Let's Just Say, I am no Julia Child

After inviting the ‘in-laws’ to dinner, I figured I better pull out the big guns and prepare something memorable. How better to impress, than with some traditional French cuisine? I had recently received Julia Child’s ‘Mastering the Art of French Cooking” collection as a birthday gift and was dying to tear into a few recipes. And after watching the “Julie and Julia” movie a while back, I was chomping at the bit to try to be the courageous Julie.

With a trip to Santa Monica’s Farmers Market and Santa Monica Seafood and a pantry filled with fresh produce, I was ready and eager to take on this new culinary challenge.

We choose an entrée consisting of traditional French Risotto and Coquilles St. Jacques A La Provence (scallops gratineed with wine, garlic and herbs) served with Asperges Au Naturel (boiled asparagus).
They say, one should never prepare a meal for the very first time and invite guests to enjoy... now I know why.

We planned ahead and prepped all ingredients the day prior, since it was Sunday and we had time, rather than rushing home after work on Monday evening and having little time to prep. We wanted to take our time to do this just right. Julia’s book had helpful hints as to what could be prepared ahead of time and what needed to be done at service time.

Julia recommends peeling the asparagus but by using a sharp knife and not a peeler. That lasted all of 10 minutes with utter frustration- that method just didn’t seem to be working. She also suggests not snapping the ends of the asparagus off. Another huge mistake, as these ends are completely fibrous and inedible. After preparing, the asparagus stalks were bland and tasteless so I had to spruce them up with a drizzle of good EVOO and grated lemon zest.
 

The scallops turned out like bullets. They were as hard as rubber pucks due to being overcooked in the pan before broiling with a cheese gratinee. Even though we followed the recipes to a T, they definitely needed a cooks’ knowledge to know when to remove items from the heat, etc.
 

The risotto was just to die for on Sunday when we made it, we literally couldn’t stop eating it and had to remind ourselves that we needed to leave some for our guests the next day. Julia recommends reheating the risotto in a double boiler, which we did. This proceeded to change the consistency of the entire dish! The rice was completely dried out and turned into more of a pilaf than a risotto.
 

What a disaster!
 

Thank goodness our guests were courteous and understanding as we presented them with our failed concoctions. We have now learned the well known lesson of never trying something new when welcoming guests into your home.
 

Bon appétit!

-Jean

Just Peachy

For those of you who do not know me, I have to tell you something about myself: I am an award winning pie baker. It wasn’t a large scale contest by any means, but I won first place nonetheless! The bake-off was part of the Brentwood Country Mart Rodeo Days celebration back in August 2007, and it was the height of peach season. As I carefully hand-selected each juicy, fragrant peach from the stand at the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market I knew that each one was going to help me bake my winning creation… and that they did. Grand prize bragging rights and a $250 gift certificate to the Country Mart!

In an attempt to relive my glory days, this weekend I decided to bake my award winning recipe. No sharing with the judges this time!

“Just Peachy” Caramel Delight

Ingredients:

2 pie crusts, rolled to cover a 9-inch diameter glass pie dish (either make your own, or, I find that Pilsbury brand pie crusts taste great and save time)

Filling

1 c. Sugar, divided

½ tsp Cinnamon

¼ tsp Salt

3 lbs Peaches, ripe, peeled and cut into 8 wedges each (about 6 large peaches)

1 Tbsp Lemon Juice

¼ c. Water

2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter

2 Tbsp Heavy Whipping Cream

3 Tbsp Flour

1 ½ Tbsp Cinnamon-Sugar (1 Tbsp sugar mixed with ½ Tbsp ground cinnamon)

Method:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Place one pie crust in 9-inch diameter glass pie dish. Trim edge to overhang 1”. Fold edges out and under and pinch decoratively. Stick fork in bottom of crust in several places so crust will bake flat. Line the crust with foil and place dried beans for weight on top. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until crust is set and just barely golden.

For filling, mix ½ cup sugar, cinnamon and salt in large bowl. Add peaches and lemon juice, stirring to coat. Set aside for 20-30 minutes.

Stir ½ cup sugar and water in a medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved completely. Increase heat to medium-high and boil mixture, without stirring, but occasionally swirling pan, for approximately 10 minutes or until caramel is a deep golden color. Remove from heat and add butter and cream. Use caution, as mixture will bubble vigorously. Strain juices from peach mixture into caramel and stir.

Add flour and caramel sauce to peaches and stir to coat. Transfer all filling to the pre-baked pie crust, mounding it in the center.

Cut remaining pie crust into ten ¾ inch wide strips. Place five strips in one direction across the top of the pie, spacing evenly. Beginning in the center, using one strip at a time, weave remaining strips in the opposite direction, forming the lattice top. Press ends of strips onto edge of baked crust to keep in place. Sprinkle entire pie with cinnamon-sugar.

Cover pie loosely with tin foil and bake, covered, for 35 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake, approximately 25 minutes longer, until filling is bubbling and lattice is golden brown.

The pie I baked this weekend may not have won any contests this time around, but it won top honors from me and the select few who got to try it!

-Katrina