Butter Galore!

Well, let me just say that it is a good thing I joined a gym, because if we keep eating like this, I'm going to gain 50lbs! As Julia says, "This is a book for the servantless American cook who can be unconcerned on occasion with budgets, waistlines, time schedules, children's meals, the parent-chauffeur-den-mother syndrome, or anything else which might interfere with the enjoyment of producing something wonderful to eat." Tonight that's me!

Tonight's recipe of the week comes from my new cookbook. I think Julia would be proud. For the main course, we had Filets de Poisson Gratinés, à la Parisienne, or in other words, fish filets poached in white wine with a cream and egg yolk sauce. Basically, fish drenched in butter. According to Julia, "A beautifully sauced fish can well be considered as a separate course and needs nothing but French bread and a good wine to go with it... A salad or vegetable should come afterward, so as not to disturb the harmony of the fish, the sauce, and the wine." Well, at the risk of disturbing the delicate harmony of the dish, I decided to add some potatoes. I think our taste buds will survive. I simply boiled some red potatoes and then seasoned them with butter -yes more butter-, sour cream, and dried chives. I also warmed up a loaf of French bread and served that with olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette. To drink, we had a bottle of Chardonnay, the same wine I used to poach the fish.

For dessert, we had a chocolate cream pie. A very simplified version of a chocolate cream pie. I searched through Julia's cookbook trying to find a fun dessert to go with tonight's dinner and found that everything in there was just a bit more complicated and time consuming than I was willing to get into, so I went back to my stack of Martha Stewart recipes and found one for this pie. I will admit that I wasn't about to bake a pie crust from scratch on top of everything else tonight, so I bought one at Fry's. The filling for the pie is a simple chocolate custard from scratch. Cook time only about 30 minutes or so, then let it refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Delish!

I thought it only fitting to dress the part if I were going to be cooking from Julia Child's cookbook. So, here I am donning a string of pearls and one of the aprons that I made last Christmas featuring my great-grandmother's quilted stars. How deliciously vintage one feels in a getup like this. You simply cannot fight the urge to bake when you're wearing an apron and pearls.