Christmas recipes from Parisian bistros Le Square Trousseau, Chez Georges and La Poule au Pot

Escalopes de veau à la crème
Serves 4

Cocotte de poularde crème et morilles
Serves 2

Ingredients

• 50g dried morel mushrooms
• 50g shallots
• 20g butter
• 50ml port wine
• 50ml madeira wine
• 1 litre heavy cream (35 per cent fat)
• 25g veal stock powder
• 2 pinches of sea salt
• 1 pinch black pepper
• 2 poularde breasts, 400g each
• Puréed mashed potato (for two)

For the morel sauce

Method

1. The day before you’re intending to cook, rehydrate the morels in a large bowl of cold water.
2. The next day, remove the morels from the soaking water and rinse them several times if necessary to remove any grit.
3. Drain and gently press to remove excess water.
4. In a saucepan, sauté the shallots in butter until translucent. Add the morels, then deglaze with the port and madeira and let the liquid reduce.
5. Add the heavy cream and veal stock powder, season with salt and pepper, and let simmer gently for about 30 minutes, until the sauce thickens to a creamy consistency.

For the poularde

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Roast the poularde in a baking tray for 30 minutes with butter, salt and pepper.
2. Remove bones while keeping the breast intact. Slice the supreme (breast).
3. Plate up the poularde and add the warmed sauce.
4. Serve with the mashed-potato purée.

Crêpes Suzette
Makes 10 to 12 crêpes

Ingredients

• 190g plain white flour
• 60g caster sugar, for the batter
• 10g salt
• 1 vanilla bean
• Zest of orange and lemon, to taste
• 4 eggs
• 30g butter, for the batter
• 430ml whole milk
• 180g caster sugar, for the sauce
• 100ml orange juice
• 25g butter, for the sauce
• 20ml Grand Marnier

Method

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, vanilla and the zest of the orange and lemon.
2. Gradually add the eggs while stirring, mixing until you obtain a smooth batter.
3. Warm up a third of the milk with the butter until it melts completely.
4. Once melted, add the rest of the milk and mix well. Pour this mixture into the main batter and stir until fully combined.
5. For the best results, blend the batter with a hand mixer to make it perfectly smooth.
6. It’s best to prepare the batter the day before and let it rest overnight — it will develop more flavour and yield lighter, more aromatic crêpes.

For the Suzette sauce

Method

1. Make a dry caramel: heat the caster sugar in a pan without water to 160C or until it turns a very light brown. Don’t let it darken or burn.
2. Deglaze with the orange juice, then add the butter and let it melt gently.
3. Zest the orange very finely. Blanch the zest by placing it in a small saucepan with cold water, bringing it to a boil, then draining. Add the zest to the caramel mixture.
4. Stir vigorously with the Grand Marnier and cook until the sauce becomes slightly syrupy.
5. Warm the crêpes, brush each one with the suzette sauce, and arrange them in a large serving dish.
6. Pour the remaining sauce over the crêpes and flambé – carefully – with Grand Marnier before serving.

Frisée aux lardons
Serves 1

Ingredients

• 1 small frisée lettuce
• 100g artisanal semi-cured farmhouse
• pork belly
• 1 free-range egg
• Aged wine vinegar, to deglaze
• 50g white bread, for the croutons
• Parsley, finely chopped, to garnish

Method

1. Cut and wash the frisée in cold water with a few drops of vinegar.
2. Slice the pork belly into thick lardons.
3. Prepare a vinaigrette with sunflower oil, some aged wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
4. Poach the egg in simmering water with a splash of vinegar for 3 minutes, then stop the cooking in cold water.
5. Sauté the lardons in a little oil until golden, then deglaze with a dash of aged wine vinegar.
6. Toss the frisée with the vinaigrette, add the warm lardons and top with homemade croutons lightly toasted in the oven.
7. Finish with a poached egg on top and a sprinkle of finely chopped parsley.

Pavé du mail
Serves 1

Ingredients

• 220g centre-cut beef fillet
• Freshly ground black pepper, to season
• 30ml cognac
• 100g single cream
• 1tbsp Dijon mustard
• Fresh French fries for serving
• Parsley, finely chopped, to garnish

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 100C, then season the beef fillet with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Sear it in a very hot pan for about 2 to 3 minutes on each side (depending on the desired doneness). Keep warm in the oven.
2. Deglaze the cooking juices with the cognac over a medium heat.
3. Add the cream, stir and let the sauce reduce gently over a low heat.
4. Whisk in the Dijon mustard to thicken and bind the sauce.
5. Spoon the hot, velvety sauce over the plated beef.
6. Serve with freshly made French fries (use yellow-fleshed potatoes such as agria: first fry at 140C to blanch, then again at 180C to crisp and brown).
7. Finish with a sprinkle of finely chopped parsley over the pavé.

Crème caramel
Serves 6

Ingredients

• 340g caster sugar
• 250ml water
• 750ml semi-skimmed milk
• 300ml liquid cream
• 5 free-range eggs
• 1 vanilla pod

Method

1. Make a light golden caramel by heating 140g of the sugar (to 160C) and water in a copper saucepan.
2. Pour the caramel into an ovenproof ceramic terrine dish, swirling to coat the bottom evenly.
3. Heat the milk and cream together with the vanilla pod.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and the rest of the sugar until the mixture turns pale and slightly frothy.
5. Gradually pour the hot (but not boiling) milk mixture over the eggs and sugar, stirring continuously.
6. Strain, then pour into the terrine dish over the set caramel.
7. Bake in a bain-marie in a preheated oven at 140C for an hour.
8. Allow to cool completely, then unmould and serve thick slices in shallow bowls, letting the caramel sauce coat each piece.

Gratinée à l’oignon
Serves 4

Ingredients

• 5 brown onions
• 1 knob butter
• Salt, to taste
• 1 sprig thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 garlic cloves
• 250ml dry white wine
• 1.5 litre beef consommé
• 30ml madeira wine
• 20 slices sourdough bread
• 100g comté cheese, grated
• 30g parmesan, grated

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220C. Peel, wash and thinly slice the onions.
2. In a saucepan, melt a knob of butter and add the onions. Season with salt, then add the thyme, bay leaf and one crushed garlic clove. Cover and cook gently over a low heat for an hour, stirring occasionally.
3. Deglaze with the white wine, then pour in the beef consommé. Add the madeira and raise to a simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Toast the slices of sourdough bread and rub them with the remaining garlic clove.
5. Fill lion-head soup bowls threequarters full of onion soup. Sprinkle generously with the grated cheeses, then oven grill for about 10 minutes, until bubbling and golden.
6. Serve piping hot, with the cheese perfectly gratinéed on top.

Quenelle de bar baignee d’une sauce nantua
Serves 4

Ingredients

• 500g sea bass fillet
• Salt and black pepper
• 200g panade (paste of bread and milk)
• 80g egg whites
• 400g single cream
• 1g cayenne pepper
• 20ml reduced shellfish stock
• 500ml nantua sauce (an enriched béchamel)
• Dash of lemon juice
• Cooked crayfish tails for garnish

Method

1. Place the bowl of a food processor in the freezer for 30 minutes. Mince the sea bass using a grinder, then place in the chilled processor bowl with a pinch of salt. Blend at medium speed, then add the panade. Add the egg whites and blend at high speed.
2. Gradually pour in the cream while mixing slowly to emulsify the mixture. Season with cayenne pepper and add the reduced shellfish stock. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Transfer the mixture to a bowl set over ice and cover.
3. Refrigerate for 12 hours before using.
4. Preheat the oven to 210C.
5. Using two spoons (or a piping bag), shape the mixture into quenelles and poach them in simmering water for about 5 minutes on each side. Remove and set aside on a baking tray.
6. Warm the nantua sauce over a low heat. Add the lemon juice and a grind of black pepper. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.
7. Just before serving, place the quenelles in a gratin dish and bake for 7 to 8 minutes until puffed and lightly golden. Spoon over the nantua sauce, garnish with crayfish tails and serve immediately.

Île flottante aux pralines
Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients

• Butter, to line baking tin
• 100g caster sugar
• 330g egg whites
• 50g crushed pink pralines
• 500ml custard (crème anglaise)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 140C. Butter and sugar a 20cm baking tin.
2. Pour the egg whites into a stand mixer bowl with 10g of sugar.
3. Start whisking slowly, then gradually increase the speed and add half of the remaining sugar.
4. Whisk at full speed, then add the rest of the sugar. Continue whisking for 1 minute and fold in the crushed pink pralines.
5. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 15 minutes.
6. Once baked, let it cool, then unmould and pour the warm custard around the floating island before serving.