D’Oc in southern France. It was initially made for the pilgrims that visited the town of Die. The name is derived from Claire, the daughter of St. Martin, who was said to have been raised by a she-wolf in the forest of Die. The wine is made using a blend of Chardonnay and Roussanne grapes with 50% residual sugar added at bottling.
France’s Alsace region has been producing sparkling wine since the Middle Ages. Today, Crémant d’Alsace represents the highest level of quality in the world. The grapes are sent to a regional cooperative and then sent through a long process of aging, blending, and bottling. As a result, you can expect more complex flavors with this wine than the average sparkling wine.
Crémant de Loire is the most widely produced sparkling wine in France. It is made in the central part of the country around the town of Chinon. The wine is made from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes blend and is bottled without any additional carbonation.
This is the most famous sparkling wine from France. It comes from the southern region of Provence and is produced by a small family-run winery. The grapes are grown in the same area and are harvested by hand without any mechanical machines. The wine is aged for about six months before it’s bottled. Its sweetness comes from a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier grapes with a total sugar content of 14 grams per liter.
Crémant de Bourgogne is produced in the Burgundy region of France. It is a sparkling wine made from Champagne grapes. The grapes are harvested, pressed, fermented, and then aged for several months before being bottled as Crémant de Bourgogne.
Bordeaux is the home of the world-renowned sparkling wine Crémant de Bordeaux. This wine is made using a traditional method of blending a blend of two or three wines. The mixture is then aged in oak barrels for six months before bottling. The bottles are then sealed with cork, allowing the wine to breathe, giving its characteristic fizziness.
This French sparkling wine is produced in the village of Die and the surrounding area. This region is known for producing quality wines like Beaujolais, so it’s no surprise that Crémant de Die has become such a famous sparkling wine. The wine is made from 100% Pinot Noir grapes and undergoes a second fermentation in stainless steel tanks.
So there you have it, France produces many different kinds of sparkling wine. Although the list is not exhaustive, it will give you an idea of the wide variety of styles and flavors that are available.
Between the naturalness of wood and the strength of stainless steel, your heart balances? Our article will help you weigh the pros and cons before making your choice when shopping for the kitchen utensils. In the shops, you can find a large number of choices, and you should pick what suits you best. If you are interested in visiting kitchen utensils shops, you can visit the Shops for example to find many addresses that you can visit when shopping.
Here is a question often debated in the domestic and professional culinary world: should stainless steel or wooden kitchen utensils be preferred? While wood contains the flavour of a certain natural nostalgia, stainless steel is praised for its robustness and ease of cleaning. How to slice and when to use one or the other? What are the advantages of each and the differences between the two? If the time has come for you to renew your kitchen equipment, here are the concrete answers to your questions.
Let’s start with a very practical aspect: wooden spatulas do not scratch. Gentle on cooking surfaces, they keep cast iron pans or metal pots and pans intact. By the way, they don’t produce the unpleasant sound of metal. Unlike stainless steel cookware, their wooden counterparts do not transmit heat. So you can safely forget them on a hot pan while cooking: the handle will remain cold. This makes them extremely practical when preparing dishes that need to be stirred regularly, such as soups or risottos.
Of course, stainless steel kitchen utensils can also be designed in a superb design. However, wooden spoons and spatulas, when exposed, offer the warmth of a beautiful and natural material in the kitchen, especially when they are handcrafted. With time and repeated use, this material tends to adapt to its owner’s hand. This is why it is often preferred by great chefs. Ecological, biodegradable and non-toxic, bamboo or beech utensils do not interact with ingredients as plastics would and do not leave a metallic taste or chemical products.
In spite of all its obvious qualities, wood has one major disadvantage: it is much less easy to clean than stainless steel kitchen utensils for several reasons. It absorbs fat quickly, which can make rinsing difficult and result in indelible stains. Also, some ingredients such as beetroot, or very colourful spices such as turmeric, can stain it permanently. Wooden kitchen utensils generally do not appreciate prolonged dampness. It is therefore preferable to keep them away from the dishwasher, otherwise mould may appear, or worse, cracks may appear.
Wooden utensils can break more easily than stainless steel ones. Even if you love your beautiful wooden spoons and spatulas, you’ll probably not keep them as long as their metal counterparts. This is because wood, when subjected to temperature variations and repeated trips under the tap will tend to become brittle over time. This is especially true for the thinnest and most economical utensils, which generally do not burn for long in the kitchen. In order to keep them in good condition for as long as possible, it is necessary to take a certain amount of care, for example, avoid running them under too hot water.
One of the main qualities of stainless steel, in addition to being rustproof, is its high resistance. Equipping yourself with cutlery, utensils and cookware in this material is a real long-term investment. When you need a sturdy tool, to cut a thick piece of meat for example, stainless steel will be a faithful ally. Stainless steel cookware is very easy to maintain and does not stain. A final argument in their favour: stainless steel spatulas are very effective for scraping dishes and surfaces that are not afraid of scratching.
Like any self-respecting quality material, stainless steel is more expensive than wood. This is due to a more complex manufacturing process, but also to its extraordinary strength and practicality. While stainless steel kitchen utensils tend to be more expensive than those made of wood, stainless steel can also scratch non-stick dishes, with which the natural material is much softer. Once their coating has been scratched, pots and pans gradually degrade and retain food that starts to stick.
Like you, the best chefs started with more or less basic and efficient utensils, which allowed them to progress. What are the essential elements for any good pastry chef?
How many baking utensils can you name? There are dozens of them, but which are the most indispensable? Here’s the answer.
When you enjoy baking and want to expand your skills and repertoire, there is no better way to learn than by varying the pleasures. If a fully equipped kitchen can provide an ideal setting for baking, then what is about baking utensils? To what extent is it necessary to complete one’s range of equipment and what are the indispensable elements for any budding or experienced pastry chef? Our list of essentials will help you prepare for successful cakes, pies, creams and other sweets.
Very fashionable, this type of small appliance will give you a serious helping hand in the kitchen. Thanks to its versatility, a food processor is a pastry utensil capable of kneading dough, mixing or beating the ingredients that make up your recipes. Its power and capacity are important criteria: in order to obtain satisfactory results, choose a model with at least 700 watts and a capacity of 3 litres for family use. Depending on the model, you’ll have a range of useful accessories for making a variety of baked goods. But robots can’t do everything, especially the dressing part. Other accessories can be useful for this part: stencils, sockets, cutters… Find the shops that sell a selection of pastry utensils directly online, on sites such as www.the-shops.co.uk/ for example.
For any self-respecting cook, preparation bowls are almost as essential as cutting boards, knives and pots and pans. You’ll find them in a variety of materials: glass, which is heavier and more fragile than stainless steel, is nevertheless the most natural of them all. Avoid aluminium, which can impart a slight acidity to food. Remember to vary the dimensions and depths of these essential baking utensils for good baking. Check, if necessary, if they are compatible with your microwave oven, as you may need to reheat them quickly from time to time.
You don’t have that basic, inexpensive baking utensil yet? A rolling pin helps to flatten and shape all types of dough, from pie crust to pizza dough. Wooden rolling pins are the most common because the flour adheres very well to its fibres. You will find them with or without side handles: it’s up to you to choose what you find most practical. Some carved models allow you to leave a pattern on the dough to decorate your cookies, for example. You will then complete it with several cookie cutters, which allow you to cut out and make shapes in spread dough in a single gesture.
Whether they are made of metal, glass, silicone or ceramic, cake and pie moulds are crucial to the success of certain pastry recipes. What is the best option for this essential pastry utensil? The correct answer is that all these materials have different characteristics and you just need to know them before you buy. Metal and glass, for example, are highly conductive and therefore heat your dough faster than silicone. Silicone, on the other hand, limits burns and is available in many fancy shapes. Resistance, price, weight: it’s up to you to choose what suits you best.
It is perhaps the most important baking utensil on the list, for the simple reason that it can accurately measure the amount of ingredients used in a recipe. If possible, purchase a digital scale that can be set in grams and has a tare function. Don’t hesitate to invest in a quality model: you will gain in accuracy and robustness. After all, a kitchen scale is subject to a lot of uncertainties when preparing food! You will use this precious kitchen tool in many preparations, whether salty or sweet.
Even if you have a sophisticated pastry robot, a hand whisk will still do you a great service. Indeed, you won’t always want to mess up your appliance to perform a quick or delicate operation. This is where a pastry utensil such as a hand whisk can be a valuable ally. It will also allow younger children to learn with you about this culinary art without having to use an electric appliance. Spiral, flat or balloon type: each whisk has its own speciality! If you’re hesitating, opt for the classic, very versatile version of this kitchen utensil.
Want to cook like a chef? Or simply need to have the right tools in your kitchen to make every day dishes? Here’s a list of essential cooking utensils, for apprentice kitchen helpers and the most seasoned cooks alike. It is always a pleasure to go through kitchen utensils’ shops; you can find addresses of kitchen tools’ shops on many online websites like www.the-shops.co.uk/ for instance.
All recipes, even the simplest, require the use of kitchen utensils to properly measure, cut or mix the ingredients. Starting with the measuring glass, graduated, it makes it easy to measure the right amount of flour, sugar, milk or water for your preparations. The alternative to the measuring glass is the kitchen scale, even if you sometimes need to know how to make learned mathematical conversions. Then, a hollow container often made of stainless steel, as well as the whisk are indispensable to mix the ingredients well together. For everything related to fruits and vegetables, first of all, you need a good knife and a cutting board. Also useful are the peeler and the multifunctional grater. The latter is ideal for slicing courgettes or cucumbers, preparing grated carrots or covering a cheese quiche without too much effort.
Once your recipe is ready, it still needs to be cooked. To do this, equip yourself with a pie pan for desserts or quiches, an ovenproof dish for meat, fish or gratins, or a stewpot (cast iron casseroles are without a doubt the queens of this category) for your sauce or stew dishes. For everyday dishes, buy a set of stainless steel pots and pans and one or two non-stick pans. And to stir your small dishes while they’re simmering, think about wooden cutlery. With them, there’s no need to worry about scratching the bottom of a pan or the lining of a frying pan! Another clever accessory is the silicone spatula (sometimes called a “maryse”), which can be used to scrape every last drop off a chocolate topping or vegetable soup.
What if you have a piece of pie, some risotto or a piece of cake left over? Because of course, you can’t just throw it away and ruin it. Don’t panic: nowadays, it’s very easy to find resealable tins, made of silicone for example, to keep your leftovers in an optimal way. Purists will turn to glass jars and containers. The plus: buy labels to write what they contain; it will give a decorative touch to your kitchen! Another option: resealable bags, perfect for freezing leftovers.
Otherwise, a roll of plastic wrap or better yet, a beeswax Bee wrap will do the trick to cover a dish to keep in the fridge. The accessory we love: the clips designed to easily reseal pasta or rice packets once opened. The drama of the upside-down package will be history! Finally, the more adventurous can invest in a vacuum-packaging kit. It is very useful when cooking in advance for the whole family. It’s up to you!
You want to get into the kitchen, to simmer small dishes, to satisfy your nascent appetite for gastronomy. Only, how can you not find yourself stopped from the start because of the missing accessory? For any type of recipe, a number of kitchen utensils come back regularly. Which ones? Which kitchen utensils are absolutely essential to have at home in the evening? Read this article.
Every good dish starts with a good preparation of the ingredients. Beyond the indispensable thriftiness, ceramic or not, you will need to be well equipped with knives. To prepare your vegetables, cut the herbs, mince the onions, choose a utility knife. On the other hand, for your meats, choose a knife with a sharp blade.
In this cutting activity, you will also need a cutting board: if you choose a glass one, be careful not to damage the blade of your knives.
Also, you will need a wooden spatula, a grater, a ladle or skimmer and a colander.
On the sweet side, if you feel like baking a cake, without a rolling pin you won’t get far. It is better to have one in your cupboard to satisfy your pastry desires! To mix your preparation well, you will also need a whisk, with a small preference for stainless steel on our side.
Finally, equip yourself with an electronic or mechanical scale, and a measuring glass. In the pastry shop, as in music, everything is in the measure! You can find these shops easily through www.the-shops.co.uk/ for example.
In the kitchen, the pan and the frying pan seem to be out of control, and for good reason. Used by our mothers and grandmothers, they are the indispensable allies of any self-respecting cook! Moreover, it is better to have at least two of different capacity (a small and a large pan for example), just in case, or even if possible a complete set.
If your eyes marvel and your taste buds salivate in advance in front of simmering dishes, then in this case, count on the frying pan as one of your must-haves. And yes, the thinner frying pan will be used to grill and cook thin items such as minced steaks, chicken fillets, fried eggs… The frying pan will allow you to make simmering sauce dishes and has a larger capacity. Preferably, choose it with a non-stick coating and above all do not cut your meat inside!
Finally, to make a success of all your beef bourguignon, lamb Navarin and braised fennel, don’t overlook the casserole.
Finally, to prepare baked dishes that are well gratinated, you will need…dishes! Alone or in couple, the small sizes will be enough for you. On the other hand, for large families, don’t hesitate to think bigger, and thus avoid seeing your Parmentier hashish overflowing!
For the pastry, you will obviously need cake moulds. There are an infinite number of shapes, in metal or silicone. The advantage of the latter, especially for individual small cakes, is that they are easy to remove from the mould.
Appliances have been making their way into our homes for over 50 years and not for nothing! Practical and reliable, they are a must in our kitchens, like the hand blender for example. From soup to compote and meat tartars for some multifunction models, don’t hesitate to use it.
You cook for a large family and you still have some space left on your work surface? Why not try the multifunction food processor? Versatile, it will allow you to save time when making your raw vegetable salads, mincemeat, but also for your cakes and other pastries. On the other hand, there’s nothing like an electric mixer to beat the egg whites to snow.
Finally, if you have the possibility, complete your equipment with a steam cooker. It is not essential, it is true, but it will preserve the vitamins and the taste of your food. It is perfect for fish with herbs in papillotes or to keep the crunchiness and colour of your vegetables.
For you nothing beats the satisfaction of homemade food? In that case, let yourself be tempted by some household accessories such as the bread maker, the yoghurt maker or the ice cream maker! Create, innovate, flavour… From mint sorbet to 12-grain bread, your culinary imagination will express itself!
Also think about pastry circles or presentation squares. It is essential to give relief to your starters, gratins dauphinois and other accompaniments during your meals with friends.
Finally, for gourmets, we advise you to have a siphon in your cupboards. Simple to use, it will allow you to make sauces, salty or sweet espumas and especially a homemade whipped cream, perfect to accompany your sorbets!
For some time now the open kitchen has been more successful than our old closed kitchens that cut us off from the world. The open kitchen allows you to spend more time with your guests. It is a place that brings the whole family together to chat, do homework, relax and of course to eat.
The open kitchen is an integral part of the living room in the house, creating space to immerse oneself in the dining area or living room. The fashion for open kitchens has its advantages but also its disadvantages, such as the smell of cooking, but a hood can solve the problem.
Also, the open kitchen requires daily storage. It is forbidden to leave the dishes for the night before or not to store pots and pans. On the storage side, everything must be perfect as in the living room, as these two spaces overlap. Here are a few tips to keep an open kitchen well organised and tidy.
When choosing the colour of the kitchen, it is important not to make the wrong choice! A dark brown kitchen for example will shrink the space. It is better to choose pastel and light colours to brighten up the kitchen walls. You should visit several shops in order to make a good choice. Check www.the-shops.co.uk if you wish to know to find these shops.
A light yellow, a sky blue or a pastel pistachio green will blend perfectly with the walls of your kitchen. Don’t forget to consider the living room furniture and style so as not to fall into bad taste. Also, the colour of the walls should be adapted to the furniture in your kitchen. Colours: light beige and white are the essential shades that are perfectly suited to all decorations and furniture.
It was a time when kitchen furniture was dressed in bright red, orange and pistachio green, bright colours that don’t necessarily suit an open kitchen. Imagine if you have an orange living room, a white dining room and a pistachio green kitchen. This mix of colours doesn’t go well together. In this case, you should opt for furniture in neutral colours such as white or beige or even colours and shades of wood. If you like even more style you can choose kitchen furniture in black or grey. These are always neutral colours that can be perfectly combined with your decoration of the rest of the living room or dining room.
If your fridge is starting to get old, with rust stains, we advise you to invest in a spacious new fridge to store all your food. The same goes for the stove or hob and oven. All your large appliances should be nickels because they will be seen by your guests and all those who visit your house.
Is your food processor, blender, blender or toaster all stacked on top of each other on the worktop? A clutter of small appliances that is very unpleasant to see. It’s important to keep your small appliances tidy and unclutter the worktop. You can store them in the most accessible shelf of the cupboard so that you can take them out easily if necessary. You will keep the toaster, for example, since you use it regularly.
In an open kitchen it is imperative to invest in all types of storage. Hermetic boxes are there to store pasta, plastic tubs for detergent products and other storage accessories to save and optimize your cupboard space. Optimal storage will allow you to organize your open kitchen.
Decorating your kitchen well will allow you to bring a touch of cheerfulness and originality to your kitchen. For a neutral beige coloured kitchen you can bring some greenery with some hanging plants, or coloured glass vases and bowls for a touch of originality. You can also opt for a nice carpet and original curtains.
For most people, cooking is a source of pleasure to which women are particularly sensitive. Fortunately, there is a wide range of kitchen utensils available to make vegetable recipes fun. With these innovative materials, you will be able to concoct delicious vegetarian dishes for the whole family. You will have at your disposal utensils to dry, cut, turn and cook your vegetables in ideal conditions.
Lovers of good cooking have seen the emergence of utensils dedicated to the cutting and preparation of all varieties of vegetables. It is now easy to concoct delicious vegetarian recipes based on vegetables. These innovative materials make it possible to cut vegetables in style for a great time in the kitchen. Mothers can now offer their children happiness by serving well-presented vegetables cut into small pieces. Today, many specialist shops are offering a wide range of tools for cutting vegetables in a playful way. You can find these shops on many websites like the-shops.co.uk/ for example. The work in the kitchen will then be made easier by these up-to-date materials. In this way, you will not see the time spent preparing the meals.
There are real practical advantages to using modern vegetable cutting utensils, especially if they are modern. These materials make it possible to highlight your vegetables through precise cuts and a pleasant presentation. These innovative utensils will, among other things, give you the impression of tasting vegetables as you have never seen them before. Nowadays, it is possible to improve the appearance of prepared vegetables once they are served at the table. By being more fun and aesthetically pleasing, vegetables will whet the appetite of young and old alike. Some examples of inconvenient kitchen utensils that are a must have are: quarter cutter, banana cutter, fruit & vegetable cutting knives, canneleur, Parisian spoon, heart-shaped Parisian spoon. And as these are just a few examples, there are many more.
In order to satisfy the desire to achieve perfection in the kitchen, manufacturers of vegetable cutting utensils offer a whole range of equipment that is rarely seen. A perfect example is the Herbal Leaf Remover. This highly original utensil allows the tough stems of herbs to be removed from certain vegetables such as thyme, rosemary and oregano. The cherry and olive stoner is also one of the must-have tools in the kitchen. With this equipment, preparing vegetables by hand becomes simple and ergonomic. Finally, you should also think about equipping yourself with utensils that allow you to cut and peel all kinds of vegetables in a simple way.
Cooking is an art. You may have everything you need in your kitchen, but if you don’t know how to cook well, you can’t work miracles. What if you’ve always miscooked certain ingredients that you have in your cupboard? Here are some tips you need to know before you get behind the stove.
To prevent your avocado purée from oxidizing and to keep its pretty green colour when serving, add a few drops of lemon juice. If some remains, you can keep the guacamole in an airtight container in the fridge.
Cook your bacon slices in an oven, not in a frying pan, for about 15 minutes at 200°. The taste will be better, the slices will be crispier!
Lettuce, lamb’s lettuce, arugula… your salad must imperatively be washed in cold water baths before being eaten. This is an essential hygiene rule! Then drain and wring out. Let’s eat!
If you are sautéing onions in a pan, wait until they become soft before adding garlic, which cooks much faster. This will avoid burning it and will give you the caramelized effect.
To optimize the flavours, it is important to let the meat rest for a few minutes before eating. If you cut it just after cooking, it will lose its juices and the flesh will become drier and less tasty.
Seasoning can revolutionize your dish, giving it more taste and enhancing the flavours. So don’t hesitate to use herbs such as rosemary, garlic or cumin! To season with salt and pepper, don’t wait until the end of cooking: do it while you’re cooking.
Rather than cooking your potatoes in the microwave, roast them in the oven without removing the skin. You won’t need to add salt, pepper or cream. The skin will be naturally crispy and the flesh tender and creamy.
In boiling water, you can add salt, but above all no oil: this is totally useless! When you want, once your pasta is cooked, drain it but do not rinse it: the starch molecules will allow the sauce you have chosen to hang more easily.
When you prepare a filled omelette, fry your ingredients separately: potatoes, cheese, mushrooms, bacon… the list is long and can be adapted to your wishes.
If you boil your Brussels sprouts, you may end up with an odourless and colourless puree! Instead, fry them in olive oil in a pan and add a little garlic. Bon appétit
Between family life and professional life, your days move by at breakneck speed. But you still want to stay on track with a healthy and tasty diet. But how can you do that when your schedule is already full? How do you manage – in a short space of time – to feed your whole little world healthily, make yourself happy and satisfy their taste buds? Here are a few simple and practical tips and recipe ideas to make it easier for you to cook fresh fruit and vegetables every day.
Cooking fresh products is more economical than buying ready-made meals, which are often high in salt, sugar and fat.
This makes it easier to control your nutritional intake (vitamins, minerals and fibre).
Provided with useful micro-nutrients, fresh fruit and vegetables remain low in calories. An average fruit (150 g) provides only 75 kcal on average, a portion of raw vegetables seasoned with a drizzle of oil barely 100 kcal. Their high water and fibre content also promotes satiety and prevents cravings.
To organize your shopping, remember to make a list of the basics (tomato, cucumber, melon or peach, in summer, carrot, cabbage, apple, kiwi, in winter), and let yourself be seduced by the products you are not used to preparing. It will be a good opportunity to enrich your culinary repertoire.
It’s best to shop in two stages: a basic basket that can be kept throughout the week (carrot, turnip, zucchini, apple, etc.) and a supplement, in the middle of the week, for the most sensitive products (strawberry, raspberry, salad, etc.).
Primeurs, supermarkets, markets, etc., offer you different offers. Optimize your shopping according to the time you have, the place where you are and the quantities to buy. And think about the drive when you’re short of time.
Organise yourself well to prepare fresh fruit and vegetables properly.
Before serving, the Chefs do what they call setting up; among the various tasks of preparing the dishes, peeling and cutting the vegetables saves time when preparing the recipes.
In the same way, at home, when you return from shopping, when you have a little time, prepare a few vegetables for the week. This may seem a little tedious at first but, with use, it is a real saving of time and energy on a daily basis.
For example, leeks can be washed and sliced and then placed in an airtight container in the fridge (up to 5 days’ storage); carrots can be peeled and washed (2/3 days. Beyond that, they tend to dry out); celeriac can be peeled, washed and quartered and then stored in lemon water (4/5 days). Prepare the green salad (peeled, washed, wrung out) and place it in a food bag in the fridge (2 to 5 days depending on the variety: chicory, autumn and winter salads are more resistant to storage than tender spring and summer lettuces). The same goes for radishes, which can be eaten throughout the week as desired.
While cauliflower and broccoli keep better whole, they can be washed and cut into small bunches for short-term consumption (within 24 hours).
Onions and shallots can be peeled and chopped in advance; be careful to keep them well enclosed so that they do not communicate their powerful aromas to all foods stored in the refrigerator.
Prepare servings of chopped vegetables and freeze them. To do this, arrange the vegetable cubes on a tray in the freezer in a single layer. When they have hardened, bag them in portions. Frozen vegetables are best reserved for cooking in soups or purées. For pan-frying, freshly purchased vegetables are preferable.
Prepare your dishes in larger quantities than needed for one meal and freeze the rest. On days when you have very little time, all you have to do is defrost the dishes in the microwave or in a saucepan on your hotplate.
Precook your vegetables the day before
Pre-cooked vegetables can be simply sautéed in a pan, integrated in an omelette or in a savoury pie (e.g. broccoli or leek quiche).
We also like them au gratin: arrange them in a dish, garnish with grated cheese and/or a sauce (béchamel, crème fraîche), place under the oven grill for ten minutes to obtain a succulent gratin express.
Cooking without cooking, who would have thought?
The simplest and quickest way to add fresh fruit and vegetables to the daily menu is to eat them raw, to systematically add a raw vegetable to the menu. This is a little easier in summer than in winter because there is a greater supply of raw consumables (tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, courgettes, peppers, etc., and all fruits). In addition, when it is hot, our taste is more naturally inclined towards crudeness.
But you can always find something to crunch on outside the summer period (celery root and branch, fennel, red cabbage and white cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, etc., and of course all green salads). Innovate by offering vegetables rarely used raw: turnips in carpaccio, a green cabbage salad with bacon or a broccoli tabbouleh.
A few exceptions: rhubarb, white asparagus (very finely sliced and well seasoned, it can be eaten raw in small quantities), eggplant (rare recipes offer it raw, however, in a salad), pumpkin, green beans, the leek (although, very finely chopped, it is used like the onion, as a spice), the Camus artichoke (the small violet, as for him can be eaten raw, finely chopped, in salad), the quince.
If you don’t have time to cook in the evening, the batch cooking is for you! Discover all our tips to organize and plan your meals for the week efficiently.
Cooking in 2 hours for the week seems utopian and yet… This time it’s decided, you want to eat healthy every night, even when you come home late from work. No more pasta dishes taken on the run, because there is no time to cook a good balanced meal. The desire to eat healthy is there, but still you feel a bit lost on the supermarket shelves and don’t know where to start… How about getting into batch cooking? This new trend, also called meal prep, consists of cooking 2 hours at the weekend for the whole week. Sounds like a dream, doesn’t it? We’ll give you a few tips on how to prepare the week’s meals in a very simple way.
Although batch cooking has many advantages, it cannot be improvised. Indeed, it requires a little organization!
To begin with, a weekly meal plan is absolutely necessary. It will allow you to draw up a shopping list and then get into action. There are two ways to plan your meals: prepare basic items that you assemble on the day or prepare complete meals that you simply heat up when you eat them. Don’t hesitate to mix these two methods for more freedom!
To find out what you’re going to have to buy as fresh produce and basic ingredients, there’s no secret, you need to draw up a weekly meal plan. To do this, get together as a family, select the recipes that are always a hit or those you want to try out and start keeping a detailed plan. Of course, always remember to make sure your meals are balanced, but don’t forget to treat yourself too! Add spices, sweet and sour combinations and vary the vegetables to make every day a delight!
Drawing up a weekly meal plan will then allow you to draw up a very precise shopping list. This will help you avoid unnecessary and wasteful items and save you money at the same time. Thanks to this new organisation, you only buy the products you need.
After shopping, it is best to cook in a hurry to use fresh ingredients. This can be on the weekend or on a weekday evening, depending on how much time you have. Start by cooking basic, neutral ingredients such as cereals (rice, quinoa…), legumes (dried beans, lentils, chickpeas…) that you can assemble and eat as a hot dish or salad. Then cook some vegetables, steamed or fried, perfect as an accompaniment.
In order to optimize the time, we try to cook in 2 hours for the week, so to optimize the cooking in advance, and the dishes. In addition to the basics, prepare some raw vegetables (onions, salad, raw vegetables…) as well as some aromatic herbs. On the meat side, cook a chicken or a roast that you can eat in different ways: hot, cold in a salad, in a sandwich. Also think about hard-boiled eggs that you can cook in advance and keep in the fridge. Finally, prepare some sauces to season your dishes (pesto, vinaigrette, tomato sauce) as well as a jar of nuts to sprinkle on or roast in the oven. Thanks to these basic elements, you will already be able to imagine all kinds of healthy and balanced meals.
For certain days of the week, plan a few ready-made dishes so that you only have to reheat them on the day. Try dishes in sauce, simmered, such as vegetable curry, couscous, veal blanquette, lasagne… Also prepare a good vegetable soup. Finally, remember to double all the quantities, so you can freeze the leftovers to enjoy them the following weeks.