Butter Makes It Good...

I love the Anthony Bourdin quote that the difference between your cooking and restaurant cooking is butter and shallots.

Definitely proved that one out this evening, when I made one of the best 30-minute meals ever, courtesy not of the over-perky Rachel Ray but of Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle & Simone Beck.

Let me back up a moment. 

My mind has been on food even more than ever the past week or so...putting together the menu for the annual Christmas feast with the extended familia los G's, reading this fun book that my office friend loaned me: The United States of Arugula: The Sun Dried, Cold Pressed, Dark Roasted, Extra Virgin Story of the American Food Revolution (how can you resist a title like that?!), then finally watching Julie & Julia (which I received for Christmas) on Sunday night. 

So I *had* to crack open our copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking and cook from it this evening. And I made the most glorious butter-seared oven-roasted chicken breasts in mushroom-shallot-cream sauce with baby peas, followed by the over-the-top Jacques Torres hot chocolate that Santa gave me (with a shot of peppermint schnapps for good measure). Pretty simple but just over-the-top, lick-the-plate good. And I even improvised a bit (cognac instead of wine and duck stock instead of 

And duck was cheap, so I bought one of those and will try that tomorrow or Thursday night, perhaps with cherries. And carrots, or carrot & fennel soup, and little french green beans, and chocolate puff pastry, and...ooh, boy, I can see I'm going to have to make good on that whole I-must-start-exercising thing.