cooking

Ages ago, I saw the movie Julie and Julia. There were aspects of this movie that annoyed me, mostly the Julie part. My Tuscan response to all that existential angst is 'go a dig a ditch, you'll feel better' (I suppose preparing all the recipes in Mastering the Art of French Cooking is a bit of metaphorical ditch digging, but I digress...). I was, however, really fascinated by the story of Julia and Paul Child before she was The French Chef.

I only realized in the last two days that this story comes from the much better book My Life in France which my DH has left lying around the house at an opportune period of severe jet lag. The book bubbles over with Julia Child's particular utterly charming joie de vivre. I personally think the filmmakers should have ditched Julie altogether and just gone with the My Life in France Story.

So where is this taking me... I'm not about to begin cooking my way through any of her books, Julia wasn't homeschooling 3 and I doubt my liver could survive such an adventure. BUT I am desperate to get a hold of Mastering the Art... I've always wanted to make Daube de Boeuf and Cassoulet that didn't taste like mud and I really need to acquire some pastry skills. Perhaps a bi-monthly Julia Child dinner party? I wonder if this could be done in Dubai??

Julia Child-like scrambled eggs:
The key is patience, which I do not have, but if you can force yourself to do this slowly, the results are certainly yummy.

Heat a blob of butter in a small saute pan (about 1 teaspoon) over a very LOW burner.
GENTLY scramble your eggs in a bowl. It makes a BIG difference, do not whip them. STIR.
When the butter is bubbling and beginning to turn a little brown, pour in your eggs.
WAIT 2 minutes. Now gently stir the eggs. Watch them come together in small curds.
BEFORE they are fully cooked, pull them off the heat (they will continue to cook). Salt, pepper and serve. Julia added gobs more butter and cream at the end but I just cant bring myself to do it (protecting the liver and all...)
Quite worth the wait, something very different from my normal (and now considered icky) eggs.

Click on this for Dan Ackroyd as Julia Child- hysterical. I wonder what she thought of it?