Cooking to Honor Julia Child

[Chris Amirault]

Everything looks great! Here's our story.

I took my 11-year-old daughter, Lulu, to "Julie and Julia" last night, and we ended up talking about the food more than I expected. Good thing, bc we had planned to cook together today, and I was a bit worried about boredom. Julia is not, as you know, Beyonce, after all. However, the meal had a large amount of interesting cooking techniques, and the damned stuff tasted really, really good.

As I noted before, we chose chicken kiev, green beans, and eggs stuffed with tapenade. The first and third dish are in From Julia Child's Kitchen. First up, we had to cook the eggs and blanch the beans. We poked holes in the base of the eggs (some labeled "N" for newer, to see whether they were harder to peel) in the hopes that they'd release their air. Lulu caught an egg passing gas:

The beans after their ice shock, and the eggs post-peel:

Meanwhile, we minced some shallots, parsley and oregano for the compound butter:

That went into a small loaf pan with plastic wrap and then into the freezer:

It's not the famous mortar and pestle that Paul got Julia, but it did the trick for a smooth tapenade:

Combining the sieved egg yolks with the tapenade. The filling turned out a bit too salty, but we still ate half a dozen of the things:

The stuffed and garnished eggs:

Lulu getting her smack on, flattening the supremes between sheets of wax paper:

A flattened supreme next to the chilled seasoned butter:

The rolled supremes ready for the flour/egg/breadcrumb coating:

The coated chicken supremes ready to chill before frying:

Julia suggests you fry at 375F, but I think that's a bit too hot for larger contemporary chicken breasts. I had to leave them in for longer than I'd have liked to cook them through, leading to a slightly darker crust.

The final plating -- old skool, of course:

It was all really good. I mean, fried chicken stuffed with butter: what's not to like?

[LindaK]

This was a lot of fun. These days I tend to pick up her cookbooks more for reference than recipes, so it was nice to thumb through MTA Volumes 1 and 2 with an open mind. It was tempting to choose one of the more complex recipes that I've never tried, but with the temperature destined for the 90's and without any A/C, I decided to keep it simple and do without the oven. The recipe for Poulet Poêlé à L'Estragon (Casserole Roasted Chicken with Tarragon) in Volume 1 caught my attention, partly because it can be made on top of the stove as well as in the oven, and partly because I have a huge tarragon bush in my garden that doesn't get enough use.

A morning trip to my garden plot decided the rest--I came away with everything I needed for a ratatouille (except the onions and peppers), lots of green beans, and bunches of basil, parsley, and tarragon.

So I spent the afternoon in the air conditioned comfort of a local movie house watching "Julie and Julia" then stopped by the market for the chicken and the missing peppers.

The chicken recipe was simplicity itself but the finished dish was amazingly flavorful. Stuff the cavity with fresh tarragon (I slipped some leaves under the skin too, for good measure), brown the chicken, then saute onions, carrot, and more tarragon, and finally place the chicken on top of the vegetables, tightly cover, then bake or cook slowly on top of the stove. The trick to cooking it on top of the stove is a heavy casserole, and my Le Creuset did just fine. This is a great one-pot dish that I will definitely make again soon. The pan juices were delectable. It was tempting to skip the simple sauce that's in the receipe and just spoon the buttery juices over the chicken. But I'm glad I didn't, at least for this meal--it made the otherwise homey dish a little more festive and my guests used bread to finish every last drop of it.

The ratatouille and green beans are old standbys but I credit Julia for teaching me the secrets of cooking each perfectly:

- Each ingredient of the ratatouille needs to be cooked separately and brought together at the end. I find it tastes better after resting a day, so I didn't actually serve it last night, it's sitting in the fridge waiting to be tonight's dinner.

-as for the green beans, the simple technique of blanching then refreshing green vegetables in ice water was entirely new to me when I first read MTA v. 1 over 20 years ago. But it produces such superior results that you'll never stray from it. My family thinks I have some magic formula for green beans and always requests them for family gatherings. No matter how often I tell them how it's done, they refuse to believe it's so simple.

If I can figure out how to upload pictures into Recipe Gullet I'll post a few pictures.

Anyway, I hope everyone else enjoyed themselves, too. Chris, that chicken kiev looks great, as do the eggs.

[Tri2Cook]

Awesome stuff everybody. This was fun! It never occured to me to take pics of the process... that would have been a good idea.

As long as you enjoyed eating it as much as you enjoyed preparing it, I am certain Julia would approve.

←

I did enjoy eating it though it was a bit much for a cold, jelly-covered-food plate. Smaller molds would have been more portion-appropriate but would have made lining the mold and still having room for enough filling difficult. If I did it again, I would mold the fillings then dip them in the jelly a couple times to coat rather than doing it all in-mold. I'll use the excuse that it's portion-appropriate for the era it's from. The main reason I included the "I hope she would approve" is because of the my-way twists I added to it.

Edited August 16, 2009 by Tri2Cook (log)

[suzilightning]

After work and then the gym I got home about 3. I had shopped and done some prep work the day before but first an appertif:

All recipes came from Mastering the Art of French Cooking vol.1. Poulet a l'estragon, champignons farcis, spinach au jus, rice with mushrooms and shallots and a cherry clafoutis to which I snuck in some white peaches that needed to be used up

Got the chicken stuffed with some fresh tarragon, salt and pepper, trussed and massaged with butter. Then into the dutch oven to brown up a bit before being joined by some carrots, onions and more tarragon. Mince and squeeze the mushrooms for the rice but what is this? 3 leftover mushrooms... two stuffed mushrooms coming up.

While the chicken is in the oven make the rice and add the mushrooms and shallots to it along with some freshly minced parsley. I had blanched spinach the day before so cut it up and sauteed it in some, whatelse, butter then added some flour and beef stock to make the sauce. Assembled the clafoutis that went into the oven when the mushrooms and chicken came out. While the bird rested I added beef and chicken stock to the defatted jus along with a slurry of port and cornstarch.

You need wine to go with dinner of course

Two pieces of breast, the rice, spinach and a mushroom. The next time I would add a few grates of nutmeg to the spinach and I WILL make more stuffed mushrooms.

About an hour or so later after eating and putting all the leftovers away - and mixing the spinach into the rice - I will get johnnybird to eat more vegetables somehow, it was time for dessert. Clafoutis with port or a drop more champagne, anyone?

[Peter the eater]

We enjoyed a five pound fresh duck yesterday following the "Duck Pate in It's Own Skin" recipe from The Way To Cook, page 254. Sadly, no camera therefore no photos.

The process is therapeutic -- remove the skin and bones, arrange the meat plus seasoned ground pork in a terrine lined with the duck skin, some pistachios, allspice, thyme, onion, garlic, eggs, cognac, etc. Et voilà!

Rustic, hearty, ducky, and French.

[Pierogi]

Sadly, I do not have "MTAOFC", a situation which will be rectified shortly, but I do have "The French Chef Cookbook", which is a compilation, in chronological order, of all the recipes Julia demonstrated on "The French Chef". Since all THOSE recipes came from "Mastering", there was only one degree of separation for the lovely quiche Lorraine that I made last night to celebrate Julia.

Usually, I make a combination cheese/bacon quiche, sometimes with onions, asparagus, other stuff. But this time I stuck to the classic Lorraine, just bacon (lots of bacon...lots) and the most decadent, silky, sumptuous custard I've ever tasted. So eggy and creamy and bacony and wonderful. 3 eggs, a cup and a half of heavy cream, S&P and nutmeg, and dot with, of course, butter. I could hear my arteries clogging, and didn't care. I thought I'd miss the cheese, but didn't because the custard was so wonderful.

Had it with a sliced, huge, heirloom tomato, topped with a touch of thin sliced onion, thin sliced radish, S&P, slivered basil and a drizzle of good, fruity olive oil. Also did a take on Julia's "Immense Fruit Bowl" from "The Way to Cook". Although THAT recipe serves 4 dozen, I took the spirit of that mixed fruit salad.

I did cheat a bit, and used a frozen pie shell. Sorry Julia, but pie pastery and I do not get along, not one little bit.

[violetfox]

Great idea for a topic - too bad that weather up here in steamy New England is not very conducive to time spent over a hot stove!

I have, however, hauled all of my many Julia cookbooks and am working on anything cool. Earlier this week, I made the classic Salade Nicoise from MAFC I. What a perfect supper for a hot night!

After that, vichysoisse with my new food mill. I like the texture it produces so much better than a blender or a food processor. Again, utterly perfect for a day that was 92 degrees with about 90% humidity.

I've been thinking that I haven't made a Bavarois in decades, and I love that. That's probably next.

Wonderful to see what others are doing, and the pictures are fabulous! Thanks!

[BarbaraY]

How did I miss this thread? I have been cooking with Julia since I got Mastering the Art about 35 years ago.

Weather has turned cold here (that's California cold.) so I made her French Onion Soup today.

For some unknown reason I never got How to Cook but have Mastering the Art of French Cooking, The French Chef Cookbook, From Julia Child's Kitchen, and Baking with Julia.

A couple of weeks ago I made Chicken Kiev. I have even made her Salad Niçoise for 90 people. That was two buses of Bay Area tourists and I had no complaints.

Thanks, Julia.

[Chris Amirault]

August 15 -- Julia's birthday -- approaches. Anyone thinking of cooking something to remember the saint herself?

[Lindacakes]

Thanks for the reminder.

Since I'm counting my Weight Watchers points, it won't be the roquefort quiche, but I wish it was. Very much.

[robirdstx]

I've been watching some of Julia's old shows and doing a lot of laughing. I saw the one where she makes her English muffins last week. I ordered some muffin rings from KA, printed out the recipe from someone's blog, and I'm going to the store to buy the mashed potato flakes tomorrow.

[andiesenji]

Yes!

As I have a surfeit of zucchini and eggplant, I am planning on preparing

Eggplant and Zucchini Gratin (simple version of ratatouille)

from Julia and Jacques Cooking At Home.

I plan on preparing the eggplants on Saturday and assembling and baking the dish itself on Sunday.

I have a lovely 1-pound hunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano Stravecchio which I am not going to grate and mix with the bread crumbs but shave and distribute over the top of the dish immediately after it comes out of the oven.

It isn't exactly the original recipe but in my opinion grating this three-year-old special cheese is just not the thing to do.

[suzilightning]

hmmmmm.....does anyone know Linda Ellerbee? or how to get in touch with her? it would be interesting to get her take on this topic since she shared a birthday with Julia and wrote in her book, "Take Big Bites", about learing of Julia's death as she was finishing up her 50th birthday

hike of the Thames.

am thinking of inviting the neighbors for dinner sunday if the weather is nice for a julia dinner. off to study MTAOFC for possibilities.

[Chris Amirault]

It isn't exactly the original recipe but in my opinion grating this three-year-old special cheese is just not the thing to do.

If you read that sentence in your head imagining Julia Child saying it --

It isn't...

exactly the original recipe.

[pause for effect]

But:

In my opinion:

grating this three-year-old special cheese is just not the thing to do.

-- well, I think that's just a fine idea, a fine one, Andi.

[Lapin d'Argent]

Thank you so much for the reminder!

A souffle is on my list of things to finally make this year, so that's what will be on this year's menu. Not sure which recipe yet...research still to be done. But it will be something savory, accompanied by a simple salad of garden-fresh vegetables, and a special wine worthy of toasting Julia, who taught us how to cook and how to live...and how they are really the same thing.

[Pam Brunning]

I have found this thread very interesting. Having read you all going on about Julia I decided to dig out Mastering the Art. My first paperback copy, purchased in about 1969, fell to pieces with use and I invested in a hard back later in the 70’s but it has now sat in the bookcase for about 20 years, without use.

Last night I had a half shoulder of lamb to braise as the other half, roasted, was a bit chewy. I decided to dig out Julia. Stuffed shoulder of lamb - elaborate stuffing, a lot of work - duxelles of mushrooms, cooked and chopped spinach, onions, garlic, breadcrumbs, herbs etc. Cook it all up, stuff it in the shoulder sew it up - braise it with wine, stock, veg, herbs etc. It produced lots of intense flavours, all their own individuality was lost, the lamb flavour was also lost, it reminded me of my mother-in-law’s cooking where she would throw everything she had in the larder in the pot. Today my cooking is much more refined - I want to taste all the individual flavours in a dish - I think we have much better quality ingredients these days, we don’t need the flavours all jumbled up and lost. Julia’s is very retro cooking. Having said that I am catering for a 1970 dinner next week with 1970 wines so maybe I should be looking at Julia’s ‘sauce for venison’ to go with my saddle but I think I would rather keep it simple with the jus and maybe a touch of chocolate.

[nikkib]

No mention of upside down martinis?

3/4 oz gin

3 3/4 noilly prat

twist of lemon

served on the rocks for a graet summer aperitif

Cheers and Sante!

[suzilightning]

we are inviting some neighbors over for the Julia dinner tonight

first up will be stuffed mushrooms.

the main course will be boeuf a la mode served with buttered noodles(johnnybird's request) and accompanied by ratatouille.

chocolate mousse for dessert.

all i have to do is reheat the beef in the sauce, pop the mushrooms into the oven and make the noodles. the ratatouille is keeping warm as i type.

now for a nice shower and a glass of champagne.

[chezcherie]

instead of cooking, i will stick my toes in the same surf i was standing near when i heard of her passing. this is a beach house we rent each year the week of my birthday (and julia's). then we will motor up the coast a little ways to santa barbara, where she died, and have lunch at la super rica, one of her fav local haunts, in her memory! sante, julia, always!

[robirdstx]

Today I made English Muffins using Julia's recipe.

This muffin was toasted, buttered and eaten before the camera could even get close!

[robirdstx]

Today I tried Julia's English Muffin recipe again. My first batch had been grossly undercooked. I was so afraid of overcooking them. We ate most of them but the last two went into the trash. This batch looks much more promising!

[LindaK]

Incredibly, Julia was born 100 years ago today. Reading the news coverage is making me weepy over my morning coffee. NYT and Boston Globe stories.

Cook something French today! Difficult or time-consuming recipes not required. Indeed, that would miss the point.

[Toliver]

PBS Digital Studios commissioned this Julia Child Autotune video in honor of her 100th birthday (they also commissioned one for Mr. Rogers earlier this year).

I'm not sure how to embed videos, so click here for the link to the video.

Bring on the roasted potatoes!

edited to quote a bit of the "lyric"

Edited August 15, 2012 by Toliver (log)

[rotuts]

for me its always crepes suzette.

I met Mrs. Child twice, at Logan airport on one of may trips back and forth from SFO to BOS during the college days. back then if you could lug it on the plane and find a place for it, you did it. This was always the Over Night flight, and i tended to be the last off to get all that junk squared away.

the jetway was fairly empty then and Mrs Child was walking (marching?) to her gate, probably going in the other direction to CA. So I said " Hello Mrs. Child" she turned and put her hand up in the air and said "Why Hello!" in a booming voice.

We talked about cooking for about 10 min. Her husband, a fairly short fellow, arrived 5 min. into the discussion. I said id been trying to use the show at home to cook from time to time, and that Id lived in FR. for two years growing up. This was the very original FR Chef TV show with no VCR back-up. She encouraged me and said that the next time I was home to make the Suzettes. She also said this "ask your parents not to scrimp on the booze!

I met her again under identical circumstances and said the Suzettes where a success. She seemed pleased.

She was very pleasant and friendly. She seemed to have all the time in the world to talk to me.

So ... Suzettes its always been. Sometimes with the JPepin Mod. from the show Julia & Jacques.

Bon Appetite! ( with superior booze!)

Edited August 15, 2012 by rotuts (log)

[qrn]

Incredibly, Julia was born 100 years ago today. Reading the news coverage is making me weepy over my morning coffee. NYT and Boston Globe stories.

Cook something French today! Difficult or time-consuming recipes not required. Indeed, that would miss the point.

yoou beat me to it,I had the same thoughts as I read the front page of the Denver Post this morning...

Bud