This week, the cooking world will celebrate Julia Child's 100th birthday--on the 15th, to be precise. She revolutionized the way Americans cook and practically invented food TV. All the while as an eccentric, intrinsically funny, uninhibited individual. We owe her much, and several celebrations will honor that debt. Publisher Alfred A. Knopf is out with a new, ambitious boigraphy, Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child by Bob Spitz. Many books before this have immortalized her cooking and her life, perhaps the most memorable being My Life in France, co-authored by Child and her husband's nephew Alex Prud'homme. Restaurants across the country will have Julia Child recipes on their menus and one popular Dallas lunch spot encoruages guests to come in tasteful costumes as Paul and Julia for lunch on the 15th. But the celebratioin that caught my eye was the PBS Special with many facets, including encouraging cooks to celebrate by cooking some of Julia's recipes and then posting on their blog.
Aha! I wanted to be part of that, so I googled Julia Child recipes and finally settled on a butterflied roast chicken and sauteed shredded zucchini with creme fraiche But the more I thought about that chicken, the less entranced I was with the idea of serving it to guests. Sure, it would look interesting on the platter, but carving and serving it would be difficult. I am not fond of roast chicken breast without a sauce--okay, I'd fix a tonnato sauce. But wait, I was getting into a complicated meal here by the time I added appetizer and dessert. Then I looked at the PBS blog and didn't see where many "ordinary" people like me had chronicled their experiences. Lots about chefs who described their experiences with Julia's recpes, but that's not the same.
One lazy evening I was browsing on Pinterest and came across a recipe for garlic roasted lemon chicken with green beans and potatoes. With apologies, to Julia, that sounded much more interesting to me, though I do still want to try that zucchini. But that's what I'll substitute for Julia's chicken and zucchini when two old and dear friends come for supper tomorrow night. It struck me that decision was symptomatic of our modern age--Julia Child replaced by Pinterest. What have we come to?
Here's what I'll fix, though bear in mind it is untested:
6 Tbsp. olive oil
2 lemons--one thinly sliced, one juiced
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
3/4 lb. trimmed and cut green beans
8 small red potatoes, quartered
4 chicken breasts (bones let in, skin left on)
Heat overn to 450 Coat 9x13 baking dish with 1 Tbsp. olive oil. Lay lemon slices in single layer in baking dish.
Combine remaining olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper in dish large enough to hold main ingredients. Toss green beans to coat and remove with slotted spoon. Arrange on top of lemon slices; next coat quartered potatoes in mixture, and place around edges of baking dish. Finally, coat the chicken thoroughly, a piece at a time if necessary. Put it in the dish skin side up. Pour any remaining olive oil/lemon mixture over all.
Bake 50 minutes. Remove chicken and tent with foil. Cook vegetables an additional 10 minutes. Serve warm.
Serves 4.
Aha! I wanted to be part of that, so I googled Julia Child recipes and finally settled on a butterflied roast chicken and sauteed shredded zucchini with creme fraiche But the more I thought about that chicken, the less entranced I was with the idea of serving it to guests. Sure, it would look interesting on the platter, but carving and serving it would be difficult. I am not fond of roast chicken breast without a sauce--okay, I'd fix a tonnato sauce. But wait, I was getting into a complicated meal here by the time I added appetizer and dessert. Then I looked at the PBS blog and didn't see where many "ordinary" people like me had chronicled their experiences. Lots about chefs who described their experiences with Julia's recpes, but that's not the same.
One lazy evening I was browsing on Pinterest and came across a recipe for garlic roasted lemon chicken with green beans and potatoes. With apologies, to Julia, that sounded much more interesting to me, though I do still want to try that zucchini. But that's what I'll substitute for Julia's chicken and zucchini when two old and dear friends come for supper tomorrow night. It struck me that decision was symptomatic of our modern age--Julia Child replaced by Pinterest. What have we come to?
Here's what I'll fix, though bear in mind it is untested:
6 Tbsp. olive oil
2 lemons--one thinly sliced, one juiced
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
3/4 lb. trimmed and cut green beans
8 small red potatoes, quartered
4 chicken breasts (bones let in, skin left on)
Heat overn to 450 Coat 9x13 baking dish with 1 Tbsp. olive oil. Lay lemon slices in single layer in baking dish.
Combine remaining olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper in dish large enough to hold main ingredients. Toss green beans to coat and remove with slotted spoon. Arrange on top of lemon slices; next coat quartered potatoes in mixture, and place around edges of baking dish. Finally, coat the chicken thoroughly, a piece at a time if necessary. Put it in the dish skin side up. Pour any remaining olive oil/lemon mixture over all.
Bake 50 minutes. Remove chicken and tent with foil. Cook vegetables an additional 10 minutes. Serve warm.
Serves 4.
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