Here are a few cookbooks/food-related books on my Amazon Wishlist right now.

• Larousse Gastronomique: The World’s Greatest Culinary Encyclopedia
  –this is the book “Julia Child” (Meryl Streep) received at the beginning of Julie & Julia
• Barefoot in Paris: Easy French Food You Can Make at Home
  by Ina Garten
• La Cucina: The Regional Cooking of Italy
  (over 900 pgs!) by Italian Academy of Cuisine
• My French Kitchen: A Book of 120 Treasured Recipes
  by Joanne Harris/Fran Warde
• French Food At Home
  by Laura Calder

I’m trying to order the first two if I can get my darn credit card to work…I don’t know why stuff won’t go through (although I can understand why the KitchenAid mixer didn’t as that would bring me over my limit). There must be a temporary hold on it somehow

UPDATE Dec 31/09: Okay, so I ordered the Larousse Gastronomique and Barefoot in Paris cookbooks via Amazon.ca and they shipped out, so it looks like my credit card issue finally got fixed. I also ordered La Cucina and French Food at Home, which should ship out today–hopefully that credit card cooperates with me

So, as I thought, I have some credit card issues. Long story short: I had cut up my big credit card in an attempt to curb my spending and of course that means that I immediately wanted to use it to buy my KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer. Unfortunately, I got the expiration date wrong and CIBC refuses to tell me what it is, no matter what security questions I answer. So I had to cancel my Amazon order.

[Jan 1st: Okay, long story short...I went to Sears and bought a Metallic Chrome Artisan model (unfortunately, not in my beloved Pistachio colour) with some accessories. I had to edit this post for uber-secret reasons (tee hee). So basically, I got the mixer, a Beater Blade + attachment (apparently it scrapes the sides of the bowl better), a KitchenAid Accessories kit (spatula, measuring cups/spoons, etc.), and KitchenAid knives (holy cow, I sound like a KitchenAid advert right now but I swear, it's all they had left at Sears on New Years Day--plus, it looks so shiny!). I also got a set of four pots from Sears for $16.95, regular $79, but honestly they are very thin and cheap looking and I can't imagine them ever having been sold for $79! Come to think of it, it must be subliminal as I just realized all my Mom's appliances are KitchenAid. Whoa!]

I also want to get the pasta attachments (below). I tried to order it via Futureshop and they said the order went through and then a couple hours later I got a notice it was declined. Darn, I was so excited lol. Oh well, I have 3 weeks until the mixer arrives, so I’ll just have to save up. I can’t wait to make pasta from scratch!

UPDATE (December 29th): Well, I must have subliminally programmed my Mom with thoughts of lovely, fresh homemade pasta because she and my sister ran out to Futureshop last night and bought the pasta attachments as they were on sale and KitchenAid has a $30 rebate program that ends today. YAY! Now I just have to wait for the darn mixer to arrive (unless I get really impatient and find a good deal on a Pistachio one nearby…hehe). If only I could find one today so I can make fresh pasta for New Years Eve dinner (we’ve never really made a big deal of New Years in my family, besides a nice family dinner, and I hate going out on crazy days like New Years and Boxing Day). If only I could find a decently priced mixer in my colour locally…

Another adventurous day in the kitchen! My kitchen (okay, my Mother’s kitchen) smells like heaven.

I started around noon with the Leek & Potato soup. So easy to make and yet so delicious. Just dice up a few leeks and a couple of potatoes and simmer in water with (generous amounts of) salt. I also cheated and threw in a diced garlic because I always find Potato Leek soup to be a bit bland. After half an hour of simmering or so, I mashed it all with a potato masher (you can just use a fork or you can purée it in a food processor, if you want it smoother) and throw in a  tablespoon or so of butter, add salt and pepper to taste, and–if you’re feeling fancy–top it off with a little fresh parsley garnish. Trés delicieux (or whatever).

Next, it was time to tackle the Coq au Vin (Pg. 264 in Mastering Vol. 1). Last night, I purchased a “roasting” chicken (good luck finding an old rooster here) at Thrifty’s. I was a bit squeemish thinking about chopping up the poor bird, but when it came time to do it, I was able to do it methodically. Thankfully, I remembered Grade 10 Home Ec. class (thank you, Mrs. Jennings!) and was able to dismember the bird efficiently. It’s all simmering away lovingly on the stove right now in a rich red wine sauce. The funnest part was adding the 1/4 cup of Brandy (we don’t have fine Cognac, so I used the French Brandy I used for the Bourguignon and the Boeuf a la Mode) and lighting it on fire. Whoosh! Okay, it was more like pfffft, but still. Then little blue and red flames danced for about 10 seconds or so around the chicken breast and thighs. As I type this, I am braising onions in a red wine-chicken broth sauce and I have my browned mushrooms “resting” until they are ready to add to the big beautiful red pot on the stove. The only problem I’ve encountered is that Thrifty’s (Thrifty Foods, our local “homegrown” food mart) ran out of pearl onions (probably due to everyone using them for their Christmas and Boxing Day dinners), so I had to make due with a big white onion. Oh, well…you win some, you lose some. I think it will still turn out well (hopefully), if not very picture-worthy. Which reminds me, I better remember to take a picture tonight. I already forgot to photograph the soup (although it isn’t terribly interesting to look at, and we have really ugly random dishes).

Oh, perfect timing. The timer just went off on the stove; time to check the chicken and reduce the sauce! Be back later with pics, I hope.

UPDATE: Just ate dinner, and it was sooo good. Again. Not trying to brag (too much, lol) but I’m surprised how much I like the food and how well it turned out by following the recipe. I’ve had a few disasters in the past just by following recipes, so I’m glad this one worked out. I’m so freakin’ stuffed right now! I added some braised carrots and some boiled potatoes to the dish, to give it more substance and add a little extra flavour. It did the trick perfectly.

Here are a couple pics, please forgive the poor quality and lack of presentation (I was more concerned with serving dinner while it was still hot than taking pretty pictures–although note my lovely little parsley garnish).

So tonight, I decided to make a baked brie wrapped in philo pastry (basically following the recipe here). For the filling, I used some apricot jam, toasted pecans, a bit of cassis “Dijon” mustard (that I bought at a little market in Beaune, France), and a drizzle of forest honey on top of the philo pastry. It was gooey gooey goodness. My mother, sister, and I devoured it with some baguette in short order. Here are some pics:

Since we were pretty full after our appetizer, we just had some french fries (McCain Cracked Pepper Fries) with my leftover gravy from the roast on Boxing Day. The gravy was so delicious over the fries–it reminded me of when I had steak and fries with au jus at La Rotonde last summer. So yummy!

I went grocery shopping today and picked up the ingredients for Coq au Vin (well, “roasting chicken” au vin), as well as the ingredients to make Potato Leek soup from scratch. I can’t wait! In other news, I’m seriously considering purchasing a KitchenAid Stand Mixer (preferably in Pistachio green) so I can do some baking. I’d also love to get the pasta attachment so I can make pasta from scratch (I’ve always wanted to do that); pasta is my favourite food. If I had to live on just one meal every day (or at least have the same meal every night for dinner) then it would be spaghetti. It’s my comfort food and my “safety” food when I go somewhere that has “weird” food that I don’t know if I will like or not. I know, I know…I’m working on expanding my gastronomical horizons. I saw this great Jamie Oliver special last week where he was in Italy and all the little old ladies sat outside their homes in the alley with little card tables, rolling their own pasta shells all day long. It was so cute, and gave me a serious craving for homemade pasta from scratch!

Okay, so my question(s) de jour (if there is anyone reading this) is: Do you own a KitchenAid mixer? Do you use it? How/What for? And if you don’t have one, would you consider getting one and why?

See? Just a simple question really

Alright, folks. Tonight, I am tackling Julia Child’s Boeuf a la Mode from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1, Pgs. 309-311 (if you care to try it yourself). We had a roast that was going to go off and we needed to do something with it but only had basic ingredients and the stores are closed today (being Boxing Day). So, I am making this succulent (I hope) Braised Beef in a red wine/brandy sauce. I don’t really know what to serve it with, but we have a few carrots left over, some mushrooms, an onion (I think), and 2 potatoes (I used all the other veggies for the marinade. Word of advice when cooking with Julia: read the whole damn recipe first, sometimes it can be confusing!). It’s like we’re on rations (except delicious, healthy ones of course). If I remember, I will definitely take and post a few pictures.

Tonight, my brother and his fiancée and her parents are coming over for a casual dinner. We’ll be serving a choice of the braised beef or leftover turkey (we figured they might be sick of turkey already, as they have a turkey farm, and, as I mentioned earlier, we really need to cook this beef before it expires!). I can’t wait to see how it turns out. I hope it’s good–there’s nothing worse than cooking a big meal and it ending up a disaster (I originally wrote, “distaster”…same thing really). It looks like little Zoë is asleep in her bed, contentedly. She and the cat (Taffy) got a nice turkey dinner last night; Zoë got kibble with gravy and some turkey and a mashed up carrot. She liked it so much, she was practically climbing up my leg to get more (and “oinking” in her little way when she’s trying to sniff food). She’s a little truffle pig, that one. So, I’ll post back later and let y’all know how dinner turned out!

UPDATE: Unfortunately, I forgot to take a darn picture! I plugged in the battery to recharge it but forgot to take pictures. Sorry, you’re just going to have to take my word for it. In all honesty, the roast was … the BEST ROAST EVER! Seriously, you guys it was amazing (if I may say so myself, although I give most of the credit to Julia Child). It melted in my mouth, it was so tender. And the gravy was so frickin’ delicious. I want to make french fries tomorrow just to dip in the gravy. It was the first time I had ever made a pot roast by myself and I am very proud of the results. I highly recommend this recipe; give it a try! There’s only one little piece left (who ate all my roast? lol) for tomorrow’s lunch. Our guests seemed to enjoy it very much. I’m seriously loving this cookbook. I can’t wait to try some more recipes, perhaps some deserts. I really want to give crépes a try soon, although I’m a bit intimidated by them. We had delicious crépes a year ago at a little café in the Montparnasse area (11th arrondisement?). They were so big, they were bigger than a dinner plate. I had crépes sucrée with nutella and icing sugar. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

I’m glad I have some inspiration to try new things. My cooking repertoire is pretty narrow; I always used to cook the same 5 or 6 meals when I lived on my own, with very little variety. Lately, I’ve just been making random stirfries or pasta. But learning some French cuisine has really expanded my repertoire and given me a lot more confidence in the kitchen, especially with these meals that sound so complicated and take hours to make. We’ll see how I fare with other recipes soon! Anyways, I highly recommend Mastering the Art of French Cooking. It’s a neat book and a lot of fun to follow (although I admit, I’m a little picky and I’m scared by a few of the recipes like tripe or sweetbread–gross!). I don’t think I’m that adventurous. Mind you, I said that about escargots and I pigged out on them almost every day on my last trip to France this summer!

Happy Cooking and “bon appétit!”

If you haven’t guessed already by my wordpress layout and my website name, I’m a bit of a francophile. (I’m talking France-French, not Quebecois–no offense to my Quebec’ian friends and family). This summer, I went to France for the third year in a row–that’s how obsessed I am with France, especially Paris. And this may sound strange, but the truth is: I’m in Love with Paris (yes, with a capital L). I am obsessed with the City of Lights; I think about it all the time, I desire to return to it every day, I long for it. It’s messed up.

Anyways, last night my Mom, Sister, and I watched Julie & Julia–a cute little movie starring Amy Adams and Meryl Streep (!), based on a blogger who tackled Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year. It’s also partially based on Julia Child’s letters, books, etc. It was a charming little movie, if not a little long and tedious (and cheesy) at parts. I kind of wonder how much of it is real and how much was added to make the plot more interesting. Meryl, of course, made the movie. She is so great at playing characters with all her little mannerisms and nuances. Where was I? Oh, yes…Boeuf Bourguignon. It’s my favourite dish. I probably ate it every other night on average this summer (along with escargots bourguignon) when I visited Paris, Dijon and Beaune. It’s totally comfort food, and besides it was a dish I knew I liked because it didn’t have duck’s feet or horse meat (hopefully), or any other weird stuff that the French sometimes like to eat. I have been longing to make it from scratch but have never bothered–until now. After watching the movie, I was inspired. And so, tonight I am attempting to tackle Boeuf Bourguignon. Tasty! I just hope I don’t screw it up.

I’ll update later with my progress and some pictures (if I remember and don’t get too eager to eat it all up). My Mom just got a beautiful Mario Batagli (sp?) Casserole Dish from my brother and soon-to-be-sister-in-law, which will be perfect. Hopefully I’ll have enough leftovers to last me a day or two because you can’t have too much Boeuf Bourguignon. Alright, time to shower, change, and go shopping!

UPDATE: Well, dinner is over and it was a resounding success. We didn’t eat until 9PM but it was well worth the wait. I am so stuffed right now, especially after treating myself to a mini cheesecake and some coffee. Here are the pics: