Weekend Wrap-Up

It didn’t rain on Saturday. The weather was actually quite lovely. My knee-jerk reaction was that I should go out and work in the yard or go ahead and clean my car but (with a little help from Jeffrey) I stayed true to the plan.

By early afternoon we set to the task of re-creating Mark Sisson’s primal take on Boeuf Bourguignon. The only diversion from Julia Child’s original recipe is to substitute almond flour. We were also sure to use unsalted Kerrygold butter and grass-fed stew meat. Since J is not a fan of traditional bacon I bought beef bacon. It seemed to be a good substitute, though the product is far leaner than it's porky counterpart. Mid-cooking we made the unlucky discovery that the mushrooms I’d bought the day before had gone quite bad. Everyone at home forbade me to run out to the store (probably because I was supposed to be taking it easy?) so I was only able to include one third of the recipe’s actual mushroom requirement. In the end we had a delicious meal (I'm enjoying the leftovers right now *yum*). I do think it would have benefitted from more shrooms and I’d definitely use a low sodium beef broth next time. Another idea from the taste testers was to use a bit more butter in the cooking process and perhaps serve the dish alongside smashed cauliflower. As is, our meal was full-bodied and very satisfying. It was a lengthy process but not difficult. During the in-oven cooking time we all sat outside and played card games. It was such a wonderful day, as indulgent as the dinner. After such a luxurious weekend I have decided to make this a priority in the future. I’m so much more rested and Monday doesn’t feel like a slap in the face. Plus, the opportunity to play with more complicated recipes is very attractive. How did you spend your weekend?