Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1 Read online

  1 Tb minced shallots or green onions

  ½ cup dry white wine or dry vermouth

  1 Tb lemon juice

  Stir the shallots or onions into the butter in the casserole and cook for 1 minute. Then add the wine or vermouth and lemon juice. Boil, scraping up coagulated cooking juices, until the liquids have reduced to about 4 tablespoons.

  1½ Tb prepared mustard of the strong Dijon type, mashed with 3 Tb softened butter

  Salt and pepper

  Off heat, swirl the mustard-butter by spoonfuls into the casserole, and a sprinkling of salt and pepper.

  Salt and pepper

  3 Tb minced parsley

  Rapidly cut the kidneys into crosswise slices ⅛ inch thick. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and put them and their juices into the casserole. Sprinkle on the parsley. Shake and toss them over low heat for a minute or two to warm them through without allowing the sauce to come near the simmer.

  Hot plates

  Serve immediately on very hot plates.

  VARIATIONS

  Rognons de Veau Flambés

  [Veal Kidneys Flamed in Brandy—Cream and Mushroom Sauce]

  This extremely good combination is one which is often prepared beside your table in a good restaurant. If you are making it at home in a chafing dish, have all the sauce ingredients, including the sautéed mushrooms, at hand in separate containers. Kidneys cooked this way are best as a separate course, served with hot French bread, and a full, red Burgundy wine.

  For 4 to 6 people

  3 veal kidneys, peeled and trimmed of fat

  4 Tb butter

  A fireproof casserole or chafing dish

  Cook the kidneys for about 10 minutes in hot butter as described in the master recipe.

  ⅓ cup cognac

  A hot plate and cover

  Pour the cognac over the kidneys. Avert your face and ignite the cognac with a lighted match. Shake the casserole or chafing dish and baste the kidneys for a few seconds until the flames have subsided. Remove the kidneys to a hot plate, and cover them.

  ½ cup brown sauce, or ½ cup canned beef bouillon mixed with 1 tsp cornstarch

  ⅓ cup Madeira

  Pour the brown sauce or bouillon and starch, and the wine into the casserole. Boil for a few minutes until reduced and thickened.

  1 cup whipping cream

  ½ lb. sliced fresh mushrooms sautéed in butter with 1 Tb minced shallots or green onions

  Salt and pepper

  Stir in the cream and mushrooms and boil a few minutes more. Sauce should be thick enough to coat the spoon lightly. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

  ½ Tb prepared mustard of the strong Dijon type, blended with 2 Tb softened butter and ½ tsp Worcestershire

  Off heat, swirl in the mustard-butter.

  Salt and pepper

  Hot plates

  Rapidly cut the kidneys into crosswise slices ⅛ inch thick. Season with salt and pepper, and put them and their juices into the sauce. Shake and toss the kidneys over low heat for a moment to reheat them without bringing the sauce near the simmer. Serve immediately on hot plates.

  Rognons de Veau à la Bordelaise

  [Veal Kidneys in Red Wine Sauce with Marrow]

  Sauce à la bordelaise is a reduction of red wine, brown sauce, shallots, and herbs into which poached marrow is folded just before serving. It goes very well with kidneys. With sautéed potatoes and braised onions or buttered peas, this would make a fine main course served with a red Burgundy wine.

  For 4 to 6 people

  3 veal kidneys, peeled and trimmed of fat

  4 Tb butter

  A fireproof casserole or chafing dish

  A hot plate and cover

  Cook the kidneys for about 10 minutes in hot butter in a casserole or chafing dish as described in the master recipe. Remove them to a hot plate and cover them.

  2 Tb minced shallots or green onions

  ½ cup good, young, red wine such as a Burgundy or Mâcon

  Big pinch each of thyme, pepper, and powdered bay leaf

  Stir the shallots or onions into the casserole and cook for 1 minute. Pour in the wine, add seasonings, and boil until reduced by half.

  1 cup brown sauce or 1 cup canned beef bouillon, mixed with 1 Tb arrowroot or cornstarch

  Salt and pepper

  Then pour in the brown sauce or bouillon and starch. Simmer for 3 to 4 minutes until lightly thickened. Correct seasoning.

  Salt and pepper

  ⅓ cup diced beef marrow softened for 2 to 3 minutes in hot water

  2 to 3 Tb fresh parsley

  Hot plates

  Rapidly cut the kidneys into crosswise slices ⅛ inch thick, and season with salt and pepper. Mix them and their juices in with the sauce. Fold in the marrow. Shake and toss for a moment over low heat to reheat the kidneys without bringing the sauce near the simmer. Sprinkle with parsley and serve on very hot plates.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  VEGETABLES

  Légumes

  ANYONE WHO HAS been fortunate enough to eat fresh, home-cooked vegetables in France remembers them with pleasure. Returning voyagers speak of them with trembling nostalgia: “Those delicious little green beans! They even serve them as a separate course. Why I’ll never forget the meal I had …,” and so forth. Some people are even convinced that it is only in France that you can enjoy such experiences because French vegetables are somehow different. Fortunately this is not the case. Any fine, fresh vegetable in season will taste just as good in America or anywhere else if the French vegetable-cooking techniques are used.

  The French are interested in vegetables as food rather than as purely nutrient objects valuable for their vitamins and minerals. And it is in the realm of the green vegetable that French methods differ most radically from American. The French objective is to produce a cooked green vegetable so green, fresh-tasting, and full of flavor that it really can be served as a separate course. They do not hesitate to peel, boil, squeeze, drain, or refresh a vegetable, which is often upsetting to those very Americans who weep in delighted remembrance of vegetables in France. For many Americans have been taught that by performing any of these acts one is wickedly “throwing away the best part.”

  BLANCHING

  You will note that before anything else in the way of cooking or flavoring takes place, all the green vegetables in this chapter are blanched—dropped into a very large kettle of rapidly boiling salted water. This is the great secret of French green-vegetable cookery, and also happens to be the same process used in America to prepare green vegetables for the freezer. Success is entirely dependent on having a great quantity of boiling water: 7 to 8 quarts for 2 to 3 pounds of vegetables. The more water you use in proportion to your vegetables, the quicker the water will return to the boil after the vegetables have gone in, and the greener, fresher, and more full of flavor they will be. Baking soda is never necessary when you cook green vegetables this way.

  REFRESHING

  A second important French technique is that of refreshing. As soon as green vegetables have been blanched, and if they are not to be served immediately or are to be served cold, they are plunged for several minutes into a large quantity of cold water. This stops the cooking immediately, sets the color, and preserves the texture and flavor. If the vegetables are not refreshed in this manner and sit steaming in a saucepan or colander, their collective warmth softens and discolors them, and they lose their fresh taste. Following the refreshing technique, then, you can cook all your green vegetables well in advance of a party, and have only the final touches left to do at the last minute.

  OVERCOOKING

  A cardinal point in the French technique is: Do not overcook. An equally important admonition is: Do not attempt to keep a cooked green vegetable warm for more than a very few moments. If you cannot serve it at once, it is better to set it aside and then to reheat it. Overcooking and keeping hot ruin the color, texture, and taste of green vegetables—as well as most of the nutritive qualities.

>   SCOPE OF VEGETABLE CHAPTER

  This chapter does not pretend to offer a complete treatise on vegetables. The French repertoire is so large that we have felt it best to go into more detail on a selection than to give tidbits on all. Most of our emphasis is on green vegetables. There is a modest but out-of-the-ordinary section on potatoes. Other vegetables rate only one or two recipes—but good ones—and some we have not mentioned at all.

  GREEN VEGETABLES

  ARTICHOKES

  Artichauts

  French or globe artichokes are in season from October to June. April and May are the peak months when their prices are most attractive. A fresh, desirable artichoke is heavy and compact, with fleshy, closely clinging leaves of a good, green color all the way to the tips. The stem is also fresh and green.

  Cooked Artichoke Filled with Hollandaise Sauce

  As baby artichokes are not generally available in this country, all the following recipes are based on the large, 10- to 12-ounce artichoke which is about 4½ inches high and 4 to 4½ inches at its largest diameter.

  SERVING SUGGESTIONS

  Hot or cold boiled artichokes are served as a separate course, either at the beginning of the meal or in place of a salad. Most wine authorities agree that water should be served with them rather than wine, for wine changes its character when drunk with this vegetable. But, if you insist, serve a strong, dry, chilled white wine such as a Mâcon, or a chilled and characterful rosé such as a Tavel.

  PREPARATION FOR COOKING

  One at a time, prepare the artichokes as follows:

  Remove the stem by bending it at the base of the artichoke until it snaps off, thus detaching with the stem any tough filaments which may have pushed up into the heart.

  Sectional View of Artichoke

  Break off the small leaves at the base of the artichoke. Trim the base with a knife so the artichoke will stand solidly upright.

  Lay the artichoke on its side and slice three quarters of an inch off the top of the center cone of leaves. Trim off the points of the rest of the leaves with scissors. Wash under cold running water.

  Trim off ends of leaves with scissors

  Rub the cut portions of the artichoke with lemon juice. Drop it into a basin of cold water containing 1 tablespoon of vinegar per quart of water. The acid prevents the artichoke from discoloring.

  ARTICHAUTS AU NATUREL

  [Whole Boiled Artichokes—Hot or Cold]

  Artichokes should be boiled in a large kettle so that they have plenty of room. It is not necessary to tie the leaves in place. Because they must cook a comparatively long time, artichokes turn an olive green. Any Frenchman would look with disfavor on a bright green boiled artichoke, knowing that baking soda had been added to the water.

  6 artichokes prepared for cooking as in the preceding directions

  A large kettle containing 7 to 8 quarts of rapidly boiling water

  1½ tsp salt per quart of water

  Washed cheesecloth

  Drop the prepared artichokes in the boiling salted water. To help prevent discoloration, lay over the artichokes a double thickness of cheesecloth; this will keep their exposed tops moist. Bring the water back to the boil as rapidly as possible and boil slowly, uncovered, for 35 to 45 minutes. The artichokes are done when the leaves pull out easily and the bottoms are tender when pierced with a knife.

  A skimmer or slotted spoon

  A colander

  Immediately remove them from the kettle with skimmer or spoon and drain them upside down in a colander.

  Boiled artichokes may be served hot, warm, or cold.

  HOW TO EAT AN ARTICHOKE

  If you have never eaten an artichoke before, here is how you go about it. Pull off a leaf and hold its tip in your fingers. Dip the bottom of the leaf in melted butter or one of the sauces suggested farther on. Then scrape off its tender flesh between your teeth. When you have gone through all the leaves, you will come to the heart, which you eat with a knife and fork after you have scraped off and discarded the choke or hairy center growth.

  TO REMOVE THE CHOKE BEFORE SERVING

  It is not necessary to remove the choke, but it makes a nicer presentation if you wish to take the time. To do so, gently spread the leaves apart enough so you can reach into the interior of the artichoke. Pull out the tender center cone of leaves in one piece. Down in the center of the artichoke, at the point where you removed the cone of leaves, is the choke or hairy growth which covers the top of the heart. Scrape off and remove the choke with a spoon to expose the tender flesh of the artichoke heart. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the heart. Turn the cone of leaves upside down and set it in the hollow formed by the top of the artichoke.

  Sauces for Hot or Warm Artichokes

  Beurre Fondu, melted butter

  Beurre au Citron, lemon butter sauce

  sauce hollandaise. If you have removed the choke, you may wish to spread the leaves apart enough to expose the heart, then heap 3 or 4 spoonfuls of the hollandaise into it, and top with a sprig of parsley.

  Sauces for Cold Artichokes

  Vinaigrette, French dressing

  Sauce Ravigote, vinaigrette with herbs, capers, and onions

  Sauce Moutarde, mustard sauce with olive oil, lemon juice, and herbs

  Sauce Alsacienne, soft-boiled egg mayonnaise with herbs

  Mayonnaise

  ARTICHAUTS BRAISÉS À LA PROVENÇALE

  [Artichokes Braised with Wine, Garlic, and Herbs]

  Most of the many recipes for braised artichokes follow the general lines of this one. You may, if you wish, add to the casserole a cup of diced tomato pulp, or ½ cup of diced ham, and, 10 minutes before the end of the cooking, ½ pound of sautéed mushrooms. Another suggestion with different vegetables follows this recipe. Braised artichokes go well with roast or braised meats, or they can constitute a first course. As they are rather messy to eat with the fingers, guests should be furnished with a spoon as well as a knife and fork, so the flesh may be scraped off the artichoke leaves.

  For 6 to 8 people

  6 large artichokes

  A large kettle containing 7 to 8 quarts of rapidly boiling water

  1½ tsp salt per quart of water

  Prepare the artichokes for cooking as directed at the beginning of this section, but cut off the leaves so that the artichokes are only about 1½ inches long. Then slice the artichokes into lengthwise quarters and cut out the chokes. Drop the quarters in boiling water and boil for 10 minutes only. Drain.

  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

  1 cup (4 ounces) diced onions

  6 Tb olive oil

  A 10- to 11-inch covered fireproof casserole large enough to hold the artichokes in one layer

  2 large cloves minced garlic

  Salt and pepper

  Cook the onions slowly in olive oil in the casserole for 5 minutes without letting the onions color. Stir in the garlic. Arrange the artichoke quarters in the casserole. Baste with the olive oil and onions. Sprinkle on salt and pepper. Cover casserole and cook slowly over low heat for 10 minutes, not allowing artichokes to brown.

  ¼ cup wine vinegar

  ½ cup dry white wine or dry white vermouth

  1½ cups stock, canned beef bouillon, or water

  An herb bouquet: 4 parsley sprigs, ½ bay leaf, and ¼ tsp thyme tied in cheesecloth

  A round of waxed paper

  Pour in the vinegar and wine. Raise heat and boil until liquid is reduced by half. Then pour in the stock, bouillon, or water. Add the herb bouquet. Bring to the simmer, then lay the waxed paper over the artichokes. Cover casserole and place it in the middle level of the preheated oven. Casserole should simmer slowly for 1¼ to 1½ hours, or until liquid has almost entirely evaporated.

  (*) If not to be served immediately, set casserole aside, its cover askew. Reheat when needed.

  2 to 3 Tb minced parsley

  Discard herb bouquet. Serve from casserole or on a warm serving dish. (The artichokes may be surrounded with baked tomatoes and sau
téed potatoes.) Sprinkle with parsley before bringing to the table.

  VARIATION

  Artichauts Printaniers

  [Artichokes Braised with Carrots, Onions, Turnips, and Mushrooms]

  Except for the addition of other vegetables, this recipe is the same as the master recipe. You may wish to use butter instead of olive oil, cut down on the garlic, and omit all or part of the vinegar, increasing the wine accordingly.

  Ingredients for the preceding braised artichokes, including diced onions, oil (or butter), wine, stock, and seasonings

  12 small white onions, about 1 inch in diameter, peeled

  3 or 4 carrots, peeled, quartered and cut into 1½-inch lengths