French Kids Eat Everything (38 page)

½ cup fresh minced chives

Optional: salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.

2. Choose a baking dish that's just big enough to hold the fish in a single layer. On a work surface, spread out a sheet of parchment paper or aluminum foil that's twice as big as the dish. Spread the oil over half of the sheet and lay the fish on the oil (skin-side down, if appropriate).

3. Layer the zucchini slices on top of the fish.

4. Mix the lemon juice, yogurt (or
crème fraîche)
, chives (and salt and pepper, if desired), and pour the mixture on top of the fish.

5. Fold and close the paper
tightly
so that no steam can escape (I usually make two or three folds with the two edges, then tuck the ends under). Bake for 10 minutes per inch measured at the thickest part of the fish (no peeking!). You'll know it's done when it flakes easily when a fork is inserted gently.

Tip:
Kids love helping to prepare this meal: wrapping the fish in its “cocoon” before it heads into the oven feels festive, like preparing a lovely present.

Preparation: 15 minutes

Cooking: 20 to 30 minutes

Servings: 4–6 small adult servings

The best-known version of France's famous seafood soup—bouillabaisse—comes from Provence, in the south of the country. But Provence also has its own smooth, creamy version of fish soup, which happens to be much more suitable for babies and young children. Traditionally, this soup was made by fishermen's wives. As the boats came in, they would carefully separate the catch. The “noble” fish would be taken to market, and the rest—typically smaller fish of less value—would be cooked at home. My brother-in-law's parents, who live just outside of Aix-en-Provence, make this soup with the fish they catch themselves in the Mediterranean. Madame Georges's recipe is adapted from the oldest French cookbook in continuous print (for well over a century):
La cuisinière provençale
.

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 medium onions

1 garlic clove, crushed

6 large tomatoes, chopped

½ pound boneless white fish (see below)

2 bay leaves

3 fennel stalks, whole

1 piece of orange peel (unwaxed)

Salt and pepper to taste

1 teaspoon saffron

1. In a large skillet over medium-low heat, sauté the onions in the olive oil. When the onions start to turn golden, after about 3 minutes, add the garlic. Wait one more minute, and then add the tomatoes. Raise heat, and simmer for 2 minutes.

2. Next, add the fish, the bay leaves, the fennel, and the orange peel. Cook at medium-high heat for 5 to 10 minutes, and then add 2 liters of boiling water, as well as (if desired) a dash of salt and pepper. Add saffron, and simmer (close to a rolling boil) for 20 minutes.

3. Remove the bay leaves, fennel, and orange peel. Blend the soup with a hand blender (any remaining bones should be so small as to simply dissolve).

Tip:
If serving to very young children, you may wish to slowly pour the soup through a fine sieve before blending (in order to check for bones). Most of the fish meat should have dissolved, and will pass easily through the sieve.

Note:
The onion is important for reducing the acidity of the tomatoes; it makes the soup more creamy. Trust me: don't leave it out!

Tip:
Purists argue that the soup's distinctive flavor requires fish heads, but I don't use them myself. Traditionally, French families use a mix of white fish and small fish with an intense taste, like sardines. I simply suggest that you use a mix of fish that suits your family's tastes. Ask at your local fish store for whatever is in stock: my local fishmonger often has smoked salmon scraps, as well as bits of sole and other white fish. Ask for pieces without bones, but note that cooking will soften the small bones sufficiently that they will dissolve into the soup.

Preparation: 5 minutes

Servings: 4 adult servings (or 8 child-size servings)

This dessert salad is a great way to introduce a new flavor to children. The sweetness of the orange offsets the bitterness of the orange zest. Children will be reassured by the familiar (the pieces of orange) and so hopefully will be more willing to try something new: the thin, almost playful curlicues of sweetened orange rind.

Have your children watch you prepare this dish, and let them sample if they are curious. When serving, remember that eating can sometimes be about encountering new tastes rather than consuming large quantities.

Serve this dish in a quiet moment when you have the time to sit and discuss the ingredients with your child. Questions are usually helpful (and helpfully distracting): How does the orange “zest” taste? Does it taste orange-y at all? How does it taste when you nibble a tiny bit? Place a tiny piece on your tongue? What does it smell like? If your child doesn't want to eat any, that's fine too, but try to encourage them to taste it.

Our daughters graduated from this to eating grapefruit, which they now enjoy as a breakfast “treat.” Claire, our younger one, will purse her lips and say: “
Ooohhh, Maman, c'est amer
(it's bitter)!” And then continue eating with delight.

4 seedless oranges

4 tablespoons sugar

1. To make the zest, wash 1 orange, dry it, and use a paring knife to carefully peel the outer layer, taking only the very outside of the rind and avoiding any of the white pith underneath. Slice the zest into very thin strips.

2. Make a
sirop
(syrup) by mixing ½ cup water with the sugar in a small saucepan and cooking it over medium heat just until it bubbles. Add the zest, and cook for 10 minutes, or until the zest is tender and the
sirop
is golden but not brown or caramelized.

3. Peel the remaining oranges, removing the zest and pith so that you have just the fruit itself left. Slice the oranges crosswise and place them in little salad bowls. Pour the zest and
sirop
on top. Serve immediately!

Tip:
Because of its sweetness, the French would serve this as a dessert, even though it is called a “salad.”

Preparation: 10 to 15 minutes

Cooking: 50 minutes

Servings: 1 loaf

This “spice bread” (which tastes more like cake) is a French favorite for after-school snacks. Adults eat it too, but for
l'aperitif
, toasted and topped with thin slices of
foie gras
. This sweet treat is so beloved by the French that there is even a museum dedicated solely to the
pain d'épices
in Alsace (northern France). The Breton version has a high proportion of honey (sometimes half of the cake by weight!) and was sold freshly made every week at the honey stall at our local market. The honey also helps to preserve the loaf (which can last for weeks if well wrapped and frozen). Traditionally,
pain d'épices
is made with rye flour and dark buckwheat honey, giving the loaf a rich, nutty taste.

1½ cups all-purpose flour

1½ cups whole wheat flour (or dark rye or buckwheat flour)

2½ teaspoons baking soda

1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

Optional: ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves, 1 teaspoon anise seeds, ¼ teaspoon ginger

1½ cups honey (use an aromatic, dark honey or use 1 cup honey plus ½ cup molasses)

3 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature (or use unsalted butter, but add a pinch of salt)

1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest

1½ cups milk (water with 1 tablespoon vegetable oil can be substituted)

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Butter a 9-inch (23cm) loaf pan and dust it with flour.

2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and spices.

3. In a medium pot, gently heat and combine the honey, milk, butter, and orange zest. Remove from the heat. Add half the flour mixture. Stir gently, then add the remaining dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Do not overmix.

4. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. The top will be dark brown.

5. Cool 10 minutes, then turn the cake onto a cooling rack. Let cool completely before slicing.

Tip:
This cake is often left to sit several hours before serving: it becomes more tasty and moist, and slices better.

Storage:
Pain d'épices
can be wrapped in plastic and stored for at least a week, during which time the flavors will meld and it will get denser. It can also be frozen, and is delicious toasted, topped with savory or sweet spreads.

Preparation: 10 to 15 minutes

Cooking: 25 minutes

Servings: 1 apple per person

This dish is a real time-saver, and one of our favorite wintertime desserts. The first thing I do when I get home from work is preheat the oven and pop the apples inside. By the time the meal is ready to serve, the smell of the apples fills the house, beckoning the children to the table (at least, that's the theory!). Usually, I take advantage of the hot oven to bake something for dinner (
Five-Minute
Fish
en papillote
, or
Gratin de chou-fleur
).

In Brittany, we use sweet and crunchy Dalinette apples. In Vancouver, I tend to use the Fuji or Gala variety (McIntosh, Delicious, and Granny Smith aren't as tasty once cooked).

To avoid drying out the apples, just put a little water in the bottom of the baking dish. I drizzle a little maple syrup over each apple just before serving, but they're just as lovely on their own.

1 apple per person, washed, skin pricked with a fork, stemmed and cored

1 teaspoon maple syrup per apple (or 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 tablespoon butter)

Optional: ground cinnamon