Julia Child's Coq au Vin

If you're looking for a relatively easy but impressive dish to serve, say, on Valentine's Day, and have about an hour free to prepare such a meal, the coq au vin recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking may be perfect.

I will admit I'm just a touch more in love with Julia's boeuf bourguignon.  But this coq au vin is so delicious.  I've made it twice, once for my family and once for some of my coworkers (I love having little dinner parties!) and both times it surprised everyone in an exceptional way.  When cooked, the chicken takes on a reddish-brown appearance, which makes everyone think it's beef until they cut into it.  It's like a happy surprise!

Fresh Strawberry Tart

Sometimes you just need to do something amazing with fresh strawberries, especially when strawberries are in season (as they are this time of year in my neck of the woods).  And what could be more amazing than a fresh strawberry tart, straight out of Mastering the Art of French Cooking?

Honestly, can you think of anything more amazing for your 4th of July picnic?  I can't.

Have Some Dessert ~ Crème Plombières aux Chocolat

My aunt and uncle are up visiting from North Carolina this week, and as a big "Hey, we haven't seen you since December and you've never been to my house at all" celebration, we had my entire maternal extended family over for dinner Sunday.  I made teriyaki marinated kebabs with shrimp, chicken and beef, plus a couple vegetarian skewers for my aunt.  26 skewers in all, along with grill-roasted veggies, homemade cornbread (and the standard cookout fare of baked beans and pasta salad), accompanied by spicy orange teriyaki sauce.


The best part of the meal, not surprisingly, was dessert.

I love when I host family dinner at my house, because it gives me a really good excuse to make a new dessert (or an old favorite on occasion) because I'll have upwards of eight people to eat it.  It's very bad to make desserts for just me and Aaron.  Because we eat it.  All. Ourselves.  Like the brownies I randomly made on Friday night.  Because I wanted brownies.


I needed a dessert that was awesome, impressive, and easy, and made with stuff I already had on hand.  I pulled the "bible" off the shelf - Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child.

I love Julia.


I perused the dessert section for probably an hour or so, flipping back and forth.  I was torn between Crème Anglaise, Crème Pâstissière (which I've made before and is awesome, by the way), and Crème Plombières.  I also waffled with flavorings.  Julia often recommends rum, kirsch (whatever that is) or cognac as flavoring, but I had none of those.  Not even rum.


("Why's the rum always gone?")


It was going to be either chocolate or vanilla flavoring.  I even posted my dilemma on Facebook and had some friends weigh in on the decision.  Or rather, declare that all three sounded difficult, but delicious.


In the end, I decided to make Crème Plombières with chocolate flavoring, top it with a layer of sliced strawberries, and then whip up some Crème Chantilly (whipped cream, it's that simple) for the top.  I went to bed rather pleased with my decision.

It was light.  It was fluffy.  It was delicious.  It was gone in less than five seconds.  I've already had a coworker request it for his birthday next year, after viewing this photo on Facebook.


The total time it took to make the Crème Plombières was forty minutes, start to finish.  I even had time to curl my hair before heading off to church.  Here we go, step by step.