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Recipes inspired by Julia Child

So you can't wait to watch Julie & Julia and don't have a copy of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking to hand? Or perhaps you like the theme but want a more modern take on things - either way, take a look at these recipes we were inspired to pull from the GT archives after we left the cinema ourselves.
Recipes inspired by Julia Child

So you can’t wait to watch Julie & Julia and don’t have a copy of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking to hand? Or perhaps you like the theme but want a more modern take on things – either way, take a look at these recipes we were inspired to pull from the GT archives after we left the cinema ourselves.

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Martinis

Martinis

Martinis

They’re not necessarily part of Julia’s program, but they’re integral to Julie’s way of life, along with Gimlets. Everyone has their ideas on what makes a good Martini. Here’s ours.

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PHOTOGRAPH CHRIS COURT

Upside-down pear cake

Upside-down pear cake

And in what might be one of the most GT office-pleasing recipes ever, Phillip Searle’s upside-down pear cake.

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PHOTOGRAPH CON POULOS

Tarte Tatin

Tarte Tatin

Tarte Tatin

We like the pear take on the classic French upside-down cake so much that we’re going to give you not one but two versions. Here’s Bistro Vue’s version…

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PHOTOGRAPH CON POULOS

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Buttermilk bavarois with rhubarb and strawberries Romanoff

Buttermilk bavarois with rhubarb and strawberries Romanoff

Buttermilk bavarois with rhubarb and strawberries Romanoff

Strawberry bavarois

We’ve got strawberries, we’ve got the Bavarian cream, only our version uses buttermilk, and the berries are soaked in booze. What’s not to like about our buttermilk bavarois with rhubarb and strawberries Romanoff?

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PHOTOGRAPH WILLIAM MEPPEM

Crowd-pleasing chocolate cake with roast rhubarb

Crowd-pleasing chocolate cake with roast rhubarb

Crowd-pleasing chocolate cake with roast rhubarb

Crowd-pleasing chocolate cake with roast rhubarb

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PHOTOGRAPH BEN DEARNLEY

Soft-centred chocolate tortini

Soft-centred chocolate tortini

Soft-centred chocolate tortini

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PHOTOGRAPH BRETT STEVENS

Rich chocolate cake

Rich chocolate cake

Rich chocolate cake

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PHOTOGRAPH WILLIAM MEPPEM

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Chocolate and pecan pie with candied pecans

Chocolate and pecan pie with candied pecans

Chocolate and pecan pie with candied pecans

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PHOTOGRAPH CHRIS CHEN

Chocolate sour cherry cake

Chocolate sour cherry cake

Chocolate sour cherry cake

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PHOTOGRAPH VANESSA LEVIS

Chocolate recipes

Triple chocolate praline tart

Triple chocolate praline tart

Chocolate cream pie

Easily one of the most enticing dishes in the movie, and a genre of dish we have a lot of time for here at GT. Check out our favourites, starting with:

Triple chocolate praline tart

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PHOTOGRAPH WILLIAM MEPPEM

Boning a chicken

Boning a chicken

…and if you still really want to get your hands that far into a bird, check out food director Emma Knowles’ guide to boning poultry.

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PHOTOGRAPH ANSON SMART

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Roast duck with crackling

Roast duck with crackling

…and if you’re after one of those Queens-rooftop-dinner-party-style showstoppers to impress your Manhattan friends, why not give this pressed roast duck with crackling a whirl?

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PHOTOGRAPH WILLIAM MEPPEM

Roast duck with sautéed cabbage and apple cider sauce

Roast duck with sautéed cabbage and apple cider sauce

Boned duck en croûte

In her final, most challenging dish, Julie Powell bones and stuffs a duck and then roasts it in pastry. That’s one you’re going to need Julia for, we’re afraid, but if you’re like us and would be happy just roasting the duck as it is, we think you’ll enjoy Rodney Dunn’s recipe for roast duck with sautéed cabbage and apple cider sauce

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PHOTOGRAPH CHRIS CHEN

Lobster à l’Americaine

Lobster à l’Americaine

…and there are far more noble reasons of taste to do it, too, as seen in this recipe for a grilled lobster with mustard and burnt butter.

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PHOTOGRAPH BEN DEARNLEY

Lobster

Lobster

Homard à l’Américaine

Prepping a live lobster shouldn’t be anywhere near as traumatic for the lobster (or for you) as the movie may lead you to believe…

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PHOTOGRAPH AMANDA MCLAUCHLAN

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Jacques Reymond: Chicken with vin jaune from the Jura

Morel-enriched chicken with vin jaune

Morel-enriched chicken with vin jaune

Chicken with cream and mushrooms

If you thought the version in the movie looked outrageous, wait till you get a load of this morel-enriched chicken with vin jaune from Melbourne master chef Jacques Reymond.

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PHOTOGRAPH SHARYN CAIRNS

Roast chicken with potato, fennel and tarragon sauce

Roast chicken with potato, fennel and tarragon sauce

Roast chicken

We almost don’t need a recipe for this one: buy the best bird you can afford, wipe it dry and season it very thoroughly inside and out, then roast it in a pretty hot oven for about an hour – no fuss, no muss. There are a thousand good variations on the theme, though, and this video of roast chicken with potato, fennel and tarragon sauce is just one of them.

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Slow-cooked beef in red wine

Slow-cooked beef in red wine

Boeuf Bourguignon

The dish Julie frets over when she’s expecting a reporter from The Christian Science Monitor is, in truth, pretty straightforward – it just needs plenty of time. For something with similar flavours but a bit more textural interest, try our slow-cooked beef in red wine.

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PHOTOGRAPH CHRIS CHEN

Creamed parsley soup with egg and ham

Creamed parsley soup with egg and ham

Poached eggs

We know you know how to poach eggs (fresh eggs, and vinegar and salt in the simmering water being the keys); how about taking it to the next level using them as the garnish for a creamed parsley soup with ham?

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PHOTOGRAPH WILLIAM MEPPEM

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Artichokes with Hollandaise sauce

Artichokes with Hollandaise sauce

Artichokes with hollandaise sauce

Fear not: we’ve got everything you need to know about artichokes in our

artichoke masterclass, plus a recipe for artichoke, broad bean and goat’s cheese salad, but if you want to simply prep and boil your artichokes, try them with the hollandaise from our poached ocean trout with hollandaise and peas recipe.

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PHOTOGRAPH TENY AGHAMALIAN

Mushroom and Taleggio bruschetta

Mushroom and Taleggio bruschetta

…and if something vegetarian is more your speed, you can’t beat this mushroom and Taleggio bruschetta.

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PHOTOGRAPH WILLIAM MEPPEM

Mushroom and guanciale bruschetta

Mushroom and guanciale bruschetta

Bruschetta

When we first meet Julie Powell, she hasn’t yet dived into the Julia Child challenge, but we can see that she loves food and likes to cook. Exhibit A is a scene involving a drippingly attractive bruschetta. Good as it is, we’d like to think the mushroom and guanciale bruschetta we nicked from Lauren Murdoch at Sydney’s Ash St Cellar is even better still…

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PHOTOGRAPH JASON LOUCAS

Whiting fillets with lemon and capers

Whiting fillets with lemon and capers

…and these whiting fillets with lemon and capers.

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PHOTOGRAPH BEN DEARNLEY

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Recipes inspired by Julia Child

Skate wings in brown butter

Skate wings in brown butter

Sole meunière

It’s this deceptively simple-looking bistro classic of fish pan-fried with a basic butter sauce that is positioned in the film as one of Julia Child’s epiphanies at the table in France. Sole isn’t something you see much of in Australia, but we pulled faces similar to Child’s when we first tasted these skate wings in browned butter

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PHOTOGRAPH BEN DEARNLEY

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