Tending the Goalie

So it is Christmas night and the family is gone and the house straightened up. I have to say that the beef bourguignon turned out quite well. Everyone seemed to like it and they ate a lot of it, so I take that as a good sign. I did get hung up a few times with the recipe but, overall, I found the whole thing fun. I am still not sure what we supposed to be done with the bacon lardons and I ended up tossing a bunch of strips of fat because it just seemed wrong to keep them in the stew. I also had to play with the amounts of burgundy and beef stock, but, in the end, the whole thing was pretty tasty.

Will I tackle another Julia recipe anytime soon? No. But I do think I could possibly find it in myself to try another fairly complicated recipe some day, maybe (how’s that for non-committal?). Perhaps for next years cookie exchange — another event that causes me to break out in a cold sweat.

Merry Christmas all!

The finished dish. And my new casserole.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Warning! This is a post that has to do with “what happens between games” and is not hockey-related. If you are here just for the hockey, then you might want to stop reading now. However, since we all do live a life outside of hockey (yes, really), I encourage you to take a chance and read on…

I have been listening to the Julia Child biography “Dearie” lately and it has inspired me to try one of her recipes. I should note here that I am not a cook. I can cook but I don’t really like to. Once I get past a few ingredients I start to lose interest. I also find that I don’t often have all the detailed ingredients that many recipes call for, so I start out in the hole.

Given this, the idea that I might try to tackle a complex recipe from a foremost chef known for her attention to detail and love for sophisticated French cooking is completely absurd. But the way I see it, Julia couldn’t cook worth a damn when she first started out (it’s true) and it seemed to work out just fine for her.

I have decided, to add more drama to this potential disaster, to make said dish for Christmas dinner. No pressure. Given my family’s rather pedestrian tastes, there really is not much pressure, except that we may not have anything to eat on Christmas day. I’ll make a note to have chips and salsa on hand, just in case.

I want to try the beef bourguignon recipe, since that was her first famous recipe and the one most talked about. I went to the library and checked out Mastering the Art of French Cooking, 2^nd edition, but the first edition was not available, which is where this particular recipe was printed. So I ended up finding the recipe on the Internet. It would have added to the event to be working from the actual book, but considering what a messy cook I can be, I may be better off with paper that I can splatter upon without fear.

I have already encountered my first challenge – identifying the cooking utensils I will need to complete this task. Specifically, what a casserole looks like. I actually had to look it up to see a photo to discover that I don’t have one. So, off to the store I go. I often have to get ingredients but have not, so far, had to get specific cookware and utensils. Perhaps this is a sign?

I also had to look up a few ingredients, like chunk bacon, lardons, and small onions (did she mean not large onions or actually little onions, like those I used to pick out of soup when I was younger?). Now that I have successfully identified the items I need, I will have to go and find them. But I am on my way. Stay tuned for what happens next.

I can always get Chinese take-out if this goes badly, right?