RED MEAT!
For Lent, this year, I gave up red meat, I’m slightly anemic so it was kind of a big decision; but to be clear not a huge sacrifice. Up until about 2 weeks ago, I was doing ok, then out of the clear blue sky I started smelling meat everywhere. And that’s when things started to get difficult, I’d go to the local pharmacy, smell grilled burgers from the cowboy bar across the street and my stomach began to growl. Thankfully before I could give into temptation Easter arrived and I had Pot Roast. Specifically Trisha Yearwood’s Roast Beef with Gravy. I followed the recipe exactly as it appears on the website. And it turned out so well, that I may only ever make pot roast this way again.
Happy Birthday Julia!
Today would have been Julia Child’s 100th birthday.
In addition to adding Bob Spitz new biography, Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child to my reading list. I plan to celebrate later this weekend with a good glass of wine, bree and good bread. In the meantime, let’s reminisce on my own Julie & Julia moment when I had to set food on fire. (Repost below)
Sunday, February 20, 2011
OMG… I have to set it on FIRE!!!!
Ok, that’s a slight exaggeration, the recipe actually states “Add the Cognac, stand back, and ignite with a match to burn off the alcohol;” but still it’s fire and no matter how you cut it eyebrows are important. But that’s exactly what I said to myself after reading and re-reading Ina Garten’s Beouf Bourguignon’s recipe, mind you I took a copy of the recipe with me to the store to do the shopping. Once I finally read the recipe the whole why through I got what intimidates me about French food – in the words of Cee Lo: it’s an Xbox and I’m an ATARI. I’m a far from classically trained home cook whose style is more Nigella than Cat Cora, my friends that have seen me cook can and will tell you that I’m organized chaos. I rarely follow a recipe exactly as written; and yesterday’s first attempt at French food was no exception. Although I did try to stick fairly close, after taking a shot for courage I begin. Overall the cooking process was fairly smooth, Ina’s a great recipe writer so that upped my confidence level even when it came time to set the Cognac on fire. Start to finish it took me about 4 ½ hours to make and I actually ended up ordering a pizza for dinner, but the little taste I had was good. I’ll let you know for sure how it turned out later after my parents and I have it for dinner today.
Update/Post Script: Mom & I both agree next time, less wine. It’s not inedible, but the wine overpowers more than either of us think it should. Also, I need to use beef stock instead of veggie stock - which I substituted because veggie stock came in 4 pack with 4 individual 1 cup containers.
So there you have it my first attempt a French food: no one died from the food and I didn’t set the house on fire from the cooking. And now I know what adjustments to make for my Beouf Bourguignon. At mom’s request the next dish I try will be French Onion Soup.
