Channelling Julia Child

Today I decided to get adventurous and do some real cooking for the first time since I got here because, let's be real, I'm sick of eating spaghetti! And after all, I am in France and what better place to learn to cook than France, really?

So, this morning I went to "Les Halles," an indoor market here in Tours with bakeries, produce stands, butchers, wine vendors and cheese counters galore. I even stumbled upon another outdoor market that I didn't know existed when I took a different way into town! That's the beauty of this town. Every time I go somewhere new I find something interesting. Upon my arrival at Les Halles I mustered up the confidence to ask for what I needed because in French markets you usually can't pick out what you want yourself, you have to tell the vendor what you want and how much... kind of intimidating when there's things you don't even know the name of in English! Not to mention everything's in metric here. Also I think I'm actually developing a phobia of the butcher due to the creepy things they have there including but not limited to rabbits fresh from the kill with fur and all, skinned pigs' heads, chickens with their feet and heads still intact, and COW TONGUE. Yes, that's right, actual tongue of cow. And they put it right by the register so you can't avoid it. It's kinda cruel. But thanks to my helpful French cookbook which only called for plain beef and none of these scary meats, I conquered my fears and got exactly what I needed!

"Cooking for Beginners" - quite possibly still too advanced for moi!

I was perhaps a little overly ambitious and decided my first attempt would be boeuf bourguignon due in part to my obsession with the movie "Julie & Julia." So I made my way around the market and collected my mushrooms, carrots, onions, and of course, beef all the while telling the vendors how many grams I needed. Oy. I'm still think in pounds/ounces, fahrenheit, and non-military time. My American-ness doesn't seem to be wearing off anytime soon.

The recipe called for red wine but not just any red wine, wine from the Bourgogne region, which I found quite entertaining. I guess wine from the good ol' Centre region just wouldn't suffice? But it does go with their culture that they would be so particular because we all know that if there's anything at all that the French take seriously it's their food and their wine and when the two are combined (which is almost always) - watch out! 

I trekked back to chez moi and prepared the dessert - fondant au chocolat - for all-day refrigeration. Fondant au chocolat (or at least the recipe in my book) consists of nothing more than mass quantities of milk chocolate, heavy cream, and crushed "sable" cookies, which are basically like French sugar cookies, but better. All you have to do is boil the cream and mix in the chocolate and whip it into submission and then pour it onto a bed of crushed cookies and it's supposed to look just like the picture.

Finished product:

Hmm, OK, so it doesn't look exactly like the picture, but it still tastes really good! I promise. It's hard to screw up chocolate.

While the dessert was chilling in the fridge I got going on the boeuf bourguignon because that, too, is quite a long process. About four hours from the time I started chopping veggies until it was finally done cooking.

A little intimidating, non?

Cooking in red wine, olive oil, and spices for two and half hours. Literally. But worth every minute. Everything was really flavorful because you cook it at a low heat and the meat and vegetables absorb the taste of the wine. Marination is the keyword. To. die. for.

 Tell me I could be more French right now. Really.

 Finished product. I failed to photograph where the mushrooms came in, but they were cooked (more like drowned) in a mixture of butter and the same sauce the meat was cooked in. Hands down the freshest mushrooms I've ever had in my life. Thanks, French market!

The specialty cheese of the region - Sainte Maure de Touraine. It's a type of goat cheese and it looks disgusting but tastes really, really good!

I don't think they'll be calling me to write my own cookbook anytime soon, but the experience was overall a success and I now have enough food for the rest of the week, so let's hope I don't get sick of it!

In other news, the final step to my visa validation is finally happening Tuesday! Being from America and not the E.U. I can apparently carry all sorts of bizarre diseases such as tuberculosis, so we Americans/Canadians have to get checked out in Orléans. On the plus side, I heard they let you keep the chest x-ray. Wall decoration? But in all serious this actually is exciting because once my visa is validated I can leave France and not worry about being deported upon my return to the country, which is key for Christmas break.

À la prochaine, mes amis!