Notes about Recipes in this book

• Chocolate and almond cake (Reine de saba)

  • Jane on May 14, 2022

    I was watching 'Julia' on HBO and Julia Child made a wonderful looking cake, Queen of Sheba, to help her convince WGBH to make the French Chef TV show. I wanted a quick, g-f cake (that didn't require a trip to the store) for dinner with friends so decided to make this one. I don't know why this cake has never been on my radar before - what a great cake. Lovely flavor and texture, light yet rich, looks pretty. On my favorites list it goes.

• Provençal garlic mayonnaise (Sauce aïoli)

  • mirage on January 16, 2010

    Just as it should be.

• Roquefort cheese biscuits (Galettes au Roquefort)

  • Laura on December 25, 2010

    Made these for Christmas Eve dinner to accompany a Beef Short Rib dinner. They were delicious! And so easy! I was a bit nervous about them as I haven't baked much in the last few years and I had to make the dough the day before. They turned out beautifully. While they are certainly not light in fat and calories, they were very light in texture. Unfortunately, that means that one is tempted to eat more than one probably should....

• Scrambled omelette (L'omelette brouillée)

  • kimslist on September 13, 2010

    The classic. Incredibly fast and simple, but not easy to master. Instead of trying to decipher the technical instructions, let Julia show you how: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v equals LWmvfUKwBrg

• Veal stew with onions and mushrooms (Blanquette de veau à l'ancienne)

  • jodies on September 29, 2010

    "Blanquette de veau"

• 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

• 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

• Beef braised in red wine (Boeuf à la mode)

  • adrienneyoung on September 26, 2011

    quite good. Used roux to thicken sauce. Bill prefers Yankee Pot Roast from Molly Stevens' Braise book. So do I.

• Ratatouille (Eggplant casserole)

  • adrienneyoung on August 24, 2011

    fiddly, but really great. I've made it a couple of times now and it's as soothing to eat as it is to cook. Not diet food, though: best made with a shocking amount of good olive oil.

• 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 and a julienne of vegetables, cream, and egg-yolk sauce (Waterzooi de poulet)

  • sarkozykal on June 12, 2011

    Page 259

• Bouillabaisse

  • HazukaPie on February 02, 2019

    Need to make soup de poisson as stock base. Recommended to serve with rouille.

• Spinach quiche (Quiche aux épinards)

  • wcassity on July 26, 2015

    Tasty. Not complicated. Even better the next day. 4/2020 Good again but need to par-bake the crust.

• Beef stew with rice, onions, and tomatoes (Boeuf à la Catalane)

  • wcassity on February 28, 2023

    Rich and tasty. Definitely a winter meal. Almost risotto-like consistency.

• Pepper steak with brandy sauce (Steak au poivre)

  • dclong on August 02, 2015

    Really coat the steaks in pepper corns, the cooking process really tempers their heat. I serve the steak on top of the bed of watercress with the sauce. The watercress will wilt some, and will be easy to eat. The spiciness of the watercress cuts through the richness of the steak and sauce. Its a great combo.

• Pork chops with mustard, cream, and tomato sauce (Côtes de porc sauce Nénette)

  • chawkins on December 07, 2024

    I only cooked two chops on the the stove top, deglazed with white wine and made the sauce with milk rather than cream. It was very good and quite easy.

  • JLDuck on April 09, 2015

    Consider adding some verjuice to pot when cooking. Tends to be a little dry otherwise. Still very delicious.

• Scalloped potatoes with milk, cheese, and a pinch of garlic (Gratin dauphinois)

  • KarinaFrancis on September 13, 2021

    You can’t go wrong with scalloped potatoes and by taking a few hints from Julia this was perfection. The potatoes are cut super thin so cook relatively quickly there was also not as much liquid as other recipes. This is now my go-to recipe

• Zucchini stuffed with rice and peppers (Courgettes farcies au riz et aux poivrons)

  • infotrop on October 21, 2018

    Vol 2... Julia & Louisette include lots of good stuffing suggestions... I used ground turkey, onions, lots of herbs, breadcrumbs, a touch of ricotta...

• Cream of zucchini soup (Potage aux courgettes)

  • infotrop on August 05, 2018

    Instead of farina, I used quinoa.

• Provençal vegetable soup with garlic, basil and herbs (Soupe au pistou)

  • infotrop on March 09, 2018

    I used my own vegetable stock (from the freezer), left out the pasta and potatoes and spiralized the carrots. It's the pistou that makes this so delicious!

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

  • MWFhome on April 22, 2014

    A family favorite-worth finding fresh watercress.

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

  • JLDuck on February 09, 2019

    Easy to make and very delicious. May need to remove chicken and reduce stock before serving.

• Beef stew in red wine, with bacon, onions, and mushrooms (Boeuf Bourguignon - Boeuf à la Bourguignonne)

  • JLDuck on May 04, 2021

    A sensational recipe but requires dedication. You can cook the onions and mushrooms the day before helps. I allowed 3 small onions per serving. Allow 5 hours for preparation and cooking. A slow cook is essential.

  • ashallen on October 12, 2019

    This is a delicious stew - tender beef chunks in a thick, delicious sauce that's very well balanced between deep beefy flavors and lightly acidic fruit wine flavors. The mushroom and onion garnish is delicious, too, but if you're looking to reduce effort (and the number of pans dirtied), it can be skipped - the stew is still delicious without it. Some variations I've tried: thick-cut bacon vs. salt pork doesn't seem to make much difference, dark chicken stock (from roasted parts) has subbed well for beef stock, frozen pearl onions have subbed well for fresh. As some other reviewers have mentioned, this recipe takes some time and dirties enough pans that I always felt like it should make twice as much stew as it does (though that might also be because it's so delicious). I've recently switched over to using Cook's Illustrated's "Modern Beef Burgundy" recipe which yields a similarly (or more?) delicious stew using an approach that require significantly less effort and mess.

• Saffron-flavored garlic soup with potatoes (Soupe à l'ail aux pommes de terre)

  • shoffmann on June 24, 2017

    This was a good (and simple) light meal. Used ingredients I would typically have on hand. The soup needed to boil for 30 minutes and then another 20 so it wasn't super quick, but the majority of the time was hands off.

• Pork braised with red cabbage (Porc braisé aux choux rouges)

  • ashallen on February 28, 2021

    Great cold weather dish! I made the pork chop variation (p. 389) and marinated my 1 inch-thick chops with the "Salt Marinade with Herbs and Spices" (p. 376) using sage - flavors worked great with the cabbage. I really liked this method of cooking the chops. The initial quick browning created flavor and the slow braise to finish cooking made it easy to avoid overcooking. Chops were juicy and flavorful. I was concerned the cabbage would taste "overcooked" after so much time in the oven, but it was both delicious and perfectly tender. I omitted the chestnuts. Since I was cooking the cabbage with pork, I substituted a teaspoon of rendered bacon fat and the drippings from searing the pork for the bacon. I'd expect the cabbage would be even richer/meatier with bacon (and with braising with a pork loin for a couple of hours vs. just 1/2 hour with chops!), but I still found it to be very flavorful.

• Casserole-sautéed pork chops (Côtes de porc poêlés)

  • ashallen on February 28, 2021

    Very nice way to cook pork chops. Making a half-recipe worked fine.

• Beef and onions braised in beer (Carbonnades à la Flamande)

  • ashallen on October 12, 2019

    This is a great beef stew recipe - very tender, very flavorful, very beefy. I cut the beef into stew-size chunks vs. large slices as specified in the recipe - easier to trim away excess fat/membrane that way. The pots I've used have done a good job retaining moisture during the stew's time in the oven and so I always end up reducing the sauce to the desired consistency on the stovetop. Arrowroot produces a silky, smooth sauce but cornstarch is also great.

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

  • 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.

• Roast chicken (Poulet rôti)

  • ashallen on October 14, 2019

    This recipe makes a great roast chicken. Skin doesn't get very crispy but it does brown nicely and the chicken's moist and flavorful. I don't know that it's one of the better recipes available - but I stopped trying new ones once I started using this one and focused instead on tweaking it to my liking :). My preferred implements for turning the chicken during roasting are two forks with relatively short tines. I spear the chicken at the neck and behind one of the legs where any damage won't show much. I like roasting in a relatively high-sided container (e.g., a 6-quart dutch oven or, if I'm also roasting veggies with the chicken, a graniteware roaster) - the high side provides a steadying surface when the chicken's on its side. Recipe calls for throwing a few veggies in the roasting pan - I often use a larger roasting pan and add more carrots and onions/shallots. Those "pan vegetables" are exceptionally delicious and add great flavor to gravy made with the drippings.

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

  • ashallen on September 27, 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.

• Salt marinade with herbs and spices (Marinade sèche)

  • ashallen on February 28, 2021

    Very easy - just ground up the spices in a spice grinder. I used dried sage (recipe-suggested alternative to dried thyme) and enjoyed the flavor combination. Marinated for 5 hours. Recipe says to scrape marinade off pork before cooking it. I forgot to do that with my 1 inch-thick chops, but the seasoning level ended up being excellent with the extra herbs and salt. Used this for the recipe "Pork Braised with Red Cabbage" (pork chop variation) from this book - flavors were great together.

• Braised red cabbage with red wine and chestnuts (Chou rouge à la Limousine)

  • ashallen on February 28, 2021

    Great cabbage! Made a half-batch. I was concerned it would taste "overcooked" after so much time in the oven, but it was both delicious and perfectly tender. I omitted the chestnuts. I had only about half the red wine called for and made up the missing volume with dry vermouth. Since I was cooking the cabbage with pork chops, I substituted a teaspoon of rendered bacon fat and the drippings from searing the pork for the bacon. I'd expect the cabbage would be even richer/meatier with bacon, but still found it to be very flavorful.

• Scalloped potatoes and carrots with cream (Gratin de pommes de terre Crècy)

  • ashallen on May 04, 2022

    I love scalloped potatoes in general and really liked the addition of carrots in this recipe. Unfortunately I didn't have the stovetop-safe dish called for in this recipe and couldn't fit my ceramic gratin dish in my microwave to bring the contents to a simmer. I ended up baking the dish for an extra hour, keeping it covered with foil for the first hour so it wouldn't dry out as it came up to a simmer. It might not have come out quite as Julia intended (!), but it was still very good. The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook's scalloped potato recipe is still my favorite, though, and works with a variety of cheeses, so I think I'll just transfer this recipe's idea of layering in pre-cooked carrots to that recipe.