When Julia Child wanted to show her viewers exactly what a broiling chicken looked like, she stood the bird up on its tail end and flapped the wings. Nothing about that chicken would be intimidating again. In the process -- with ducks, legs of lamb, whole fish, leeks -- Child introduced fun to a postwar kitchen that had become a place where efficiency, rather than taste, reigned.

Child, who died in California on August 13, two days before her 92d birthday, was a masterful teacher, deeply interested in our getting it right. As it happened, even without training, she had the timing of a skilled actor, a face of marvelous expressions, and an inquisitive and informed mind. In the early days of her television show, the camera crew just kept the videotape running, not stopping and starting the cameras as taped shows do today. So we saw it all and learned that nearly anything can be saved, without anyone the wiser. When something spilled out of the pan, she would beam into the camera and say conspiratorially, "You're alone in the kitchen." The moment The French Chef -- and its jaunty musical opening -- came on, legions of cooks and would-be cooks, including us, were glued to the TV. Then, uplifted and inspired, we went into our kitchens and put her lessons to the test.

Sheryl stuck to savory dishes like coq au vin, one of France's most popular bourgeois meals. Of course, this wasn't just chicken in a pot. You had to braise small white onions and saute a skillet of mushrooms, too. And who cared that bits of the chicken's backbone protruded from the dish because Sheryl didn't understand how to cut up the bird?

For Julie, then a young mother with a newborn, Julia Child became her afternoon soap. She'd put the baby down for a nap and give Child her undivided attention. Once, when she invited guests over for dessert, she decided to "cook out of Julia," as everyone called Child's groundbreaking cookbook back then. Souffle praline isn't a dish for the meek. It requires With Julia Child, we took chances and had a few laughs. Child's Playmaking praline, the ground caramel-and-nut mixture used in fancy confections. In the era before food processors, you had to break up the hard candy with a mortar and pestle, a meat grinder, or a blender. But let's not forget that it took Child and her French colleagues 10 years to test the recipes for Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

The souffle required the young cook to make a milky base and beat egg whites -- something she'd never done before. Imagine her surprise when the souffle rose to the top of its mold and turned golden brown. The guests oohed and aahed and thought she was brilliant.

The brilliance, of course, was Child's. She gave us all permission to stick our necks out in the kitchen. We cooked and laughed and learned along with her. She captured a generation of young hearts. Including ours.

Recipes

COQ AU VIN / CHICKEN IN RED WINE (Serves 4 to 6)

"This popular dish may be called coq au Chambertin, coq au Riesling, or coq au whatever wine you use for its cooking," wrote Julia Child in Mastering. "It is made with either white or red wine, but the red is more characteristic."

3-to-4-ounce chunk of lean bacon
2 tablespoons butter
2 1/2-to-3-pound cut-up frying chicken
1/2 teaspoon salt, and more, to taste
1/8 teaspoon pepper, and more, to taste
1/4 cup cognac
3 cups young, full-bodied red wine
1 to 2 cups chicken stock
1/2 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cloves mashed garlic
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons softened butter
3 tablespoons flour
18 to 24 brown-braised onions (see recipe below)
1/2 pound sauteed mushrooms (see recipe below)
Sprigs of fresh parsley

Remove the rind and cut the bacon into lardons (rectangles 1/4 inch across and 1 inch long). Simmer them for 10 minutes in 2 quarts of water. Rinse in cold water. Dry.

In a 10-inch fireproof casserole, melt the butter and saute the bacon slowly until it is lightly browned. Remove it from the pan. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Return the bacon to the casserole with the chicken. Cover and cook slowly for 10 minutes, turning the chicken once.

Uncover the pan and pour in the cognac. Averting your face, ignite the cognac with a lighted match. Shake the casserole back and forth for several seconds until the flames subside.

Pour the wine into the casserole. Add just enough stock to cover the chicken. Stir in the tomato paste, garlic, thyme, and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer, cover, and simmer slowly for 25 to 30 minutes or until the chicken is tender and its juices run a clear yellow when the meat is pricked with a fork. Remove the chicken to a plate.

Simmer the cooking liquid for 1 to 2 minutes, skimming off fat. Increase the heat and boil rapidly, reducing the liquid to about 2 1/4 cups. Correct the seasoning. Remove from the heat and discard the bay leaf.

On a plate, blend the butter and flour into a smooth paste (beurre manie). Beat the paste into the hot liquid with a wire whip. Bring to a simmer, stirring, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. The sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon lightly.

Arrange the chicken in the casserole, place the onions and mushrooms around it, and baste with the sauce. Decorate with sprigs of parsley.

OIGNONS GLACES A BRUN / BROWN-BRAISED ONIONS

1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons oil
18 to 24 peeled small white onions (about 1 inch in diameter)
1/2 cup brown stock, canned beef bouillon, dry white wine, red wine, or water Salt and pepper, to taste
Herb bouquet made with 4 parsley sprigs,
1/2 bay leaf, and 1/4 teaspoon thyme tied in cheesecloth</p>

In a 9- or 10-inch skillet, heat the butter and oil. Add the onions and saute over moderate heat for about 10 minutes, rolling them about so they will brown as evenly as possible. Be careful not to break their skins. You cannot expect to brown them uniformly.

Pour in the liquid, season to taste, and add the herb bouquet. Cover and simmer slowly for 40 to 50 minutes or until the onions are perfectly tender but retain their shape and the liquid has evaporated. Remove the herb bouquet.

CHAMPIGNONS SAUTES AU BEURRE / SAUTEED MUSHROOMS

2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, washed, well dried, left whole if small, sliced or quartered if large
1 to 2 tablespoons chopped shallots or green onions
Salt and pepper, to taste

Set a 10-inch skillet over high heat. Add the butter and oil. As soon as the butter foam has begun to subside, indicating it is hot enough, add the mushrooms. Toss and shake the pan for 4 to 5 minutes. During their saute, the mushrooms will at first absorb the fat. In 2 to 3 minutes, the fat will reappear on their surface, and the mushrooms will begin to brown.

As soon as they have browned lightly, remove them from the heat.

Toss the shallots or green onions with the mushrooms. Saute over moderate heat for 2 minutes. Add salt and pepper.

SOUFFLE PRALINE / SOUFFLE WITH CARAMELIZED ALMONDS (Serves 4)

PRALINE
1/2 cup slivered or powdered almonds
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water

Set the oven at 350 degrees. Oil a marble slab or large baking sheet. Toast the almonds on another sheet for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. They should be an even, light, toasty brown.

In a small saucepan, boil the sugar and water until the sugar has dissolved completely and the liquid is perfectly clear.

Cover the pan (steam condensing on the cover will wash any crystals off the sides of the pan). Boil without stirring until the syrup is thick and turns a light nutty brown (keep peeking). Immediately stir in the toasted almonds. Bring just to a boil, then pour onto the marble or baking sheet. When it is cold, in about 10 minutes, break the hardened mass into pieces. Pulverize in an electric blender, pound it to a coarse powder in a mortar, or put it through a meat grinder.

SOUFFLE
1/2 tablespoon softened butter (for the mold)
1/3 granulated sugar (for the mold)
3 tablespoons sifted all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole milk
1/3 cup granulated sugar (for the base)
4 eggs
2 tablespoons softened butter
5 egg whites (4 left over from the yolks and 1 extra white)
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar (for the whites)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup praline powder
Confectioners' sugar (in a shaker)

Set the oven at 400 degrees. Butter the entire inner surface of a 6-cup mold (preferably with 3 1/2-inch-deep sides). Roll granulated sugar around in the mold to coat the sides and bottom evenly. Knock out any excess sugar.

In a 2 1/2-quart saucepan, beat the flour with a bit of the milk until well blended. Beat in the rest of the milk and the 1/3 cup of granulated sugar. Stir over moderately high heat until the mixture thickens and comes to a boil. Boil, stirring, for 30 seconds. The sauce will be very thick. Remove from the heat. Beat for 2 minutes to cool slightly.

Separate 1 egg, dropping the white into a clean bowl and the yolk into the center of the sauce. At once, beat the yolk into the sauce with a wire whip. Continue with the rest of the eggs, one by one.

Beat in half the butter. Clean sauce off the sides of the pan with a rubber scraper. Dot top of sauce with rest of butter to prevent a skin from forming.

Beat the egg whites for 20 to 30 seconds until they have begun to foam. Add the salt and continue beating until soft peaks are formed. Sprinkle on the 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar and beat until stiff peaks are formed.

Stir the vanilla and praline powder into the base sauce. Stir in 1/4 of the beaten egg whites. Delicately fold in the rest.

Turn the souffle mixture into the prepared mold, leaving a space of at least 11/4 inches between the top of the souffle and the rim of the mold. Place the mold in the middle of the oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 375 degrees.

In 20 minutes, when the souffle has begun to puff and brown, quickly sprinkle the top with confectioners' sugar. After a total of 30 to 35 minutes of baking, the top of the souffle should be nicely browned, and a trussing needle or long thin knife plunged into the side of the puff should come out clean. Serve immediately.

Recipes adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking: The 40th Anniversary Edition, by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck (Alfred A. Knopf).