Not A Cooks Blog ... Mastering French Cuisine With Julia Child ... (Once A Week): Week 6: Paying a debt with Coq au vin

You don't really want to be in debt to the Finance Manager of the organisation that you work for. So this week I was repaying with food the debt I had made when changing jobs and creating more work for Peter. Peter has a great turn of phrase for the work he does (and I wouldn't be surprised if his position profile is just one line)... at the end of the financial year he has to "land a jumbo jet onto a postage stamp" ... and magically he seems to be able to do it.

I was trying three new dishes. Firstly the Hor d'Oeuvres. This week Caroline was assisting in the kitchen preparing the Canapes for the "Foudue au Gruyere" or as husband Jamie commented as munching away on one - just a fancy way of saying "cheese on toast"!

The main was Coq au vin (Chicken in red wine with onions, mushrooms and bacon). Similar to the boeuf bourguigon - so I was feeling reasonably confident about this dish and this time I had my cook book. However I did get slightly confused with Julia providing conflicting instructions. My recollection of braised onions that I had watched on Julia's French cooking TV show via you-tube versus what Julia had written in the recipe book. I opted for the book and reassured myself unless you cook them to death or burn them then it really doesn't matter.

For those that are dedicated followers to this blog (hi Mum!) you may be beginning to see a reoccurring theme in the photo's posted .... the accompanying peas and parsley potatoes with the main. Now I do feed my family other vegetables when it is my turn to cook - however the ease of preparation of peas and potatoes is refreshingly quick (and it is a recommended accompaniment that Julia makes). However I failed to check in with Alinka who doesn't like peas - totally forgot for the third week in a row that Imke also does not like them! Resolved that I would never force a pea down anyone's throat after my sister' traumatic childhood of having to eat them or skilfully hide or re-direct consumption to the family dog under the table, I am committed to introducing another vegetable as a future challenge.

Dessert was Crème plombieres pralinee - Caramel Almond Cream. This dish has a custard filling into which beaten egg whites and praline are folded. It is spooned over a sponge cake (yes I cheated and bought one) and chilled. I must say I enjoyed making the slab of pralin for this dish and pulverizing it to smithereens.

One of the fun aspects of cooking is also selecting wines to accompany your creation. I visited Advintage - a wine store where the people that serve you really know their wine - and, I found out, also their French. I was explaining my cooking challenge and was asked what I had made to date... I started to fumble on saying boeuf bourguigon when my able assistant completed the phrase. When asked what I was serving this week I just couldn't bring to myself to say Coq a vin as I was anxious that after saying Coq that the pause afterwards would be too long as I struggled to pronounce the rest and that it would all sound highly inappropriate. "Chicken in red wine" I replied - ahah replied my assistant - "Coq au vin". I apologised that I was bastarding the French language but redeemed myself by supporting the French and Kiwi economy by purchasing two bottles of French wine. Recalling this experience to my parents they duly gave me a series of books and CDs on learning to speak French. I do believe that landing the jumbo jet on the postage stamp looks easier!