I’d been coming across Julia Turshen‘s work for a while now and am always impressed by her voice and the projects she is involved with. She bills herself as a personal chef, writer and producer and seems to do all of those things well. She worked on Spain: On the Road Again, the beautiful PBS travel/food series that featured Mario Batali, Mark Bittman, Gwyneth Paltrow and Claudia Bassols. But what the show really featured was Spain, and it did so beautifully.
Julia also contributes to GOOP and worked with Gwyneth Paltrow on My Father’s Daughter, which has already been featured here. All of her projects manage to be both smart, beautiful and really engaging. (I think I might want to be Julia when I grow up)
Her next project, The Kimchi Chronicles, finds Julia working with Marja and Jean-Georges Vongerichten on a PBS series (and book!) “about rediscovering Korea and its cuisine and translating all of it into easy, approachable recipes for the American kitchen”— sounds amazing.
I asked Julia to share a favorite recipe with all of us and can say that she is as kind and charming as she is talented (if you want more evidence, check out this great interview with her over on Design*Sponge). And these turkey meatballs are fantastic. I don’t cook with meat at home very often, and so it is always an occasion when I do. These meatballs are perfect for a special occasion, or a weeknight meal. Julia brightens them up with some lemon zest which really makes them shine. We feasted on these and then enjoyed the leftovers (which are great on a sandwich!) for the next couple of days.