Pork Bourguignon Photo and Recipe Courtesy of Blooming Bites –
- Article By Whitney Shearer
An elegant dinner for family and friends inspired by the great Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon recipe with a little twist. Accompanied by a fantastic French salad, rustic French bread and decadent poached pairs for dessert. Both red and white wines will work well with this meal. Might we suggest pairing the meal with a Pinot Noir or an unoaked Chardonnay?
Photo and Recipe Courtesy of Blooming Bites Photography
http://bloomingbitesphotography.com/pork-bourguignon/
INGREDIENTS:
4-5 slices of bacon
3 cups cooking red wine
1 cup water
2 lb stewing pork or beef
1 1/2 tbs flour
4-5 whole peppercorns
1 yellow onion
2 minced garlic cloves
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 large bay leaf
1 1:lb bag egg noodles
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
In a Dutch oven, cook bacon until crispy. Remove from pan and set aside, leaving any bacon grease in the pan.
Sauté onion in bacon grease lightly, remove and set aside.
Toss stewing meat in the flour, tapping off any extra, and sauté in bacon grease until browned on the outside.
Add to cooked pork wine, water, salt, peppercorns, bay leaf, thyme, garlic, reserved onions, bacon and bring to a low boil.
Cover and place in oven for 2 hours.
Remove 10 minutes before done, add egg noodles, and continue baking for an additional 10 minutes.
Remove from oven, and let sit covered for 10 minutes before serving
Salade Lyonnaise
Photo and Recipe Courtesy of Saveur
www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Frisee-Salad-with-Poached-Eggs-and-Bacon
INGREDIENTS:
5 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into 1⁄2“-strips
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 small shallot, minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
8 oz. frisée, torn into bite-size pieces
1 tbsp. white wine vinegar
4 eggs
DIRECTIONS:
Boil bacon and 1 cup water in a 12″ skillet. Reduce heat to medium-high; cook until water is evaporated and bacon is crisp, 35–40 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels to drain. Transfer 3 tbsp. bacon fat to a large bowl.
Add lemon juice, mustard, shallot, salt, and pepper. While whisking, slowly drizzle in oil until vinaigrette is emulsified. Add reserved bacon and the frisée; toss and divide between 4 plates.
Boil a 4-quart saucepan of water; add vinegar, reduce heat to medium, and, using a slotted spoon, swirl water. Crack eggs, one at a time, into a ramekin, and slide into water; cook until whites are set, about 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, divide eggs between plates; garnish with more black pepper.
Feeling up to the challenge? Try making your French bread from scratch. A nice crusty loaf from your local grocery store or bakery will do the trick as well.
French Baguette
Photo and Recipe Courtesy of Danilo Alfaro / The Spruce Eats
www.thespruceeats.com/french-baguette-recipe-995160
Total:14 hrs 20 mins
Prep:14 hrs
Cook:20 mins
Yield:8 – 12 Servings
INGREDIENTS:
1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups/325 grams water (room temperature, plus more for brushing the baguette)
1 3/4 teaspoon salt
4 cups/500 grams flour
DIRECTIONS:
Gather the ingredients.
Combine the yeast and the water in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the salt until it’s dissolved.
Now add the flour and mix until the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. You’ll now have a large, sticky ball of dough.
Cover the bowl with plastic and let it sit inside your oven for 12 hours, or until it’s doubled in volume. An oven is a good place for this because it won’t get very drafty in there.
After the dough has risen, turn it out onto a floured work surface and gently shape it into a flat oval. Don’t use too much flour, though. You want the dough to stay sticky. Use the smallest amount of flour you need to keep the dough from sticking.
Cut the oval into four equal pieces.
Gently roll each piece into a thin cylinder, stretching it out as you roll it.
Transfer to a baguette pan if you have one, or onto a sheet pan with a baking mat dusted with cornmeal.
Cover with plastic and let the loaves just sit there until they’ve doubled in volume, which will take 60 to 90 minutes, depending on the temperature of your kitchen. It’s a good idea to lightly flour the plastic so it doesn’t stick.
Toward the end of this time, preheat your oven to 475 F.
When the loaves have doubled in volume, brush them with water and use a razor, or a very sharp knife, to make one long slash down the length of the loaves, or a series of diagonal slashes.
Place a pan of hot water on the bottom rack of the oven and place the loaves on the center rack.
Bake for 10 minutes, then remove the pan of water, rotate the pan and bake for another 10 minutes, or until the loaves are a deep golden brown.
Let cool and then slice or just tear into them and enjoy.
Easy Poached Pears
Photo and Recipe Courtesy of Martha Stewart
www.marthastewart.com/341355/poached-pears
INGREDIENTS:
zest of 1 lemon, cut into thin strips
1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground pepper
3 cups apple cider
1 cup water
8 Bosc pears (with stems), peeled and cored from bottom
Lemon sorbet, for serving (optional)
DIRECTIONS:
In a large saucepan, combine lemon zest, cinnamon stick, allspice, ground pepper, apple cider, and water.
Add pears. Cover with waxed paper to prevent discoloring. Bring to a simmer. Cook, turning pears occasionally until easily pierced with the tip of a paring knife, but not falling apart, about 20 minutes. Remove pears from liquid; transfer to large bowl.
Raise heat to high; boil cider mixture until reduced to a syrup, about 15 minutes. Discard cinnamon. Pour syrup over pears; refrigerate. To serve, slice off a sliver from the bottom of each pear (so it stands upright). Serve pears with lemon sorbet, if desired.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The recipes and photographs were sourced from various websites. The language used in each recipe has been preserved to mimic that of the creator’s recipe. For more information please visit the sourced website for each recipe listed. Thank you and Happy Holidays!
If you are eager to get really hungry you can see the rest of our food blog posts!