JULIE AND JULIA – OK

Last night we went to see a movie. I saw Julie and Julia and my hubby saw GI Joe I think. It was a pretty good movie. We haven’t been to a movie for ages.
In the morning I did some messages and then I picked up my ex DIL and her son(my grandson) to bring them to the trailer. They spent a couple of hours and then we took them to the airport. They went to Florida to see her father.
I must check to see if I have her cookbook and try her recipes. 
We are here for the weekend. I brought with my sewing machine. I finished the front of my quilt. I just need to figure out what to do with the back. I am not sure if I will get one piece of fabric or sew some 6 inch squares together. I will go to the quilt store tomorrow for their opinion.

 VICTORIA – In the new movie Julie & Julia, Julie Powell cooks all the recipes in Julia Child’s book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and blogs about the experience.

Many of the recipes require lots of preparation, such as beef bourguignon, prominently featured in the film and described as beef stew in red wine with bacon, onion and mushrooms.

Sounds pretty straightforward, but as you read on, you’ll learn that’s not the case. As I chopped, seared, sauteed, braised and, of course, cleaned the night away, I got a taste of the epic challenge Powell took on.

To make beef bourguignon, the first step is choosing beef suitable for stewing. Child says you could use sirloin tip or bottom round, but her top choice is rump roast. You can buy cubed stewing beef at the supermarket, but it will be made from various cuts, so I bought a rump roast and cubed it myself and thought Child would approve.

Child says, before cooking, it’s important that you pat the meat dry or it won’t brown properly, as any moisture on it will cause it to steam, rather than sear.

The cooking of beef bourguignon starts by sauteing stick-shaped pieces of bacon, called lardoons (LAHR-don) in French, until brown. Child asks that you cut the lardoons from slab bacon, which my supermarket didn’t have. I didn’t have time to run to another store, so I used thick, sliced bacon instead. When making that decision, I could envision Powell running all over New York searching for ingredients to make Child’s other recipes, such as – where am I going to find that – calf’s brains.

When the bacon is cooked, it’s removed from the pot and oil is added to the bacon fat. When both are smoking hot, the beef is browned in batches. If you cook too much at once, it won’t brown properly, as the cooking vessel will cool down and not effectively sear the meat.

The seared meat is set with the bacon, and onion and carrots are browned in the pot. The meat and bacon are returned and flour stirred in. Now the cooking vessel goes in a hot oven for eight minutes. This process browns the flour and coats the meat with a light crust.

An entire bottle of wine gets stirred in, along with beef stock and flavourings. The whole works is covered and cooked in a low oven until the meat is very tender.

While the meat cooks, more preparation is required, namely the separate sauteing of mushrooms and pearl onions, the latter also being braised in stock with herbs.

Child warns that when you saute the mushrooms, don’t try to cook too many at once, or, like the meat, they’ll steam rather than saute and brown.

When the beef is tender, the stewing liquid is strained from the pot into a saucepan. The pot the beef was cooked in is cleaned, the beef is returned to it and the mushrooms and onions added. The liquid is then simmered until thick enough to very lightly coat a spoon. The liquid is poured over the beef, the dish simmered a few minutes, and then, finally, it is ready, after a garnish of parsley, that is.

If all that sounds like a lot of work, it was, but I enjoyed the process of dutifully going through each step and after one taste I knew it was worth the effort.

If you make the dish, consider making it the day before, as suggested in today’s recipe and reheating it. That way, you can get yourself, and all the pots, cleaned up and have a fabulous dinner waiting for you the next day.

Its flavour will be even more delicious as the ingredients meld together in the refrigerator.

Will this kind of elaborate cooking catch on again? I’m not sure, but, thanks to the movie Julie & Julia, it appears it will in the short term.

Mastering the Art of French Cooking, published almost 50 years ago, is at the top of Amazon’s bestsellers list.