Winter Culinary Adventures Part I
Like most Food fans, I have a food crush on Julia Child. I didn't know a whole lot about her until I saw the movie "Julie & Julia", which inspired me to learn more about her life and subsequently more about French Cuisine. Maybe it's pathetic that I didn't know more about her before, and it took a chick flick to introduce me to her life, but I guess we take life lessons wherever we can find them.
I think what inspires people like me most about Julia Child, is the fact that she was fearless and determined in the kitchen and never shied away from a recipe that seemed complicated. Incidentally she is most famous for her book "Mastering The Art of French Cooking" which she wrote along with a couple gal pals from Paris. The cookbook takes complex French recipes and puts them in simple terms that any ordinary cook can understand.
I wasn't exactly ready to tackle Julia's famous Boeuf Bourguignon, but, I did want to try my hand at French Food. It was a random cold winter day when I decided that I would make Coq au Vin. A traditional French dish which translated actually means "rooster in wine". It was a dish I had never tasted, nor had I ever cooked it before. I had only heard the word and decided to research what the recipe was. It is basically chicken cooked in a rich reduction of red wine, herbs and bacon fat. WHAT?! Okay, yes it was time to try this baby!
I had no idea, because really this was my first brush with cooking French fare, how complex the recipe was. First of all, you begin with salt pork or slab bacon and you saute this until it becomes crispy. Easy enough. Then you add pearl onions... if any of you have ever attempted to peal 35 pearl onions, then you know what an arduous task it was. That actually took the longest out of any step in the whole recipe.
Then you saute the onions in the bacon fat, with the crispy bacon set aside. God, I love the French! Okay, so after the onions have "released their juices" you set those aside with the bacon and then start browning your chicken, which was dredged in flour. Oh, mama! This recipe is not for the faint of heart. Okay, let's skip through it rather quickly because I'll post the recipe below. So you brown the chicken take it out of the pan, and then in a pot or dutch oven create this elaborate sauce with chicken stock, red wine, onions, carrots, bay leaves and then you put the chicken back in, and simmer it for about a half hour. Finally you take the chicken out... turn the heat up, reduce the wine sauce by half, throw the bacon back in and finally pour it over the chicken, and onions before serving. Phew!
This whole process took me about two and a half hours, but when it was plated, and I had five very supportive guests who were eager to love it, I felt masterful! This was the hardest dish EVER! Well maybe not ever but it was tough.
I took the first bite of my Coq au Vin and I had an instant flashback to my short visit to Paris last year. I think it's something about the depth and complexity to French food which I love. The fact that you can't just take a bite and know what's in it. There's that moment of "What is that??" that I love. I'm always trying to teach Chris, my darling boyfriend about complexity of flavors. He says he could probably eat Chipotle every day, but he's beginning to understand what I mean. Bon Appetit!
Here is the recipe: Coq au Vin by Julia Child
I also consulted Alton Brown's Recipe
So that was the first of my Winter 2011 culinary adventures! I'll be back with more stories soon!
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