Julie and Julia

As a cooking instructor I have seen a renewed interest in hands-on classes over the past two months. I think it must be a combination of the financial times and the Hollywood. Since we live in the home of movie making it is of particular interest to see what Julie and Julia has done for the cooking class business. My classes are sold out- one right after the next but especially the classes where we prepare traditional French cuisine such as Beef Bourguignon and Chocolate Soufflés.
I thought everyone wanted healthy low-fat, no dairy, no meat meals and all of a sudden we are preparing everything with sticks of butter, bacon and cream, what happened?
Well I think people need a break from the stress of life at the moment and what better way to feel good than to eat and drink. So here we are cooking stews and gooey chocolate desserts while sipping a perfect Burgundy or Pinot.
This month alone I taught three Julie and Julia classes and hope to have seen the end of the trend but you never know.
For those of you who don’t know Beef Bourguignon is a simple beef stew cooked with red wine and quite a bit of butter, it is traditionally cooked for hours with a tougher cut of meat such as a bottom round but for the modern everyday cook who may not want to spend the day in the kitchen I have changed the recipe to suit a shorter cooking time.
Here it is in all its glory and hopefully if the cool weather sticks around it will be a wonderful treat on a chilly night. Serve with plenty of good Burgundy and Bon Appetit!

Quick Beef Bourguignon
Serves 6

Ingredients
Brown Sauce:
1 Tb. butter
1 onion, sliced
1 carrot, sliced
2 cups beef broth
1 bay leaf
1 sprig thyme
1 Tb. tomato paste
Salt and pepper, to taste
¼ cup red wine
Bourguignon Sauce:
1 ½ cups Burgundy or Pinot Noir
1 bay leaf
½ tsp. chopped thyme
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 slice lemon
Zest of an orange

Beef:
6 Tb. unsalted butter, divided
2 large diced onions
2 tsp. sugar
¼ cup chicken broth
12 mushrooms, stems trimmed, sliced
4 thick slices salt pork, diced finely
2 ½ pounds beef tri-tip cut into 1 ¼ inch cubes
Chopped Italian parsley, garnish

Procedure
1. In a large saucepan melt the butter over medium-high heat and sauté the onion and carrots until browned about 8 minutes. Add the beef broth, bay leaf and thyme and bring to a simmer. Cook an hour and then add the tomato paste, salt, pepper and wine. Simmer another 30 minutes. Strain through a sieve and set aside in the same saucepan.
2. Heat another large saucepan with the wine, bay leaf, thyme, salt, pepper, lemon and orange zest and bring to a boil. Simmer until reduced to one cup and then strain into the brown sauce. Bring to a boil and simmer gently for 30 minutes. This is the bourguignon sauce.
3. Meanwhile heat 2 Tb. of the butter in a large high-sided skillet and add the onions, sauté them until they are lightly browned about 12 minutes, adding the sugar for the last 5 minutes. Add the chicken broth and deglaze the pan, season with salt and pepper. Remove to a bowl. Add 3 Tb. of butter to the same skillet and sauté the mushrooms over medium-high heat until browned about 5 to 7 minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper. Add the mushrooms to the bowl with the onions. Add the salt pork to the same skillet and sauté until crisp brown, remove to the bowl and drain off the fat from the pan.
4. Heat the remaining butter in a large high- sided skillet or saucepan and sauté the beef in batches over high heat to sear, seasoning with salt and pepper as you go. Add the bourguignon sauce and let it just come to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until tender about 30 minutes. Add the vegetables and simmer another 5 minutes.
5. Serve garnished with chopped parsley.

For classic beef bourguignon use a 5 pound piece of bottom round cut into chunks and cook in the sauce until tender about 2 hours.

Farmers Market Cooking

The Farmer’s Market has been changing to fall in the past couple of weeks and now we are seeing figs, apples, beautiful three colored peppers and eggplant.
I visited the Mar Vista market yesterday and enjoyed shopping for my class this week at Surfas; Healthy Mediterranean. This was one of the first times I have been able to get all the ingredients I needed for a class in one visit to the market. I will be using eggplant, garlic, dill, cilantro, parsley, thyme , yogurt, feta and figs in this class and look forward to making some delicious dishes.
I have truly enjoyed cooking with seasonal produce and living more in tune with nature this summer. We had a garden on our roof and successfully grew tomatoes, lettuce, lemons, rosemary, basil and mint. There is something very satisfying about going out and cutting your own herbs or slicing a home grown tomato for a snack with nothing else added but a pinch of salt. I look forward to adding a few more herbs and possibly trying something random like cucumbers or chili peppers to my garden. Now that I see how easy it is to grow produce even with only a small roof space I am gung ho!
I have been cooking more than ever and trying all kinds of new dishes from Bengal Shrimp to Chapati bread my Indian repertoire has grown to a large selection of dishes after attending a fabulous private Master class in NYC this summer with Julie Sahni.
Now I can make a perfect Indian meal and have been teaching these classes throughout the summer. It is all about the spices and having shopped at the Indian markets that are easy to find on the West side I now have two full drawers of spices, legumes, seeds and leaves. I have a new found respect and awareness for the complexity of Indian food and have found many of the vegetables at the Farmer’s Market. There are many Asian vendors who carry the unusual squashes, greens and roots that I learned how to prepare with Julie.
Here are a few of the recipes that I have developed for the classes mentioned above. I hope you enjoy them and guarantee you will be impressed with yourself.


Stuffed Okra- Bhara Bhindi
Serves 4

Ingredients
Spice mixture:
2 teaspoons fennel seeds, crushed or ground
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
½ teaspoon red chili powder
1 teaspoon mango powder- Amchoor
¾ teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 pound okra, preferably fresh
2 - 3 tablespoons Canola oil
1 cup small onion, sliced into rounds

Procedure
1. Combine the spice mixture in a bowl.
2. Slit okra lengthwise to make a cavity, leaving it whole. Stuff the okra with spice mixture.
3. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat until hot. Add the okra and onion and shake the pan to keep them in one layer. Cook, turning often, until they are slightly brown, about 4 minutes. Reduce the heat and cover the pan. Cook until the okra is tender, about 5 minutes. Uncover and continue cook until the excess moisture evaporates and the okra is streaked brown and the onion is caramelized, about 4 minutes.
4. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Spicy Curried Potatoes
Serves 6

Ingredients
2 ½ pounds Yukon gold potatoes, washed
1 Tb. coconut oil
½ tsp. turmeric
½ tsp. red chili powder
1 tsp. salt
8 kari leaves
2 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
1 tsp. ajwain, toasted
3 Tb. chopped cilantro

Procedure
1. Bring the potatoes to a boil in a medium saucepan filled with cold water and a pinch of salt. Simmer until tender about 20 minutes. Drain, peel and cut into cubes.
2. Heat a large skillet over high heat and add the coconut oil. Add the spices and lower the heat to medium, toast for a minute and then add the potatoes.
3. Cook shaking the pan back and forth until coated with the spices and heated through about 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Serve with chopped cilantro.

Roasted Eggplant and Garlic Puree
This recipe makes 1 1/2 cups

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 50 minutes

Ingredients
1 eggplant, about 1 1/2 pounds, halved lengthwise
2 heads garlic, unpeeled, separated
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Zest of 1 lemon
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons cilantro, chopped
1 package whole wheat pita bread, cut into triangles
Cilantro leaves, garnish

Procedure
1. Heat the oven to 350F.
2. Sprinkle the flesh side of the eggplant with the 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet cut side down. Add the garlic cloves and roast in the oven until softened, about 40 to 45 minutes. Check the garlic after 20 minutes if it's softened when pierced with the tip of a knife remove it to a small bowl. Continue roasting the eggplant until completely softened.
3. Allow the garlic to cool. Remove the eggplant from the oven and cool slightly. Scrape out the flesh from the skin with a spoon and transfer the flesh to a sieve. Place the sieve over a bowl to drain the excess water and discard the skin. Transfer the eggplant to a food processor. Squeeze the garlic out of the skins and add to the eggplant with the zest, juice, oil, chopped cilantro, salt and pepper to taste. Pulse a few times to make a coarse puree.
4. Increase the oven to 400F. Place the pita triangles on two baking sheets and toast until they are crisp and slightly golden about 7 minutes.
5. Transfer the eggplant dip to a serving bowl and garnish with the cilantro leaves. Serve with the pita toasts.