Day 5: Scallops

Boring. Put it in a pan with butter. ya ya ya i know how to do it. They were very scallopy.

Day 4: Eggs

According to Julia, an omelet should only take 20 seconds to cook! Heat the pan to medium/high, drop in the butter, pour in the beaten eggs and jerk the pan back and forth until the egg forms an omelet shape. You then flip it onto a plate.

It took me more than 20 seconds but 60 seconds isn't that bad! It used to take me a couple of minutes. A am used to my omelets being slightly browned and a little bit leathery but the omelet i made was pale yellow, light, fluffy, and melted in my mouth. It was really good!

I also poached my first egg which i must say was a rousing success. It tasted as soft and tender as a baby panda.  It was cute looking like a baby panda too. It tasted like very mild cheese sauce. delicious. However, anyone can teach you how to poach an egg or cook an omelet so i'm sorry to say, Mastering the Art of French Cooking doesn't get any credit for this one. And once again, no suggestions for seasoning...I think i might give up this endeavor early as i continue to be unimpressed! Maybe i should switch to Jared and Emeril.

Day 3: Sauteed Chicken with Brown Deglazing Sauce

Cutting a chicken was a blast! I think anyone who eats chicken nuggets or chicken anything should have to cut up a whole chicken and remove the insides. It gives you more respect for what you are eating. I'm not gonna lie...i did pretty good for my first time cutting up a chicken.

Let's get to the actual cooking of the bird. Of course, in true Julia Child style, the chicken was sauteed in a pan full of butter. First it was browned and then cooked through. Again, i was a little irked that Julia gave me NO exact temperatures or times to cook things. She just said "brown it" or "cook it". The sauce was made using the leftover juices in the pan, chicken stock, white wine, and of course, butter.

The soup i made on the first day got 1 out of 10. The chicken, drum roll please...a 7. The white meat was awfully dry! But the the texture and flavor of the dark meat was exquisite. It had a savory taste, almost as if it was on the verge of being a dessert. The flavor of the aromatic thyme, basil, and tarragon gently pushed through the richness of the butter and tanginess of the white wine. I don't drink alcohol, (i only used the wine cuz the alcohol cooks off....supposedly) but if the wine dishes keep tasting this good i may consider taking up drinking. The only thing that's made me want to do that before was working at Rancho Solano. jk,

Tomorrow is mussels steamed in more wine, butter, and spices along with a cauliflower au gratine with cheese. Check out my "Reflections on Julia" page to hear my ever growing opinions of her.

Day 2: Potato Onion Soup w/ baked potato wedges

I finally realized if i tried to read dear Julia's introductions all at once i'd never get a chance to cook. So today I headed off on my first of many trips to the grocery store (with my friend Robyn) to get ingredients for the first recipe in Julia's cookbook: Onion Potato Soup.

Two things: First, I hope her recipes get better. Second, I hope I become a better chef soon. The recipe called for potatoes, onions, and water. Thats it. Needless to say, the soup looked like what homeless people eat around a trash can fire except i'm sure the homeless people would have had the creativity to at least throw in a squirrel or something. She then said "Correct the seasonings to taste." and gave me suggestions on what to add....Why do you think people buy cookbooks woman?! To be TOLD what to put into it. So I whipped out the chili powder, sea salt, pepper, carrots, garlic powder, and Foodwise brand (a meal prep company in my neighborhood owned by a family in our church) ZAPP seasoning. After a couple taste tests from me and robyn, we had a decent soup. Actually it was a delicious soup, all due to my expertise in seasoning no thanks to Julia! But i am optomistic that things will turn around.

Tomorrow i am de-boning and sauteeing a chicken. Fun!!!

Day 1: Preparation

Well, I bought the thick doorstop of a cookbook, Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. What was i thinking? I can barely make it through the introduction! This woman does about as much talking as she does cooking. And why is the French word for fish poisson? "Here mom, i made some poisson soup." Yum. But i must say, i poached my first egg to get me into the spirit and it was amazing.

1 Boy, 1 Kitchen, 524 Recipes

My name is Jared. I'm a full-time purgator...i mean college student, a part-time worker, and an all-the-time eater.  With high school graduation came the end of fun, the end of friends, the end of power, or in stated simply: the end of my life. But since God had decided He is not quiet ready to take me, I guess i'll have to make it work.

Part of having no life means watching movies you would never have watched before. One of which being, Nora Ephron's Julie and Julia, the true story of Julie Powell who decides to spice up her life by cooking all 524 recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The film also depicts Julia Child's culinary beginnings in France.

I wanted a movie to inspire me to action. I tried following Leo DeCaprio and controlling my dreams but that didn't work out. I thought about taking a leaf out of the books of Chow Yun Fat and Ziyi Zhang but it turns out there are no Wudan school in the area. I even tried writing a book on politics so I could get an interview on the O'Reilly Factor but then i gave up. So naturally, when all else fails, you decide to cook your way through Julia Child's massive cookbook on French cuisine. Julie Powell did it and she said Julia saved her life. Maybe Julia will save my life. Or reveal some unknown desire to cook. Or at least help me gain a few pounds. or something...