5 Easy French Cooking Recipes

If you’re looking for 5 easy French cooking recipes, look no further for mastering the art of French sauce making. The savory pairing of different foods with unique sauces can be traced back to the French court, where the chefs to the French aristocracy invented the art of French cooking as we know it today. By learning five easy French cooking recipes for unique sauces, known as the French “Mother Sauces,” you can gain the skill of making countless French foods, from meat dishes to seafood, soups and salads. Here’s everything you need to know to make five quintessential sauces for countless French cooking recipes.

Here’s what you’ll need for making five easy French cooking recipes for sauces:

• Butter
• Flour
• Milk
• Egg yolk
• Cream
• Broth (chicken, beef or fish)
• Onion, shallots, carrots, celery
• Tomato paste
• Organic vegetable oil
• Fresh lemon juice
• Balsamic vinegar
• Sugar, salt and pepper
• Garlic

Follow these 5 easy French cooking recipes for different savory sauces:

1. Béchamel French cooking sauce recipe. Invented by the royal chef to Louis XIV before the outbreak of the French Revolution, béchamel is a rich, milky French sauce used to dress crepes, soup and salads. To make this easy French cooking recipe, mix one tbsp of melted butter with one tbsp of flour and one cup of cold milk. Whip the ingredients together, and add salt and pepper to taste. To thicken this French sauce recipe, triple the amount of butter and flour to three tbsps.
2. Espagnole French cooking sauce recipe. One of the basic starter French sauces, espagnole sauce is used to create other essential French sauces such as sauce aux champignon, in which mushrooms are sautéed in the rich espagnole sauce. Rumored to have been named “Spanish Sauce” in tribute to the Spanish wife of Luis XIII, this elegant French sauce will enhance your meat, chicken and fish dishes. To make this easy French cooking recipe, sauté one chopped onion, one chopped carrot and one chopped celery stick in beef broth. Mix two tbsps of fried butter and two tbsps of chopped shallots. Finish making this exquisite French cooking sauce with one tbsp of tomato paste. Add salt, pepper and sugar to taste.
3. Vinaigrette French cooking sauce recipe. The most famous French sauce for garnishing salads and cold meat, fish and vegetable dishes is the French vinaigrette. To make this simple French cooking recipe, mix three tbsp of organic vegetable oil with one tbsp of balsamic vinegar, then add a sprinkle of sugar, salt and pepper to taste. Look for rich, expensive vinegar and oil to create a truly gourmet French vinaigrette.
4. Mayonnaise French cooking sauce recipe. Once you taste authentic, freshly-made French mayonnaise sauce, you will never mistake it for its supermarket namesake. To make this easy French cooking recipe, whisk five egg yolks with one tbsp of organic vegetable oil, one tsp of freshly-squeezed lemon juice and sugar, salt and pepper to taste. Whisk the ingredients for at least five minutes for the smooth, flawless texture that French mayonnaise sauce is famed for. Do not whip the sauce with an electronic mixer or risk curdling the mayonnaise.
5. Hollandaise French cooking sauce recipe. The most famous French sauce for warm vegetable and seafood dishes, hollandaise is a hot version of the French mayonnaise sauce. To make this easy French cooking recipe, whisk one tbsp of organic vegetable oil with five egg yolks and one tsp of freshly-squeezed lemon juice. Add sugar, pepper and salt to taste and whisk by hand until smooth. For added French aroma, sauté one shredded garlic clove in a teaspoon of cream, then add the Hollandaise sauce and cook on a low flame for five minutes.

Tip:

Hot French cooking recipes can be enriched by adding cream in place of milk or oil.