Piece de boeuf Braisee

Haloo everyone! After watching Julie and Julia or was it Julia and Julie?? I can't remember,. I went off on a wild hair and ordered  the book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking".  I guess I was wondering if the recipes tasted as good as it appeared on the movie. 

Today I tried my first recipe Boeuf A La Mode because I wanted to try something new with the pot roast in the freezer. I had to thaw it out first and then added diced carrots, onions, and celery with some garlic, thyme, bay leaves, parsley, allspice, and, a little olive oil, salt and pepper and 5 cups of my favorite wine.  Just kidding.  I substituted my homemade grape juice without the sugar added.  I marinaded it over night, browned it this morning after fishing it out of the marinade. Put it back in the pot with all the marinade added and put it in the oven for 4 hours.

Then I looked up the braised carrots in butter recipe and made those off to the side (without the braised onions, I didn't have any of those little onions)

The tip on carrots? I cooked them with 1 TBS sugar (to develop the flavor according to Julia) 1 1/2 cups water, 1 1/2 TBS
butter, 1/2 tsp salt and a pinch of pepper.  Boil slowly for 30 minutes or so until the liquid evaporates. Voila!

Then I pulled the roast out of the cooked juice marinade, put the vegetable remainder through a strainer, because I don't own a sieve, and made gravy out of it.  The gravy went over the carrots and then the carrots were pulled out with a slotted spoon into a serving bowl and the remaining gravy went over the meat and potatoes. Magnifique!  I think my husband is still picking at the roast. And the carrots.  The gravy is gone. I should have made more.

If you're interested in the exact measurements of everything, let me know. I will send it to you. Mis bon amis!

This week at our house. Cookie Monster had his wisdom teeth out and looks like a chipmunk storing up for winter.  Since he sprained his ankle last week badly and has been on crutches, it was difficult to get him into the house after the surgery and down the stairs when he was only semi conscious with one good foot. We almost went down the stairs on our noggins. 

Soccer boy is working at a daycare. Yes, that's right.  He's babysitting. All 6'2'' of him, including the beard. Giggle.  He asked a girl to prom and she answered him on Friday night.  I had 15 minutes to turn his room into something presentable when the girl and all her friends showed up with balloons to go inside his room. I was thinking some non holiday words when I was grabbing piles of clothing, books, etc offf his floor.

The youngest went on his very first overnighter with the scouts.  The went up to a scout camp in the mountains to sleep in tents, make rockets, shoot guns, eats lots of food, go snow shoeing, shoot their rockets off and come home again.  Since he's still in the younger troop, his father got to go with him. :)  I imagine he was thinking some non holiday words at the thought of setting up a tent and sleeping in the snow in 10 degrees. Snicker.

Matt is living in logan and trying to make some mula. He got a gig as a DJ for the New Years dance at the Uof U and made a little money.  Hopefully he can use that to fix the blown speakers. :)

Chris is back at school in Rexburg and travels to Logan to visit a young lady.  I imagine he is visiting some in Rexburg too. For all I know there could be one in Pocatello, Brigham City, Ogden, and Salt Lake. :)  What do I know?  I'm just his mother.

Me?  I threw my back out trying to move the heavy coffee table back into the Living room the night the scouters were away.  That's what I get for snickering at my hubby. Its not too bad. I was able to coach for the girls bb game, make food for the chipmunk in the basement, prepare a lesson, and pretend to be Julia Childs!  I must go now.  I need to ice and heat for a minute before I go to the Bishop's fireside. ciao