Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site Shasta.ARPA
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!bellcore!decvax!decwrl!Shasta!mogul
From: mogul@Shasta.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.cooks
Subject: Re: Bad recipes in Joy of Cooking!
Message-ID: <3731@Shasta.ARPA>
Date: Thu, 14-Mar-85 18:57:44 EST
Article-I.D.: Shasta.3731
Posted: Thu Mar 14 18:57:44 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 16-Mar-85 04:06:13 EST
References: <3590@Shasta.ARPA> <2193@drutx.UUCP>
Organization: Stanford University
Lines: 17

> I have found that any cooking out of a cookbook requires some adjustment
> for personal taste.  For example, in Joy the recipe for Beef Bourgonion
> (sp?) calls for a substantial amount of salt pork, and does not require
> removing any of the fat.  The result, if the recipe is stricly followed, is
> a half inch of grease on top of the stew.  There is a note that says butter
> can be substituted but you won't achieve the same "subtle" flavor.  I see
> nothing subtle about a half inch of grease.  I use a small amount of
> butter!

The recipe in "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" has you skim the
fat off the top of the sauce after everything has cooked for a while.
Curiously, though, the other two recipes that I found (James Beard
and Craig Claiborne) use even more fat, and do not call for skimming.
So it's probably a matter of taste, rather than error.

The kind of fat varies, too: Julia Child specifies bacon, if I recall
correctly.