Cooking to Honor Julia Child

[Pierogi]

Tonight's dinner will be the Provencal Tomato Quiche from "The Way To Cook". It's a tomato filling (cooked down tomato, onions, garlic and parsley mixed with the eggs), sprinkled with Parmesan and topped with whole slices of tomatoes. The hook is that, before the filling, you schmeer the pre-baked crust with mashed anchovies. Sounds perfect for a summer's night, with some chilled Rose. And a couple of Americanos for apperitifs.

Happy Centennial, Mrs. Child ! Bon Apetit.

[LindaK]

I followed my own advice and kept it simple. Salmon with sorrel sauce, herbed potato salad, and haricots verts. Sorrel, herbs, and beans from my garden. I would have roasted the potatoes had I seen the video first!

And a glass (okay, two) of sancerre. Superior booze indeed. A toast to Mrs. Child.

[Lisa Shock]

I have to admit that I re-visited the aspic de pommes last night and failed to produce the dish. I used Pink Lady apples, omitted the candied fruit, used a ½ cup less sugar, and subbed a teaspoon of molasses for the rum. I cut the apples into smaller chunks and cooked the mixture for an hour and a half at a low boil. At the end it was still a bit watery, and the apples were still in distinct chunks floating in a clear liquid. It tasted good, not too sweet and the liquid coated gave my spoon a sticky coating that seemed to gel when cooled. I decided to stop at this point because the mixture was tasty, not too sweet like before, and I was wondering if I overcooked my last batch a bit. So, I stopped because I thought I could make it work and not be too sweet. Annoyed by the chunkiness, I cooled the mixture a bit and ran it in the blender til smooth and poured it into the molds.

Well, I unmolded a very stiff applesauce tonight. It's tasty, but, it isn't really an aspic. It really needed to be cooked down a lot more, which is unfortunate because, apparently to jell, it winds up being too sweet. (I don't think that cutting down on the sugar this time affected the jelling, if I try again I will eliminate more sugar.) In the future, I might make this and mold it in thin discs to use a layer in an entremet or plated dessert. I may also try running this through a chinois to try and make it clearer. When it's done right, one batch serves about 40 people because it's so sweet.

Notes to anyone wishing to attempt this in the future:

*Try older varieties of apples that will break down when cooked. I'm thinking Rome, Yellow Delicious, or Winesap.

*Cook it far longer than you think necessary.

Bon appetite!

[Gerrit Jan]

Hello, my name is Gerrit Jan, I am a Dutch man, and I live in France. When cooking for guests I often return to Julia Child'´s Mastering the French cuisine. I just tried her Aspic with apples, but it didn't come out right. First of all the 1 liter mould miss Child recommends proved to small for the amount of apples. When I dismoulded the aspic it more or less collapsed, and what was worse, the juice came out. Does anyone know what could have caused this? Thanks in advance. 

[Lisa Shock]

On 10/17/2018 at 7:51 AM, Gerrit Jan said:

Hello, my name is Gerrit Jan, I am a Dutch man, and I live in France. When cooking for guests I often return to Julia Child'´s Mastering the French cuisine. I just tried her Aspic with apples, but it didn't come out right. First of all the 1 liter mould miss Child recommends proved to small for the amount of apples. When I dismoulded the aspic it more or less collapsed, and what was worse, the juice came out. Does anyone know what could have caused this? Thanks in advance. 

 

There are so many variables, it is difficult to say. The variety of apple is important, it must have a good amount of pectin in it so there should be some tartness to the taste when it is raw. (Europe has different apple varieties than the US, so I really cannot make a recommendation.) Fruit has differing amounts of water depending upon what the weather was like just before it was picked, the moisture levels can vary greatly and there's not much of a way to tell with apples. The cooking time is important, one needs to cook much of the moisture out of the apples -look for the pan to begin to scorch to test for doneness. The sugar activates the pectin and is necessary, do not use a sugar substitute. 

 

If I were to do this again, I would take a slice of apple of the type I planned to use and cook it in a tiny pan with some sugar until it falls apart into applesauce, and then chill it and see how well it sets up. I also suspect that drying the peeled/cored/sliced apple slices in a conventional or microwave oven for a few minutes before starting may help remove some moisture.

 

Good luck to you!