• DKennedy on August 22, 2015

  There is something about the look of this book that makes me want to read it cover to cover. My copy has no pictures in it, yet every recipe is evocative. I am not sure how Paula Wolfert pulls that off, but she does.

• llove on August 04, 2011

  I have the original (1987) edition and have just tried to find a recipe which appears to be in this version but not in mine.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Potatoes baked in sea salt (Pommes de terre en sel)

  • okcook on August 31, 2010

    I didn't think the taste was worth the effort.

• Creamy bean soup with croutons and crispy ventrèche (Crème de haricots de maïs)

  • fprincess on November 17, 2010

    Simple and delicious. I used the no-soak method from egullet to cook the beans (about 2 hours at 260F).

  • kbrooks on April 25, 2025

    Great soup! Used pancetta.I soaked the beans in salted water overnight and rinsed thoroughly before cooking. This allows the beans to cook more quickly and retain their shape.

• Pot-au-feu in the style of Albi (Pot-au-feu à l'Albigeoise)

  • ntt2 on February 05, 2012

    p.52

• Tomato fondue (Fondue de tomates)

  • ntt2 on February 05, 2012

    p. 54

• Potato, leek, and white bean soup with olive puree in the manner of Ciboure (Soupe de haricots comme en Ciboure)

  • kbrooks on April 25, 2025

    Wonderful soup exactly as written.

• Evening garlic soup in the manner of the Corrèze (Tourian à l'ail comme en Corrèze)

  • fprincess on December 19, 2010

    A simple soup which is perfect winter comfort food. Great with a slice of rustic bread.

  • fprincess on December 11, 2012

    Very comforting. It's the French answer to egg drop soup - it's thickened with egg. There is a touch of red wine vinegar to brighten up the flavors. Photo here: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/58505-the-soup-topic/page__st__1050__p__1900906#entry1900906

• Old-fashioned rabbit soup (Soupe de lapin a l'ancienne)

  • Poppyseedbagel on October 28, 2017

    Simple and delicious - a bit of work removing the meat from the bones, but worth it

• Autumn squash soup with country ham and garlic croutes (Crème de potiron)

  • mirage on January 16, 2010

    Soup is quite good, but topping is fabulous.

  • fprincess on December 20, 2011

    I fully agree with cjb. The soup is very good but it's the garnishes that make it really special.

  • fprincess on January 02, 2013

    Made again, this time with kabocha squash. Photo here: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/58505-the-soup-topic/page__st__1080__p__1903629#entry1903629

  • kbrooks on April 25, 2025

    Wonderful with most any winter squash. I add a splash of dry sherry before serving. I have also used leftover baked ham,as well as Serrano or prosciutto.

• Tomato and artichoke salad (Salade de tomates et d'artichauts)

  • kbrooks on April 25, 2025

    Made the salad, not the bread and dip. OK. Probably won't make again.

• Anchovy-olive dip (Tapenade de Toulouse)

  • fprincess on December 25, 2010

    This dip is pretty light and airy, and tastes great. Technically it's not a tapenade because it does not contain capers.

• Roasted herb bread (La rôtie)

  • twoyolks on October 06, 2016

    This is toasted bread with dried herbs. It's not bad but there's nothing at all special about it.

• Salmon rillettes (Rillettes de saumon)

  • fprincess on December 22, 2010

    These are divine and easy to make. I made them in a food processor using the blunt edge of the blade and pulsing as little as I could. However this was still too much to preserve the wonderful coarse texture of rillettes and really taste the two types of salmon. Next time I will try blending everything with a fork.

  • twoyolks on December 28, 2015

    I also had problems getting a coarse texture on the salmon. The smoked salmon ends up dominating the flavor of the rillettes.

• Cèpe and walnut cream tarts (Tarte aux cèpes et aux noix)

  • krista_jo on October 04, 2021

    This was a delicious way to use a small amount of fresh cèpes/porcini. I made a 6.5" tart and the bottom did not get crispy but it held together when sliced.

• Scallops in tangerine sauce (Coquilles St. Jacques, sauce mandarine)

  • fprincess on January 15, 2013

    I used tangerines and Cara Cara oranges from my CSA for the sauce. The recipe for the sauce is from chef Jean-Louis Palladin. It's a reduction sauce they call stratification and it looks like it could easily be adapted for other applications. The resulting sauce was transparent (like stained glass) and slightly viscous so it adhered to the plate and the scallops. The sauce was beautiful and the technique was fun & quick. Taste-wise, I liked the intensity of the tangerine flavor. There was an aftertaste however from the fish fumet/demi-glace. Probably my mistake, I used veal demi-glace (the recipe did not state which one to use). Chicken stock or chicken demi-glace would be a more neutral choice, even though in the end the flavors blended together. Photo here: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/75554-cooking-with-the-cooking-of-southwest-france/page__st__360__p__1905554#entry1905554

  • metacritic on January 31, 2021

    This is the most elegant dish I know, and it is quite easy, too. I used a beef demi-glace this time, though have used chicken broth reduction and veal broth reduction at other times. It is elegant, deeply flavorful, and a treat every time I have made it.

• Baby chicken with lemon-garlic sauce (Poussin rôti à l'ail et au citron)

  • Melanie on April 14, 2015

    This recipe was well worth making in my opinion - there are a large number of steps but the instructions are clear and easy to follow and the effort is worth the result - quite a rich French dish. Requires 6 heads of garlic to be blanched and peeled, before simmering with blanched lemon peel, and lemon peel for an hour. Then add cream and boil, after flavours infuse the mixture is strained - the garlic has melted into the sauce by this point and is quite mellow in flavour. Eventually this mixture is added to pan drippings (deglazed with port), that has been boiled with reduced chicken stock. If you think through the steps and timing it all comes together quite well. I roasted a whole chicken instead of the suggested smaller chickens or guinea fowl. Recipe suggests serving with a gratin of eggplants, zucchini and tomatoes but this would have been far too rich - I instead served with a tian of the same vegetables (from Mimi Thorrison's A Kitchen in France) which worked very well.

  • twoyolks on June 02, 2017

    While this recipe includes roasting small chickens, the real heart of the recipe is the making of the lemon-garlic sauce. And that sauce is really good. It's well-balanced between the lemon and garlic flavors with just enough richness. The garlic is mellowed by the long cooking. The actual method for cooking the chicken yielded only a slightly browned chicken. In the future, I think I'd serve the sauce over sautéed chicken breasts.

• Chicken with garlic pearls in Sauternes (Poulet aux perles d'ail doux et au Sauternes)

  • bching on September 17, 2022

    So delicious. Time-consuming but it's time well-spent.

• Roast chicken stuffed with garlic croutons in the style of the Corrèze (Poularde farcie en chaponnade comme en Corrèze)

  • twoyolks on October 21, 2014

    My chicken did not brown at all. A little bit of garlic in the stuffing goes a long way.

• Chicken breasts with pine nuts, cèpes, and ham goudalière (Blanc de volaille à la goudaliere)

  • lkgrover on April 10, 2017

    I used boneless chicken breasts (not bone-in as called for), fresh cremini mushrooms, prosciutto, and chardonnay wine. I appreciate the savory flavor of the mushroom/shallot/proscuitto sauce, and the pine nut crunch. It also makes a lovely presentation, with a variety of textures & colors. Good for a special dinner.

• Chicken breasts with garlic wine (Poulet au vin d'ail)

  • twoyolks on September 27, 2012

    I made the garlic wine with vermouth instead of white wine. I also used creme fraiche instead of heavy cream.

  • twoyolks on September 27, 2012

    This is not present in the original edition of the book but is available online: http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/recipes/main_chicken_garlic_wine.html

  • Stephenn31 on April 05, 2026

    I also made the garlic wine with vermouth. A bit of extra herbal flavour. Wow. Simple and quick but delicious. Need something to serve the sauce over

• Garlic wine

  • Stephenn31 on April 05, 2026

    Nice subtle garlic flavour

• Chicken legs with sour grape sauce in the style of the Dordogne (Cuisses de poulet au verjus à la Dordogne)

  • okcook on October 14, 2010

    very good

• Sauté of chicken with peppers, ham, and tomatoes (Poulet à la Basquaise)

  • DKennedy on May 26, 2013

    This was Rita's go to recipe when we lived together during law school.

• Broiled marinated duck breasts (Canard grillé dans sa peau): Pekin duck breasts

  • twoyolks on January 04, 2015

    I had a large duck breast so I only made one for two people and ended up cooking it longer (over twice as long). The duck breast is very rich which makes it difficult to eat more than a small amount. The duck isn't fatty and the flavor is somewhat reminiscent of pork.

• Pan-sautéed moulard duck breasts with shallot vinaigrette (Magret de canard moulard poêlé dans sa peau, vinaigrette à l'echalote)

  • fprincess on April 06, 2012

    Very simple and delicious. I decided to cook the duck breast on the grill. I am not completely sold on the shallot vinaigrette, it does add a welcome touch of acidity but it's a little strange with the meat.

• Shallot vinaigrette

  • fprincess on April 06, 2012

    A good basic vinaigrette with chives and shallots.

  • Stephenn31 on February 10, 2025

    Nice easy dressing. Simple

• Ragout of duck legs with white onions and prunes (Ragoût de cuisses de caneton aux petits oignons et aux pruneaux)

  • saladdays on November 03, 2012

    A well flavoured, very rich tasting casserole meal which benefits from slow cooking in a low oven. Use a good quality red wine in the cooking. A lot of preparation but worth the effort.

• Salad of duck confit with red cabbage, chestnuts, and watercress (Salade Cévenole)

  • metacritic on December 24, 2020

    I have real fondness for the salad, making it every xmas to go alongside cassoulet. It is light but with balance, depth, and just enough brightness. Perfectly balanced.

• Torchon of foie gras poached in duck fat (Terrine de foie gras de canard cuit "au torchon")

  • fprincess on November 27, 2010

    This is absolutely lucious. Relatively straight-forward recipe. Trickiest part was to devein the foie, which unfortunately is not explained in the book. But there are plenty of good videos available online that show various techniques.

• Salad of bitter greens with truffle vinaigrette

  • Stephenn31 on April 05, 2026

    Really good. I had half a tomato so I chopped it up to add.

• Steak with shallots in red wine sauce in the style of Albi (Entrecôte à l' Albigeoise)

  • twoyolks on February 22, 2021

    Nice but not great sauce for the steak. The default instructions are a little weird (sear the steaks, make the sauce, then finish cooking the steaks) but the alternative (cook steaks and then make sauce) makes more sense.

  • kbrooks on April 25, 2025

    A bit fussy in preparation, but delicious results. The red wine sauce is great! Be sure to use a really heavy red wine for the best flavor and richness.

• Oxtail daube (Daube de queue de boeuf)

  • mirage on January 16, 2010

    Very rich.

  • okcook on April 24, 2012

    Using the pig feet and skin in the preparation give the sauce that silky mouth feel that is hard to get any other way. Will be making this one again.

  • rittingerv on October 14, 2024

    Agreed, very rich - I wound up chilling the liquid again for several hours to degrease even further. But so delicious and perfect for the cool fall weather right now. I was not able to source a pig or calf foot, so I used some very collagen-rich chicken stock in lieu of the water. I also found it needed more liquid than called for, so the chicken stock was handy to add. This recipe might look onerous, but there's not a lot of work involved, just slow time in the oven and cooling in the fridge.

• Creamy shallot vinaigrette

  • MyKitchenInHalfCups on May 29, 2026

    I put all ingredients in tall pitcher then mixed with my stick blender. Came out thick and creamy. Excellent

• Confit of calf's tongue (Confit de langue de veau)

  • okcook on February 20, 2012

    I had one fresh pig tongue and used rendered pig fat. Deliciously tender.

• Confit of pig's tongue (Confit de langue de cochon)

  • okcook on February 20, 2012

    Deliciously tender. Used pig fat.

• Red beans with pork and carrots (Glandoulat)

  • Stephenn31 on December 09, 2023

    Nice one pot meal.

  • kbrooks on April 25, 2025

    2 day project. Made this as written. Not really worth the effort.

• Confit of pork (Confit de porc)

  • DKennedy on March 10, 2014

    After resting in the fridge for 48 hours. 1/2 lb. the boar stew meat, was cooked in leftover duck fat for 3 hours. Absolutely fantastic!

• Toulouse sausages (Saucisses de Toulouse)

  • sfcarole on February 18, 2017

    A very important ingredient is missing from this recipe in the book, although it is called for in the instructions. It is "4 ounces of very lean salt pork without rind, washed to remove surface salt, dried carefully and cubed by hand". Here's Wolfert posting about the omission on eGullet: https://forums.egullet.org/topic/75554-cooking-with-the-cooking-of-southwest-france/?page=5

• Fresh fava bean ragout

  • Avocet on June 22, 2023

    We found this rather bland. There is a recipe in Viana LaPlace's Verdura that uses similar ingredients but is much more flavorful.

• Roast shoulder of lamb with anchovies (Épaule d'agneau aux anchois)

  • booth.smets on January 20, 2014

    Marination time and preparation steps really suggest that this dish is started a day in advance.

• Cassoulet in the style of Toulouse (Cassoulet de Toulouse)

  • Stephenn31 on February 10, 2025

    This was an excellent cold winter weekend meal. I didn't have enough time at the end for the long oven cook, so I cooked at 25F higher and 30 min shorter and it seemed to work well. I'd add more breadcrumbs next time because it gave the dish a nice crunch.

• Confit of Toulouse sausages and duck cooked with red wine-flavored beans (Confits dans les haricots au madiran)

  • metacritic on December 24, 2020

    This is the mainstay of our Xmas dinner ... a glorious mainstay, to be sure, which warrants and receives endless praise. My only note is that the beans often need an extra hour or more of cooking - closer to five hours than the 3.5 she call for, and the dish needs plenty of salt. Also, I've always substituted pancetta for salt pork.

  • Stephenn31 on March 27, 2023

    Excellent! Great for a cold winter day. I cooked it in a slow cooker instead of the oven and it worked really well

• Catalan-style shoulder of lamb with garlic and white beans (Épaule d'agneau à la Catalane (en pistache))

  • booth.smets on January 20, 2014

    aka Cassoulet

• Artichokes and potatoes au gratin (Artichauts et pommes de terre au gratin)

  • Stephenn31 on April 05, 2026

    Excellent for a cold spring night. Wow. Simple but delicious. I should have added more garlic and onion

• Michel Guérard's pureed celery root with apples (Purée de céleri-rave aux pommes)

  • DKennedy on September 27, 2015

    P. 123, adapted to be AIP friendly as follows: 1 celery root, chopped, 1 giant apple, chopped, cooked in salted water as instructed in book for milk. Turned hot into mixer, added seasoned duck fat (with roasted garlic, thyme and rosemary). Added a dollop on plain coconut yogurt at end. Very nice flavor. Would make an excellent latke if prepared differently. Keep in mind for Hannukah. Will rewarm tonight and serve with Roasted pork from All About Roasting.

• Baked eggplant studded with garlic (Aubergines au four à l'ail)

  • DKennedy on August 22, 2015

    P. 130, Made on 2/14.98. Wonderful.

• Pureed sorrel (Purée d'oseille)

  • twoyolks on July 25, 2021

    Way too lemony to actually eat.

• Potatoes in the style of the Quercy (Pommes de terre à la Quercynoise)

  • kbrooks on April 25, 2025

    Quick and easy to put together; 2-1/4 hours to bake. Lovely crusty brown delicious potatoes. I omit the raw garlic garnish.

• Potato, celery root, and corn pancakes (Galettes de pommes de terre au céleri-rave et maïs)

  • DKennedy on August 22, 2015

    P. 120, Made on V-day 1998. Incredible.

  • Stephenn31 on November 20, 2022

    Delicious!

• Cornmeal porridge (Las pous)

  • mirage on January 16, 2010

    Use the simpler method on page 357

• Custard and cherries baked in a skillet (Clafoutis aux cerises)

  • mirage on January 16, 2010

    Scott said very good. I don't like clafoutis.

• Croustade with quince and prunes (Croustade de Languedoc)

  • veragusta on December 01, 2016

    good description of the origin of strudel

• Gratin of potatoes in the style of the Auvergne (Gratin Auvergnat)

  • kbrooks on April 25, 2025

    Increased the cheese to 1/2 cup. That said, this gratin is to die for!

• Sauté of tomatoes, red peppers, and zucchini (Fricassée de jardinier)

  • kbrooks on April 25, 2025

    Delicious vegetable sautée. Used Aleppo pepper.

• Straw potato cake stuffed with braised leeks (Paillaisson de pommes de terre aux poireaux)

  • ndschmidt on March 31, 2026

    This is insanely good. A bit of work and a little fiddly to flip but well worth the effort.