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Vive le barbecue! French grilling guide

Celebrate summer with three delicious and easy-to-make European dishes

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Have a bon appetit BBQ
July 5: Chef Bertrand Bouquin shows TLC's Stacy London how to cook fabulous French cuisine on the grill.

Today Show Kitchen

TODAY
updated 11:46 a.m. ET July 5, 2007

If you're aching to cross the Atlantic but aren't quite ready to brave the airport lines, try incorporating some European flair into your barbecues! Chef Bertrand Bouquin brings some va-va-voom to your outdoor grill with tasty and unique French recipes:


Grilled Watermelon and Hawaiian King Prawns with Tomato Relish and Horseradish
Bertrand Bouquin

4 servings

INGREDIENTS

8 Hawaiian king prawns
1 watermelon (very ripe)
5 Roma tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced
1 Tbsp freshly grated horseradish
2 shallots, chopped very thin
10 mint leaves, chopped
1 Tbsp aged balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

Recipe continues below ↓
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DIRECTIONS

Cut a slice of watermelon about ½ an inch thick. Remove the skin and grill it over a very hot grill. Cut the slice into pie shape portion and set aside.

Remove the heads of the prawns and peel the tails. Grill the prawns over a very hot grill and make sure they are cooked all the way through.

Mix diced tomatoes, horseradish, shallots, mint, balsamic vinegar and olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Present your plate with a wedge of watermelon, two prawns, and some tomato relish.

MANAGE YOUR RECIPES



Grilled Quail with Frisée Salad Shallots Vinaigrette
Bertrand Bouquin

Serves 4 people

INGREDIENTS

For the vinaigrette

4 shallots, peeled and chopped
6 oz smoked bacon, cut in medium dice
4 oz canola oil
4 oz sherry vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

For the salad:

2 heads of frisée
4 quail, deboned
2 Tbsp chopped chives
1 stalk of celery
1 medium carrot
Salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS

For the dressing:  In a large sauté pan, cook the bacon until it renders its fat and it achieves a light-brown color. Strain the bacon fat and reserve both the bacon and the fat. In a large mixing bowl season the vinegar with salt and pepper and whisk until the salt is melted. Add the shallots and whisk into an emulsion with the canola oil and the bacon fat until everything is incorporated. Check seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Clean the frisée and set it aside. Peel the carrot and shave it very thin with a mandolin and do the same with the celery stalk and set aside.

Brush the quail with olive oil and season it with salt and pepper. Grill it on a medium heat, not too hot because the skin of quail is very fragile and too much heat would not only burn it but would also tear the skin apart.

Season the salad with the dressing, add the vegetables and set it in the middle of the plate. Place the grilled quail on top of the salad and drizzle a little bit more of the vinaigrette around it. Sprinkle the chopped chives on top.

MANAGE YOUR RECIPES