Ragout of Chicken and Onions in Red Wine #CookForJulia #SundaySupper

“This is my invariable advice to people: Learn how to cook- try new recipes,

learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun!”  - Julia Child

This week, Julia Child would have turned 100 years old!  It is only fitting that the television outlet that many of us first saw Julia on, PBS,  is featuring a #CookForJulia celebration!   If you are a Foodie, or an aspiring Foodie, you simply must check it out.  Not all her recipes are for everyone.  I'm not sure that I am ever going to make Aspic (meat jello--for lack of a better description?) but many of her main dishes have become synonymous with a chef that possesses a refined skill. 

So, are you ready for an admission?  Until this week, I had never purposely sought out to cook a Julia Child recipe.  *GASP*, I know!  I'm so thankful for PBS and the #SundaySupper movement for featuring her recipes this week because what came out of my kitchen was the most magical smelling dish that has ever been created by my two hands.  It's easy to see why Julia was such a revered chef.

For today's post, I decided to make a ragout.    Ragout is just a fancy term for "stew".  You can make stew, right?  Right!  Let's cook!

Ragout of Chicken and Onion in Red Wine

Ingredients

2 1/2 to 3 pounds frying chicken parts, skin on

2 Tbs. butter

1 Tbs. olive oil

Onions- either 1 large yellow onion sliced or 1 generous cup of pearl onions, skins removed**

Kosher salt and ground pepper

1 or 2 large cloves of garlic, minced or smashed with a knife

1 bay leaf

1/4 tsp or so thyme

1 large ripe red unpeeled tomato, chopped

3 cups red wine

1 cup chicken stock (or more)

Beurre manie, for the sauce (1 1/2 Tbs each flour & softened butter blended to a paste)

Fresh parsley sprigs (or chopped parsley)

Directions

In a dutch oven or large, heavy bottomed pot, brown the chicken in the the hot butter and olive oil.  This takes about 5-7 minutes per side.  After browned, remove the chicken and set aside.  Leave the oil in the pot.

Add the onions to the pan of hot oil and brown. This can take 15+ minutes, depending on the type of onion you are using.  (**Note:  I used frozen pearl onions from my local grocery store.  I love the flavor and texture of pearl onions, but I hate the process of slipping them out of their skins.  Frozen pearl onions is a convenience that I'm willing to live with to save myself time!)

To the pan of onions, add kosher salt and black pepper to taste, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, tomato.  Lightly mix.  Return the chicken to the pan.  Add the red wine. (I used a Beaujolais because it's a nice, light red.  Avoid anything heavy and old)  Then, if the chicken is still exposed, add chicken stock to cover.  Lightly mix again.  Slowly simmer about 25 minutes or until chicken is done and tender.
When chicken is done, remove the chicken from the pot.  With the onions and sauce that is left in the pot, do your best to skim off any oils/fat that is on the surface.  I didn't fret too much about this step as my sauce didn't render too much fat.  Increase the heat to a boil and reduce the sauce to your desired taste/strength.  You may need to add additional seasoning to achieve desired taste.
Once the sauce has reached its desired taste, add the beurre manie.  To make the beurre manie, simply mix equal parts very softened butter and flour.  I would make sure that you have "too much" made rather than not enough. Once you start adding and mixing, it's hard to stop to make more.  I'd rather waste a little beurre manie paste than run out!

Once the sauce had reached the desired thickness (should be able to coat a spoon), pour a few hearty spoonfuls over the chicken.  Make sure to get lots of the onion!  If you'd prefer, you could just return the chicken to the pot.  This is probably not what Julia would do, but it's what I did and it worked perfectly!

To serve, pair it with a light red wine.  Typically, use the variety that you used to make the ragout.  In my case, we would serve with another bottle of beaujolais.  (See how I mentioned the wine first?  Julia would be proud!)  To the side of the chicken can be potatoes with parsley or even a hot noodle.  Some folks would serve with salad or another green vegetable.  Be creative. 

If you're interested in more Julia Child recipes, you should definitely check out the #CookForJulia posts by the #SundaySupper food blog community!  You should also join us this week Around the Family Table for #SundaySupper! That fun starts on Twitter at 2pm CST with these fabulous recipes being showcased and ends with our #SundaySupper live chat at 6pm CST. This is a #SundaySupper you don’t want to miss!

#CookForJulia Breakfast
Râpée Morvandelle by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
Croissants by Cookistry
Cheese and Bacon Quiche by Tora’s Real Food

#CookForJulia Lunch
Tuna Salad Nicoise by Magnolia Days
Blood Orange, Walnut, and Rocket Salad by Granny’s Down Home Southern Cooking
Croque Monsieur by Webicurean
Spinach and Cream Cheese Pancakes by Happy Baking Days
Julia’s Chicken Salad by My Trials in the Kitchen
Pissaladière Niçoise (Onion Tart with Anchovies and Black Olives) by The Wimpy Vegetarian
Provencal Tomato Quiche by Are you hungry?
Quiche Lorraine Spoon and Saucer
Potato and Onion Soup (Potage Parmentier) by Shockingly Delicious

#CookForJulia Dinner
Bouillabaisse by The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen
Boeuf Bourguignon by Chelsea’s Culinary Indulgence
Orecchiette Con Broccoli Di Rape and Sausages by Doggie at the Dinner Table
Boeuf Bourguignon by Hezzi D’s Books and Cooks
Veal Stew with Onions and Mushrooms with Baked Cucumbers and Boiled Potatoes (Blanquette de veau a l’ancienne with concombres au buerre) by Kimchi Mom
Salmon en Papillote by Girlichef
Poached salmon with cucumber sauce by Katherine Martinelli
Lobster Souffle and Deviled Chicken- Crispy Bits & Burnt Ends
Roasted Chicken with Julia’s Mustard Marinade by The Meltaways
Wild Mushroom and Herb Stuffed Chicken- Mama Mommy Mom
Puree of White Beans with Garlic and Herbs (Brandade á la Soissonaise) Avocado Pesto
Poulet au Porto by Family Foodie

#CookForJulia Sides
Hollondaise over Blanched Asparagus by The Little Ferraro Kitchen
Scalloped Potatoes with Milk, Cheese, and Garlic (Gratin Dauphinois) by Home Cooking Memories
Ratatouille by Basic N Delicious
French-style country pate by There and Back Again
White Bean Dip with Homemade Tortilla Chips Momma’s Meals
Oeufs à la Diable by What Smells So Good?
Soubise by The Weekend Gourmet
Ratatouille by Cupcakes and Kale Chips

#CookForJulia Desserts
Cream Cheese and Lemon Flan by Juanita’s Cocina
Strawberry Sherbert in Cooky Cups by Cravings of a Lunatic
Creme Brulee by Wine Everyday
Mousseline Au Chocolat by Small Wallet Big Appetite
Peach Tarte Tatin by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
Cinnamon Toast Flan by Vintage Kitchen Notes
Dark Chocolate Crepes by Family Spice
Crepes Fines Sucrees by Mangoes and Chutney
Pommes Rosemarie:Apples Rosie The Daily Dish Recipes
Espresso Soufflé by Chocolate Moosey
Best Ever Brownies by In the Kitchen with Audrey
Orange-Almond Jelly Roll Cake by Mrs. Mama Hen
Orange Spongecake Cupcakes by Mama’s Blissful Bites
Orange Mousse with Greek Yogurt by Sue’s Nutrition Buzz
Frozen Chocolate Mousse by Big Bear’s Wife
Wine Pairings: Relishing Food and Wine; Thanks to Julia Child! by ENOFYLZ

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Perfect Supper Club Prime Rib

Every now and then, you need to treat your family to something special.  Some folks go out to dinner.  In our household, we like to recreate the perfect Supper Club meal.  When you think of a Supper Club, what entree comes to mind?  If you're from Wisconsin, you immediately think of Prime Rib!  Many home cooks are terribly intimidated by Prime Rib, but I assure you that it's the easiest, most impressive thing that you'll ever cook!  The key elements are:

• a good cut of meat
• a good butcher
• a good thermometer

If you have all of those things, you're 99% on your way to the best meal that you've ever tasted in your home cooking life! 

So, here's the hard part.  Spend good money on a piece of meat.  Call your local butcher.  In my case, we went through Ski's Meat Market.  We called them in the morning and told them we were making Prime Rib.  You have a few choices for your Prime Rib Roast.  Bone in or out. (go with bone in!)  They'll ask you how many ribs you want. (generally 1 to 2 people per rib. Never get less than 3 ribs) They should also ask you if you want the meat cut away from the bone and tied back.  Choose this option.  It makes carving the meat so much easier, and you aren't going to lose anything, in my opinion, by having it cut back. 

We got a 4 bone Prime Rib Roast, and the cost was $114.00.  "YIKES" you might say!  Well, we fed 5 people plus we had plenty of leftovers.  If we had gone out to eat and ordered Prime Rib, we would have likely spent well over $114- not including drinks and dessert!

Once you get home, here's how to prepare your cut of meat.

Directions
Unwrap the meat and insert a high quality, wired thermometer into the meat.  This is the one that I used.  (special thanks to the butcher at Ski's for convincing me it was time to upgrade!)  Do not allow the thermometer to touch the bone.  It will likely read a temperature in the 30s or 40s.

Leave meat out on counter to bring up the temperature.  This is very important!  It's going to feel like a long time.  Mine took about 3+ hours to get to the upper 50s, but this is the key to an even cook.  I covered mine loosely with the butcher's paper while the temperature is coming up.  Many folks say to get it all the way to room temperature, but truth be told, I didn't want to leave my meat out much longer than 3 hours, and I found that the final product was cooked evenly nonetheless.

Once the meat temperature has come up to at least the mid-50s, rub the cut roast ends only with softened butter.  This will allow the ends to moisten and crisp up when cooking.

Season the meat.  There's two schools of thought on this, and both are okay.  Some say to over season because it doesn't easily penetrate the rib roast.  Some say that seasoning is optional or should be done lightly.  It's just your preference.  ***Now- read carefully-- here is the magic--- Do NOT use salt to season!!!!!  One trick that I use for all meat cooking is to avoid salt.  It draws out moisture from the meat and can make it overly dry.  You can always add it later when you're eating it.

Place the uncovered rib roast in a metal pan, ribs facing down.  There's no need for a rack as the ribs act as a natural rack!

Now, put it all into an oven that's been preheated to 450 degrees. (make sure that your wired thermometer is safe at that temperature- most are, but it's still a good idea to check)  If you have a convection oven, do not put the convection feature on as this can dry out the roast.

It should look like this: (Note: the digital portion of the thermometer does not go in the oven- that should stay outside the oven)

Prime Rib Roast- 4 bone

Roast the meat for exactly 15 minutes.  No more. No less.  Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees and continue roasting.

Now, simply wait.  I would start checking the temperature after an hour or so.  The meat is not timed.  You should use temperature as your guide.  Remember that the temperature of the meat will increase about 5-10 degrees after you take it out of the oven, so incorporate that into your plans for when you want to remove it from the oven.  Example: If you want Medium Rare, I would remove the meat when it hits about 125 degrees.  Use the following temperature guide for final temperature/doneness:

Rare 120-125 degrees

Medium Rare 130-135 degrees

Medium 140-145 degrees

Medium Well 150-155 degrees

Well Done 160+ degrees

Once the meat hits your desired (pre)temperature, remove it from the oven and loosely cover it in foil.  And for heaven's sake, let it rest!  Resist the urge to cut into it to check it.  The juices will run out, and you will have a dry roast if you do that.  If you've invested in a good wired thermometer, then it will be perfect after the 15 minute resting period. 

When 15 minutes is up, carve, serve, and enjoy!  If it's as delicious as it was in my household, you will barely be able to get in a picture before your family starts (literally) screaming at you to sit down so they can devour the delicious food!

Our Prime Rib Roast, Medium Rare

Served with a baked potato with sour cream/chives, local green beans, and sauteed mushrooms.

So what do you think?  Is this something that you think you'd want to try?  If so, let me know how it goes!  If not, what's holding you back?  Leave a comment with your questions or fears, and together we can get you on your way to recreating that Supper Club entree you always wanted to cook.

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