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*"Julia Child (August 15, 1912 - August 13, 2004) was an American chef, author, and television personality. She introduced French cuisine and cooking techniques to the American mainstream through her cookbooks, beginning in 1961 with Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and her television programs, notably The French Chef, which premiered in 1963."
While hers wasn't the first cooking show, a cooking show for men preceding Friday Night Fights beat her by 17 years, hers was arguably the first to bring cooking into the realm of pop culture. By bringing French cooking into the homes of readers and TV viewers, she helped broaden the culinary horizons of middle America and paved the way for the gastronomical super stars of today.
On a different note, she's an inspiration to many unknown writers, including this one. For those who missed out on Maryl Streep’s portrayal of Child, she was nowhere close to being on the literary radar when she began work on Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Yet, she found something she was passionate about, wrote about it in a way average people could understand, and knocked on doors until a publisher finally bought it. If that’s not a recipe for aspiring writers to follow, I don’t know what is.
This August 15th would've been her 98th birthday. To mark the occasion, I’ve posted the following recipe in my Facebook cheese group, “It’s A Cheesy World.”
Julia Child's Cheese Soufflé - from Julia's Kitchen Wisdom: Essential Techniques and Recipes from a Lifetime of Cooking
Prep Time: 20 min, Cook Time: 30 min, Serves 4
Ingredients
4 tablespoons softened butter
2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup hot milk
1/4 teaspoon paprika
Pinch nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
4 egg yolks
5 egg whites
1 cup coarsely grated Swiss cheese
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Butter a 6-cup soufflé or straight-sided baking dish with 11/2 tablespoons butter. Dust the interior of the dish with the Parmesan and knock out the excess.
In a large saucepan, melt the remaining butter over medium high heat. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until the butter and flour foam and froth. Remove the pan from the heat and beat in the hot milk, then simmer over medium heat and stir slowly until thick, about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the seasonings, then the egg yolks, 1 by 1.
Whip the egg whites to stiff, shining peaks, then whisk 1/4 of them into the sauce to lighten it. Delicately fold the remaining egg whites into the sauce, alternating with the grated Swiss cheese.
Turn the souffle mixture into the prepared dish and set in the oven. Reduce the heat to 375 degrees F and bake until the souffle has puffed 1 or 2-inches above the rim and has browned on top, about 25 to 30 minutes. Serve immediately.
*Wikipedia
I am not a professional chef, nor have I been classically trained in the field of cuisine. I AM, however, a writer and a well read food & wine enthusiast, who lives to eat and knows what he likes. In this blog, you'll read my views on cheese, wine, restaurants, cooking, food trends, and more.
