Thursday, July 30, 2009

Julia Child's Chicken Poached in Butter inspired by the new movie Julie and Julia

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Bonjour! Can you hear it? My Julia Child impersonation? Use your imagination people!

I bet all you foodies out there are psyched about the upcoming movie Julie and Julia. Well I'm not going to brag but.....ISAWITALREADYOHMYGODITWASAWESOME!!!! Okay, Okay, I'll calm down. Well you all know about bakespace already, geez, I tell you about it all the time and if you're new here or if you don't remember, bakespace is a social networking site for foodies like you and me! Well thanks to Sony and our fearless leader, Babette (the founder of bakespace), I won tickets to see the premier of Julie and Julia! PhotobucketThere was a contest and I posted about it on facebook and twitter so everyone could participate in the giveaway. So on Tuesday me and a couple of other bakespace members who won tickets headed over to Garden State Plaza in Paramus to watch the movie.

Here's the trailer if you haven't seen it yet.


PhotobucketIf you don't have time to watch trailer I'll briefly tell you what the movie is about (without giving anything away of course!). Julie and Julia is a story about Julie Powell, a food blogger who spends a year making every single recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. To read Julie Powell's blog, the Julie/Julia Project click here. Intertwined with Julie's story is the story of Julia Child and how she came to live in France and how she became a chef. Obviously, you all know who Julia Child is (except my father who thought I was going to meet someone from the food network when I told him I won tickets to see Julie and Julia...that's a post for another day!) but the story of Julie Powell is real. She started off without any readers and before you know it she was contacted by publishers, magazine editors and television network producers. It's amazing how that happened. Being a food blogger myself I can certainly relate to everything (well, except the being published part!) and this movie just pulled at my heartstrings. It was fantastic!!!! I loved it!!! Merryl Streep and Amy Adams were fantastic! Have I convinced you yet that this movie was fabulous? Okay, so again, Thank YOU Babette for making this possible! I don't know how I would have held out for two more weeks!

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I came out of the theater and I knew I just had to make a recipe from Julia Child's cookbook. I don't own her cookbook and I didn't grow up watching her on television. I've seen an episode here and there but never was interested in french cooking. Good thing because I would certainly be double my size if I was. Yesterday I did a search on the internet for a Julia Child recipe using chicken breasts and I found the following recipe on HGTV's website. Click here to see the article. The dish was delicious and decadent, I really enjoyed it (even though I overcooked the rice - oops) but unfortunately, this will not become part of my regular rotation. It's just way too fattening...almost one stick of butter. The sauce was amazing, I could eat it with a spoon! I used marsala because I forgot to buy madeira but I don't think it made much of a difference. I also forgot the mushrooms! Hopefully Julia Child isn't rolling around in her grave (yes Dad, Julia Child is no longer with us so I couldn't possibly meet her and get some advice like you suggested)! Okay, enough of my babbling...here's the recipe!

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Supremes de Volaille a Blanc (Chicken breasts poached in butter)

From Mastering the Art of French Cooking, by Julia Child, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle. Knopf, 1961.

Ingredients:

Rice:
1/3 cup finely minced onions
2 tbsp. butter
1 cup raw, unwashed white rice
2 cups chicken stock or broth
salt and pepper
small herb bouquet: 2 parsley sprigs, 1 bay leaf, and a sprig of thyme tied together with white string.

Chicken:
4 thin boneless, skinless chicken cutlets
salt, pepper and lemon juice
4 tbsp. butter
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup diced onions
1/4 cup diced carrots
1/4 sliced mushrooms

Wine Sauce:
1/4 cup white or brown stock
1/4 cup port, Madeira or dry white vermouth
1 cup heavy cream
salt, pepper, lemon juice
2 tbsp. minced parsley

Preparation:

For the rice, cook the onions slowly in the butter until soft. Add the rice and stir over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes until rice, which first turns translucent, becomes a milky white color. Then stir in the chicken stock, season lightly with salt and pepper, and add the herb bouquet. Stir briefly until simmer is reached, then cover closely and cook at a moderate simmer, about 18 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. Do not stir rice at all until this has happened. Then fluff lightly with a fork, adding more salt and pepper if necessary. This can be cooked ahead of time and reheated.

For the chicken: Preheat oven to 400. Cook the vegetables in the butter in a fireproof casserole before adding the chicken. Season meat with salt, pepper and drops of lemon juice. Lay over vegetables in one layer in the casserole, making sure the chicken is coated in the butter. Cover the surface of the casserole with wax paper. Place in oven for 6 to 7 minutes, or until the meat feels springy when you push on it. Remove from oven and set casserole aside while you prepare the sauce.

For the sauce: Pour stock and wine into a saucepan and boil rapidly until liquid is syrupy. Then pour in the cream and boil rapidly until lightly thickened. Season with salt, pepper and drops of lemon juice. Pour the sauce over the casserole and serve with the warm rice.

Bon Apetit!


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For a web companion to Mastering the Art of French Cooking, check out Whisk: a food blog.



25 comments:

Megan said...

You can never have too much butter! :o)

I'm sooo jealous. I cannot wait to see that movie! And stay tuned because I'm going to be making some Julia Child recipes soon too.

Your chicken looks so good!

Denise said...

I just finished the book last week and I cannot wait to see the movie. Im so glad it was good. This is very impressive chicken.

Culinary Alchemist said...

I cannot WAIT to see the movie... I'm dyin here. The book alone was hilarious! This chicken sounds absolutely DELICIOUS!!! Awesome job.. :)

Lindsey said...

It has to be good with those ingredients! Yum! I will have to save this for something special.
I can't believe you got to see it early! How exciting!

Pam said...

I can't wait to see the movie!!! This chicken looks amazing - anything is better with butter :).

Bob said...

Can't beat poached in butter! I'm sure Julia isn't rolling in her grave as long as you enjoyed it. That was her main goal from what I gathered. ;)

I watched her show(s) all the time when I was a kid, PBS was one of the only stations my parents would let us watch. I loved that when she would screw up she would shrug her shoulders and fix it. On camera. All of her shows were awesome, if you get a chance you should watch any of them.

Danielle said...

Michele that looks fantastic!! My stomach is growling (you should hear it! seriously). You did a great job. We (bakespacers) have been waiting for this movie since we all read the book...I can't believe its here! 12 hrs from now I will be emerging from the theatre!!!WOO HOO

Michele said...

Danielle - I can't wait to hear what you think about it!

Dionne said...

I am so jealous you got to see it! I soooo can't wait!

This recipe looks absolutely delish!

Michelle said...

Mmmm butter :) That chicken sounds delish! And how fun that you got to go to an advanced screening! All of the hoopla about the movie has me wanting to run out and buy Mastering the Art of French Cooking!

Erika said...

Looks amazing and I can't wait to see the movie!

jbogdanski said...

What fun -- the movie sounds good, can't wait to see it (I loved the book) and your dish looks delicious, too :)

Justin said...

ha, so jealous...

Dajana said...

I so envy you guys. Who knows how long I'll have to wait to see it.
The recipe sounds great, but you're right, that's a whole lot of butter.
My husband often travels to Paris for work, and he says everything there is loaded with cheese, from appetizer to dessert, and he says the same thing as you: If I lived there I'd be twice my size.

teresa said...

What a bright and colorful chicken, it looks wonderful!

I CAN'T WAIT to see that movie! I've been in love since the previews!

Elenka said...

I am sooo looking forward to seeing this. Is Meryl wonderful in it??

Michele said...

Elenka - she was fabulous!

Sophie said...

Congrats on the win :). I really need to get this cookbook!

Patti T. said...

I am so looking forward to the movie, you are so lucky to have gotten to go to see the movie before the rest of the masses.

Jen of A2eatwrite said...

So rich and lovely, just like so many of Julia's recipes. I can't wait to see the movie!

John said...

There are three secrets to French cooking: butter, butter, and butter!

BiscottiQueen said...

Oh this recipe is going to be the death of me! It looks fabulous, and with some fresh garden veggies it will be on my table this week. :)

Bridgett said...

I can't wait to see this fun movie and am jealous you got to go! Your chicken looks divine.

Spryte said...

Wow! Decadent!

4m's in 5yrs said...

I saw the movie on cable last week and loved it and I was inspired to cook like JUllia as well. Found your recipie, cooked it tonight and it was manificent.. yum . will keep following you and trying your recipies..