Corrine & Alex's French "Vulevula"

So I don't know any French and I've only been to Paris once and Alex has never been (shocking right?), but that doesn't mean we don't love French food or Julia Child. My name is even French (there was one French person on my mom's side of the family combined with a whole bunch of Norwegians) so I think when this baby pops out I'm going to learn me some French.

Anyway, I've been obsessed with Julia since I was young, mainly because of her height and funny nature and Alex has admired her since we tried to make Lobster Thermador during our first year of dating (which was way before "Julie and Julia"). I just the shut my bedroom door when he boiled the the squealing Lobster.

This past Christmas Alex bought me Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, so for this supper he decided to take on the challenge of making her Boeuf en Caisse, Surprise (stuffed, braised pot roast of beef - beef case) and I made her brioche. These were definitely challenges. We prepped our menu on Friday night and Saturday morning, bought all the food on Saturday (4 different grocery stores) and we both starting cooking on Saturday. The brioche (I made little buns) have many steps of rising so I had to get in its first rise done before its overnight bedtime rise. Since Alex needed the oven & cast iron skillet on Sunday, I also made the French Onion Soup and Custard on Saturday. Alex then stayed up until 3AM preparing the beef case.

Sunday wasn't too stressful compared to our first and second Supper Clubs, since I had already bought the plates and cups. We just had to clean, shift the furniture, cook the meat and the cook the remaining the side dishes. I'm really glad we spread everything out over 3 days because you have to do things slower when your pregnant or you just get tired and frustrated really easily.

Here was our final menu:

Appetizers

- Brie en croute served with French bread & crackers

- Bacon wrapped dates

- Alex's fancy lemonade

Main Course

- French Onion Soup - I like Martha's recipe from '99

- Brioche - Julia's recipe

- Risotto - not too French but Cooks' Illustrated hands free recipe is the best

- Spaghetti squash - My recipe - lots of butter with a dash of ginger and salt

- Kale

- Boeuf en Caisse, Surprise (stuffed, braised pot roast of beef - beef case)

Dessert

- Julia's Custard with chocolate discs and butter cookies topped with whipped cream

Over-all Julia's recipes were very difficult and my Brioche didn't rise very much for their final rising. They tasted good, but should have been fluffier. Alex's meat and sauce was very tasty, but for the amount of work he put into it - it tasted just like a meat stew, which he's already perfected. He didn't get the perfect cut from the butcher, and therefore wasn't able to show off the beef box (case) like he originally thought. Since we both put so much effort into the bread and meat, I made my hearty staples for the rest of the course along with fresh veggies from our CSA.

I really love having 12 people over for supper in our Chelsea one bedroom apartment. We're able to bring over folding tables from Alex's work so we can set up a long table in the middle of the living room/kitchen making a cozy/intimate setting. Everyone brought wine so there was plenty to drink through the evening and Jessica and Rob were able to take the left over bottles for their Supper Club - no need for 6 bottles of wine in our apartment.

Alex cleaned most of the dishes and George helped me move back the furniture that we stuffed and squeezed into our bedroom. As usual, it was a lot of work, but also a very fun way to fill some bellies for the evening.