Galette Complete (Savory Crepe Recipe)

Galettes are the savory version of a crêpe. Une galette complète, also known as crêpe jambon-œuf-fromage is a version filled with ham, eggs and cheese. I decided to have a little fun and made my version with smoked beef sausage, emmental cheese and sunny side up quail eggs.

We make crêpes at least once a month. It's my way of having a lazy day. The girls make the crepe batter themselves, following the instructions to a "t". Everyone gets involved with the measuring of the ingredients and the mixing, even the little ones. If you have kids, this meal is the perfect way to get them interesting in cooking, and everyone can reap the benefits.

Bun Bo Hue Recipe (Hue-Style Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup)

If you're familiar with phở, bún bò Huế is another beef rice noodle soup. The beef soup dish originated in the city of Huế, the old imperial capital of Vietnam. Like traditional phở bò, the broth of bún bò Huế is simmered with beef bones and Asian spices such as ginger, but the similarities pretty much end there. The real difference is that the broth is finished with lemongrass and red chiles.

I made a very basic soup with thinly sliced beef shanks, but some people are more adventurous and add pig knuckles, congealed pig blood called huyết (which I do not like), and serve shrimp paste on the side as a condiment. I garnished the soup with the commonly used bean sprouts, lime wedges, cilantro and raw sliced white onions, thinly sliced purple cabbage and shredded iceberg lettuce. Purple cabbage makes sense because it most closely resembles the texture of banana flowers, which are traditionally included in bún bò Huế. The taste is obviously different though.

Once the dish is prepared, everyone should roll up their sleeves and commence slurping down the bowl of beef broth in front of them. This is not a subtle dish; your taste buds will be bombarded with sweet, savory and spicy flavors. My mouth waters just thinking about it!

Grilled Sirloin Steak Recipe

When you have a good quality cut of beef, such as sirloin steak (called faux-filet or entrecôte in French), you don't want to overpower the flavor of the meat. That goal is accomplished in this recipe by keeping the prep work simple. I season the steaks with pepper, garlic and thyme. C'est tout! ("That's it"). The steaks are seared and grilled to create a crust, and then they're transferred to the oven to bring them to a perfect medium-rare. Once out of the oven, finish the meat with a sprinkling of sea salt. I wait to add the salt till after the beef is cooked so it doesn't draw moisture out of the meat.

I live in a house full of vegetarians, so I haven't had a tender, juicy steak in a while. It was quite a treat to be able to go to the store and get some premium cuts of beef (entrecôte) to make this dish. Good quality meat should be red and shiny, and the texture should be firm and elastic, with a very subtle scent. I found a couple of nice steaks and had fun cooking them up with my little munchkin, who is the only other meat eater in our house. She approved, and I imagine that if you make this dish in your home, your family will as well.

Vietnamese Grilled Beef Rolls (Bo Cuong Hanh Huong Recipe)

Bò nướng hành hương is a wonderful South-Vietnamese specialty. It's a dish of beef wrapped around sliced yellow and green onions, then grilled to medium doneness. The beef is infused with the aromatic scent of green onions and five-spice powder rub with honey. The blend of all the flavors gives the meat a sweet, sour, bitter, pungent and salty taste.

The dish is traditionally served with vermicelli rice noodles (bún) and aromatic Vietnamese herbs, but I served mine with nước chấm, ginger guava sauce and crushed peanuts. The main component of ginger guava sauce is guava jam. It can be difficult to find, but it's available in some Indian stores. Make the effort to find it because the flavor is amazing, and it contrasts with the beef very well.

I make this dish quite often for parties because it's easy to eat in one or two bites and doesn't interrupt conversations. Try it as an appetizer at your next dinner party. Your guests will love you!

Note: Glossary of relevant Vietnamese cooking terms.

Bò = beef

Bún = vermicelli rice noodles

Cuốn = rolled

Hành = onions

Hành hương = aromatic onions

Nướng = beef

Thịt = meat

Beef Stew (Boeuf Bourguignon)

Boeuf bourguignon is a traditional French meat dish that is fairly easy to prepare. All you need is a lot of patience because it takes a long time to cook for the beef to become tender and succulent. To help tenderize the meat, I added an unconventional meat tenderizer (papaya paste) to my version of this French classic. If you want to make your beef bourguignon more authentic, just omit this ingredient. I also didn't add pearl onions, as I added a combination of leeks, shallots and sliced onions to the dish instead. The usual root vegetables (carrots and turnips) are also part of the gastronomic experience.

For anyone who is a fan of Julia Child or has watched the recent movie of her life, Julia and Julia, boeuf bourguignon may seem like too much of a challenge to make at home. But it doesn't really have to be this way. I used a slow cooker to make controlling the heat during the cooking process a simple task. With this method you needn't worry about the pot overflowing while the stew simmers. It may look good in movies, but you don't want to have to clean up that mess!

I put the ingredients in the slow cooker on low before going to sleep, and woke up to the aroma of beef stew permeating every room of the house.  For the meat eaters, it's an intoxicating scent; for the vegetarians in my house, not so much. So if you have a slow cooker, try making boeuf bourguignon at home. It's easier to make than it looks, and the results are so worth the effort. And make sure that when you serve the dish to your loved ones, you start the meal with the phrase immortalized by Julia Child, "Bon appétit!"