Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Wild Hare Wednesday

Okay so todays Wild Hare is this whole cooking blog business. I tried it being seperate and felt guilty posting to one and not the other and back and forth and such. Also part of what I love most about my blog is my followers and their comments and I would have to start all over again obtaining followers. So you my faithful readers are gunna hear about food sometimesfrom now on ok?
This is a nice Moscow Mule with a bowl of Broccoli Soup with Cheddar Cheese.To make a Moscow Mule you will need Vodka,Ginger Ale, Ice, and Lime Juice. I personally use diet ginger ale because alcohol has enough calories for me. So if your a by the books person add two measures of vodka and a measure of lime juice and shake over ice. Half fill a glass with ice cubes and strain the cocktail over then top up with ginger ale and garnish with lime. I personally just put a spash of vodka over ice top up with ginger ale add lime juice and stir, I told you I have been lazy.
Now this was when I wasn't lazy! I also had help with this from Hef's Dad. It is Mayonnaise. The recipe can be found on pg. 86 of Mastering The Art of French Cooking Vol. 1. It was very hard to make, as mayonnaises can seperate or not emulsify. Of course the first direction was to warm the bowl slightly, which I didn't even though I can hear Meryl Streep saying it in the movie in my head. It turned out anyway, woo! Hef's dad and I took turns beating the mixture and streaming in the oil and our arms were tired! Hef's dad doesn't want to buy mayonnaise at the store anymore so its a success.
Now here it is! Bouef Bourguignon!
Ok so my bouef is slightly differently which you can probably tell if you know the dish. I could not find the little pearl onions. Also I had mushrooms but they were bad so they got tossed. I improvised and used carrots and celery. I also forgot to take a picture before we ate because we were very hungry. Well I was very hungry Hef's dad was just ready to eat and I had been waiting for him to be ready.
For the wine I used a 2007 Cotes Du Rhone, who's winery I can't tell you because Hef's dad recycled and subsequentially broke the bottle, but it was very very good. I wish I had bought two bottles. I had walked into the wine store and it wasn't my usual store so when the clerk asked if I could use help, I asked him for a burgundy wine. He asked be how much I wanted to spend and I was like ummmm. Because sadly there is a 35 dollar bottle of wine at my regular wine store that has a RABBIT on the label, and I know there are 10,000 dollar wines out there. So he takes me to the Paul Masson really says just Burgundy on the label. Ok I admit I buy Paul Masson White Zin, but thats because Hef's dad doesn't drink it and I don't want to splurge on it and I have had Paul Masson Irish Cream, but this is BOUEF BOURGUIGNON. BTW funniest quote Hef's dad goes "You and your bouef". So he leads me over to some reds and I happen to spot the Cotes du Rhone. "Ok, thank you, I think this is the section I want to be in," I selected my Rhone and contemplated buying a second bottle but I thought I only need 1/2 cup of wine so I skipped. Yeah well ya need 3 cups so i didn't get to drink much of it but I saved some to have with my meal.
Then I went to Wegmans, which is not my usual store, I shop at Tops, on the island, nowhere else. I was at Wegmans because I thought they had French Macaroons which I wanted with my french stew. They didn't have them. However they had really nice prices on fresh herbs, 1.49 for a bunch of thyme, NICE. I also got a chunk of salt pork for my bacon. The salt pork was my favorite part of the meal, mmmm. It was all I could come up with a rind on it. Like I said I couldn't find the onions and thought I had mushrooms and would use regular onions cut up.
Then we went to Hef's grandparents on his dad's side. I had to borrow a casserole pan from Hef's grandma in order to even cook the bouef so I was glad to visit.Unfortunately i had to urger Hef's dad to go because I knew had to cook the bouef and it's not a quick cook. We got home around 4pm, the car loaded with things from the grandparents basement, mixed in with my herbs and wine. I believe it was done at around 8pm. While it was cooking I forgot when I put it in the oven so I was guessing totally. We ate around nine because that's when Hef's dad was hungry. It was absouletly delishes and I plan to make it right next time. Whew, nap time!


4 comments:

Carmen S. said...

That soup and the beef dish look wonderful! Does Hef get to help out in the kitchen??? Hopefully he is stayin' out of that alcohol:)

Michelle May-The Raspberry Rabbits said...

Dag that was a lot of work! See what happens when you brag about the French Macaroons being so readily available in your part of world...Jinx! hee,hee,hee.
You made me laugh with your comment on my blog.
yf,
shell

RG said...

Beouf looks pretty darn good, especially seeing as you have served the top! Good work - bon appettite, etc etc .. Looks quite a bit like ours, although BL did not use celery or mushrooms or onions (only carrots) and did not have a lot of broth!

(Pot and stove top look similar too!)

I said...

that looks so good