Mastering the Art

Well I finally did it. I finally bought my own copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I had been hoping to find an old copy in a used book store but after searching the last few years and coming up empty handed I decided to break down and get my own copy. I will continue to search for an older version and will buy it just for collectors sake but I am excited to begin making my own food memories with my copy starting now. One thing I love about this cookbook is that you have a forward from Julia the gives the story of how the cookbook came to life. Each recipe has wine pairing recommendations and also suggestions on what sides would pair well with an entree recipe.

My first recipes attempted were the Roast Chicken and Garlic Mashed Potatoes. Amazing!  The chicken took a bit longer to cook than was described in the recipe guidelines but it was possibly the juiciest chicken I have ever cooked. The seasoning was just salt and butter. I put a dash of pepper on at the last minute for my pepper loving other-half but that was my only variation. I had never cooked a chicken on its side but I am convinced this is the reason the breast meat was delectably juicy. As a lover of dark meat this was pleasant surprise.

The Potatoes were also a hit. Garlicky without being overwhelming. Since it is just the two of us I only made half the recipe so only used one head of garlic as opposed to two. I found it so interesting that you made a rue of sorts from the garlic and butter then added that to the potatoes after mashing. The were creamy and silky goodness. Definitely a new recipe to keep in the lineup.

Now to master the art of food photography! That is one on 2015 goals, to take some more photography classes to go along with all the wonderful camera equipment my honey keeps getting me! :) These photos were taken with my Christmas Tamron SP AF60mm lens and my Cannon Rebel.

Coq au Vin

I was feeling like I needed some really good cooking time.  I have a new job and it has been keeping me crazy busy lately. So busy that cooking has become, "fix whatever is easy and fast".  Not fun adventurous cooking. So, I decided to take on another famous Julia Child recipe, Coq au Vin. My first Julia recipe was Beef Bouguignon. 


I popped in Julie and Julia just before I started cooking for some extra inspiration! :)

This is the recipe that I used. I changed it up a bit based on another blog I saw when I was looking for the recipe and I dredged my boneless skinless breasts and thighs in flour before I browned them. Other than that I stayed true to the recipe. Even down to the flambéing. It was the first time I had ever done it and I have to say I was a bit scared and almost didn't do it for fear of burning down our rental house! But I did it, and it really wasn't that bad. It was fun!

So here is how it went.

Browning the bacon after it had been boiled to remove the excess salt and smokiness.

Waiting to be braised.

A bigger Le Crueset pot is on my wish list. But this worked OK.

Adding the bacon before covering and cooking for 10 minutes.

Blanched Pearl onions.  (Cook the onions in boiling water for 1 minute then place in cold water.)
This was the first time I had done this and it worked so well for peeling that I will
continue to do this from here on out when working with Pearl onions.

Perfect

Browned in olive oil and then simmered in a water bath.

Browned in olive oil and butter.

The chicken after cooking in the wine mixture for 30 minutes and the mushrooms.

3 Tbsp flour and 2 Tbsp butter, mashed together to create a paste of sorts. I then added some of the wine
mixture to it and whisked it together so that it was more of a liquid before adding it to the reduced wine.

Reducing the wine mixture before adding the flour and butter mixture.

Perfection.
As it is traditionally served over egg noodles that it what we ate it with.
The one thing my boyfriend and I agreed on was that it needed a tad more pepper but was otherwise a wonderful dish.
I am planning on serving the leftovers with potatoes tomorrow evening.

This was a fun dish to make and surprisingly simple. I will make this again. The only thing I will do different is have the mushrooms and the onions prepped a bit earlier. Those 30 minutes that the chicken cooks go by really fast. I think it would be easier to make sure they all finish cooking about the same time if they were prepped and ready beforehand. Oh, and the gravy is amazing.... Give it a try! :)


Bon appetit.

Beef Bouguignon

Not just any Beef Bouguignon, Julia Child's Beef Bouguignon.  My boyfriend pointed out later in the night that I had made sure our favorite meat guy, at Dave's Meats and Produce, knew that I was making Julia Child's recipe.  He was familiar with it and said "Oh, it is great".  He even recommended the wine that I use for it, Distant Bay Cabernet Sauvignon.  I think it was a good recommendation because the food was amazing.

I was looking to recreate the food from one of my favorite movies, Julie and Julia.  I was feeling adventurous and happy with the beautiful fall day that it was yesterday and I wanted to make something hardy and fally.  So I checked off all the ingredients we had in the house and made a list of the ones we didn't.  Then we set off to get the remaining ingredients and enjoy the day at the same time.  We stopped at my favorite cake place and picked out some amazing cupcakes to-go. Then it was off to Dave's Meats for some chunk bacon.  I figured it was the best place to find it, and the best quality bacon around.  But alas, they did not have any so I settled for their thick cut bacon instead.  It worked fine.  After that we headed to our absolute favorite market ever, way too expensive to shop at on a normal basis, but where we love to go on occasion to splurge and dream of having enough money not to have to splurge when going there.  Then it was off to one of our favorite happy hour spots for cheap but yummy food to tide us over until the beef bouguignon would be finished.  Boy I am glad we did.

Did I mention I was trying to recreate the recipe from the movie, Julie and Julia?  Well, I did.  Right down to the staying up late waiting for it to get done but minus the falling asleep and having it burn.  Yeah.  Turns out I should have read the WHOLE recipe before I started.  It has to simmer slowly in the oven for 3-4 HOURS!  Holy cow!  I didn't even start until 6 o'clock or so.  I just saw the cooking time to be over 120 mins. Ok, over 2 hours, in my mind I was thinking "that's not bad we will just have a late dinner around 9 or so".  Not bad, it is the weekend, and we just had a light meal at happy hour.  I just about laughed myself silly when I got to the part about simmering for 3-4 hours.  But there was no turning back at that point.  I cracked open another bottle of wine (the first one went into the stew, yes the WHOLE bottle.  I have never used a whole bottle of wine in one recipe, let alone dumping it in all at the same time!) and settled in for the wait.  Though as you will see in the recipe if you read it, you have to brown some pearl onions and mushrooms while you are waiting.  Which is OK because if you have ever cooked with pearl onions you know how long they take to peel.  I love them but boy I hate peeling them. **Anyone have a trick for peeling them??

I let it simmer for 3 hours and the meat was tender and amazing when I pulled it out.  As the recipe says, if the sauce it too thin once you pour it through the sieve then boil it down rapidly.  I had to do this but it was worth the wait.  The sauce was rich and full of flavor.  I was amazed at how little salt was needed for this recipe.  I am usually a big salt fan but I tried to follow the recipe as it was written and as much work goes into the dish it is actually made from some rather simple ingredients.  I like that.  Simple made fabulous.

We ate it with nothing on the side.  It didn't need anything else.  Tonight though, I am going to serve the leftovers with some boiled potatoes from my garden, I can't wait.  It was 12 am by the time I closed up the kitchen for the night.  One other good thing about having a dish that takes so long to make, you can clean the kitchen while you wait, so no dirty dishes all over to clean up once you eat.  Perfect.

The recipe says it is difficult but I would say it is tedious and takes patience.  It is not a recipe for those who like to throw things together fast but it is perfect for those foodies that love the art of cooking and creating in the kitchen. Those who love the adventure of cooking and can't wait to taste the fruits of your labor at the end.  Happy cooking my fellow foodies!!  Here's to long nights and good wine!

Just after it came out of the oven.  The sauce has been poured off and it boiling down to thicken and the pearl onions and mushrooms have been added on top.
If I ever make this again, which I think I will, I am going to add another carrot and some more pearl onions. They were amazing, buttery and sweet.
You have all the time in the world to peel them so why not?

The finished product with the rich wine reduction poured back over top.  You have to try it for yourself.
It is well worth the wait.