Cookbook Challenge Finale: Julia Child's Coq Au Vin
Tuesdayy will be the second anniversary of the birth of this blog. The Confounded Cook; the blog itself, was inspired by a viewing of Julie and Julia, a thoroughly entertaining Nora Ephron film based on a book about a blog that followed one person’s goal of making every recipe in Julia Child’s masterworks. The fact that we completed the Cookbook Challenge with 72 recipes certainly doesn’t measure up to Julie Powell’s completion of 500-plus recipes in 365 days but at least now we can say we have cooked a recipe from every cookbook we own. As the blog was inspired by Julie and Julia, it seemed fitting to end the challenge with a dish I’ve wanted to make for some time. I last tried Coq Au Vin a couple of decades ago, when I assisted in making it for a romantic evening we were creating for another couple, and even then it was not a Julia Child recipe.
This past Saturday's creation of the Coq Au Vin took several hours
as each component is lovingly prepared. The pearl onions alone were simmered with a handmade herb bouquet of fresh thyme and parsley from our garden along with a bay leaf ; all wrapped in cheesecloth. The mushrooms were also sauteed separately and everything is simmered in copious amounts of butter. Bacon is a primary ingredient and is used throughout. We got a little happy with the addition of the red wine, which then colored the dish a bit too much. I filmed the lighting of the cognac to capture the showmanship of the dish...we had the fire extinguisher nearby, just in case. I'm having flashbacks of my first attempt at blackening fish in our original apartment in Westport, when I set off alarms that resulted in everyone in the building evacuating. This was, thankfully, far less dramatic.
I remember when Jane first served the Beouf Bourguignon a couple of years ago and after the exhausting day-long process, she told us that she would seriously reconsider going through that much work for one dish again. It is just beef stew, right? Aren’t there a thousand shortcuts to achieve this same result? Then we tasted it. Swooning is an apt description; we literally felt drunk from the flavors cascading over each other. We begged Jane not to change a thing.
So, here at the two-year anniversary of the blog,
we celebrate the end of the Cooking Challenge with an apropo Julia Child dish. Fittingly, we finished off the night with another viewing of our Julie and Julia DVD while nibbling on fresh farmer's market Black Diamond watermelon that we broiled with cinnamon and brown sugar for dessert. Watching the film again, I realize another similarity I share with those two women that I completely relish: the presence of an amazingly supportive partner who tolerates your seemingly endless madness to help you finish a project. Thank you for all of the fun we've had in the kitchen, K-Man. I continue to be forever grateful to those of you reading my mad musings and hope you stick with me. For the next year, I’m not going to tie myself to a challenge. Instead, I plan to have some fun. It’s been a tough couple of years and I’m looking to yuk it up a bit. So, I plan to lighten up some; body and soul, and bring some light and life back to the blog. I’m going to pay homage to my love of all things pop culture with some Pop Culture Cooking; celebrating some of my favorite things: film, literature, music. Etc.
My Mom always said that the primary survival instinct for our family is our sense of humor and fun, so I plan to celebrate that in the coming year. There are, most assuredly, some tough times ahead as that's how life rolls, but I’m ready to lighten up, but
good.
Let’s have some fun, already!
Wonderful post, Greg! And congrats on the completion of your challenge. I have really been enjoying your writing lately, even more than usual, and I think this was a wonderful finale to your challenge. I can't wait to see what's to come!
ReplyDeleteYAY! HOORAY! AND CONGRATS on the conclusion of a fabulous journey! Can't wait to see what you do with pop rocks and pixie sticks in the coming months LOL!
ReplyDeleteKristy