On my reading list
Welcome 2014
This year, more attention will be given to cooking, painting & reading.
Sometimes in life things find you. In November 2013, I watched Julie & Julia on television, a movie that I have previously seen when it initially came out a few years ago about Julia Child, played by Meryl Streep and Julia Powell, played by Amy Adams. Powell, a blogger turned author, rose to fame as she aspired to cook all of Child's recipes within a year from Child's famous book Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I thought the movie was cute but that a project of such magnitude was highly ambitious and that I could never have the time nor the patience to do it. A few days later, I was buying Christmas presents at Home Sense and saw that Mastering the Art of French Cooking, both Volumes 1 and 2 were being sold for around $50 (the set retail price starts at $85) and felt that this was a sign and ended up purchasing the set.
I will not attempt to make all of the recipes from the set but felt inspired to make more of an effort with cooking and actually learn how to make a few traditional French dishes. Along the way, I have found many great websites related to cooking (I love the Gourmand Mom website) and started reading books about cooking, Child and French cuisine that I enjoy so much that I cannot put down.
The first dish that I made from my newly acquired Julia Child book Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1 has been the classic and much blogged about boeuf bourguignon. The second time that I made the beef stew, I made minor alterations to the original recipe by reducing the amount of wine and beef stock that I used. Instead of 3 cups of wine and 2 to 3 cups of beef stock, I used 2 cups of wine and 1 cup of beef stock. The result was a more dense sauce, as opposed to the initial beef stew that I made.
Sometimes in life things find you. In November 2013, I watched Julie & Julia on television, a movie that I have previously seen when it initially came out a few years ago about Julia Child, played by Meryl Streep and Julia Powell, played by Amy Adams. Powell, a blogger turned author, rose to fame as she aspired to cook all of Child's recipes within a year from Child's famous book Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I thought the movie was cute but that a project of such magnitude was highly ambitious and that I could never have the time nor the patience to do it. A few days later, I was buying Christmas presents at Home Sense and saw that Mastering the Art of French Cooking, both Volumes 1 and 2 were being sold for around $50 (the set retail price starts at $85) and felt that this was a sign and ended up purchasing the set.
I will not attempt to make all of the recipes from the set but felt inspired to make more of an effort with cooking and actually learn how to make a few traditional French dishes. Along the way, I have found many great websites related to cooking (I love the Gourmand Mom website) and started reading books about cooking, Child and French cuisine that I enjoy so much that I cannot put down.
The first dish that I made from my newly acquired Julia Child book Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1 has been the classic and much blogged about boeuf bourguignon. The second time that I made the beef stew, I made minor alterations to the original recipe by reducing the amount of wine and beef stock that I used. Instead of 3 cups of wine and 2 to 3 cups of beef stock, I used 2 cups of wine and 1 cup of beef stock. The result was a more dense sauce, as opposed to the initial beef stew that I made.
Prepping prior to browning the beef with some of the ingredients I used
Prior to adding the wine, beef stock, thyme, bay leaf and tomato sauce
Sautee of the pearl onions and mushrooms
After 2.5 hours of simmer prior to discarding the white onions and carrots
Bon appetit!
Also made buttered pasta and cucumber salad to go along with the boeuf
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)