Julia Child Recipes That Will Help You Master The Art Of French Cooking
We all know Julia Child's cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking. We know how much time and patience she put into writing it, and most of us have seen the movie about the blogger who cooks every single recipe from it. But did anyone know that she came out with a second volume almost 10 years later?
The first volume of Mastering the Art of French Cooking is massive, with detailed and intricate recipes throughout, and not surprisingly, volume two follows in scope. Despite the nitty-gritty details of the recipes, there are some fruitful and enjoyable moments, just as in the first, from Child's gentle and straightforward headnotes and instructions, where you can almost hear her baritone voice as she instructs you to finish the sauce by "shaking and swilling the pan" to quintessential "Julia-ism" quotes throughout like "just a moment more." It's her calming voice that reads through the recipes that makes them so enjoyable, and blurs the difficulty of some.
Regardless of the soothing writing, French cooking is French cooking, and volume two of Child's tome is just as complicated to sift through as the first. We paged through the massive book and found three simple and easy-to-follow recipes that won't bog you down, and will help you master the art, just as Child would have wanted it.
"Like the brocoli à la polonaise, this could well be a first course or served in place of the salad, or it could accompany poached or scrambled eggs, plain broiled chicken..."
- Julia Child
"This is a lovely, simple, basic method for braising veal chops or steaks. Serve just as is, enriching the braising juices with a little butter, or elaborating with cream..."
- Julia Child
"The only thing to say about this soup is that it is perfectly delicious; it is especially good cold..."
- Julia Child
Anne Dolce is the Cook Editor and The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @anniecdolce