Mastering the Art of French Eating now in paperback (and a recipe for steak-frites!)

Categories cookbooks, france, French, giveaway | by

Mastering the Art of French Eating by Ann Mah on eatlivetravelwrite.comSome of you might remember how excited I was for my friend Ann‘s book, Mastering the Art of French Eating when it was published late last year. Now I’m excited to let you know that it’s is available in paperback!  It’s the book I recommend to anyone interested in food and France as the one guide book they must read before they travel there!

Ann’s done her research about French food, that’s for sure!  The book focuses on Ann’s attempt to build a life for herself in France whilst her husband is off in Iraq.  She becomes intent on learning all about French cuisine, in a fashion not-unlike Julia Child who set about, well, mastering the art of French cooking!  Ann takes us on a journey around France (10 different regions) as she researches the signature dishes of those areas.  She was fastidious in her research (it’s a tough job, right, but someone has to do it!) and painstaking in her attempts to reproduce those dishes once back in her own kitchen.  The result is part French cookbook, part travel guide, part memoir – basically a book you won’t want to put down and one you will want to read over and over again. I have the advance copy still on my iPad over 18 months later and I can’t bring myself to delete it. Because it means no matter where I am, I will always have something great to read!

I mean, who doesn’t go to Paris and not want to know where the best steak-frites is to be found? I’m a huge fan and it’s one of the meals I *always* order when I eat out in Paris. It can’t be beat.

Dorie Greenspan Bistrot Paul Bert steakAnd it doesn’t matter how much I try, it’s hard to recreate that Paris experience at home…

Grilled steak with oven baked home fries and homemade mayonnaise Mardi Michels eatlivetravelwrite.comAnn Mah understands this, which is 1. why she’s my friend and 2. why she’s written a fabulous recipe which I have the good fortune to be allowed to reprint here!

Steak frites in Paris on eatlivetravelwrite.com
(photo by Ann Mah, used with permission)

When you close your eyes and think of the quintessential Paris meal, what comes to mind? For me, it’s always been steak-frites, a juicy hunk of meat accompanied by a pile of fries so hot they sting your fingers.

This recipe for skirt steak with shallots is my interpretation of a set of loose instructions given to me by William Bernet, a former butcher and owner of Le Severo, a steak restaurant in Paris. Bernet ages his own beef, well-marbled cuts that have been hung in a dry, chilled space for weeks or months. The process concentrates the meat’s flavor and breaks down its connective tissues so that it becomes buttery and tender. At Bernet’s restaurant, most of the meat arrives sauce-free. This recipe is one of the few exceptions.

Bavette aux echalotes
 
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Prep time
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Classic French steak with shallot sauce.
Author:
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: French
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • For the steak:
  • 1 skirt steak, 9 to 10 ounces, patted dry
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 tablespoon mild-tasting oil such as sunflower or grape seed
  • For the sauce:
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 4 large shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1½ tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 sprig fresh thyme
  • ½ cup chicken broth or beef stock or water
Instructions
  1. Preparing the steak:
  2. Trim the steak of excess fat and season with salt and pepper.
  3. Place the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
  4. Test the heat of the pan by touching a wooden spoon to the oil—if the oil is hot, it will lightly sizzle.
  5. Place the steak in the pan.
  6. Cook for 2 minutes, until the underside is well seared and browned.
  7. Turn the steak and cook the second side for 40 to 50 seconds, or until medium rare. (Skirt steak is a thin cut, and the meat cooks very quickly.)
  8. Transfer to a plate, cover loosely with a tent of foil, and keep warm while you make the sauce.
  9. Making the sauce:
  10. In the same skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the butter with the meat drippings.
  11. Add the shallots and sauté over medium heat until golden brown, about 7 minutes.
  12. Add the red wine vinegar, thyme, and stock (or water), and bring the liquid to a boil.
  13. Cover and cook until the shallots have softened and the liquid has almost disappeared.
  14. Swirl in the remaining tablespoon of butter and add any juices released from the meat.
  15. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning, adding a few drops of vinegar if needed.
  16. Slice the steak against the grain into thin strips.
  17. Serve with the shallots spooned on top, accompanied by mashed potatoes or steamed green beans.

Hungry for more? Check out Ann’s Where to eat in France series. Warning – you’ll be wanting to pack your bags after you read it!
Buy Mastering the Art of French Eating on Amazon (this link should bring you to the Amazon store in your country) or for free worldwide shipping, buy from The Book Depository.

Please note: The product links from Amazon and The Book Depository are affiliate links, meaning if you click over and purchase something, I will receive a very small percentage of the purchase price which goes towards maintaining eat. live. travel. write. Thank you in advance!

 

Win a copy of Ann Mah’s Mastering the Art of French Eating (Canada/US) (closed)!

That’s right – thanks to the kind folks at Penguin Paperbacks, I have one paperback copy of Mastering the Art of French Eating up for grabs for readers in the US and Canada.

To enter:

1. Leave a comment below telling me which one of the recipes featured in the book would you like to try and why?

Steak-frites
Andouillette (tripe sausages!)
Crêpes
Salade Lyonnaise (salad with perfectly soft boiled eggs)
Soupe au Pistou
Cassoulet
Choucroute
Fondue
Boeuf Bourguignon
Aligot (a dish made with mashed potatoes, melted cheese, garlic and crème fraîche)

2. For a bonus entry, tweet the following message:

Enter to win @annmahnet’s Mastering the Art of French Eating (paperback) on @eatlivtravwrite from @PenguinPbks  http://bit.ly/11x7bVO

Then come back to leave me a comment telling me you did.

Eligibility and contest rules

  • Open to to Canadian and US residents only.
  • No purchase of any product necessary for entry.
  • Winner will be chosen using Random.org from all qualified entries on Tuesday November 25th 2014 after 6pm EST.
  • Winner will be contacted via email on Wednesday November 26th 2014 and will have 48 hours to respond.

_________

Disclosure: Pamela Dorman Books provided me with a review copy of Mastering the Art of French Eating. I was not required to post about this, nor am I being compensated for doing so. All opinions are my own.

31 thoughts on “Mastering the Art of French Eating now in paperback (and a recipe for steak-frites!)”

  3. Soupe au Pistou, simply because it is so cold where I’m at today, it’s only about 16 degrees out and soup of any kind sounds ideal.

    Reply

  6. I would love to try several recipes, but today I am choosing Fondue as I am missing the delicious fondue I had in the Swiss Alps last year. ♥

    Reply

  9. I’d like to try cassoulet – love it and have always wanted to make it myself but never got around to it. I think Ann’s book will spur me on.

    Reply

  11. Crêpes because I have a friend who is a french teacher and I know she knows how to make these so I’d like to suprise her by showing her I can make them too! 🙂

    Reply

  16. Reminds me of the classic steak-frites my hubby & I had somewhere near the Eiffel Tower years ago after he proposed.

    What a fairy-tale trip that was.
    The next day, we strolled around the Louvre, then had a simple, but delicious ham sandie at a diner across the way.

    What a beautiful book and such a lovely recipe.
    I will have to get my own copy from Santa. 😉

    Reply

  22. Aligot (a dish made with mashed potatoes, melted cheese, garlic and crème fraîche) Sounds fantastic! Always nice to have a fresh look at an old friend.

    Reply

  30. The first thing I’d like to learn to make: Crêpes. This is one of my favorite things to order (both savory and sweet), but have always been afraid of making them.

    Reply

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