Week 3: French Onion Soup and Crepes

This week we were entertaining for lunch... and my "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" recipe book had not yet arrived. So back to you-tube to see what Julia had to offer on her cooking show.
I had contemplated the roast chicken and frozen chocolate mousse however this required having the needle for trussing and the right type of mould for the mousse. In absence of having a full fledged kitchen supply shop close to work (probably just as well) I suddenly became obsessed with checking out second hand and charity shops for cooking gear. I did purchase for 10 cents knitting needles I could use in place of a trussing needle. However I parked the chicken and chocolate mousse for another day as I believe that the stress of getting that organised for a lunch was too much for me (and the family) for a Saturday morning.

Back to the luncheon... my menu selection was to be French Onion Soup as the first course, followed by savoury crepes. This proved to be a good combination because you had to constantly watch the onions cook through the two stage approach, which you could do at the same time you made the crepes.
There were two high anxiety moments this week. Firstly after adding the red wine to the soup it smelled terribly and the colour looked putrid.... however following Julia's advice I let it simmer slowly and it all turned out in the end.
Second anxiety moment was making the crepes... by the time I had (semi) perfected the art of making  a crepe I had gone through 1/2 the mixture. This was much to the delight of eldest daughter, who loves pancakes and was quite happy to eat the disintegrated little messes her mother made - albeit one that went to the chickens. I had considered making a Gateau de Crepes, however I abandoned that challenge for another day and focused on having the "conviction" to toss the crepe.
Paul and Caroline were our guests for the day and Caroline (who is a great cook) said that the French Onion Soup tasted like what a French Onion Soup should - now that I consider a win!
I need to work on my crepe making skills - there was a crepe booth in Manners street in Wellington where a French couple made the most amazing crepes... maybe I could go and work with them for a day!... Not that I am going anywhere soon, because guess what just arrived in the post.....

 

Hmm... a bit holey

Chicken food!

Ready for the oven

Paul and Caroline

The tasting begins

Guess what arrived in the post?

Week 2: Boeuf Bourguignon and La Tarte Tatin

Courtesy of Book Depository I am in eager anticipation of the arrival of the 50th Anniversary hard back edition of Julia Childs "Mastering the Art of French Cooking"... it has the entire 524 recipes... that will keep me busy for a while! 40% off (I am saving money!) at the price of $54.29. Meanwhile the fun has begun... and no better way to start off with the signatory dish of Boeuf Bourguignon and La Tarte Tatin.


You know that you are getting obsessed when you:
- wake up in a cold sweet fretting about what you could possibly cook your La Tarte Tatin in
- say to your family in conversation that "Julia told me..." and unless she has visited me from the spirit world that would be pretty much impossible
- keep to purchasing chuck steak despite porterhouse only being marginally more in price, because that was in the recipe
- undertaking a research project on the qualities of NZ apples to ensure the right apple was selected
for the La Tarte Tatin
- purchasing (investing in) a new casserole pot and a French Skillet pan
- watch the original filmed episodes of the Julia Child programmes at least 3 times each (I did have to get the recipe from them)
- your children tell you that you ARE obsessed (quote from Caroline)

After running around getting the ingredients and purchasing new equipment in the morning, pretty much of the day was dedicated to food preparation and then eating. Of course there was the mandatory "I can't possibly cook in this mess" manic clean up and then food preparation commenced at 2pm.

I can confidently report that the evening was a great success. My tasting crew of my parents, Jamie and the girls all gave it the thumbs up, with my father even reporting it was good (not just alright), my mother saying it was better than any similar dish she has had in France (and of course that is without daughter favouritism) and Caroline ate it (we starved her before hand giving a better chance of eating anything that was put in front of her).

Imke was the chief photographer and has captured the photographic evidence... even the high anxiety moment of the unmoulding of the La Tarte Tatin.

If you want a giggle... look at the you tube clip of Julia Child cooking La Tarte Tatin and when unmoulding goes wrong... it is refreshingly down to earth and gives you permission to adapt and carry on even when things don't quite go the way you wanted.

Week 1: The DVD

"Mum's gone nuts!" - is how I have just been described from my eldest teenage daughter who I completely depend on to navigate around this blog site.
Inspired by watching the Julie and Julia movie (thanks to the loan of the DVD from the neighbours) I am on a quest. The movie was released  6 years ago, so I am slightly behind the times where I am sure like minded individuals sought to improve their culinary skills as well as get the chance to try out blogging.

My aim is to incorporate at least one new inspired Julia Child idea a week focusing on Frence cuisine.(I am widening this to a receipe/ handy hint/ recommended equipment etc etc) . This will be supported with photographic evidence and no doubts due to my current lack of mastery - there will be the odd disaster!

Week 1: Watched the Julie and Julia movie - after being robbed of the last 30 minutes of watching the movie on a plane trip back from Australia, I managed to watch the complete film in the comfort of home - nicely positioned on the couch accompanied by a French red wine (seemed appropriate) and a Moro bar (increasing tolerance to fatty foods).