Water Who?? Waterzooi!!!!

I know....it doesn't sound like something you'd want to eat, does it?  But it is!  It's a stew/soup (or "stoup", as Rachel Ray would say!) that originated in Ghent, Belgium and was originally made with fish.  Julia Child actually called it, "the most interesting recipe I've clipped" and featured it on one of her shows, so that was "French" enough for me.

I didn't get the chance to cook while in Paris....we stayed so busy sightseeing and came in too late in the evenings to have time to cook.  So, I haven't gotten the "French cooking" out of my system yet.  Oh well....it's a great excuse to go back, right?

I found the recipe while stalking some blogs on Friday and was pretty sure I had what I needed.....since today was cold and it was Sunday, it was the perfect day to try my hand at this "stoup"!

It may seem a little overwhelming at first, but it's really quite easy to make and you can have dinner ready in about 45 minutes or so....and it's all in one pot (of course, you'll need a crispy baguette to go along with it!).

You'll need a nice sized leek, 4 stalks of celery (I also use the very center leaves....I like it a little rustic and there's so much flavor there!), carrots, extra dry vermouth, butter, eggs, chicken stock/broth, onion, tarragon (fresh or dried) and heavy cream.

I started by cutting the onion, leek, celery and carrots into small 2 inch pieces, then diced about 2 tablespoons of fresh tarragon (1 tablespoon of dried). 

 

Heat a Dutch oven and melt 2 tablespoon of butter....then add the veggies and tarragon and cook on medium low until somewhat translucent. 

Take out 2/3s of the veggies.  I sliced my chicken breasts and laid half of them over the first layer of veggies....covered them with 1/3 of the veggies, then added the rest of the chicken and covered it with the remaining veggies. 

The next step is to combine 1 cup each of extra dry vermouth and chicken stock and pour over the chicken and veggies to cover.....add more (1/2 of each) if necessary.  Then simmer on medium low until the chicken is done....about 20 minutes.

Then drain the liquid from the chicken and veggies.  In one separate bowl, beat 6 egg yolks to combine.  In another bowl, mix together 1 cup of heavy cream and 1 1/2 teaspoons of cornstarch (ooops....I didn't have cornstarch, so I used 2 1/2 teaspoons of flour...mix WELL and strain through a strainer so you won't have lumps).  Combine the two mixtures,

 then add the broth 1/2 cup at a time until you've added 1/2 of the broth.  Then pour the rest in and pour over the chicken and veggies. 

 Simmer on low (watch it here....if you cook it at too high or too long, the cream will curdle) until the sauce thickens.....the VOILA! 

Waterzooi!

It really is a delicious soup!  The flavor is amazing!  I think that the next time I make it, I think I will use cut chicken instead of the breasts.....and I think I will brown them off first....just for added flavor.  I'll let you know how it goes!  In the meantime, you have to try this recipe....it's wonderful!

Channeling Julia.....

So..., we have tickets and we have our place to stay. We are really going to Paris! When we first started planning this trip it was my goal to try cooking lots of great French dishes in anticipation of cooking some of our meals while there. I've tried a few, but I'm nowhere near where I had hoped to be!
So this morning Shelby called wanting some ideas on cooking a pot roast for her 86 degree day in San Antonio (hey, that's cool for Texas!).
After our "chat", I headed for the grocery store in anticipation of making a pot roast, too. Then I remembered Paris.....and my hopes of conquering some great French recipes to cook while we're there. So I decide to try beef bourguignon! Because I made this decision AFTER heading to the grocery store, we did have to make an additional trip for things I had forgotten.

Julia's recipe is labled "difficult", but it really isn't.....there are just so many steps...and for my first time out, I didn't want to skip any.
The recipe calls for slab bacon, which you slice into 1/4 inch slices and then cut those slices into 1 1/2 inch squares.

Then you boil them in a 1 1/2 quarts of water (it really doesn't take that much water though!), drain them,

and dry them off very well !

Brown them in a tablespoon of olive oil. While they are browning, I cut my beef, onions and carrots.
I removed the bacon, added the beef (in several stages...no crowding!) and browned it.

I added the browned beef to the bacon, then browned the onions and carrots.

Put the meat and veggies back into the dutch oven with the onions and carrots, then sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of flour.....stir to coat.Put into a 400 degree oven for 4 minutes.....stir, then put back into the oven for an additional 4 minutes. Add 3 cups of red wine and 1 1/2 cups of beef stock. Then add the herbs, which consist of two cloves of garlic, 4 tablespoons of chopped parsley, 3 tablespoons of thyme (I just put in 6 or 7 stems) 1 tablespoons of tomato paste and 2 small bay leaves......

stir and bring to a slow simmer on the stove. Then put in the oven and adjust the temperature to keep it at a slow simmer for 2.5 to 3 hours or until the meat is tender. While the meat and veggie mixture is braising, melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a saucepan and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil.....this keeps the butter from burning. Brown approximately 18 to 24 pearl onions (Julia leaves the skins on....I took them off), remove and then brown 1 pound of mushrooms quartered.

Once the meat and veggie mixture comes out of the oven,

strain the meat and veggies, saving the sauce into a saucepan, >
which I simmered to reduce until thick enough to coat the back of your spoon.

Add the mushrooms and pearl onions to the meat.....
and pour the reduced sauce over them and simmered for an additional few minutes. Voila! I served Dennis' over wild rice with crusty bread. I ate mine without the rice. I have to tell you this is a fabulous recipe! The next time I think I'll reduce the amount of wine to 2 cups....it was just a little too rich!

I hope you'll try this recipe. It may seem intimidating, but it's really not that difficult. It's just time consuming.
You can find Julia's recipe here: Click Here