• MaryLouise on May 02, 2017

  This is my "go-to" cookbook for technique and how to cook just about anything. My two personal favorites are the Boston Baked Beans (page 335) and the Spice Marinade for Pork, etc. (page 203).

• jdepaula on August 09, 2010

  So many wonderful recipes here. If I want to try a new recipe for guests, this book is the one I go for. It's one of my faves.

• SilverSage on March 07, 2010

  Covers the basics beautifully.

• gcottraux on January 29, 2010

  I like the format of multiple short lessons that build upon and refer to each other.

• phomchick on January 15, 2010

  The best all-around cookbook every written. Indispensable, if you are interested in learning how to cook with technique.

• Cramnella on January 14, 2010

  This was the first cookbook that taught me how to cook.

• Nancy Levy on December 31, 2009

  Good Basic Reference Book

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Split pea soup

  • featherbooks on January 10, 2010

    One of the best split pea soups I've made. Ended up using a qt of canned chicken broth to supplement my ham bone broth but it was worth it.

• Sautéed chicken pipérade

  • Joan on August 26, 2010

    A good meal to do ahead and freeze. Nice company dish,

• Braised salmon in aromatic white butter sauce

  • vickster on September 01, 2012

    I had a nice piece of King Salmon and my husband wanted a cream sauce. I was going to do something quick, but then looked to Julia Child. By no means a complicated recipe, but braising the fish with the chopped, sautéed vegetables in white wine and then using the braising liquid to make a cream sauce made for quite a gourmet, restaurant quality dish.

• Curried scallops or chicken breasts with mushrooms

  • vickster on December 09, 2019

    This is a very cozy, flavorful dish. I made it with cut up chicken breasts and really liked it. I ended up adding 5 teaspoons of curry powder instead of two. My curry powder is pretty flavorful, but 2 teaspoons were just lost. I also added some cooked potato chunks at the end.

• All-purpose Mediterranean soup base

  • Lindacakes on January 17, 2016

    Excellent soup, very simple, easy to make. Requires fish stock.

• Scallops poached in white wine

  • lorloff on November 14, 2017

    This was absolutely delicious and came together so simply. I made the version with herbs using fresh parsley. Will definately make again. This time I had Nantucket bay scallops.

• Green tapénade

  • lorloff on July 07, 2013

    Really great recipe. Used 4 cloves garlic a handful of parsley including the stems and a bit of anchovy extract. It was a great success.

• Celeriac rémoulade

  • lorloff on February 02, 2020

    This is my favorite celery root salad recipe. I make the dressing first in the food processor and then remove 2/3rd of the dressing. I then grate the peeled celery root directly into the remaining dressing. This eliminates the need for the lemon juice as the dressing keeps the celery root from changing color. By eliminating a step this salad comes together very quickly.

• Chocolate soufflé

  • Avocet on October 23, 2016

    We found this too sweet even using semisweet chocolate instead of the called for sweet chocolate.

• Sautéed chicken with mushrooms and cream

  • rittingerv on October 16, 2024

    Absolutely delicious. Used a combo of fresh button and dried black trumpet mushrooms.

• A yule log cake

  • rittingerv on December 14, 2021

    Note this recipe is in the index as "Bûche de Noël" as well as under "Cakes".

• The Cambridge cake

  • Couture911 on September 19, 2010

    One of the best cakes I've ever eaten.

• French butter-cream filling and frosting

  • Couture911 on September 19, 2010

    This was the recipe that taught me to make a real buttercream. Candy thermometer required.

  • ashallen on September 19, 2019

    Just like Couture911, this recipe guided me the first time I made French buttercream after growing up on simpler confectioners sugar frostings. It's perfectly smooth and utterly delicious. Its richness and texture isn't appropriate for every kind of cake, but it's amazing when well-matched - the first time I frosted a genoise cake with this frosting, I immediately understood why people people make genoise! In retrospect, this wasn't the easiest recipe to use to learn the method - you have to flip between various pages in the book and no absolute temperature guidance is provided - instead the recipe uses traditional sugar-work terms like "soft ball stage," etc. Julia Child does provide her usual helpful tips, however, and I've since written up the recipe outside the book to avoid page-flipping in the middle of cooking.

• Savory sausage and crouton stuffing

  • djkubica on December 03, 2010

    very very good. I added additional stock and cooked it covered in foil then removed foil for last 15 minutes for a light crisp crust

• Sautéed ham steaks simmered in wine

  • mfto on December 10, 2010

    p. 206 - this is very simple, easy, and tasty.

• Roast tenderloin of beef

  • mfto on December 10, 2010

    p. 222 - We serve this tenderloin for Christmas dinner every year. We follow these directions and it always comes out perfectly for us.

• The gougères

  • notalice on December 12, 2010

    this is a must make for my yearly Christmas dinner.

• Coleslaw

  • amoule on June 29, 2013

    I made this with the caraway seed option rather than cumin seed. I didn't have celery seed and substituted 1 T minced fresh celery leaf in its place. My Fuji apple was large rather than small. Otherwise, I followed the recipe to the letter. I thought it was very good but was quite surprised at the rave reviews it got at a neighborhood block party. I was concerned that they would find the caraway flavor strange. Instead, they kept going back for more and asking for the recipe. Everyone kept telling me it was the best coleslaw they'd ever had. I would suggest using a large Fuji (sweet) apple. She calls for a small apple and doesn't say whether it's supposed to be sweet or sour. i think the sweet apple is the reason everyone liked it so much.

• Cold pumpkin soufflé

  • amoule on November 22, 2014

    The ingredient list here is partly wrong; it calls for 3/4 cup of ginger marmalade, not ordinary citrus marmalade. It also calls for 6 eggs and 1.25 cups milk which are not listed here.

• French vanilla custard ice cream

  • stockholm28 on January 21, 2017

    It is on page 403 as a pastry cream variation. This book has a terrible index.

  • GregandDiana on January 21, 2017

    Totally baffled! I own this book and this recipe is not in it.

• Cream of corn soup

  • Rinshin on September 04, 2017

    So simple and oh so delicious using fresh white corn. I used 3 ears of corn instead of 4 and it was perfect. I did cook the soup for about 35 min with the corn cobs for more corn taste after scraping off the corn a la Gjelina. Removed the cobs and pureed using a hand stick. Added a tiny bit of sugar and the creme fraiche from this book as well. I may add Mexican cheese with leftovers.

• Velouté soup base

  • Rinshin on September 04, 2017

    Very easy to make veloute soup base for all the cream style potage soups.

• Table-top spaghetti Marco Polo

  • ksg518 on May 31, 2022

    Ingredient list is incorrect. The broccoli, salad greens, scallions, peas and tomatoes are from the Pasta Salad Printaniere on the same page (368). But I can't help but note that only Julia Child would have instructions that include folding in ingredients "with flourish and confidence"!

• Turkey wing ragout

  • wodtke on December 05, 2016

    Though I revere Julia Child's memory, this is a very strange recipe. For one thing, she doesn't give a target weight for the wings, saying "six to nine" for 6 servings. Obviously, she had small wings in mind; mine were apparently cut from 20 lb turkeys left over from thanksgiving, and each would serve 1 1/2 people, at least. Thus, 40 minutes braising was far from enough; I used a Thermapen to check the temp to decide when to take them out of the oven, which ended up being 70 minutes. Most importantly, there is no way 2 cups of beans works for 4+ cups of liquid; you end up with a lake of liquid and an occasional bean here and there. Won't make again.

• Sauté of lobster in wine and cream

  • wodtke on September 13, 2017

    I bow to no one in my affection for Julia, having had several of her recipes in rotation for 45 years. But this recipe cannot work; the lobster has to be over-cooked if warmed in the sauce as much as instructed. I undercooked the lobster to start (though not so instructed), but even so it was, indeed, over-cooked. Julia fail. What next?

• Scallops in cream

  • stef on August 26, 2018

    After scallops were taken out I added mushrooms and they poached for about 5 minutes. Cream was added and sauce was boiled down. Scallops were added back and rested for 10 minutes in sauce. Scallops were very tender. Served with baked green beans and smashed potatoes. Wonderful supper

• Curried shrimp with mushrooms

  • stef on October 21, 2015

    A very quick delicious recipe. No white wine used 1/3 cup vermouth instead

• Quiche Lorraine

  • stef on January 08, 2022

    A good basic recipe. Took 40 minutes to bake.

• An all-purpose crêpe formula

  • stef on April 18, 2020

    A good basic recipe that gave me no problems. Mixture rested 45 minutes

• Zinfandel of beef

  • stef on October 30, 2016

    The sauce was nice and rich. Used stew beef and it fell apart, didnt take long to put together but was in oven for 3hrs. Would make again

  • ashallen on October 12, 2019

    Great stew with a really nice, strong beefy-wine flavor. Beef is very tender and onions melt into the sauce if chopped finely enough. Sauce was reduced and thick enough at the end of cooking that I did not need to whisk in a roux to thicken it.

• A beef and pork meat loaf

  • stef on March 01, 2018

    A good basic meatloaf recipe. I had some bacon strips they went on top of the meatloaf. Gave a nice flavour to the meatloaf

• Duchess potatoes

  • stef on February 06, 2017

    These came out so good. Browned nicely on the outside, creamy on the inside

• Scalloped potatoes Savoyarde

  • clcorbi on December 10, 2016

    Made for book club--this was an easy dish to assemble ahead of time which was a plus! I caramelized the onions, sliced the potatoes, and assembled the layers two days out. Then the day before, I added the stock and baked the potatoes. At book club I simply reheated and they were perfect and maintained their crisp top layer. I used cheddar cheese rather than swiss, and instead of mixing dried herbs in with the stock, I sautéed fresh sage and rosemary with the potatoes as they caramelized. The result was delicious, just simple, perfect comfort food. I came home with a little less than a serving left so I know they were a hit!

• Old-fashioned brown gravy

  • clcorbi on November 27, 2016

    Used this recipe for Thanksgiving and it worked nicely. However, the roux was so thick following these proportions that there was no way it could come to a boil as instructed. Even so, the gravy thickened beautifully and we all really liked the wine flavor.

• Sausage and onion quiche

  • clcorbi on August 16, 2017

    A little too onion-heavy for me, but otherwise, very nice. I didn't steam and slice the sausage; I squeezed it out of its casing and pan-fried it instead. I also substituted gruyere for the Swiss cheese which was very good. I think the 30 minute cook time is a little short and would increase by 10 minutes next time so that the crust could brown more.

  • ashallen on May 28, 2021

    Good quiche! I diverged from the recipe in a few ways. I had 3 oz maple breakfast links to use up, so I substituted those for the Italian sausage. Like clcorbi, I squeezed the sausage from their casings and browned the crumbles instead of steaming and slicing the links. I also used gruyere cheese. I like onions in a dish like this to be very well-cooked, so I cooked them low-and-slow for a longer time than specified in the recipe until they started to caramelize. Recipe says to use an unspecified amount of sage to season the filling - I substituted 1.5 tsp minced fresh thyme which I mixed into the onions for the final 5-10 minutes of cooking. I was concerned the quiche might tilt a bit too sweet, but the combination of flavors ended up being great. I agree with clcorbi that gruyere works really well here!

• Cream of cauliflower soup

  • XXOOL on April 24, 2017

    great technique for creamy low calorie soup.

• Sautéed calf's liver

  • shannonstoney on October 15, 2017

    Make the wine and mustard sauce to go with this.

• Spice marinade for pork, pâtés, and sausages as well as for goose and duck

  • MaryLouise on May 02, 2017

    This makes a big batch that keeps in a sealable container for a long time. Absolutely the best!

• Genoise cake batter

  • ashallen on July 31, 2019

    Good recipe for a standard genoise cake.

• Imbibing syrup

  • ashallen on October 13, 2019

    This light sugar syrup flavored with rum (or other liqueur of choice) is a great way to moisten dry cake layers (whether intentionally dry, like a sponge cake or genoise, or accidentally dry!).

• Applesauce fruitcake

  • ashallen on August 24, 2019

    My sense is that this is a very fine version of this type of cake - but that I'm just not a big fan of this type of cake - it's a bit too lean and raisin-y for me. The spice mixture was nice, however. I used hazelnuts which added an interesting flavor layer. The recipe calls for wrapping and curing the cake for 24 hours before eating - I found that doing so made a significant difference in flavor and texture. I did not soak the raisins in anything before mixing into the cake - soaking them in some type of alcohol, juice, or tea might add interest.

• A free-form fresh apple tart

  • ashallen on November 24, 2019

    It's amazing how good this is given how simple it is - apple slices laid out and baked on butter pastry and painted with an apricot glaze. The tart doesn't use the full recipe of apricot glaze - there will be leftovers.

• Apricot glaze

  • ashallen on November 24, 2019

    Good recipe for a basic apricot glaze for fruit tarts and other desserts. My leftover glaze got as hard as as a lollipop once chilled - not sure whether it's supposed to do that or whether I overcooked it! It made for a delicious apricot-flavored candy, however :)

• A glorious plum pudding for Christmas

  • ashallen on January 01, 2022

    This was my first homemade plum pudding, so I'm not a connoisseur, but I thought it was delicious. Julia Child says to let it rest at least 1 week before eating, but of course I tried some immediately. Lots of bright, raisin-y flavors which, after 10 days rest, morphed into deeper, more date/chocolate-like flavors. I didn't flambe the pudding but did feed it some dark rum while it was aging and that worked well. Very easy to mix together and, once you figure out a steaming set-up, easy to cook. I used a 7-cup container for steaming instead of 8 cups as specified in the recipe. That was a mistake since it was too small and allowed ~4 tbsp molten butter to ooze out of the container and into the steam bath pot during steaming. Fortunately there was enough butter in the pudding to begin with that it still came out super-rich and didn't seem to be missing anything. Great with vanilla ice cream!

• Louisiana bavarian

  • ashallen on May 31, 2020

    This is a rich rice pudding that's firm enough from gelatin to hold its shape well when released from a pretty mold. It's also firm enough to handle being sliced without the remaining pudding falling into a heap. I actually skipped the mold and poured it into a covered storage container to save a few steps. I like that the gelatin preserves the light fluffiness from the whipped cream that was folded in (Day 2 and still no weeping!) but otherwise found the pudding to be firmer than I prefer. If I skip the mold again in the future, I'd see how far I could work down the gelatin without losing the fluffiness. Flavor's very good - I love the dark rum + creaminess. Store was out of dried currants, so I chopped dark raisins down to currant-size. I'd reduce the raisins/currants a bit next time - personal preference.

• Soft chocolate icing

  • ashallen on September 21, 2019

    Good basic chocolate frosting. Moderate chocolate flavor vs. the intense chocolate flavor you get from a ganache.

• To form and bake almond or hazelnut meringue layers

  • ashallen on September 16, 2019

    I used this recipe to make cookies vs. cake layers - worked well!

• Holiday roulade

  • ashallen on November 22, 2019

    This is a really delicious cake. The combination of sponge cake moistened with rum-spiked sugar syrup and plentiful fluffy whipped cream-italian meringue frosting creates a cake with a very trifle-like vibe - but it definitely has the looks of a roulade! Rum and hazelnut flavors were great. There are multiple steps (hazelnut praline, cake, rum syrup, frosting + assembly) so it's not a quick dessert. Instructions are scattered over multiple pages - consider photocopies to reduce page-flipping exasperation! As written, the recipe has you make ~1 cup of rum cake imbibing syrup, but 1/4-1/3 c was more than enough to make the cake super-moist. I wouldn't make the full cup in the future. One of the people to whom I served this dessert couldn't eat citrus - I was able to successfully substitute water for the orange juice and almond extract for the orange zest in the sponge cake. Leftovers wept a bit but were still delicious for up to 3 days (by which point it was all eaten up!).

• To make a butter dough for pastries and pie crusts

  • ashallen on May 13, 2020

    Excellent basic recipe!

• Cheese and bacon quiche

  • ashallen on November 23, 2019

    I've made this many times - it's a delicious quiche with the perfect proportion of filling to crust (i.e., the filling's ~1 inch thick). It's great as written but also handles variations well - parmesan and feta cheese work great in place of emmenthaler/gruyere/swiss. I frequently mix in some cooked veggies - well-dried spinach, Swiss chard, or mushrooms are all great. It's great with the full amount of bacon or somewhat less (or when replaced fully by veggies + cheese). The specified crust recipe can sometimes be fiddly during the partial blind-bake - the sides tend to want to slide down into the plate - but I've always somehow been able to rescue it when that happens by pressing it back up to the pan edge!

• Mushrooms duxelles

  • ashallen on May 24, 2020

    I accidentally purchased too many fresh mushrooms during my last shopping trip - this simple recipe is a great way to "preserve" them in the freezer until I can get around to using them in other dishes. This is also delicious by itself!! I followed the cooking directions pretty loosely, skipping the squeezing of the diced mushrooms in a towel and choosing instead to cook them longer to drive off moisture.

• Purée of parsnips mellowed with cream

  • ashallen on December 12, 2019

    Very nice (if you're fond of parsnips)!

• Braised shredded red cabbage

  • ashallen on December 11, 2019

    I love this recipe - absolutely delicious flavor and a tender/al dente texture in the cabbage. Making a half-batch works fine. Note that recipe also calls for red wine and red wine vinegar.

• Lamb stew printanière

  • ashallen on October 28, 2019

    Very good version of a classic French lamb stew. I use ~2.5 lb boneless lamb leg instead of shoulder. White wine or additional chicken stock works as a substitute for vermouth. Dried herbes de Provence is a great substitute for rosemary. We usually use 1.5 lb Yukon Gold potatoes and 1 lb carrots instead of the suggested veggies (and serve green peas on the side). We like the meat and vegetables to be very tender so I usually simmer the stew 90 vs. 30 minutes after adding the vegetables. The rosemary flavor seems to evaporate if I add it with the lamb (probably due to our longer cooking time), so I now add 2 tsp fresh rosemary with the potatoes/carrots. There usually isn't much fat from the lamb I use, so I don't bother degreasing and the sauce gets thick and flavorful - delicious! Freezes well.

• Cream of asparagus soup

  • ashallen on May 19, 2022

    I had a pile of asparagus stalks after using the tips elsewhere and thought they might work for soup. I also deviated from the recipe by substituting strong chicken stock for half the water. Probably because I was using only stalks, the asparagus flavor wasn't super-strong and got even milder after stirring in cream. Totally fine with me since I'm not the world's biggest asparagus fan! My husband (big asparagus fan), however, also liked the soup. Texture was thinner than I expected - there was ~1.33 c pulp in my sieve even after lots of pressing - but very smooth and pleasant.

• Sautéed chicken

  • ashallen on October 17, 2019

    Excellent instructions for making basic, pan-sautéed, bone-in chicken pieces. I remember when I first made this shortly after starting to cook for myself - my eyes popped at the first bite (and then I think I ate several pieces immediately). I didn't know chicken could taste like this! Very simple dish, great result with juicy meat, well-rendered skin, and delicious browning. Also instructions for making a very simple but delicious pan sauce. The only thing I don't love about the recipe is the stovetop fat spatter - I now cook it outside to avoid that. Not all of the ingredients listed here are required - scallions can be used instead of shallots and all of the herbs are optional (but very good).

• Chicken simmered in white wine

  • ashallen on November 19, 2020

    Very chicken soup-like but with more chicken relative to broth than a typical soup. Nice and pleasant vs. stupendous. Recipe doesn't suggest any particular size pot - I used an 8 quart dutch oven. Recipe says to use "about 1.5 cups" chicken stock but also says to add enough stock to barely cover chicken and veggies. The 1.5 c wasn't nearly enough to cover the chicken, even after I moved the chicken and veggies around in the pot to pack them more tightly. I ended up adding a bunch of water (didn't have more stock) to get the chicken covered - maybe I should have used a 6 quart pot! Even with all the extra water, the final broth was still very nice after cooking and it was easy enough to reduce it further after pulling out the chicken and veggies. Chicken texture was firmer than we prefer after the 30 minutes of simmering suggested in the recipe - I ended up simmering for 1.5 hours to make it more tender. Substituted 2 large fresh thyme sprigs for dried tarragon - worked well.

• Blanquette of chicken in white wine sauce

  • ashallen on November 19, 2020

    This is a variation of Julia Child's master recipe for "Chicken Simmered in White Wine" that has you make a cream sauce for the master dish. I entered an EYB note for the master dish, so I'll just comment on the sauce here. The sauce is basically a creamy chicken gravy - always a nice thing! However, we actually preferred the more intensely chicken-y, slightly tangy flavor of the sauce before the cream was added and mellowed everything out. Recipe doesn't specify how concentrated the chicken cooking liquids should be before using it for the sauce. I cooked them down to 3 cups total, at which point they had a nice strong flavor (and seemed like about the right volume for the roux quantity specified in the recipe), but would try 2-2.5 cups if adding cream in the future.

• A fast sauté of beef for two

  • rgraham on September 22, 2020

    Also has pork tenderloin variation.

• Lentils with braised lamb shanks

  • Josefa_Mark on March 12, 2022

    Delicious and easy

• Apple crisp

  • senzler on October 15, 2022

    This is my absolute go to apple crisp recipe hands down.

• Hot fudge sauce- warm chocolate sauce

  • senzler on December 10, 2023

    A little “fuzzie” but good