C'est Magnifique!

I admit it, I'm a Francophile.  I've always been, visited France more than any other country, and if I could afford to move to France and live there for awhile, I would.   Mimi Thorisson's book is the next bet thing.  She showcases "meals and moments from a village in the vineyards" so you can create and taste the dream in your own kitchen.   Some of the recipes are simple like roast bone marrow with herbs where the trick is getting good marrow bones.  Others are more involved time and prep-wise like the old-fashioned summer veal roast and the cassoulet.  All photos are worth a thousand drools each.  If you win the lottery and are headed to France, take me with you and we'll cook our way through this wonderful book.

I received this cookbook in exchange for my honest review at Blogging for Books.

A Year in France

A Year in France

A Year of Cooking in my Farmhouse

by Mimi Thorisson

Pick this book up at your own risk.  I'm serious, you will want to move to France immediately and recreate this fantasy.  This life of deliciousness where every meal and everyone is beautiful.  The photos are stunning, food porn  -- beautiful food, beautiful people. The recipes are organized by season, beginning with spring.

Are the recipes practical for the home cook?  Yes and no.  Depends who your supplier is.   Calves' Liver a la Bordelaise, Langoustines with Armagnac, Black Pig Pork Roast, Poussins, Quails, Squab, Spider Crabs.  It isn't easy.

The good news is there's plenty of inspiration to be found.  Aunt Francine's Fava Bean Soup, Roast Chicken with Creme Fraiche and Herbs.   Thorisson is half Chinese, half French, so towards the end of the book, she includes a little section devoted to Chinese New Year.   Happy Valley Wonton Soup is one of the six recipes lumped in at the end.  

"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."