I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

To be honest, I am less interested in French food than Italian or Latin or Japanese, etc. It seems very complex and stuffy and expensive. This book was a great guide to tackling those basics and bringing interest to French cuisine.

A well organized cookbook for any home cook wanting to tackle some French recipes. The recipes seem easy to follow, and while not all recipes include a photo, the pictures that are included are beautiful.

This foodie thanks Wini Moranville, Quarto Publishing Group – Harvard Common Press, Harvard Common Press, and NeGalley for the opportunity to review this ARC.

With tns of grear ideas for simple dishes, al with a French touch, you'll love this cookbook. It will quickly become a favorite for maing elegant meals My mouth was watering just starting it.

This gave off the vibes of a French cookery book from ten years ago, dusted down and retitled, and put on the list because the publisher didn't have a current French cookbook to their name. It's certainly ten years old and has a new name for this publication – and throughout gave me a little edge of irritation. It wanted to be a thorough guide to the French culinary lifestyle – what the large country does regionally as per aperitifs, when the French eat salads during a large sit-down meal, and so on – and so had lots of verbose box-out asides instead of leading by example and putting that information in with the recipes. Designed for American use, it might well fire up the dinner party to say "this is how they do it en France", but I wanted it to be up to me what I ate and when, and for the book to just give ideas to the relevant cuisine.

All told, then, it was not until a middle chapter where my interest was piqued – the promised range of simple ideas for bunging meat in a pan, sauteing it, taking it out and making a sauce for it from what you throw at the left-over oils or fats. Always a stickler for a simple, low-maintenance bit of flavour, here I got up close with chicken marsala-ish, tarragon chicken, pork with apricot and sage together, and so on – and then the database for the essential basics – you know, the ones you should turn to first.

Overall it does what it wants – it is everyday cooking (and the photos are everyday, unsexy things too). It doesn't demand any ridiculous attempts at this or that, any bizarre equipment, or any unique ingredients – bar what you'd expect, on account of it giving off a specific French flavour. You're not making your own pasta when fusioning with Italian cooking, f'r instance, and the truffles, Mediterranean-accented overnight marinades and andouilettes are left over for the more pretentious. But it all lacked a certain spirit, a je ne sais quoi, that made me engage with it all. The best recipe books from one country or region can make me feel friends with the cuisine, this just left me feeling a little lectured at instead.

Also I kind of had trust issues with a book that said 4-5 minutes poaching gives an egg that is still yet to go firm. A turkey egg, perhaps...

This book is perfectly organized- all the sections make sense. Beautiful photos for easy to follow recipes. I definitely can’t wait to try all these amazing recipes! Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC of this beautiful cookbook!

I'm very impressed with the book. More than 250 pages of recipes with beautiful pictures- I wanted to try every of them. Salads, main dishes, sandwiches, sauces, deserts. As the person, who thinks that french cuisine is the winner in creating perfectly balanced blends of flavours, I am genuinely grateful for the chance to be the owner of this book.

As a fan of everything French, I was excited to review Wini Moranville’s Everyday French Cooking: Modern French Cuisine Made Simple
. This excellent cookbook did not disappoint; rather, it has been moved to the top of my personal list of favorite French cookbooks (out of several dozen on my shelf). Moranville is not afraid to put her personality in the notes at the beginning of each recipe, and that adds to the charm of the cookbook as well as the understanding of specifics of the recipes. The recipes are excellent, and are for dishes that almost everyone will actually want to make and eat. Moranville has included classic French dishes (many made easier than the classic techniques), as well as some new, unique dishes that are distinctly French, but are not as well known or have been created by her using French ingredients and techniques.

Most of us use boneless, skinless chicken breasts for quick dinners – they are inexpensive and good – and Moranville has included enough recipes for them to keep us making them for weeks. Of course there are also exceptional recipes using pork, beef, lamb, beans, lentils, and other favorite ingredients. Moranville are also mouthwatering recipes for pastas, soups, stews, salads, mains, and desserts. Readers will want to try new French recipes for the next few months.

The only drawback to this cookbook is that there isn’t a photograph of each dish. The photographs that are included, however, are beautiful and will make for mouthwatering reading. The prose is well-written and makes this book worth curling up in a corner and reading cover to cover.

The recipes are organized and easy to follow. Even beginners will be able to prepare picture perfect dishes. Highly recommended.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.