Julie and Julia Beef Bourguignon??

How did Julie Powell from the Julia and Julie movie possibly make beef bourguignon perfectly the first time? Chef Todd Mohr will follow the recipe today and see what happens

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Julie and Julia movie
• online cooking classes
• chef todd mohr

[DLRS1]

Why pfaff around so much with the beef? You tossed it about so badly that you ended up boiling it rather than browning it nicely. You're a chef, but any good home cook (like me and loads of others), knows not to stir much in order for it to brown. As much as I dislike Julie Powell, she is a good cook, and she's the audience for whom Julia was writing. We already know the basics, and it's a fairly simple recipe if you're already au fait with some pretty basic tecniques.

[ChefToddMohr]

@DLRS1 - You've said the magic word, and proven my case. Thank you. "it's a fairly simple recipe if you're already au fait with some pretty basic techniques." Exactly my point.

A written recipe won't teach you to cook any more than having sheet music teaches you to play piano. It's the basic methods that allow you to cook any recipe.

[DLRS1]

@ChefToddMohr Yes, but my point actually was that Julia wrote that book (Mastering the Art of French Cooking) with people like me in mind. It's a recipe for someone who already knows how to cook, and wants some new, and possibly more sophisticated ideas. Her intended audience was never beginners.

[ChefToddMohr]

@DLRS1 - Exactly! If you were teaching a beginner to cook, would you start with Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking"? I'm just trying to point out that it's from Hollywood, where people can fly, turn into werewolves, time travel, and learn to cook from a book that's NOT for beginners.

[citizen000011]

Why are you so angry?

You are trying to show what to the people?

That you can't learn HOW to cook from a book? There are many many people that know how to cook without taken lessons or going to a fancy school, and that is a fact.... what I really don't understand is why does it bother you so much??, if you are good on what you do, what does it matter? why make a video with that attitude?

[ChefToddMohr]

@citizen000011 - Satire, my friend. Satire. You'll have to watch a few more of my videos. I'm not angry, I'm trying to make a point by picking on that movie.

Search for my "French Onion Soup" or "Broccoli Cheese Casserole" episodes. You'll see I'm quite pleasant.

[ndktube]

Julie didn't make beef b perfectly the first time--she fell asleep while it was in the oven and ruined it, then took the next day off work "sick" to do it all over again.

Awkward math to make a third portion isn't the recipe's fault. Make half and have leftovers.

Blindly cooking by recipe without applying judgment along the way is indeed asking for trouble. But does anybody really do that? A straw man.

I hope these new posts aren't just teases to the blog. Benefit of the doubt, for now.

[it0wont0be0long]

great vid, sucks that you removed most of your cooking lessons on youtube ;_;

[posaune16]

I would venture to say that Julia's target audience wasn't exactly a millennial twenty-something with no idea how to cook. American housewives in the 1960s certainly weren't sophisticated cooks, but they knew enough to wade through "Mastering..." with little fuss. For those who couldn't, Julia invented the cooking show, so they could watch and learn. Brilliant woman, she was - it's a pity this video comes across as an attack on Julia Child, who single-handedly revolutionized American cuisine.

[Maxseven777]

Good video, which makes it clear why some people have difficulty with learning to cook. Many recipes by well-known chefs are written with much ambiguity, and also fail to include the basics (since that would be overly repetitive and boring to write over and over). Also, a major irritation to me, is giving obscure instructions, but leaving out WHY the particular thing is being done. There should always be post-text stating why one is performing the step in the recipe. 

[biofire]

also

[biofire]

It's amazing to me that some people don't understand the message. The recipe is simple to understand IF you have acquired basic cooking methods. If not, you have no idea when the food is properly cooked. Instructions saying to turn the beef frequently until brown on all sides for 3 to 5 minutes is really confusing for a starting cook, yet easy to understand for one who knows the sauté method.

[jmurphy983]

God this video is annoying!!

[Jlsnow5]

wow. there are way too many negative comments. its a shame.

i personally think you are brilliant.

keep up the good work.