Today is Julia Child's day of birth. As a young homemaker I watched Julia, read her cookbooks and experimented in the kitchen. I read a lot about French cuisine and while I admired Julia's devotion I didn't feel the same. It wasn't me. I chose to slave over other cuisines and learn about them and make the dishes best known. Like most Americans I enjoy Italian but I'm crazy about all Mediterranean cooking, Asian and Latin and Spanish flavors. I also adore regional American cooking . Of course many American dishes are rooted in older cuisines and no doubt lots of French cooking lurks in those dishes so I'll have to be a little less judgemental.
To celebrate the woman who is one of my muses I chose to make some French dishes from Julia's collection. I am creating a somewhat casual summer meal to be enjoyed outside. Julia's birthday is close to mine so I am celebrating my cooking as well. For the hors d'oeuvre I chose a recipe from another of my muses - my Dad. Can men be muses? I don't know but he is. He makes a toothsome brie with brown sugar, scotch and pecans baked on top. It is awesome. I'll make Salade Nicoise with fresh grilled tuna, vegetables and nicoise olives napped with a lemon vinaigrette. I ran across Julia's recipe for vichyssoise. It is a pureed leek and potato soup served chilled. I decided to make it because I have a wonderful memory from my childhood. On one of our family vacations we toured New England. For dinner one night we had a great meal at the Woodstock Inn in Vermont. Dad ordered vichyssoise and I just couldn't understand what it was. So he explained and shared. I chose to add that to the menu for the sake of history. I made it today and it is silken in texture.
For dessert I made Julia's flaky pie crust. It makes enough for four crusts so I froze some. This dough has 6 ounces of butter and 1 3/4 cups of shortening! Oh my! I made the dough into a tart shell. Apricots are gorgeous so I poached fresh apricots and then allowed them to drain. On the bottom of the tart shell I painted strained apricot preserves with a little triple sec stirred in. On top of that I put in a filling of cream, egg, cream cheese and spices. Finally I placed the poached apricots on top and baked the tart. When it was done baking I spooned more of the apricot/triple sec mixture over the top as a sweet glaze. The filling isn't sweet so the glaze and the preserves painted on the bottom of the crust should give it a very French sensibility.
So that's the simple meal to honor a wonderful American who changed home cooking for ever! Bon Appetit!
Showing posts with label brie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brie. Show all posts
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Monday, August 3, 2009
Day 2
Last night was the grand event. We celebrated Sue and Tom's 60 th birthdays and Tom's retirement. Their daughter Becky organized decorations, celebration and games. The decorations were awesome with leis, hats, special table settings, favors and more. Tiki torches decorated the perimeter of the sun porch. We started the festivities of two wheels of brie encrusted in macadamia nuts with aplle and crackers and spam glazed in pineapple juice, brown, sugar, mustard and ginger. I don't want to hear castigations about spam. Hawaiians consume more than 6 times the amount of spam than mainlanders. To go with I made a passionate punch of rum, pineapple juice, gingerale and papaya nectar adorned with mango, berries and parasols and orchid straws.
The game was a men vs. women trivia game with categories of questions that include Proctor and Gamble slogans, highlights of Tom's career at P & G and current events from 1949. As always the hilarity and laughter rocked the house. The teams are highly competitive but alas the girls won 19 to 11. We had it down! Hula hooping and limbo claimed the teens and the little guys.
Dinner was a luau feast with orange baked chicken, pania'olu steak and prawn curry. We enjoyed this with jasmine rice, a stir fry of broccoli and bok choy and a tropical fruit salad dressed with a papaya, yogurt and honey sauce. For dessert there were individual souffles of passionate cake with strawberry compote. It was such fun.
After dinner schmoozing and fun included the inevitable slip ass game. Generations 1 and 2 and 4 went to bed leaving the generation 3 cousins to play and laugh riotously into the wee hours. They consumed much popcorn and a batch of brownies that once baked were consumed in seconds. They are sleeping in as I write this trying to recover.
The morning after is spent recollecting and laughing over the fun of the night past. It is so great to wake to the stillness - I am up first and see family and chat as they awaken and come for coffee and toast with some local honey. We don't talk much about the mornings and the laughter isn't quite as loud but it is a warm family time of love and fun.
Brie in a Macadamia Nut Crust adapted from Sam Choy
1 8 ounce wheel of brie
1/4 C flour
1 egg
1/2 C. panko
1/2 C. finely chopped macadamia nuts
chutney
crackers and apple slices
Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Combine the panko and nuts in a shallow pan. Unwrap the brie and dust it with flour. Beat the egg and add a tablespoon of water and mix well. Dip the brie in the egg mixture. Then coat the brie with the panko mixture.
Place the brie on a tin in the oven and heat for 8-10 minutes. The brie just needs to yield to your fingertip. Take the brie and place chutney along side on a platter and serve with crackers and apples.
The game was a men vs. women trivia game with categories of questions that include Proctor and Gamble slogans, highlights of Tom's career at P & G and current events from 1949. As always the hilarity and laughter rocked the house. The teams are highly competitive but alas the girls won 19 to 11. We had it down! Hula hooping and limbo claimed the teens and the little guys.
Dinner was a luau feast with orange baked chicken, pania'olu steak and prawn curry. We enjoyed this with jasmine rice, a stir fry of broccoli and bok choy and a tropical fruit salad dressed with a papaya, yogurt and honey sauce. For dessert there were individual souffles of passionate cake with strawberry compote. It was such fun.
After dinner schmoozing and fun included the inevitable slip ass game. Generations 1 and 2 and 4 went to bed leaving the generation 3 cousins to play and laugh riotously into the wee hours. They consumed much popcorn and a batch of brownies that once baked were consumed in seconds. They are sleeping in as I write this trying to recover.
The morning after is spent recollecting and laughing over the fun of the night past. It is so great to wake to the stillness - I am up first and see family and chat as they awaken and come for coffee and toast with some local honey. We don't talk much about the mornings and the laughter isn't quite as loud but it is a warm family time of love and fun.
Brie in a Macadamia Nut Crust adapted from Sam Choy
1 8 ounce wheel of brie
1/4 C flour
1 egg
1/2 C. panko
1/2 C. finely chopped macadamia nuts
chutney
crackers and apple slices
Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Combine the panko and nuts in a shallow pan. Unwrap the brie and dust it with flour. Beat the egg and add a tablespoon of water and mix well. Dip the brie in the egg mixture. Then coat the brie with the panko mixture.
Place the brie on a tin in the oven and heat for 8-10 minutes. The brie just needs to yield to your fingertip. Take the brie and place chutney along side on a platter and serve with crackers and apples.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
