Tripes à la Mode!

"I just really love tripe cooked this way!"

Last night, David and I watched--from disc two of The French Chef with Julia Child--Tripes à la Mode! I was nearly as excited about watching it as Julia was making it:

"... it makes a perfectly lovely 'Sunday lunch' type of dish... a marvelous dish... that wonderful, subtle aroma of wine and good cooking... I just really love tripe cooked this way and I've just been dying to do it for you all these years!"

Julia Child Gets Hot!

the final shot in "The Potato Show" shows an unhappy Julia

David and I have recently begun enjoying episodes of The French Chef with Julia Child and of the three we've watched thus far, episode one--"The Potato Show"--has proven to be the most entertaining.

In this first clip, watch Julia flub her potato pancake flip, then just as she's beginning her next dish... smoke begins to rise from the stove top. You can almost feel her stress as she wipes down her face and neck with a load of paper towels.

In this second clip, watch Julia shoot two more angry off-camera glances at (most likely) the show's producers. I'd hate to be on the receiving end of what ensued post-wrap!

Julia and Jacques... after a glass or two!

pre-opening sequence, and they're already acting suspicious

Last night David and I watched another episode of Julia and Jacques: Cooking at Home--"Desserts"--and I'm convinced that they had already had a glass or two of wine before the cameras even started rolling (perhaps it was why Julia tore a hole in her first crêpe, then burned the second)!

Watch the episode on hulu here.

Julia and Jacques

Jacques Pépin and Julia Child duel it out in the kitchen

David and I recently discovered (one evening off) Julia and Jacques: Cooking at Home which streams for free on Hulu. We've probably watched almost half of the twenty two episodes available and perhaps more satisfying than the cooking tips we've picked up from the show is the witty back-and-forth quibbling between Jacques and Julia (mostly coming from the latter end).

"Do you want white or black pepper?" 

"Black." 

"I guess you like speckled food."

Perhaps my favorite episode so far--for cooking tips--is Eggs. Jacques Pépin demonstrates his master technique of scrambling eggs in the skillet (perhaps before it became common knowledge to not use metal utensils on Teflon) then folding them over into a beautiful fluffy pocket while Julia finishes hers with a raw egg. I thought I'd try Jacques' technique of scrambling in the skillet, today, but had added too many ingredients to my scramble, making me think scrambling in the skillet wouldn't turn out so well.

Not nearly as lovely as Jacques'

Using leftover queso fresco, baby arugula and a little red onion (plus garlic powder, pepper, fleur de sel and dill) and leftover wine from my Born This Way album listening party the previous evening, the sum made for a nice lunch.

a malbec which was to be followed by a rioja

David and I never did get around to tasting the rioja; the Goulart "clásico" malbec was only... "acceptable" ($20 for the lot). Perhaps we'll try the former with dinner tonight.