Previously on The Julia Child Challenge.
This is chicken in red wine
and this is chicken in white wine.
- Who is the inspiration behind this? - -My fiance.
You know, if this was made for me,
I would be like, "You actually love me."
My salmon is undercooked.
The winner this week is Jaine.
The cook leaving Julia's kitchen is Christine.
Julia's voice was always in my house.
If you're gonna have a sense of fear of failure,
you're just never gonna lear how to cook.
Eight passionate home cooks
are about to do the impossible.
Get cooking.
They'll cook alongside their hero.
- Delicious. - Really yummy.
Who also started as a home cook.
I just love to muck around in the kitchen.
And found her calling later in life.
Welcome to The French Chef.
I'm Julia Child.
One cook will wi the ultimate prize.
A three-month all-expense paid trip
to cooking school in Paris.
What?
All in their ques to prove...
All you need is a little bit of imagination.
Who has the skill...
Woo-hoo!
To win...
That's time.
The Julia Child Challenge.
I keep wanting that win,
but then it just escape me.
But I will put forth my best effort.
I feel a lot of pressure of course,
because, you know, I want to keep winning.
This is a national security oven.
It's not to be open for 25 minutes
or everybody will be court-martialed.
There's a souffle in it.
- Hey, everyone. - -Hey.
Hi. Hi.
Hello, cooks. Welcome back to Julia's Kitchen.
This week, we're going to take a look
at Julia's time in France.
In culinary school, you know,
that's the time where you really build
the foundation to your cooking.
When Julia enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu,
she had to learn the proper cooking techniques
for literally everything.
Whether it'd be knife skills,
how to use basic cooking tools,
or the proper cooking techniques
for various proteins.
These basic foundations to technique
are what's going to build you as a chef.
Which is why Julia wanted to write the book,
Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
To teach home cooks the proper way
to do things in the kitchen.
She made cooking way less scary
and made you feel like you can also
do these things yourselves.
All right. For this first round,
you'll be making that most iconic of French dishes,
the souffle.
- Oh. - Oh, my God.
So let's take a look at this terrifying monster,
this mystery souffle.
What is it after al.
Well, it's melted chocolate.
We've done that before.
It's white sauce, we've done that.
As a matter of fact, I have news for you,
you've known how to make a souffle all along.
Fantastic. It is my favorite dish.
I love making it.
I love the technical aspects of it.
It's magic, and I love eggs,
so I'm, I'm really ready for this one.
Julia also loved new kitchen technology.
But for this round,
we want you to show us what you can do
only using your hands.
That's right. You'll only be able to use this.
Ah!
You're ready?
We're getting a workout today.
The humble whisk.
I'm gonna beat this by hand just because I like to.
All right, cooks.
Shake those hands out,
stretch out your forearms,
and get cooking. Go!
I don't think anyone should be scared to make anything,
because there isn't any trick at all
to making a souffle.
Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees,
get out all the ingredients you want
in your pots and pans,
you can go right to it.
All the souffle is,
and we've done several of them before,
it's a thick soft space with a flavor in it,
into which you fold beaten egg white.
The souffle is, like, the celebration of the egg.
It's a dish that you're petrified to make.
- It's so temperamental. - We're, we're...
- Yeah. - It so temperamental, you're scared...
There's so many areas of failure immediately.
Exactly. You have to really wait until it comes out
to know if all of that beating of egg whites has worked.
You know, there's that rise to it, you bite into it,
you feel like it's going to be decadent,
- but there's so... - Like, it's that
- it's the, the real aeration... - Yeah.
Um, and just incredible, incredible flavor
that you're looking for in that finished product.
- And then... - -Mmm-hmm.
The coup de grace is whether or not
- there's, uh, a sauce accompaniment or... - -Right.
This is why I'm not a baker.
Which is what I'm saying, agreed.
- It's stressing me out. - Same here. Same here.
We are getting some chocolate going.
Uh, we're going to get this melted down
with some coffee and a little bit of water.
We're just making the base for chocolate souffle.
I'm excited for this challenge.
My goal is to just execute a proper souffle.
So, I'm going a little bit simple,
making a classic souffle,
and I'm gonna kind of try to elevate that
by making a nice berry coulis to go alongside of it.
Dump the spoon.
You're gonna go... You're gonna go whisk.
You know, Cliff comes over, and
he's offering up some advice as far time management,
and I followed his work in his restaurants
for a while now. So to be able to cook for hi
and have him critique my food, absolutely amazing.
That looks way better.
And to prepare the souffle mold,
I always use my fingers for buttering,
because I think it's much easier.
You want to be sure to have lots of butter in the bottom
because if there aren't...
If it isn't thoroughly buttered,
you then cannot unmold it.
So, I'm making a coconut souffle
with lime and then lime zest.
It's going to have a little bit of my culture,
because I'm from the Philippines.
And so, I'm gonna make like
an ube sauce to go with it.
When I was growing up, we moved around a lot.
Uh, we migrated to this country when I was 11.
I've always felt the Philippines was my home
and then that wasn't the case anymore.
My grandmother was the first person
that kind of really gave me food memories,
because she would take me out to the market.
Because that's what we would have in the Philippines.
We have tropical weather, so we have coconuts.
We have this thing called ube,
which is a purple yam and those are,
like, staples in Philippines.
I wanted to incorporate that into the souffle.
I'm totally going on this non-French direction
of traditional chocolate or cheese.
I'm just going to do what I'm going to do.
The worse thing that could happen today
is that my souffles don't rise.
That is the worst thing.
I'm making a simple cheese souffle
with a ton of cheese in it.
My base is looking good.
Confidence is everything in the kitchen,
and I learned to be like this with Julia.
And in about 25 minutes,
it should come out all puff with pride,
and so should I. I hope.
I'm a pretty confident person, too,
because I have to be.
To move to another country,
to change careers, you know
if you're not confident, it's not gonna work.
And every time I'm confident
it turns out, like, great dish.
I think that Julia always said
that once you learn a technique,
you don't need the recipe anymore,
and I tried to focus on that a lot.
Cheese souffle, I'm trying to get these eggs separated.
Lot of egg whites.
I'm using gruyere, mustard,
a little bit of cherry, and, uh, cayenne pepper
instead of nutmeg today.
So, it has a little bit of a different flavor.
Um, I really love this recipe.
The first time I made this,
I actually cried a little bit,
it tasted so good.
It was really delicious.
You're going with the cheese souffle here?
A cheese souffle, but, um...
What kind of cheese?
I have gruyere and parmesan,
it's pretty standard, but I like to bump it up
- with mustard, um... - Oh.
I really admire, uh, Melissa's work.
She's kind of everywhere right now.
Have you made this recipe before?
I have. I make this, uh, quite often at home.
My husband, uh, my husband really loves it.
I didn't know that Melissa has this background
in Classic French cooking,
and to me, that's the basis of everything.
To me, that is the epitome of technique.
So big love for that.
Ooh, see, that is not what I wanted.
Uh, why these keep breaking on me?
Come on.
Oh, we're whisking already.
- Okay. - Whisking away.
Uh, but I have my bechamel sauce ready,
I just have to whisk these eggs,
which I feel is, like, the hardest part.
Um, other than not opening up the oven door while it's...
- Let's see. - Baking.
I never made a souffle before, but I do know
sort of the keys to a successful souffle.
I wanna make sure that I ge the egg whites correct.
I wanna make sure it gets that nice rise.
And for someone that is not very patient,
I need to make sure that I don't open up that oven.
What's in your bechamel?
So, I try... I wanna get the flavors
of something I really like to eat during breakfast.
So, I add some tomato paste as oppose to tomatoes,
a ton of cheese, um, a little bit of paprika,
nutmeg, salt, and I also added some fish sauce,
- uh, instead of, um, just... - Yeah.
regular salt.
Sort of learning as I go,
this is my second souffle that I've made.
What's your first souffle?
Um, unsuccessful baking.
I've been in love with France in general
since, I don't know, I could crawl.
But I've never made a souffle before.
- Can I taste? - Hmm. Hmm.
- What are you making? - Well, you can taste
- the blueberry for sure. - -Yeah?
This needs some work.
So, I'm, I'm making a lavender blueberry souffle.
Yes.
I made some lavender milk,
use that for... With my base with the butter,
- and the flour, and some sugar. - Okay.
- I just hope the... - -And some
lavender comes through, right?
I usually like to... At home,
I steep my lavender in my milk...
- In the milk? - For pancakes and things like that.
I make sure it's not too soupy.
I hate soupy lavender when it's like too much.
-Light notes. Really light notes. -Um, yes, very light.
Um, and I tasted it, like, when I smelled it,
I was like, "Okay. I think we... I think we're there.
I just hope it really comes through. If not,
it's just a nice blueberry souffle."
If...
That color is funky.
Yeah, right? I like it.
Who's got the cream of tartar?
Now, it needs to get as much air
into the egg whites as possible
and that makes them melt higher.
And it's also a good exercise, you know,
at least you're not beating from your shoulder,
you're beating from your elbow.
Woo!
I need your help, man. Do you wanna...
I'm... I need it myself right now.
Do you wanna give it a try?
- Hi. - -Hello.
How's the whipping going here?
- It's going... - You're like right on that trash can
- like woo, woo, woo, woo. - -Oh, yeah.
I'm... I got it like.
How's your arm feeling?
Oh, it's burning.
I'm very impressed with your whipping.
Thank you.
- I like your whipping technique. - Coming from you,
that's like everything.
Julia used to do this task where you're like,
am I confident enough
- that these egg whites... - Eggs are gonna hold.
Are gonna hold and that they're done?
That you will flip the bowl over your head
and hold for one, one thousand, two, one thousand.
- I wanna see someone do that. - Because if you're...
I'm gonna... I will... I will do it.
Another trick is
you can turn the bowl upside down
and the egg whites stay.
Can I do the egg white tester? Is it safe?
Ooh, this is... this is stressful.
Yeah! We did it!
That means it works. That means that Dustin's souffle will rise.
All right. Everyone get your souffles in the oven.
Do not open.
What is this?
Oh, my God.
What the heck?
Uh, that would be a problem.
I just forgot to put the cheese
in the cheese souffle.
And now, I'm kind of freaking out a little,
because this is my challenge.
What am I gonna do?
Uh, Elena,
guess what I forgot to put in my cheese souffle?
Oh, no.
It's just gonna have to be a souffle.
A plain souffle. Right.
Uh, but maybe I can make a sauce Mornay.
I'll tell you what, that's what I'm gonna do.
You got this, Bill.
I mean, I'm not gonna put, uh,
cheese souffle out there with no cheese.
It's not gonna happen.
Uh, so, I'm just gonna make a sauce Mornay.
Oh, well, there's the cheese.
Baking is just outside of my comfort zone.
Baking is very precise.
The slightest measurement of
and your whole dish is ruined.
Souffles are notoriously
this really intimidating thing.
I've made them a couple of times,
uh, in varying levels of success.
Who I'm truly worried about right now is Dustin.
Because I think we're at, like, 17 minutes.
You shouldn't open the oven
until the souffle is well risen,
at least for 35 minutes.
Ah, Jaine, I'm screwed.
You're not, you're not.
All I can do is hope.
Don't give up yet.
All I can do is hope.
One of my favorite things
when I'm eating breakfast is making, like, scrambled eggs,
in this case, souffle.
I like some nice, just simple tomatoes,
olive oil, pinch of salt, so I'm gonna sort of, like,
lay that on top of the souffle once it comes out,
um, and some fresh chives on top.
Thirteen minutes, everyone.
I already peeked, because I'm crazy.
Wait, Jaine, where's your oven?
Jaine, my oven... My temperature was, was off.
- Was off? - My temperature was off.
And be sure that your oven is correct.
If you haven't checked it with an oven thermometer,
be sure to check it, because it has to cook
in just the right amount of speed.
So the temperature I want to bake my souffle at is 350,
and I looked down, and I noticed
my temperature is somehow at 450.
It ruined them.
- Oh, I'm sorry. - My oven was set higher.
It's such a silly mistake
that I can't go home over this,
because it's so stupid to go home,
because of an oven dial.
Ninety seconds, everyone.
Shoot!
Oh, no.
Two of them deflated.
Shoot.
Oh, judges, please look over here, judges.
Oh.
Guys, it's time. That's time.
Oh, those beautiful roasted tomatoes
didn't get to land on the souffles.
I'm just hoping that the lif
and the flavoring that they have already
will be enough to get the judges.
So if you do nice, as you can see
it's beginning to sink very slightly.
So you just want to hurry into the dining room,
gliding softly so as not to disturb it.
- Hello. - Dustin,
have you made souffles before?
- Uh, I've made souffles a couple times. - -Uh-huh.
Again, with every challenge the, uh, the clock just adds
a whole another layer to, to cooking eggs.
- It's the hardest part. - As is the competition.
I am... I am three years older just from this competition.
Poke a little bit in the middle
and then dump the coulis right down in there.
- Oh, that's good. - -Oh, man.
Also, there's raspberries, sugar,
some red wine, some cab,
and then a little bit of clove that I,
uh, steeped in there for a bit.
You are a hundred percent the rule breaker/
give me out of the box. So, it's so interesting
that we got just the classic chocolate souffle
with a beautiful raspberry sauce.
Well done.
- It's delicious. - Whew.
Seven or eight more minutes, I would have gotten...
- Yes. - A higher rise...
- Uh-hmm. - But I'm not even mad at it.
This is beautiful.
I'm most impressed by your flavor profiles.
You really focused on the techniques
- and it shines. - Thank you.
- You're welcome. - Thank you.
- Hi, Britt. - -How's it going?
- Hello. - -How are you?
- Not too happy. - -Not too happy, why?
So I had this amazing idea
to do a Lavender Blueberry Souffle.
I realized my oven was a little too high somehow.
The creativity behind it was so smart
with the lavender, and the blueberries,
and those little... The notes
of the acidity from the lemon.
- It is overcooked. I mean... - -Yeah.
That's the elephant in the room.
- Thank you so much. - Thank you.
Thank you...
Hi. It's a traditional gruyere cheese souffle.
There's a little bit of parmesan on top.
And I think the arugula brings that kind of bitterness,
because I didn't know if you notice,
but I added a lot of cheese.
- Oh, yes. - But it's so light and airy.
Your souffle is perfectly seasoned as well,
like there... You get the cheese components,
but it's not too aggressive.
You completely nailed it. It's delicious.
-Thank you so much. It's delicious. -Thank you, chefs.
- Thank you. - Thank you. I appreciate it.
- Elena. - Hi.
So, it's a coconut lime souffle with an ube sauce.
- I love that you put a whole cultural spin on this. - -Yeah.
- And you put a lot of you into this souffle. - I really wanted...
My favorite part about watching you cook today
was whipping the egg whites on top of the garbage can.
Yes, because as you know
I am vertically challenged.
But you made it work. Like, the ube is so great
and the... I can taste the coconut,
but I just feel like a little bit more of lime
would have really brought out the coconut...
- Oh, yeah. - In a bigger way.
- Yeah. - Um, your egg whipping
was so perfect, so I was expecting
- your souffle to really higher rise. - -A high rise.
- Yup. - Composition aside, the idea is phenomenal.
Thank you so much.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
- Fabrizio. - Welcome, judges.
Well, this is sort of a play on a very controversial thing
that I used to do as a kid, and I still do today.
- Controversial, huh? - So, I...
I'm a ketchup-on-eggs person.
- Okay. - I like where you're going here.
Um, and I'm a very pro ketchup on eggs.
No. No. No, I'm not with any of you.
- No? - -No.
-Please let the chefs talk. -Continue. I'm sorry. Go ahead. Yes, go ahead.
I added a little tomato paste.
Um, I also added some fish sauce,
which I know is not very traditional in a souffle,
but I like the umami flavor that really pairs well
with the, uh, tomato paste.
These were supposed to go on top,
like an adult version of ketchup.
We can't judge it with a tomato obviously,
- because it's great to eat... - Oh, it's so good.
- Yeah. - but we can't judge with a tomato...
We can't judge it with a tomato,
because it didn't get on top.
Um, because it actually works
really, really well with the whole thing.
Because I actually think
the fish sauce is way too much.
- Uh-hmm. Yeah. - I'm actually getting
so much fish that it feels
more of like a fish souffle, to be honest.
Like, the tomato actually mellows it out.
- Uh-hmm. - But I can't judge it with the tomato.
- Of course. - Thank you, Fabrizio.
Thank you so much. Thank you, chef. Thank you.
- Hi, Bill. - Hey.
- How are you? - -I'm well.
This looks incredible.
Thanks.
It's, uh, it represents a little bit of a pivot.
Um, I was making a cheese souffle for you
and forgot to put the cheese into the base.
Uh, I pivoted and made a sauce Mornay,
and used the cheese and put it on top.
- It's so smooth and velvety. - -Perfect.
- Thank you. Thank you. - -It's...
- Hmm. - Uh, dude.
- He's having a moment. - No, no, I can't...
No, I can't...
He's having a love moment right now.
Okay.
You need to go shower now.
- Let's go. - I am... I'm...
I'm so... I'm so filthy right now.
Come and see me later with that cheese sauce.
Remember that a souffle will wait for you.
The important thing is how to time it
so neither one of you collapses.
Making souffles by hand is not an easy job.
You guys should be very proud,
and very proud that you guys all pulled it off.
Jaine, yours is my favorite today.
Your souffle had a beautiful rise to it.
The cheese just added so much flavor
and it had just a great compliment
with the corn on the side
and that sweetness that came through.
Thank you. I appreciate it.
- My favorite goes to Bill. - Thank you.
The execution was spot-on, every single point.
- It was absolutely delicious. - Wonderful.
Cliff has been left speechless,
so congratulations, Bill, for doing that to him.
Really, really good. Really good.
You're all still in the running for the win today,
but you two are the ones to watch.
Julia famously loved new kitchen gadgets and tools,
they made things easier to cook with.
She was famously ahead of her time.
Julia embraced technology at a time when it was frowned upon,
when it was considered cheating in the kitchen.
When I first came back from France,
I did everything by hand,
so
I think it's pretty fast, huh.
Are these your original fingers? How do you...
This is what I think is
just put it into there.
That's the devil's work.
Isn't that amazing? Let me put a...
- That is amazing. - It really is amazing.
There are people who would frown on that and say, uh...
I would say fool on them.
But isn't that... Isn't that something?
Can you get it out of there though?
I knew you could.
There.
There we go.
There you go. Wasn't that marvelous?
Julia's embrace of modern technology
made it easier for home cooks
to tackle complicated French meals.
So for this second round,
we want you to embrace modern technology.
You'll have access to kitchen equipment from Julia's time,
as well as newer modern day equipment
that Julia didn't get to use.
You will have one and a half hours
to create two family style French dishes.
You will be serving them to us at Julia's dining table
where we're going to be able to taste your food
and raise a glass to Julia's love of French food.
Get cooking.
So I see these vintage tools
her stuff I've never even really seen before,
like, this vintage electric carver...
Carving knife, is that it?
I think anything that makes the job in the kitchen
a little bit more efficient and easier is welcomed,
so I love trying out new kitchen gadgets at home.
No, it's not.
Nope, and now, it's not in the thing.
Elena, how is it going over there?
Uh, not good.
Two courses in an hour and a half,
I thought an hour for souffle was impossible.
I can't.
I don't want to.
I'm just making a simple
potato salad and also a quiche.
For both dishes, I'm using the microwave.
Mixing cornstarch with water.
When you're making a dough,
you have to figure out how much water
you're really gonna need.
With this technique, it's foolproof.
You don't need to figure ou how much water
because the water is congealed with the cornstarch
and then, as soon as you put that with the dough,
it just comes together.
So that's definitely the most modern approach
to the microwave that I've seen ever.
From a very old technique of, like, baking.
You know, it's a lot to do but, you know, get yourself...
- Agreed. Yes. - Relaxed, okay?
I'm also going to use the vintage food processor
to make my dough for the quiche.
I came here to compete,
push my skill set to the next level.
You just have to say yes.
And that's what Julia did.
She just said yes.
Like opportunities and career changes.
Those series of yeses gave us Julia.
I have to say all the judges always
have great Julia Child stories,
but hearing that you actually
were able to cook for her birthday.
I was a young cook.
I was 17, it was my first job.
I was in the pastry world thinking, you know,
- I wanted to start somewhere. - -Yeah.
And, um, my job was to really make
literally hundreds of profiteroles.
- Yeah. - And make sure they were perfect.
If they weren't perfect,
my pastry chef would toss them,
and then I realized, "This is for Julia Child."
This is, like, "We're not messing around here."
So I was like shaking, like, adding them to the cake.
- It was her 88th birthday. - -Amazing.
That was just such a highlight of my career
'cause, you know, she's just...
She was someone I had watched
- since I was really young. - Of course.
I wanna, like, kind of do that
with a skirt steak.
One evening, uh, for my birthday,
a friend took me to dinner,
uh, but he took me to a French bistro.
And it was my first experience
at a place like that.
So I ordered escargot.
Not bad.
So out came the most beautiful porcelain dish
with the snails and it... and it just
it just sizzled as it came to the table
and you smell the garlic, and the parsley,
and those snails were just transformative
the way fine art
can just completely take you to another place.
I thought, "Man, this is it.
This is French cooking."
How are you, Bill?
I'm, uh, I think I'm doing okay,
I promise this is gonna be my last heavy meal.
I'm making beef bourguignon.
Probably the most famous stew in all the world.
This is beef bourguignon.
Uh, right out of the gate, beef bourguignon,
- just going for it. - Absolutely.
It just... It just seemed to make sense with the, uh,
- with the Instant Pot. - That's what you've chosen as
- the new technology. - As the new technology.
Absolutely.
It makes a lot of sense.
The dish I'm really excited about is a asparagus veloute
that I'm using... Uh, I'm gonna use the blender,
- old school blender. - The old school blender.
Gonna try to make it a little lighter,
a little more vegetable-forward.
Okay. I love it. All right, get to it.
I think I really bit off more than I can chew this time.
I don't have a plan B,
so the bourguignon works or I go home.
Oh, man, I'm so far behind.
Pick up, pick up, pick up, pick up.
When I was thinking about what it would make,
the whole Julia collection of recipes was in my mind
dancing around.
I am making a almond and orange cake
with a little bit of almond flour
as my dessert and I will top it
with vacuum sealed orange segments in orange liqueur.
And I'm making savory crepe
a la Florentine as my main course.
When I first met Julia,
when she came to my life,
you know, I read "My Life in France".
And it is, of course, one of my favorite books.
And I've been always passionate about France,
because I grew up in the Amazon.
There was a community of missionaries,
they were from France,
and they decided to open a school for kids.
And I had this teacher, her name was actually France.
Yes.
And she would tell us about quiches,
pate a chouxs, you know, quenelles,
all of those beautiful words.
So when I saw Julia talking about those things,
I was like, "Oh, really? It's a real thing."
You know, it's, um... I want to learn
how to make those quiches,
pate a chouxs, all of those things.
I have never used the vacuum sealer before.
I think it should be like this.
But I had won the first challenge.
I knew I could risk a little bit more.
It's not going.
I don't know how to use it properly.
I'm freaking out.
I think I'm gonna have a heart attack.
And then suddenly, Chef Cliff comes to help.
Oh, it's not even... Oh.
This is not even close.
I'm looking at it, like, what's going on here?
Oh, my God.
I have no idea what's going on.
That's all you want. My pleasure.
- Thank you. Thank you, Chef. - Bye-bye.
Leave them. Use them at the last minute.
- Bye-bye. - Okay.
Thank you.
So my tool is this, um, old school stand mixer.
And I'll also be using a fryer.
I feel like so far week one, week two,
I've really been stretching my creativity,
and really trying to put in flavors that I grew up with
a lot of my Mexican upbringing in to French cuisine,
which I think I've done successfully so far.
But I'm sitting there realizing
I don't know that much about French food.
I can't think of that many dishes.
So essentially, what I'm making is
steak frites and chocolate mousse.
When I went to the first French restaurant ever,
that was the first French meal I've ever had.
So I'm gonna try to recreate that here.
- And... - I love steak frite.
- Oh, yeah. It's very classic. - Super classic.
And I feel, like, it's...
You can't really go wrong with it.
You and I, uh, every single time
we talk about this, right?
You're always just like,
"I have never done this thing before."
- And then all of a sudden... - A lot of these are theory,
- so... - Okay.
And theory of like... of, like seen recipes for mousse.
- Okay. - Um...
So we're getting a chocolate mousse?
Chocolate mousse.
So, I'm attempting what I think is chocolate mousse
chocolate and butter, sort of double-boiling
in a bowl over a pot.
Focus on whipping these egg yolks and sugar,
and I'm thinking like,
"Do I have to cook the egg yolks?
Do I have to double-boil the two?"
I feel like I've seen a video before
where they didn't do that.
And now, I'm questioning everything altogether.
And I don't know how this is gonna end up.
- Dustin. - Yo.
Tell me what delicious,
I'm assuming, sweet mousse are you making?
The sweetest mousse you can ever imagine
made out of delicious, bloody, irony chicken livers.
That sounds tasty.
I'm making a chicken liver mousse
with a burnt honey gelee.
I think people are often very intimidated by dishes
that use organ meat like livers and hearts.
But the first time I had chicken liver mousse,
I was blown away by how good it was.
And I've changed a lot of my friends' minds
with some good chicken liver mousse.
Hmm.
My dishes require a lot of technique.
This usually takes... Man, that was quick.
I'm getting one of these at home.
And then I'm also gonna mak a roasted rack of lamb
crusted in herbs with a parsnip puree.
For my more modern equipment, I use the deep fat fryer.
This challenge is all about Julia
and her time in France.
And it's making traditional French dishes.
I'm peeling potatoes and I'm gonna cut them down,
so they cook a little faster.
And that'll be for my vichyssoise.
Then, I'm going to start my leaks soon.
So because I have not made vichyssoise before,
I'm really gonna be looking at Julia's cookbook for a guide.
All this is, you know, we just have a quarter of wate
and, uh, three to four cups
each of leeks or onions and potatoes.
So it's really just like letting this cook up,
and then in the end, it'll be just blending it all together.
So my second dish, you can't get
any more traditional than a classic clafoutis.
Clafoutis, it's like a sweet pancake
usually with the fruit.
Today, I'm gonna do the mixed berry one.
I've added some orange liqueur in there.
For this, I'm using a vintage blender,
and for modern technology
and immersion blender for the soup.
I should probably get going on my steaks and the potatoes.
So the frites, so I would say
I know my way around a potato.
I'm a huge fan of French fries.
I'm just gonna hope
that the steak is cooked properly,
that the potatoes are great
and that they forgive me for the mousse.
Fabrizio needs to take those
perfectly cooked potatoes out of a glass bowl
and put them back on a sheet tray.
Because it's just gonna steam...
And also what he has... also what he has on those two pans.
He has a lot of combination.
Yeah.
Trying my best efforts
to somehow thicken the sauce a little.
Two minutes, cooks. Two minutes.
This seems like the dumbest thing.
As I'm performing this Simone Biles move
on this tart,
I know I need to take a breath.
Breathe and then I just took it down,
and then went off cleanly.
And that's when I even took a bigger breath
and said that,
"Hey, Elena, Bob Marley is here
and everything's gonna be all right."
One minute.
I think I can do it.
Bill, you need any help?
Uh, cutting some, uh, parsley for a garnish.
Parsley?
- If you don't mind. - -Got it.
Ten seconds.
Thank you. Yeah, I'm good. Thank you.
That is time, everyone. Good job.
I think when you're plannin to arrange a platter,
you should have some idea of what you're doing
so that it... it makes an attractive whole.
And so now, we're all ready to serve.
We have to come over more often.
Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous.
Wow.
French cooking
is what started it all for Julia.
And we are so excited to see what you have all come up with
because this looks absolutely fantastic.
Two dishes I made.
A traditional vichyssoise
and a traditional mixed berry clafoutis.
I used a vintage blender for my clafoutis batter,
and then I used an immersion blender
for my vichyssoise.
For 90 minutes, to build the flavor in this soup,
it is really lovely,
with just potatoes and just leeks.
The one little thing is the texture, just...
I was worried about the consistency.
Yeah. Yeah.
- Using the hand blender. - Blender. Yeah.
The clafoutis is very, very good.
For me, it's a touch too much fruit.
It makes it heavier than it should be.
I like the extra fruit. I don't know.
- I'm with you. - Right?
Uh, so the first course I made today
is a chicken liver mousse
with a burnt honey gelee on top.
For that, I used the food processor
to blitz my shallots.
And then, I used that to puree
the chicken liver mousse itself.
The second course is, um, herb-crusted rack of lamb.
For that, I used the deep fryer
to make my parsnip chips and then also to do
a really quick comfy on the, uh, on the tomatoes.
It's a lot of good flavor in this chicken liver mousse.
- Uh-hmm. - -Yeah.
The lamb is cooked beautifully.
The parsnip puree is phenomenal.
When I saw what you were attempting,
I was like, "That's a lot to do in an hour and a half."
- Yeah, that's good. - But you pulled it off.
You really pulled it off.
The liver mousse is just absolutely outstanding.
The spices and the sweetness on top,
like that's just absolutely...
Really I only want it that way from now on.
Thanks.
So, Elena, I'd love to know what you made for us.
It's just a potato and egg salad
that Julia has in her book.
And then, the second dish is a quiche
with mushrooms and leeks.
First off, I'm just really excited
that I finally got to use the microwave.
- Just put that out there. - -When you say it like that, I'm like...
Yes. And so I, uh... I was really happy about that.
And also the food processor.
The potatoes are cooked beautifully.
I love the red skin potatoes with the skin still on,
they kind of flake off.
The ratio of the mushrooms
and the leeks to the custard in the quich
I thought was spot on.
I would have loved to see some herbs
but the big issue is the crust.
The crust is actually raw.
I agree a little more herbs or something
to kind of brighten it up and lift it.
- It read across the board. - -Thank you, Elena.
- Thank you, guys. - Okay. Here you go, Elena.
There you go, Elena.
- Go ahead, Bill, pour for me. - Let me... I will.
I love you guys.
First, I wanted to thank you, Cliff,
for stepping in when I was about to drop dead.
Because...
I though...
Are you talking about the vacuum sealer?
Yeah, because it was towards the end.
It's just I couldn't take it anymore.
You are more than welcome.
And you are really funny.
Julia calls this a gateau.
This is a crepe cake a la Florentine.
And then the dessert is a gateau a I'orange
that's traditionally served with orange butter cream.
And then, they used the vacuum sealer
to compress the oranges in orange liqueur.
And for my other dish,
I used a blender just like my mom had one.
So have you had this dish before?
No. Not like this.
I had the... the crepes with the Florentine filling.
You know, it's kind of a lasagne,
- but not quite, and... - Using the crepe-sized layers?
Yes, using... using the crepes.
Yeah, and I... and I thought, "Well that's brilliant."
- It is phenomenal. - Okay.
The perfect layering of the crepes,
and then moving over to the other cake,
and you decided to compress, and use that vacuum sealer.
But you didn't overdo it.
You maintain the delicate nature of the segments.
Beautiful job.
I'm, uh, I'm upset.
Like, every single time, everything is just fantastic.
- Thank you. - I'm like my mom
used to make us like, uh, for our seventh birthdays.
She made it a tradition to always make
like orange chiffon cake.
And this reminds me of that.
And I've made it before, and it
it isn't as good as this.
- I mean, it's just so good. - Thank you so much.
I made an asparagus veloute,
and then I made a beef bourguignon.
I think I kind of just whipped up.
For the veloute, I used the blender.
Uh, for the beef bourguignon, I used the Instant Pot.
Soup has great flavor.
It tastes like spring, you know?
It has like a lot of that asparagus-forward flavor.
I would say, yeah, the viscosity is a little loose.
It's a little thin.
The issue I take with this is,
is it another dish?
It's a more of a palate cleanser,
it's more of a, you know, as if someone gave me a side of something.
Moving on to the beef bourguignon,
and the meat is cooked incredibly well.
So, so, so well.
All of the vegetable accompaniments
that are in there are cooked so well.
- Just more wine for body. - Wine.
So I made the ver traditional steak frites.
And so, I used the oil fryer for the frites.
For the old equipment, I used a stand mixer
and a first attempt at a chocolate mousse.
Did you put anythi on top of the steak?
I was planning on a, uh, Bordelaise sauce.
But I was running a little bit out of time.
It needed a sauce, you know that.
You decided to not put on what you had
because you didn't like it.
That's the right move.
That's always the right move. That's the right move.
The potatoes are my favorite part.
Your first attempt at a mousse was nice,
but you didn't cook out the zabaglione.
There is a raw egg yolk flavor that I'm getting right now.
When you cook the egg out, that,
that also gives it structure as well.
It's a tad bit assertive on the salt.
It kind of eats almost like a salted caramel.
- Uh-hmm. - -Yeah.
French cooking is not easy. It is so hard.
Jaine took it home with her version of a gateau.
All the layers and technique
- that she put into that... - That's work.
Yeah, between the souffle, the orange cake,
you know, the savory crepe Florentine.
- Dustin. - Ding, ding, ding.
That chicken liver mousse.
- This is magic. - -I was so impressed.
This is magic especially for a home cook.
- Exactly. - And nailed that lamb.
And he knew he nailed that lamb.
- Yeah. - -He knew it, too.
Fabrizio's chocolate mousse
really just failed him today.
He didn't cook out the rawness of those eggs.
Yeah, another person that really seemed
to struggle today would be Elena.
That quiche, as buttery and flaky
and delicious as that crust was,
it was raw at the bottom.
- 100% raw. - -Yeah.
What's the bigger crime, raw eggs or raw dough?
We've got to bring the souffles into this as well.
So you have Elena's souffle that was a little watery.
Fabrizio left out an entire component,
a very necessary component, which was that tomato.
Because it was completely... it was a completely different dish with a tomato.
I mean, Elena and Fabrizio both had big mistakes today,
but I think it's clear how we feel.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
It was incredible watching you guys
tackle French cuisine.
The winner this week is...
- Jaine. - Thank you.
I am the winner again.
I'm the winner I'm the winner
Jaine, you did a... you did a fantastic job today.
I will not soon forget that savory crepe.
Very good.
So that's two in a row for you.
Wow. Congratulations. Yes.
Thank you. Thank you, Chef.
I think Julia guided me through.
From the bottom of my heart, I didn't expect to win today.
- Bill? - Hey.
You got a special shout-out because that souffle,
I... It gave me feelings.
Great.
So unfortunately, there were two of you today
that had an undercooked element,
and an under-seasoned element in your dishes.
So the cook that will be leaving.
Julia's Kitchen today is...
Fabrizio.
It was the egg yolks in that mousse
- that were just raw. - Uh-hmm.
If anything this makes me want to cook more,
definitely gonna make a chocolate mousse again.
And I'm sure I'll figure it out this time.
I feel like I'm coming out of this
a lot more knowledgeable and a lot more passionate
So that's all for today.
This is Julia Child.
Bon appetite.
Next on...
Before Julia the cook, there was Julia the spy.
In this briefcase are five classified files.
We want you to create a dish
inspired by a place Julia visited
during her time in the OSS.
I don't think I've ever had Sri Lankan food.
Oh, my gosh.
Total amateur hour over here right now.
You guys don't do this to me.