Julia Child's Supremes de Volaille a l'Ecossaise {Chicken Breasts with Diced Aromatic Vegetables and Cream}

 I am completely enamored with Julia Child's recipes right now. I've really only made about 4 of her recipes, but they have all been mouthwateringly delicious. The best of the best.

Julia has a variety of chicken breast recipes with various sauces in her book. I had a very hard time deciding among them, but I finally settled on this version with the aromatic veggies and cream. We are having a Garden Party over at I Heart Cooking Clubs and the carrots, onions, and celery in the sauce remind me of garden-style cream cheese. It's a stretch, I know. I was really looking for any reason to make this recipe.

You begin by sauteing carrots, onions, and celery in butter until tender; then drizzle some lemon juice, salt, and pepper on the chicken breast before adding them to the pan with the veggies and the butter; top them with buttered parchment, and a lid, and bake in the oven until done (depends on size of breast). 

Then comes the good part. The sauce, which is really almost like a pot pie sauce, is very comforting and flavorful.

The chicken goes onto a warm plate and you add stock and either Maderia, or white vermouth, and whisk until it becomes syrupy, before adding the cream and reducing until thickened and saucy. Add the lemon juice and parsley and pour over the chicken.

This dish is OUTSTANDING! It is just seriously SO DANG GOOD. Chef's kiss to Julia Child because her recipes have been knocking it out of the park lately.

Do yourself a favor and make this dish sometime! 

 Supremes de Volaille a l'Ecossaise

{Chicken Breasts with Diced Aromatic Vegetables and Cream}

Adapted from Mastering The Art of French Cooking

by Julia Child

Serves 4

For the Veggies:

1 medium carrot, cut into 1/16" cubes

1 to 2 tender celery stalks, cut into 1/16" cubes

1 medium white onion, cut into 1/16" cubes

1/8 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons butter

For the Supremes:

4 supremes (chicken breast)

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

big pinch white pepper

a heavy, covered, fireproof casserole about 10" diameter

a round of waxed paper 10" in diameter and buttered on one side

4 tablespoons butter

For The Sauce:

1/4 cup white or brown stock or canned beef bouillon

1/4 cup port, Madeira, or dry white vermouth 

1 cup whipping cream

salt and pepper

lemon juice, as needed

2 tablespoons minced parsley

For the veggies: Cook the diced vegetables slowly with the salt and butter for about 10 minutes in the covered casserole until tender, but not browned.

For the supremes: Preheat the oven to 400F. Rub the supremes with drops of lemon juice and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Quickly roll the supremes in the butter with the aromatic veggies, laying the buttered paper over them, cover casserole and place in hot oven.

After 6 minutes, press top of supremes with your finger. If still soft, return to oven for a moment or two. When the meat is springy to the touch it is done. remove the supremes to a warm platter and cover while making the sauce (2 to 3 minutes).

For the sauce: Pour the stock or bouillon and wine into the casserole with the cooking butter and boil down quickly over high heat until liquid is syrupy. Stir in the cream and boil down again over high heat until cream has thickened slightly. Off heat, taste carefully for seasoning, and add drops of lemon juice to taste. Pour the sauce over the supremes, sprinkle with parsley, and serve at once. 

Garden Party @ IHCC

Saganaki {Fried Cheese}

 

I watched a cooking show one time where someone enjoyed a dish of fried feta cheese with some rustic bread for slathering all while setting outdoors on a cliff side in Greece overlooking the Aegean Sea. The scene seemed ideal and it has stuck with me over the years.

So, today I am lightly breading and lightly frying some feta cheese in my Kentucky kitchen. I'm having visions of Greece while I do it and that's about as close as I'll get for the time being.

If you're a feta cheese lover, then this recipe is for you. All you need is a nice block of cheese, 1 egg, a little flour and some oil. Simply dip the cheese in the beaten egg, dust with flour, and fry in oil until warm, melty, and golden brown.

I won't lie. It is a little tricky to fry cheese, especially when it comes to flipping the cheese over, etc. However, just go low and slow and take your time. I fried my cheese very low for about 5 minutes on each side, letting the oil bubble up on the sides, pushing the oil around the sides with a silicone spatula.

The cheese is really good on crackers or slathered on bread. I liked the fried cheese plain, but I think it would be even better with some fresh tomatoes or sun-dried tomatoes.

I will definitely be making this again and again!

Saganaki

{Fried Cheese}

Adapted from Food From Many Greek Kitchens

by Tessa Kiros

Serves 4

light olive oil, for frying

1 egg, lightly beaten

all-purpose flour, for coating

4-1/4-ounce 3/4" thick slice feta cheese, or kasseri-style, talagani cheese

lemon quarters, for serving

Pour the olive oil into a small non-stick skillet to a depth of roughly 1/2".

Put the egg in one flat bowl and the flour in another. Heat the oil over medium-high heat until a cube of bread dropped in the oil browns in 15 seconds. 

Dip the cheese slice in the egg, then pat it in the flour to coat well. Put the slice into the oil and fry until golden on both sides. Splash its sides with oil to make sure that they are fried golden, too. The cheese must be crisp on the outside and softened on the inside. When done, remove the cheese from the pan with tongs an drain on paper towels. Serve hot, cut up into squares and with lemon juice squeezed over the top. If serving in the pan, remove the cheese, pour away the oil, wipe the pan with a paper towel, return the cheese to the pan and squeeze some lemon over.

Seaside Escape @ IHCC

Julia Child's Biftek Haché à la Lyonnaise {Ground Beef Burgers with Onions and Herbs}

My family loves what I like to call The Blue Plate Special. When I refer to The Blue Plate Special, I pretty much mean any old-fashioned dish you might find at a local diner. It usually consists of some type of meat with a gravy or sauce, some kind of potato, and a veggie. 

Just good old-fashioned comfort food.

I found this recipe on one of my favorite Youtube channels, Anti-Chef. The fella who runs the channel is named Jamie and he does a segment called Jamie and Julia that is well worth watching. Sometimes it is laugh out loud hilarious, sometimes I learn a thing or two, and other times it is downright delicious and drool-worthy.

A little while ago Jamie featured Julia's Hamburger with Onions and Herbs, aka Biftek Hache a la Lyonnaise and it really got my attention. The ingredients are always something I have on hand, the recipe was very approachable, and it looked and sounded delicious. I knew I had to make it soon.

Turns out Jamie found and shared a recipe that will grow to be one of my family's favorites!

Per Julia, the French do eat hamburgers, but not on a bun. Turns out they mix butter, salt, pepper, thyme, and sauteed onions into the beef before shaping them into patties, coating the patties in flour on both sides (giving them an amazing crust), sauteing them, then serving them with a beefy buttery rich and flavorful sauce poured over top.

I'm gonna tell you right now...this is an absolutely amazing dish! The burgers are buttery and rich and full of flavor, they develop a little bit of a crust from being dredged in the flour, and the beefy and buttery sauce poured over top just takes it to a whole new level. I'm gonna tell ya...you take a bite and it will blow your mind because you'd never expect this to be so wonderfully delicious.

My husband was skeptical, especially when he discovered there was no bun. He took one bite and he was like "Holy cow...this is delicious. I wasn't expecting this to be so flavorful and tender and rich."

This really is a stunningly delicious and flavorful dish that pairs well with any type of potato and veggie. I'd also like to highlight that it is extremely economical, which I feel is very important right now.

This is hands down one of my favorite dishes that I've shared this year and it will be put into my regular rotation. My entire family absolutely loved it and I sent the recipe to all of my friends. I cannot say enough good things about it.

 

If you have time, take a few minutes to watch Jamie make the burgers in the video above. I think you'll find that he is most enjoyable to watch; and, you might also be just as tempted as I was to make this dish!

Biftek Haché à la Lyonnaise 

{Ground Beef Hamburgers with Onions and Herbs}

Adapted from Mastering The Art of French Cooking

by Julia Child

Serves 6

For The Hamburgers

1/4 cup finely minced yellow onions

2 tablespoons butter

1-1/2 pounds lean, ground beef

2 tablespoons softened butter, ground beef suet, beef marrow, or fresh pork fat

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/8 teaspoon thyme

1 egg

1/2 cup flour spread on a plate

1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon oil, or sufficient to film the bottom of the skillet

1 or 2 heavy skillets just large enough to hold the patties easily in one layer

a warm serving platter

For The Sauce

1/2 cup beef stock, beef bouillon, dry white wine, or water or red wine*

2-3 tablespoons softened butter

Cook the onions slowly in the butter for about 10 minutes until very tender but not browned. Place in a mixing bowl. Add the beef, butter or fat, seasonings, and egg to the onions in the mixing bowl and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon to blend thoroughly. Correct seasoning. Form into patties 3/4 inch thick. Cover with waxed paper and refrigerate until ready to use. Just before sauteing, roll the patties lightly in the flour. Shake off excess flour.

Place the butter and the oil in the skillet and set over moderately high heat. When you see the butter foam begin to subside, indicating it is hot enough to sear the meat, saute the patties for 2 to 3 minutes or more on each side, depending on whether you like your hamburgers rare, medium, or well-done.

Arrange the hamburgers on the serving platter and keep warm for a moment while finishing the sauce.

Pour the fat out of the skillet. Add the liquid and boil it down rapidly, scraping up the coagulated pan juices, until it has reduced almost to a syrup. Off heat, swirl the butter by half-tablespoons into the sauce until it is absorbed. Pour the sauce over the hamburgers and serve. 

Family Favorites @ IHCC