Julia light

Le Gourmand's father, the Handyman, is in town, being handy at our house, which we love. Accordingly I tried to cook Julia to his tastes - he is not a huge fan of very rich foods. Bruce breathes a sigh of relief!
Le Menu
Suprêmes De Volaille À Blanc with brown deglazing sauce
Epinards au Jus
Riz Duxelles
Petits Oignons Persilles
Tomates À La Provençale

The Handyman had seen the movie Julie and Julia, which was several steps ahead of Le Gourmand, who had stubbornly refused to watch it at the movies. We agreed to disagree on whether the Julia Childs character was annoying, but all agreed that Meryl Streep is a fantastic actress.

Our spinach was blanched then cooked in some butter to remove the moisture before being slowly braised in beef stock. The onions were last week's fabulous onions braised in stock with herbs but with the addition of parsley (I have never used so much parsley in my life as with Julia). The tomatoes were stuffed with shallots (another frequent ingredient), breadcrumbs, garlic, salt and pepper, thyme and - you guessed it! - parsely, then baked in the oven for 15 minutes.

The chicken was lovely, dusted in seasoned flour and cooked in clarified butter (I added a little oil, and pondered whether melting butter and oil together without clarifying the butter woud achieve a very similar outcome) until golden and springy. I removed the chicken and deglazed the pan, adding some beef stock and port. In retrospect I should have cooked the sauce down a little longer but time was passing.

The rice was Julia's rice recipe from last week with the simple addition of some finely chopped shallots and mushrooms cooked in butter. The Handyman is my ally in all things mushroom but Le Gourmand was a bit lukewarm about the inclusion of fungus anywhere other than in a hearty stew. Both the Handyman and Le Gourmand heartily approved.

As a side project I am considering documenting the various kitchen burns that I receive as I master the art of french cooking. This one was a particularly brilliant one, borne of wanting to see how hot a piece of metal that had been sitting on the gas flame was, a few minutes after it had stopped being heated. Do not try this at home. Le Gourmand and I frequently discuss whether full body armour would be the most appropriate protection for me in the kitchen. Or maybe something like this? http://www.builtny.com/kitchen-oven-mitts/renzo-oven-mitt.html