Yesterday, my husband came home with two things. The first--an order from the doctor to shape up. Seems like just about everything was slightly elevated (blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol) and with his family history, in the coming years, he could be...well...history. He needs to cut out salt and fat, get on an exercise program, and cut down on those martinis he loves so much. Fat chance...
His idea of watching out for his health involved switching from butter to margarine, something half of the world (the female half) knows isn't going to mean a thing because they are BOTH equally bad for you.
Did I mention the second thing he brought home. Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. He thought we could cook some healthy meals together. Let me tell you, there is almost nothing in that cookbook that doesn't involve cream or butter or both. Let's talk heavy sauces, egg dishes, tarts, and rendered pork fat. Every soup has a healthy dollop of whipping cream. Think black butter sauce, a la cream, cheese gratines browned with cheese, eggs sauteed with chicken livers and sausages, even a simple steak is served with a hearty topping of flavored butter.
My husband wants to make Boeuf Bourguignon like in the movie, Julie & Julia. First ingredient = 6 ounce chunk of bacon. Although the 3 cups of young red wine sounds lean and lovely. We will serve it with haricots verts a la creme (page 445) with (surprise) softened butter and 2 cups of whipping cream and top it off with some kind of custard that involves (can you guess) butter and cream.
The poor guy! He doesn't have a clue.