On this day 10 years ago the Smithsonian Institution opened a new exhibit - Julia Child's kitchen. This week (on August 15) the original television chef (and master of slow food) would have celebrated her 100th birthday. Restaurants and foodies around the world celebrated with good food and good cheer. For our part, we prepared Coulis de Tomates À La Provençale (Tomato Sauce with Mediterranean Flavors) which was shared in the New York Times article "The Gifts She Gave".
I followed the recipe with a few substitutions. I used the herbs that came from our farm box, which may or may not have included everything called for in the "herb bouquet," (I do know for sure I used a bay leaf because I took it off my spice rack) nor was my bouquet tied up in cheesecloth - I simply picked out the herbs after cooking. Neither did I use sugar or an orange peel - I figured a dash of Triple Sec would suffice for both. I also opted not to use the tomato paste. It seemed silly to use canned paste when almost everything else I used was fresh. I don't imagine Julia would have thought much of the store-bought spinach /cheese ravioli we put the sauce on, but the pasta really turned out to be just a vessel for getting this rich, savory, sauce to our taste buds.
Today is also an important milestone for our family: it is our daughter's 15th birthday. There is no celebration here, however, as our progeny is away from home is exploring China this month. We look forward to learning about her travels when she returns at the end of the week.
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