Julio's Delicatessen

Archive Page 18

Child labor fruit salad

Published March 19, 2010 Cooking with kids 1 Comment

I started cooking this evening’s dinner while the kids were still at the park with the nanny. When they walked in, I was still in the kitchen. All three ran in yelling “can we help? can we help?” I absolutely love it when the kids want to participate in dinner preparation. On a related note, it kills me when the kids want to participate but the only remaining tasks involve hot oil, sizzling bacon, a 600 degree grill, or something similarly unsuitable for kids. So even though I was effectively finished with the preparation, I told the kids they could make some fruit salad. We frequently buy whatever fruit is in season (which is generally a lot here in California) and serve it at the end of dinner. Tonight’s twist: I told the kids they were going to do 100% of the work. I wasn’t going to get anything from the fridge, get a knife out of the knife block, get a cutting board out of the cabinet, nothing.

Once the kids got all of the ingredients, I directed them (without touching) to the appropriate knives. I gave them only some basic instructions. (When my 8-year-old got a little confused by the anatomy of a strawberry, I drew a diagram rather than showing her on an actual strawberry so I could stay true to my kids-do-all-the-work policy). Continue reading ‘Child labor fruit salad’

Irish Brown Bread

Published March 17, 2010 Bread , Irish Closed

Click here for a PDF of this recipe without photos.

One 9 x 5 loaf

Recipe courtesy of my mother-in-law

2.5 cups wheat flour
1.5 cups white flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 heaping teaspoon baking soda
½ stick room temperature butter
2 cups buttermilk
1 Tablespoon sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Sift together the dry ingredients. Rub in butter until the mixture is the consistency of coarse crumbs. (A food processor makes this step much faster and easier, but it using one also means you have to clean it up when you’re done.) Continue reading ‘Irish Brown Bread’

Beef Bourguignon

Published March 16, 2010 Beef , French , Main Course , Make-ahead , Soups and Stews Closed

Click here to download PDF of recipe with no photos.

Serves 6 – 8

Adapted from Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook

· 4 – 5 lbs beef chuck or neck cut into 1.5 inch pieces

· Salt and Pepper

· Olive Oil

· 6 onions

· 2 lbs white button mushrooms

· 4 – 6 Tb all-purpose flour

· 1 bottle red wine

· 12 carrots

· Bouquet garni

· Demi glace

Prep – thinly slice onions. Peel carrots and cut into 1-inch pieces. Thaw demi-glace (if using frozen) or prepare (if you have concentrated demi-glace on-hand). Tie bouquet garni. Chop some flat parsley if you want to use it for garnish. Cut the meat into 1.5 inch pieces. Continue reading ‘Beef Bourguignon’