Provencal cuisine
Friday Menu
Provençal soup
Poached Eggs Florentine
English Whiting Fillets
Mousserons sautéed with fine herbs
Mashed potatoes
Bonne-Femme Banana Fritters
Or
Fruits

Provençal soup Occasional soup
For six people:

Choose six very fresh whiting, weighing 200 to 250 gr. each; roughly chop the heads and bones of the whiting,

cut into small cubes: 2 medium onions, a leek, put them in a saucepan in which four spoonfuls of olive oil have been lightly heated, add a few sprigs of parsley, a bay leaf and a clove of garlic ;

as soon as these vegetables begin to take on a light blond color, add five or six tomatoes, peeled and chopped, cook for a few moments, mix in the bones and heads of the whiting, add two liters of water, add 15 grams of salt, about ten crushed peppercorns. Cover the pan, boil for 15 minutes over high heat, and finally add a small pinch of saffron leaves.

Pass the broth, using pressure through a fine sieve, into a very clean saucepan. bring to the boil and add 200 gr. of soup in a soup tureen and serve alongside the grated cheese.

Poached eggs Florentine
Garnish the bottom of a gratin dish with spinach, thoroughly cooked in boiling salted water, drain, roughly chop, steam in butter and season with salt and pepper. On this bed of spinach, arrange the number of poached eggs needed; cover them with béchamel sauce, sprinkle the surface with grated cheese, drizzle with butter and brown lightly in a salamander or in the oven.

English Whiting Fillets
Lightly salt the whiting fillets, set aside, dip them in flour, then in beaten eggs like for an omelette, then in fresh bread crumbs; cook them in a pan with clarified butter, place them on a hot dish, cover them with butler butter.

Serve at the same time a good mashed potato and a dish of mousserons sautéed in butter seasoned with salt, pepper and fine herbs.

Banana Fritters à la Bonne-Femme
For six people:
Choose 6 ripe bananas, cut them into thin slices or small squares; place them in a deep dish, sprinkle them with sugar, sprinkle them with three spoonfuls of rum or kirsch, cover them and leave them to macerate for half an hour.
A few moments before making the fritters, mix approximately the same volume of pancake mixer and a beaten egg white with the bananas.

Making Donuts
Heat 3 or 4 spoonfuls of clarified butter in a frying pan depending on the width of the pan: take the composition of the donuts with a tablespoon, drop the contents of the spoon into the butter, continue forming the donuts in this way spacing them slightly apart from each other, so that they do not touch each other. After a minute, turn them over with a fork to brown the other side. Arrange the donuts on a hot dish, sprinkle them with sugar, serve them immediately.

Composition for Crepes
Proportions: 150 gr. of sifted flour, 75 gr. of powdered sugar, a small pinch of fine salt. Dissolve with three eggs and three and a half deciliters of milk, proceeding in small portions. Flavor as desired, either with half a spoonful of vanilla sugar, orange or lemon sugar, and finally mix in 2 spoonfuls of hazelnut brown butter.

The Mousseron
This very delicate mushroom grows in spring and autumn, at the edge of hedges and in meadows, hides under the moss, but, like violets, its scent betrays its presence and gourmets are happy to unearth it , given that it can be enjoyed without fear of the slightest indisposition. It is prepared in different ways, either sautéed in butter or fried in oil, or as a garnish in fine poultry or suckling lamb stews, or prepared with cream. You can also make delicious omelettes, since very fresh eggs are in abundance in spring.

A. Escoffier.