Happy Butter Day!

What makes a slave eat like a king? Butter

What breaks a fast with bacon and eggs? Butter

What makes a tongue swoon with delight and delish? Butter

What turns flour into a beurre manié? Butter

What makes gravy so creamy and rich? Butter

What makes the French so Frenchity French? Butter

What makes a birthday happier than most?

You guessed it....Butter!

      Oh the delightful wisdom on the French. Those smelly gastronomes might not have the best reputation for hospitality and portion size but they kick epicurean butt despite having their noses pointed skyward. All of the worlds most wonderful things regarding food come from France. Gene, my dear

sweet boyfriend, holds fast to the opinion that the French just take over other words to make them sound fancier "Everything is French!" Well, there is good reason. Their painstaking attention to detail in both ingredients and methodology put them way at the head of the culinary pack. I mean without Mise en Place we would all be running around like Rachel Ray, with a million things balanced on our arms, hoping that our mushrooms don't burn before we get the onions chopped. 

       They also gave us the Statue of Liberty, Béchamel Sauce, Velouté Sauce, Butter Sauces, and darn near every other kind of sauce imaginable. And as Meg Ryan so eloquently pointed out there are 452 official government cheeses of France, how can that be a bad thing (here is

where you all run to youtube to try and find the "Lactose Intolerance" scene, small price to pay I say).

       As a matter of fact you can thank the French for Bobby, Paula, Emeril, Tyler, Rachel, Guy, Alton (swoon), Barefoot, er, I mean Ina, Michael, Cat, Anne, Mario, Duff, Giada, Nigella, and all those Next Food Stars. How is that possible, you ask. The reason is simple, tall, and fell in love with France when her husband was stationed there with U.S. Information Services. Julia Child was one of the first faces that we ever saw cooking in front of us on the tv. As a girl I would open a box of cake mix set out my ingredients, a proper Miise En Place, put on my best high nasal voice and cook that box of cake mix like I was Julia herself.

       With all of my admiration of the woman I never attempted French Cuisine until after I saw

"Julie and Julia", and of course this is where I say that the movie really inspired me. Well, its corny but its true. I asked for and received "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" as a Christmas gift and have made good use of it here and there. When my birthday rolled around my mom asked me what exactly I wanted to do to celebrate.  The first thing I thought of was Julia's classic Boeuf Berrgion. In my family we never just 'make dinner' we have a theme that runs through the food, the table settings, the decor, and the gifts gosh darnit!

      The theme for my birthday dinner was Julie, Jen, and Julia. Julie being my mom by the way. The menu was straight out of Julia's book, the table settings were gorgeous black and white, and the meal cooked by ME.  

      So, here I had my opportunity to show off my cooking skills.... with a classic French dish... that I had never prepared before.... in a really small hot kitchen.... for 20 of my closest friends. I know what you are thinking. You're thinking it all went terribly awry and we had to order pizza for dinner. Admit it, that's exactly what you're thinking. You see the famous scene in the movie where Julie drops the hen and immediately has a 3 year old hissy fit on the floor of her kitchen.  Incidentally this is the one scene that reminded my loving boyfriend of me.  In reality, the exact opposite happened. We did get the kitchen and the entire house extra toasty warm, and my mom's tongs weren't nearly long enough to save me from a few grease splatters while browning the meat, but an hour before my guests were to arrive I was lazing on the couch, in my fancy dress, sipping a cool beverage. The Boeuf was in the oven, the potatoes bolied and foiled, and the peas thawing in preparation... for butter.

       Speaking of butter, I would say that it was certainly the cornerstone of the entire meal, nay, evening. It went in nearly everything I prepared, except the stew meat...that was browned in bacon fat! At the end of the night we did the math and nearly 4LBS of it was used. Caramelized onions and mushrooms.. butter, potatoes with parsley and...butter, green peas in...BUTTER. That doesn't even account for all the butter that my mom used in the desserts, I knew when to turn something over to the master, which included a lemon semi-fredo that will simultaneously stop your heart and send you to heaven.

      The evening was as near perfection as one can come. I have to admit a sense of pride knowing that I pulled off a classic French meal that everyone seemed to enjoy, and I didn't freak out once the entire day. It was incredible to be surrounded by so many people willing to eat my food, love on me, and help me celebrate a pretty blessed life. As I looked at my 94 year old grandmother enjoying her meal, and looking rather spring chicken like, I began to think off all the birthdays I have ahead of me.... despite all the butter.

So without further ado... some yummy pictures of my Happy Butter Day.

Dad's Cranky Face

Everyone knows that if you don't dry the

meat properly it won't brown. Because I was tripling the recipe I used the stack and press method.

When browning anything fat is used to sear and transfer heat quickly. You can use oil, butter, or rendered bacon fat...








Hmmmm....choices, choices. Boeuf Bergionne calls for browning the meat in rendered bacon fat.