French Dinner Menu 

The Recipes for this French dinner menu were taken from a book published in 1893 called La cuisine française  by Francois Tanty.  Although the book is old and hard to find, the recipes in it have been simplified for the home cook.

The best thing about this menu is that it only has four recipes!  When you are planning a dinner party, remember that there is no need to cook everything you see when flipping through the pages of a glossy food magazine.  

This French dinner menu only has an entree with one side dish and a dessert.  Now, you are free to add to it as you wish.  To keep things simple just add a fresh salad with your favorite viniagrette .  I purposely eliminated placing the customary starch with the entree.  I feel that if the dessert is very filling, then the courses that come before it should remain relatively light.  

French Dinner Menu and Recipes

BROILED SALMON

For this French Dinner Menu, you get to choose your own sauce to go with the broiled salmon.  You can make one or serve all three and let your guests choose.  Although the sauces below for this French dinner sound fancy, they really are very simple.

Maitre d'hôtel
Sauce Mayonnaise
Sauce Tartare

For the salmon you will need...

6 Salmon steaks, about 4-6 oz each. 1 Lemon,cut in 6 pieces.
Olive oil..2 tablespoonsful.    Salt and pepper, to suit your taste.

PREPARATION for French Dinner Menu Broiled Salmon entree.
Place the steaks on a hollow plate, sprinkle over some salt and pepper, and also a little olive oil, turn them twice or three times and let broil for 7-10 minutes or until the salmon flakes easily when pierced with a fork.

Sprinkle over the juice of of the lemon and serve with a maitre d'hôtel or
one of the above mentioned sauces separately, and also with a lemon wedge.

Sauces for the Broiled Salmon

MAITRE D'HOTEL.

Melted butter with chopped parsley.

We call a maitre d'hotel sauce fresh butter mixed with chopped parsley, which you place not melted over some fish or meat. It should be melted by the heat of the dish.

SAUCE MAYONNAISE.

PROPORTIONS.—For five persons:

Egg Yolks, Two.    Vinegar    1 tablespoonful.
Oil 1 1/2 cups. Salt and pepper..to taste.

PREPARATION. Place in a bowl 2 yolks, which you beat well with some salt and white pepper; then add the oil, drop by drop,
while stirring.  The sauce being quite thick, add, little by little and while stirring, about 1 tablespoonful good vinegar (or white wine or cider).
This sauce should be made in a cold place, and will require some practice.

SAUCE TARTARE.

Same as for the mayonnaise, but when ready to serve add about 2 tablespoonfuls chopped green onion and gherkins.

HARICOTS VERTS BONNE FEMME

STRING BEANS A LA BONNE FEMME

PROPORTIONS For 4-6 persons:

Green beans 1 pound    Eggs,2
Paisley    1/2 handful(1/4 cup chopped)    Water 1/2 cup
Onion, 1    Milk 1/2 cup
Butter, 4 tablespoons Salt and pepper, To suit the taste.

 
PREPARATION. Clean the string beans (or purchase already cleaned). Melt in a sauce pan two tablespoonsful butter;
add the beans, ½ cup water, 1 onion whole, parsley, some salt and pepper; cook slowly for about 15 minutes.
When ready to serve add 2 tablespoonfuls butter and 2 eggs beaten with 1/2 cup milk. Don't allow to boil, and serve in a warm hollow dish as a side dish.

CHARLOTTE Of APPLES.

This is a great dessert to finish off this French dinner menu.  The lightness of the fish entree balances out with the more filling dessert.
PROPORTIONS. For 4-6 persons

Apples,  12 each   Cinnamon, to taste
Butter    1/2 lb   Bread 1/2 lb.
Sugar    1/4 lb.   

PREPARATION.

Peel 12 nice apples, cut them in four, core and slice them fine.
Melt in a sauce pan 1/4 lb. butter, add the apples and 1/4 lb. sugar, and a little
cinnamon, cook on a bright fire till the apples are soft.  Slice enough bread to line the cake mould and fry the slices in butter. Line a cake mould with the slices of bread, pour in the apples, bake for 15 minutes in an oven, knock out and serve with an apricot sauce.

SAUCE APRICOT

APRICOT SAUCE

PROPORTIONS. For 4-6 persons

Apricots, 12.    Kirsch,    2 tablespoons.
Sugar    1/2 lb.    

PREPARATION. Place in a sauce pan 12 apricots cut in pieces with 1/2 lb. sugar, and cook till soft.  Pass through a strainer, add 2 tablespoonsful kirsch and enough water to have a half thick sauce;
or, mix 2 tablespoonsful apricot marmalade with 2 tablespoonsful kirsch and add enough water to make quite a thick sauce.