Just like Julia Child.

Fact 1: I love good food.
Fact 2: I loved to cook in my other life, the life before 60 hour work weeks.
Fact 3: You can cook and eat well by cooking a HUGE meal once and freezing it in portions so you can eat it when your short on time, you know like every night.

I thought I’d share a favorite cook ahead recipe of mine. There’s not a lot of measurements, ‘cause we’re going for simple, and stuffing cut up onions into a measuring cup is not simple. So here’s Coq au Vin, for people with one free night a week.

You Need:
Bacon
Onions
Mushrooms
Butter/oil
Garlic
Beef stock
Thyme
Bay Leaf

Cook some bacon. I used 2 packets. We’re making 5 three person portions. You can cut it before or after you cook it, depending on when you’d rather touch it. I always choose after. After its cut and cooked, put it in a large bowl or pot. Why, yes, I am drinking the beer in that picture, thanks for asking.

Cut onions. I used 2.5. Why? ‘Cause that’s what I had left. Cook them, in the bacon grease or oil, or butter. I used butter, ‘cause used bacon grease makes me ill. Put them in the bowl/pot.

Cut mushrooms. OR give your 4 year old a dangerously sharp knife and have her do it. Cook them. I used 2-3(ish) pounds. You are faced with the butter/bacon grease/oil choice again. I went for a tablespoon of water. There’s far too much fat in this already. Bowl/pot please.

Put a few tablespoons of butter or bacon grease in your pan. (really one of those, but you can use non hydrogenated soybean oil, ‘cause I often do). Brown a few tablespoons of flour in it. I used brown flour, works just fine. Add garlic. I used 4-ish tablespoons of garlic paste. Add beef bouillon. I like a paste called Better than Bouillon, ‘cause it is. Add a few cups of wine. 2-6 to be exact. Merlot or Cabernet is recommended, but I usually use whatever red is decent enough to cook with but not great enough to drink. And thyme and a few bay leaves if you have them. Cook until it’s thicker. Taste it. It should be a very condensed version of the flavor you want at the end. Add seasoning until it is. Mix into the pot bowl.

Portion out into meals and freeze. The morning of the evening you want to eat it, put a whole chicken, or chicken bits, into a crock pot with the sauce and a few cups of water. Set the chicken to be done when you get home. What’s that? Don’t have a crock pot? Get one. No, right now.

I’ll wait.

Unless it’s 11 pm and Target is closed. Don’t go to Wal-Mart. You may not cook this in a Wal-Mart crock pot. It will taste like rape.

Instead defrost the sauce, add the water and pour over your chicken bits to cook in the oven. I don’t know how long. I have a crock pot.