dynagirl

Rest assured, from here on out you won’t have to hear about this every day. Last night I spent four hours in the kitchen, not including dishes. (Dessert itself was an hour.) Given the time, expense, and OH MY GOD THE BUTTER, I’M FAT ENOUGH ALREADY, I’ll be limiting Master Class to one (maybe two) nights each week. The other nights, I think, will be spent nibbling carrot sticks. I am truly in awe of the obsession behind The Julie/Julia Project, and what must go into writing such an amazing book as Mastering. Anyway — ahead to the menu!

Mastering the Art of French Cooking, vol. 1

Filets de Poisson Bercy aux Champignons, pp. 208-210
Fish Filets Poached in White Wine with Mushrooms
(This is basically the master recipe, Filets de Poisson Pochés au Vin Blanc, with mushrooms added and the poaching liquid thickened with beurre manié (flour and butter) and then turned into a sauce with, what else, cream.

Our neighborhood sports just a decent market and an annoyingly crunchy co-op (I’m still smouldering over the four-dollar red pepper), and lacks a serious fishmonger, so I used orange ruffie instead of the recommended sole or flounder. Given that I couldn’t find the right fish, I didn’t even bother asking for two pounds of fish heads, bones and trimmings for the stock and grabbed a bottle of (eurgh) clam juice to mix with white wine. The fish and sauce were pretty simple to make. I didn’t have swiss cheese to melt on the top so I used parmesan to no noticeable damage. When the recipe called to dot the top with another two tablespoons of butter for the broiler to the five that were already in the dish, I rebelled — also to no noticeable damage.

Artichauts au Naturel. pp. 424-5.
Whole Boiled Artichokes
The only time I’ve ever eaten a whole artichoke was while we were teenagers, because my mother thought it would be a good idea for us to know how to eat an artichoke in polite company, should that ever befall us. This time, I’ve eaten one so that I would know how to cook one if necessary. WOW they are not cheap! At three dollars apiece, and given the fact that neither I nor himself are all that fond of artichokes, I think I may skip ahead to (yum) asparagus. They were not bad, though, as they were much helped by the Sauce Hollandaise (p. 80), which came out just beautifully.

Green Salad with Sauce Vinagrette p. 94
Did you know the average American household has eight bottles of salad dressing? Suckers. This vinagrette is pretty much how I’ve always made salad dressing, which must be Received Wisdom from my mother, a French chef.

Crème Anglaise Pralinée, pp. 588-90
Light Custard Sauce with Almond Caramel
This is crème brûlée with a different top — you toast almonds, make a light caramel; mix those and let cool, then pulverize into yummy, crunchy dust. I think I beat the egg yolks too long into the ribbon stage, as the dessert turned out not so creamy and much more so granular (which is why I was super-happy about the Sauce Hollandaise). Tasted pretty nice, though.

The Reviews
Perhaps it paled in comparison to last night’s awesomeness, perhaps it was the artichoke, but I wasn’t blown away. To be fair, the fish was marvelous; I had neglected to add lemon to the sauce but that was easily remedied. Had I gotten that in a restaurant, I’d have been very happy. Maybe it was a wierd dish to be serving on an August night, with the hearty, creamy sauce. The fish would be a great thing to serve if you’re having vegetarians over for dinner.