Tonight, Jonathan and I had an flambéing adventure...it was fun!
P.S. The food--Julia Child's Steak au Poivre--was sooo good. I highly recommend that you all ask one of your best friends to cook it for you.
Showing posts with label julia child. Show all posts
Showing posts with label julia child. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Damn, I'm Lucky!
Yesterday, I called my good friend Jonathan to see if he’d like to have dinner with me after my free Tuesday night yoga class. (Free yoga = awesome!)
He replied, “Sure! Do you want to go out to dinner, or should I cook?”
Now, I know Jonathan LOVES to cook and is really good at it, too. However, I didn’t want to impose on him.
“It’s up to you, dude,” I replied.
“OK, I’ll cook!” He said, with a smile in his voice. “I’ve been wanting to try this one Julia Child fish recipe, anyway.”
“Great, I’ll stop by after yoga!” I said, knowing that whatever he cooked, it was bound to be good. He’s a wonderful chef who has been on a Julia Child kick for the past few months (check out his Julia Child blog!)—and Iwanski and I have often been the very lucky recipients of his delightful French creations.
So anyway, after an hour of bends and twists and downward dog poses, I stopped by the grocery store for some bagged salad (Miss Healthypants always needs her salad!) and then traipsed over to Jonathan’s apartment, excited to discover the culinary pleasures that awaited me.
And I was hungry. Like, ravenously hungry. Actually, there is no other kind of hunger for me. I tend to go from zero to ravenous in approximately one and a half minutes. (Iwanski is more like a food camel. He can not eat all day, and not even realize it until about 5 PM or so. He thinks it’s a little crazy, how quickly my hunger hits me.)
So being the ravenous crazypants that I am, I walked into Jonathan’s apartment and immediately assessed the situation to see how long it would be until I could stuff some food down my gullet. Well, it turns out that Jonathan still needed to create the sauce for the meal, so I knew it would be a little while before the main course was ready.
Luckily, Miss Healthypants was prepared for such a food emergency. Remember, I had bought bagged lettuce—so while Jonathan stirred and whisked away in the kitchen, I settled down and had myself a big ole’ salad.
While I devoured my salad, I heard lots and lots and LOTS of whisking going on in the kitchen. Never have I heard so much whisking happening, and for so long. My curiosity was getting the better of me.
“What are we having, dude?” I asked. “Did you say you were making fish?”
“No, not fish,” He replied.
“Oh, are we having chicken?” I asked.
“Nope, not chicken. It’s a surprise.” He said with a gleam in his eye.
“Is it beef?” I guessed. “Or pork?”
“Nope, not beef and not pork.”
“Pasta?” I asked.
“No, not pasta,” he smiled.
What the heck? I was all out of guesses. I sat there and thought for a minute.
Then suddenly, this amazing thought came to me. Could it—could it be? Could he be preparing my very favorite type of food in the whole world? The type of food that I consider to be one of God’s greatest gifts to this earth? The type of food that I think is the most succulent, tender, delicious food in the whole world?
“Dude, are you making scallops?” I asked excitedly.
He smiled. “Yep, I’m making scallops,” he replied.
“Really?!” I squealed with delight. “I love scallops so much!”
“I know you do,” he laughed. “That’s why I’m making them.”
Folks, that’s how you know you have a good friend. Not only does he offer to make you a delightful, delectable Julia Child meal—but then he also uses your very favorite type of seafood in the recipe. I was so touched by his thoughtfulness.
And as he lay the plate of scallops in a beurre blanc (white butter) sauce, served over a bed of asparagus with sides of cherry tomatoes and pan roasted, buttery baby Yukon Gold potatoes, right in front of me—well, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.
And the taste? It was out-of-this-world delicious. Even though I had just finished off nearly an entire bag of salad, I wolfed down that entire plate like I hadn’t eaten for days.
And of course, the company was delightful as always, too. Jonathan and I always have a good time together.
Halfway through eating it, he remarked with a devilish grin, “You know, between the two of us, we’re consuming about a stick and a half of butter here.”
How dare he mention that?! But that certainly didn’t stop me from enjoying every bit of it and nearly licking the plate clean.
After dinner, Jonathan asked, “Could we maybe do this once a week?”
I looked at him, surprised. “You want to make dinner for me—for us—every week?”
“Well, sure,” he replied, smiling. “I’d love that.”
“Absolutely!” I replied. Who could pass up an offer like that?
I’m telling you, I feel so lucky to have a friend like Jonathan. He is such a generous and thoughtful person.
And he makes a mean scallop.
He replied, “Sure! Do you want to go out to dinner, or should I cook?”
Now, I know Jonathan LOVES to cook and is really good at it, too. However, I didn’t want to impose on him.
“It’s up to you, dude,” I replied.
“OK, I’ll cook!” He said, with a smile in his voice. “I’ve been wanting to try this one Julia Child fish recipe, anyway.”
“Great, I’ll stop by after yoga!” I said, knowing that whatever he cooked, it was bound to be good. He’s a wonderful chef who has been on a Julia Child kick for the past few months (check out his Julia Child blog!)—and Iwanski and I have often been the very lucky recipients of his delightful French creations.
So anyway, after an hour of bends and twists and downward dog poses, I stopped by the grocery store for some bagged salad (Miss Healthypants always needs her salad!) and then traipsed over to Jonathan’s apartment, excited to discover the culinary pleasures that awaited me.
And I was hungry. Like, ravenously hungry. Actually, there is no other kind of hunger for me. I tend to go from zero to ravenous in approximately one and a half minutes. (Iwanski is more like a food camel. He can not eat all day, and not even realize it until about 5 PM or so. He thinks it’s a little crazy, how quickly my hunger hits me.)
So being the ravenous crazypants that I am, I walked into Jonathan’s apartment and immediately assessed the situation to see how long it would be until I could stuff some food down my gullet. Well, it turns out that Jonathan still needed to create the sauce for the meal, so I knew it would be a little while before the main course was ready.
Luckily, Miss Healthypants was prepared for such a food emergency. Remember, I had bought bagged lettuce—so while Jonathan stirred and whisked away in the kitchen, I settled down and had myself a big ole’ salad.
While I devoured my salad, I heard lots and lots and LOTS of whisking going on in the kitchen. Never have I heard so much whisking happening, and for so long. My curiosity was getting the better of me.
“What are we having, dude?” I asked. “Did you say you were making fish?”
“No, not fish,” He replied.
“Oh, are we having chicken?” I asked.
“Nope, not chicken. It’s a surprise.” He said with a gleam in his eye.
“Is it beef?” I guessed. “Or pork?”
“Nope, not beef and not pork.”
“Pasta?” I asked.
“No, not pasta,” he smiled.
What the heck? I was all out of guesses. I sat there and thought for a minute.
Then suddenly, this amazing thought came to me. Could it—could it be? Could he be preparing my very favorite type of food in the whole world? The type of food that I consider to be one of God’s greatest gifts to this earth? The type of food that I think is the most succulent, tender, delicious food in the whole world?
“Dude, are you making scallops?” I asked excitedly.
He smiled. “Yep, I’m making scallops,” he replied.
“Really?!” I squealed with delight. “I love scallops so much!”
“I know you do,” he laughed. “That’s why I’m making them.”
Folks, that’s how you know you have a good friend. Not only does he offer to make you a delightful, delectable Julia Child meal—but then he also uses your very favorite type of seafood in the recipe. I was so touched by his thoughtfulness.
And as he lay the plate of scallops in a beurre blanc (white butter) sauce, served over a bed of asparagus with sides of cherry tomatoes and pan roasted, buttery baby Yukon Gold potatoes, right in front of me—well, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.
And the taste? It was out-of-this-world delicious. Even though I had just finished off nearly an entire bag of salad, I wolfed down that entire plate like I hadn’t eaten for days.
And of course, the company was delightful as always, too. Jonathan and I always have a good time together.
Halfway through eating it, he remarked with a devilish grin, “You know, between the two of us, we’re consuming about a stick and a half of butter here.”
How dare he mention that?! But that certainly didn’t stop me from enjoying every bit of it and nearly licking the plate clean.
After dinner, Jonathan asked, “Could we maybe do this once a week?”
I looked at him, surprised. “You want to make dinner for me—for us—every week?”
“Well, sure,” he replied, smiling. “I’d love that.”
“Absolutely!” I replied. Who could pass up an offer like that?
I’m telling you, I feel so lucky to have a friend like Jonathan. He is such a generous and thoughtful person.
And he makes a mean scallop.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Of Friendship and Fricasse
Well, I didn’t feel like stabbing anyone today…so I guess you can say that I had a better day than yesterday!
Hey, have I mentioned that my good friend Jonathan is on a Julia Child cooking kick, and that he’s letting Iwanski and I taste-test the recipes? Yeah, dude, it’s awesome! For the past two weekends, he’s cooked up delectable French recipes from Julia Child’s book Mastering the Art of French Cooking--and apparently he wants to cook another recipe this coming weekend.
So far he’s made Boeuf Bourguignon—which is like a beef stew—but to just call it beef stew is vastly underrating how good this stuff was. Even I—who have never been a fan of beef stew—gobbled it up like it was the last meal I would ever get to eat. Iwanski cowed out on it, too. My favorite part of the meal—besides the yummy mushrooms and pearl onions, which were extremely tasty—was that the beef was so MOIST! And anyone who really knows me knows that my number one qualification for food—especially for meat—is that it has to be MOIST. It could have something to do with the fact that I almost choked to death once on a piece of very dry bread, thus leaving me paranoid about choking for the rest of my life—but anyway…suffice it to say that the Boeuf Bourguignon was a wild success.
Then, this past weekend, Jonathan made Fricasée de Poulet a La’Ancienne (what Jonathan called on his blog “Old-Fashioned Chicken Fricasse with Wine-flavored Cream Sauce, Onions and Mushrooms.”) Cream sauce? Mushrooms? I’m there, dude.
And oh how good it was! Although Iwanski and I ate the Chicken Fricasse a couple of days after Chef Jonathan cooked it—and even though he had warned us that it wasn’t as good as leftovers as it was when it was freshly-cooked—we were not disappointed. The mushrooms were succulent, the cream sauce rich and delicious—and the chicken, of course, was MOIST! Hooray!!!!
I’m telling you, everyone needs to have a friend like Jonathan. Not only is he one of the nicest people I know, he’s also an outstanding cook who’s eager to share the delicious fruits of his labor with his friends.
I can’t wait to see what he prepares next!
Hey, have I mentioned that my good friend Jonathan is on a Julia Child cooking kick, and that he’s letting Iwanski and I taste-test the recipes? Yeah, dude, it’s awesome! For the past two weekends, he’s cooked up delectable French recipes from Julia Child’s book Mastering the Art of French Cooking--and apparently he wants to cook another recipe this coming weekend.
So far he’s made Boeuf Bourguignon—which is like a beef stew—but to just call it beef stew is vastly underrating how good this stuff was. Even I—who have never been a fan of beef stew—gobbled it up like it was the last meal I would ever get to eat. Iwanski cowed out on it, too. My favorite part of the meal—besides the yummy mushrooms and pearl onions, which were extremely tasty—was that the beef was so MOIST! And anyone who really knows me knows that my number one qualification for food—especially for meat—is that it has to be MOIST. It could have something to do with the fact that I almost choked to death once on a piece of very dry bread, thus leaving me paranoid about choking for the rest of my life—but anyway…suffice it to say that the Boeuf Bourguignon was a wild success.
Then, this past weekend, Jonathan made Fricasée de Poulet a La’Ancienne (what Jonathan called on his blog “Old-Fashioned Chicken Fricasse with Wine-flavored Cream Sauce, Onions and Mushrooms.”) Cream sauce? Mushrooms? I’m there, dude.
And oh how good it was! Although Iwanski and I ate the Chicken Fricasse a couple of days after Chef Jonathan cooked it—and even though he had warned us that it wasn’t as good as leftovers as it was when it was freshly-cooked—we were not disappointed. The mushrooms were succulent, the cream sauce rich and delicious—and the chicken, of course, was MOIST! Hooray!!!!
I’m telling you, everyone needs to have a friend like Jonathan. Not only is he one of the nicest people I know, he’s also an outstanding cook who’s eager to share the delicious fruits of his labor with his friends.
I can’t wait to see what he prepares next!
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