Friday, September 11, 2009

Mastering the Art with Just Pennies

If you want to be entertained come by my apartment a little before dinner on Friday nights and watch as I try to cook intensely from the Masterng the Art of French Cooking cookbook by the one and only Julia Child. Today was the day I finally got to test my culinary skills as a "pennyless" cook striving to cook like a master.
After a pursuit across town searching for this 3 pound bird I finally discovered it at Kroger for $0.88 a pound. So this entire French gourmet meal cost me under $7.00 to make!
One hilarious task that I had the horror of mastering was the trussing of the chicken. I forgot to buy string and a long needle to truss*; so I had to be extremely creative. I found some ribbon, that said Merry Christmas I might add, and poked it through each part of the chicken with the end of a meat thermometer. I poked and prodded till it looked like the diagrams. It probably took twice as long as it should have.
I barely could leave my kitchen during the roasting time, basting the chicken in rich butter and it's own fat every 8 minutes, but when I pulled the chicken out of the oven it was as if it was singing. There it was, sitting in the pan surrounded by a chorus of caramelized carrots and onions, shining in all it's wonderful glory. Brown and crisp just waiting for the perfect moment to be carved as the juices cascade down it's side. I had accomplished it, what every great restaurant and cook is judged on....the perfect roast chicken!
Paired with this miraculous bird was sauteed potatoes and buttered peas. The aroma of this meal filled the kitchen, and the taste of this authentic French cuisine daintily danced on my tongue. An orchestra of flavor that is simple, yet perfectly and indescribably delectable. Merci Beaucoup Julia!

*The art of tying a chicken into the perfect roasting or rotisserie position.

1 comment:

Sabrina Pate said...

sounds delic!!! and i cant wait to hear the adventures of cooking out of julia's book!