If you’re anything like I am, the idea of a single pot dinner is very appealing. For one thing, it’s much easier to make a one pot dinner than it is to make multiple dishes. For another, the simplicity makes for a much easier serving process, not to mention decreased electricity costs. But one pot French? Well, there is Cassoulet, and Coq Au Vin (though we always serve that with roast potatoes), but most times when we do a French meal, it’s because we want to impress our guests and usually have a fair amount of fuss, last minute hassles, and multiple dishes.
So the idea of a cookbook that offers dishes that have the same kind of rich, flavoursome and fancy quality that French food has with the ease and simplicity of a single pot, is one which is hard to resist. Jean-Pierre Challet is the executive chef at Cuisine at The Fifth in Toronto, and teaches cooking as well, so he knows both how to make food look and taste wonderful, but also how to demonstrate how to others.
Although I chose the book based on the title, One Pot French is a bit of a misnomer, as not all of the dishes are one pot. Some are, such as the delicious, Frenched-up version of Shepard’s Pie – Hachis Parmentier, the Pot-Au-Feu, or the Jarret D’agneu Braise Aux Epices (Moroccan-style braised lamb shanks), all of which are easy to make, and fancy enough to serve at your next dinner party. Others like Cassoulet look like one dish, but the ingredient list calls for things like duck confit legs that are a whole different recipe, though you could just buy them from a competent deli if you live in a city. There are no delis like that where I live though, so I have to either make them, or leave out this fairly critical ingredient (even duck is hard to find). I did make this without the duck, and only pork sausage, and my family were happy enough with it, but I know that this isn’t quite the dish that Challet had in mind. To his credit, Challet actually provides a confit recipe, and it sounds easier than I always imagined, but I still wasn’t game (no pun intended) to take it on.
Article comments