aj12754's Reviews
3 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 3Sort by: Title 
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Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home
By Julia Child, Jacques Pepin
Knopf - 1999
Jacques Pommes de Terre Mont d'Or : page 156
This is basically an artery blocker on a plate -- a delicious delicious artery blocker. You start with creamy buttery mashed potatoes -- add eggs (three per four cups of potatoes) and Gruyere cheese in the mix and scattered on top, and pop it into the oven where it puffs up like a slightly heavier-textured souffle. I probably should have added one more egg since I know I had more than four cups of potatoes, and the additional egg would have lightened the texture a bit.
useful (0)
Jacques Sauteed Chicken "Maison" : page 274
This is a really easy and quick main dish. I basically selected this recipe because I was cooking from the pantry and didn't want to make a grocery store run. Reading the recipe, I thought it would be tasty, but this was really delicious. This recipe is a combination of a sauteed/braised chicken dish featuring all the usual suspects (onions, carrots, garlic) and a few featured players (mushrooms and peas). I might use 1/2 the peas called for next time -- but this is more an appearance thing (I like the green to be an accent rather than the whole show) than a flavor thing.
useful (1)
Julia's Basic Leek and Potato Soup : page 52
Wonderful clean flavor (Julia uses water for this soup while Jacques' version uses chicken stock). Jacques's version (p. 55) has a richer flavor, but in Julia's version the use of water really lets the flavor combo of leek and potato come through. Which one to pick really depends on what you are in the mood for ... both are very good.
Because the soup is white, I like a side salad with a more vivid color -- something like red cabbage in a vinaigrette to give an acidic and color contrast to the soup.
useful (0)