‘Frenchie: New Bistro Cooking’ from the wildly popular Paris bistro

The bistro where everybody wants to eat when they go to Paris -- if they can get in -- has a new cookbook. Now you can get a taste of the experience in your own kitchen without having to spring for an airline ticket.

The book is “Frenchie: New Bistro Cooking” by Greg Marchand, who got the nickname Frenchie when he was working for Jamie Oliver in London and was the only French person in the kitchen. It stuck, and when he moved back to Paris in 2009 to open his own bistro, he gave the place his nickname.

Marchand has poured all of his varied experiences into this book -- including working at the Mandarin Oriental in London and with Jean-Georges Vongerichten at Vong in Hong Kong, in New York at Gramercy Tavern, at a Spanish beach restaurant cooking fish a la plancha, and as head chef at Fifteen, Jamie Oliver’s restaurant that takes on 15 hardscrabble kids as apprentices every year.

Unlike the usual chef cookbook, this one is truly meant for the home cook. Recipes are divided by season and are loosely arranged from starters to desserts, though any of the savory dishes could easily serve as the entire meal.

“In my cooking the distinction between starter and main course is more about portion size than anything else,” Marchand writes. “Just double the recipe and a salad becomes a meal.”

The “Spring” section begins with a recipe for foie gras with cherry chutney -- foie gras is not for us Californians, I’m afraid. But we can make the roasted carrot, orange and avocado Salad or fall’s lovely pear, turnip and pecorino pepato salad.

Marchand explains that “the shaved pecorino pepato, a delicious hard Italian cheese studded with black peppercorns, is my way of seasoning the salad -- it adds sharpness, salt and pepper all at once.” Makes sense.

And now that quince is showing up at farmers markets, I’d love to make his poached quinces with chestnut cream and chocolate shavings.

But it’s the savory dishes that stand out in this book: mussels with Jerusalem artichokes and chorizo, pan-fried duck breast with orange-infused celeriac and candied kumquats, or pork shoulder braised in milk with marinated fennel, to name just a few.

With our weather and wonderful produce here in Southern California, we can pretty much make everything in the book year-round. “Summer’s” brined chicken with roasted zucchini and tapenade,”” for example, would be a prime candidate even now, as would home-smoked trout with avocado puree and marinated cucumbers.” And as soon as I spot chanterelles at the farmers market, I’m going for fresh tagliatelle with chanterelles and lemon zest.

Marchand says his recipe for beef cheeks with roasted beets, watercress and grated horseradish is comfort food with a twist, with the sweetness of the beets lightened by the raspberry vinaigrette, and the beef cheeks “peppered” with watercress and horseradish.

Is my butcher still open, I wonder?

Meanwhile, here’s a terrific salad recipe (not tested in the Test Kitchen).

Pear, turnip and pecorino pepato salad

4 servings / Wine pairing: Vouvray (Chenin Blanc) from Sébastien Brunet

Quick to prepare and delicious, this versatile little salad can be served as a starter, a light lunch or a cheese course/dessert. Make sure you use baby turnips, which can be eaten raw.

4 juicy pears, such as Red Bartlett or Comice

4 baby turnips (the size of a golf ball or smaller)

A handful of baby dandelion greens

Fleur de sel

Extra virgin olive oil

Juice of 1/2 lemon

3 1/2 ounces pecorino pepato cheese

1. Quarter and core the pears. With a mandoline, slice the turnips very thin. Separate the dandelion leaves.

2. Put the pear wedges, turnip slices and dandelion leaves in a large bowl and gently toss with a pinch of fleur de sel, 2 tablespoons olive oil and the lemon juice.

3. Arrange the salad on four plates. Using a vegetable peeler, thinly shave the pecorino pepato over the salads. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil.

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