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TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2022
THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD — B3
Channel your inner Julia Child with recipes you can make
By SHARYN JACKSON
Minneapolis Star Tribune
As the HBO Max series
winds down, take a page
from the chef’s playbook
and start mastering the art
of French cooking.
“Julia,” the HBO Max
series chronicling Julia
Child’s trajectory from
cookbook author to unex-
pected television star
and national icon, ended
Thursday. (The streaming
service has yet to announce
whether there will be a
second season.) And what
better way to celebrate the
series than with a meal
designed by “The French
Chef” herself?
Child’s vast canon of
recipes is known for its
deference to French tradi-
tion, fearless approaches to
various animals and their
parts, and the liberal use
of butter. What they’re not
known for? Ease. Sure, a
French omelet takes less
than 30 seconds to make.
And countless attempts
to perfect the fl ip-and-roll
movement that defi nes it.
“Learning to make a
good omelet is entirely a
matter of practice,” Child
writes in her seminal “Mas-
tering the Art of French
Cooking.” “Do one after
another for groups of people
every chance you get for
several days, and even be
willing to throw some away.
You should soon develop
the art.”
Some of her most
famous recipes are the titles
of episodes in the series that
stars Sarah Lancashire as
the lilt-voiced Child: coq
au vin, beef Bourguignon,
crêpes Suzette — those
dishes that, in “Mastering,”
send you all over the book
looking for secondary rec-
ipes just to get all the ingre-
dients ready. Or that involve
setting something afl ame.
But Child gave us so
much more than that. She
made French cooking
approachable, even if it took
time and work to get there.
As “Julia” winds down,
take on the challenge of a
Child recipe or two to honor
the grande dame of French
home cooking. Bon appétit!
CHICKEN
WATERZOOI
Serves 4 to 6.
Note: This Flemish dish is
traditionally made with fi sh, but
Child liked to swap in a whole
cut-up chicken, which poaches in
a delicate broth. It’s a quick meal;
the most time-consuming part
is julienning all the vegetables.
The creamy soup is loaded with
spring vegetables, deepened with
vermouth and made luxurious
with the addition of six — yes, six
— egg yolks. Writing in the New
York Times in 1987, Child credited
the recipe to her teacher Max
Bugnard, who had a restaurant
in Brussels before World War II,
and served the dish with eel and
white fi sh in that rich broth. “A
divine ambrosia indeed,” Child
wrote, “and in those halcyon days
nobody gave a thought to six
egg yolks, large dollops of heavy
cream and lashings of butter.”
She called this “one of my favorite
recipes.” Serve with noodles or
dumplings, or crusty French bread
to sop up that broth. From the
New York Times.
2 large carrots
2 medium onions
2 tender ribs of celery
2 medium-sized leeks, white
and tender green parts only
½ teaspoon dried tarragon
Salt and freshly ground
white pepper, to taste
2 ½ pounds cut-up frying chicken,
legs or thighs or breasts (with
bone), or a mixture of these
1 ½ cups dry white
French vermouth
1 ½ to 2 cups chicken broth
½ cup heavy cream
1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch
6 egg yolks
3 tablespoons minced
fresh parsley
Directions
Trim and wash the vegeta-
bles and cut them into julienne
matchsticks 1 ¾ inches long and
1 / 8 inch wide. (This should come
to about 5 cups in all.) Toss them
in a large mixing bowl with the
tarragon and a sprinkling of salt
and pepper.
Pat the chicken pieces dry and
set aside.
Using a casserole large enough
to hold the chicken and the veg-
etables comfortably, layer in the
following order: one-third of the
vegetables, half of the chicken,
half of the remaining vegetables,
the rest of the chicken and the
remaining vegetables. Pour in the
vermouth and enough chicken
broth to barely cover the chicken.
(Up to this point, the recipe may
be prepared several hours in
advance. Cover and refrigerate.)
When ready to cook, bring
to a simmer, covered, and cook
slowly 25 to 30 minutes, or until
the chicken pieces are tender
and, when pierced, the juices
run clear.
Strain out the cooking liquid,
degrease it and adjust the sea-
sonings.
Blend the cream and corn-
starch in a small mixing bowl.
Whisk the egg yolks in a large
bowl and stir in the cream
mixture. Slowly whisk in the
hot cooking liquid. Pour the
sauce over the chicken. Set over
medium-low heat, swirling the
casserole gently, until the sauce
is warmed and thickens slightly,
but do not bring to a simmer or
the egg yolks will curdle.
To serve, ladle the chicken,
vegetables and sauce into large
warm soup bowls and sprinkle
each serving with parsley.
Serve with boiled potatoes,
noodles, gnocchi or just good
French bread.
REINE DE
SABA (QUEEN
OF SHEBA)
CAKE
Serves 8.
Note: In the fi rst episode of “Julia,”
Child makes this cake to butter
up the public television produc-
ers who would decide the fate
of her idea for a television show.
(It worked.) The power of this
chocolate and almond cake was
clear to Child; she once wrote
that it was the fi rst French cake
she ever tried. She preferred the
cake slightly undercooked in the
center, which gives it a “special
creamy quality.” The recipe is easy
and versatile — top with a butter-
cream frosting, whipped cream
or nothing at all. From “Mastering
the Art of French Cooking.”
For the cake
4 ounces semisweet
baking chocolate
2 tablespoons coff ee (or 2
tablespoons rum)
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted
butter, softened
2 / 3 cup sugar, plus 1
tablespoon, divided
3 eggs, separated
Pinch salt
1 / 3 cup almond fl our (or fi nely
ground blanched almonds)
¼ teaspoon almond extract
½ cup cake fl our
¼ cup slices almonds, for
garnish, optional
For the icing
2 ounces semisweet
baking chocolate
2 tablespoons coff ee
(or 2 tbsp. rum)
5 to 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Fahrenheit and set oven rack in
center position. Butter and fl our
an 8-inch round cake pan.
To prepare the cake: Set the
chocolate and coff ee or rum in
a small pan, cover and place (off
heat) in a larger pan of almost
simmering water; let melt while
you proceed with the recipe.
Cream the butter and 2 / 3
cup sugar together for several
minutes until a pale yellow, fl uff y
mixture forms.
Beat in the egg yolks until well
blended.
In a separate bowl, beat the
egg whites and salt until soft
peaks are formed; sprinkle in 1
tablespoon sugar and beat until
stiff peaks are formed.
With a rubber spatula, blend
the melted chocolate into the
butter and sugar mixture, then
stir in the almond fl our (or ground
almonds) and almond extract. Im-
mediately stir in ¼ of the beaten
egg whites to lighten the batter.
Delicately fold in a third of the
remaining egg whites and, when
partially blended, sift in a third of
the fl our and continue folding.
Alternate rapidly with more egg
whites and more fl our until all egg
whites and fl our are incorporated.
Turn the batter into the cake
pan, pushing the batter up to its
rim with a rubber spatula. Bake for
about 25 minutes. Cake is done
when it has puff ed, and 2 ½ to 3
inches around the circumference
are set so that a needle plunged
into that area comes out clean;
the center should move slightly
if the pan is shaken, and a needle
comes out oily.
Allow cake to cool in the pan
for 10 minutes. Run a knife around
the edge of the pan, and reverse
cake on the rack. Allow it to cool
for an hour or two; it must be
thoroughly cold if it is to be iced.
To prepare the icing: Place the
chocolate and coff ee or rum in
the small pan, cover, and set in a
larger pan of almost simmering
water. Remove pans from heat
and let chocolate melt for 5 min-
utes or so, until perfectly smooth.
Lift chocolate pan out of the hot
water, and beat in the butter a
tablespoon at a time. If the icing
is too runny, set the bowl of choc-
olate into an ice bath and beat
until the chocolate mixture has
cooled to spreading consistency.
To serve, spread the icing over
cake with a spatula or knife, and
press a design of almonds over
the icing, if desired.
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