Bon Appetit FEAST.

I DID IT. I really truly did it.

I, AEB, made Boeuf Bourguignon a la Julia Child.

It was laborious and it was time consuming.

But also, it was DEVINE.

A true masterpiece.

YUM.

First, I had to go to three (yes, three) grocery stores to gather all my ingredients. I probably could have accumulated everything I needed in two, but only Trader Joes sells wine (a STAPLE ingredient) and I could not find pearl onions at either Stop and Shop OR Whole Foods. Tragic. I had to go with the cute little boiling onions and luckily, they worked just fine.

After gathering the goodies I set to work…


First, I placed one tablespoon of olive oil into my glorious new dutch oven.


How adorable is this measuring spoon? (THANKS Aunt Heidi!)

Then, I cooked the bacon. MMMMM BACON.

Bacon is like home to me. That smell just takes me right back to Saturday morning in the Cuse. Chocolate chip pancakes anyone? Yes please…. OH WAIT. Sorry. Where was I? Oh yes, the Boeuf.

Anyways, before you actually cook the bacon you need to simmer it for 10 minutes in 1.5 quarts of water (that’s 3 cups in case you ever decide to take on this expedition yourself). This was a little strange to me… seeing the bacon floating free in all that water, but I went with it. What Julia says, I do.

After the bacon was fini I set forth drying the meat. I patted that meat as dry as it would go with about a zillion paper towels.


And then after I had finished off at least one whole roll of paper towels, I browned the meat in the leftover bacon fat. YUM.


Next came the carrots and onions. Julia says to use only one carrot but I say PISH to that. I LOVE carrots! I didn’t want to stray too much from the directions though, so I used two. A worthy compromise I thought. And then one onion. Chopped and thrown into the pot.

And then, everything goes back into le creuset at 450 degrees for 4 minutes.

Then take it out. Add a little salt (1 tsp) and pepper (1/4 tsp). Add a little flour (2 tbsp). Back to the oven for 4 more minutes.


Then comes the wine. Loads and loads of wine.


3 cups.

That was almost the whole bottle.

Almost. The remainder I happily had in a glass.

The dutch oven then went into the oven at 325 for just about 3 and 1/2 hours. A nice simmer to soak everything together. Simply delicious.


While the meat and veggies were immersed in a wine bath via the oven, I tackled the mushrooms. You know what Julia says about this one: “Don’t crowd the mushrooms!”. And so that’s exactly what I didn’t do. I let my mushrooms breathe. And they bubbled and browned just perfect.


Then I cooked up my boiled onions in butter and olive oil and let them get soft for about 10 minutes…


Until they were oh so tender and soft…


And now, for the very final picture…

Put it all together aaaaand… VOILA!

(Julia says to discard the carrots here, but I left them in for taste and texture.)


BON APPETIT!

I served mine over egg noodles and it was just perfection.

A long days work but well worth it.

YAY!!

And for dessert we had peanut butter and nutella pillows. My own twist on Joy the Baker’s creation. But that post will be for another time…

Au revoir! Good night!

Favorite Blog: Joy the Baker

http://www.joythebaker.com/

Hurry. Click that link as fast as your little fingers will take you there.

This blog, written by Joy, is wonderfully written and oh so pleasant to read.

I love this girl.

She has the most SCRUMPTIOUS recipes.

For example,

I WILL be making these peanut butter chocolate pillows this weekend.

photo credit: JOYtheBAKER!

That I am most certain of.

HAPPY FRIDAY!!

CafeTeria (Tres Chic!)

Last Sunday Mo, Katharine and I decided to get brunch together before Mo headed back to Rochester. We chose CafeTeria on Newbury Street and it was the perfect choice. A great bright and airy atmosphere and really delicious food. Simple, but with a touch of fancy.

I was too busy eating my chocolate chip buttermilk pancakes to take a picture of them, but trust me, this place is a winner.

Highly recommended!!

CafeTeria. 279a Newbury Street. Boston, MA 02116

crazy good. insanely delicious.

This dressing is the YUMMIEST. I just picked it up today at Super Stop and Shop because as I was skittering down the salad dressing aisle my eyes were drawn to the product packaging. I am such a sucker for packaging. I’ll admit it. Give me a nice looking bottle and I’m sold. The good thing about most well-packaged products is that they do actually taste better. In my opinion. Or at least, my brain has convinced my taste buds to think that way.

Brinanna’s Home Style Dressing is for real DEEElicious.

I picked up some Rich Poppy Seed dressing and it’s phenomenally sweet and flavorful. I can’t wait to pack a salad for lunch tomorrow with butter lettuce, raspberries, grapes, sliced almonds, and especially this tasty topper. What a treat!

There are lots of other appealing flavors too… just check them out at your local grocer (Whole Foods excluded, which is surprising, but true).

BRIANNA’S

Fine Salad Dressing

Crazy good.