drawing from Julia…

"It's a shame to be caught up in something that doesn't make you absolutely tremble with joy." ~ Julia Child

Julia cooking in her tiny Parisian kitchen.
Julia in on the balcony at 81, rue de L’Université. ~ these images by Paul Child

One of my favorite stories in the book “My Life in France” by Julia Child, is the part where she relates how her husband, Paul, a gifted photographer and artist, took many dramatic and beautiful images of her during the time that they live in France.

Paul Child also took many close-up photographs of Julia’s hands as she cut, diced, sliced her way into culinary history. These images were translated into line drawings by the talented illustrator Sidonie Coryn for her premiere cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Julia writes in “My Life in France”:
"Paul and I spent many hours doing a photo sessions…making photographs for the illustrator. We had fun, just the two of us, tinkering with food and camera.”

When the Alfred A. Knopf Company first published Julia’s first cookbook effort in 1961, there was no such thing as splashy full color food-porn images as we have today in our cookbooks. However, these superbly drawn images make this book a true classic masterpiece and now a piece of culinary history.

I bought some beautiful artichokes from my local Italian produce market this morning and I wanted to make Julia’s recipe for Artichauts à la Buerre Fondu au Citron for a light dinner.

I looked in my 1961 copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking for the recipe and I was so very impressed by the detailed illustrations to guide me through this dish. As I read, I thought about how these expertly drawn black line drawings probably had helped thousands of other dedicated cooks prepare this very same dish for nearly 50 years.
What an inspiring way to begin cooking this evening...!

Artichauts à la Buerre Fondu au Citron
(Artichokes with melted butter with Lemon)

ingredients

2 fresh globe artichokes

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces and chilled

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Kosher salt and freshly ground of white pepper to taste.

recipe

Trim the artichokes for cooking.

Lay each on its side and cut off about an inch or so off the top, break off the small leaves near the base, and cut off all but an inch of the stem. Snip off the ends of the leaves all around the artichoke with scissors to rid it of any sharp points.
Rinse it well under cold water.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.

Gently boil the artichokes, uncovered, for about half an hour. When the leaves pull out easily and the bottoms are tender when pierced with a knife, they are finished cooking.

While the artichokes are cooking, prepare the lemon butter. Gently reduce the lemon juice, salt, and pepper in a small saucepan. Over low heat, whisk in the chilled butter pieces, one at a time, until your sauce is creamy.

Remove from heat, and serve in warmed ramekins.

The edible parts of each leaf are nearest their base. I scrape the soft pulp against my teeth after dipping in the tangy rich buerre fondu au citron. So when you serve the artichokes, provide a large bowl for the inedible part of the leaves.

I love this dish.

So fresh...

So elegant...

So French...

So Julia...

So simple.

So delicious...

Bon appétit…!