Juila Child

Back to Julia Child:

I think we owe Julia Child and Jacques Pepin a great debt for pioneering the cooking of French cuisine in the American home. With that said, I'm not really a huge fan of a lot of her recipes. And a recent article in Slate Magazine highlighted the problem:

Consider the boeuf bourguignon depicted so romantically in the movie.....The ingredients and instructions for its recipe span three pages, and that is before you hit the fine print: The beef stock, braised pearl onions, and sautéed mushrooms all require separate procedures. Step 1 involves making lardons and simmering them for 10 minutes in a precise amount of water; seven steps later, the fat is finally skimmed off the sauce, which is either boiled down to thicken or adjusted with liquid if it's too thick.

And this is considered an entry-level recipe.

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I don't consider myself lazy or unadventuous in my cooking. But since I'm usually cooking for myself and (at most) two or three guests - I'm not that willing to literally spend hours preparing a meal.

Maybe this is a failing on my part. And maybe this contradicts my swipe at Rachael Ray earlier in this thread. But I'm generally much more amenable to look for recipes that can be prepared in less than an hour of actual "preparation" time.

I really miss Julia's shows, as well as "The Two Fat Ladies" They were imensly entertaining.

RazorDingo said:

5) Iron Chef: Possibly the most pointless piece of television programming in history. Why does anyone watch this? For the recipes? For the thrill of competition?

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Have you seen the Japanese one? It is a thousand times better.

Jwolf24601 said:

I really miss Julia's shows, as well as "The Two Fat Ladies" They were imensly entertaining.

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The Two Fat Ladies were entertaining. Their food wasn't the healthiest, but I bet it was good.

Well, as for beouf bourguignonne, it is a time consuming dish, but well worth it. I used the Ina Garten version. Ina is a very neat lady and so smooth on the set.

A big +1 on Two Fat Ladies. I have their cookbook. It is fantastic. Especially the section on wild game. I believe it is Clarissa that survives of the two and she unabashedly supports the blood sports! Particularly upland game bird hunting. Those two were a real hoot together. I loved the way they rode to the sets on a motorbike with sidecar! I could care less if their food was healthy or not. It is the kind of stuff this mick Irish kid grew up on. We just called some of it by different names here in the States. A big plate of bubble and squeak is right good on a cold fall morning.

Regards, Todd

Phog Allen said:

Well, as for beouf bourguignonne, it is a time consuming dish, but well worth it. I used the Ina Garten version. Ina is a very neat lady and so smooth on the set.

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I love boeuf bourguignon. I use the one from Mark Bittman's book The Best Recipes in the World. I find it to be superior to the one from Julia Child.

One very notable exception is "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" with Guy Fieri. I would literally eat everything that has been featured on that show.

I have eaten at one of the places that he featured on his show. The OVER EASY restaurant in Phoenix Az. Serves breakfasts. I had the country fried steak and it had the best cream gravy I've ever had.
Will be going to La Piazza pizza parlor in Glendale soon. Also featured on Triple D. There are a couple of other places in the valley he went to that I want to try out such as Chino Bandido's. A mexican, oriental fusion cuisine.

They used to have a show called "The Best of...." and I really miss it. Many places I saw them visit were places I had been (or went after hearing of them on the show). One thing I don't like is the way they fill hours with double-episodes. If they want an hour show....make it as such.

RazorDingo said:

Back to Julia Child:
a recent article in Slate Magazine highlighted the problem:

Consider the boeuf bourguignon depicted so romantically in the movie.....The ingredients and instructions for its recipe span three pages, and that is before you hit the fine print: The beef stock, braised pearl onions, and sautéed mushrooms all require separate procedures. Step 1 involves making lardons and simmering them for 10 minutes in a precise amount of water; seven steps later, the fat is finally skimmed off the sauce, which is either boiled down to thicken or adjusted with liquid if it's too thick.

And this is considered an entry-level recipe.

Click to expand...

I don't consider myself lazy or unadventuous in my cooking. But since I'm usually cooking for myself and (at most) two or three guests - I'm not that willing to literally spend hours preparing a meal.

Click to expand...

Most of what I cook takes hours or days. Five hour braises are my favorite. I often remove the meat and let them cool off overnight to skim the remaining fat, so that's a two day process. Make my own stocks, which is at least 6 hours of work. More like 15 hours for a glace. I enjoy it, and find it relaxing. Of course, it's not for every day cooking, but a teaspoon of glace or a pint of good stock helps a lot with those every day dishes.

I've been moving away from the traditional French stocks towards Italian style. About a year ago, after straining a chicken stock and tossing away the solids, it dawned on me that this poor creature spent its entire existence in this universe just to become one quart of tasty liquid. Italians are a lot more frugal about how they boil meats and prepare stocks. The stocks are quite acceptable, and I can still use the meat. Still experimenting with this, especially with reductions.

professorchaos said:

The Two Fat Ladies were entertaining. Their food wasn't the healthiest, but I bet it was good.

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I have cooking with the two fat ladies and the CD collection. There are some amazing recipes in there. Unfortunately, it's kind of hard to get hare, quail, and grouse around here, but that's only one section of the book. The rest is reasonable.

A.N's slow shoulder of lamb is my favorite, and so easy to make. First time I made it it was so amazing, but the next morning I felt sick. When I looked at the other half in the fridge I knew why. There was 1/2" thick layer of lamb fat on the bottom of the casserole. I ate the other 1/2".

mretzloff said:

I love boeuf bourguignon. I use the one from Mark Bittman's book The Best Recipes in the World. I find it to be superior to the one from Julia Child.

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I've been using the one in Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook. Not difficult at all with excellent results. It's time consuming (the whole process takes a while) but it isn't too labor intensive (you're not obsessively tending it).

The Nid Hog said:

I've been using the one in Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook.

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As much as I like Julia, her shows, and her books, her food isn't quite to my taste. It's really easy to learn from Julia--I think she's the best at teaching--but it's also important to find a book from someone whose taste you agree with.

SiBurning said:

I've been moving away from the traditional French stocks towards Italian style. About a year ago, after straining a chicken stock and tossing away the solids, it dawned on me that this poor creature spent its entire existence in this universe just to become one quart of tasty liquid. Italians are a lot more frugal about how they boil meats and prepare stocks. The stocks are quite acceptable, and I can still use the meat. Still experimenting with this, especially with reductions.

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I can't imagine using a whole chicken to make stock. What I do is save all the parts from when I cut up chickens (like the neck, backbone) and put them in a freezer bag. When the bag gets filled up, stock is made. A bird never sacrificed itself just to make stock but instead the opposite - what would have been wasted instead went to something useful.