Allrecipes – August-September 2019

ALLRECIPES.COM 44 AUG/SEPT 2019

ALSO KNOWN AS France Cevallos of

Aurora, Illinois. I grew up in Canada, in

Terrace Bay, Ontario.

MY DAY JOB I work in a police

department’s investigations unit.

MY OTHER JOBS Cooking, food

experiments, and photography

RECENT COOKING SUCCESS

Winning the Allrecipes Allstars cooking

competition. My team got a list of

ingredients (bacon, picante sauce,

green beans, and sweet potatoes) and

30 minutes to come up with a dish.

We whipped up a bacon-sweet potato

hash on a bed of sautéed green beans,

topped with a fried egg, guacamole,

and goat cheese.

My Allstars recipe cook-off

teammates (that’s Naomi Geara

Lopes in the middle with me

and Carol Castellucci-Miller).

Our recipe won!

I’m in my Chicago flag tank

at the Lincoln Park Zoo. You can

get some of the best views of the

city from here. Plus I can spend

hours watching the monkeys!

I come from a family of wine-lovers (this

is my dad, Lucien, and mom, Fernande,

at a wine tasting in Chicago). Not just

French wine, either, even though I’m

constantly introducing myself as “France,

like the country.” France is a pretty

common French-Canadian name, but here

in the U.S., some are convinced my name

must be Frances, Francis, or Francine.

“My obsessions include buying spices (I have 162 at the

moment, with a whole kitchen cabinet dedicated to them),

true-crime podcasts, thrillers, food trucks, and wine.”

WHO I COOK FOR Myself mostly,

since I live alone, but also my boyfriend,

friends, and coworkers. (They gladly

accept extras!) I also feel like I cook for

my social media followers.

FEW PEOPLE KNOW I was struck

by lightning when I was in my teens

during a camping trip.

IF I COULD HAVE A SUPERPOWER

Is eating as much as I want and not

gaining weight a superpower? Because

that would be pretty cool. Otherwise,

I’d love to be invisible.

IN MY FRIDGE RIGHT NOW Homemade

preserved lemons, gravlax, prosciutto,

and 12 types of cheese (oopsie!).

FOOD DISCOVERY THAT CHANGED

MY LIFE Sous vide cooking, especially

chicken. Yes, this is life-changing!

It makes the most juicy and tender

chicken breast you will ever eat.

KITCHEN TOOL I CAN’T LIVE

WITHOUT My Wi-Fi multiprobe meat

thermometer. It lets me monitor my

food from anywhere, set temperature

alarms, and I don’t have to worry about

over- or undercooking anything.

I COULD TELL YOU MY SECRET

RECIPE for French Canadian Tourtière

(meat pie). But then I’d have to make

you promise to invite me over every

time you made it.

WHO INSPIRES MY COOKING My

maternal grandmother. She cooked

from scratch daily for her family of

14(!), pretty much spending the whole

day and night in the kitchen. She has

influenced all the cooks in my family,

and her memory lives on in her recipes.

I love to vacation

in the Canadian

Rockies, where my

family now lives.

At right, I’m there

with my boyfriend,

Bryan, taking in

amazing views

on top of Sulphur

Mountain in Banff,

Alberta. Below,

we’re kayaking on

the Illinois River.

Cook to Follow

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