Channeling Julia Child in 2016 | Beef Bourguignon

[vc_row padding_top=”0px” padding_bottom=”0px”][vc_column fade_animation_offset=”45px” width=”1/1″][text_output]Those that know me, know I thoroughly enjoy cooking and even more so cooking for others. For Christmas I received the thoughtful gift of the two volume set of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. As I do not like to follow recipes, this is a challenge I accept for 2016, to cook as many of her dishes as possible.

Cooking for me is a form of therapy. I am happiest in the kitchen, trying new concoctions and feeding my family and friends. I am not sure what it is that makes me feel so content with being in the kitchen, but I do know when I am having a bad day, or feel down or stressed I make a point to step away and into the kitchen. I rummage through cabinets to see what ingredients I have and what I could possibly make. Sometimes it is as simple as homemade sauce and pasta, or tuna melts, and other times I get put to the test with a mystery basket of groceries and I have to use all of them! With that challenge we discovered pineapple and jalapenos in a fried rice were delicious together, even more so when topped with seared scallops.[/text_output][vc_row_inner padding_top=”0px” padding_bottom=”0px”][vc_column_inner fade_animation_offset=”45px” width=”1/4″][image type=”rounded” float=”none” src=”22773″ alt=”” href=”” title=”” info_content=”” lightbox_caption=”” id=”” class=”” style=””][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner fade_animation_offset=”45px” width=”1/4″][image type=”rounded” float=”none” src=”22774″ alt=”” href=”” title=”” info_content=”” lightbox_caption=”” id=”” class=”” style=””][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner fade_animation_offset=”45px” width=”1/4″][image type=”rounded” float=”none” src=”22775″ alt=”” href=”” title=”” info_content=”” lightbox_caption=”” id=”” class=”” style=””][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner fade_animation_offset=”45px” width=”1/4″][image type=”rounded” float=”none” src=”22776″ alt=”” href=”” title=”” info_content=”” lightbox_caption=”” id=”” class=”” style=””][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][text_output]Back to the challenge at hand…and channeling my inner Julia Child. I decided to start off with something that I recall from childhood, and on a bitter cold night it was the perfect comfort food.  Beef Bourguignon was the first recipe I decided to tackle. I set out to get the best ingredients possible, and had some initial questions when she called for 18 to 24 white onions… I thought there is no way! Then I discovered the small white boiler onions at the grocery store and it all made sense. I used a nice cut of beef and cut into the 2-inch chunks instead of buying the pre cut “stew meat” at the grocery store. I bought a couple bottles of a Cotes du Rhone, some for cooking and some for drinking of course. Through the course of following her recipe for the beef dish, there were other recipes I had to follow as well, from the preparation of the onions and mushrooms separately, to then be added in at the end. Going back and forth to the book, at times made me dizzy in my own kitchen, but I feel that after following the recipes once, I could do it more easily the next time. This book is not just about the finished product, it’s more about the techniques used to prepare the dishes. This is what I hope to gain while perusing the book for the next challenge, to become comfortable with the preparations, that I can then use as I would like at anytime.
On to the next recipe![/text_output][vc_row_inner padding_top=”0px” padding_bottom=”0px”][vc_column_inner fade_animation_offset=”45px” width=”1/4″][image type=”rounded” float=”none” src=”22777″ alt=”” href=”” title=”” info_content=”” lightbox_caption=”” id=”” class=”” style=””][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner fade_animation_offset=”45px” width=”1/4″][image type=”rounded” float=”none” src=”22778″ alt=”” href=”” title=”” info_content=”” lightbox_caption=”” id=”” class=”” style=””][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner fade_animation_offset=”45px” width=”1/4″][image type=”rounded” float=”none” src=”22779″ alt=”” href=”” title=”” info_content=”” lightbox_caption=”” id=”” class=”” style=””][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner fade_animation_offset=”45px” width=”1/4″][image type=”rounded” float=”none” src=”22780″ alt=”” href=”” title=”” info_content=”” lightbox_caption=”” id=”” class=”” style=””][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row]