RECIPES:
Assorted Tartines
Strawberry Crêpes
Lemonade Sodas
Ispeak French. Or I did, anyway. For about sixteen months, I left college and moved to Canada to work as a service missionary for my church, and lived in different cities all over Québec. My French was by no means eloquent, but I managed, and by the end of my stay in Canada, I was decently fluent. After I returned home, though, my handle on the language slipped very quickly from the lack of practice, and my tepid attempts at keeping it alive haven’t fared well. I’ve been trying to read Le Compte de Monte Cristo for about six years now. I’m still on page 107.
It’s sweet that my children hound me to teach them French now. Of course, I kick myself for not speaking it to them when they were babies. They would have learned it naturally, and I wouldn’t have forgotten it. I suppose it’s never too late, though, and the first word I’ve taught them is crêpes.
Our French Cafe party kicked off our language study by focusing on all things French. We borrowed an elegant French table from a friend and set it outside the front door. Then we broadcast some French accordion music on the iPod. To add to the fun, we played restaurant. My daughter was in charge of the menus, and the boys and I got to work in the kitchen. We prepped all of the toppings for the tartines and crêpes, and laid them out on the kitchen table so it would be easy enough even for my youngest to assemble the food once it was his turn to play waiter. I taught the kids simple phrases they might use at a restaurant in France, and they practiced while we ate our food and sipped our lemonade sodas
For your party, you can create a French cafe like we did, set up a typical Italian restaurant (like the one the twins re-created for their parents in the 1960s The Parent Trap), or design a Chinese takeout establishment complete with fold-up boxes and disposable chopsticks.
Assorted Tartines
Tartines are open-faced sandwiches from France. Since you can top them with virtually anything, they were perfect for our French Cafe party. Though the bread is toasted first and then topped with something cool, we couldn’t resist re-toasting some of ours with the delicious toppings we had on hand. They were like eating deconstructed—or rather, reconstructed—cheese fondue. Makes about 8 tartines
1 loaf round bread, very thinly sliced and lightly toasted
Assorted toppings:
Meats, such as cooked chicken, smoked salmon, or shaved ham
Fruits, such as thinly sliced Granny Smith apples and Bartlett pears
Vegetables, such as roasted red peppers, cucumbers, sprouts, arugula, or other greens
Caramelized Onion Jam (recipe follows)
Goat Cheese Spread (recipe follows)
Cheeses, such as Gorgonzola, Fontina, Havarti, or brie
Sea salt and pepper
For cold tartines:
- Place desired combination of toppings on toast, slice in wedges, and serve.
Our favorite cold combination:
Goat Cheese Spread (recipe below), topped with smoked salmon, cucumbers, and sprouts, and sprinkled with sea salt
For toasted tartines:
- Preheat oven to 425ºF. Assemble your tartines as you like, starting with a piece of toast, layering it with meat and vegetables or fruit, and topping it with cheese.
- Place tartines on a baking sheet, and toast in the oven for 5–10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Slice in wedges and serve.
Our favorite toasted combinations:
Brie, Granny Smith apple slices, and shaved ham
Havarti, Bartlett pears, Caramelized Onion Jam (recipe below), and a sprinkling of Gorgonzola
Caramelized Onion Jam
Caramelizing onions is quite time-consuming, which is why I like to make a big batch and refrigerate them, so I’ll have some whenever needed. These will keep for up to two weeks. Makes approximately 1 cup
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
4–5 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
Kosher salt
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- In a large heavy-bottomed pot, melt butter over low heat. Add onions and stir until coated in butter. Add a generous pinch of salt. Cook, stirring often, until onions are tender and translucent, about 10 minutes.
- Raise the heat to medium. Let onions cook down until a thin film of browned onion coats some of the bottom of the pot. Pour in about 1 tablespoon of water, and stir to incorporate the brown color. Keep repeating this process until the onions reach the shade of caramel brown you are looking for. This process can take up to 30 minutes. Stir in balsamic vinegar, and add more salt to taste.
Goat Cheese Spread
Makes enough for 8 tartines
6 ounces goat cheese (chèvre), at room temperature
3 tablespoons mayonnaise or Vegenaise
2 teaspoons dried dill weed
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives
Pinch of kosher salt
Combine ingredients evenly in a small bowl.
Strawberry Crêpes
The first crêpe almost always turns out too buttery to serve. It becomes the treat for the cook or whoever is passing through the kitchen. I always sprinkle mine with a little bit of powdered sugar. Makes 10–15 crêpes
1 pound strawberries, washed, hulled, and sliced
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1⁄4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup milk, plus up to 1 cup more for controlling consistency
2 eggs
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan
Whipped Cream (recipe follows)
Powdered sugar, for dusting
- In a small bowl, stir together strawberries, balsamic vinegar, and 1 tablespoon sugar. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, and remaining tablespoon of sugar. Make a well in the center. In a small bowl, combine milk and eggs. Pour a small amount into the well, and whisk slowly to incorporate into the flour. Keep adding more of the liquid ingredients until both mixtures come together in a smooth batter. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to rest. Batter should be thin, like whipping cream. Add more milk, a couple tablespoons at a time, to achieve this consistency.
- Set a large nonstick frying pan over medium heat, and brush with a small amount of melted butter. Ladle in about 1⁄4–1⁄3 cup of batter, swirling the pan until the entire bottom surface is covered in a thin film of batter. Cook until the batter appears dry and spongy on top, and the edges begin to brown. Carefully lift the crêpe on one edge, and run spatula around the perimeter of the crêpe to separate it from the pan. Slide the spatula fully under the crêpe and flip. Allow to cook for about 30 seconds more, and transfer to a plate. The next several crêpes should not need additional butter in the pan, but add more as necessary. Cook as many as you need; batter can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Add enough milk at each use to achieve the creamy consistency.
- Fill each crêpe with strawberries and whipped cream, dust with powdered sugar, and top with a dollop of cream and strawberry slices.
Whipped Cream
1⁄2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1⁄2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1⁄2 teaspoon pure almond extract
Place all the ingredients in a bowl, and beat them together with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Do not overbeat.
Lemonade Sodas
Fizzy lemonade is such a French thing, n’est-ce pas? I thought it would be perfect for our cafe. Makes 6 8-ounce bottles
1 cup water
1 cup superfine sugar
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 6–8 lemons)
11⁄2 liters seltzer or sparkling water
- In a medium saucepan, combine water and sugar, and set over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, and let cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat, and let cool completely.
- Combine lemon juice with the sugar syrup in a pitcher. Slowly pour in 1 liter of the seltzer. Taste for flavor. Add more seltzer as desired. Use a funnel to pour into individual bottles.
