The Julia Dinner

When I started my dinner last night (comprised entirely of Juila Child recipes), I didn't think I could go through with browning a whole chicken in one whole stick of butter. I gingerly started with about 3 T., then casually threw in another 2 T., and I'm not sure, but I think by the end of the browning stage an actual 8 T. of butter actually made it into the pot to result in some of the best chicken ever.

And when the time came to build the sauce for said butter browned chicken, I certainly didn't add the additional 3 T. of butter to the end result, but at least it was optional. I whisked like lightening, and was amazing myself at the lemon yellow yolks that result from even a minor hand beating effort. The whole time I was in the kitchen, I kept thinking how butter truly smells phenomenal. If you want to make a memorable dinner, by all means, use a whole stick of butter.

A good indication that the chicken was well received...

I was glad that I invited my in-laws over, or we would have been eating a buttery chicken for 2 days. The original recipe calls for a 3 to 3 1/2 lb. chicken, but the chickens that we get are usually much larger. Mine was 4 1/2 lbs. When my Mother was still raising chickens, she would have some as large as small turkeys. I don't know, maybe it's in the water out there. This was also the first time I cut up a chicken into 8 pieces. Considering I was consulting a book, I think I did OK. Note to self: watch someone who knows what they are doing, so I don't have to second guess myself again.

I think that handling a whole animal causes you to think more about where your food is coming from. I know that this chicken had a good life, and was killed in a humane way by small farmers who cared. Not only does it taste better then, but I don't feel the pangs of guilt that I know a movie like Food Inc. would cause me to feel. In no way do I support the mass farming of animals, that in the end results in company owners talking about "product"... in fact that really makes me angry.

The Ratatouille that is front and center on my plate (I think my company may have thought I was a bit crazy to be taking pictures of my food, so I didn't take too many...) was also delicious. Because I didn't have a smaller covered saucepan, I actually had to use my tagine, which worked out perfectly. After the dishes were done and about to be put away, I left it out on the stove thinking that it may be time for a tagine this week.

And the cake! I almost forgot about the cake! It was so good, I could not help myself from talking about it after every bite. Normally I wait a couple of hours after dinner to have my dessert, but we ate this right away. Boy-O ate his up in record time, and I made mine last so long, I could see my company growing restless.

All in all, I think it was a good idea to have a theme dinner, even one that had to revolve around a recent obsession. I hope to host some more dinners before the end of the year, and pledge to find a better way to take pics in a darkish kitchen after the sun goes down.

And because I had 2 egg whites left over from the sauce, I concocted a new pancake recipe which I will post after this one. Aces!

Julia and Jalepenos

Yesterday was Julia Child's birthday, it would have been her 97th. Bon Appetit challenged their readers to host a dinner party in her honor, cooking things from her books - and even included several recipes in their August issue. I was excited to try some of her recipes, especially after my recent movie viewing inspiration/obsession, but found myself completely alone for dinner last night, so that just wouldn't do. I couldn't justify eating a whole chicken, and side dish, salad, bread and dessert all alone while toasting the queen of dinner parties. So I did the next best thing and made a cake, Julia's cake, Reine de Saba.

But that was after I tackled some jalapenos.

R1 and I were planning to have a canning party to make delicious candied jalapenos, but alas, the jalapeno crop this year is just not very good. My parents planted a whole row of plants for me, and when I harvested, I got just about a quart and a half. Even the farm markets seem to be curiously absent of my favorite green pepper. So while our party plans were foiled (at least for now - perhaps we can locate some more peppers somewhere), I decided to try and candy can what few I had.

My mouth was watering as I sliced a bowlful of the crispy, dragon green peppers, but I just wasn't sure how they were going to turn out. The solution to fill the jars with was 3 parts sugar and 1 part vinegar brought to a syrupy boil. Boiling vinegar is fast becoming one of the pungent smells that I rather love, due to all the pickling canning I've been doing lately. After the syrup cooled in a pool on my stove, I tasted it, and concurred with myself that they indeed were going to taste somewhat like the peppers I had purchased, and have purchased for others, from West Allis Cheese and Sausage Shop which sells at the Milwaukee Public Market. They are so addicting and delicious, and you can add them to just about anything if you love spicy food. I think they are especially good on sandwiches and with eggs.

I was a little disappointed that even though I packed my jars as tightly as I could, the peppers shrunk down so much after their 10 minute hot water bath that jars only appeared 2/3 full. This morning, however, I gently turned them onto their sides and let the syrup make its way around and they did seem to appear a little more full. The proof will most definitely come in the tasting, which I think I'll make myself wait a couple of weeks for. Unless I happen to find more peppers, then I'll have to crack one open right away to make sure the recipe is sound.

Julia's cake was beautiful. Like I've said before, I'm a batter eater - so I knew this was going to be good before it even hit the oven. It had two of my favorite chocolate companions in it too: ground almonds and rum. I really kind of detest rum, even after keeping an open mind and trying it again after watching something on Puerto Rican rums and the whole distillation process... but still, unless it is baked up in some kind of chocolate, I really can do without it. The other exciting thing is that the only leavening in the cake comes from the eggs, not a pinch of baking soda or powder.

It was baked until slightly underdone in a petite 8 inch cake pan - which I love, because it instantly looks so very 50's. And just a hint of frosting, since I think it's going to have a pudding like interior. But since I was dining alone (and really, I have other desserts that I'm still working on eating - like the Pastel Helado that is still taking up residence in my fridge...) I saved it for tonight without even tasting the finished product. Oh, I stood by with my knife ready, but since I'm the only daily dessert eater in my house, I thought I had better wait.

So this evening after I make Julia's chicken, ratatouille, a salad and loaf of bread, I'll finally cut into it and take another picture. I'm very excited to try these recipes, all of which are posted at Bon Appetit, and hopefully the light will be good in the kitchen so I can get some nice photos of my efforts. And I'm even more excited to finally enter the world of Julia Child because really, I don't know what was taking me so long.