Tips for freezing?

With a new baby on the way in a few weeks, I'm thinking about putting up some food now in order to make mealtime a little easier during the first couple of weeks with the new baby.

I thought that I might be able to make a few of the soups and casseroles from The Book and freeze them. Since The Book doesn't offer any guidance about freezing, I was hoping that some of you (especially my fellow Gourmet cook-through-ers) might have some suggestions about recipes from The Book that are good candidates for freezing, and how to go about it. For instance, should I cook a casserole completely before freezing it, or should I just assemble it, freeze it and then cook it before eating? Tips on reheating would be appreciated, too.

Put any suggestions in the Comments, and thanks!

75. Beef Bourguignon (p. 440)

There are two dishes that changed Julia Child's life, and by extension, American cooking, forever.

The first, sole meunière, was Julia's first meal upon arriving in France with her husband, Paul. Julia described this elegantly simple dish as a revelation, and as "an opening up of the soul and spirit for me."

This introduction sparked Julia's interest in la cuisine Française, inspired her to take classes at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, and led her to write a manuscript, with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, for a cookbook aimed at making French food approachable for the American home cook.

That's where the second dish, beef bourguignon, comes in. Julia's manuscript found its way into the hands of Judith Jones, a general book editor at Alfred A. Knopf, who was on the lookout for a new French cookbook for the American market. And as she described in a 2004 New York Times piece, Judith took the manuscript home with her one night and made Julia's recipe for beef bourguignon. The result was "a masterpiece," and Judith determined to get Mastering the Art of French Cooking published. The book launched Julia's television career and inspired thousands of Americans to start cooking. None of that would have been possible without these two dishes.

This story even touches on cook-through blogging in a "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" sort of way. When Julie Powell was working on her Julie/Julia Project, the original cook-through blog, in which she set out to cook and blog about every recipe in MtAoFC, Judith Jones accepted an invitation to have Julie Powell cook for her, and Julie planned to cook (what else?) beef bourguignon. But, in a very "Big Night" turn, Judith never showed up, and Julie and her husband Eric, ended up eating alone.

So, it was against this backdrop that I cooked this recipe* a few Sundays ago when a couple of my good friends from grad school came over for dinner. I have been looking forward to making this dish for some time now, and I wasn't disappointed.

My friends were coming over for dinner at 6 (it was a "school night," so we planned on eating early), and so, at about 3, I was in the midst of congratulating myself on getting an early start on cooking, when I re-read the part of the recipe that says "simmer gently ... 3 1/2 to 4 hours." Not an auspicious start, but I didn't let it rattle me. We'd just have more time to catch up over glasses of wine while we waited for dinner to be done. I did kick myself a little bit for not making this on Saturday since the Cook's Note says that the dish can be made a day in advance "and in fact it tastes even better made ahead, because this gives the flavors time to develop."

This is a pretty time-consuming recipe with lots of steps. First I cut a couple of slices of thick-sliced bacon into one-inch pieces. I boiled the bacon pieces in water for a few minutes. I assume that the purpose of this step is to get rid of some of the salt and to mellow out the strong bacon flavor. I drained the bacon and set it a side.

Next, the beef. Since my wife is "semi-veg," I rarely cook beef, and I'm not very knowledgeable about my cuts of meat. The Book calls for three pounds of boneless beef chuck cut into two-inch chunks. I went to my local butcher, and as usual, I stared blankly at the array of meats on display. I told the butcher what I wanted and what I was going to do with it. He reached into the case and selected a nice, big chuck roast, and he even offered to cut it up for me. I thought that was great. The butcher went down a bit in my estimation, however, when I saw him drop a chunk of the beef on the floor and actually shoot a look in my direction to see whether I saw what happened. I wonder if I hadn't been watching, if the five-second rule would have been invoked. Anyway, I divided my not-dropped-on-the-floor beef (which I had patted dry and seasoned with salt and pepper) into two zip top bags with a bit of flour, and shook to coat the meat. (I'm not sure why The Book insists on having you use two bags? Couldn't you just do it in two batches in the same bag? Then, I browned the flour-coated beef in my Dutch oven in a few batches, and set it aside while I deglazed the pan (which had developed a nice fond) with some brandy.

The next step is a little bit odd. The Book says to make a bouquet garni from a celery stalk studded with a couple of whole cloves, parsley, thyme, and bay leaves. I've got no problem with that. The weird part is that this instruction is smack dab in the middle of the recipe, and then The Book doesn't tell you what to do with the bouquet garni until about five steps later.

Once the pan was deglazed, I melted some butter and cooked the chopped onion, garlic and carrots with the blanched bacon. Once the onions began to turn golden, I added some tomato paste, and then the beef and a bottle of wine. The Book calls for Burgundy or Cotes du Rhone. They didn't have any Bugundy at the wine shop I went to, so I used Cotes du Rhone, and it worked well. I brought this to a simmer and let it cook, partially covered for about three hours.

While the stew simmered, I blanched some boiling onions for about a minute and ran them under cold water. This step does make peeling them a lot easier, but they're still a pain in the neck. I browned the oinons in some butter, and then added some water to the pan and simmered them until they were tender. I raised the heat and boiled them until the liquid had thickened.

After that, I browned some mushrooms in some butter and cooked them until all of the liquid evaporated.

After the stew was done simmering, I stirred in the onions and mushroom, seasoned with salt and pepper, and tasted it to make sure that it was just right.

I served the stew with buttered egg noodles. The Book suggests serving it with parsleyed boiled potatoes, but I decided at the last minute that noodles would be easier, and anyway, noodles are mentioned as an acceptable accompaniment in MtAoFC, so I had the Julia Child seal of approval.

The finished dish was great. The beef was tender and delicious. The sauce was thick and rich with an excellent layered flavor. Beef bourguignon is the perfect example of home-style comfort food being elevated to haute cuisine status. It's a classic.

Date Cooked: November 16, 2008
Degree of Difficulty: Medium
Rating: B+

*This recipe from epicurious.com is almost identical to the one in The Book, and both are very similar to Julia Child's recipe in MtAoFC.

Could I be a Top Chef?

On last night's episode of Top Chef, Ariane won the elimination challenge by making a watermelon, tomato and feta salad. I made the same salad this past summer. If that's all it takes, I'm so auditioning next year. But, then again, I don't think that I'm ready to cook a turkey in a toaster oven, so maybe I'll just leave it to the pros.

74. Baked Sliced Apples (p. 802)

I wanted to make this recipe* when Macintosh apples were fresh and in season.

This was a quick and easy fall dessert. First I peeled and cored four apples and sliced them into 1/4 inch horizontal slices, being careful to keep the slices together. Next I brushed the stacked slices with lemon juice (presumably to keep them from discoloring) and placed them in a baking dish. Then I put some brown sugar, butter and rum into the baking dish and each of the apple cavities. I baked the apples for a time, and then inserted cinnamon sticks into the cavities and cooked the apples for a bit longer, basting them with the pan juices.

I served the apples with some fresh sweetened whipped cream. I didn't have any Calvados, so I passed on the optional Calvados-flavored whipped cream, although I'm sure that it would be great. Since this was a quick and easy dessert to end a casual dinner at home, I also skipped the optional garnish of organic apple or mint leaves.

The Book's blurb says that slicing the apples prior to cooking them helps them maintain their textural integrity better than a whole apple, which would become soft as it bakes. Maybe I cooked this a bit too long, because some of the slices were a bit apple-sauce-like. But, at any rate, I really liked this dessert. The apples were sweet and tender. The butter, sugar and rum combined to make a sweet and caramel-y syrup. The cinnamon stick gave the apples a nice flavor and aroma.

Date Cooked: November 2, 2008
Degree of Difficulty: Easy
Rating: B

* The recipe on epicurious is the same as the one in The Book, except that, instead of "Baked Sliced Apples" it's called "Sliced Baked Apples." Go figure.

Congratulations, Carol!

Congratulations to Carol Blymire, the queen of cook-through blogging! Carol's new blog, Alinea At Home (the follow up to her amazing French Laundry At Home), has been featured in a very complimentary Washington Post article. This is great publicity for the cook-through blog genre, and Carol is very deserving to WaPo's praise.

Kudos to Carol as well for her efforts to raise money for Share Our Strength, an organization working to end childhood hunger. According to SOS, one in six kids in America doesn't have enough to eat. As "foodies," we have an obligation to do something, anything, for those who don't have enough to eat. As an incentive to get people to donate, Carol's teamed up with the publishers of the Alinea cookbook to enter anyone who makes a donation through Carol's Alinea At Home Share Our Strength Campaign website in a drawing to win a copy of the Alinea Cookbook.

73. Panfried Tofu on Sesame Watercress with Soy Orange Dressing (p. 279)

A few weeks ago, I was looking for something quick to make for dinner, when I came across this recipe in the Grains and Beans chapter. (Oh yeah, tofu is made from beans, isn't it?)

This is one of the few recipes that I have come across in The Book that serves two. With an active time of 15 minutes and a total time of 25 minutes, this is a perfect weeknight meal for a busy couple.

The first step is to toast some sesame seeds in a dry skillet. Toasting sesame seeds is always pretty dicey since they can take a little while to get going, but once they start to turn, they can go from toasted to scorched in no time at all. The last few times I've toasted sesame seeds, I've relied more on smell than appearance to tell when they're done. After the sesame seeds were toasted, I put them aside for a while.

Next, I cut a block of extra-firm tofu into four slices and cooked them in some oil on a hot skillet. The Book says to cook for 6 to 8 minutes. It took me a bit longer to get the slices nicely browned and crispy. When the tofu was ready, I removed it from the pan and set it aside.

Next, I cooked the watercress in the same skillet with a bit more oil. Once it wilted a bit, I added the toasted sesame seeds, and then put it on the same plate with the tofu.

Finally, I made the soy orange dressing by simmering some ginger, garlic, orange juice, soy sauce and sesame oil for just a little while until it thickened a bit. I drizzled the dressing on the tofu and watercress, and served it with The Book's Foolproof Long-Grain Rice.

This was a quick, easy and delicious dinner. I've always liked fried tofu, and this preparation was excellent. The tofu was crispy on the outside and light and tender on the inside. The sauce had a very nice combination of ginger, orange and toasty sesame flavors. The watercress was crisp and peppery, and the sesame seeds was a nice touch.

Date Cooked: November 2, 2008
Degree of Difficulty: Easy
Rating: B+

72. Turkey Wraps with Chipotle Mayonnaise (p. 189)

This is the last of my Thanksgiving-related posts before we return to our regularly-scheduled programming.

The Book doesn't have a whole lot of recipies that are suitable for leftover turkey. This recipe* seemed quick and easy, so I decided to give it a try on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I think this is the first sandwich that I've made from The Book. Not a bad introduction.

This recipe is a twist on the traditional turkey and mayonnaise sandwich. First, the bread is replaced by a wrap. The Book suggests whole wheat wraps, but I had some flour tortillas on hand, so that's what I used. Next, the mayonnaise is spiked with a few teaspoons of chopped chipotle peppers and adobo sauce. The mayonnaise was good. It was creamy and had a nice, smoky flavor. The spiciness was a little overwhelming for this sandwich, and it kind of took over. If I were to make this mayonnaise again, I might just use the adobo sauce and leave out the chipotles.

The real revelation of this recipe is the pickled red onions. Take a red onion and slice it thinly. Blanch it in boiling water for a minute. Then boil it for another minute or so in some more water, cider vinegar and a little salt. Let it cool and put it in the refrigerator for about two hours. The result are slightly sweet, slightly sour pickled onions that add a nice crunch and beautiful rosy color to the sandwich. This was a super-easy addition that I'll definetly re-purpose for other uses (I think that they'd be great on burgers).

I finished the wraps off with some shredded green-leaf lettuce. The Book calls for pea shoots, but says that lettuce is an acceptable alternative. I don't know where I'd find pea shoots in the spring time, never mind in November. I'm sure that pea shoots would have added another something special to the sandwich, but the lettuce was a nice contrast to the strong flavors of the mayonnaise and the pickled onions.

Date Cooked: November 29, 2008
Degree of Difficulty: Easy
Rating: B+

* This recipe isn't on epicurious.com.