A hundred years ago today, Julia McWilliams was born in Pasadena, Calif.
Why should you care about that? Because little Julia grew up to be a big girl - a really big one - more than 6 feet tall. She went to Smith College and later worked for the CIA during World War II, where she met and married poet and artist Paul Child.
Child's work in the diplomatic service took them to France during the 1950s, which is where the part that you should care about comes in: Julia McWilliams Child fell head-over-heals in love with France, the French, and, most importantly, French food. She enrolled in Le Cordon Bleu, and made friends with Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck, who were struggling to write a French cookbook for Americans.
Realizing they needed an American point of view, Bertholle and Beck recruited Child to the project. The three women became Les Trois Gourmands and together taught French cooking to the wives of Americans stationed in Paris.
After returning to America, Child oversaw the publication of their jointly-authored cookbook, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. I," and went on to become a pioneer in television as host of the ground-breaking cooking show "The French Chef." With her fluty voice and devil-may-care attitude, she challenged America's conventional notions of food, taught us to cook with abandon, and became a true American original.
She had little use for processed foods, "partial foods" such as skimmed milk, and anything touted as "low-fat," but had an even shorter fuse for our skewed relationship with what we ate. She was famed for such dry remarks as, "The only time to eat diet food is while you're waiting for the steak to cook," and one of my own favorites, "How can a nation be called great if its bread tastes like Kleenex?"
But while you may know something of that humorous public persona, what you may not know is that behind this remarkable woman was a generous champion of others in her field. She was never too busy to stop and offer encouragement and support to fledgling cooking teachers and food writers. She answered her own telephone and was free with invitations to her home. Through her influence on so many other authors, teachers and chefs, in a very real way she has had a lot to do with what you eat today.
Her real gift to us all, beyond that carefree sense of abandonment in the kitchen, and the one she herself would've wanted to be remembered by, was her message to keep things simple and real.
While she learned to make, and taught us the elaborate classics of French haute cuisine, her own tastes were simple. She was amused that people were often too intimidated to try to cook for her, since her own day-to-day cooking was very basic. In that inimitable voice, she quipped, "I'd be perfectly happy with a nicely roasted chicken and a beautiful toe-MAH-toe salad."
All that is why we remember her, and why, more than fifty years after the publication of her first book and nearly a decade after her death, Julia McWilliams Child still matters, and why her name is - and for a very long time will be - a household word.
COOKING LIKE JULIA
Former Town & Country food editor James Villas, who was a close friend of Child's, once asked what her favorite things were to eat. Without hesitating, she responded, "Beef and gin!"
To that end, here are some vintage Julia Child recipes, beginning with just that: gin and beef. Take them into your kitchen and remember, as she put it so well: "Cooking is like love; it should be entered into with abandon or not at all."
JULIA'S "REVERSE MARTINI"
This should help you with the abandonment part. Based on a description by friend and colleague James Villas. Makes 2 co*cktails
About 2/3 cup chilled Noilly Pratt dry white vermouth
2 long twists lemon zest, optional
2 jiggers ice cold gin
1. Fill 2 old-fashioned glasses with ice. Fill with vermouth (about 1/3 cup each), leaving head room for gin. Add lemon zest, if using, and gently stir.
2. Float 1 jigger gin on top of each and serve at once.
SAUTEED BEEFSTEAK, SAUCE DEGLACE
Child loved to pan-broil steaks and here is her version of the classic French method, adapted from "The Way To Cook" (Knopf/1989). Serves 6
FOR THE STEAKS:
2-3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive, peanut, or canola oil
6 1-inch-thick strip or tenderloin steaks
Salt and whole black pepper in a mill
FOR THE DEGLACE:
2 tablespoons minced shallot
1 cup dry white wine, dry white French Vermouth, or red wine
1/4 cup beef stock, optional
2-3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons minced parsley
1. Choose large pan that will hold steaks with at least 1/2-inch between or use 2 11-inch pans. Set pans over high heat and film with butter and oil, swirling to coat. When butter foam begins to subside, lay steaks in pan. Sear 1-1/2 minutes, turn, and sear second side 1-1/2 minutes for rare, a few seconds more for medium rare. Remove from pan and season with salt and pepper.
2. Return pan to medium heat (if using two pans for steaks, use only one of them for sauce): pour off excess fat. Add shallot and saute until golden. Add wine and optional stock (stock will help keep wine reduction from turning bitter), stirring and scraping to loosen cooking residue from pan. Raise heat to high for a minute or so, until liquid is almost syrupy. Remove from heat and add a tablespoon butter. Swirl until it is absorbed into sauce. Add another tablespoon and swirl until incorporated. For richer sauce, finish with 1 more tablespoon butter. Add parsley and pour over steaks.
POTAGE PARMENTIER
(LEEK AND POTATO SOUP)
Adapted from "Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. I" (Knopf/1961) and "The Way to Cook" (Knopf/1989). There are many, more elaborate, versions of this soup, but none that surpass hers. Serves 6-8
4 cups (about 1 pound) leeks, trimmed, split, washed and thinly sliced (both white and tender greens)
4 cups (about 1 pound) peeled, sliced or diced potatoes
6-7 cups water
Salt
1/2 cup or more heavy cream, creme fraiche, or sour cream
2-3 tablespoons minced chives or parsley
1. Put leeks, potatoes, and water in a heavy-bottomed 3-1/2-to-4 quart pot and bring to simmer over medium heat. Season to taste with salt, partly cover, and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Taste and correct salt.
2. If potatoes have been diced, soup can be served as is, garnished with cream, creme fraiche, or sour cream and chives or parsley.
3. For more elegant presentation, puree soup in food processor or through food mill and reheat over medium low heat. Either serve as is garnished with cream and herbs, or whisk in cream until smooth and just let it heat through; garnish with herbs.
Vichyssoise: puree soup and let cool, then cover and chill thoroughly. Stir in chilled cream and season well with salt and white pepper. Garnish with minced chives.
Soupe du Jour: No, it isn't the daily special - there's an actual soup that goes by this name. It's Potage Parmentier with a cup or so or chopped cooked vegetables added, either leftover or freshly cooked. Heat through and serve as is or puree it.
SALADE DE HARICOTS VERTS
(FRENCH GREEN BEAN SALAD)
Adapted from "The Way To Cook" (Knopf/1989). Serves 6
2-1/2 pounds haricots verts or the thinnest young green beans you can find
Salt and whole black pepper in a mill
3-4 medium ripe tomatoes
1 medium red onion, peeled, trimmed, and thinly sliced
1 recipe Sauce Vinaigrette (AKA French Dressing; recipe follows)
3 tablespoons minced fresh basil or parsley
1. Bring 6 quarts water to rolling boil over high heat. Trim beans, leaving tails intact. Add small handful salt to water when boiling and add beans a handful at a time so that water never stops boiling. Reduce heat to medium high and cook until just tender but still firm to bite, about 2-4 minutes. Drain, rinse under cold running water, and let cool completely.
2. Meanwhile, wash, core, and slice tomatoes. Stack in wire mesh colander or sieve and let drain 15-20 minutes. Pat dry with paper towels.
3. Just before serving, toss beans with vinaigrette. Arrange on platter and surround with sliced tomato. Lightly season tomatoes with salt, pepper, and olive oil, all to taste. Scatter sliced onion over beans and tomatoes, sprinkle with herbs, and serve immediately.
SAUCE VINAIGRETTE (AKA FRENCH DRESSING)
Adapted from "Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. I" (Knopf/1961) Makes about 2/3 cup
1 clove garlic, smashed and peeled
Salt
About 1 tablespoon each lemon juice and wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2-2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Whole black pepper in a mill
2 teaspoons fresh herbs such as basil, oregano, marjoram, or thyme, minced
1. Puree garlic with garlic press into a bowl or mortar, add 1/4 teaspoon salt and work to a puree with pestle or wooden spoon. Beat in lemon juice and vinegar, and add dry mustard. Beat olive oil in gradually. Beat in pepper to taste, taste and herbs of your choice. Taste and correct seasoning
MOUSSELINE AU CHOCOLAT
(Chocolate Mousse)
Adapted from "Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. I" (Knopf/1961)
Serves 6-8
4 large eggs, separated
¾ cup superfine sugar
¼ cup orange liqueur
6 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate
4 tablespoons strong hot coffee
6 ounces (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
Pinch salt
1 tablespoon regular granulated sugar
2 cups Crème Chantilly (recipe follows)
1. Beat together yolks and sugar in heavy-bottomed saucepan or top of double boiler until thick, pale yellow, and falling back on itself into slowly dissolving ribbons. Beat in liqueur. Set pan over low heat or, if using double boiler, over barely simmering water and beat 3-4 minutes, until foamy and too hot for your finger. Remove from heat and place over a basin of cold water. Continue beating until cooled and again forming ribbons. Consistency will be like mayonnaise.
2. Melt chocolate in hot coffee in a heavy bottomed saucepan or bowl set over hot water. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Gradually beat butter into chocolate, then, beat this into yolks a little at a time.
3. In clean metal or ceramic bowl, beat egg whites with a pinch salt to soft peaks. Sprinkle in sugar and continue beating until it forms stiff peaks. Fold 1/4 into yolks and chocolate and then gradually fold in remainder. Spoon into serving dishes, ramekins, or pots de crème cups. Chill until firm, at least 2 hours or overnight. Serve cold garnished with Creme Chantilly.
CREME CHANTILLY
(WHIPPED CREAM, FRENCH STYLE)
Makes about 2 cups
1 cup chilled (very cold) heavy cream
About 1 tablespoon powdered sugar in a wire sieve or wire mesh shaker, to taste
1. In chilled bowl with a wire whisk or mixer fitted with whisk, beat cream until foamy and beginning to thicken.
2. Sprinkle with sugar to taste, and continue beating until whisk leaves furrows in cream and it softly holds its shape when dropped from a spoon. Take care not to over-beat.
