Excuses and Inspiration

Ok, so I admit these two things:

1. It's been a terribly long time since I last posted on this blog
2. This post is going to end up with an incredibly good recipe rather than a disaster.

Now that we got #1 out of the way, we just don't need to talk about that anymore.

As for #2, you must be wondering how the heck I am going to justify on the "WORST" Recipe Ever to post a cooking success. Well, let me start at the beginning....

Last week my mom came out to California for a visit. Not only did we have fun together shopping and what not, but we ate incredible food AND drank tons of incredible wines up in Sonoma County for a couple of days. Inspired by extreme yumminess and suffering from tired feet walking around Santa Cruz all day, we ended up at the movie theatre to watch the movie "Julie & Julia". I might add, it was a GREAT MOVIE and totally got us both wanting to hop in the kitchen and eat some french food. As a matter of fact, we hit the bookstore immediately after and got both Julie Powell's book (that the movie was based on) and Julia's autobiography to read.

Anyway...no french food was to be had on the remainder of Mom's visit. Later in the week, I was pondering what I could do for Rosh Hashana (unknown due to last cancellation of my trip to Australia which would have put me on a plane for Rosh Hashana - don't ask, the cancellation is a bit of a story). Anyway, I figured, in the least I would make a nice meal for myself and whomever I could convince to come by, which ended up being noone (that's what happens when plans are last minute!)

I still had leftover potatoes from the Phoenix Fire Festival this summer that I had intended on using for Potato Kugel. What better time than Rosh Hashana to make Potato Kugel! Now, my family usually has Pot Roast (Brisket) on the holidays. Being low on funds as I am.... I saw that stew meat was cheaper and went for that instead. I also got some mushroom and carrots for the stew and figured some of those extra potatoes can go in a hearty beef stew.

Next step: Hmmmm, what stew recipe should I make? After some deep research (in my cookbooks and on epicurious.com) it occurred to me that I had available all the makings for Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguinon. Hey, why not? I was still feeling inspired by the movie.

Now, according to Julie Powell's story, when she first went to make Boeuf Bourguinon, for a special dinner guest as it happens, she fell asleep when it was in the oven and woke up too late. Hence "Worst.Recipe.Ever" incident. (and my sneaky tie-in to the theme of this blog!) I started earlier in the day so nothing to worry about.

I made the potato Kugel first, which was a piece of cake: blender the ingredients, put them in a pan and bake! That had to bake a couple of hours and I realized I needed to get a bottle of wine for the Bourguinon. So, I did risk leaving the house with the oven on to go get wine. I thought, "this will be a quick trip, just for a bottle of wine and back, no problem! The kugel will be done just in time!" Well......let's just say there was road paving and a huge detour half way across Santa Cruz just to get to TJ's for a Two-Buck-Chuck bottle of wine! I got home and the house was still standing. The kugel came out to perfection!


Next was the Boeuf Bourguinon. I'll give you the recipe (which actually is like a few different recipes) at the end. One of my issues of Cook's Illustrated had a Beef Burgundy as well and there were a few thoughts and ideas in there which I used to augment Julia's recipe. I also used celery (which is not in the original recipe) and more veggies than she originally said. I halved the recipe and it still made a lot, so consider what company you might have when you make this. I know that tackling one of Julia's French Cooking recipes may seem daunting and you think you want to be prepared to wash dishes for a week when you are done. In reality, this dish only needs one pan and one stockpot. Easy Breezy. What I notice about Julia Child, and Julie Powell and really, most cooks, is that we have the ability to work with what we have and still make something delicious. So, there were things in this recipe that I didn't do exactly, like I didn't have pearl onions but I had half a large sweet onion so braised that instead. I only had one tomato around the house and so that was good enough for a half recipe. Basically, use your judgment and do you best to avoid ranking yourself amongst the "Worst.Recipe.Ever" and if it does indeed end up being a disaster.....

Laugh at yourself, clean up and go get take out!

I had a brief moment when I took the Bourguinon out of the oven that I thought it was going to be a disaster and taste like crap. The meat didn't taste like much and the broth was bland and flavorless, which was shocking considering an entire bottle of red wine was in there. Luckily, the recipe does not stop with taking it out of the oven. You have to strain it and reduce the broth significantly down then add Buerre Manie which is basically flour and butter mixed into a paste. I poured it back on to the meat and veggies and all I can say is...

OH MY GODDESS....DIVINENESS had been tasted! Yum!

So, here are the recipes for both the Kugel and the Boeuf Bourguinon:

Easy Blender Potato Kugel (from "The Spice and Spirit of Kosher-Jewish Cooking")
5-6 medium potatoes, cubed
1 large onion, diced
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup melted margarine
1/3 cup flour
(I also added some garlic powder to taste and a sprinkling of dry chicken broth powder)

Blend all the ingredients until the potatoes are finely ground, or approximately two minutes
Pour into pre-heated, lightly oiled 9" round or loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees or until golden brown, about 1 1/2-2 hours. When doubling recipe use 9"x13" pan. (I used a 9" square glass pan)

Beouf Bourguinon (serves 6-8 and takes about 2 1/2 hours to cook)

Optional but traditional: 6 ounces blanched bacon lardons* (see note)
2-3 Tablespoons cooking oil
about 4lbs trimmed beef chuck, cut into 2" cubes
Salt and pepper
2 cups, sliced onions (small)
1 cup, sliced carrots (small)
1 bottle red wine (use something fruity and not too oaky or too much tannins)
2 cups of beef stock/broth (or any broth, I used chicken)
1 cup, chopped tomatoes (fresh or canned)
1 medium herb bouquet** (see note)
Beurre Manie for the sauce *** (see note)
24 brown-braised small white onions **** (see note)
3 cups sauteed quartered mushrooms *****(see note)

1. If using the bacon, saute them to brown lightly in a little oil in a skillet. Set them aside to add to the beef later.

2. Make sure your cubed chunks of meat are really really REALLY dry, then season with salt and pepper. Brown the chunks of meat in the same pan on all sides in hot oil. Get the pan of oil really hot before adding the meat and do it in batches so that the meat has room in the pan. This is really important for good browning. Remove the meat to your StockPot or Casserole Pot (be sure whatever you use is oven safe)

3. Remove some of the fat from the pan so that it is just coated. Add sliced veggies and brown them. (I also added sliced celery to this step, an equal amount to your carrots). Add the veggies to the pot with the meat.

4. Deglaze your pan with the wine, then pour that into the pot with the meat and veggies. Yes, use all the wine. Yes, the entire bottle!

5. Add the bacon back into the pot, pour in enough stock/broth to cover all the meat and veggies, stir in the tomatoes and add the herb bouquet. (I also added some whole baby carrots and larger chunks of 3-4 more celery stalks)

6. Bring this mixture to a simmer, cover, and then simmer slowly either on the stove or in a preheated 325 degree oven until the meat is tender - eat a little piece to check. (it should fall right apart and not be chewy - could take as long as 2 1/2-3 hours.

7. While that is in the oven, you can do the onions and mushrooms as well as prep the Beurre Manie.

8. Take pot out of the oven and pour the entire thing through a strainer, emptying the liquid into a saucepan and return the meat to the original stock pot. Press the juices out of the residue into the cooking liquid.

9. Boil down the liquid to about 3 cups. (this is where I added a dash of soy sauce and a dash of good quality Balsamic vinegar) Off heat, whisk in the Beurre Manie, then simmer for 2 minutes as the sauce thickens slightly.

10. Correct any seasoning that you need to and pour the sauce back over the meat. Fold in the onions and mushrooms as well.

SERVE!
NOTES:
* Bacon Lardons: Bacon is supposed to be blanched. I used sliced bacon and followed the instructions to remove some of the salty/smoky taste: Drop 6-8 slices of bacon into 2 quarts of cold water. Bring to a boil and simmer 6-8 minutes. Drain, rinse in cold water adn dry on paper towels. Chop up into smaller pieces to brown

**Herb Bouquet: for a large herb bouquet, tie 8 parsley sprigs, 1 large imported bay leaf, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 4 whole cloves of smashed unpeeled garlic together in washed cheesecloth. (i used fresh parsley, fresh thyme sprigs, and dried bay leaves. I put the garlic straight into the pot untied. I used medical gauze (didn't have cheesecloth!)

***Beurre Manie: 3 Tablespoons of flour blended to a paste with 2 Tablespoons of butter (you may need to warm up or melt the butter so its soft enough)

****Braised Onions: Saute peeled onions in one layer in butter and oil until colored brown. Then arrange in 1 layer in a saucepan with chicken stock or water to come halfway up. Add 1 Tablespoon of butter, season lightly with salt and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes or until tender. (Honestly, I had a half a sliced onion that I sauteed in butter and whatever oil was still in my pan from the beef until browned)

*****Sauteed Mushrooms: Heat 1 1/2 Tablespoons butter and 1/2 tablespoon oil in a frying pan. When butter foam is subsiding, turn in the mushrooms. Saute for several minutes, tossing frequently as the butter is absorbed and then reappears on the ssurface when the mushrooms begin to brown. Toss in 1/2 Tablespoon of chopped shallots, season with salt and pepper and saute another 30 seconds. (HOnestly, I did this in the pan that I had from the meat, when the mushrooms had absorbed the butter and oil, i added the sliced onions from above and finished them all together)

As I said....do what works and ENJOY!

Oh yeah...... Don't forget the dishes! (hmm, maybe that's why its helpful to invite some guests......)