That Cookbook Thing II Tournedos Sautes Chassseur

Like the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland ..."I'm late, I'm late for a very important date". Last weekend the Cookbook Thing II (last month's entry) organized by Mike of Mel's Diner was supposed to have the gang making Julia Child's Tournedos Sautes Chasseur.

Somehow I forgot...and as the girls in the orphanage in Annie would say..."Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!" Do you think I've been watching too much tv with my little grandson? Never the less, the quotes are apt.

First, let me warn you...if you are on a budget this dish is not for you. There is a fancy grocery in town with a very good butcher, but I didn't have time to go there for the real tournedos...fancy word for filet of beef. So I went to my local grocery and spent $22 for 3 little filets mignon, thinking my Honey would need more than the one that could fit in the palm of my hand. The butcher told me they were good, but not as good as real tournedos. Can you imagine what it would have cost for the real deal? I'd need an armoured truck to carry around that much cash.

Second, this dish is rich...in more ways than just the cost of the meat. If you know Julia Child, then you know that she had a serious love affair with butter.

Now that you have been forwarned...and if you're still reading this...the meal was fantastic. Not something I'd make every day, but certainly worthy of a special occasion. And truthfully, it's not that hard to put together as long as you really mise en place (French for get all the ingredients ready before you start cooking).

The entire meal took 15 minutes to cook...much longer, frankly, to clean up all that greasy butter and oil splatter on the stove and surrounding counters.

As sides, I chose to make my Roasted Smashed Potatoes because they are unbelievably delicious and incredibly easy to make. And I also served it with sauteed baby arugula that simply took as long as it takes to wilt the leaves, toss in some crushed garlic and a dash of balsamic vinegar (3 minutes, max). The bitterness of the arugula cut the richness of the mushroom sauce that topped the steak.

That Cookbook Thing II - Poulet au Porto

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.

Poulet au Porto Vol au Vent

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.

That Cookbook Thing II - Rapee Marvandelle

Here we are at round three of 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. I love this little Julia fest, because I'm cooking dishes I normally wouldn't...too time consuming or too fattening, or both, or just off my radar.

We made Julia Child's Soupe a l'ognion for Round One and it was awesome, although the amount of butter used still boggles my mind. Round Two was Poulet au Sauce Cari (chicken in a light curry) less than spectacular, in my house anyway.

And here we are at Round Three...Rapee Marvandelle, or for us Anglos...Gratin of Potato, Onion & Ham.

First, I must say that making this dish was both easy and hard for me. Nice Jewish girls make potato kugel often, certainly for Jewish holidays, so the grating was a breeze. Once you've grated 10 or 20 pounds of potatoes...what's three measly potatoes! The challenge though is combining the "kugel" with the cheese and ham. Now anyone who follows my blog knows I'm not kosher, but there are certain things that just don't seem to go together. It's not the cheese & ham...I make tons of salads with both, and my favorite Saturday lunch is Grilled Cheese and Ham or Italian Salami sandwiches made on my Griddler...it's the mixing those with the "kugel"...because, let's face it ...a rose by any other name...is still a kugel!

But I'm a trouper, and forced myself past that point. I wanted to follow the recipe and still add my own spin to it (especially since I wasn't too fond of the curry last time, following the recipe to the letter). So I wanted to use Tuscan or Rosemary cured ham...naturally I couldn't find any, so I went with Black Forest...can't go wrong there. On to the herbs...Julia recommended parsley and/or chives and chervil. Parsley was fine, but I'm not a chervil fan...I don't know why and I didn't have any chives on hand. If I had used the rosemary cured ham, I would have added some fresh rosemary, but instead, because this dish makes me think of Fall for some reason...again, don't ask me why...I added some fresh thyme leaves.

Julia's list of ingredients also included half clove of garlic...I mean HALF???? Subtlety is not my middle name, so I used an entire clove....probably too much in hind sight.

The rest was as recommended. Somehow, I was expecting a soupier dish...I guess the word "gratin" fooled me. In fact, it had the consistency of any potato kugel I've ever made...and very tasty if I do say so.

I can't wait to see what the others think of it. Mike will be posting a round up next week...check it out. And then there's Roundup Four...Poulet au Porto...the one I've really been waiting for!

Cooking with Julia Child

I was so excited when Mike of Mel's Diner invited a bunch of us to recreate some of Julia Child's awesome dishes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. And what great company, I'll be keeping, some of my favorite foodies.... BreadChick Mary, Sara of I Like to Cook, Deborah of What's In My Kitchen? and Cooking for Five Mary.

The biggest challenge was choosing dishes. Not because there is little choice, but rather way, way, way too many. So we let Mike, our fearless leader in this tasty project, make the final choices. First up -

Soupe a l'oignon Gratinee des Trois Gourmands

Whenever I eat onion soup (and especially when I make it), I'm reminded of growing up in Montreal and eating the best onion soup anywhere. Every restaurant served a very thick, rich, dark and flavorful soup covered in a molten, stringy, salty topping of golden cheese. Sigh and drool!

Years ago I went on a tour of Europe, I was 21. In those days, there was no way my mother would let me travel alone and wander about with friends, so joining an organized tour was the only option. When we were in Paris, someone said that we HAD to go to Les Halles (the central market) at 4 a.m. when the workers were setting up and delivering foodstuff. It was the only time to eat REAL French onion soup. I was so excited, even though I could hardly keep my eyes open. Oh, if I was as interested in food then as I am now...but never mind...we ordered the soup...a very watery version of onion soup and ....SHOCK, SHOCK, SHOCK!!! no golden stringy cheese topping...no cheese or bread at all! In fact, it was more like an oniony broth, with very few onions. I'm still recovering! And naturally all I could do (over and over and over) was tell my tour mates that they all had to come to Montreal to taste the real thing.

So I'm very happy to say...Julia's version is much closer to my own...and oh, so much better! I can't believe I never tried her version before and her secrets... egg yolk, Worcestershire sauce and cognac added to the soup just before putting it in individual oven proof soup dishes, topping the oniony soup with toasted French bread and lots of grated Swiss and ...I had to add my Montreal roots...Gruyere.

I'll let you know when the roundup gets posted over at Mel's Diner. It should be sometime early next week. I just couldn't wait another day to share with you.