What would you give to see the notes Julia Child keeps in her handwritten loose-leaf kitchen reference guide? Your wish is granted! This clever little volume was inspired by Child's notebook, compiled from her own "trials, remedies, and errors." Organized by large category and technique, it's a very handy reference guide for anyone reasonably comfortable in the kitchen. Each section contains a master recipe followed by variations. The emphasis is on technique, so if you occasionally find yourself trying to remember at what temperature to best roast a duck, the best way to cook green beans and keep them green, or how to save your hollandaise, then this is the book for you. And what good is a reference guide without an index? As always, Child comes to our rescue with a fantastic, comprehensive index, 19 pages long for 107 pages of text, so we can find the answers to life's burning questions in a flash.
Part of what makes Julia Child such an icon is that she can describe a complicated dish, and in the next breath convince us to make it. Classic Chocolate Mousse, Sabayon, Scalloped Potatoes Savoyarde, and Butterflied Leg of Lamb sound manageable when they follow recipes for Roast Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, and Scrambled Eggs. And with Child's help, they are. "Quick, snappy answers" for both basic and complicated cooking questions make this a work we'll never outgrow. And if Julia can use a cheat sheet, so can we! Fans of Child will love that her personality shows through in comments like, "Don't crowd the pan... or you'll be sorry," and, to introduce her Basic Vinaigrette Dressing, "I use the proportions of a very dry martini." Eight pages of photos taken by her husband, Paul, including one of Child with the famous dancing goose, make this even more of a treasure.
If there is anyone qualified to offer kitchen wisdom, it must be Julia Child. After a lifetime of cooking and teaching, her knowledge is a perfect gift for fans, novices, or anyone responsible for putting dinner on the table every night. --Leora Y. Bloom
Julia Child's career has now come full circle. Her newest book assumes the reader's mastery of the kitchen skills outlined in her previous tomes. Julia's Kitchen Wisdom offers few traditional recipes; instead, the grande dame of chefs shows how a real cook operates, cooking from ideas and from techniques polished during years of working over a stove, not from a formal recipe. This short book will appeal to anyone whose imagination is as central to cooking as technical skill. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
“Julia Child paved the way for Chez Panisse and so many others by demystifying French food and by reconnecting pleasure and delight with cooking and eating at the table. She brought forth a culture of American ingredients and gave us all the confidence to cook with them in the pursuit of flavor.” —Alice Waters, Chez Panisse
“Julia is . . . the grande dame of cooking, who has touched all of our lives with her immense respect and appreciation of cuisine.” —Emeril Lagasse, Emeril’s Restaurant
“Julia has slowly but surely altered our way of thinking about food. She has taken the fear out of the term ‘haute cuisine.’ She has increased gastronomic awareness a thousandfold by stressing the importance of good foundation and technique, and she has elevated our consciousness to the refined pleasures of dining. Through the years her shows have kept me in rapt attention, and her humor has kept me in stitches. She is a national treasure, a culinary trendsetter, and a born educator beloved by all.” —Thomas Keller, The French Laundry
“Julia freed the American public from their fears of cooking French. By doing so, she greatly expanded the audience for all serious food writers. Her demystification prepared that public for the rest of us. I believe that the television shows based on that landmark book did even more to encourage reluctant cooks to try their hands . . . much to our benefit.” —Mimi Sheraton
From the Inside Flap
Julia Child has given us answers to these and other questions in the ten masterful volumes she has publishedover the past 40 years. But which book do you go to for which solution? Now, in this little volume, you can find the answers immediately.
Information is arranged according to subject matter, with ample cross-referencing. How are you going to cook that small rib steak you brought home? You'll be guided to the quick saute as the best and fstest way. And once you've masteree this recipe, you can apply the technique to chop, chicken, or fish, following Julia's careful guidelines.
And here is equally essential information about soups, vegetables, and eggs, and for baking breads and tarts. It's all waiting for you in this delicious, priceless, comforting compendium of Julia's kitchen wisdom.
From the Back Cover
has given us answers to these and other questions in the ten masterful volumes she has publishedover the past 40 years. But which book do you go to for which solution? Now, in this little volume, you can find the answers immediately.
Information is arranged according to subject matter, with ample cross-referencing. How are you going to cook that small rib steak you brought home? You'll be guided to the quick saute as the best and fstest way. And once you've masteree this recipe, you can apply the technique to chop, chicken, or fish, following Julia's careful guidelines.
And here is equally essential information about soups, vegetables, and eggs, and for baking breads and tarts. It's all waiting for you in this delicious, priceless, comforting compendium of Julia's kitchen wisdom.
About the Author
JULIA CHILD was born in Pasadena, California. She graduated from Smith College and worked for the OSS during World War II; afterward she lived in Paris, studied at the Cordon Bleu, and taught cooking with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, with whom she wrote the first volume of Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961). In 1963, Boston’s WGBH launched The French Chef television series, which made Julia Child a national celebrity, earning her the Peabody Award in 1965 and an Emmy in 1966. Several public television shows and numerous cookbooks followed. She died in 2004.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
from the chapter Soups and Two Mother Sauces
"Once you have mastered a technique, you hardly need look at a recipe again."
Homemade soups fill the kitchen with a welcome air, and can be so full and natural and fresh that they solve that always nagging question of
"what to serve as a first course."
***
CHOWDERS
Traditional chowders all start off with a hearty soup base of onions and
potatoes, and that makes a good soup just by itself. To this fragrant base you then add chunks of fish, or clams, or corn, or whatever else seems appropriate. (Note: You may leave out the pork and substitute another tablespoon of butter for sautéing the onions.)
The Chowder Soup Base
For about 2 quarts, to make a 2½-quart chowder serving 6 to 8
4 ounces (2/3 cup) diced blanched salt pork or bacon (see box, page 60)
1 Tbs butter
3 cups (1 pound) sliced onions
1 imported bay leaf
¾ cup crumbled "common" or pilot crackers, or 1 pressed-down cup fresh white bread crumbs (see box, page 46)
6 cups liquid (milk, chicken stock [page 4], fish stock [page 5], clam juices, or
a combination)
3½ cups (1 pound) peeled and sliced or diced boiling potatoes
Salt and freshly ground white pepper
Sauté the pork or bacon bits slowly with the butter in a large saucepan for 5 minutes, or until pieces begin to brown. Stir in the onions and bay leaf; cover, and cook slowly 8 to 10 minutes, until the onions are tender. Drain off fat and blend crackers or bread crumbs into onions. Pour in the liquid; add the potatoes and simmer, loosely covered, for
20 minutes or so, until the potatoes are tender. Season to taste with salt and white pepper, and the soup base is ready.
chowder suggestions
new england clam chowder.--For about 2½ quarts, serving 6 to 8. Scrub and soak 24 medium-size hard-shell clams (see box). Steam them for 3 to 4 minutes in a large tightly covered saucepan with 1 cup water, until most have opened. Remove the opened clams; cover, and steam the rest another minute or so. Discard any unopened clams. Pluck meat from the shells, then decant steaming-liquid very carefully, so all sand remains in the saucepan; include the clam-steaming liquid as part of the chowder base. Meanwhile, mince the clam meats in a food processor or chop by hand. Fold them into the finished chowder base. Just before serving, heat to below the simmer--so the clams won't overcook and toughen. Fold in a little heavy cream or sour cream if you wish; thin with milk if necessary, correct seasoning, and serve.
to prepare clams. Scrub one at a time under running water, discarding any that are cracked, damaged, or not tightly closed. Soak 30 minutes in a basin of salted water (1/3 cup salt per 4 quarts water). Lift out, and if more than a few grains of sand remain in the basin, repeat. Refrigerate, covered by a damp towel. It's wise to use them within a day or two.
fish chowder. Prepare the chowder base using fish stock (page 5), and/or light chicken stock (page 4), and milk. Cut into 2-inch chunks 2 to 2½ pounds of skinless, boneless lean fish, such as cod, haddock, halibut, monkfish, or sea bass, all one kind or a mixture. Add to the finished chowder base and simmer 2 to 3 minutes, just until fish is opaque and springy. Correct seasoning, and top each serving, if you wish, with a spoonful of sour cream.
chicken chowder. Substitute boneless, skinless chicken breasts for fish, and make the chowder base with chicken stock and milk.
corn chowder. Prepare the chowder base using 6 cups of light chicken stock and milk. Stir 3 cups or so of grated fresh corn into the finished base, adding, if you wish, 2 green and/or red peppers chopped fine and sautéed briefly in butter. Bring to the simmer for 2 to 3 minutes; correct seasoning, and top each serving, if you wish, with a spoonful of sour cream.
