Hi, I’m Vanessa. Half-French. Half-American. All Foodie.
I’m a home chef who learned much of what I know cooking with my mother in France, but also studying at Peter Kump’s cooking school, now the Institute of Culinary Education in New York.
This is my new site where I am slowly bringing over hundreds of recipes from chefdruck.com, my chronicle of a life of feasting.
“Il faut vivre pour manger, et non manger pour vivre.”
“We must live to eat, and not eat to live.”
15 years of content takes a long time to migrate. Please enjoy the gradual relaunch of French Foodie Mom: a recipe repository and email me at chefdruck@gmail.com if there are any recipes you loved that you don’t see here yet.
Let the feasting begin again!
Recent Posts
Recipes make their way into this blog after three dinner trials. Hope your family likes them as much as ours does.
Lemongrass Chili Crunch Pork Chop
The addition of Lemongrass and chili crunch will make you rethink pork chops forever. This dish comes together quickly and is so zesty and fun, you’ll want to dance around the kitchen table.
Costa Rican Chicken: or at least my attempt to recreate this vacation favorite
Costa Rican Chicken - When we travel in Costa Rica, many of the tours we take serve this delicious fall off the bone chicken dish with a side of rice. Nothing beats being in Costa Rica, surrounded by beautiful pairs of scarlet macaws, but over the years, when we miss our Pura Vida vacations, this is the closest I’ve come to recreating this family favorite dish.
Honey Carrots
Duck Breasts with Homemade Honey Teriyaki Sauce
Duck Breasts with honey teriyaki sauce - a quick and easy recipe that is so rich and satisfying
BEANS: my word for 2026
Apricot Slow Cooker Chicken
This sweet and tangy chicken stew comes together easily and will please the entire family. It tastes like sunshine.
Roasted Pumpkin Gratin: a Veggie Dish that Shines as a Main Course
This easy roasted pumpkin dish makes a great main course.
French Style Apple Jelly - or Gelee de Pommes
My apple jelly recipe is French: gelee de pommes. It is intensely sweet and fruity. It is a labor of love whose product we use all year long both on toast and on roast pork and chicken.
Sweet and Spicy Brisket
This is our family’s Rosh Hashannah Sweet and Spicy Brisket. It’s the type of fall apart beef dish that will warm you to your core and will make you want to linger at the table.
Paris: Restaurants, Hotels, Shopping
Homemade Hot Fudge
Are we ever too old for hot fudge? Making it homemade is easy and brings this indulgent treat to a whole new level. This homemade hot fudge also makes a lovely hostess or holiday gift.
Malted Chocolate Chip Cookies
These chewy cookies have just a hint of malt, a secret ingredient that will make you reach for more and more.
Miso Marinated Salmon
The miso marinated black cod dish at Nobu is pure heaven but definitely not a weeknight dish. But you can use the same technique with salmon and enjoy it without breaking your wallet, any night of the week.
Maple Glazed Salmon with Balsamic Macerated Strawberries
On gorgeous spring days, I don’t want slow cooked dishes: I crave fresh flavors. Quick roasting a nice piece of fish and topping it with some macerated fruit is a nice alternative. This maple glazed salmon comes together in 15 minutes flat, and it leaves me feeling great and full of energy.
The Salmon Recipe that Turned my Kids into Fish Lovers
This simple salmon recipe has made salmon night more popular than taco night in our house. Trust me. It truly is that good.
Lime Cumin Marinated Skirt Steak: the Runaway Barbecue Hit
This unusual marinade for skirt steak will make all your guests do a double take at your next barbecue.
Easy Dinners on Steroids: Boursin Spinach Artichoke Ravioli Bake
Boursin cheese is so good on a cracker or a sliver of red pepper, but it can also transform a dish. Boursin transforms this spinach artichoke ravioli baked dinner and takes it to a whole new level.
Warm Chocolate Pudding Cake
Childhood food memories have a special power and hard to recreate but this recipe comes close to my favorite childhood chocolate cake from the now defunct Tootsies Restaurant in Notting Hill in London. They served it in a wooden salad bowl, filled with steaming, crumbly and moist hot chocolate cake. It oozed with chocolate sauce and was, of course, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Nothing could beat that chocolate pudding cake perfection.
Chocolate Souffle Cake: a Delicious Gluten-Free Dessert
This chocolate souffle cake is a great dessert to serve when you have gluten-free dinner guests and it’s also a great addition to a Passover seder. It’s rich and oh so chocolatey. Definitely lick the bowl good.
Air Fryer Chicken with Bang Bang Sauce
These air fryer chicken thighs are crispy, juicy, and so flavorful. The bang bang sauce is zesty thanks to the lime juice with just a touch of heat. This dinner is such a favorite in our house.
