Roast Chicken & Gratin Jurassien

What better way to say au revoir to a fantastic weekend than with Julia Child recipes. Hopefully the weekend charged us well enough to face Monday which is looming around the corner. I had a blast sailing and playing board . Don't be fooled by the mundane appearance of such activities. Sailing can get pretty wild and well, board games? Yes. They can get rather wild too. Political debates have NOTHING on Boggle night. Ok, it's not *that* bad, but....let's say, we challenge quite a bit. Que isn't a word? Well, it should be. If the whippersnappers of today can rejoice because OMG and LOL are now in the Oxford dictionary, then I am allowed to count que as a word. I'm getting way off track though, focus, ah yes. Food.

Julia Child's Roast Chicken. Adjective overload here. I'll spare you the long list of words that mean nothing to you and invite you to just prepare it and enjoy it yourself. It's mouthwatering to say the very least and so simple. I paired this with her recipe for Gratin Jurassien and italian cut green beans. Delicious.


Roast Chicken:
3-4 lb chicken
1 small carrot
1 small onion
1/4 tsp salt (i always omit salt)
2 tbs butter

For basting:
2 tbs butter and 1 tbs cooking oil in small sauce pan and a basting brush

Preheat oven to 425
Sprinkle the inside of the chicken with the salt, and smear in half the butter. Truss the chicken. Dry it thoroughly, and rub the skin with the rest of the butter.

Place chicken breast up in the roasting pan. Strew the carrot and onion around it, and set it on the rack in the middle of the preheated oven. Allow the chicken to brown lightly for 15 minutes. Turning it every 5 minutes and basting it.

Reduce oven to 350 degrees

Bake for 1 hour


Gratin Jurrassien:

4 tbs butter
2 lbs potatoes sliced
1 tsp salt (i omitted)
1/8 tsp pepper to taste (I pepper to taste)
1 cup grated swiss cheese
1 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Preheat oven to 300 degrees
Smear 1 tbs of butter in baking dish
Arrange layers of pototes, cheese, pats of butter, pepper
Pour the heavy whipping cream over the potatoes

Bake for 1 to 1 1/4 hours

Red Wine Marinade and Sirloin

Marinade:
1 cup Red Wine
2 garlic cloves (minced)
2 bay leaves
1/2 peeled and diced
1 tbs onion diced

In a non stick sauce pan sautee the carrot, garlic, and onion with non stick spray
when soft, add wine, bay leaves, and pepper to taste

Bring to a boil and tcontinue to boil for about 8 minutes.

Let marinade cool then pour over sirloins or desired beef cut and let set for several hours or overnight

You can grill, broil, or pan sear.

Cake 1

Tragically, I was born without a sweet tooth. That, however, doesn’t stop me from going through baking phases and turning my kitchen into an I love Lucy episode. My First cake was an 80’s fondant cake that I made for a friend’s birthday.

One Pac-Man cake coming up:




Next, I thought it would be fun to try buttercream and ganache. I have found amazing recipes for both Chocolate Ganache and Vanilla Buttercream frosting.

For a double layer cake, bake cakes and cool for at least 12 hours or overnight.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:
16 oz. powdered sugar
1 stick of butter
3 tbs. milk
2 tsp. vanilla

If you want the frosting to be white, I suggest a clear vanilla flavoring. If you’re going to add a color to the frosting, any vanilla flavoring will do.

Beat ingredients together with a mixture until desired consistency is achieved.

Mix in desired coloring




For my first cake, I used wilton’s gel food coloring that I found at Hobby Lobby.


Frost both layers of cake and sides

Chocolate Ganache:
8 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
¾ cup heavy whipping cream
2 tbs unsalted butter
1 tbs cognac or brandy (optional)




Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized stainless steel bowl. Set aside. Heat the cream and butter in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil. Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir with a whisk until smooth. If desired, add the liqueur.

Pour desired amount of Ganache over cake and let set




Continue to decorate if you want



















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Fried Mozzerella

This weekend, Ken and I had some friends over for dinner. I love any reason to cook and cook I did! On the menu was homemade spaghetti, tossed salad with fresh vegetables, French bread (which I forgot), and homemade cheese sticks.

Ingredients
Whole milk mozzerella cheese(soft block)
2 eggs
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups Italian bread crumbs

Directions
Place flour in a bowl
Beat the two eggs in a bowl an sprinkle with salt and pepper
Place bread crumbs in a bowl

Cut the cheese in 1/2 inch slices and then cut in half.



Dip all sides lightly in the flour



Soak all sides in egg bath



Place stick in crumbs and make sure the stick is covered completely on all sides



Place sticks on a plate with wax paper and chill in the fridge for at least an hour and a half before frying and serving with marinara sauce.



And now for the finished product:



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Boeuf Bourguignon

This past weekend the gal pals and I embarked on a food journey. For our first dinner we dove right into Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon recipe. Translation = fancy beef stew.

Folks, this recipe DELIVERS.

For side dishes we made cheesy garlic mashed potatoes and fresh green beans drained with bacon and onion.

For the wine I chose a chianti and couldn't have been more pleased.

Here is a link to the recipe:
http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Boeuf-Bourguignon-a-La-Julia-Child-148007

Pot Roast & Vegetable Soup

Oh, Pot Roast, how I love thee, let me count thy ways.

1. You never need to be hurried or tended to.
2. You require so very little of my attention
3. You are most tasty
4. You feed me for days and allow me to make so many other dishes with your leftovers
5. Just because

I love throwing this together before work and returning to a home filled with savory aromas. This is delicious and with little effort!!! Are you ready?

Chuck Roast
Swansons Beef Broth
Celery (about 3 stalks sliced)
Onion (1 medium, chopped)
Carrots (peeled and sliced)
Potatoes (peeled and chopped)
Salt if you dare. I dare not
Pepper, thyme, and rosemary

The amount of the above vegetables are up to you. Even though it's just Ken and I at home, I usually make more since I use the leftovers to make vegetable soup. That recipe will follow this one.

Rub thyme and rosemary on the chuck roast and place in the crock pot
pepper the roast lightly
add enough of the broth to cover the roast
add vegetables and sprinkle more thyme, pepper, and rosemary
cover and cook on low for 7+ hours.

You will come home to a wonderfully prepared meal.

Now, with the leftovers I normally make a vegetable soup.

I tear the roast apart or chunk it - whichever you prefer and place in a large pot.
add 1 or 2 cans of tomato soup (maybe start with one and then add another if you feel like it after a taste test)
add leftover potatoes, carrots, onions, celery (omit what you don't like)
add a can of drained: peas, greenbeans, and corn
add swansons beef broth to desired consistency (more if you like it soupy and less if you like it thicker)

Heat and serve!!!