If you have even a passing interest in French cooking then you should be a student of Julia Child and her celebrated cookbooks, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” and “Julia Child, The Way to Cook.”

The more serious student will also want to get to know books by Escoffier, Pomiane, Ginette Mathiot and America’s Thomas Keller and the irascible Anthony Bourdain, but for most of us Julia will be all we need.

Julia cooked what she wrote about and cooked it until she got it right. She attended Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, was instrumental in introducing French cooking to the United States. She had a popular cooking show on television when cooking shows were a novelty, but she never cooked professionally in a restaurant. She remains an icon in the culinary world and with good reason.

The recipes presented here are somewhat simplified, but are based on Julia Child originals. It seems pointless to include hard-to-get ingredients or time-consuming technique that most home cooks would not want to try. None of these recipes are set in concrete, if you like a particular ingredient, say the fresh sausage in the Pot-au-feu, add more, if you don’t like it add less.

Beef Bourguignon is a wonderful beef stew that at its heart is only slow cooked beef, red wine, carrots, small onions and mushrooms, but it is a wonderful combination.

It is a great example of country cooking that has been raised to haute cuisine. The fundamental technique is slow cooking something tough (as the lean beef of that day was) in red wine, just as in coq au vin. Its origins are probably in the region of Burgundy.

BEEF BOURGUIGNON

3 pounds beef stew meat cut into 1-inch cubes

1 cup thick sliced carrots

1 bottle red wine

3-4 chopped cloves of garlic

2 cups drained whole tomatoes

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon thyme

3 tablespoons butter kneaded with 3 tablespoons flour

24 small onions

3 cups fresh mushrooms

Dry the meat and then thoroughly brown in hot oil, working in small batches so not to over crowd the pan. Add the carrots and garlic and cook for 3 minutes. Add the wine, tomatoes, bay and thyme, bring to a simmer and cook for 2-3 hours or until the beef is tender.

Separately sauté the onions in butter until brown and done. Sauté the mushrooms in butter until they have given up their liquid.

When the stew is done thicken with the butter and flour (beurre-manie), adding it a little at a time. Combine the mushrooms and onions with the stew and serve.

STEAK AU POIVRE

Steak au poivre is a restaurant recipe, seldom prepared at home, but it is relatively simple. At its basics, it is merely a good quality cut of beef, normally a filet mignon, coated in coarsely ground black pepper, seared in butter and served with a pan sauce finished with cream. Potatoes make an ideal accompaniment.

1 steak per person

1/2 cup coarsely ground black pepper

1 tablespoon butter per steak (clarified is best)

Sauce

1 cup white wine

1/4 cup brandy

2-3 tablespoons brown stock, demi-glace or reduced beef stock

1-2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup heavy cream

Coat the filets in the crushed pepper and sear in very hot butter 2-3 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of the filet, but do not overcook, remove and set aside.

Deglaze the pan with the wine, stirring up all of the good bits stuck to the bottom, and then add the brandy and reduce by half (caution! the brandy may flame). Add the cream and reduce until thick and glossy. Finish with the butter.

POT-AU-FEU

Pot- au- feu is one of the most popular dishes in France and some consider it the national dish. It is home cooking at its best. It is a stew of meat, always including a cut of beef with cartilage, such as ox tail, sausage, garden vegetables and fresh herbs and is another example of a slow cook technique for the tougher cuts. Anthony Bourdain famously quipped in his Les Halles Cookbook: “Want to make a Frenchman cry? Make him a nice bowl of pot-au-feu.”

2 pounds beef roast or brisket

2 pound ox tail

2 pounds beef short rib

1 pound fresh sausage

2 thick sliced carrots

3-4 leek, tender white part only

1 large chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped celery

Bouquet garni

Add the beef, ox tail and short ribs to a large pot and simmer, skimming often. After 1 hour add the rest of the ingredients and simmer until the meat is tender. May be served with boiled potatoes and some recipes include cabbage.