French Food

After our fabulous honeymoon in France, I was inspired to make a french meal.  All the food we had there was so great.  I don't think mine was quite as good as the real thing, but a good imposter. 

Drink...

 

Bordeaux Wine

With France having such great wines, we were sure to stock up our wine fridge with some of the delicious wines we brought back.  We couldn't believe how inexpensive the quality wines were in France.  We saw the majority of bottles on sale for 3-5 Euros per bottle.  We enjoyed many different wines in France in cafes, brasseries, and on our picnics.  

There's no ingredients or directions for this one.  Just get a good bottle, open, pour, and enjoy!

Dinner...

Boeuf Bourguignon

We wanted to have this dish in France, but never got the opportunity to.  I looked up several different recipes and created a combination of them.  One of the recipes I included portions of was Julia Child's.  However, hers seemed very complicated, took a long time, and had to be cooked in the oven.  So, I combined some ideas from her recipe with another quicker, more streamlined recipe I found.  This one was much simpler, quicker, and cooked on the stove top (which was great because our apartment is already way too hot without the oven on!). 

Ingredients:

(serves 4-5)

• 6 oz. bacon, chopped
• 1 beef sirloin steak or top round steak, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 1 pound)
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 medium onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/9 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 6 ounce sliced mushrooms (about 2 cups)
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves , crushed
• 2 cup fresh or frozen whole baby carrots
• 1 3/4 cup beef broth
• 1/2 cup Burgundy or other dry red wine

Directions:

cooked bacon and beef

veggies cooking

1. Simmer the bacon in a large pot or dutch oven until fully cooked.  Remove from the pot.
2. Sprinkle the beef with salt and pepper.  Coat the pieces with flour.  Cook the beef in the bacon fat until well browned. Remove from the pot.
3. Cook the carrots, onions, garlic, mushrooms, parsley, thyme, and black pepper in the bacon fat.
4. Add the beef stock, wine, cooked beef, and cooked bacon.  
5. Simmer covered for 20 minutes.  If the broth seems too thin, add a little flour and cook a few more minutes.
6. Serve with potatoes, rice, or orzo pasta.

Plat Du Fromage

My favorite food in France was the cheese, and we ate a lot of it!  We even brought some back with us.  The French eat their cheese course at the end of their meal.  We had it this way in France, but I still prefer it before my meal.  I guess I'm just too American!  
For this cheese platter we had a Camembert and another cheese which we aren't quite sure what it was (maybe it was called Auvergne since it says that on the tag??).  The person we bought it from in France didn't speak much English.  We couldn't bring back goat cheese because it was unpasteurized, so he recommended this cheese as a similar one.  
You could have a cheese plate with any variety of cheeses, but typically the ones we had in France included a Brie or Camembert, a goat cheese, a blue cheese, and a hard cheese.

Dessert...

Mousse Au Chocolat

*recipe from FoodNetwork.com
Chocolate mousse has been one of my favorite desserts since I was a kid. Most recipes either have raw egg, or involve using a thermometer to measure the egg temperature.  This was a bit complicated for me, so I went with Alton Brown's simplified recipe.  It tasted delicious, but my texture seemed to be a little off.  I think I might have over beat my whipped cream which caused it to be too stiff and not incorporate smoothly, so be careful not to over-whip!
Ingredients:
(serves 6)

• 1 3/4 cups whipping cream
• 12 ounces quality semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3 ounces espresso or strong coffee
• 1 tablespoon dark rum
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon flavorless, granulated gelatin

Directions:

1. Chill 1 1/2 cups whipping cream in refrigerator. Chill metal mixing bowl and mixer beaters in freezer.
2. In top of a double boiler, combine chocolate chips, coffee, rum and butter. Melt over barely simmering water, stirring constantly. Remove from heat while a couple of chunks are still visible. Cool, stirring occasionally to just above body temperature.
3. Pour remaining 1/4 cup whipping cream into a metal measuring cup and sprinkle in the gelatin. Allow gelatin to "bloom" for 10 minutes. Then carefully heat by swirling the measuring cup over a low gas flame or candle. Do not boil or gelatin will be damaged. Stir mixture into the cooled chocolate and set aside.
4. In the chilled mixing bowl, beat cream to medium peaks. Stir 1/4 of the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Fold in the remaining whipped cream in two doses. There may be streaks of whipped cream in the chocolate and that is fine. Do not over work the mousse.
5. Spoon into bowls or martini glasses and chill for at least 1 hour. Garnish with fruit and serve.
6. (If mousses are to be refrigerated overnight, chill for one hour and then cover each with plastic wrap)

Dining Like The Drapers

Doug and I both like Mad Men.  In preparation for the season premiere tomorrow, I made a Mad Men inspired menu.  If you haven't seen the show, it takes place in the '60s.  Therefore, I made food that was popular during that time period—something the Draper's (the main family in the show) might have eaten.  I must say, we really enjoyed this meal!  It's worth it to occasionally go back in time and eat some old classics!

Drink...

Manhattan

"You don't know how to drink. Your whole generation, you drink for the wrong reasons. My generation, we drink because it's good, because it feels better than unbuttoning your collar, because we deserve it. We drink because it's what men do."
—Roger Sterling


Whoa, this is one strong drink!  Yet, the characters on Mad Men are drinking things like this non-stop throughout the show.  I'm not quite sure how they are still standing!
I am not a whiskey fan (or at least I didn't think I was), but I find myself liking Manhattans (especially after I've had a few sips and the alcohol starts to kick in :).  In the show, Don Draper frequently drinks Canadian Club Whiskey on the rocks.  I didn't think we would enjoy that, so I went with the Manhattan, which Draper has also been seen drinking on the show.  This is a great article about Manhattans if you'd like to know more: The Manhattan Project.
Ingredients:
(makes 1 drink)

• 1¾ oz bourbon
• ¾ oz of sweet vermouth
• 1-3 dashes of aromatic bitters
• 1 Maraschino cherry

Directions:

1. Chill glass with ice.
2. Meanwhile, pour bourbon, vermouth, and bitters over ice in mixing glass. 
3. Stir for 20 seconds, and strain into a martini glass. 
4. Garnish with a Maraschino cherry. 

Dinner...

Beef Stroganoff

*recipe from Maureen K.
According to Betty Draper's son Bobby, "Mommy doesn't like to eat."  If we were making a meal for Betty, it would probably just be cigarettes and cocktails.  Luckily, I love to eat, so I made a retro recipe that was very popular in the 1960's and is still delicious today.  It's really easy to make too!  I felt just like Betty Draper serving this up for dinner—all I was missing was a cocktail dress and a cigarette!
Ingredients:
(serves 3)

• 1 large onion cut thin
• 1 can mushrooms
• 1 sirloin steak, sliced thin
• 1/3 cup of dry white wine
• 1 1/2 tbs of Heinz 57 sauce
• 1 beef bouillon cube dissolved in 1 cup of water
•  1 1/2 tbs. Sour cream
• flour

Directions:

1. Sauté the onions and mushrooms in a small amount of oil until the onions are limp.  Remove from skillet.
2. Drench steak strips in a flour, salt, and pepper mixture.  Brown the steak in batches in the skillet. 
3. Return onion/mushroom mixture and browned steak to the skillet.
4. Add wine, bouillon/water mixture, and Heinz 57 Sauce.
5. Cover skillet and cook on low heat, stirring occasionally for about 1 hour.
6. Remove skillet from heat and stir in sour cream.
7. Serve over egg noodles or cooked rice.

Dessert...

Baked Alaska

*recipe from Essential Pepin

Baked Alaska is the perfect dessert to serve to your husband after a long day of work, or to impress your dinner guests at your next cocktail party! (or so someone might say during the Mad Men era)  
In reality though, I have never had this dessert and was a little weary of how it would taste, but it impressed me!  It was easy to make and simple but delicious, despite one problem that arose.  The problem we had (Yes, in very non-Mad Men fashion, Doug helped me with this one!) was that after we added the sugar to the whipped egg whites, they were not as firm and therefore impossible to pipe into a fancy design like Jacques Pepin's.  So, ours might have looked like a baked blob, but it still tasted delicious and I was amazed that the ice cream really didn't melt after baking it in the oven!
Ingredients:
(serves 8)

• 1 pound cake (about 12 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons espresso or brewed coffee
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 quart vanilla ice cream, slightly softened
• 6 large egg whites
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• Confectioners’ sugar, for sprinkling (oops - I forgot this!)

Directions:

Moistened cake around the ice cream...It doesn't look pretty, but it's good.

After adding the meringue...still not pretty.

1. Cut the cake into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Arrange some of the slices in the bottom of a stainless steel platter or other ovenproof platter.
2. Mix the espresso or coffee and maple and pour half of it over the cake to moisten it.
3. Spread the ice cream over the cake, wrapping the sides and top with the remaining cake slices so the ice cream is covered uniformly. Moisten with the remaining coffee mixture. Place in the freezer until you are ready to finish the recipe. (It can be frozen for at least 1 week.)
4. When the cake is frozen, whip the egg whites in a large bowl until stiff. Add the sugar in a steady stream until all is added, and beat at high speed for 30 seconds.
5. Cover the frozen cake with half of the meringue, smoothing the meringue with a spatula and making sure the ice cream is completely covered. Spoon the remaining meringue into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and decorate the top, and sides. Place back in the freezer until you are ready to bake.
6. When you are ready to serve, preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
7. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the meringue is tinged with gold.



After baking...looks weird, but tastes great!

8. Sprinkle the baked Alaska with confectioners’ sugar. Serve immediately, spooning or cutting the dessert into bowls.