Tuna with a South of France twist

As Margaux is now ONE (big girl!) I want to move on to new tastes and widen her horizons a bit. I thought a little tour of different cooking styles taken from around the world would be nice. The next series will feature some tastes from France, India, Italy, China and Spain. Bon appétit!

This is a fun and different lunch which is very easy to prepare ahead of time. The tuna is served with a ratatouille which can be made days ahead and a simple semolina couscous.

For babies 9 months and up

You will need:

• 1  1/2 tablespoon of canned tuna
• Half a zucchini
• A slice of eggplant
• 2 tomatoes
• A teaspoon of tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon of olive oil

Very easy directions:

Peel and dice all vegetables and steam for 15 minutes or until tender. Add the tuna and mix in with the tomato paste and olive oil. Serve with a bit of couscous. You can also add some thyme and a bit of garlic to this.

And why not make more and share with baby?

3 course meal, baby's way

Margaux has definitely left the "baby" stage and now wants everything like a big girl. She's standing up, holds her spoon on her own, plays peekaboo with her towel and said her first two words.
Time to upgrade her meals, I say.

3 courses, Margaux's way:

Italian beef stew served with baby guacamole, followed by a yogurt topped with apple, cherry & vanilla compote.

For babies 6 months and up

Italian beef stew recipe: from the amazing Jenny Carenco's book "Recettes pour bébé".

I just changed the cooking method to work with my Babycook.

For 5 portions:
100g/3.5 oz beef (I used sirloin but you can use a cheaper cut, something good for stews)
3 carrots
6 tomatoes
2 zucchinis
1 celery stalk
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon thyme


Wash and peel all vegetables. Cut them and the beef into cubes.
Put everything in your steamer basket (water level 3 if using the Babycook). When steamed, add the cooking water and olive oil and mix.


Baby guacamole:
Half an avocado mashed up with a fork and a few drops of lemon juice.


Yogurt with apple-cherry compote:
I used an organic plain yogurt for babies and topped it with a compote using half apples, half cherries.
Peel and cut into cubes the apples, put them in a saucepan and sprinkle with water.
Add cherries (I used frozen cherries which saves you time as you don't have to remove the pits this way) and cook slowly until very tender.
Scrape the inside of an inch of vanilla pod, add a teaspoon of agave and mix to a smooth purée.


I used the same ingredients to make a stew for ourselves and cooked it with a bit of water on medium heat in a Le Creuset Doufeu©. Served it with a Parmesan polenta.
Who said baby food cannot be fancy?
Margaux was thrilled, ate just like an adult and we saved time as groceries were the same for everyone. Everyone's happy.

At Peter Luger's restaurant - Lamb chop, lunch like a champion

When you're Margaux, you eat like a champ. That means when grandpa Mike and Mimi visit New York and we take a trip to Peter Luger's restaurant, Margaux doesn't get left behind.
Ready to go in her cooler bag: her first lamb chop. Considering she ate a bit over 8 oz of it and left a very clean looking bowl, we can say it got her seal of approval.

For babies: 7 months and up
Note: This comes after you have introduced your baby to poultry as white meat comes before red meat. Baby needs to eat lean and less fatty types of meat before being able to digest a more fancy one.

Reproduce it:
20g/70 oz of lamb chop
One big new potato
120g/4 oz of tomato medley (mix of small cherry tomatoes, yellow tomatoes, black cherry tomatoes)
4 sprigs of rosemary
1 teaspoon of sunflower oil

Wash and peel the potato and tomatoes. Cut thin slices of the potato and the tomatoes in two.
Cut up the rosemary sprigs.
Put everything in a steamer basket (if using the Babycook this is water level 3). Using the Babycook, it takes only 15-20 minutes but of course adapt this timing to your own food processor.
Once cooked, keep a teaspoon of the cooking water and add a teaspoon of sunflower oil and mix.

Taste to check the temperature before giving it to your baby. Wish you had some for yourself. Change the quantities to adult's size portions. Be as happy as your baby.

Disclaimer: I am using the guidance of my wonderful Parisian pediatrician and the classic French book of Laurence Pernoud on how to raise your child. I am not a pediatrician nor a nutritionist, just a French mother sharing recipes. Always check with your own pediatrician especially if your baby has any allergies or health issues.

Don't steal! This is my own recipe, if you want to share it, please credit A La Maud.

Margaux's first salmon

For babies: 6-8 months
Note: You should introduce fish once you have introduced meat, starting with white meat, then red meat and finally fish (white fish, salmon and tuna - shellfish comes later).

This is a bit more sophisticated than cod and helps to widen your baby's horizons.

What's in it for bébé:
Salmon is what I call a miracle food: lots of omega 3, iron, phosphorus, vitamin A which is baby's friend for growth, good eyesight and boosting the immune system and last but not least, vitamin D for strong teeth and bones. It's a winner!
Fennel is filled with vitamins A and E and helps baby's digestion

You will need :
0.5 oz/10g of salmon
6 oz/170g of a mix of eggplant, fennel and tomato
1 teaspoon of olive oil

As easy as 1, 2, 3:

1. Peel all the vegetables and cut them into cubes, along with thin slices of salmon.
2. Put everything in a steamer basket and steam for about 15 minutes (If you are using Béaba Babycook, this is water level 3 and only use 1 teaspoon of the cooking liquid when mixing) 
3. Add the olive oil* and mix to a smooth purée.

Who says there's no time to cook for baby? Save even more time by cooking it for yourselves: we used the same ingredients for us, grilling everything on the barbecue. Summer cooking made simple, healthy and tasty.

This makes one balanced lunch for bébé. Follow with a plain yogurt for dessert and you've just covered all of your baby's needs.

*I use ZOE for Kids olive oil, specially formulated for babies, it's organic, extra virgin olive oil with a fresh  fruity flavor and comes in an aluminium tin which helps to protect it from light and heat.

Disclaimer: I am using the guidance of my wonderful Parisian pediatrician and the classic French book of Laurence Pernoud on how to raise your child. I am not a pediatrician nor a nutritionist, just a French mother sharing recipes. Always check with your own pediatrician especially if your baby has any allergies or health issues.

Don't steal! This is my own recipe, if you want to share it, please credit A la Maud.