Cooking with Julia Child

For our first wedding anniversary, my husband surprised me with an amazingly thoughtful present: a couples cooking class that paid tribute to Julia Child.  The class, taught at CulinAerie by the delightful Susan Holt, focused on classic French cuisine, and Chef Holt entertained us with her knowledge of and personal experience meeting Julia Child.  

Okay… so I wasn't exactly cooking with Julia Child herself, but she was definitely there in spirit!

The class started with some basic instruction on how to prepare and cook our three course meal of Lentil Salad, Roast Pork with Mustard Cream Sauce, and Crêpes Suzette.  Chef Holt provided sufficient instruction on technique, without becoming overly technical.  It was, after all, a couples cooking class, designed primarily to be a fun, engaging, and entertaining experience for the pair. The meal was simple but full of flavor.  And the experience of cooking together was wonderfully intimate and romantic – despite the presence of 13 other couples!  Plus, they kept giving us wine!  

Here's a breakdown of our meal and some great tips I picked up along the way.

Lentil Salad with Chicory and Chevre

This simple salad of cooked French lentils with chicory (or frisée, endive, or any bitter green), goat cheese and a classic French vinaigrette caused my husband to declare that we should be eating more lentils.  It was so full of nutrients and flavor that I could easily eat this for a meal on its own.  

There are many varieties of lentils, and most commonly this legume is used in Indian cooking. French lentils are a distinctive dark green, and when properly cooked, should be al dente (firm, not mushy).  Lentils are high in protein, fiber and iron, folate and B1 (thank you Wikipedia!) and are a great option for vegetarian dishes.  

Cooking tips:

• These only need to cook for about 25 minutes in simmering water, until just tender.
• You don't really need to add salt, unless you want to add that flavor profile.  
• If you do add salt, you may need to increase the cooking time a bit.

Pork Tenderloin with a Mustard, Tarragon Cream Sauce.  And bacon.

Julia Child, in volume one of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, describes the pork loin as the most expensive cut, but also the most attractive looking.  I am not sure I can comment on its attractiveness, but I do know that this cut of meat can be found at Trader Joe's for around $5, which is about half the price of my local neighborhood grocer.  (I still support the local grocer, just not in the form of buying their pork tenderloin!) 

Roast pork tenderloin is one of my favorite dishes to make because it's simple, flavorful and easy. Just season the meat, sear it on all sides, and let it finish cooking in the oven.  Voilà!

Some helpful tips:

• Use canola or peanut oil for searing the tenderloin.  The smoke point of olive oil is too low and can impart its own flavors, which you don't necessarily want.
• When searing the tenderloin, put it in the hot pan and leave it alone until it achieves a nice golden brown/almost caramel color on one side.  Only then should you pick it up and turn… Repeat on all sides until it's evenly seared.  You  may need to lower the heat a bit as you go.
• Don't season the meat until just before you put it in the pan, and you really only need to use a little bit of salt and pepper.  The application of salt draws out moisture, so you want to wait until the last minute to apply this.

In regard to the last point, don't confuse basic salt and pepper seasoning with a dry rub or a marinade.  If you are going to use these, Julia Child advises at least 6 to 24 hours of marinating/seasoning time for a refrigerated loin roast.

Another good tip, let the meat rest in the pan, in the braising liquid (in this case wine and chicken broth) so it retains more moisture. Only remove the meat just before you start the sauce.  Slice the tenderloin just as the sauce is finishing, pour on the sauce and serve immediately.  This is the perfect, perfect, perfect temperature!  And the sauce – prepared with mustard, crème fraiche, and tarragon – was so good I wanted to lick my plate.

Oh, and this particular dish was also made with bacon.  And not just any bacon.  Nueske's bacon. Also commonly referred to as the best bacon in America… or at least is should be.  

Pork + Pork = Heaven  

Crêpes Suzette

"Fire in the hole!"  Not just an oft-repeated expression from the fabulous FX series Justified, but apparently the magic phrase of choice for the flambéed Crêpes Suzette!

Crêpes Suzette is a classic French dessert, and while crêpes can be a time-consuming, pain in the ass to make, they're soooo worth it.  Made with a few crêpes, butter, sugar, freshly squeezed orange juice, and an orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier (if you like more of a cognac finish) or Cointreau…  C'est très magnifique!  

Tips on the art of flambé:

• Never (Jamais!) pour the liqueur into the pan when it's over the flame.  Instead pull the pan off heat and pour in the liqueur.
• Immediately thrust the pan back over heat, tipping the pan toward the flame and thus igniting the alcohol vapors!  All without actually sloshing everything into the fire!
• And don't forget to yell "Fire in the hole!" while doing it!  Because it's fun to get in touch with your inner pyromaniac… and we need atmosphere dammit!  

Got all that?!   

Overall, this was a fun and memorable experience for the both of us.  We both learned new things and had an absolutely, lovely time cooking with and for each other.  And all of the wine didn't hurt either!  Thanks, Chef Holt and CulinAerie for a fantastic meal, and thanks to my amazing husband for a terrific first anniversary!  

Bon Appétit!