Several years ago, I became very interested in French cooking. My daughter was three and I was obsessed with this show on the Cooking Channel (I don’t even remember the name anymore) that I would watch while she napped. In fact, I was enamored with it so much that I actually made braised red cabbage. Granted it was cooked for a few hours in an ~entire~ bottle of red wine, but still, braised red cabbage? Not normally my thing. I think my husband enjoyed it more than I did, or perhaps he was just being nice.

Anyway, that year I had about five or six French themed cookbooks on my cookbook wish list {I highly recommend starting a cookbook wish list if you don’t have one because anytime a family member asks you for Birthday or Christmas gift ideas you always have an appropriate idea to give them}. There was one book that was on this list, buried so far down, I forgot all about it until I looked through a couple of months ago and remembered this book that always looked really intriguing to me. I moved it up to the very top this year.

It’s called My Paris Kitchen by David Lebovitz. Within the first two weeks of having this cookbook I made five of the recipes. Now this is huge for me. Normally I use cookbooks for ideas and inspiration, flipping through the pictures until I find something that makes me hungry. I rarely follow a recipe to the letter {I never was that great about following direction}. But something about this book. I sat down and read it. While the recipes in Julia Child’s cookbook are incredibly intricate and need to be followed exactly, these recipes called to me – David Lebovitz offers substitutions readily throughout which was something I loved! He understands you might not have one thing on hand but you have something similar and he tells you how to work that in.

So far I have tried: Green Olive, Basil, and Almond Tapenade; Black Olive Tapenade; Chicken with Mustard; Cassoulet; and French Lentil Salad with Goat Cheese & Walnuts. There are so many more I want to make I am working them into my weekly dinner plans.

While I loved all of the recipes I made, my favorites hands down were the Chicken with Mustard and the Green Olive, Basil, and Almond Tapenade. The Chicken with Mustard is anything but basic, it’s so flavorful and somehow it comes out with this luscious sauce that doesn’t strongly of mustard. I could make this every week and never get tired of it. The Green Olive Tapenade was wonderfully tangy and hearty at the same time, it was a surprisingly enjoyable accompaniment to a cheese board I put together for New Year’s Eve.

You need to buy this book on your list – or, heck buy it right now – your tastebuds are worth it! You will be so happy you made it part of your cooking library!

If you have this book, share in the comments what your favorite recipe is or what one you think I should make next!

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