I shoulda Made Quiche

I received an invitation for a dinner tomorrow night. This is a "getting to know each other" invitation so that those of us who are taking off for France and Italy in June can meet.

It will be a French Pot Luck Dinner (all dishes must be French)
Sign up for one of the following:
Appetizers, Main Dish, Salad, Cheese Course, Dessert or
Beverages

We will discuss the following:
Travel tips, packing, passports, euros and itinerary
There will be a slide show of Paris, Provence and La Cote d'Azur.

The trip is being arranged by a co-worker (teacher) of Char's oldest daughter, Tavie and Char was planning to go along with all three of her daughters. I talked with Jeri, who wanted to go, so we signed up. Our friend Pat is also going (though since she only has sons, she will be traveling alone, since this has turned into a girls' trip). Jeri's godmother was also going to go with her daughter, my "goddaughter," but I suspect that recent events in the lives of both of them have changed those plans, though Jeri hasn't definitely said no yet. But I have a gut feeling that this is no longer in her plans.

I couldn't immediately think of a French dish I wanted to make for the dinner so I went searching on the internet for something that sounded interesting. It's not that I haven't cooked anything French before, but I wanted to do something I've never made before. I finally came up with an authentic Boef en Daube (essentially Burgundy Beef). I've made Burgundy Beef before. In fact, one of Walt's favorite dishes is a Burgundy Beef balls dish that I've been making for years.

But I liked this one because it had the addition of dried orange peel and the method just sounded like it would be interesting to make. (It's a crock pot adaptation of a Julia Child recipe, so it's gotta be authentic, right?) Because it could be made in the crock pot, it would keep it warm while I was driving the ~70 miles to San Ramon. I had all week to make it, it could sit overnight and really absorb all the flavors.

I bought oranges to peel and dry the peel in the sun. Then I spent all day yesterday writing my article, planning to spend all day today making the stew. I went out and bought about a bazillion dollars worth of ingredients. It calls for 5 lb of beef, but I only bought 3-1/2 because (a) there was no 5 lb roast, and (b) it would have cost nearly $30 and I didn't want to spend that much on one ingredient.

I managed to find the right dried mushrooms and bought a french Burgundy, figuring that hang the cost--I'd use what I needed and Walt could have the rest to drink.

I came home from the store and immediately stuck the mushrooms in water to rehydrate so I could start cooking right after Touched by an Angel.

THEN (and only then) did I re-read the recipe which starts out "marinate the beef cubes in Burgundy and herbs overnight." Oops. Well, that immediately eliminated the possibility of making this in the crock pot because I have to leave too early tomorrow for it to cook thoroughly, so now the plan is to get up early and stick it in the oven before 8 a.m. so that it can be cooked by noon, and then I'll transfer it to the crock pot, get the pot heated up and then drive to Char's.

So I spent about an hour cutting up the beef and putting it in a pot to marinate. I checked the recipe and...I needed to use all the wine. So much for leaving some of that expensive Burgundy for Walt!

But I think it's going to be good. I'm not making any substitutions, I'm using good quality wine and good quality beef and I can get around the fact that I should have made this yesterday.

All things considered, however, it would have been easier to make a quiche!

Then I get another email from our hostess, who is letting us know who is bringing what. Three of us are bringing main dishes....

Main Dishes:
Shirley - [not specified]
Bev - Boeuf en Daube
Diane - Burgundy Beef

Mine may be called "Boeuf en Daube," but it's really Burgundy Beef.

Sigh, Quiche would have been so easy (and so much cheaper!!)