The French Menu Cookbook: The Food and Wine of France - Season by Delicious Season. Richard Olney

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СКАЧАТЬ no more scum rises, pour in a small glassful (about ¼ cup) of cold water. Scum will begin to rise again. Continue to skim until the boil is reached again and pour in more cold water. Repeat the process twice more, or until no more scum rises after the addition of cold water. Add all the other ingredients, making certain that everything is submerged. Continue skimming until the boil is reached again, and regulate the heat so that, with the lid slightly ajar, the tiniest suggestion of a simmer is constantly maintained. (Even if you are on intimate terms with your stove, unless you are accustomed to this kind of preparation and know the precise intensity of flame necessary, this regulation will require 15 minutes to ½ hour of turning the fire slightly up or down and rechecking a few minutes later.) Leave to cook for a good 4 hours. Skim off the surface fat 3 or 4 times during this period, but never stir the contents or otherwise disturb them in any way.

      Gently pour the contents of the stock pot into a sieve lined with a couple of layers of cheesecloth, which has been placed over a large mixing bowl. Do not press or mash the debris in the sieve, but allow to drain well so that all the clear liquid passes through. Leave the broth to cool, and skim off all traces of fat from the surface.

      BEEF STOCK

      Because the pot-au-feu produces a stock that is one of the basic elements in other culinary preparations and is also a meal in itself, the recipe is given in the main body of the book. If it is prepared essentially for use as beef stock, cabbage and the refinement of adding tender spring vegetables will find no place in its preparation, nor need it undergo the double preparation recommended in the recipe. It may be made exactly like the veal stock, substituting gelatinous pieces of beef (tail, shank, chuck) for the veal.

      The petite marmite, or poule au pot, one or the other sometimes garnished by the appellation “Henri-IV,” is merely a pot-au-feu to which a hen has been added. A classical consommé is a petite marmite moistened with a pot-au-feu bouillon, completely degreased, and clarified by an additional couple of hours’ cooking with a mixture of egg whites and lean ground beef. Although it is truly ambrosial in character, none of the soup recipes in this book will require an equivalent expenditure of time or material.

      MIREPOIX

      Plats cuisinés (which means, vaguely, those preparations that contain a number of elements and require a more or less involved cooking process—the term might be translated, “dishes cooked with art”) rest generally on an aromatic foundation of onions, carrots, thyme and bay leaf. Other aromas, quite as valuable, may too often be excluded, but these mentioned, in any case, lend the primary support to all stocks, court-bouillons and braised preparations, and, although the latter often require a stock as braising liquid, it is nonetheless reinforced by a new addition of these same elements. For those preparations in which the carrots remain as part of the garnish, the vegetables are simply cut up, but for the many dishes that are garnished otherwise, or only sauced, a mirepoix (or matignon, which is the same thing except that the vegetables are finely sliced rather than chopped) is used as the aromatic base. Some recipes (none in this book) call for an addition of chopped ham or salt pork. For preparations in which the sauce is passed separately, the vegetables may be chopped more coarsely. If the mirepoix is to remain in the body of the sauce, the vegetables should be chopped very finely and the woody core of the carrots should be first removed. The mirepoix may be prepared in quantity and kept in the refrigerator, but the preparation is so simple that it seems hardly worthwhile. I personally feel that it gains by a substitution of mixed herbs for thyme, but that is an affair of taste, and the following recipe is classic.

       Mirepoix

      2 large carrots (approximately 4–5 ounces) with cores removed

      2 onions (equivalent weight to the carrots)

      ½ bay leaf and a large pinch of thyme, ground to powder in a mortar, or merely crumbled if the sauce is to be passed through a sieve. (Do not use herbs already powdered—they have no flavor)

      1 heaping tablespoon finely chopped parsley (including roots, if possible)

      4 tablespoons (2 ounces) butter

       pinch of salt

      Peel the carrots and the onions and chop them finely. To chop the carrots, cut them in two lengthwise, pry out the core with the help of a small knife, and slice each half lengthwise as finely as possible. Flatten these slices out on the chopping board and continue slicing through them lengthwise until they are reduced to tiny sticks, then, holding them together, slice finely crosswise. Rechop this mass several times until very fine. For those who dislike chopping there is a useful device, a mouli-julienne, through which the carrots may first be passed, then chopped through a couple of times.

      Melt the butter in a small, heavy saucepan, add all the ingredients and cook very gently, stirring regularly, for about ½ hour. The mirepoix should be thoroughly cooked, but absolutely not browned. If it is to be stored in the refrigerator, pack it into a glass or small jar, pressing well with a fork to eliminate all air pockets, and cover the surface with a buttered round of kitchen paper, aluminum foil or wax paper.

      DUXELLES

      Duxelles is occasionally used, like mirepoix, as an aromatic braising element, but more often as a stuffing, either alone or as one of several ingredients in a forcemeat, and as the base for sauce duxelles (boiled with white wine, reduced, brought to consistency with tomato purée and half-glaze and buttered away from the heat). It, too, may be prepared in advance and kept in the same way as mirepoix, if desired. To save time and effort, the mushrooms are often passed through a grinder. The result is still flavorful, but the fine, clean texture that may be attained only by chopping with a sharp knife is sacrificed to that of a mashed, coarse purée.

      Duxelles is usually made with cultivated mushrooms, but they may be replaced advantageously by any wild mushroom. For reasons of economy, stems alone may be used (the heads, if not designed to serve immediately, may be boiled for 3 or 4 minutes with ¼ cup of water, a chunk of butter, salt, pepper, and a bit of lemon juice, and kept in their cooking liquid, which is also a valuable flavoring agent). A particularly elegant duxelles is that made of truffle peelings. It should be subjected to a shorter and less violent cooking process.

       Duxelles

      1 large onion, finely chopped

      2 tablespoons (1 ounce) butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil (or 4 tablespoons butter)

      ½ pound mushrooms or mushroom stems, finely chopped

       salt, freshly ground pepper

      1 heaping tablespoon finely chopped parsley

       nutmeg

       a few drops of lemon juice

      Cook the chopped onion in the fat until it is soft and yellowed in color. Add the mushrooms and turn the flame up. Stir and toss until their liquid has evaporated and the mixture is fairly stiff. Turn the flame low again, salt and pepper to taste, stir in the parsley, and continue to cook for a minute or two, stirring regularly. Grate in a tiny bit of nutmeg, add the lemon juice and remove from the heat. If the duxelles СКАЧАТЬ