It's time again for That Cookbook Thing II, conceived of by Mike of Mel's Diner and enthusiastically joined by Sara of I Like to Cook, Breadchick Marye, Deborah of What's in My Kitchen?, Mary of Cooking for Five, Elle of New England Kitchen, Shaun of Winter Skies, Kitchen Aglow , Kittie of Kittens in the Kitchen and me, of course. This is round 4 with Julia's Poulet au Porto. But before the recipe....my "the dog ate my homework" story....
It's a good thing this event isn't the kind where you're expected to follow the recipe to the letter and then just describe the experience...because, well...I'm not so great at sticking to recipes exactly, especially when something IN a recipe sparks an obsession and gets me drooling.
Julia, herself will either be rolling in her grave or dancing on a cloud in heaven. First...I didn't start with her master recipe for roasted chicken. I know, horror of horrors. You can find it on page 240 of the book, but being pressed for time in the kitchen...more time to spend with my brother-in-law before he left for Toronto...I made my own standard roasted chicken that's very lemony, and I can do it blind folded. Not to mention that prep time takes less than five minutes - no reading required.
Even worse (or not, depending if you're a Julia Child purist), all that cream, all those mushrooms had me drooling for vol au vent. That, plus I was confused when it said "rapidly carve the chicken into serving pieces"...did it mean on the bone or, if you knew my Honey...just the meat?
So, what can I say...the rebel in me won out and I made this very tasty adaptation.
But then, isn't the whole point of this particular book to get comfortable with the basic French cooking techniques and make them your own. That's my story, anyway, and I'm sticking to it! And dinner...well, everyone at the table loved it.
3 comments:
Ruth I think that looks and sounds absolutely fantastic! I can't wait to make it this week.
Like we said in the beginning, this little thing of ours is nothing if not flexible - it looks wonderful! Great take on the Julia dish.
Sara, Mike, glad you like it. I wouldn't want to get fired from the Julia club for taking such liberties, but it was worth the chance.
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