Wednesday, January 29, 2003

Saute de Boeuf a la Parisienne. So I’m thinking beef sauté.  I’m thinking something like beef stroganoff, or like a stir fry, only with cream.  I’m thinking no big deal, and for some reason I’m thinking cheap.  So I go into the butcher and ask for two and half pounds of tenderloin butt.  I should have known I was in trouble when he kept asking me in great detail how I wanted it cut, how I was going to prepare it.  When he handed me the package and asked for the money, I did a good job of not appearing shocked, mostly because it just took awhile to sink in.  He probably thinks I walk into butcher shops and buy forty dollars worth of beef all the time.  Yeah, me and my big old sixty dollar roll I got wedged in my wallet, representing approximately half of my household’s net worth. Ah, well. In terms of cooking, Saute de Boeuf a la Parisienne really isn’t a big deal, unless you count being scared you’ll somehow fuck up the forty-dollar beef, or the fact that you were too poor to buy a vegetable to go with it.  You start by browning a half pound of sliced mushrooms with butter, oil and shallots.  Those you set aside.  Then you heat up some more butter and oil, and when that’s good and hot, throw in some of the beef, which your kindly, wealthy butcher has cut up into rounds about two inches in diameter and half an inch thick.  Freak out for two minutes while the beef browns, worrying that you’re going to overcook it, then turn the pieces and do the same for another two minutes.  Set the pieces aside and start with some more.  Once all the beef has been browned and is set aside, throw a fourth cup of Madeira and ¾ cup beef broth.  Boil that down to a third cup.  Beat in a cup of cream, plus another tablespoon of cream you’ve mixed with two teaspoons of cornstarch.  Let that cook for a minute.  Throw in the mushrooms and let that cook a minute more.  Season the meat with salt and pepper and put it back in the skillet, turning in the sauce.  Let simmer, while on tenterhooks, another couple of minutes.  Throw in a bit of butter, just for kicks.  Throw on some parsley, if you’re into that whole green thing.  Serve it with rice. This dish earned my husband’s “Really fucking good” seal of approval.  But I don’t know.  Maybe it’s just that I was home all day nursing a flu and my frozen goddamned pipes and being roped into watching The Phantom Menace II, a movie so bad that I lose my hope for mankind.  Maybe it’s sun deprivation or just this five-month itch I’ve been having.  But meat with cream and mushrooms just ain’t cuttin’ it for me.  I recommend it for all of you good people.  But to tell you the truth, I just want a salad. Jesus.  What’s wrong with me? In vaguely sinister news, George Bush last night proposed putting 1.2 billion dollars into fuel cell research.  What’s wrong with this picture?   7:19:07 AM    comment []