Recipes

Patricia Wells · NYT Cooking

REGIONAL inspirations and influences have always had their place on French menus, but with an increased interest in vegetables, country dishes such as piperade - a vegetable dish from the Basque region of France - are showing up in various guises. While the classic piperade often appears with scrambled eggs and country ham, Alain Dutournier of Au Trou Gascon of Paris recently served a more elegant molded version as a vegetable side dish to rabbit. The rabbit was sauteed and covered with thin slices of spicy- hot green peppers. Other regional vegetable inspirations recently appearing on Paris menus include cold Proven,cale ratatouille (a blend of tomatoes, eggplant, onions and zucchini) topped with a poached egg (served at Taillevent), and a Ni,coise tapenade (a blend of olives, capers, anchovies and olive oil) spread over roasted porgy fillets (at La Cantine des Gourmets).

Patricia Wells · NYT Cooking

ALTHOUGH pasta has existed for years in French cuisine - 16th- century French cookbooks offer recipes for ravioli - its importance in the French diet evolved only recently. Today fresh pasta can be found at many cheese shops and charcuteries, while pasta appears on menus all over the country, in many cases replacing the potato as a side dish. In the kitchens at Tour d'Argent pasta is prepared fresh daily, while such restaurants as Rostang and Jamin include ravioli or pasta on the menu throughout the year. At Jules Verne, in the Eiffel Tower, the menu features a warm salad combining fresh fettuccine and sole in a light, creamy dressing, while at La Cantine des Gourmets goat cheese-filled ravioli floats in a rich duck stock, surrounded by slices of rosy duck and chunks of fresh artichoke hearts. This recipe comes from Colette Dejean of Chez Toutone, a small Left Bank restaurant.

Patricia Wells · NYT Cooking

Patricia Wells · NYT Cooking

Patricia Wells · NYT Cooking

Patricia Wells · NYT Cooking

Patricia Wells · NYT Cooking

Patricia Wells · NYT Cooking

Patricia Wells · NYT Cooking

Patricia Wells · NYT Cooking

Patricia Wells · NYT Cooking

Patricia Wells · NYT Cooking

Patricia Wells · NYT Cooking

Patricia Wells · NYT Cooking

Patricia Wells · NYT Cooking

Patricia Wells · NYT Cooking

Patricia Wells · NYT Cooking

Patricia Wells · NYT Cooking

This dish, brought to The Times by Patricia Wells in 1988, came from a cheesemaker near Salers, France. The lamb is cooked long and slow alongside vegetables for several hours. While the dish is called seven-hour lamb, the size of the leg of lamb will dictate the cooking time. Peek in on it frequently, and adjust the liquid as needed.

Patricia Wells · NYT Cooking

Patricia Wells · NYT Cooking

Patricia Wells · NYT Cooking

Patricia Wells · NYT Cooking

Patricia Wells · NYT Cooking

Patricia Wells · NYT Cooking