Cooking to Honor Julia Child

[GG Mora]

Edited to add: If you have anecdotes, reminiscences, thank-yous, what-have-you, please add them to the Julia Child –– In Memorium thread. This one's all about the cooking.

Several of us suggested in the In Memorium thread that we'd be honoring her by cooking from one or another of her books. When I got right down to it, that didn't seem enough. I felt I should let her continue her life's work as an educator; therefore I took on something I'd never made before and let her show me the way. A surplus of eggs in the fridge suggested a cheese soufflé. It seemed the perfect light supper for a heavy summer evening – accompanied by fresh greens from the garden, a toasty baguette, and a bottle of St. Emilion.

Julia was in top form. The soufflé was letter-perfect:

With salad:

Others have suggested picturesque scenes of Julia and Paul reunited at a table in heaven. Me, I prefer the image of a shimmering fluorescence, the spectral matter of souls recommingling.

Thanks, Julia. C'mon back any time.

[Squeat Mungry]

GG, thanks for that tribute. It looks delicious and I'm sure she would be proud.

Others have suggested picturesque scenes of Julia and Paul reunited at a table in heaven. Me, I prefer the image of a shimmering fluorescence, the spectral matter of souls recommingling.

Thanks, Julia. C'mon back any time.

Apparently, so did she. From her August 15, 2002 appearance with Larry King:

KING: And do you have an idea that something's coming after this?

CHILD: I don't know. I have that there's sort of a great, sort of a great power thing that you go back into, and then there are little bits of it that come out, and there are people. That doesn't explain it very well.

[jo-mel]

~~~~~~~~~Train yourself also to handle hot foods~~~~~~~~~~

Well, I learned well. I'm known to have 'asbestos hands'. Thanks, Teach, and God Bless you!

[Squeat Mungry]

In her honor, I'm sitting here sipping gin instead of my usual scotch (Cheers, Julia!), and soon I'll be slicing into some rare red meat.

The woman knew not only how to cook, eat, teach, charm and disarm, but also how to live and bless the act of living.

Bon appetit!

[bleachboy]

I made a Julia Child dinner last night, but ate it far too fast to take photos, even though I'd intended to. Roast chicken (spatchcocked, brined) with rosemary, lemon zest, pepper, and tons of butter shoved under the skin, a gratin dauphinois from "Mastering the Art", and French bread with so much butter on it that it was ridiculous. I also opened a very fancy bottle of wine from Vouvray.

[Mild Bill]

I always said that on the day Julia Child passed, I would take the day off and spend it in the kitchen.

Coincidentally I did find myself off of work that day, but only because I'm in Tampa and the big hurricane

was heading right for me.

I found out a lil' later that my favorite (beloved) cook was gone...

I regret that I couldn't honor her the way I anticipated, but I'll make up for it as soon as possible...

and often...

Edited August 14, 2004 by Mild Bill (log)

[suzilightning]

i decided to wait until her birthday to honor the influence mrs. child had on me and my cooking.

i decided to go through the julia child and company and julia child and more company books and came up with some things i will make for breakfast/brunch tomorrow (as long as the power holds out and we aren't flooded).

tonight i made a gazpacho salad from jc & more company and her version of homemade english muffins from jc & company. tomorrow i'll do the eggs benedict, serve with the gazpacho salad and fresh macerated fruit for dessert - i picked up some local peaches and melons so that should do nicely.

two recipes of hers i had never cooked before in respect for her ability to teach us all.

[heidihi]

I was happy to spend the morning with a hand-me-down copy of MtAoFC from my dad tucked tightly under my arm as I went down to the market. I came home and made Julia's beautiful and delicious Tarte au Citron et aux Amandes. I look forward to cooking many more recipes from her wonderful books and sharing them with family and friends.

[BrentKulman]

Last night, we made a candlelight dinner to honor Julia.

Rack of lamb a la moutarde - we painted the racks with a mayonnaise made of garlic, mustard, rosemary and olive oil. roasted them in a 500 degree oven for ten minutes, then topped them with fresh bread crumbs and butter and roasted for another 20 minutes at 400 degrees. (We hadn't done this for many years but the combination of mustard and rosemary is perfect with lamb.)

Asparagus with sauce creme - steamed asparagus topped with a cream sauce; "first you make a roux" then mixed it with milk, cream and a touch of lemon juice (Who tops vegetables with thick cream sauces anymore? A nice nostalgic touch to remember when French cuisine reigned supreme.)

Sauteed potatoes - cubed potatoes sauteed in butter (Basically, hash browns without the onions.)

We were going to take pictures but by the time it was ready the thought had skipped our minds. Trust me, it was wonderful.

Edited August 15, 2004 by Brent Kulman (log)

[Bond Girl]

I got all the fixing for a bouillabaisse, or Julia-baisse, and will make it tonight in honor of Julia.

[winesonoma]

In her honor, I'm sitting here sipping gin instead of my usual scotch (Cheers, Julia!), and soon I'll be slicing into some rare red meat.

The woman knew not only how to cook, eat, teach, charm and disarm, but also how to live and bless the act of living.

Bon appetit!

My friends and I also had Gin martinis and red meat for dinner camping in the Sierras on friday.

[Arey]

For starters I had shrimp and avocado. Normally, we (Bryn the cat and I) don't have starters, but I had half an avocado left over from last nights chicken, tomato, and avocado sandwich.

For the main course I had sauteed potatos from Mastering the Art Vol. I, salmon cooked with vegetables and wine (bought a bottle of dry vermouth especially for this, and I don't drink vermouth) from How to Cook, and a cucumber and grape tomato (the tomatoes were from my garden) salad. A bottle of Sancerre to accompany.

Dessert doesn't occurr in the house anymore, and I ate a small wheel of Brie last week, since this week is the cutoff point before my next cholesterol test, so I couldn't go out to the local cheese store.

What really hurt was that I had already bought the ingredients for my last really good meal, before having the cholesterol test ,the afternoon of the 13th. before I learned the sad news. Otherwise I would have gone out and bought a pound of butter and a 3 - 3 1/2 pound chicken, and some roquefort and some potatoes and some cream and another pound of butter, and some eggs and asparagus and lemons and some more butter, and maybe some Brie and Port d'Salut, and a baguette and some more butter.

Of course, if I hadn't lived in this town so long that I no longer know anybody, I could have called someone up and we could have whittled away each others resolve to eat in a moderate and healthy manner, and had Julia's roast duck accompanied by sausage stuffed mushrooms, braised turnips,and green peas.

Actuallu, the salmon was pretty good despite being sensible.

[Betts]

I've been dining a la Julia all weekend.

Saturday night we had gin and good steaks with freshly picked green and waxed beans, new potatoes and Julia's recipe for Hollandaise ( which I love on steak and vegetables) For dessert - fresh raspberries and sorbet. Not complicated but the best that August has to offer from local producers.

Sunday - I think that Mastering V2 was the first cook book I purchased for myself and I made the first recipe that I tried out of it - Wine poached chicken with mornay sauce - more of the fresh beans and French bread. At the market I debated about buying French butter or the local artisan butter and had a mini internal debate - What would Julia do? Even though the imported butter was from her beloved France , I bought the local one. We had a lovely French Bordeau and fresh peaches with little walnut and hazelnut petit fours when the book just happened to open to a recipe I had never noticed before.

It was a lovely evening.

[hillvalley]

I was away this weekend so I was not able to cook. Friday I ate a duck with truffles and foie gras pate sandwich as I began my trip. My friend took one look at me eating my decadant lunch as I drove and just shook her head.

We both thought the other was crazy.

[winesonoma]

I was away this weekend so I was not able to cook. Friday I ate a duck with truffles and foie gras pate sandwich as I began my trip. My friend took one look at me eating my decadant lunch as I drove and just shook her head.

We both thought the other was crazy.

Please, Please can I travel with you? I'll bring Martinis and wine.

[Toliver]

Last night on her birthday I cooked a rather nice rare porterhouse steak, a baked potato slathered with butter and a side of sliced garden fresh tomatoes dressed simply with balsamic vinegar and evoo. Gin martinis before and during the meal.

[ExtraMSG]

I just made about 3 qts of coq au vin using Mastering the Art as my template. Gonna be gone for 2 weeks and my wife needs to eat. It'll be served over mashed potatoes and frozen in gladware. It ain't pretty, but it is pretty tasty.

[KatieM]

Last night I made the Best Ever Brownies from Baking With Julia. I know it wasn't exactly one of her recipes, but I wanted to make brownies, and those felt appropriate. This weekend I'm going to pull out MAFC V2 and try something I've been scared to try before. Haven't decided what yet, but I'm definitely going to challenge myself.

BTW, I think the coq au vin IS pretty!

[GG Mora]

This weekend I'm going to pull out MAFC V2 and try something I've been scared to try before. Haven't decided what yet, but I'm definitely going to challenge myself.

That's exactly the spirit.

I'm gettin' me a hankering for some country paté....

[marie-louise]

Julia died on our 25th wedding anniversary, but I didn't hear about it until a few days later, as we were staying somewhere without a TV or newspaper. So, today, on the last night of our vacation, we made a cheese souffle and ate it on our wedding china. (We even have a souffle dish in the same pattern!) It was terrific...

[malarkey]

Julia was in top form. The soufflé was letter-perfect:

oh my god that is GORGEOUS. GGM, I want you to know that I have new confidence now, because I plan to make this very thing which I've never made before, for our own Julia Memorial Dinner (aka A Childish Dinner). In my case, it will be a Grand Marnier souffle. Glad to know you had first time success !!

Our dinner isn't until 9/19. Thanks for the inspiration, and thanks for posting the pic. We'll try to do the same.

[KatieM]

So I said that I was going to challenge myself this weekend, and I did:

I'm actually feeling very proud of myself. I spent most of Sunday working on croissants, which I had been pretty scared to try before. The way it's written in MAFC V2 made it seem like I might be able to tackle it. I just love the way Julia wrote the book, with detailed instructions on how to roll them out and get 12 croissants the same size. They actually came out pretty well! Of course, I will need more practice to make them perfect, but what I made were definitely croissants, with hundreds of teeny flaky layers, and I was so excited! And they freeze beautifully, too. There are instructions on how to freeze them at each stage if you run out of time (or just need to go to bed). I made them all the way through on Sunday, and froze the ones that I didn't eat right away. It only takes 5 minutes in a 400 degree oven to bring them back to that just baked goodness. I've started thinking, "why on earth haven't I done this before?". Julia helped me do it, and gave me confidence to do it again.

I also made some potato and leek soup, which was wonderful. It had both potatoes AND rice in it, which quite frankly alarmed me at first. But I tried it, and it really does work! While I was doing this soup, it struck me how economical it is to cook out of this book. I probably spent a whole $3-$4 on making this soup, and it makes 6 servings. Why have I been so scared of this book before? I'm definitely going to make a habit out of making more recipes from it. After all, I haven't gotten to brioche or puff pastry yet!

Anyway, I think that Julia would have been proud. I felt that it was a wonderful way to honor her memory.

[fiftydollars]

This weekend, before frying my bacon, I boiled it.

Thanks Julia. Rest in peace.

[wnissen]

I decided to make Supremes du volaille a blanc from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. I, which is chicken breasts poached in butter in the oven, topped with a sauce of port and cream. Simplicity itself. I made a half recipe, which is two breasts (one whole breast). Take a flameproof casserole dish the size of your breasts, and cut a piece of wax paper to fit it. Melt 2T butter over medium heat until it foams, then roll the salted and peppered breasts in the butter quickly. Place the wax paper on top, and stick in a 400F/200C oven for about six minutes. This six minutes is the perfect time period to fix yourself a martini, like Julia might have done:

Tanqueray Ten and Noilly Prat make cooking fun!

When the breasts stop being soft and begin to spring back, they are done. I think Julia's recipe is written for smaller breasts, so it usually takes about ten minutes for me. Remove them to a plate and keep warm. Add 1/8 cup (30mL) stock, 1/8 cup (30mL) port (I find a cheap California "tawny" actually works extremely well, better than genuine LBV), and boil over high heat till syrupy. Then, add 1/2 cup heavy cream (120mL). Yes, I couldn't believe that number either. Typically I double the port and stock and halve the cream, but this was for Julia, so I did it by the book. Cook for a minute or two until the cream is thickened (don't forget to incorporate any juices given off by the chicken). Spoon the now luxuriously thick and slightly pink sauce over the breast and serve:

I served this with a shredded cabbage and half a chopped onion, sauteed in 2T butter and then baked uncovered at 400F/200C for twenty minutes with 2/3 cup (150mL) stock and 1 tsp. paprika. That recipe was loosely adapted from Joy of Cooking, and originally called for 1/2 cup sour cream and 1/4 tsp. paprika! The accompanying wine was 2003 Gundlach-Bundschu Estate Gewurztraminer (Sonoma Valley, California) $22, 13.5% alcohol, 0.45% residual sugar. (Hi, Carolyn!) This fresh, floral, and grassy Gewurtz is varietally correct and just a bottled ray of sunshine. The off-dry character makes it a very good match with slightly sweet sauces. I like it a lot.

This meal was very satisfying, simple but using good techniques such as poaching, reducing, sauteeing, boiling cream, and butter. Well, I guess butter isn't really a technique. It's more of a lifestyle. Anyway, the ingredients were easy to find, and were made into something more than themselves. I cook plenty in the California minimalist school too, but I really felt in touch with what Julia was trying to do. If only I could have managed not to slightly overcook the chicken... :)

We miss you, Julia.

Walt

[Al_Dente]

Last night on her birthday I cooked a rather nice rare porterhouse steak, a baked potato slathered with butter and a side of sliced garden fresh tomatoes dressed simply with balsamic vinegar and evoo. Gin martinis before and during the meal.

I did something similar. Added a nice dab of butter on top of the steak too.