Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon as a Summery Dinner

I am reading Julia Child's biography An Appetite for Life. She sounds like a very cool lady and I can see why the Julie and Julia writer felt such an affinity. Who knew she was from a rich family that lived in Pasadena? She really struggled with cooking when she started. No one of her class thought cooking was a worthwile thing to learn - they had cooks. I watched her shows in the 70s when I lived in Boston and thought that's where she was from. My nephew saw her in the market he worked at in Cambridge but that's the closest I ever came to meeting her. This book reminded me that I have Volume One Mastering the Art of French Cooking and of the Boef Bourguignonne recipe I bought it for.

It was 108 here when I decided to make this. Not exactly a warm weather dish, but I made it in the crock pot so I wasn't slaving over a hot stove. I don't know of Julia Child's opinion of crock pots but I know she didn't like pressure cookers. I like crockpots. They're like having a wife who makes dinner for you.

I tweaked the recipe a tad with a bit of roux at the end to make the sauce a bit thicker.

Boeuf Bourguignonne:

6 ounces bacon
1 Tbsp. olive oil or cooking oil
3 pounds lean stewing beef , cut into 2-inch cubes
1 sliced carrot
1 sliced onion
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. flour
3 cups full-bodied, young red wine , such as a Chianti
2 to 3 cups brown beef stock or canned beef bouillon
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
2 cloves mashed garlic
1/2 tsp. thyme
Crumbled bay leaf
Blanched bacon rind

1 pound quartered fresh mushrooms , sautéed in butter (and little onions if you have them)

Parsley sprigs



Directions
Cut bacon into lardons (sticks, 1/4 inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long). Simmer rind and bacon for 10 minutes in 1 1/2 quarts of water. Drain and dry.

Sauté the bacon over moderate heat in a large skillet for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon. Set casserole aside. Reheat until fat is almost smoking before you sauté the beef.

Dry the stewing beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp. Sauté it, a few pieces at a time, in the hot oil and bacon fat until nicely browned on all sides. Add it to the bacon.

In the same fat, brown the sliced vegetables. Pour out the sautéing fat.

Add the beef and bacon to the crockpot and toss with the salt and pepper. Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly with the flour. Set crockpot on low.

Stir in the wine, and enough stock or bouillon so that the meat is barely covered. Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs. Bring to simmer on top of the stove. Then cover the casserole and set in lower third of preheated oven. Regulate heat so liquid simmers very slowly for 6 hours. It should never boil. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.

While the beef is cooking, prepare the mushrooms. Set them aside until needed.

When the meat is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan. Skim fat off the sauce. Simmer sauce for a minute or two, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about 2 1/2 cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly. If too thin, boil it down rapidly. If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons of stock or canned bouillon. Taste carefully for seasoning. Pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables. Recipe may be completed in advance to this point.
Here's where I cheated a bit and added a tablespoon of roux to thicken it. (I hope Julia Child is not turning over in her grave.)

For immediate serving: Return the beef to the sauce. Distribute the cooked mushrooms over the meat and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times. Arrange the stew on a platter surrounded with potatoes, noodles, or rice, and decorated with parsley. I found some lovely paparadelle at Trader Joe's which I buttered and used as the base.

For later serving: When cold, cover and refrigerate. About 15 to 20 minutes before serving, bring to the simmer, cover, and simmer very slowly for 10 minutes, occasionally basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce.

"Bon Appetit!"

See what I did there? Julia Child used to end her program with that. :)

6 Things I learned about Julia Child

10. She was 6'2"

9. She didn't start cooking until she was 32

8. She was in the OSS - precursor of the CIA during WWII

7. She hated the "Food Police"

6. She had a great sense of humour

5. Her husband was questioned by the FBI during the McCarthy Era.

6. Dan Akroyd's SNL piece was based on an acutal incident.

Here is the video of her that my sister and I saw at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum back in the 70s. She's making Primordial Soup. Julia at her best

Fall Cupcake Challenge

A local cupcakery is having a contest for fall cupcake recipes. I like spicecake, applecrisp and anything made with brown sugar so I came up with this recipe. My dad was my guinea pig. He has no cupcake pans at his house so I used actual cups to bake in. They turned out pretty yummy.

Apple Crisp Spice Cupcake with Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting.

Ingredients:

Cake
1 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups buttermilk

Apple Crisp Filling
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 cups apples - peeled, cored and chopped into ½ inch pieces
1/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Mix apples, cinnamon and sugar together.
Combine brown sugar, oats, flour with melted butter until crumbly.

Brown Sugar Buttercream
3 large egg whites
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into tablespoons

Preparation:
Sift together the flour, baking powder, soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. Cream butter in a mixing bowl; add brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract. Beat at high speed of an electric mixer for 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Scrape bowl often. Add sifted dry ingredients, alternating with buttermilk, mixing at lowest speed just until smooth.
Pour batter into lined cupcake pans. Take a spoonful of apple mixture making a depression in batter so that the apples sit in middle. Sprinkle apples with the oat mixture. Bake at 350° 15 minutes, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on rack for 5 minutes, turn out of pans onto racks to cool completely. Frost lightly with dollop, or a piped rosette, of buttercream,.
Frosting:
In a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, whisk together egg whites, sugar, and salt. Cook, whisking constantly, until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is warm to the touch. Transfer to the clean bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium speed until fluffy and cooled, about 15 minutes. Raise speed to high; beat until stiff peaks form. Reduce speed to medium-low; add butter, 2 to 3 tablespoons at a time, until fully incorporated.

Pam's Perfect Coffee Cake

Imagine a cold morning camping at the beach. Wouldn't a piece of warm coffee cake be a wonderful gift? That's the gift my fellow campers and I recieved last weekend. It was good to eat and good to warm your hands by.




















I have been looking for a good coffee cake recipe for years. Every one I've attempted wound up dry and boring. Pam's was moist and delicious. I attribute it to the buttermilk. Everyone was like bees around honey when she brought this out.

Coffee Cake

1 Cup Crisco
1 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1 Cup Buttermilk
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
2 C Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon of Each - Baking Powder and Baking Soda

Combine Crisco, Sugar, Eggs, Buttermilk and Vanilla til mixed.

Add Flour, salt, B Powder and B Soda til mixed.

Filling and Topping

2/3 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 C Sugar
1 1/2 Teaspoons Cinnamon
1 Cup Chopped Walnuts
2 TB Melted Butter

Pour half of the cake batter in a 9x13 pan Then sprinkle with half the filling.

Then pour the rest of the cake batter and sprinkle with the rest of the filling.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 - 40 minutes.

Creme Anglaise (AKA Custard Sauce)

I was helping to move my friend's mother last month and was gifted with a cookbook written by the lady who founded Pepperidge Farm. In that cookbook there was a custard sauce recipe. Soon thereafter I was headed for a day of shopping and fun with a friend originally from Ohio. I thought she would like this sauce, since it's an old fashioned comfort food that I associate with Ohio food. So I whipped some up and served it over fresh peaches and called it Creme Anglaise, cheating and using vanilla extract instead of an $8.00 vanilla bean.

Creme Anglaise:

2 cups light cream or half and half

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
(or 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract)

1/3 cup granulated white sugar

5 large egg yolks

Have a fine medium-sized strainer and bowl ready near the stove.

In a stainless steel bowl stir together, using a wooden spoon, the sugar and yolks until well blended.

I use an improvised double boiler by taking a large pot of water and putting a bowl that just fit on top. If you're braver than I am, in a small saucepan heat the cream and if you are using a vanilla bean put that in. Heat just to the boiling point. Remove from heat and whisk a few tablespoons of the cream into the yolk mixture. Then, gradually add the remaining cream, whisking constantly.

Pour this mixture into a medium sized saucepan and, over medium heat, (or your double boiler.) Gently heat the mixture to just below the boiling point (170 - 175 degrees F) (77 - 80 degrees C). You will notice that steam will begin to appear and the mixture will be slightly thicker than heavy cream. Do not boil or the eggs will curdle. Check to see if it is the right consistency by holding a wooden spoon sideways that is covered with the custard and run your finger along the back of the spoon. If the streak remains without the cream running down through the streak, it is ready.

Immediately remove from the heat and pour through the strainer, scraping up any thickened cream that settles on the bottom of the pan. Remove the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds into the sauce. Stir until seeds separate. For maximum flavor, return the pod to the sauce until serving time. (If you are using pure vanilla extract, instead of the vanilla bean, add it to the cream now.)

The creme anglaise can be refrigerated covered with plastic wrap for a couple of days.

Note: If sauce was overheated and curdling occurs, pour instantly into a blender and process until smooth before straining. If necessary, add a little heavy cream to the mixture before blending.

I have since been requested to repeat the performance. This is why I blog, not because I think anyone even looks at this page, but because if I don't, I'll forget what recipe I used for what when I'm asked to "make it again". So here it is - before I forget where I got the recipe.

I'll make my famous candied pecans to decorate the dish this time. Yum.

Update:

I sprung for the vanilla bean, finding a jar with two in it for $10.99. Unit cost listed was $108 an ounce! The sauce was lovely and speckly and I annoyed the group of friends I was serving it to by asking them to admire the speckles. At that point the sauce was referred to as the speckled sauce. It was really lovely over fresh peaches.

Note to self: Even if it's 4:30 am and you are slicing peaches like a mad woman, do not-ever take your eyes off almost perfectly glazed pecans while they just crisp a tiny bit in the oven. Sniff

Baby Shower Cupcake Project and Melt in Your Mouth Sugar Cookies

The Mommy-to-Be loves chocolate, so I searched for a really good recipe.





















DARK CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES
Cooks Illustrated, “American Classics 2009”)(makes 12 cupcakes; do not double recipe…make two separate batches if you need more
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup (1 1/2 oz) Dutch-processed cocoa
3/4 cup (3 3/4 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs
3/4 cup (5 1/4 oz) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 cup (4 oz) sour cream

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard-sized muffin pan (1/2 cup capacity) with baking-cup liners.
2. Combine butter, chocolate and cocoa in medium heatproof bowl. Set bowl over saucepan containing barely simmering water; heat mixture until butter and chocolate are melted and whisk until smooth and fully combined. Set aside to cool until just warm to touch.
3. Whisk flour, baking soda and baking powder in small bowl to combine
4. Whisk eggs in second medium bowl to combine; add sugar, vanilla and salt and whisk until fully incorporated. Add cooled chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Sift about one-third of flour mixture over chocolate mixture and whisk until combined; whisk in sour cream until combined; then sift in remaining flour mixture and whisk batter until it is homogenous and thick.
5. Divide batter evenly among muffin pan cups. Bake until skewer inserted into center of cupcakes comes out clean, 18-20 minutes.
6. Cool cupcakes in muffin pan on wire rack until cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes. Carefully lift each cupcake from muffin pan and set on wire rack. Cool to room temperature before icing, about 30 minutes.

The Swiss Meringue Buttercream is smooth, silky and not overly sweet. It pairs beautifully with the dark chocolate. The best part of this particular buttercream is that it isn’t grainy, pipes beautifully, and holds up well even in warm weather. I had tried a meringue buttercream for my previous cake project and it was pronounced "different" This recipe was creamy without being being so "different". It wasn't difficult to make.

SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM
(from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes; makes about 5 cups)

5 large egg whites
1 cup plus 2 T sugar
pinch of salt
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Combine egg whites, sugar and salt in the heatproof bowl of a standing mixer set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk constantly by hand until mixture is warm to the touch and sugar has dissolved (the mixture should feel completely smooth when rubbed between your fingertips).
2. Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Starting on low and gradually increasing to medium-high speed, whisk until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Continue mixing until the mixture is fluffy and glossy, and completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl), about 10 minutes.
3. With mixer on medium-low speed, add the butter a few tablespoons at a time, mixing well after each addition. Once all butter has been added, whisk in vanilla. Switch to the paddle attachment, and continue beating on low speed until all air bubbles are eliminated, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl with a flexible spatula, and continue beating until the frosting is completely smooth. Keep buttercream at room temperature if using the same day, or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 1 month. Before using, bring to room temperature and beat with paddle attachment on low speed until smooth again, about 5 minutes.
4. (optional) To tint buttercream, reserve some for toning down the color, if necessary. Add gel-paste food color, a drop at a time (or use the toothpick or skewer to add food color a dab at a time) to the remaining buttercream. You can use a single shade of food color or experiment by mixing two or more. Blend after each addition with the mixer (use the paddle attachment) or a flexible spatula, until desired shade is achieved. Avoid adding too much food color too son, as the hue with intensify with continued stirring; if necessary, you can tone down the shade by mixing in some reserved untinted buttercream.

The baby-to-be is a girl so I felt I had to make pink cupcakes too. I used strawberry cake mix combined with a white cake mix and added about 1/4 cup of the strawberry filling mixture to the cake mix. Since I was making cupcakes and didn't have to worry about smoothing frosting I used the cream cheese frosting I had tested for my previous cake project.

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting:
6 ounces white chocolate, chopped
12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons Tahitian vanilla extract
2 TB strawberry filling
Drop or two of red food coloring to make a lovely pink color

In a microwave, double boiler or a metal bowl set over simmering water, melt the white chocolate and butter. Let it cool slightly. In a separate bowl, beat together cream cheese. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and slightly cooled chocolate.

As a favor I also made large butterfly cookies covered with marshmallow fondant. I think the brown sugar in the recipe really adds a nice flavor and the powdered
sugar does make the cookie melt nicely in your mouth.

Melt in Your Mouth Sugar Cookies

Ingredients: p
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups butter

2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

raspberry jam
marshmallow fondant

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F ( 175 degrees C ).
In a large bowl, cream together sugar, and butter. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cream of tartar; stir into the creamed mixture. Roll out dough and cut into desired shapes. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.

Cut the marshmallow fondant with the same cookie cutter as you used for the cookies. Spread jam on the cookies and then the fondant.

My Ultimate White Chiffon Cake

I finished the cake project in an acceptable manner. Putting it on a cake plate for presentation would have made it look as tall as I had pictured it. It was four 8” layers of what I wound up calling Carolyn's Ultimate Chiffon Velvet Butter Cake!!

In all of my experimenting I learned a few things I probably could have found out otherwise, but it’s good to experiment. Here’s a list of things I discovered:

• A cake comes out very tough if you forget the water.
• Density increases with the use of milk and decreases with the use of water.
• Density increases with the use of butter and decreases with the use of oil (chiffon).
• Mayonnaise can be added to any recipe to increase moistness.
• Superfine sugar makes for a more delicate crumb.

I filled it with a fresh strawberry filling and frosted it with a buttercream icing as requested. The decoration matched the invitations. I was going for minimalist…

Recipe for Carolyn's Ultimate Chiffon Velvet Butter Cake
7 egg whites (7 1/8 oz)
1 cup water
1 TB vanilla
3 cups cake flour (10.5 oz)
1 1/2 cups superfine sugar (10.5 oz)
1 TB + 1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
6 TB oil
6 TB butter
1/4 cup mayonnaise

Set a rack at the middle level of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar for about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add oil and mayo. Wisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Add water and vanilla extract. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to butter mixture then add half the vanilla mixture. Continue to alternate beginning and ending with flour mixture. Scrape bowl and beater often. In a separate bowl beat the egg whites until peaks form. Fold into the batter. Pour batter into prepared pan(s) and smooth top with a metal spatula. Bake cake(s) about 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center emerges clean. Cool in pan on a rack for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a rack, remove paper and let cool completely.

Strawberry Filling
Ingredients
1 cup coarsely chopped hulled strawberries + 2 cups slices or chopped strawberries
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
½ tsp gelatin
1/2 cup water

Directions
Bring all ingredients to a boil in a heavy small sauce pan. stirring constantly and crushing berries slightly with back of spoon.
Boil 2 minutes to thicken, stirring constantly (mixture will be slightly chunky).
Pour into bowl and cool completely.

Slice fresh strawberries and place on cake layer. Spoon filling over top. It is important to make a dam with buttercream around the outside of each layer to keep the filling from leaking out.

I needed a frosting that tasted good and was able to crust over a bit so that it can be smoothed. I read online about the Viva method using Viva paper towels and your hand to smooth. Wilton teaches a similar technique using parchment and a fondant smoother.

Buttercream Dream Icing (From Repressed Pastry Chef)
Ingredients
1 stick salted butter - room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter - room temperature
1 cup shortening
1 tablespoon Clear Vanilla extract
22 oz confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar, 10x)
4 tablespoons very cold milk
1 tsp meringue powder

Directions
Cream the butter and shortening in the bowl of an electric or stand mixer. Add the clear vanilla extract and combine well. Begin adding in the sugar and mixing thoroughly after each addition. After all of the sugar has been added and mixed thoroughly, begin adding the very cold milk... one tablespoon at a time, combining very well after each addition (mixer on medium-high to high speed) until you reach the desired consistency.

Mayonnaise Miracle

I've been making cakes a while now and in the past have found no problem just using box cake mix - whatever's on sale. The Wilton cake decorating classes got me started in that direction. After my foray into giant stacked cakes and comparing all three brands I decided that Betty Crocker and Pillsbury seem to make a moister cake than Duncan Hines so I've been sticking to those.

Well, I've got a large cake project and decided that c'mon, I really should make a scratch cake that's worthy of a special occasion. Pink Cake Box referred to Rose Levy Beranbaum's Cake Bible. Her scientific approach to cake baking is right up my alley. So I bought the book and went about comparing different recipes. I've been using a scale for my measurements. It's way scientific.

First I made the vanilla cake that the book Confetti Cakes recommends for sculpted cakes. It calls for half cake flour and half all-purpose flour. I used all egg whites. The cake was dry and, because of the all purpose flour, had a bit more of a coarse crumb than I wanted. Oddly enough I found it moistened up after a day under wrap with syrup.

Then I made a white cake from a Betty Crocker French Vanilla mix. It came out dry too. Cake mixes never fail for me! After looking into the reasons I determined that it was because I substituted equal weight of egg whites for the whole eggs it called for. The box directions did call for whole eggs after all.

After that I turned to ... The Cake Bible. No failure was conceivable - it's a standard in the baking world, and I used a scale - not my housewifely measuring cups. I followed the recipe for white velvet butter cake to the letter. All my ingredients were room temperature, butter softened to perfection. I believe there was Mozart playing in the background. I kept an eye on the time and pulled it out of the oven at the exact moment when the toothpick was crumbless. The result -DRY!!! Huh? At this point I thought it had to be my oven and ran out and got an oven thermometer. The temp was perfect.

My scientific mind leapt into action. I Googled "why is my cake dry". The answers I found included information about egg yolks vs. whites and included the fact that yolks help keep a cake moist because of their fat and the fact that they help emulsify. There was also a tip that said to add a tablespoon of vinegar. One person answered a dry cake inquiry with a suggestion to add 1/4 mayonnaise to any cake recipe. She noted that it was necessary keep this practice a deep dark secret from her family. There apparently was some 'splainin' to do when she was caught by her husband adding the mayo to her cake batter. Mayonnaise has vinegar, oil, and egg yolks - everything that could really add moisture to a cake. It sounded perfect.

Cake #4 was a Betty Crocker White cake mix with 1/4 cup mayonnaise added to it. It came out perfectly moist and delicious. Yay! I'm about to be scientific again and resist the urge to make a completely different cake recipe. I'll try Rose's white velvet butter cake and see if 1/4 cup mayonnaise is actually a miracle.

Perfect for a Snowy Big Bear Afternoon

I stocked up before I holed up in my isolated mountain cabin. OK it's in a resort area with lots of neighbors. It feels isolated when the snow is coming down and building up. One thing I knew would hit the spot would be my mom's clam chowder. We had a few snowy days back in Bellevue and she'd make cheese crackers to go with the chowder. I remember my grandpa bringing home some freshly dug clams once. That didn't turn out too well...

Here's the recipe I made just for me:

1 potato
1/2 onion
3 slices of bacon (I used center cut)
1 can of clams
1/2 cup milk

Dice bacon and cook until crispy. Drain bacon pieces and reserve a teaspoon (or two) to cook onions.




Dice onions and cook in reserved bacon drippings.




I take them from the pan but you can just leave them in with the potatoes while they cook. Peel and chop potatoes. Cover with water in saucepan and cook until tender.



Add milk. I suppose you could use cream or make a roux to thicken it but mom's was thin and it has fewer calories so that's good. Add the clams and heat until just bubbly around edges. Stir in onions and bacon before serving.