Menu ideas for a french-themed bridal shower

[Ottawa2011]

Originally Posted by hertfordshire

Question ... what time is the shower? I ask because it sounds like you're planning a pretty thorough MEAL, which I wouldn't typically expect at a shower. If it's at noon or 6pm, a meal would be appropriate. But if it's between 1-5, you're going to have guests who have already eaten lunch and won't eat a lot of your food. If that's the case, you'll want to cut back the menu.

If it's going to be in the afternoon, then, maybe a French dessert theme would be fun? Plus it would go nicely with the sparkling beverage you might be serving.

[Brucifer]

Let them eat cake.

[mainebrokerman]

if you do go with a small roast (and its lean) or London broil...be sure to slice thinly... against the grain...

if you aren't sure how the grain goes, its much like the grain on woods... thin lines/strands all going in one direction

if you aren't sure about the roast but want to offer something along that lines... make your own meatballs with swiss cheese ...meatballs are easy to eat and easy to make

[arctic_gardener]

Moroccan food like tajines and couscous are mainstream French foods now. Couscous has gluten though.

Ratatouille? Cover with mozza, broil in the oven and serve with a good gluten-free bread. Maybe not elegant, but definitely filling.

Crepes made with buckwheat flour (properly called galettes) are exclusively for savory fillings. Buckwheat's flavor does not jive well with sweet fillings. A common filling would be onions and cheese, with either ham or eggs. Or just do the onions and cheese for a vegetarian version. Another very common filling is smoked salmon with dill and creme fraiche. An Italian style galette may have basil, tomato and mozzarella.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by jay5835

Is there room in the budget for bouillabaisse? You can do everything except add the seafood the day before, and either skip the toasts or substitute a couple of the gluten-free crackers you spoke of upthread.

Bouillabaisse Recipe - Ethan Stowell | Food & Wine

I tend to use the old New York Times Cookbook recipe as the basis for mine.
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/...-bouillabaisse

I omit the red pepper flakes. 1 teaspoon of thyme? Nope. Triple that at least. It doesn't hurt anything to omit the parsley or Pernod. I have a 16 oz tub of More Than Gourmet fish stock reduction in the fridge I use as the stock base.

I've had Bouillabaisse in France many times that was just fish. If you want to control food cost, you can use cod/haddock, sole/flounder, and raw shelled shrimp. I suppose you could even use tilapia though I personally refuse to eat it.

I make a quick Hellman's/garlic aioli to slather on toasted sliced baguette to float on top.

I usually use cod, sole, scallops, and the largest raw shrimp I can find. I put some cooked lobster meat in each bowl and ladle the rest on top of it. I'm in coastal New England so those are my local ingredients other than the shrimp.

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Cassoulet is my other go-to. Mine starts life as a very flavorful lamb stew. You boil/soak the beans the night before. Sliced/browned Toulouse sausage, duck confit pieces. You can substitute grilled boneless chicken thigh for the duck confit. For the gluten-free person, I'd do a separate little portion with gluten-free breadcrumbs on top.

[blueherons]

Champagne and baked brie!

[coolgato]

champagne and small French pastries

[Sage 80]

That's a lot of food for a mid-afternoon party. I would suggest:


Cheeses
Pates (meat and seafood)
Breads/crackers
Baked brie in a loaf of bread
Fresh veggies (crudités) with aioli
Pastries
Champagne

[kinkytoes]

Originally Posted by DawnMTL

First off, start with gorgeous French cheeses -- Le Rustique, Caprice des Dieux, St. Andre -- and baguettes. (Get gluten free crackers for the MIL.)

Next off... is this whole party finger food or a lunch?

Do you want a sophisticated menu (escargots) or a rustic menu (French onion soup) or do you want to be cutesy (French fries!)?

Come back and tell me if it's snacks or a meal. I love this!

And check this out: 50 French Recipes, French Food Recipes | Saveur

PS. They're called macarons (not macaroons).

Hmm I'd go for the Macarons and possibly crepes. Crepes are good fresh, but there may be recipes that you can make ahead. Also not everyone eats dairy products well, so I'd probably see if anyone has issues with the menu or offer alternatives to dairy/lactose or just make sure all the dairy is lactose free.

French people eat a salad green called mache. According to the internet, this is called lamb's lettuce in English. Maybe you can have a green salad including this as an ingredient. Oh wait I just saw the PATE suggestion mmm getting hungry

Originally Posted by arctic_gardener

Moroccan food like tajines and couscous are mainstream French foods now. ..

This is so true! Nobody I know who is French eats any of the stereotypical French food. They all eat middle eastern. LOL but let's stay stereotypical. I'm assuming people eat that stuff in the more rural areas(?).

[Eden Morlevent]

Originally Posted by RosieSD

Now, I would never think that you could find escargots in the froze food aisle! you know even here it's quite rare... so... really i was a bit shocked someone would propose them to you, i know from my mother that snails do not have any special taste (in fact they are mostly tasteless), it's really not something most people eat here

I think Champagne/Prosecco would be perfect too. I just realized, however, that I have never opened a bottle of Champagne or Prosecco myself! Will have to practice before hand. Oh, what a chore that will be.

i guess you already decided but if not champagne or prosecco (unknown to me), why not rosé? it's still "sparkly"... and quite cheap but still somewhat classy.

I really can't thank everyone enough for all of the ideas you've given me. I was dreading putting all of this together but now it seems very do-able. I think I will probably keep it kind of simple so that I can enjoy the shower too. Here's what I'm leaning towards, thanks to all of your suggestions:

Croissants
Baguettes
Gluten free crackers

Assorted French-themed appetizers (mini quiche, Petit Choux, gluten free options, etc. - could make the mini quiche without crust so gluten free maybe)
Bake Brie (would love to do Ditsy's recipe - sounds perfect!)
Assorted other French cheeses platter and fruit (grapes) if i can give you a small list of cheeses (a little bit of everything), i am sure you've got that covered but in any case... a big old camembert, some goat cheese, don't know if you can find it in the US but some boursin, some maroilles (awesome on crackers/baguettes, but has a very strong strong smell), maybe some comté, some roquefort and some reblochon.
Salami and other cold cuts (prob. ham) platter my parents always loved some old saucisson sec, it's a kind of dry sausage, if you can fin it, there are many varieties though, for ham there's some jambon (ham) de bayonne if you heard of that
Olive Tapanade (from Dawn's recipe link) + Pate (maybe salmon?) duck pâté huh?

Arugula salad w/grapefruit slices and citrus dressing (not French, but I have a nice recipe)

Chicken with Dijon mustard (here's the recipe I'm thinking of using: Creamy Dijon Mustard Chicken Recipe | SimplyRecipes.com)
*Maybe* a small roast of some sort (this might be too much food?)

Pomme Frites w/aoli mayo (Thank you Dawn for the idea!) i don't want to be a nitpick and be the good old personification of the pretentious french person but here no one really say "pommes frites", it's simply "frites" and they aren"t french, but everyone knows that, lol, do you know pommes dauphines though?
Asparagus with lemon (another great suggestion -- a platter of asparagus always looks so festive, and I could even serve this cold)

Champagne (and maybe some sparkling water for non-alcoholic option) do you have Perrier or Badoit in the US (if you want to go french all the way....)

Macarons
Gluten free cupcakes (these will be easier than a sheet cake as I won't have to cut and serve!)

I like this! I can do all of the heavy lifting for bigger items the day before, then heat and serve the morning of the shower.

Thank you again, guys! It's amazing how your suggestions and ideas jump-started me on this! I am so glad I asked for your help -- you're all great!

Originally Posted by kinkytoes

This is so true! Nobody I know who is French eats any of the stereotypical French food. what do you call stereotypical french food? They all eat middle eastern. hmmm.... sure it's very much popular (tajines, couscous, kebab etc, but don't forget we have a big muslim population here so our love for north african (more than "middle eastern") food have been given by them LOL but let's stay stereotypical. I'm assuming people eat that stuff in the more rural areas(?). hmmmm, if you mean snails, i don't think many people eat them, no matter the place (city or little village), also i didn't really see many "stereotypical" french food on this thread (unless you mean the recipes given in the first link) so....