Weekends with Julia ~ Potage Parmentier

It has been awhile since we have posted any of our Julia recipes or made any for that matter. We have a couple that we have been meaning to post, but just have not got around to it. So, finally I am taking the time to do just that...post.

The two recipes I have made so far have been sweet, so I decided to try something savory. Leek or Onion and Potato soup. This soup was quite good. Three of us liked it anyway. The texture was very smooth, and it had a wonderful potato flavor. It was definitely a light soup. I could see making this for lunch or Sunday night dinner. It was also very easy to make, which is a plus in my book. I made some small changes, basically to cut back on the fat. I would make this again, it was a nice light and tasty soup. I also took it to work for lunch a few times and it was great.

Potage Parmentier

3 to 4 cups peeled potatoes, sliced or diced

3 cups thinly sliced leeks, white and light green parts

2 quarts of water

1 Tbs. kosher salt

1 tbs. cream

5 tbs. 2% milk

1 tbs. butter

Simmer the vegetables, water, and salt together, partially covered for 40 to 50 minutes until the vegetables are tender. In batches puree the soup in a blender. Be careful, because hot liquids expand. I usually fill my blender half full, but like I said please be careful. Check the seasoning, add more salt if needed. Pour the soup back into the pot. Stir in the cream, milk, and butter. Serve warm. For a little something special add a small bit of butter in each individual bowl.

Enjoy!

Rachel

Weekends with Julia ~ Beef and Onions braised in beer

Carbonnades a la Flamade

(Beef and Onions Braised in Beer)

This last week I decided for our Weekends with Julia experiment that I wanted some comfort food (Big surprise, huh?. If given the choice of comfort food vs. dessert. Dessert doesn't have a chance with me).

Comfort food that includes beer as an ingredient is just an added bonus. This was a slightly tedious but relatively easy recipe and really good, if not better the second or third day. I found that the slightly bitter beer flavor was a little too strong on the day it was put together but mellowed out after a day or so in the fridge.

I made relatively few modifications so I will give you the recipe and give most of the credit to Julia. If you can read and follow directions, you can make this recipe. As always I think that if get inspired to put your own stamp on it, don't be afraid. I could have seen carrots or mushrooms in this dish very easily. I think next time I will give carrots a go.

One more thing... This is a great one pot dish (that was my major difference with Julia's recipe) as long as the pot can be used on stove top as well as oven.

3lbs of chuck roast cut in to 2 in cubes

3tbls rendered bacon fat

1 stove top dutch oven (a nice Le Creuset comes to mind ;)

Brown the meat on medium high heat... Take as long as you need and do in multiple batches to get a good brown because the browning is what makes it taste good. As each batch finishes put it in a large bowl or plate with a rim. All of the juices that collect will be used later in the recipe so try to collect as much as possible. :)

6cups of sliced onions

4cloves of garlic - diced

Salt

Pepper

Preheat the oven to 325.

Cut the onions in half and remove the dry skin and slice. When the last of the meat has been browned, remove and place the onions in the same pot and allow the onions to sweat. The liquid from the onions will allow you to scrape some bits from the bottom. After the onions have had a chance to brown (about 10 mins), make a little open space in the middle of the pot and let the garlic cook for about a minute. Season with salt and pepper and remove from the pot.

1 cup Beef Broth

3 cups light beer (Pilsner)

2tbls brown sugar

Herb bouquet (bay leaf, thyme, oregano, and whatever you have fresh and/or like)

Heat the pot to high and add the beef broth, beer, and brown sugar (say that fast 3 times) and scrap up as much 'stuff' as you can. Add back into the pot half of the beef. Add half of the onions and then repeat the layers one more time. Cover the pot and put in the lower half of the preheated oven for 2.5 hours.

1 1/2 Tbls Cornstarch

2Tbls Wine Vinegar

Just before the roast is ready to come out of the oven make a 'roux' with the cornstarch and wine vinegar (ie. mix them together to a light paste). Take the pot out of the oven, place on the stove and heat on high heat. Whisk in the cornstarch and vinegar mixture and bring to a boil. Boil for about 2mins whisking/stirring constantly.

Turn off the heat as the sauce begins to thicken and let rest until time for dinner or lunch or supper or whatever you want to call it.

Weekends with Julia ~ Babas au Rhum

I knew I wanted to make a dessert, but couldn't decide what. I said to Brian, "pick something." This doesn't always work in my favor, but I couldn't make a decision. He choose Babas au Rhum. Great I thought...yeast. I'm really trying to overcome my fear of yeast, but it still makes me nervous. I have made a couple of batches of cinnamon rolls and I even tried my hand at Brioche with pretty good results. It still intimidates me though. Well looking closer at this recipe I noticed it called for fresh yeast. I didn't have fresh yeast, so I decided to combine Julia's recipe with Ina Garten's. The recipes were pretty similar, with differences when it came to measurements. Basically you mix yeast, butter, eggs, sugar, flour, and salt together. You let it rise for about an hour. Then you put it in a pan. Ina suggests a five-cup tube pan. Julia recommends a popover pan or muffin tins that are 2-inches deep and 2 inches in diameter. I used a regular muffin tin. You then let it rise again for another 1-2 hours. Mine rose in about 15-30 minutes. I should have baked them then but I thought I needed to wait the whole hour. The next time I checked on them they had collapsed a bit. This didn't seem to be a problem though. I baked them for about 15 minutes and they seemed fine. Next time though I would bake them as soon as they rise. You then let them cool down until they are warm. While they are cooling you make the rum syrup which is basically a sugar syrup with Jamaican rum. Then you let the syrup also cool down you want it to be warm but not hot. You then put the Babas in a shallow dish and poke holes in their puffed tops. Then pour the syrup over them and let them stand for 30 minutes, basting frequently. You want them to be moist and spongy but still hold their shape. Then drain on a rack for another 30 minutes. After this step you make an apricot glaze and brush that over the babas and serve.

The nice thing about this recipe is that you can freeze the babas ahead of time and then thaw them and soak in syrup. This would be nice for a party.

I'm not for sure if I would make these again. They had a very strong rum flavor! The kids were excited to try these, but the rum flavor was too much for them. If you don't like the taste of rum, you probably won't care for them. Brian and I thought they were pretty good. I would probably cook the alcohol a little bit to take away the bite next time and maybe add some vanilla to the syrup. In another version Julia serves it with berries and creme chantilly. I think that would be really good and go over better. I'm still really glad I made it. Julia is an amazing teacher, and really takes the intimidation out of French cooking. Here is Ina Garten's recipe if you are interested. Happy cooking!

Have a great weekend!

Next week...Brian posts on Carbonnades a la Flamande (Beef and Onions braised in beer.)

Take care,

Rachel

Weekends with Julia ~ Soupe Au Pistou

Soupe Au Pistou (Soup of "Kings" )
by Julia Child (an adaptation by Brian )

I was drawn to this particular recipe by the ingredients (and the fact that it was 'wicked' cold out when I was contemplating making it). I also recognized the word "pistou" as having a Greek meaning so I was intrigued. I studied Greek in college and occasionally words that find their origin in Greek catch my eye.

As far as this particular recipe's changes are concerned, I will readily admit that I am more of a "Chunky Soup" vs. a regular (Campbells) soup guy. My alterations are generally meant to make the soup more hearty. In addition, I tend to favor flavors that I like and discard those I don't (I am selfish, I know:).

The results of this particular recipe were especially good. This is probably due to the fact that I didn't alter the recipe too much to my tastes. It makes a lot of soup so be prepared to freeze it in portions for use later in the winter when the temperature dips below zero (hopefully this NEVER happens to you).

Ingredients:

3 quarts water
3 cups each diced: Carrots, potatoes, onions (I increased these from the original and did more of a rough chop vs. dice)
1 tbs salt

Boil the ingredients above slowly for roughly 40 minutes.

2 cups diced fresh green beans
2 14oz. cans Great Northern Beans
1 tsp. pepper

20 minutes prior to serving add the ingredients above and boil slowly for 15 min. Test for salt and seasoning. In the original recipe, broken spaghetti and a slice of stale bread is added. I skipped this step because I knew that if I added the pasta or bread the longevity of the soup might be lessened (soggy bread and over cooked pasta don't appeal to me from a left-over standpoint).

While the above is cooking, prepare the "pistou". Blend the ingredients into a paste in an electric chopper or food processor.

4-6 cloves mashed garlic (I love garlic and almost always double it. Dial this back if you want or if you are scared;).
6 tbs. Tomato paste (I don't normally like tomato paste in anything but it was acceptable in this recipe and actually surprisingly good.)
1/4 cup fresh Basil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup olive oil

When the "pistou" paste is ready, whisk slowly into the soup and simmer for 15 min. to allow the flavors to blend. Adjust seasoning accordingly ( i.e. add salt if you are a salt-aholic like my lovely wife or pepper if you are spice freak like me).

I am sure you will like this soup. If you have a particular vegetable that you really like and you think that it would be good in it, add it. You really can't screw it up. Just keep in mind that heartier vegetables (cauliflower) need more time to cook than dainty ones (spinach) and add the more delicate ones later in the process ;)

Bon Appetite.

Weekends with Julia~Crepes

It has been a rough week around here. Isn't it always difficult to get back into the swing of things after break!?!? As my former supervisor in admissions used to say "re-entry is hard." To make matters worse, it has been terribly cold here. Due to the weather, I have been dropping Brian off at the bus stop in the mornings. This means, I need to get up earlier, and start my routine. It is just way too cold, dark, and slippery for him to walk those six blocks. He says he doesn't mind, but I insist. Katie said, I had dark circles under my eyes this morning. That is what concealer is for sweetheart...it would help if I remembered to put it on! And on top of it all, I'm have been working on a huge project at work! I have roughly a week to complete it. This wouldn't be so bad if I worked full time, but I work about 20 hours a week. I usually don't work on Fridays, but guess where I will be. I might even need to come in on Saturday! Well at least it is Friday, but really I can't wait for Tuesday.

Tonight we are getting together with my sisters and their families for chili. I'm looking forward to relaxing and laughing with them. It is something I have been looking forward to during this long week.

On a complete different subject, let me introduce "Weekends with Julia." When Brian and I were first married we attended seminary out east. On our campus was a small building called the Give and Take. The name sums it up well. People were allowed to take anything they wanted, and were able to give as well. It worked out well as you can imagine, because people were moving in and out. I always headed to the books, hoping that I would find a great cookbook. I was doing plenty of deep theological thinking...I needed something to do in the kitchen. On one particular visit, I found volume 1 and 2 of Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck. I really didn't know what I had found, but I remember watching Julia Child on television as a child, and knew that she made a huge impact on the culinary world. Well, I'm embarrassed to say those two books have sat on our cookbook shelf and really not been used much. So we talked about making one recipe from volume 1 each weekend throughout the year. Now, this is no Julie and Julia project. We might miss some weekends, and really we are just doing this for fun, because we like to cook. We thought you might enjoy our adventures with Julia so we will blog about our creations.

I decided for the first recipe to try French Pancakes better known as Crepes, or Pate A Crepes (Crepe batter).
Our whole family loved these! I was a little concerned that Katie wouldn't care for them because she isn't into eggy flavored pancakes. She thought they were great, and even helped make some on her own. You can make the batter the night before, which I would encourage. I made these on a Saturday morning and you must let the batter rest up to two hours, needless to say we were all rather hungry by the time they were all finished. We used a variety of fillings. Raspberry preserves, nutella, bananas, syrup, and powdered sugar. We will add these to our Saturday morning breakfast repertoire for sure. Thanks Julia!

Next week, Brian's up. That's right friends, mr. amazing will be reporting on Soupe Au Pistou (Provencal Vegetable Soup with Garlic, Basil and Herbs).

Have a great weekend friends! Stay warm and cozy!

xoxo
Rach