Veal Cordon Bleu

As I said in the last blog, we saw Julie & Julia and really enjoyed it. So much so that I went e-shopping for Julia Child's MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING. I ended up getting a PDF version on line which is great with me.

I have way more books as it is then I have room for.

I thought that the first thing that I would try would be Veal Cordon Bleu. It's very French you know. Guess what, it's not in Julia's book. I have been making Veal Cordon Donnie for some time now. Over thirty years. I actually broke up with this girl from No. Carolina because of Cordon Bleu. I made these wonderful Veal Cordon Bleus on a two burner electric hot plate on my little 28 foot sailboat that I lived aboard in Redondo Beach in the mid-seventies. They were accompanied by these thin little potato pancakes topped with apple sauce and dusted with cinnamon. It's all about presentation you know.

Miss North Carolina proceeded to dump catchup all over my gastronomic creation thus ending the doomed relationship on the spot. In and Out squeeze bag catchup no less. It wasn't even Heinz.

When you make something for so long sometimes you stray further and further from the recipe.

Oh well, I have a copy of Le Cordon Blue, Complete Cook, home Collection. Left behind by one of the ex-wives.

You guessed it, aint there either. Hell, I have Google. I'll search it out.

Ah, here we are. First hit. Cooks.com, they'll know all right.

What have we here? First ingredient

1 can "Cedar Lake - Chops"

What in the hell is a can O "Cedar Lake - Chops"?

Cut halfway through, leave a flap-like a clam shell.

FILLING:

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened - softened cream cheese?

What gives, is this a blintz?

1/2 c. grated Monterey Jack cheese.

Monterey Jack, maybe I stumbled onto a taco recipe.
1/2 c. grated mozzarella cheese.

Motz? Motz goes with anything, almost.
1 tbsp. Baco chips

Baco chips? That's it, I quit. I'm going back to Veal Cordon Donnie
1/4 c. diced green onions or scallions
1/4 tsp. fine herbs

Fill each chop and chill 2 to 3 hours or overnight.

To finish: Beat 2 eggs in small bowl. Place 1 1/2 cups Contadina seasoned bread crumbs in bowl. Bread each chop in egg then roll in bread crumbs. Place in frying pan (use Puritan oil) and brown on each side. Turn ONLY once. May be kept warm in oven until ready to serve. Serve hot.

This recipe must have been written by Mr. North Carolina.

Too bad he left the opossum and grits out.

The search goes on.

Julie & Julia

We went to the moving pictures yesterday and saw Julie & Julia. If you're a foodie as I am, and you used to watch Julia Child on PBS, as I did, before being a "foodie" was hip, you're going to really like this movie.

Why all of a sudden do I feel like Rex Reed, or Gene Shalit without the silly mustache?

I've never been a big fan of Meryl Streep, even though I know she's truly is a great actor. I think it is because when I saw Kramer verses Kramer I was going through my own private divorce hell, and to me, she was the bad guy. But moving right along, I gotta say. She nailed Julia.

Jamie Fox nailed Ray Charles in Ray and Meryl got Julia.

I've always liked to eat and one of the best ways that I found to get food to be just the way you like it is to prepare it yourself. So I took to cooking. I wasn't worried about being thought of as a sissy or anything. I had no issues with my masculinity. There were a few good cooking shows on back in the sixties. The two that I remember the best were Graham Kerr and Julia Child. Julia was hands down, my favorite, She was as real as they come. Back in the sixties, after the era of live TV, on air talent stood in front of a camera and let it rip. Not much editing back then. If Julia dropped a chicken on the floor she would just pick it up, brush it off and put it back on the serving platter and explain that these thing happen in the real world. If she burnt something, she'd show how to rescue it if at all passable.

Pre-Julia, I always thought of the French and their cooking as being way over pretentious. I still think of the French as being over pretentious snobs, but at least Julia made their food a lot more accessible. Every now and then, I try to make something from my Le Cordon Blue Complete Cook, Home Collection, but it is a reach for me. So now, I just bought an E-edition of Mastering The Art of French Cooking and I'll try a few things Julia fashion. But not them all, I still like my BBQ, Italian sausage & peppers and Linguine with white clam sauce.Esse gut.