The slow cooked vegetable flavors of ratatouille—eggplant, zucchini, tomato, peppers—care of my friend Noelle's tried and true Provencal recipe.

Just cut up a crusty baguette, plate some butter, and serve.

[1. c. lynn]

 

I once made a delicious Boeuf Bourguignon and then ruined it with the addition of too much Xanthan gum. I remember that the recipe called for corn starch, but since I didn't have any on-hand, I went with Xanthan. The result was a goopy sauce that tasted unnaturally smooth.

I did not make the same mistake with this recipe which produces a delicious beef broth with a depth of flavor that will blow your mind. It has a thinner broth that is complemented with egg noodles, making for a great one pot winter soup.

Boeuf Bourguignon Soup 
adapted from Martha Stewart Living (December 2010)
serves 6

4 bone-in short ribs (the meatier, the better)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 tsp. corn starch
Olive oil to coat pot
1 cup mushrooms of your choice
3 carrots, cubed
1 shallot, diced
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 slices of bacon, chopped (I used applewood cured bacon)
1 tbsp. tomato paste
2 thyme sprigs (leaves only)
1 dried bay leaf
1 cup red wine (the drier the better)
8 cups beef stock
2 cups water
1 package egg noodles


1. Salt and pepper all sides of short ribs and then coat in corn starch. Heat a Dutch oven with enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. When the oil is hot, add short ribs and sear on all sides. You should achieve a light brown color.


2. Add mushrooms to pan and cook until brown, about 4 minutes. Remove short ribs and mushrooms from pot.


3. Add carrots, shallot, celery, and bacon and cook until browned about 6 minutes. Add in tomato paste and stir for 1 minute. Add wine and stir for another minute.


4. Add in bay leaf and thyme sprigs and then pour in beef stock and water. Bring to a boil and then turn to medium-low heat to simmer, partially covered, for 2 1/2 hours.


5. Skim off fat from time to time and give the soup a stir. Remove short ribs from soup. The meat should slide off the bone easily. Separate the beef from the fat and add back to the soup. Discard fat trimmings and bones.


6. When ready to serve, heat soup to a boil and add a small handful of noodles per person. Cook for 6-8 minutes. When noodles are done, ladle soup into a tureen or individual soup bowls and garnish with freshly chopped parsley. Serve with a few slices of baguette.

[1. c. lynn]

Jean-Philippe Delhomme

An intimate look at the very chic and jocular musings of a master fashion and lifestyle illustrator.

The stoke of his brush is almost as sharp as his wit, but the result is always playful and spectacular. Jean-Philippe Delhomme is a prolific name in the world of illustration often described as the French answer to the cartoons that appear in the New Yorker. His work is world-renown in a range of media—from chic print ads for Saab to the latest in boutique campaigns for Barney’s and fashion advertising.

Drawing from the trials of modern society—the design addict cautiously circling the latest modern furniture piece in an upscale boutique or the urbane sophisticate offering a live chicken as a museum showpiece to his child—Delhomme finds the humor in all that surrounds him. It is no surprise with the charm and quick-wit of his illustrations that he finds his work in high-demand.

Jean-Philippe Delhomme has created volumes of illustrated work, animated television commercials, as well as having written a childrens’ book Visit to Another Planet alongside two fully-illustrated novels. He delights in his children and his studio on the Left Bank in Paris.