So last night I decided to dive into my list of recipes inspired by Beauty and the Beast. The first one I decided to tackle was beef ragout. One of the many things mentioned in the best dinner time musical number every written.
Beef Ragout is a french style slow cooked stew with meat or seafood and vegetables or maybe just vegetables. Now it may be march and spring truly wants to be sprung, but….I live in Oregon where spring is kinda just warm winter. So I still bust out my slow cooker even now.
Ingredients
1 pound stew meat
3 carrots, sliced
3 parsnips, sliced
1 white onion, chunky dice
4 roma tomatoes, chunky dice
1 can whole peeled tomatoes and juices
4 cloves garlic, minced
bouquet garni ( 3 rosemary sprigs and 3 thyme sprigs)
2 cups beef stock
1 cup red wine
salt/pepper to taste
Directions
Put parsnips, carrots, onion and Roma tomatoes into slow cooker.
Tie up your bouquet of herbs. I used the thyme to tie the rosemary together, but if you happen to have twine that would work too.
Put meat, garlic, herb bouquet in the slow cooker on top of the vegetables.
Put stock, wine and canned tomatoes on top of every thing. Salt and pepper aggressively. Stir it gently.
Cook on high for four hours.
After being out in the snow getting attacked by wolves and being rescued by the hairiest prince ever I would definitely want a bowl of this delicious warm stew to fill me up again.
Here we are sitting down to dinner at the palace with our new found prince charming and what do we find in front of us? A bright flavorful dish called chicken francaise. A lightly breaded and pan fried chicken breast with a butter, white wine and fresh parsley sauce. You could serve it with pasta but I served that amazing chicken breast next to a serving of my delicious butter and garlic broccoli. My husband told me it was so good he wanted me to make that for his birthday. Nobody has ever said that to me before. I nearly cried guys.
Ingredients
Chicken
4 large skinless boneless chicken breast halves (2 pounds total)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 large eggs
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Broccoli
2 heads broccoli
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 Tbsp. butter
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Place your chicken breast between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound them with a meat tenderizer or a rolling pin until about half an inch thick. (I regret leaving them this thick because it took longer then I though it would to cook them. I should’ve pounded them to a 1/4 inch)
Cut the stems off all your broccoli and cut it into small florets.
Mince all your garlic cloves.
Put your broccoli, garlic and 4 tablespoons of butter into a small pan and cover it. Turn your burner on low. Your broccoli will cook low and slow for about 15 minutes. If your pan gets too dry just add more butter. Truly there isn’t too much you could put in there.
Heat the oil in your pan to slightly below medium.
Dredge each chicken breast in your flour and then in your egg. Let the excess drip off then lay the piece of chicken away from you in the pan. That way the last part of the chicken to hit the oil in the pan doesn’t have a chance to splash you with oil.
Cook them two at a time in the pan for roughly 4 1/2 minutes on each side. I didn’t keep a timer on it, but you want them cooked until golden. The chicken inside should be moist and the outside crispy. (This is one of those moments I wish I had a meat thermometer. You want your chicken to be above 145 degrees inside.)
When all your chicken is cooked put it on a paper towel lined plate and tent the plate with aluminum foil. You want to keep the chicken warm.
Clean out your pan and then melt your butter. Once the butter stops foaming then put the wine, chicken stock, lemon juice and salt/pepper. Cook your sauce for about 8 minutes until your sauce reduces to about half a cup.
Add your chopped parsley to your sauce and cook for another minute.
Plate your chicken and broccoli and spoon sauce over dish.
Serve to very happy customers.
This is my first experience cooking a french dish and I was truly happy with the way it turned out. Anything with wine and butter in it speaks to me on a spiritual level. I feel like a dish like this would make Cinderella very happy and would make any of us feel like a wealthy princess. Its rich and bright and fragrant and makes my kitchen smell like a spring picnic.
The second half of my Disney inspired trip through France has landed me in one of my favorite movies from childhood Beauty and The Beast. Our favorite book loving princess lives in a small town in late 18th century France. This as it turns out is an interesting time for French Food.
Fun Facts:
It was the beginning of something called Cuisine Bourgeoise. The type of cooking done in middle class homes during that time. The beginning of this trend in cooking began before the French Revolution in 1691. A chef named Francois Massailots “Le Nouveau Cuisinier Royal et Bourgeois” or The New Royal and Bourgeois Cook. It was a book that showed the middle class how to make some of the same dishes made in the royal court.
In 1746 another French chef under the Francois Menon published “La Cuisiniere Bourgeoise.” It was after that the cuisine bourgeoise became less about presenting royal cuisine to the middle class, and more about teaching them how to use the ingredients they can actually afford in delicious ways.
The Menu
So when it came to deciding what foods to try for a Beauty and The Beast menu I had a few options. I wanted to use the mentions of food that actually occur in the film, but also use affordable available ingredients in delicious ways like the middle class would’ve had to. So I wanted to start like all good days start with breakfast. In the beginning we see a lady in the market yelling about needing six eggs. So I was thinking some sort of plate of mini egg cups. Eggs, milk, chives, bacon and cheese all baked in the oven. An easy affordable farm stand breakfast. I also want to try and make french baguette. It’s a delicious crusty bread that I’ve never made before, but is a vehicle for many amazing flavors.
After the more home made items for breakfast we move into items with slightly more technique. Lumiere’s big ballad “Be Our Guest” where he puts on a tremendous food show with the kitchen staff mentions many items. We have cheese souffle, hot hors d’oeuvres, beef ragout, flambeed dessert and tea. Thanks Lumiere for all the options! So we are going to try a gruyere souffle which in itself is terrifying. There are trained pastry chefs that don’t do souffle, but we here in the Bottomless Chips kitchen are going to try. We are also going to do what’s called a palmier. A french pastry shaped like a butterfly. We are going to try and fill it with some sort of savory filling. Then we are going to do a beef ragout for our fancy dinner with a tarte tatin for dessert. Maybe pear or peach. Then if we are still up for baking I might do some soft of tea cake. Either chai or earl grey. Something that lends itself well to baking.
I’m excited to see what comes of our culinary trip through France. I hope to find success in all our food adventures in the coming days, but I could also just be a sad baker covered in flour and cheese and wine by the end of it. Wish us luck!
Rogue Woman Bakes 