A classic French cheese soufflé is made of a simple béchamel gently folded into airy whipped egg whites. Chef Ludo Lefebvre’s version adds layers of flavor with tangy goat cheese, a touch of spicy cayenne, and warm earthiness from thyme and nutmeg. As always, serve these straight from the oven.
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A deceptively simple recipe, Chef Ludo Lefebvre’s Niçoise Pasta is an indulgent, creamy dish that comes together in the time it takes to boil pasta. The no-cook sauce relies on the cream emulsifying with fresh basil and garlic in the food processor to thicken into a rich sauce in minutes.
A simply glaze, made of sticky-sweet honey, savory soy sauce, and fresh garlic, drenches each perfectly grilled pork chop in this recipe from Chef Ludo Lefebvre. For the most evenly cooked pork, with delicious char and grill marks, Lefebvre instructs flipping the pork frequently over high heat for the first several minutes of cooking, and then finishing the meat on lower heat.
Chef Ludo Lefebvre first made this Tandoori Octopus at his pop-up restaurant in Los Angeles, LudoBites. A customer favorite, this unusual combination of flavors comes together for a surprising but delicious dish. With deep, smoky flavor from an overnight marinade in tandoori paste and a quick few minutes on the grill, the octopus is tender throughout with a crisp exterior. Ask your fishmonger for whole octopus. Frozen is fine, too—simply defrost it in a bowl of room-temperature water. Recipe excerpted from the cookbook LudoBites by Ludo Lefebvre, pages 334-336, published by HarperCollins, 2012.
Chef Ludo Lefebvre’s bouillabaisse starts with a quick-cooking, but deeply flavored, seafood broth. Layering a base of aromatics with fresh snapper, scallops, shrimp, and a mix of Pernod and dry white wine creates a long-simmered flavor in under an hour. Be sure to use shell-on shrimp; those shells add flavor and body to the stock.
Chef Ludo Lefevbre uses classic braising technique in his version of Osso Buco: first, browning the veal shank to develop flavor, then sauteing the aromatics, deglazing with wine, and pouring in plenty of deeply flavored veal stock before finishing in the oven. Use your favorite stock here, and feel free to swap in beef stock for veal, as it gives the dish its foundation of flavor. The lemon zest really does add dimension and bright flavor to this slow cooking, rich dish, so don’t skimp on the garnish, either.
Chef Ludo Lefebvre’s French Onion Soup uses a special technique for caramelizing onions: he starts with a cold pan, adds the onion, then turns the heat to high. Starting with a cold pan offers a few advantages. First, it allows you to more precisely control the temperature, letting the onions cook evenly all the way through, without shocking (and possibly burning) the outside when it first hits the pan. It also lets flavors build more gradually as you increase the heat; a definite benefit for sweet and tender caramelized onions. It still takes time, as caramelizing does, but with this technique, you’ll have just-dark-enough, golden, delicious onions every time.
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