Monday, August 24, 2009

Does everyone make boef bourguignon after seeing Julie & Julia?

I saw Julie & Julia and I have to admit, most of it was too delightful for words and you would really have to be a terrible curmudgeon of a person not to like it. I was absolutely starving after I saw it. I wanted to go straight to Whole Foods and buy the ingredients to make the sumptuous boef bourguignon that they were torturing us with throughout the entire movie. Yum...

Julie came off as lovably self-absorbed...I could totally relate to her narcissism and her worries that she would never be considered to be a "writer." Although, I would say that her writing/cooking scenes just didn't really look that hard. Okay, so she had a small crappy kitchen. She should try doing all that stuff with three kids in the room. Now, that would be a real challenge. The scene where she comes home after having blogged for several months and having a New York Times piece written about her, and has 63 messages on her answering machine all from publishers and literary agent types, made publishing a book seem about as easy as hitting "enter" on blogger. And then we see Julia Child struggle for years to have her book published. Not surprisingly, Julia Child's moment of literary validation felt much more satisfying and deserved (maybe I'm just saying that because I didn't go to high school with Julia Child?)

All jealousy aside, the movie inspired and encouraged me a great deal. It made me want to come home and cook and write and get things published like crazy. Now, if kindergarten and preschool would just begin...

In the spirit of the Julie/Julia Project I thought it would be fun to blog about what we ate last night. Emma and I went school supply shopping yesterday and when I came home I had to make something for dinner, but was out of just about everything (except for school supplies). Is Sunday night like that at your house too? We are out of usual staples and just have to make something out of nothing. I kind of like those types of cooking challenges. They remind me of writing poetry, where the limitations force you to be more creative. So, anyway, I had ham and turkey and swiss cheese, bacon...and one egg. That was it (except for random veggies and fruit) in the fridge. Brandon suggested I make some monte cristo sandwiches, which is exactly what I was thinking could be made out of those ingredients. After I got over the initial shock that he knew what a monte cristo sandwich was, I agreed that would be a good plan.

We put the kids to bed (they had eaten grilled cheese sandwiches earlier) and then dug into our sandwiches. Wow! Delicious! So delicious, I have to share the recipe (or really method) for making your very own monte cristo. This sandwich pairs well with ripe peaches, a cute husband and a comfy couch. Bon apetite!

Monte Cristo Sandwich (adapted from Rachael Ray's original recipe)
4 slices bacon
1 egg (really 2 eggs would be better, but I only had one)
splash of milk
pinch of ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
tablespoon butter
4 slices of bread
Grey Poupon mustard
plum chutney (this, oddly, is what I had on hand and it was fabulous, but any good jelly/chutney type of thing would do)
deli sliced ham
deli sliced turkey

Cook bacon until done and remove to paper towels. Drain off fat.
Reheat skillet over medium heat.
Beat egg(s) with milk, nutmeg and pepper. Add butter to pan and let it melt.
Turn bread in egg batter and then place in pan.
Turn bread after it browns, 2 to 3 minutes; spread mustard on 2 slices of bread and spread chutney on other 2.
Place a slice of cheese on 2 slices of bread. Add bacon, ham and turkey to remaining 2 slices and then set tops in place and press sandwiches together. Turn a couple of times and let set a minute or two to melt cheese. Cut sandwiches from corner to corner to serve.

You can dunk them in maple syrup if you want, but Brandon balked at that, so we didn't. Yum, yum, yum.

Do not be afraid of the bacon and the butter. If you are really that worried about it, go running or something. : )

Tonight, I want to make boef bourguignon, "Julia's boef bourguignon." I'll let you know how it turns out!

7 comments:

Ramona said...

I would totally enjoy seeing that again, what a sweet movie and loved your blogging response to it :). My fave parts...

"Okay, so she had a small crappy kitchen. She should try doing all that stuff with three kids in the room."
(amen!)

"Now, if kindergarten and preschool would just begin..."
(I have had this same exact thought over and over lately)

"This sandwich pairs well with ripe peaches, a cute husband and a comfy couch. Bon apetite!"

"Do not be afraid of the bacon and the butter. If you are really that worried about it, go running or something. : )"

I just cited half your article, the rest was great too :). You are such a fun friend, I'm so glad I know you :)!

Elizabeth said...

Thanks for the nice comment, Ramona. I feel the same way about you! We had the beef bourguignon tonight and it was pretty amazing. I would highly recommend trying it. It's a good one to make for company. I wish I could've captured Teddy's expression when he ate his first bite of tender meat dripping with sauce. His eyes lit up like, "are you kidding me? you've been feeding me stuff out of a jar when you could've been feeding me beef bourguignon this whole time?" He is a little foodie for sure. : )

E

meghan mcbride said...

I love that Brandon suggested monte cristo sandwiches!!! What a clutch idea! This entry reminded me of how bad I want to see Julia & Julia!!!

Robin said...

Totally enjoyed your post. Want to see movie. Will not be able to do so until 2 month old can go more than one waking hour without nursing. How would Julie handle that???

I wish I had your creativity in the kitchen. No ingredients on hand freaks me out. Makes me want to head to the nearest Chipotle. Which is what we usually do. But perhaps the movie will inspire me to do more with my life? Or at least with what's in my frige???

Love ya,
Robin

Valerie @ Frugal Family Fun Blog said...

Oh, I've made Rachel Ray's Monte Cristo Sandwiches before and they are heavenly.... Mmmmmm....

The Speck family said...

That sandwich recipe made my mouth water....you are such a great cook AND writer! I am heading to VA in a few weeks and would love to come see you guys one day- I know your kids are so big! I will email you :).

Together We Save said...

I really want to see this movie.