UPDATE: Hi! In honor of the HBO series Julia… aren’t you just loving it so much? Me too. In fact, I’ve already gulped down the whole first season. Anyhow, I’ll be remaking some of Julia’s recipes (including this one) soon. When I first posted these, I was new to cooking from scratch (clearly). I didn’t even know how to braise yet. So, please find me on TikTok & YouTube to see my videos of Julia’s recipes and subscribe here for new posts so you don’t miss a thing. Bon appetit!
Julia Child’s Broiled Chicken. Julia Child’s cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, can be very intimidating even for the servantless American cook. I found this out when I flipped through all 684 pages while standing in Barnes and Noble. Silly me figured that if Julie Powell could complete the whole book then surely I could make a few recipes!
Meryl Streep as Julia Child in Julie & Julia by Sony Pictures is in theaters now.
If you have read Julie Powell’s blog, The Julie/Julia Project, you know that she swears quite a lot as she plows through the project. I must admit that as I looked for even one recipe I felt that I could try I wanted to do the same. I had to put the book down for five days before I could even come back to it.
That said, here is my picture book version of Julia Child’s Broiled Chicken a.k.a. Chicken Broiled with Mustard, Herbs, and Bread Crumbs on page 265 in her book Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volume 1.
Step 1:
Two ready-to-cook, 2 1/2-lb. broilers halved or quartered – Uh, let’s see, I have 5 chicken breasts
A saucepan containing 6 Tb melted butter and 2 Tb oil together.
A broiling pan minus rack
Salt
Julia’s first instruction was to dry the chicken thoroughly, paint it with butter & oil, and put the chicken skin side down. Then lightly salt. Place oven on broil and put pan about 5-6 inches from broiling element.
Step two:
While the chicken broiled for 10 minutes on side one, I went on to step two and placed 6 tablespoons of mustard of the strong Dijon type into a bowl. Add 3 Tb finely minced shallots or green onions. Thyme, basil, or tarragon. Time to turn the chicken over and broil ten minutes on the other side.
Back to the mustard sauce… 1/8 tsp pepper and a pinch of cayenne pepper. After all of the ingredients were together, it was time to blend, adding half of the leftover butter & oil mixture a little at a time. It is supposed to become a “mayonnaise-like cream.”
Step three:
4 cups fresh, white crumbs from homemade-type of bread (make the crumbs in an electric blender, 3 or four slices of bread at a time).
Going back to step two: Paint the chicken pieces with the mustard mixture – I do like to paint, especially with mayonnaise-like mixtures!
Back to step three: Pour crumbs onto a big plate, then roll the chicken in the crumbs, patting them on so they will adhere.
Step four: Arrange chicken pieces skin-side down on the rack in the broiling pan and dribble half the remaining basting fat (Must we say fat? Why not butter?) over them. Brown slowly for 10 minutes.
Then turn and baste with the last half of the fat and brown 10 minutes more on the other side – Really? This chicken has been in and out of the oven more times than my kids are in and out of the house on a hot summer day.
The chicken is done when the thickest part of the drumstick is tender, and, when the meat is pricked with a fork, the juices run clear yellow. Where is my new meat thermometer?
Step five:
Transfer to a hot platter and serve – How about a cold plastic plate from Target?
I was too tired to make any side dishes. This is exactly what my family had for dinner. The chicken was delicious and moist and I am completely smitten yet frustrated with Julia Child. At the same time, I am incredibly impressed with Julie Powell and her blog… even without pictures. If my family is lucky, I may try a dessert next week… er, next year.
Mastering the Art of French Cooking