Southern fried chicken

Inspired by Minny Jackson from The Help, i finally tried to make fried chicken using vegetable shortening (Crisco). I used the recipe from here. It tasted nice and crispy when you serve it right away but i feel a bit disappointed because after a while it became soggy.

I will try to make it again later with different recipes until i find the one that suits ME best. Why only suits me best? because i am the only one who eats them since hubby is not really into (deep) fried food.

Secondhand book lover

My love for reading started early on at an age when i had a subscription for a kids weekly magazine Bobo. The subscription did not last long but still my mum bought me the magazine once in a while. I remember when i was in the fourth grade, my mum gave me a book for my birthday present. It was Lima Sekawan: Memperjuangkan harta Finniston (eng: The Famous Five: Five on Finniston Farm) by Enid Blyton and i really enjoyed reading it. I realized books were not cheap and being a good daughter i never asked for them, instead i rented or borrowed from friends. I loved to read books by Enid Blyton, Astrid Lindgren, Edith Unnerstad and Erich Kästner. They are my favorite childrens book authors.


When i got a job and had my own money, I would hunt those books that i had read but could never afford, it is sort of become my hobby :D. Reese Witherspoon once said "I get crazy in a bookstore. It makes my heart beat hard because I want to buy everything". I agree with her, the only difference is probably i get crazier in a secondhand bookstore :-).  For me, secondhand bookstore is more exciting since you don´t know what you might find, it´s like treasure hunting :D. I can spend hours and hours there.

Few months ago i found Edith Unnerstad book called The Urchin. It turned out it is the english version of Si Bandel (Indonesian Version), one of my favorite books :-).


Hubby said to me one day, "don´t you think its easier just to order books from ebay or amazon?". I got his point but you wont get the same excitement when you get it from bookstore. I like to be surrounded by piles of books, scanning them and finding the books that i have been looking for :-).

Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon

I did it! i finally made the famous Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon. Since i am new in french cooking i followed the recipe exactly as written in the book. I must say that It´s not easy but it´s not difficult either. The result is heavenly!

It is explained in the book that Beef Bourguignon is served with boiled potatoes (traditionally), buttered noodles or steamed rice.  I think mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes or bread should be fine :-).  

So here is the recipe:

Beef Bourguignon (Beef stew in red wine, with bacon, onions and mushrooms) 

Adapted from Mastering The Art of French Cooking Vol.1 by Julia Child.

Ingredients:

 6 ounces chuck of streaky bacon

1 tbsp. olive oil or cooking oil

3 lbs. lean stewing beef , cut into 2-inch cubes

1 sliced carrot

1 sliced onion

1 tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

1 ounces flour (about 2 tbsp)

1 ¼ pts (about 2.5 cups) of a full-bodied, young red wine , such as a Chianti

3/4 to 1 pts. ( 1 ½ - 2 cups) brown beef stock or canned beef bouillon

1 Tbsp. tomato paste

2 cloves mashed garlic

½ tsp. thyme

A crumbled bay leaf

The blanched bacon rind

18 to 24 small white onions , brown-braised in stock (recipe here)

1 lb. quartered fresh mushrooms , sautéed in butter (recipe here)

Parsley sprigs

Methods:

1. Remove rind, and cut bacon into lardons (sticks, 1/4 inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long). Simmer rind and bacon for 10 minutes in 2 ½ pints of water. Drain and dry.

2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F, Mark 8 or 230 degrees centigrade.

3. Sauté the bacon in the oil over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon. Set casserole aside. Reheat until fat is almost smoking before you sauté the beef.

4. Dry the beef; it will not brown if it is damp. Sauté it, a few pieces at a time, in the hot oil and bacon fat until nicely browned on all sides. Add it to the bacon.

5. In the same fat, brown the sliced vegetables. Pour out the sautéing fat.

6. Return the beef and bacon to the casserole and toss with the salt and pepper. Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly with the flour. Set casserole uncovered in middle position of preheated oven for 4 minutes. Toss the meat and return to oven for 4 minutes more. (This browns the flour and covers the meat with a light crust.) Remove casserole, and turn oven down to 325 degrees F, Mark 2 or 170 degrees centigrade.

7. Stir in the wine, and enough stock or bouillon so that the meat is barely covered. Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs, and bacon rind. Bring to simmer on top of the stove. Then cover the casserole and set in lower third of preheated oven. Regulate heat so liquid simmers very slowly for 2 ½ to 3 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.

8. While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms. Leave them aside until needed.

9. When the meat is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan. Wash out the casserole and return the beef and bacon to it. Distribute the cooked onions and mushrooms over the meat.

10. Skim fat off the sauce. Simmer sauce for a minute or two, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about 1 pint (about 2 cups) of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly. If too thin, boil it down rapidly. If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons of stock or canned bouillon. Taste carefully for seasoning. Pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables. Recipe may be completed in advance to this point.

For immediate serving: Covet the casserole and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times. Serve in its casserole, or arrange the stew on a platter surrounded with potatoes, noodles, or rice, and decorated with parsley.

For serving later: When cold, cover and refrigerate. About 15 to 20 minutes before serving, bring to the simmering point, cover, and simmer very slowly for 10 minutes, occasionally basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce.

Julia Child´s Sautéed Mushrooms

This is a part of Beef Bourguignon recipe, but you can also use the mushrooms alone.

Sautéed Mushrooms

Adapted from Mastering The Art of French Cooking Vol.1 by Julia Child.

Ingredients:

2 Tb butter

1 Tb oil

1/2 lb fresh mushrooms, washed, well dried, left whole if small, sliced or quartered if large

Optional: 1 to 2 Tb minced shallots or green onions

Salt and pepper

begin to brown. As soon as they have browned lightly, remove from heat.

Methods:

1. Place the skillet over high heat with the butter and oil. As soon as you see that the butter foam has begun to subside, indicating it is hot enough, add the mushrooms. Toss and shake the pan for 4 to 5 minutes. During their sauté the mushrooms will at first absorb the fat. In 2 to 3 minutes the fat will reappear on their surface, and the mushrooms will 

Toss the shallots or green onions with the mushrooms. Sauté over moderate heat for 2 minutes.

Sautéed mushrooms may be cooked in advance, set aside, then reheated when needed. Season to taste just before serving

Julia Child´s Brown Braised Onions

This is a part of Beef Bourguignon recipe.

Brown Braised Onions

Adapted from Mastering The Art of French Cooking Vol.1 by Julia Child.

Ingredients:

18 to 24 peeled white onions about 1 inch in diameter

1½ tbsp butter

1½ tbsp oil

½ cup of brown stock, canned beef bouillon, dry white wine, red wine, or water

Salt and pepper to taste

A medium herb bouquet: 

4 parsley sprigs,

½ bay leaf, and

¼ tsp thyme,  tied in cheesecloth

Methods:

When the butter and oil are bubbling in the frying pan, add the onions and sauté over moderate heat for about 10 minutes, rolling the onions about so they will brown as evenly as possible. Be careful not to break their skins. You cannot expect to brown them uniformly.

Then either braise them as follows: Pour in the liquid, season to taste, and add the herb bouquet. Cover and simmer slowly for 40 to 50 minutes until the onions are perfectly tender but retain their shape, and the liquid has evaporated. Remove herb bouquet. Serve them as they are, or follow one of the suggestions at the end of the recipe.

Or bake them as follows:Transfer the onions and their sautéing fat to a shallow baking dish or casserole just large enough to hold them in one layer. Set uncovered in upper third of a preheated 350-degree oven for 40 to 50 minutes, turning them over once or twice. They should be very tender, retain their shape, and be a nice golden brown. Remove herb bouquet.

The onions may be cooked hours in advance, and reheated before serving.

Tow Truck Pluck

Tow Truck Pluck (Dutch: Pluk van de Petteflet) is another book which was written by Annie M. G. Schmidt. Just like Jip and Janneke, this book was illustrated by Fiep Westendorp. I really admire Fiep Westerndorp´s works. In fact, the only reason i bought this book was because of the illustrations. So I do literally (sometimes) judge book by its cover :D.

Aren´t they cute? :-)

Jip and Janneke

Jip and Janneke (Dutch: Jip en Janneke) is probably the most famous children´s series book in the Netherlands. The series is written by Annie M. G. Schmidt and tells about friendship between Jip (little boy) and Janneke (little girl) who live next to each other. What i love the most about this book is the drawings which were made by Dutch illustrator Fiep Westendorp. The character of Jip and Janneke were drawn as black silhouette. 

This book has been translated into many different languages, including Indonesian language (called Tono dan Tini). I have a copy in English but sadly i do not have a copy in Indonesian as they do not print it anymore.

Anyway, on the way home after celebrating Christmas and New year in England, we stopped at Angel´s home in the Netherlands for refreshments. To my surprise she gave me the Jip and Janneke book in Dutch as a christmas present!! I was extremely HAPPY ^_^. I cant thank her enough, she really made my day. Thanks very much Angel & hubby.

Left: Dutch version
Right: English version