Mastering The Art Of French Cooking

Here I will be challenging myself to cook all 524 recipes in Julia Child's famous cookbook; "Mastering the Art of French Cooking", within a time frame of 524 days. (Day 1 - August 3rd 2014) Thank you for stopping by my blog! Hopefully you will stick around through the rest of this journey with me. I believe just by you being here right now makes you a part of this. Please send me any messages or questions you want. I truly love when my followers interact with me :) SPECIAL EVENTS When I reach 100 followers I will film myself cooking any recipe of your choice with instructions on how to do it. When I've cooked my 100th recipe I'll... (Fill in the blank). This is open for your ideas. Just send me a message with anything that comes to mind.

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Wedding Cake

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"You alone can make my song take flight, help me make the music of the night..." 

I made this Phantom of the Opera cake with fondant. It's entirely edible, including the mask. Hope that one day I'll get the opportunity to play the Phantom on Broadway!

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Hey there! Your blog so far is phenomenal. It is absolutely a joy to see a young man so interested in the most beautiful form of cooking! However, I noticed that you've not posted anything new in awhile. Do you think you'll pick this back up and make your challenge's deadline?

Thank you for all the lovely words! I'm so sorry I haven't posted anything new lately, it's just that I've been so busy with exams. I do however have some things I've mad that I have yet to post. I promise I will though soon. And yes hopefully I can reach my goal on time :) Thanks again for the message! xoxo

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DAY 30: SOUFFLÉ AU FROMAGE For tonight's dinner I made a cheese soufflé. And I'm so proud with the way it turned out! Before today I have never actually eaten a soufflé, let alone make one. This is such a great a accomplishment for me and makes me really happy :) It was very delicious and is certainly now one of my favourites from the book. I'm still so shocked that it was a success, and really believe that Julia was with my tonight helping me every step of the way. Recipe pages: 157-164. 495 days left, 475 recipes to go! Bon Appétit!!!

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DAY 30: BIFTECK HACHÉ À LA LYONNAISE I've been very busy this week preparing to go back to school, so I didn't have much time to cook. My apologies to all my wonderful followers, I really wanted to have more time in the kitchen this week, but it just wasn't possible. Anyways, I'm here now and this is what I cooked for dinner a few nights ago. It's onion and herb hamburgers with a cream sauce. I have to say these are the juiciest hamburgers I've ever had and I believe it's because of the butter Julia tells you to put in the mixture. I'm certainly a big fan of French hamburgers now! Recipe pages: 301-302

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DAY 25: CAKE DECORATING I made this and decorated it at my last cake decorating class for course 1. It's a moist yellow cake with pastry cream filling and buttercream frosting. It turned out very beautiful and I'm really happy with the final product :) Definitely one of my best works yet!

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DAY 21: THON À LA PROVENÇALE I made swordfish with wine, tomatoes, and herbs for dinner tonight. It is new for me as I've never had this kind of fish before. But all the flavors tied together so perfectly, and it was simply to die for. This is a great main course and makes for a very impressive dish! Julia definitely know what she's talking about :) Recipe pages: 219-220 504 days left, 478 recipes to go! Bon Appétit!

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DAY 20: BIFTECK SAUTÉ BÉARNAISE Tonight I made pan-broiled steak with Béarnaise sauce and potatoes sautéed in butter. This meal was full of savory flavors and definitely filling. Nothing like a great meal on a Friday night and then relaxing while watching T.V. Hope you all had yourselves an excellent evening and wonderful appetites :) Recipe pages: 84-85,295, and 526-528. ~TIP~ When sautéing potatoes use the variation of the butter ingredient where she asks you to use oil as well. This will help prevent the potatoes from sticking better. 505 days left, 479 recipes to go! Bon Appétit!

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DAY 19: AÏGO BOUÏDO Garlic soup was tonight’s dinner, and very aromatic it was if I may add. This soup is excellent for your general physical health and spiritual health. I can truthfully say I feel very refreshed and new after eating this :) Julia is just full of surprises! 506 days left, 482 recipes to go. Recipe pages: 46-47. ~TIP~ Make the hard-toasted French bread while the soup is boiling so it’s ready at the same time.

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DAY 18: OMELETTES GRATINÉES À LA TOMATE Tonight I made Tomato-filled Omelettes Gratinéed With Cream and Cheese. You wouldn’t believe it, but this dish was the hardest one I’ve had to make yet. “But it’s just an egg” you say. Oh no, it’s more than that, and probably the reason why there’s a whole section in the book devoted to eggs. The way Julia asks you to cook it involves continuos movement of the pan and very precise hand movements. I can say however, by the fourth try I pretty much got it down packed. Making a French omelette truly is an art! And do they ever taste wonderful when mastered. 507 days left, 483 recipes to go. Recipe pages: 126-137, and 78. ~TIP~ After I messed it up 3 times I watched a video of Julia making one, which is what really helped me to succeed. I strongly suggest you do the same as it makes more sense when you can visually see it happen. Also, I had more success in the rolled omelette than the scrambled one, so if you’re looking for one that has a more likely chance of working, go for the rolled technique.

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DAY 17: NAVETS À LA CHAMPENOISE For tonight's dinner I made a turnip casserole. It was an easy to make dish and very full in flavor. It's actually very interesting with the first word in the title of this recipe (navets), because it is my name backwards (Stevan). Anyways, this is definitely my favourite turnip dish yet! 508 days left, 487 recipes to go. Recipe pages: 488-489 Bon Appétit!

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DAY 16: COOKIE DECORATING Today I did not have any time to make something new from the book as I was baking these cookies and then decorating them at my third class. The design that I used is called a Zinnia flower, which turned out very beautiful :) Bon Appétit! 509 days left, 488 recipes to go.

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DAY 15: PAN-BROILED CHICKEN WITH MUSTARD AND BREADCRUMBS, WITH GREEN BEANS AND TOMATOES AND BROWN VEGETABLE SAUCE. I made this lovely dinner tonight, which was absolutely delicious! I love this kind if chicken and it went so well the sauce and beans. Julia continues to open up my life to great food, which something we all deserve. I love cooking so much, it makes me so happy :) Bon Appétit to all my wonderful followers!

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DAY 14: COQUILLES ST. JACQUES À LA PROVENÇALE (SCALLOPS GRATINÉED WITH WINE, GARLIC, AND HERBS) These are definitely the best scallops I’ve made to date! It was absolutely delicious and had such amazing flavors with the white wine that was used. I thought it was a great idea that Julia had by telling you to serve the fish in shells. It makes for a very beautiful presentation! 511 days left, 493 recipes to go. Recipe pages 218-219 ~TIP~ If you can’t find shells to cook them in just use small fireproof jars as they will be going in the oven, and it will work just the same.

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DAY 13: BOEUF BOURGUIGNON Here it is! After many hours of hard work this is the finished dish. It was absolutely delicious, seriously, the flavors in this recipe definitely make it on the list of my favourite foods. The wine that it simmered in really gave it that rich and smooth excitement when it hit your taste buns. What an amazing way to remember Julia and her entire gift in the cooking world. I truly felt like she was here with me today as I was making this special meal :) 512 days left, 494 recipes to go. Recipe pages: 315-317, 483, and 513. ~TIP~ The wine is what really makes this dish have an explosive and magical taste. So I would suggest using the one she recommends, which is Mâcon Bourdeaux, like a St.Émilion. I used this one, and for a great bottle it wasn't that expensive at about $23.00 with tax. It can be found in the Vintages section of your local alcohol store. To all of you, Bon Appétit! And once again, Happy Birthday Julia Child! <3

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the great Julia Child! Today she would’ve turned 102, and although she isn’t physically here with us to celebrate, she’ll always be in our hearts. This exact day 102 days ago one of greatest cooks this world has ever seen was born. It is because of her and all her dedication to cooking that I’m here today even writing this. She is truly missed, but never a day goes by without me being so grateful for everything she has done. We all love you Julia very much! Our spoons and whisks are raised high for you today :) Let’s all cook in honor of her on this special day. I have one of her all time classics prepared for tonight - Boeuf Bourguignon!

[masteringfrenchcooking]

Is it beef bourguignon? :)

Correct! That's exactly what it is :) Great guess!