• RobertaMuir on July 28, 2011

  Should also be linked to 9780141048420 (Penguin 2010)

• Cramnella on January 14, 2010

  After studying cooking for20 years, I finally bought Mastering.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Cream of fresh green asparagus soup (Potage, crème d'asperges vertes)

  • Delys77 on October 31, 2011

    Spencer prefers this to the cream of mushroom. You didn't sieve which made it more fibrous but the texture was still good. Very understated but delicious nonetheless

• Cream of spinach soup (Potage à la Florentine)

  • Delys77 on February 25, 2013

    Pg. 9 I love this soup. I was worried the long cooking of the spinach would affect its taste and flavour but it didn't, the soup comes out a brilliant green with the earthy flavour of the spinach. Be sure to blend thoroughly to get all the rice properly incorporated as this gives the soup a lovely body. I also loved the rich flavour of the liaison of egg and cream (I used half and half with a touch of cream). I omitted the final butter emulsion and it was delicious without it.

  • twoyolks on January 17, 2014

    This is particularly good with fresh bread dipped into it.

  • SpatulaCity on November 10, 2023

    Oh my. This soup was beyond rich and was quite delicious to boot! Made as is, but needed an extra cup of water to thin its viscosity. Sacrilegious as this is… I think to a modern palate the soup would be cleaner and better tasting without the egg, cream and butter. I tasted it right after the initial purée and it was perfectly silky and delicious. After adding the yolk and cream it almost became TOO rich and thick and luscious, and I wished I could go back in time. But to each their own. I did not add the extra butter and can’t even imagine it. This soup and a French baguette for dipping was absolutely wonderful.

• Cream of mushroom soup 2 (Potage aux champignons, Île de France)

  • Delys77 on November 28, 2011

    The veloute makes for a relatively rich base but it isn't actually that fatty. With 4 tb of butter for 6 people it is rich but pretty reasonable. Overall the flavour is nuanced with mushroom and tarragon, remaining quite simple, but very nice and comforting. S quite liked it.

• Cream of cauliflower and watercress soup (Potage de la Fontaine Dureau)

  • Delys77 on December 07, 2011

    I love cauliflower soups and he addition of watercress to this one puts it over the top. Absolutely delicious and very easy.

• Celery soup with potatoes, leeks, and rice (Potage Célestine)

  • Delys77 on November 13, 2011

    Perfect fall comfort food. Essentially a vichyssoise with a good dose of celery to add complexity. I didn't add all the potato water and it made for a thick soup bu that was ok. Very nice!

  • ashallen on September 24, 2021

    It's our first crisp and cool night in many months and I thought - soup! This was very good. It was fun to taste it as it went from right off the stove (meh), to seasoned with salt-pepper-sugar (pretty good), to mixed with butter and herbs (yum!). I also tried some with sour cream whisked in instead of butter but preferred the butter. I think part of the reason I thought "meh" when it first came off the stove is because I ended up with 11 cups instead of the stated yield of 8 cups - so I used too many leeks/potatoes and/or didn't cook off enough moisture. I chose the parsley option for the herbs but didn't have the dried tarragon which would have been nice but was fine without. This is also a great recipe for using up celery (3 cups) - something I'm always on the lookout for! Leftovers kept well for at least a couple of days.

  • Indio32 on February 01, 2022

    Wasn't too impressed with this after it was made but after the left overs where left in the fridge for 2 days it really came alive. Seems to me that this soup needs to be seasoned well.

• Mediterranean tomato soup with rice (Potage Magali)

  • Delys77 on October 31, 2011

    The saffron really gives it an extra little something. Deceptively simple and tasty. You do have to salt relatively liberally to bring forward all the flavours.

  • Nancy402 on October 19, 2014

    This recipe is one I return to every Fall when good field tomatoes are still available. It brings all of the aromas and flavors of the Mediterranean into my kitchen. Make sure to use the saffron; it elevates the soup from the ordinary.

• Catalonian pepper and leek soup (Soupe Catalane aux poivrons)

  • Delys77 on October 31, 2011

    The savory is overpowering despite the small amount. The challenge is that the other flavors in the soup are quite simple and the savoury buries them. May not be worth tweaking.

• Purée of white bean soup, eggplant and tomato garnish (Soupe à la Victorine)

  • Avocet on December 27, 2020

    Excellent. I've been making this for years, and we love it, either the eggplant version or the fennel. I use a cup of beans, rather than a third cup. It's good with or without the meat.

  • GinaRhodes on September 10, 2025

    I made the variation with Italian sausage removed from the casings and the tomato eggplant topping. The beans added a nice backbone to the soup and my daughter didn't even realize there was eggplant in it, which I take as a good sign. A great way to use up the summer produce and would be super easy to make vegetarian or vegan without sacrificing any flavor.

• Cream of scallop soup (Velouté de Saint-Jacques)

  • Delys77 on October 31, 2011

    The court bouillon with the dash of curry was amazingly fragrant. The end result was a creamy soup with a nice light flavour of scallops dairy and tang, really very nice. It didn't thicken as much as I would have thought but that might be because you used low fat milk. You put less butter in the finishing than she suggests and it was still plenty rich. Spencer really liked it. Trying to freeze it to see how that works out with the dairy.

• Beef stew with olives and potatoes (Boeuf aux olives)

  • rmardel on August 07, 2013

    I've made this in the past but this time I added a large bunch of chopped greens from my CSA, mixed kales mostly, and some turnip greens, and it was fabulous; the greens played very well with the flavor of the olives. Must remember this for the next time.

• Chicken poached in white wine and a julienne of vegetables, cream, and egg-yolk sauce (Waterzooi de poulet)

  • sarkozykal on June 12, 2011

    Page 259

• Chicken poached in white wine with Provençal vegetables, herbs, and flavorings (Bouillabaisse de poulet)

  • twoyolks on September 26, 2013

    This was relatively mild and felt like it could use more flavor.

• Casserole-poached chicken with white-wine and tarragon sauce (Poularde pochée à l'estragon)

  • twoyolks on November 11, 2019

    The chicken itself was a bit bland but the sauce was quite good if very rich. My chicken was fully cooked before the time specified in the recipe.

  • janecook on June 25, 2024

    Cozy entree - easy to make

• Chicken-liver pâté (Pâté de foies de volaille)

  • BlytheSpirit on May 28, 2012

    I don't even normally eat ANYTHING that has liver in it. This is a fabulous pate recipe. The cream cheese mellows and softens the gamey liver flavor.

  • janecook on June 28, 2024

    a fine pate which everyone loves. easy to make

• Broccoli with sautéed bread crumbs and chopped egg (Brocoli à la Polonaise)

  • IowanCorn on June 30, 2023

    This is almost too simple of a recipe, but it is tasty. I used half cauliflower and half broccoli since that's what ended up in my CSA bag. Made a very food lunch.

• Broccoli braised in butter (Brocoli étuvés au beurre)

  • Delys77 on October 19, 2011

    The suggested cooking time is far too long. I suggest steaming for 3 or 4 minutes then melt some butter in an oven proof pan and then add the butter, salt, and pepper and toss. Once in the oven check after 10 minutes.

• Buttered broccoli gratinéed with cheese (Brocoli à la Milanaise)

  • smtucker on June 26, 2016

    Like so many of Julia's recipes, the vegetable, if you follow her instructions, gets way overcooked. I had fresh-from-the-farm broccoli and needed a side dish for tonights' dinner. I blanched the broccoli until the tip of a knife inserted but not all the way, shocked and then into a gratin pan with the melted butter. After 15 minutes, added some grated parmesan cheese and let it go another 10 minutes. I am not convinced that the melted butter is needed in addition to the coating of the gratin pan with butter. In the future, I might simply add the cheese at the same time, and use a broiler/salamander to get a bit more of a crispy topping. I highly recommend ignoring her cooking times, though in fact, this dish is so simple, a recipe might not be required.

  • SpatulaCity on November 01, 2023

    Went a little rogue with the recipe and cooking time, and it worked well. Made real browned butter. Steamed the broccoli for four minutes. Laid half of the broccoli in a casserole and grated parm over it. Added the other half of the broccoli and poured the brown butter over all, then topped with another layer of grated parm. After about 15-20 min in the oven it was still perfectly crisp broccoli with the nutty, earthy flavors of parm and browned butter. Not sure that this will replace my preferred method of simply roasting broccoli and topping with parm straight out of the oven, but it was fun to try.

• Gratin of zucchini, rice, and onions with cheese (Tian de courgettes au riz)

  • EJH on January 03, 2011

    A bit fiddly to make but very delicious and uses up a lot of zucchini

  • Delys77 on September 07, 2021

    A little fiddly but very tasty and fairly low fat. Would repeat.

  • hirsheys on October 17, 2022

    Pain to make and zucchini flavor quite lost.

• Zucchini sautéed in olive oil with garlic and parsley (Courgettes sautées à la Provençale)

  • Delys77 on October 31, 2011

    Nice simple preparation with great flavour

• Zucchini pieces sautéed, then baked with cheese (Courgettes gratinées à la Milanaise)

  • Delys77 on October 31, 2011

    Used the garlic and parsley preparation with the breadcrumbs and this was very tasty.

• Purée of rice and turnips with herbs and garlic (Purée Freneuse)

  • Delys77 on November 11, 2011

    Pg 405 This is different nd pretty good. My suggestion would be to serve with something s little saucy as the purée would be improved by a saucy counterpart since the flavour is nice if a little neutral. The timing is a bit off though as 1 cm cubes if turnip take about 25 minutes to cook through.

  • veronicafrance on June 18, 2014

    This was one of the worst things I have ever cooked. It was so bad we threw it away. It's so rare for us to throw food away uneaten that I still vividly remember both the inedible result and the effort involved in trying to push turnips and rice through a sieve. And it was in 1981.

• Grated zucchini sautéed in olive oil with garlic (Courgettes rapées, sautées à la Provençale)

  • twoyolks on October 06, 2016

    This was simple but it brought out the slimy texture of the zucchini.

• Spinach braised with onions (Gratin d'épinards aux oignons)

  • twoyolks on December 09, 2016

    This is basically creamed spinach with some onion. The onion doesn't add a lot of flavor.

• Swiss chard gratinéed with cheese sauce (Blettes gratinées)

  • twoyolks on June 02, 2017

    This was heavy and just wasn't that good.

• Zucchini sautéed in butter with lemon and parsley (Courgettes sautées, maître d'hôtel)

  • twoyolks on August 27, 2018

    This preparation of the zucchini gives it a meaty texture which is unusual for zucchini. Overall, it was fine but not great.

• Zucchini with tomatoes, peppers, garlic, and basil (Courgettes en pistouille)

  • deboChicago on August 26, 2019

    Wow, this was so delicious. A lovely mush, great on the side of a non-tomatoey pasta, or on bread. Super with farmer’s market tomatoes. Thank you, Julia!

• Sliced potatoes simmered in cream and basil (Pommes de terre au basilic)

  • shannonstoney on September 22, 2020

    This is really good.

• Chocolate-burnt-almond ice cream (Le Kilimanjaro - Glace au chocolat, pralinée)

  • amvs on April 07, 2023

    Truly magnificent and worth the effort

• Mold of sliced potatoes baked in butter (Pommes Anna)

  • SpatulaCity on November 10, 2023

    Was delicious, but I’m curious how crispy the exterior should be. The exterior layer of potatoes were very crispy, crunchy, and then the interior potatoes melted together. For the amount of butter used these potatoes were surprisingly not overly rich. Though a good amount of butter was left in the pan, and splattered all over my counter during the flip, so it doesn’t all get absorbed. I appreciated how little effort goes into making this showstopper! Would love some chives sprinkled on top.