julia child's hollandaise sauce

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from julia childs Mastering the Art of French Cooking"

3 egg yolks

1 tablespoon water

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (if needed) or more

6-8 ounces very soft, unsalted butter

1 dash cayenne pepper

salt to taste

freshly ground white pepper, to taste

1. Whisk the yolks, water and lemon juice in the saucepan for a few moments, until thick and pale (this prepares them for what is to come).

2. Set the pan over moderately low heat and continue to whisk at reasonable speed, reaching all over the bottom and insides of the pan, where the eggs tend to over cook.

3. To moderate the heat, frequently remove the pan off the burner for a few seconds, and then back on. (If, by chance, the eggs seem to be cooking too fast, set the pan in the bowl of cold water to cool the bottom, then continue).

4. As they cook, the eggs will become frothy and increase in volume, then thicken. When you can see the pan bottom through the streaks of the whisk and the eggs are thick and smooth, remove from heat.

5. By spoonfuls, add the soft butter, whisking constantly to incorporate each addition. As the emulsion forms, you may add the butter in slightly larger amounts, always whisking until fully absorbed. Continue incorporating butter until the sauce has thickened to the consistency you want.

6. Season lightly with salt, pepper and a dash of cayenne pepper, whisking in well. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding droplets of lemon juice if needed. Serve lukewarm.

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cream of wheat

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creamy hot wheat cereal (from the back of the box)

3 3/4 cups milk (I used skim)

1/2 tsp salt (optional)

2/3 cup farina

Heat the milk to a boil. Add farina slowly, stirring constantly. Return to a boil...reduce heat and simmer. Cook 2 minutes or until thickened, stirring frequently. (I stirred it the entire cooking time).

After pouring into the bowls, I plopped a pat of butter in the middle then drizzled on some warm raspberry syrup!

yummmmy!

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touch of grace biscuits

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(from White Lily flour)

1 1/2 cups White Lily self-rising flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons Crisco all vegetable shortening

1/2 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup buttermilk

1 cup White Lily all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons butter, melted

Heat oven to 450*. Spray a small (6 to 8 inch) round cake pan with no-stick cooking spray. Combine 1 1/2 cups self rising flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender until mixture is the size of peas. Stir in cream then buttermilk (mixture will look like cottage cheese). 

Pour 1 cup all-purpose flour onto a plate or pie pan. With a medium ice-cream scoop or spoon, scoop a biscuit-sized lump of wet dough into the flour; sprinkle some flour over it to coat the outside. Pick up the biscuit with well floured hands. Shape into a soft round while shaking off excess flour. Place in prepared pan. Repeat with the remaining dough, pressing each biscuit against each other so that they will rise up and not spread out. Bake in the center or just below the center of the oven, until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Brush with melted butter. Serve hot.

 

enjoy!

Old-Fashioned Beef Stew

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3 1/2 pounds London Broil

1 cup flour

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups onions, diced

3 to 4 ribs celery, diced

3 cups cleaned, sliced, petite button mushrooms

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

4 tablespoons butter, divided

1/2 to 3/4 cup wine

6 to 8 cups beef broth

1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes

3 fresh bay leaves

6 potatoes, peeled and quartered

6 carrots peeled and cut in large chunks

 bag of frozen baby peas

Cut the London Broil into about 1 inch pieces. Put about 1 cup flour in a resealable plastic bag and season it with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Coat the beef pieces evenly with the flour (you may want to do this with half the beef at a time). After coating the beef  put it in a sieve to shake off any excess flour. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter in a large Dutch oven. When it is hot, but not yet smoking, brown the beef cubes in batches, taking care not to crowd the pan, and removing beef after it is browned.

After all the beef has been browned, pour about 1/2 to 3/4 cups wine into the pan to deglaze it (I used Pinot Noir). Pour the glaze over the reserved beef & clean out the pan. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter in the Dutch oven, when hot add the diced onions and celery, cook until soft. Add the mushrooms and cook for an additional 3 to 4 minutes, do not brown. Add the meat to the veggies in the pot. Pour in about 5 cups beef broth, the crushed tomatoes and bay leaves. Stir everything together to combine.

 

Put the lid on the Dutch oven and pop it into a preheated 225* oven.  Bake for about 3 or 4 hours. Remove from the oven and add peeled and quartered potatoes and big chunks of peeled carrots, (at this point I added some more beef broth). Bring to a gentle boil on top of the stove and cook, covered until potatoes are tender. Depending on what size you cut the potatoes, it should take anywhere from 1 1/2 to 2 hours cooking on low so that the bottom of the pot does not scorch. About 10 minutes before it is done, add a bag of frozen baby peas.

If the stew gets too thick, add some more beef broth.

 

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enjoy!