Julia's Casual Dinners: Seven glorious menus for informal occasions [Hardcover]

Julia Child (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 11, 1999

Planning a large buffet for the holidays? An informal dinner? A barbecue? Julia offers a Buffet for 19 (featuring oysters and Turkey Orloff), a Chafing-Dish Dinner, and an Indoor/Outdoor Barbecue of butterflied lamb on the grill and homemade pitas. These menus--and four others--are packed with instructions on planning ahead, checking out staples, drawing up a shopping list, timing the meal, varying the menu, and creatively using leftovers. Instructive color photographs serve as a guide, showing ingredients, step-by-step procedures, and the finished dishes.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

For elegant food for informal occasions, try Julia's Casual Dinners, the third volume in her four-part retelling of Julia Child and Company and Julia Child and More Company. But don't let the term casual fool you. These meals are only relaxed in relation to Child's other food; the dishes here are not necessarily easy, cheap, or quick to prepare. For example, the picnic menu includes pâté en croute, which is expensive, time consuming, and must be made at least a day in advance. A picnic, however, is a casual occasion--and what a picnic it is! Child's basket contains a layered gazpacho salad, a fish terrine (in three layers with salmon, sole, scallops, and watercress), fresh vegetables, cheeses, three kinds of bread, spice cookies, and the above-mentioned pâté. Not all the menus are so ornate, however; the "Informal Dinner" of asparagus tips in puff pastry, veal roast, and sautéed spinach and zucchini seems simple by comparison. As usual, Child has suggestions that make intimidating entertaining appear possible, if not downright easy. For example, her "Buffet for 19" is carefully scripted, from when preparations should begin down to the location of the oyster bar and the timing of each course. Informal dining Julia Child-style may be a bit ambitious for some, but these meals will delight (no matter what your definition of casual is). --David Kalil

From the Inside Flap

Planning a large buffet for the holidays? An informal dinner? A barbecue? Julia offers a Buffet for 19 (featuring oysters and Turkey Orloff), a Chafing-Dish Dinner, and an Indoor/Outdoor Barbecue of butterflied lamb on the grill and homemade pitas. These menus--and four others--are packed with instructions on planning ahead, checking out staples, drawing up a shopping list, timing the meal, varying the menu, and creatively using leftovers. Instructive color photographs serve as a guide, showing ingredients, step-by-step procedures, and the finished dishes.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 115 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; 1 edition (May 11, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 037540337X
• ISBN-13: 978-0375403378
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,047,699 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Julia Child was born in Pasadena, California. She was graduated from Smith College and worked for the OSS during World War II in Ceylon and China, where she met Paul Child. After they married they lived in Paris, where she studied at the Cordon Bleu and taught cooking with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, with whom she wrote the first volume of Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961). In 1963, Boston's WGBH launched The French Chef television series, which made her a national celebrity, earning her the Peabody Award in 1965 and an Emmy in 1966. Several public television shows and numerous cookbooks followed. She died in 2004.

(Photo credit: (C) Michael P. McLaughlin)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cooking fun but "elegant" meals for your friends and family, March 2, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Julia's Casual Dinners: Seven glorious menus for informal occasions (Hardcover)

This book is a great reference for a nice meal for friends and family. It is easy to follow and has delicious reciepes. You can make a simple casual meal look and taste gourmet by using this cookbook. I am buying this for my brothers wife who loves to cook but does not have a lot of time to prepare meals. I give it 4 1/2 stars!

5.0 out of 5 stars Dinner with Julia, April 21, 2009

By 

KC "Popcorn Lover" (Ohio) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Julia's Casual Dinners: Seven glorious menus for informal occasions (Hardcover)

Wonderful recipes in this book with complete meal menus. Delicious and easy to prepare. And the meals will impress the bejeepers out of your mother-in-law. Which will please your husband. Which will get you a REALLY nice gift on your anniversary. :)