Germany Steals Potatoes from the French

Setting: Tis past weekend was a special treat. My memphis family came to visit on Thursday, and Max stayed with us all the way through Sunday morning. We had a great time. Plus, this was my first opportunity to share a Julia meal with someone other than Lori. Having just suffered my first football loss of the season (auburn: 23, arkansas: 44), I must admit that I was a little sad. What better way to put your mind on something else than to dive into another great meal in the kitchen?

okay... I worded that weird. I just got a mental image of myself diving into a giant pan of risotto. Let's try that again.

*rewind* What better way to put your mind on something else than cooking a great dinner for your family (much better)?

Task: Supremes de Volaille a Brun (Chicken Breasts Sautéed in Butter), Petits Pois Frais à l'Anglaise (Buttered Peas), and Pommes de Terre Sautées (Potatoes Sautéed in Butter).

I'm wondering if it would be more cost effective for me to churn my own butter. This time I used nearly an entire box of stick butter for only three recipes (two of which were vegetable recipes).

This meal was fairly simple and much more relaxed than my last meal. The peas simply had to be boiled and then blended with spices. The potatoes (new potatoes) were cut into slices and then cooked with butter in the skillet. The chicken breasts were also cooked in the skillet with butter after being salted and rolled in flour. Afterwards a lemon butter sauce was made to pour over the meat.

Verdict: The meal turned out really well. The most important thing is that everyone seemed to enjoy the taste (Always a plus!). There were a few lessons learned that I will share below:

1. Out of season - Green peas are not in season right now. Julia went into a long explanation of how to choose the right peas. I was very excited when I showed up to Kroger because I felt so educated; however, I was greeted with a nice "the joke's on you" once I realized that I had picked a vegetable that grows in the spring. Solution: frozen peas. Boooo!

2. Hi! my name is Broken Record - Yes. I had a problem with the chicken AGAIN! Julia must have like "super chickens" or something. Every time she tells me that it will take __ amount of time, it ends up being 2 to 3 times longer. Oh, and I think I might yell at the cookbook if I have to read "springy to the touch" any more. Okay, #2 has transitioned into Hi! My name is Soap Box.

3. Potatoes = Amazing - The potatoes were sooooooooo good. i would love to share the details of this recipe with anyone who is interested because they were delicious and simple to cook. They reminded Lori and I of the potatoes that we often eat at a German restaurant in Madison, Alabama. I'm not sure why French food reminded us of German food, but hey...at least both countries are next to one another on the map.

4. Where's the camera? - I forgot to take pictures this time. I don't know how it happened. I like to think that I was so caught up in the "Joy of Cooking" (yes, i realize the reference is cheesy) that I simply could not break my concentration to take snapshots. The truth: I did not remember to do it.

Better Late Than Never

Setting: It may seem as though I fell off the face of the earth, but I am back! Unfortunately, it took me a ridiculously long time to post about my cooking on September 24, 2009. To make matters worse I was not able to cook a french meal at all the following week. This is my attempt to catch everyone up to date and to assure my readers that I have not backed out on my commitment. I am pleased to see that more people have found my blog. I hope that you will stick with me and find my entries to be entertaining and informative.

Task: Canapés (Sautéed Bread Rounds), Suprêmes de Volaille a Blanc (Breast of Chicken with Cream), Risotto (Braised Rice), Frozen Artichoke Hearts, and Pommes a la Sevillane (Apples Braised in Butter, Orange Sauce).

I will not bore you with all the cooking instructions. To do so would take a really long time and most likely you would quickly lose interest. Instead I will just let you know how it all went.

Verdict: First, let me say that I am proud of myself for making 5 recipes in one evening. That is a big accomplishment for me. It was a little chaotic, but I made it through successfully. Below I will list the things that I learned:

1. Canapés are really yummy. Essentially, they are triangles of bread sautéed in butter. I used them as a base for my dessert and found them to be excellent!

2. I do not have enough cookware. Up to this point, I have not really noticed the fact that Julia often calls for items that are not in our kitchen; however, this time I found myself stressed and looking for replacement items that would serve the same purpose as the actual items that the recipe called for. For example, "a covered baking dish to go in the oven" was translated into "a casserole dish with and upside down cookie sheet on top". Oh well. You do what you can, right?

3. Chicken hates me while cooking but loves me while tasting. I always have problems when I cook chicken. When Julia tells me that it will only take 6 minutes to cook the chicken breasts, for some reason it always takes me much longer. She says that the chicken is done when it is "springy to the touch". What does that even mean? Who says that? I touched the chicken and thought, "Hmm...this feels springy." To my surprise, when I cut into one of them with my knife, I found it to be raw in the middle. Ewwwww... Consequently, they went back in the oven. I had a bad feeling that they were going to be dry and overcooked, but i was pleased to find them to be extremely juicy and full of flavor. I guess taste is the most important thing!

4. Butter goes fast in Julia's world. I need to start checking on our butter supply more often, because I almost ran out this time. I remember thinking, "Do we need butter? Nah...I just bought a box." Well, when any given recipe has the potential to require 7 pounds of butter (exaggeration) the supply can run low quickly.

5. Pommes a la Sevillane is gender biased. Lori liked the dessert...I did not. My conclusion is that it is a guy/girl thing. Of course, I would have to carry out some more tests to prove it. Anyone want to come over and eat apples braised in butter, orange sauce?

That's it for now. I'll be blogging about my meal from this past Saturday very soon.