Julia Child’s ugliest (yet delicious) dish of all time

This is Julia Child's Boeuf à la Catalane stew recipe from The Way to Cook & Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol 1. cookbook.

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Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol 1 & 2:

The Way to Cook cookbook:

#juliachild #jamieandjulia #antichef

recipe:
1/4 lb chunk of bacon for lardons
olive oil (I used fat)
3 lbs stewing beef
1 1/2 cup sliced onions
1 cup clean, unwashed, raw, white rice
1 cup dry white wine
2 to 3 cups beef stock
salt and pepper
2 cloves garlic mashed
1/2 tsp thyme
pinch of saffron
1 bay leaf
1 lb tomatoes peeled, seeded, juiced and chopped
more stock (if necessary)
1 cup parmesan or Swiss cheese

[marymeola]

As a nurse who has worked in ERs removing Bay leaves that were accidentally eaten and cannot be digested so they get stuck, I highly recommend keeping them whole for easy identification and removal.

[ronpvi]

10 years ago I picked up a well worn copy of Julia's two volume set from Goodwill Online auction and started down the same rabbit hole as you. The difference is I'm a trained Chef and am amazed by your persistence and ability to execute. Keep up the good work.

[OliveDiamonds]

my boyfriend's mom always says "the stomach doesn't know ugly" basically, it doesn't matter if it looks hideous. If it tastes good, then you did great!
beef stew is one of my comfort foods and I'd probably eat that whole thing if I was there! great job!

[adventuresonadollarhard]

I keep a glass of ice water next to the stove for emergency deglazing, in case the fond gets too dark. A little splash instantly cools the pan and softens the fond. It evaporates quickly so it doesn’t affect the browning of whatever is in the pan. You can save your tasty brown bits!

[herbwitch]

The ugliest dish I’ve ever made was a traditional Cajun catfish étouffée. It actually came out kind of a pale gray. It was also the best thing I’ve ever eaten. You can’t always judge food by appearance.

[MichiHenning]

Lardons are normally cut in the opposite direction, so each lardon has all of the layers of the bacon in it. First cut the bacon into ~5mm slices along the grain, from the skin side down, so you get normal bacon slices, but thicker. Then cut those slices across the grain into sticks, so you end up with lardons that are as long as the bacon was thick, and with a pattern of fat and lean across each stick.

[Shhhmile]

As a child I *always* won the bay leaf prize! Food would be dished out and as we ate we kept an eye out for the whole bay leaf and every time I triumphantly announced, I WON THE BAY LEAF! It was such great fun that elicited laughter all around. Such a great way to ensure no one choked on it but that realization came decades later...like just now😄🍃

[CalicoShadowPlusCat]

French "country style" or "peasant" stews typically differ from soups in that they have relatively little broth left. Soups usually have a heavy amount of broth that the ingredients float in and you can drink out of a mug or bowl whereas a stew is usually a thick amount of meat and veg that sometimes is served over noodles or rice or a few slices of baguette like you did. Beautifully done recipe. Mine always came out just like that so I feel you did it right.

[justme]

I love witnessing the learning process as you cook these dishes. There's something satisfying about watching you confidently deviate from the recipes to improve them or avoid making mistakes (like not having enough liquid). Good on you, sir. You're a credit to all home cooks!

[mbc]

I love how you're getting instinctual when you're cooking. It's a pleasure and sometimes a hoot to watch your progress. This looks amazing

[skzion]

The main point of Julia Child's books is to teach technique. If you compare it to cookbooks of the time you will find that their short recipes were surprisingly prone to failure. And, mastering one recipe did not help toward mastering others. If I want to make a cheese sauce, I don't need a recipe because I learned the logic of a four-thickened white sauce from the book.

For those who notice that Jamie is a much better cook now than he was . . . that was Child's intent.

[iman.a.t]

To remove the fat from any liquid put your spoon in the freezer before you need to skim the liquid, then just use the back of the spoon and the fat will harden when it touches the cold spoon.

[HMFan]

“Hoots of pepper” is a measurement I’m going to have to remember... That looked REALLY delicious, Jamie. Something to note: most rice has residual starch on it from its processing and that starch can act like flour or cornstarch when heated to near boiling, i.e.—it will absorb liquid, causing it to thicken or completely disappear. If you had rinsed the rice and actually had 2.5 cups of liquid, your stew would have come out a little more moist with some remaining broth. Regardless, it looked like any dish worthy of being served in a restaurant. Speaking of which: seriously, you should have 2-3 guests over to try your food in a casual, bistro-like atmosphere.

[ryanbarrell]

If your fond is starting to burn you can just deglaze with a couple spoonfuls of water. The fond will release from the pan and attach to the food eg, onions, and the water will evaporate super quickly

[reillys.]

The noise you made after trying the deglazed meat wine was hilarious! "An interesting take on white wine" is definitely a diplomatic way to describe it haha

[Niico]

I finally know why i love your videos so much, it is like watching a friend cook something and kinda nailing it but with a little struggle. You are just so likeable. Keep it up!

[cinemaocd]

This is extremely similar to making a jambalaya, in that you combine meat, broth, and rice, bake it and it soaks up all the broth. Jambalaya isn't a pretty dish but it's so great that I make it all the time.

[blacktopaz]

I learn so much watching you cook. This looks stinking good.☺️😋 That stew and a piece of crusty bread is everything right now!!!

[knittingnana]

What I have discovered in my 60 + years on this spinning orb is that stew in modern America is a little different from stew in other parts of the world and, indeed, even in colonial times in the u.s. stew nowadays in America is a thick sort of beef soup with vegetables, and while that is a perfectly acceptable offering, it's not really the same as stew in other areas. The stew you made is fine. Thicker and without the vegetables is actually more common.

[cdanielh]

I just found your channel and binged like 5 of your vids. The last video you were doing chicken pot pie. I was going to say when you remove meat off the bones of a hot cooked chicken I have a set of the rubber dish gloves that I wear when I work with hot meats. It allows you to get more meat off much faster without burning the mittens. It's still hot but very manageable. Keep up the great work! I'm now a subscriber!