She also told me about Joel Robuchon's mash potatoes. They had tried it at his restaurant and after testing out the recipe herself she understood why they were only served a table spoon of the mash each. Sweat and tears goes into making it.
So armed with a great idea, shopping list and not a shadow of a doubt of the task ahead (aka not clue as to the enormity of the task I had set for myself) I told Ken to get home at 6.30pm for a fabulous birthday meal.
The BB recipe isn't complicated but there are lots of different things that need preparing. The mushrooms, onions and beef are all cooked separately and combined at the end.
The onions were left to simmered for an hour. They were cooked through and so soft, sweet and still held their shape.
While the beef was cooking I had boiled the potatoes. Definitely a sometimes food! the mash recipe calls for 900g of potatoes to 225g of butter! I started by pressing the potatoes through a sieve and then mixing in the butter. It was super easy to mix in because the potatoes were still hot. It was looking pretty good at this point.
We heated up the milk and Ken poured while I whipped the potatoes. I'd read that if you're not sweating at this point your not doing it right but unless you've got beefed up arms it feels they are going to fall off. It was definitely worth all the effort!
It was the best mash ever and I'm definitely going to try the real deal someday.
Joël Robuchon's pommes purée
900g/ 2 lbs russet potatoes
226.7g / 8 oz butter
3/4 to 1 1/4 cups milk brought to a boil and kept hot
sea salt to taste
- Starting with cold water, boil unpeeled potatoes until a fork inserted meets barely any resistance.
- Peel potatoes while still hot (very easy but I used a spoon it was too hot).
- Push the potatoes through a ricer ( I just used a sieve) into a pot and stir over very low heat until steam no longer escapes (about 5 minutes)
- Add butter by vigorously stirring potatoes until incorporated
- Add 3/4 cup milk in a slow stream while vigorously whipping potatoes, incorporating air into the mixture. (That's the ultimate sweaty part!)
- Add salt, more milk as necessary, until desired taste and texture.
- For that extra level of refinement, pass through a tamis (fine sieve).
Boeuf Bourguignon
Beef
170g/ 6 ounce bacon and rind
1tb olive or cooking oil
1.36kg/ 3 lbs lean stewing beef cut into cubes (approx 2 inches)
1 sliced carrot
1 sliced onion
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 Tb flour
3 cups of full bodied, young red wine. Something that would taste nice served with the meal.
2-3 cups brown beef stock or beef bouillon
1tb tomato paste
2 cloves of garlic, mashed
1/2 tsp thyme
A crumbled bay leaf
Onions stewed in stock (see below)
Mushrooms sautéed in butter (see below)
- Remove rind from bacon and cut bacon into lardons ( sticks approx 1cm x 3cm long). Simmer rind and bacon for 10mins in 1.5 liters of water. Drain and dry
- Preheat oven to 230 degrees celsius / 450 degrees fahrenheit
- Sauté bacon in the oil for 2-3 mins til lightly browned. Remove bacon and put casserole aside.
- Reheat oil and bacon fat til it is smoking slightly before you sauté the beef. Dry the beef with paper towels and sauté a few pieces at a time until all sides are browned
- Add it to the bacon
- Brown the sliced vegetables in the remaining bacon fat. Discard sautéing fat.
- Return the beef and bacon to the casserole, toss with salt and pepper. The sprinkle on the flour and toss to lightly coat the beef.
- Set casserole in the middle position of the oven for 4 minutes. Toss the meat and return to the oven for 4 minutes more. Remove casserole and turn ove down to 160 degrees celsius/ 325 degrees fahrenheit
- Stir in the wine and enough stock so the beef is just covered.
- Add the garlic, herbs, tomato past and bacon rind. Bring to a simmer, then cover and put the casserole in the lower third shelf of the oven.
- Regulate heat so the liquid is simmering very slowly for 2.5/3 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.
- Prepare onions and mushrooms while beef is cooking.
- When the meat is done, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve over a saucepan. Wash out the casserole and return the beef and bacon to it. Add the cooked onions and mushroom
- Simmer the sauce in the saucepan skimming off the fat as it arises for 1-2 minutes. You should have 2.5 cups of sauce thick enough to lightly coat a spoon. Boil down if it is too thin or add stock if it is too thick. Taste for seasoning and pour sauce over the meat and vegetables.
- Simmer for 2-3 mins basting the meat in the sauce and serve.
Onions
18-24 peeled mini white onions (1inch diameter)
1.5 tb butter
1.5 tb oil
1/2 cup of brown stock, dry red or white wine or water
Salt & pepper to taste
Herb bouquet: 4 parley sprigs, 1/2 bay leaf and 1/4 tsp thyme tied in a cheese cloth
- Heat butter and oil in a skillet until bubbling.
- On moderate heat sauté the onions for 10 minutes, rolling them sp they will brown as evenly as possible.
- Pour in liquid, season to taste and add the herb bouquet.
- Cover and simmer for 40-50 minutes until the onions are tender but retain their shape and the liquid has evaporated. Remove the herb bouquet
Mushrooms
2 tb butter
1 tb oil
225g/ 1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms whole or quartered if large
- Heat butter and oil on high heat until the butter foamin subsides.
- Add mushrooms and toss for 4-5 minutes
- Remove from pan when the mushrooms are lightly browned.
Posted with Blogsy
No comments:
Post a Comment