This Very Fat French Cookbook is Slim on Time Commitment by Lisa Messinger - Cooks' Books on Creators.com

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This Very Fat French Cookbook is Slim on Time Commitment

"French Feasts" by Stephane Reynaud (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, $40)

If bigger is better is your holiday gift philosophy, then "French Feasts" by restaurateur Stephane Reynaud deserves a prime spot under your tree. The thick, heavy, almost 500-page, photograph-filled stunner is sure to impress.

Fortunately, each recipe individually does that, too, from the owner of Villa 9 Trois in Montreuil, near Paris, who has also penned the acclaimed "Pork & Sons" and "Terrine."

This is Reynaud's masterpiece. Almost 300 family-style recipes, perfect for intimate meals or gatherings, are presented thoroughly, yet concisely and streamlined. This is only more proof — as is the case with virtually all of the world's great cuisines — that the key to great food is the most high quality and fresh ingredients, simply prepared with time-tested techniques.

If you've shied away from French cooking because you thought it was complicated, Reynaud will show what French home cooks have known for centuries: Time is of the essence, let's not waste it all in the kitchen. Many of these recipes — though hands-down winners when it comes to gourmet flavor — could easily be tucked into "timesaving" or "five-ingredient-or-less" cookbooks that pepper U.S. bookstores.

Even such stunners as these:

— Hot oysters with fennel-seed sabayon

— Scallop brochettes with coral cream

— Veal tenderloin with creamed leeks

— Golden chanterelle and black trumpet mushroom ragout

— Braided almond brioche

— Praline cream tart

— Epiphany pastry cake with frangipane

Really no epiphanies are needed on your part, though. Reynaud boldly leads the way, spotlighting cooking techniques, like deglazing, virtually seamlessly within easy recipes.

He also tucks in many treats during the journey. The book is packed with fun extras like food purveyor profiles, such as one for "Sexy Baker Olivier," pages on how to make your own butter or yogurt, loads of wine information, including a recommendation with each recipe, and even the music and lyrics to French songs, like "Moulin Rouge," to sing along with your — undoubtedly already — happy meals.

VEAL TENDERLOIN WITH CREAMED LEEKS

1 (1 3/4-pound) veal tenderloin

3 leeks

Olive oil, to taste

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

3/4 cup veal or beef stock

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

1/3 to 1/2 cup white wine

Yields 6 servings.

Trim the tenderloin to remove any veins.

Slice the leeks and wash them well.

Soften the leeks in olive oil and add fennel seeds, stock and cream. Let the mixture stew for 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, brown the veal on all sides in a roasting pan in a 350 F oven for 15 minutes — the inside of the veal should remain pink. (The USDA recommends cooking veal to internal temperatures of at least 145 F for medium rare and 160 F for medium.)

Carefully deglaze the roasting pan with the white wine, scraping up all the bits on the bottom. Add the creamed leeks to the dish. Serve the tenderloin cut into medallions.

Wine suggestion: Viognier de L'Ardeche

This easy, yet dazzling, jarred flavored cheese would make a great holiday gift. Keep refrigerated.

MARINATED ROCAMADOUR CHEESES

12 Rocamadour cheeses (small goat's cheeses)

2 cloves garlic

1 bay leaf

2 sprigs thyme

8 juniper berries

Olive oil to fill jar

Yields 6 servings.

Place the cheeses in a jar with the herbs and spices. Fill the jar with olive oil and marinate in the refrigerator for 2 days before eating.

Wine suggestion: Puligny-Montrachet

Lisa Messinger is a first-place winner in food writing from the Association of Food Journalists and the author of seven food books, including "Mrs. Cubbison's Best Stuffing Cookbook" and "The Sourdough Bread Bowl Cookbook." She also writes the Creators News Service "After-Work Gourmet" column. To find out more about Lisa Messinger and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.