A French Chuseok Feast and Apple Tart with Walnut Cream

Chuseok, or Korean Thanksgiving, is one of my least favorite times of the year. Mostly because my Korean holiday memories are of family feuding and fighting. Uhg. I think the most memorable Chuseok I had was when I argued my way out of visiting relatives and attended a funeral instead. It was great. (No disrespect to the departed and my condolences to the family!)

So, I was all prepared to happily go nowhere and do nothing over the holidays, until I got a call from my mom asking me when I was coming. I told her I wasn’t. She retorted that I could cook at home. I told her I could cook at my home, too. Then she said I could make something I can’t in my tiny kitchen. I was won over. (Perhaps I’m too easy?)

Because there was a recipe that I’d been dying to try out: boeuf bourguignon a la Julia Child. It really is the centerpiece of the movie Julie & Julia, and most likely the cookbook as well, and my friend and I had wanted to try making it in her happy little Parisian kitchen. But after the burnt brownie incident, wherein her microwave-slash-oven converted brownie batter into a blob of black brick, we decided the machine was really more microwave and not at all oven. Without a functioning oven, the only thing we could make was… boiled lamb. And it wasn’t until we got to the butcher that we realized it was “a l’anglaise.” (Leave it to the British to come up with the most boring way of cooking!) But it was still really good and very memorable – despite the side of irony.

Back to the boeuf bourguignon. I decided it was the perfect dish to try out for Chuseok. And why not make the whole menu sort of French while I was at it? So, I bought a last minute ticket, and sat in a bus creeping along so slowly, I wondered how many inches lay between Seoul and home, all the while inhaling everyone’s continuous kimchi burps (I mean, it’s ok on the way down, but disgusting on the way up. I’d almost prefer it coming out the other end…). It was nearly 3 a.m. when I finally arrived.

I was pleasantly surprised when I got home because my mom had most of the ingredients just sitting in the fridge (well, she was planning on making galbi and samgyeopsal with the meat). But then again, boeuf bourguignon isn’t altogether a fancy dish. And there’s something about French cooking that lets the ingredients themselves, simple as they are, speak...

The very wholesome ingredients for the beef stew (from left to right): bacon bits, beef cuts, Chianti Classico, carrot slices, beef stock, onion slices, mashed garlic / salt & pepper / thyme & bay leaf / tomato paste, shallots, and button mushrooms.

 And many hours (more like a whole day) later, the finished product.

It was phenomenal! It had a delicate, yet hearty flavor, and it was oh so aromatic. (I am now hooked on cooking with wine!) If I were a death row inmate, I would be wanting this for my last meal. I think I could even get fat eating this. Or develop heart disease.

Side dishes included garlic mashed potatoes (also from Julia Child’s book), ginger butter biscuits (from the Pie Bible), asparagus and green salad (not pictured). Food-wise (and maybe even other-wise), best Chuseok ever!

And the finale – the apple tart. Here, the apples are being poached in cinnamon and vanilla sugar water. I wouldn’t mind being poached in that!

 The best crust I’ve ever made. I think I finally have that down pat.

 Apple tart with walnut cream. With sips of mulled wine. Yum yum yum!

The crust was flaky perfection, and the apples were so luscious and big, I could only fit in 4 halves on the tart. The walnut cream was a little too rich though, especially after the belly-bursting meal (the amount of butter that went into everything was absolutely heart-stopping, and was kept secret from its consumers). So I could only eat a small slice. Sniff.

And thus I wound down 2 whole days of non-stop cooking. Toward the end, I barely had time to pee, and was basically yelling instructions at my mom. I remember a similar situation last Christmas when I was screaming at my brother. (I think my mom is better at disregarding the yelling, and my brother the instructions.) Perhaps I’m a little too result-oriented. *Sheepish smile* But I generally get good results. Is it because of the blind drive and touch of meanness? Can it be done without? I don’t think I’ll ever find out…