I think Joe licked the plate clean on this recipe.
This was inspired by one of my favorite shows, Master Chef. After making this dish, I can say that those chefs knew what they were doing. I saw all the important steps and I was impressed.
This was the first time I made Hollandaise sauce from scratch. This compared to the mock sauce made of mayonnaise, well, I'll never make the mock sauce again. It wasn't hard and well worth it
What was hard was the eggs. Poaching eggs to perfection, so Chef Ramsey wouldn't throw me out of his show was my goal. It took me a week and about a dozen eggs to get it right. Secret: Boil water, dip eggs (in shell) for 10 seconds. Lower heat to a simmer and carefully crack egg into water (close to the water, no splashes) and time 4 minutes. PERFECT! You want the yolk to ooze out when you cut into it, not too runny, and definately not hard. That will end your Master Chef wanna be career.
It was so good, I may need to run to the hospital for a cholecystectomy with all the butter used. But... it was needed!
Translation: Cream of Mushroom Soup
WOW.....
Who knew making your own cream of mushroom soup would be heavenly. Coming from the can soup is what I'm used to, so the consistency is a little different. This is more thinner, not thick at all. It's also not for the clogged artery club either. I limited Joe to 1 cup. Lots of real cream, real butter, and more butter. My tongue is coated. I don't think I'll be making this again, it's really rich. Secret in the soup: 2 egg yolks. Ahhhhh, cholesterol. Glad mine is only 89! Genetics.
Translation: Chicken pieces poached in white wine, herbs, and aromatic vegetables.
Literally, Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!
WOW! What a great taste sensation. This uses common ingredients, except for the white wine, had to buy a bottle at Walmart. I think I'm getting used to buying bottles of cooking wine, I wasn't as mortified this time around.
The best ingredient....BUTTER! I'd add more vegetables next time, the daughters preferred boneless chicken pieces. I did buy a stewing chicken as Julia prescribed, then had to "trim it", not a fan. I like my chicken already cut into pieces and skin and fat taken off. Everything baked in my purple dutch oven, so vogue.
Would I make it again, yep. The combination of tastes were really good!
It's a winner!
One main thing that this experiment is teaching me is that having the right tools to cook with is most important. This purple casserole/dutch oven is a main character. I got it for my birthday at Sams, $39. There's a bright red one at Target for $59. Purple is great.
This recipe uses red wine. Trying to buy wine caused great stress for this good Mormon girl! I was about to go into Sam's liquor department and buy a bottle... in BOULDER. I ended up going to Safeway and buying a bottle of cooking red wine. I had approximately 10 minutes from the time I got home to when I had to leave to take a daughter to the doctor's. I made everyone help do a part of this dish, popped it into the oven for 3 hours and off we went for a strep test.
Oh my holy heck! First your house smells this wafting aroma of beef, bacon, mushrooms, onions, and wine (I guess that's the smell I was smelling). Second, the taste was indescribable. Savory. Mouth watering. Tender. Get the picture? I served it up with french bread toasted with olive oil and hot buttered noodles. How can I ever make beef stew again without using this recipe?
This is my first recipe made from Julia Child's Cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1. A simple omelet. Filled with a saute of mushrooms, onions, and Swiss cheese. It really was easy to make, the secret was getting the olive oil hot enough so that the eggs would not stick. Then, slip the omelet out of the pan and onto a buttered baking dish. Add whipped cream, grated Swiss cheese and melted butter. Pop that into a oven with the broiler on high and let the cheese melt and get a little toasty.
Can I say that I'm glad no one in my family was around, so I didn't have to share. It was an unbelievably a part of heaven. Who would've thought to add more butter with whipped cream.
I loved this movie with Amy Adams and Meryl Streep. I grew up watching Julia Childs on PBS, my own little girl opinions were, "How can anyone watch this drunken woman cook?". But, she captivated and fascinated me and I did watch, and I don't think she was drunk.
After watching the movie, I vowed to buy Julia's cookbooks and do the same thing as Julie. Who doesn't want to learn how to cook like a master chef? I mean, Hell's Kitchen is one of my favorite shows! I went to Barnes and Noble to buy my birthday present last month, but each of her cookbooks was $30 (volumes 1 and 2, paperback!) And then, I walked by the clearance rows of books. There sitting front and center was a blue gift box with a pretty flourish on the front, no words. I walked by and didn't look inside the gift box. After spending an hour, trying to decide if I should buy this $30 paper back cookbook, I went back and looked inside the blue gift box. It was a set of both volumes of Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" hardbound and best yet, the set was only $25. I bought all that they had, 2 sets. It was meant to be. It almost feels like my mom was guiding me to the book, we were both fans.
I can promise as I go thru these books, I won't be doing aspics, calves brains, fish, truffles, lobster, or anything gross.
The title of this blog is a quote in the cookbook and my daughter's and I laughed, "What an oxymoron! Of course you need butter!" Bon Appetite!
I think Joe licked the plate clean on this recipe.
