4.1.25 | Pearls and Ascots
Last week, we did two nights of a Julia Child-themed wine dinner for Women’s History Month. We had a blast! Everyone was really into it. Some of our guests even came dressed in era specific clothing—pearls and ascots—and we projected images of Julia on the wall. All in all, it was a great time.
Still, while the execution was fun, we did have some hiccups along the road. It turns out that, even this far into my culinary career, trying to cook like Julia was a humbling eye-opener for me.
Take our first course, Quiche au Fromage. I knew I wanted to use some of Meg’s good cheese, so I talked to her about what would work. We came up with Saint-Nectaire, a gooey, stinky cheese from France. Julia’s recipe also calls for cream cheese. I knew I couldn’t mix Meg’s cheese with cheap cream cheese, so I went back and picked up some Belletoile triple cream brie to sub in.
Julia’s quiche recipe only calls for two eggs: surely this must be a mistake? The recipe also tells you to let the top of the quiche soufflé up in the oven, turn brown, and then sink again. This instantly didn’t sound like any quiche I have ever made. It wasn’t until I bumped into some French customers of ours who told me that French quiche is very different from American quiche—smaller and more like a tart—that everything clicked for us. Becca broke out her tart molds, made fresh tart shells, filled them up, souffléd and browned them in the oven, let them sink and voilà! Cheesy, unctuous quiche au fromage.
The second course was Coquilles St. Jacques, scallops in a cream sauce with mushrooms, gratinéed in the oven. Classic pictures of the dish always show it served in scallop shells. I called our seafood purveyors; but no, they don’t sell live shell-on scallops. I don’t know where I would even store 60 live scallops, but I knew I had to have the shells. Everything’s available somewhere, of course, so now we have the shells forever. Wait till you see where they pop up on the menu next!
The main course was Coq au Vin. Traditionally this would be made with the rooster, a tough old bird (much like myself). Marinating for three days in red wine and braising helps tenderize the meat. I didn’t want a rooster, but I did want to find a quality bird, one that was pasture raised with the flavor of a bird that has worked its muscles and the big iron-y taste from the grass it gets to munch on. Through friends we met Wes over at Shadowlands Farm in Highland County. After tasting a Shadowlands bird, I knew it was exactly what we were looking for. Following three days of marinating, three hours of cooking, and a fair amount of time deboning, saucing and preparing, we had a flavorful, wine-rich coq au vin.
Last course was a simple Chocolate Mousse with Grand Marnier. Julia makes hers slightly sweeter than I like mine, so we cut back on the sugar in the Chantilly aux framboises, a raspberry whipped cream. I have never added fruit purée to whipped cream before, but I am definitely adding this technique into my repertoire. The color alone was enough to tickle my fancy, so look for it on your next dessert. I’m thinking blueberry and lime zest.
Overall, these past few days have been a lot of work on top of a week of prep, trial and error, and eating a lot of cheese and scallops. (Not so bad.) What I didn’t expect to happen was to learn so much about French quiche, new farms, and whipped cream.
Julia still has so much to teach, it’s kind of amazing. Maybe we’ll do her recipe for chicken liver pate in aspic next?
Okay, maybe not.
—Matt
FROM THE APRIL 1, 2025 NEWSLETTER | CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE