Category: Chefs/Restaurants

Vichyssoise à la Julia Child

Julia Child's kitchen on display at the Smithsonian
Julia Child’s kitchen on display at the Smithsonian
Vichyssoise à la Julia Child
Julia Child’s kitchen re-created in my Home Atelier

Julia Child’s Annual Birthday Tribute

Joyeux Anniversaire Julia Child! Today would have been Julia’s 109th birthday. It has been an honor, a passion, and a tradition to celebrate her birthday on Taste With The Eyes for the past several years.

This year, let’s travel back in time to Cambridge, Massachusetts where I imagine dinner at the kitchen table of Paul and Julia Child as they enjoy a light supper together on a hot August night.

“An excellent light supper need be no more than a good soup, a salad, cheese and fruit. And combined according to your own taste, a good homemade soup in these days of the can opener is almost a unique and always a satisfying experience,”  says Julia Child in Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volume One, Fortieth Anniversary Edition published by Alfred A. Knopf 2006.

Tonight’s light supper begins with Vichyssoise, a Cold Leek and Potato Soup, where surprisingly simple ingredients yield a soup with an elegant texture and captivating complex flavors.

Vichyssoise à la Julia Child Recipe

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A Curated Meal Kit Crafted by James Beard House Fellow

A Curated Meal Kit Crafted by James Beard House Fellow

Salad Course: Don’t Be Late

Grilled Peach with Smoked Paneer, Mustard Greens, Mint–Basil Salad,
Pistachios, Goan-Spiced Watermelon Vinaigrette

Main Course: Trial by Fire

Berbere-Spiced Lamb Loin with Preserved Lemon Couscous,
Katchkie Farm Cherry Tomatoes, Zucchini, Cucumber, Moroccan Mint Yogurt

Dessert: High on the Cob

Dark Chocolate Bon Bon with Grilled Corn and Salted Caramel Ganache

James Beard always welcomed students, authors, chefs, and other guests into his home—his kitchen was truly at the heart of America’s burgeoning food scene. After his death in 1985, a group of his friends and colleagues heeded a call from Julia Child to do something with Beard’s house.

A Curated Meal Kit Crafted by James Beard House Fellow

The James Beard Foundation officially opened the James Beard House in New York City’s Greenwich Village on November 5, 1986 “to provide a center for the culinary arts and to continue to foster the interest James Beard inspired in all aspects of food, its preparation presentation, and of course, enjoyment.”

For decades, cooking at the James Beard House has been an aspiration for many chefs and considered a career milestone. In May of 2021, they launched the Beard House Fellows program, which re-envisions the potential of the historic space into a hub of training and professional development for talented emerging chefs.

A Curated Meal Kit Crafted by James Beard House Fellow

Emerging Chefs

May 2021 – Nicole Merino

June 2021 – Mimi Chen

July 2021 – Theodore Coleman

Curated Meal Kit by Chef Theodore Coleman

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Tartine de Thon

Tartine de Thon

Tartine de Thon

Bistro Style Open-Faced Tuna Sandwich
WITH Fire Roasted Hatch Chiles

The second post in my “Bistro Collection” inspired by Bouchon and Chef Thomas Keller is a Tartine de Thon. This is simply a French bistro style open-faced tuna sandwich with a side of pommes frites… But it is très magnifique and muy magnífico with a French-New Mexico fusion twist!

My tuna salad recipe includes Roasted Hatch Chiles from New Mexico, plus lime juice & cilantro to complement the smoky green chiles. Served on a toasted thick slice of artisan seeded boule, it is un déjeuner parfait.

Bouchon Bistro

Tartine de Thon Recipe

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Ultimate Bistro Salad: Salade de Laitue

Ultimate Bistro Salad: Salade de Laitue

Ultimate Bistro Salad:
Salade de Laitue

Living whole heads of Bibb lettuce, high quality vinaigrette components, and the synergistic combination of a few fresh herbs result in a deceptively simple yet exquisitely balanced salad, one that is the best imaginable of its kind. Period.

Chef Thomas Keller writes in his fabulous bistro cookbook Bouchon, “The word laitue comes from the Latin word for milk, from the milky juices some lettuces can exude. Hearty, buttery Bibb leaves are a good example of the rich juicy quality lettuce can have. They’re so big and rich, in fact, that this salad almost qualifies as a meal in itself.”

Atelier Atalore, Las Vegas

Salade de Laitue Recipe

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What to Serve with Caviar

What to Serve with Caviar

Champagne and Caviar

What to Serve with Caviar?

Caviar is always a good idea. And they don’t always have to be the most expensive fish eggs on the block. A jaunty presentation with several great accompaniments, and a favorite sparkling wine or chilled vodka can make for a most memorable experience.

Purists prefer to eat expensive caviar off the back of the hand, between the index finger and thumb so as to enjoy that pure unadulterated burst of the sea.

But it is also quite fun to put out many accompaniments and let your guests experiment with their own special pairings and combinations. Try fresh-shucked oysters with a dollop of crème fraîche topped with caviar. Or maybe a warm blini with butter, hard-cooked egg yolk and finely minced onion with caviar on top…

Perhaps 2021 will be a year to indulge and to allow oneself to enjoy life’s finer pleasures… and not wait for a special occasion?

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