THAT COOKBOOK THING II

As some of you remember, back in January I participated in a cookbook review with some of the darnedest, bestest people whoever participated in a cookbook thing.  That was so much fun, I rashly invited many of the same people to do much the same kind of thing with Mastering The Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle.  Published in 1961, it was the bible of the soon to be burgeoning food movement in America.  So, who’s part of this cookbook thing:

• Sara from iliketocook
• Mary the Breadchick from The Sour Dough
• Ruth from Once Upon A Feast
• Deborah from What’s In My Kitchen
• Mary from Cooking For Five

We thought it would be fun, forty-seven years later, to re-visit the classic, now collecting dust on so many cookbook shelves.  Remembering the book was written for American cooks at a time when so many ingredients we take for granted were unavailable for the most part, the recipes seem quaint in their use of bouillon, canned truffles and few fresh herbs other than parsley.

So, rather than strict enforcement of recipes, we can play fast and loose (within reason, of course) with the ingredients, using fresh or different ingredients where Julia and crew had no choice.

The first recipe we did was an onion soup.  We picked it because it was a recipe the three ladies had created.  While living in France, Julia, Simone and Louisette started a cooking school called L’Ecole des Trois Gourmandes.  So, in recognition of these three ladies:

Soupe a l’Oignon Gratinee des Trois Gourmandes

• 1 ½ lbs. or about 5 cups of thinly sliced yellow onions
• 3 TB butter
• 1 TB oil
• A heavy bottomed, 4-quart covered saucepan

Cook the onions slowly with the butter in the saucepan, covered for 15 minutes

• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp of sugar
• 3 Tb flour

Uncover, raise the heat to moderate, and stir in the salt and sugar.  Cook for 30-40 minutes stirring frequently, until the onions have turned an even, deep, golden brown.  Sprinkle in the flour and stir for 3 minutes.

• 2 quarts of boiling brown stock, canned beef bouillon, or 1 quart of boiling water and 1 quart of stock or bouillon.
• ½ cup of dry white wine or dry white vermouth
• salt and pepper to taste

Off heat, blend in the boiling liquid.  Add the wine, and season to taste.  Simmer partially covered for 30-40 minutes or more, skimming occasionally.  Correct seasoning. (This is why you skim)

• A fireproof tureen or casserole or individual onion soup pots
• 2 ounces Swiss cheese cut into very thin slivers
• 1 Tb grated raw onion
• 12-16 rounds of hard-toasted French bread
• 1 ½ cups Swiss, or Swiss and Parmesan cheese
• 1 Tb olive oil or melted butter

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Bring the soup to a boil and pour into tureen or pots.  Stir in slivered cheese and grated onion.  Float toast rounds on top of the soup, and spread the grated cheese over it.  Sprinkle with oil or butter.  Bake for 20 minutes in the oven, then set for a minute or two under a preheated broiler to top slightly.

• A 2-quart bowl
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 3 TB cognac

Beat the cornstarch into the egg yolk, then the Worcestershire and the cognac.  Just before serving the soup, lift an edge of the crust with a fork and remove a ladleful of soup.  In a thin stream of droplets, beat the soup into the egg-yolk mixture with a fork.  Gradually beat in two more ladlefuls of soup.  Again, lifting the crust, pour the mixture back into the soup.  Then reach in under the crust with the ladle and stir gently to blend the mixture into the rest of the soup.  Serve.

So, how was it?  To tell you the truth, IT WAS GREAT!!!!  The first time I made it, I used my roasted chicken stock I’m so proud of and found it didn’t hold up to the alcohol so well.  After the vermouth was added I had to cook it just over forty minutes to burn off the alcoholness and after adding the cognac at the end, the alcohol was over-powering.  Fortunately, the next day it was much better, so nothing went to waste.  The second time, I used home made beef stock and all was well.  I was surprised how much a difference there was with the beef stock – the chicken stock tasted great, but it couldn’t stand up to the alcohol.

The recipe is fussy, like a lot in the book – but, worth it.

Next time?  Sauce au Cari (Curry Sauce).  Look for the fun things we serve it with!