Broiled Stuffed Mushrooms & Boeuf Bourguignon (Julia Child)

While reading a book called Bringing Up Bebe for my book club this month, which is mainly about French parenting but also about the French lifestyle and it's eating habits, I have been inspired to bring more French methods into my kitchen and more French dishes to my table. Where better to turn for instruction than to Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking? For years I've been intimidated by this tome, sitting on my bookshelf, mocking me. I've flipped through the recipes plenty of times, but have only ever attempted one or two.

But when I got my hands on Julia Child's public television program, "The French Chef" from my local library, I was inspired to finally get cooking. If you haven't seen The French Chef, these videos are absolute gems. First off, Julia Child is hilarious! And her attitude is always fun and accessible. She makes these advanced dishes look relatively easy, and encourages novice home-cooks to give them a whirl. So I did! 

I started with a recipe for Broiled Stuffed Mushrooms from season 2, episode 1 of The French Chef, Vegetables: The French Way. They were delicious! I served my mushrooms with sweet potato fries and sausage. 

Feeling thus emboldened, I ordered my first Dutch Oven (Lodge 4.5-quart enameled cast-iron) from Amazon.com, and took a stab at Julia Child's famous Boeuf Bourguignon. I managed not to screw it up, and had a memorable night with friends as we shared this special dish. 

Broiled Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients

8 large mushrooms

2 tbsp. butter

2 shallots, minced

1 tbsp. flour

Heavy cream

Salt and pepper

Swiss cheese, finely grated

Parsley, chopped

Instructions

1. Wash, trim and dry mushrooms, then remove the stems by gently rocking stems back and forth until they come out. Chop the stems finely. Squeeze the juice out of the chopped stems. 

2. Heat about 2 tbsp. of butter in pan, and add mushroom pieces. Add 1 or 2 minced shallots. Cook for about 4-5 minutes, stirring often. They are done when mushroom pieces begin to separate from each other. 

3. Add about 1 tbsp of flour. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Add heavy cream (enough to make fairly thick mass once mixture cooks down). Add some salt, pepper, and a bit of parsley. 

4. Rub mushroom heads with butter and place in a baking dish. Fill the mushroom heads with the sauce. Top with grated Swiss cheese. 

5. Brown the mushrooms 5-6 inches under the broiler when you are ready to serve them. It should take about 5 minutes

Boeuf Bourguignon

See: Mastering the Art of French Cooking, page 315, or this YouTube video.

"The way to a full and healthy life is to adopt the sensible system of 'small helpings, no seconds, no snacking, and a little bit of everything.' And above all -  have a good time!" - Julia Child

Bon appetit!