Julia Child’s Sautéed Mushrooms in Madeira Sauce

2017-08-02

This Recipe
Chef: Julia Child
Cuisine: French Cuisine
Course: Main Dish
Difficulty: Easy
Category: Course
Servings: 3
Preparation Time: 10 Minutes
Cooking Time: 20 Minutes

This Post
Chef : François
Category: Recipe
Posted on: Wednesday August 2, 2017
Comments : No Comment
Languages : English | Français

Ingredients
Mushrooms, Shallots, Madeira, Brown sauce,

La version Française se trouve ICI

Julia shows us an appetizing way of using mushrooms in a brown Madeira sauce, a traditional French recipe that is one of my favorites

About this recipe

A delicious dish that Julia says can be used with a piece of filet mignon, or with sautéed chicken livers, or another piece of meat.

This dish is an old French style dish that you would find in traditional French restaurants, and it works beautifully at home for a nice diner

You may serve this mushrooms dish as a side dish, with meat, or even serve this as a main dish for a nice dinner !

Julia Child, we owe you respect

This is a recipe of Julia Child.

I have a great respect for Julia, for the dedication to French Cuisine and her huge work to assemble the French recipes and techniques in her book. She acquired her knowledge while living in Paris and studying at the Cordon Bleu de Paris

Her book, a masterpiece

Julia spent many years in Paris and discovered the French food, and upon attending the Cordon Bleu, learned about French cuisine techniques.

After she moved back to the United States, Julia Child wrote her book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol.1", a masterpiece that is still a best seller that you still can find nowadays in all bookstores in the states. What an impressive undertaking !

To purchase online, see HERE

In fact, the book was written with two French ladies, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle.

These three ladies met in Paris and started an informal school "L'école des trois gourmandes" (The School of the Three Food Lovers).

When Julia appeared on television, she kept the same name on a sticker on her chest.

After writing her book, Julia appeared on American television in a series called "The French Chef"

Julia in Pasadena

I learned about Julia Child quite late : While I was living shortly in Pasadena for a class at the Cordon Bleu, my teachers mentioned Julia and her book.

Coincidence: Julia lived in Pasadena and studied at the Cordon Bleu (but that in Paris).

While in Pasadena, I decided to visit her place

House of Julia Child
625 Magnolia Avenue
Pasadena, California

This house is not a museum but a private house

Julia in Paris

And when I later visited Paris, (see my post HERE), I had to walk by the place she had been living in Paris...

House of Julia in Paris
81, rue de l'Université
75007 Paris
France

You probably saw the movie about Julia Child "Julie and Julia", starring Meryl Streep et Amy Adams.

To see the movie, you may buy it on DVD for instance HERE

A movie that you must see, I insist !.

Meryl Streep plays Julia Child, and delivers a great acting performance, as always...

The movie shows Julia's life, including her days at the Cordon Bleu Paris

Here, this is a picture when Meryl Streep (Julia Child) first arrives in Paris

The house of Julia, in the movie, is not 'rue de l'université' as I told you earlier, the movie location was a bit further, and of course I had to see it as well, as I enjoyed very much the movie !

House of Julia (movie)
10, Rue de Seine
75006 Paris
France

Julia Child Movie at rue de seine in Paris

There are other film locations to discover while in Paris : This article talks about those places

Source of the recipe

Julia Child's book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol.1" is a must-have...

To purchase online, see HERE

I initially thought the book would not be very useful, to be honest. However I changed my mind : it is very useful ! Julia captured the traditional recipes, and this information is important to us, food lovers

The recipe is on page 515

Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol.1

Modifications to the original recipe

I modified a few things...

I use
Olive Oil
instead of "oil"
I use 1
Shallot
instead of "one tablespoon" that Julia mentions
I thicken the sauce with
Flour
(1 teaspoon)

Ingredients

You will need...

Non-Slip Cutting Boards

Sekiryu Santoku Japanese Knife

Scanpan Saucepan

Calphalon Nonstick Sauce Pan

Ninja Food Chopper Express

Steps

1. Slice the

Button Mushrooms

( ½lbs or 227 g)

Non-Slip Cutting Boards

Sekiryu Santoku Japanese Knife

The Madeira Sauce

For the Madeira sauce, pour the the

Madeira

(⅓ Cup or 77 g) into a saucepan and boil it

3. Julia mentions that we want to boil it down until it has reduced by half (3 Tablespoons or 38.5 g).
However, as Madeiras are thicker in France, I think that you may want to reduce the liquid further until it has reduced to a third (2 Tablespoons or 25.6 g)

Scanpan Saucepan

Calphalon Nonstick Sauce Pan

4. Mince the

Shallot

(1)

In a skillet, melt the

Butter

(2 tablespoons) and the

Olive Oil

(1 tablespoon), then add the

Shallot

(1)

6. Sauté the

Button Mushrooms

( ½lbs or 227 g)

7. Stir to brown the mushrooms

8. Once the

Madeira

(⅓ Cup or 77 g) has reduced, add the

Brown Sauce

(1 Cup or 270 g) and cook

on low heat

For the brown sauce:

Julia's recipe
The recipe of Julia is HERE
Even easier
Julia mentioned that if you don't have a brown sauce, you can always take a chicken stock thickened with one tablespoon of cornstarch, to mix in a blender