Showing posts with label Julia Child. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Julia Child. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Cold Here and Time for Boeuf Bourguignon






French Fäience Figural Mustard by Alcide Chaumeil


It's cold here in Texas.  

Time for the chef to fix a hearty dish.



Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon

Cooler weather is the 

perfect time to make a stew,

 and what better choice than 

Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon. 




Boeuf Bourguignon with Boiled Potatoes and Snow Peas

Want to join me for a delicious meal?




The table is set 

and dinner is ready!




 Pewter chargers topped with 

white dinner plates in Wedgwood Nantucket. 

 The flatware is Lauffer stainless in the Bedford pattern.




~ Tea Towels Used As Placemats ~ 

100% Cotton Made in 

France for William Sonoma.




 ~ Cows ~ Ducks ~ Rabbits ~ Chickens ~

 The woven details offer a

 charming French country feel for

 the theme of a casual one dish meal.
Napkins in olive green and aubergine

 are also from William Sonoma. 
 The pewter napkin rings, 

each with a different flower motif, 

are from the Netherlands.




Contemporary Quimper Pottery

Dinner Plates With Scalloped Rim
Produced at Fäiencerie Kéraluc 

by the Artist L'Helguen
Bowls are wide and shallow.

Perfect for stew!




Ralph Lauren ~ Glen Plaid

 Arte Italica's Crystal w/ Pewter Stems





Metal leaf dish 

 for bread service.
Each of the plates and bowls 

of the Quimper set are a bit different, 

but with the same stylized flower theme.






The gray tones of this pottery work

with the pewter and the gold 

and taupe of the linens.
Centerpiece is simply a wooden bowl filled

with natural horse apples and ceramic acorns.
Natural horn votives 

and a few of the oversized ceramic 

acorns were added around the base.




The glow through the natural horn

adds a bit of warmth on this chilly evening.
A glass of red wine

 is perfect with this dish. 
 Julia recommends a 

Beaujolais, a Bordeaux, or a Burgundy.
The sides of boiled potatoes 

and snow peas compliment the beef cooked 

in red wine with bacon, onions, and mushrooms.





Bon Appetit!

Julia's Recipe here.

~ Joining ~


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Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Happy Birthday, Julia!

Remembering Julia Child,

sharing a memory, and serving dinner.



Julia Child

August 15, 1912 - August 13, 2004




Julia Child, very close in age to my mom, would have been 100 years old this August.   In honor of this legendary American icon I felt it appropriate to reprise a post I did as a tribute to Julia Child when I first began Hyacinths for the Soul.  




I rarely cook much any more because my husband does most of the cooking. That allows me the pleasure of  focusing my attention to setting a special table. True, the first 25 years of our marriage I did do the everyday grocery shopping, cooking, and clean up, while my "personal chef" saved his kitchen talents for weekend dinner parties and invited guests. My husband has long held a fascination with cuisines of the world, has a library of cook books, follows many of the Food Network cooking shows, has attended the occasional cooking school, and was a student at The French Culinary Institute in NYC.




Julia Child and Assistant, LaVarenne Cooking School at the Greenbrier

In December 1999 when I discovered that Julia Child would be a guest chef at Ann Willan's La Varenne Signature Series @ The Greenbrier in March of 2000, I signed us up. The week was one of pure delight! The Greenbrier, a National Historic Landmark, is a 6,500 acre estate nestled in the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia. The southern charm of this national treasure was the perfect setting for a week of culinary classes and pampering by the staff at the Greenbrier. This national treasure has offered classic southern charm and outstanding amenities since the late 1800s.



Julia Child @ The Greenbrier Resort in 2000

As avid fans of the early PBS series THE FRENCH CHEF and later THE JULIA CHILD and JACQUES PEPIN COOKING @ HOME public television series, Julia Child has long shared her culinary expertise with us. The opportunity to attend a cooking session with Julia Child and actually meet her, was the icing on the cake! Or as Julia might say, "The butter on the bread!"



 "Elegance with Eggs"
Hard Boiled Eggs, Eggs a la Tripe, Eggs a la Chimay, 
Poached Eggs, Poached Eggs in Aspic, French Omelet, and Cheese Soufflé.


The class we attend with Julia was entitled 

"Elegance with Eggs", and it was all about eggs! 

Julia's joie de vivre was infectious! She did not disappoint!



Julia Child with a Group of Participants
Photo used with permission of Greenbrier Photography

Here we are with Julia.  That's us on the far right.



Le Menu on Courage Brewery Cockerel Menu Stand

The menu is set, and the chef is at work in the kitchen.



CA Chef Mustard Pot and HB-Henriot Quimper Hen On Nest



Welcome to 

"A Casual Dinner for Two"

honoring Julia Child.




As the saying goes, "The rooster may crow,

but it is the hen that delivers the goods!"


Le Coq Quimper Pottery, French Faience Roosters, and Sunflowers 

So our table was set with a chicken theme, both roosters and a setting hen!



Henriot Quimper Le Coq Dinner Plate,
Blue Pinstripe Charger fromNeiman Marcus,
Flatware from Pottery Barn

The Crowing Rooster




A Fresh Baguette, a Basket of Cooking Tools, 

and a Rooster McCoy Planter with Fresh Flowers





A Geo Martel Desvres - Cockerel Double Salt





Fresh Bouquet of Sunflowers



Rex-Goliath Pinot Noir

Petite Tarts with Fresh Berries




Our table is ready and waiting.

Shall we pop into the 

 kitchen and see what the chef is doing?




 Looks like he is busy cooking our omelets. 

 Tutorials, Tips, and Tidbits @ Stone Gable 

Julia recommends that the best omelets are made as single servings using only 2 to 3 eggs. Cook the eggs over the highest heat. Once a film of coagulated egg forms, begin to jerk the pan roughly toward you. This throws the egg against the pan and forces it to roll over upon itself.




 Then you can slide your 

perfect omelet off onto a serving plate.





Top with a bit of chopped parsley and red bell pepper. 

Then add a simple salad of mixed greens.




 Voilà, 

 you have dinner!




So here's to you, Julia Child!

Bon Appétit!




Thank you for allowing me to 

share some personal memories of Julia Child.




I appreciate the joy that Julia has 

brought into our home through the years.





If you have a personal story 

or remembrance of Julia Child, 

please share it with us in a comment.

Joining










French Inspiration Thursday @ French Cupboard








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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Boeuf Bourguignon Family Dinner


French Fäience Figural Mustard by Alcide Chaumeil


It's Tablescape Thursday with Susan @ Between Naps on the Porch. Let's see what the chef has planned for dinner.



Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon

With the change of seasons, the cooler weather is the perfect time to make a stew, and what better choice than Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon. To quote Julia, "As is the case with most famous dishes, there are more ways than one to arrive at a good bouef bourguignon. Carefully done, and perfectly flavored, it is certainly one of the most delicious beef dishes concocted by man, and can well be the main course for a buffet dinner. Fortunately you can prepare it completely ahead, even a day in advance, and it only gains in flavor when reheated. "



Boeuf Bourguignon with Boiled Potatoes and Snow Peas


Those of you who follow my blog know that my husband is the chef in our household. Not only do I and our family and friends benefit from the fruits of his labors, having my own personal chef allows me more time to "play with the dishes" to set the table.



Dinner for Four

That's just what I did this week when we invited family over for dinner. While my husband was busy preparing the beouf bourguignon, I put together this setting for our meal.




 I started with pewter chargers topped with white dinner plates in Wedgwood Nantucket. The flatware is Lauffer stainless in the Bedford pattern.




I like to use folded tea towels as placemats because of the size of the chargers. These are 100% cotton made in France for Williiams Sonoma.





The woven details in these linens are lovely. The borders are woven in tones of gold and tones of taupe and feature cows, chickens, rabbits, and ducks with vines and flowers. They offer a charming French country feel to go with the theme of a casual one dish dinner.


I used napkins in olive green and aubergine which are also from Williams Sonoma. The pewter napkin rings are each engraved with a different flower motif and are from the Netherlands.



 I decided to use some contemporary Quimper pottery that we purchased about ten years ago. We have dinner plates and wide shallow dish bowls in this pattern. The plates have a scalloped rim so I included them on top of the white Nantucket for a touch of variety to the concentric circles of the other dishes.

These dishes are not typical of most pottery made in Quimper. They were produced at Fäiencerie Kéraluc by the artist L'Helguen. We purchased them at Gina Linzza's charming shop, Méli Mélo, in Houston, TX
.


 You can see that the bowls are wide and shallow, perfect for stew. I often use these bowls for pasta dishes or main course salads.




 The glassware is a mix of Ralph Lauren crystal in the Glen Plaid pattern and stems of Arte Italica's crystal with pewter bases.





 I pulled in the metal 

 leaf dish for bread service.
Each of the plates and bowls of the Quimper 

set are a bit different but of the same stylized flower theme.




I like the gray tones of this pottery 

with the pewter and the gold and taupe of the linens.





 For a center piece, I used the wooden container of horse apples and ceramic acorns that I showed in this week's Outdoor Wednesday. You can read about them here.




 I added small containers made of natural horn to hold votives and mixed in a few of the oversized ceramic acorns.



The glow of the candles through the natural horn adds a bit of warmth to the setting. I purchased these at Gump's several years ago and like to use them for small bouquets of flowers as well.


Dinner is ready, 

 so sit down and have a bite. 

  It's delicious!
A glass of red wine is perfect with this dish. 

 Julia recommends a Beaujolais, a Bordeaux, or a Burgundy.





 The sides of boiled potatoes and snow peas are the perfect compliment to the beef cooked in red wine with bacon, onions, and mushrooms.




 We enjoyed apple cranberry pie for dessert with a scoop of Haagen Daz vanilla ice cream. The individual pies were made using a nifty mold from Williams Sonoma. Can you tell where we like to shop?




 The pie molds come in various shapes (star, heart, apple, and pumpkin) and make perfect little pocket pies for individual servings. You can check them out here at Williams Sonaoma. I used the pie curst recipe found on the box and the apple cranberry pie recipe found on the WS site here.




 I pulled in some more of our Quimper collection to serve the pocket pies. These dessert plates are part of a set made by Paul Fouillen, c1950. I used pumpkin shaped doilies under the pies, but this is what the decor is like. Each of the twelve dessert plates, the cake plate, and the server are all hand painted with a different stylized creature from the sea. The browns, greens, and rust colors of this fäience are definitely the color pallet of autumn. Notice the rim of these plates are hand crimped. They are very delicate in feel.
Paul Fouillen and his son, 

Maurice Fouillen, are known for their distinctive pottery.





Thanks for joining me today. Please leave a comment below so I know who stopped by. Then click here to visit Susan @ Between Naps on the Porch where you'll be treated to some fabulous tablescapes.


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