Skull and Pot Roast

A while back I read that Dan Aykroyd had gone into the vodka business and was bottling his vodka in crystal skulls. Skull lover that I am, I really wanted one. I looked everywhere for them but could not track one down. My daughter found me a bottle for Christmas.


I don't drink vodka. But I use a lot of vanilla extract.


I scraped the seeds from about 8 vanilla beans and added them and the pods to the vodka. In about 3 months this will be ready. A vanilla skull. How cool is that?


Working my way through Julia's book, I decided to make Boeuf A' La Mode (pot roast). These classics, when prepared correctly, are fantastic. I braised a bottom round in red wine and beef stock for 4 hours.


While the beef was braising I decided to make biscuits to serve with it to sop up the gravy.

Last year I traveled to Nashville and fell in love with the biscuits I ate there. Three months and thousands of biscuits later, I finally duplicated the recipe.


One secret to a good biscuit is to flour your cutter and never twist it when you cut.


That allows them to raise evenly.


Being a northerner, I have never heard of biscuits served with pot roast but I am sure someone out there is doing this. They are the perfect accompaniment.


I braised the vegetables in water, butter and sugar until just tender.


When the meat was done I shredded it.


Then I reduced the juices to make a gravy.


I also decided to serve it with homemade buttered noodles sprinkled with fresh parsley.


Mmmmmm........pot roast. Thanks Julia!