3 Tb grated Swiss cheese
3 Tb melted butter
Carve the veal into neat serving slices about 3/16 of an inch thick, piling them to one side in the order in which you sliced them. The roast is now to be returned in slices to the serving platter: Place the last slice you carved in the platter, sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper, then spread with a spoonful of the filling. Overlap the next slice of veal on the first, sprinkle with salt and pepper, spread with filling, and continue thus down the length of the platter. Spread any extra filling around and over the meat.
The remaining velouté sauce
2 to 3 Tb cream, if needed
⅓ cup grated Swiss cheese
Bring the sauce to the simmer and correct seasoning. It should be thick enough to coat a spoon fairly heavily; thin out with more spoonfuls of cream, if necessary. Off heat, beat in the cheese.
3 Tb grated Swiss cheese
3 Tb melted butter
Spoon the sauce over the roast. Sprinkle the cheese over it, and dribble on the melted butter.
(*) May be prepared ahead to this point. Set aside uncovered until ready to reheat.
About 30 to 40 minutes before serving, set in the upper position of a preheated, 375-degree oven until the sauce is bubbling and the top has browned lightly. Do not overcook, or the meat will dry out and lose character.
Once ready, the dish will stay warm for 20 to 30 minutes in the turned-off hot oven, its door ajar.
[Veal Roasted with Ham and Cheese]
In this recipe, deep slits are cut in the roast of veal from one end to the other, and the meat is marinated in brandy, Madeira, and aromatic vegetables, then stuffed with slices of ham and cheese. It is roasted in a covered casserole and, when sliced, the ham and cheese appear to have melted into the veal. Serve with the roast any of the wine and vegetable suggestions. Veau Sylvie also makes a good cold roast just as it is or glazed with aspic.
The French cut for this would be a noix or top round of veal, as it is a long, cylindrical piece with no muscle separations. Rump, round, and sirloin are more difficult to handle but can be managed perfectly well; a boned section from the rib roast would be the best alternative, though more expensive.
For 10 to 12 people
A 5-lb. boneless roast of veal, as solid as possible and in a loaf shape
So that the roast may be stuffed, deep slits are cut from one end to the other to make it open like the leaves of a book: make a series of deep, parallel cuts 1 to 1½ inches apart starting at the top and going with the grain the length of the meat from one end of the roast to the other, and to within ½ inch of the bottom of the roast. You will thus have 3 or 4 thick pieces of meat which are free at the top and sides, but which are all attached together at the bottom of the roast. If your meat contains many muscle separations it will look very messy and uneven at this point, but the roast is tied into shape later.
½ cup cognac
½ cup Madeira
2 Tb olive oil
¾ cup sliced carrots
¾ cup sliced onions
1 Tb salt
A large herb bouquet with peppercorns: 6 parsley sprigs, 1 bay leaf, ½ tsp thyme, and 6 peppercorns tied in cheesecloth
6 or more large slices of boiled ham 1/16 inch thick
12 or more large slices of Swiss cheese 1/16 inch thick
White string
Choose a glazed bowl large enough to hold the meat easily. Mix the marinade ingredients at the left in the bowl. Add the meat and baste it with the marinade. Turn and baste the meat every hour or so, and marinate for 6 hours or overnight. Then scrape off the marinade ingredients and dry the meat in paper towels. Reserve the marinade. Lay the roast so its bottom rests on your cutting board. Completely cover each leaf of meat with a layer of ham between two layers of cheese. The exterior of the two outside leaves is not covered. Then close the leaves of meat together to re-form the roast. Tie loops of white string around the circumference of the meat to hold it in shape. If the roast is not neat looking, no matter; it will firm up during its cooking. Dry the roast again with paper towels so it will brown nicely.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
4 Tb butter
2 Tb oil
A covered fireproof casserole large enough to hold the meat
A bulb baster
Strain the marinade, reserving the liquid. Cook the marinade vegetables slowly in the butter and oil in the casserole for 5 minutes. Push them to the sides of the casserole. Raise heat to moderately high, put the veal in, uncut side down, and let the bottom brown for 5 minutes. Then baste with the butter and oil in the casserole. Place the casserole uncovered in the upper third of the oven to brown the top and sides of the meat for about 15 minutes. Baste every 4 to 5 minutes with the butter in the casserole.
½ tsp salt
⅛ tsp pepper
2 strips of fat bacon simmered for 10 minutes in 1 quart of water, rinsed, drained, and dried
A meat thermometer
Aluminum foil
Turn oven down to 325 degrees. Remove the casserole, pour in the marinade liquid and boil it down rapidly on top of the stove until it is reduced to one third of its volume. Season the meat with salt and pepper. Place the bacon over it. Insert a meat thermometer, lay the foil over the meat, cover the casserole and place it in the lower third of the oven. Regulate heat so meat cooks slowly and steadily for about 2½ hours, or to a thermometer reading of 175 degrees. Baste 3 or 4 times with the juices in the casserole during this period.
Serve the veal and prepare the sauce as described in the master recipe, veau poêlé.
The meat should rest at room temperature for about 20 minutes before being carved, and it is carved in crosswise slices so each piece has lardings of cheese and ham.
Sauté de Veau — Blanquette de Veau
In France the favorite cut of veal for stews is tendron, the part of the breast which contains the cartilaginous false ribs. Its combination of meat and gelatin gives the sauce a fine body, and the cooked tendron has a special and slightly crunchy eating-quality all its own. However, this particular morsel does not charm all American palates. Time and again we have noticed a guest push it off to the side of his plate, obviously indicating he has no intention of eating that inferior bit of budget meat. Therefore, unless you know or can train your American audience, it is probably wiser to choose other parts of the veal. A combination of cuts is the best alternative, some with bones, some with cartilage, and some lean meat. Rump, sirloin, and round tend to be dry, but there are those who prefer them anyway. If you are using boneless meat, inelude a cupful or so of cracked veal bones with the stew so your sauce will develop more flavor and body.
RECOMMENDED STEWING CUTS
Allow 1 pound of boneless meat for 2 or 3 people, depending on the rest of your menu; about ¾ pound per person for bone-in meat such as breast and ribs.
Breast—Poitrine, Tendron
Short Ribs—Haut de Côtes
Shoulder and Shoulder Chops—Épaule and Côtes Découvertes
Neck—Collet
Heel of Round or Shank—Nerveux Gîte à la Noix or Jarret
(Rump, Round, and Sirloin are less recommended but may be used if you wish)
STEWING TIME
Allow 1½ to 1¾ hours.
[Brown Veal Stew with Tomatoes and Mushrooms]
The flavors of Provence go into this uncomplicated and hearty dish. Steamed rice or noodles go well with it, and green peas or beans. Serve a chilled rosé wine, or a strong, young, white wine. As with all stews, this one may be cooked in advance and reheated just before serving.
For 6 people
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
3 lbs. veal stew meat from the preceding list, cut into 2-ounce, 2-inch pieces
2 to 3 Tb olive oil, more if needed
A 10- to 12-inch skillet
A 4-quart fireproof casserole
Dry the veal on paper towels. Heat the oil in the skillet until almost smoking. Then brown the meat, a few pieces at a time, and arrange the browned pieces in the casserole.
1 cup minced yellow onions
Lower heat to moderate. Pour all but a tablespoon of oil out of the skillet, and brown the onions lightly for 5 to 6 minutes.
While the onions are browning, toss the meat in the casserole with salt and pepper, then with the flour. Toss and stir over moderate heat for 3 to 4 minutes to brown the flour lightly. Remove from heat.
2 cups dry white wine or dry white vermouth
Add the wine to the skillet with the browned onions. Boil for 1 minute, scraping up coagulated sauté juices. Pour the wine and onions into the casserole and bring to the simmer, shaking and stirring to mix the liquid and flour.
1 lb. firm, ripe, red tomatoes peeled, seeded, juiced, and roughly chopped (1½ cups)
OR, 1 cup drained and strained canned tomatoes or tomato purée
½ tsp basil or tarragon
½ tsp thyme
A 3-inch strip of orange peel ½ inch wide or ½ tsp bottled ground orange peel
2 cloves mashed garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
Stir the tomatoes into the casserole. Add the herbs, orange peel, and garlic. Bring again to the simmer and season lightly to taste. Cover and set in lower third of oven to simmer slowly for 1¼ to 1½ hours or until the meat is almost tender when pierced with a fork.
½ lb. fresh button mushrooms or quartered larger mushrooms
Add the mushrooms to the casserole and baste them with the sauce. Bring again to the simmer on top of the stove. Then cover and return the casserole to the oven for 15 minutes more.
½ Tb cornstarch mixed with 1 Tb water, if needed
Remove casserole from oven. Pour contents into a sieve placed over a saucepan. Remove the strip of orange peel and return the meat and vegetables to the casserole. Skim the fat off the sauce in the saucepan and boil the sauce down rapidly until it has reduced to about 2½ cups. It should be lightly thickened, and a rich reddish brown. If too thin, blend in the starch and water and simmer for 2 minutes. Correct seasoning, and pour the sauce back into the casserole over the veal.
(*) May be done ahead to this point. Set aside, cover askew.
Shortly before serving, cover and bring to the simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Present the stew in its casserole, or on a platter surrounded by rice or noodles. Decorate with fresh herbs.
Blanquette de veau, a much-loved stew in France, is veal simmered in a lightly seasoned white stock. It is served in a sauce velouté made from the veal cooking stock and enriched with cream and egg yolks. A blanquette is certainly not difficult to make, and except for the cream and egg yolk liaison at the end, which takes less than 10 minutes, all of it may be cooked in advance. However, as it is supposed to be a lovely and delicate dish, it should really not be attempted unless you can find veal of good quality and of the palest pink color.
Serve it with noodles or rice, or boiled or mashed potatoes. No other vegetables are needed with the mushrooms and onions, but you could include green peas, artichoke hearts, or baked cucumbers. A red Bordeaux-Médoc or chilled rosé wine would go well.
TECHNICAL NOTE ON SCUM REMOVAL
As veal comes to the simmer it releases a tremendous amount of gray-brown scum which must be removed by one means or another. American veal, probably because it is younger than most French veal, seems particularly scum-productive. You can skim continually while the veal simmers for the first 30 to 40 minutes. You can let it simmer for 10 minutes, then remove the veal and wash it rapidly in cold water, wash out the casserole, strain the stock through several thicknesses of damp cheesecloth, and continue with the recipe. Or you can adopt the following blanching process, which is the simplest. As long as all the scum is removed, it makes no difference which method you use; pick the one which best suits your predilections and prejudices.
For 6 people
Cooking the veal
3 lbs. veal stew meat cut into 2-ounce, 2-inch pieces (cuts are listed)
A 3- to 4-quart, fireproof, enameled casserole
Place the veal in the casserole and cover with cold water by 2 inches. Bring to the simmer and simmer 2 minutes. Drain the veal and wash it rapidly under cold water to remove all traces of scum. Wash out the casserole. Return the meat to the casserole.
5 to 6 cups cold white stock or good canned chicken broth.
1 large onion studded with 1 clove
1 large carrot, peeled and quartered
A medium herb bouquet and 2 celery stalks: 8 parsley stems (not the leaves), ½ bay leaf, ½ tsp thyme, and 2 medium celery stalks tied in cheesecloth
Salt
Pour on stock or broth to cover the veal by ½ inch. Bring slowly to the simmer, and skim as necessary for several minutes. Add the vegetables and herb bouquet. Taste for seasoning and salt lightly if necessary. Cover partially and simmer very slowly for 1¼ to 1½ hours, or until the veal is tender when pierced with a fork. It should not be overcooked.
The onions
18 to 24 peeled white onions about 1 inch in diameter
½ cup of stock dipped from the simmering veal casserole
¼ tsp salt
1 Tb butter
While the blanquette is simmering, prepare the onions: Following directions for white-braised onions on this page, pierce a cross in the root ends and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes in a small, covered saucepan with the veal stock, salt, and butter. Set them aside.
When the veal is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a colander set over a bowl. Rinse out the casserole and return the meat to the casserole, removing any loose bones. Arrange the cooked onions over the meat.
Sauce velouté (3½ cups), and mushrooms
An 8-cup, heavy-bottomed, enameled saucepan
4 Tb butter
5 Tb flour
A wooden spoon
3¼ cups of veal cooking stock
A wire whip
18 to 24 fresh mushroom caps about 1 inch in diameter, tossed with 1 Tb lemon juice
Salt and white pepper
1 to 2 Tb lemon juice
In the saucepan, melt the butter, add the flour, and stir over low heat until they foam together for 2 minutes. Off heat, pour in the veal stock, beating vigorously with a wire whip. Bring the sauce to the boil, stirring. Simmer for 10 minutes, frequently skimming off the film which rises to the surface. Fold in the mushroom caps and simmer 10 minutes more, skimming. Taste the sauce very carefully for seasoning, adding salt, pepper, and lemon juice to taste.
2 Tb cream or stock
Pour the sauce and mushrooms over the veal. Film the top of the sauce with 2 spoonfuls of cream or stock to prevent a skin from forming. Set aside, partially covered.
(*) May be done ahead to this point.
Cream and egg yolk enrichment
About 10 to 15 minutes before serving, reheat slowly to the simmer, basting the veal with the sauce. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
3 egg yolks
½ cup whipping cream
A 6-cup mixing bowl
A wire whip
Blend the egg yolks and cream in the bowl with wire whip. Beat in by spoonfuls 1 cup of the hot sauce. Then pour the mixture into the casserole, tilting it and basting the veal and vegetables to blend the rest of the sauce with the egg yolk mixture.
Set over moderate heat, gently shaking the casserole until sauce has thickened lightly, but do not let it come to the simmer. (If not served at once, film the top of the sauce with a spoonful or two of stock, partially cover the casserole, and keep warm over hot but not simmering water for 10 to 15 minutes.)
2 Tb minced parsley
Serve from the casserole or on a platter surrounded with rice, noodles, or potatoes. Decorate with parsley.
French veal scallops are boneless slices of meat cut ⅜ inch thick which are flattened to a thickness of ¼ inch. So that each scallop will constitute a neat, flat serving piece, it is cut across the grain from a solid piece of veal which contains no muscle separations. Scallops take from 8 to 10 minutes to cook, may be elegantly or simply sauced, and are always an expensive delicacy. They may be breaded or floured but are best, in our opinion, when sautéed au naturel.
AMOUNT TO BUY
Allow 2 or 3 scallops per person, depending on the size of the pieces of meat.
QUALITY
Because it is cooked so quickly, the veal should be of good quality, tender, and of the palest pink you can find. Dark pink and reddish veal tends to be tough when cooked this way.
SCALLOPS CUT FROM THE ROUND ROAST
In France, because of the French method of cutting the leg into lengthwise muscles, scallops are usually taken from the top round or noix. This cut gives solid slices of meat, with no muscle separations, which cook without curling. You may obtain the same effect if you buy slices of round roast ⅜ inch thick, and then separate them into their natural muscle divisions. The largest piece is the top round, which may be cut in half. The bottom round with its eye insert will furnish one or two more scallops. Usually one more of reasonable size can be found among the muscle divisions which make up the sirloin tip at the side of the meat nearest the bone. Smaller pieces may be saved for second helpings or reserved for stew or for ground meat.
SCALLOPS CUT FROM RIB CHOPS
Rib chops are more expensive but easier to use and furnish scallops all of the same size. Have your butcher bone a length of the rib section (rack) and cut the meat into ⅜-inch slices across the grain. Bones and trimming may be saved for veal stock.
PREPARATION FOR COOKING
Remove the transparent filaments, or the skin and any fat surrounding the scallops. If left on, the meat will curl up as it cooks. Place each scallop between sheets of waxed paper and pound briefly and not too roughly; use a mallet, the flat of a cleaver, or a rolling pin to reduce the scallop to a thickness of ¼ inch. If they are not to be cooked immediately, wrap the scallops in waxed paper and refrigerate them.
ESCALOPES DE VEAU À LA CRÈMEThis recipe for veal scallops makes a perfect main course for a chic little luncheon. If you are reasonably quick you can complete it in 30 minutes or less, and you may prepare it in advance; it only needs a 5-minute heating before it is ready to eat. Serve with it buttered rice or risotto, green beans, peas, or braised endive, and a chilled white Burgundy wine.
For 6 people
12 veal scallops prepared according to the preceding directions
Dry the scallops thoroughly on paper towels. The meat will not brown if it is damp.
2 Tb butter and 1 Tb oil, more as necessary
A 10- to 12-inch enameled skillet
Place the butter and oil in the skillet over moderately high heat. When you see that the butter foam has almost subsided, arrange 3 or 4 pieces of veal in the skillet. Do not crowd them together. Sauté on one side for a minute or so regulating heat so fat is very hot but is not burning. Turn, and sauté the meat on its other side. (Each scallop should be lightly browned and cooked to the point where the juices have turned from rose to yellow. It is done when it has just become springy rather than squashy to the pressure of your finger.) Remove the scallops to a dish, and continue with the rest in the same manner, adding more butter and oil as needed.
3 Tb minced shallots or green onions
2 Tb butter if needed
Pour all but 2 tablespoons of fat out of the skillet. If fat has burned, discard it and add 2 Tb butter. Stir in the shallots or onions and cook slowly for 1 minute.
½ cup dry white wine or ⅓ cup dry white vermouth or Madeira
⅔ cup brown stock or canned beef bouillon
A wooden spoon
Pour the wine and stock or bouillon into the skillet and scrape up all the coagulated cooking juices with wooden spoon. Boil rapidly until liquid has reduced to about ¼ cup.
1½ cups whipping cream ½ Tb arrowroot or cornstarch blended with 1 Tb water
Salt and pepper to taste
Pour the cream and the starch mixture into the skillet and boil for several minutes until cream has reduced and thickened slightly. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.
½ lb. sliced fresh mushrooms
2 Tb butter
1 Tb oil
Salt and pepper
In a separate skillet, sauté the mushrooms in very hot butter and oil for 4 to 5 minutes to brown them lightly. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and scrape them into the cream sauce. Simmer for 1 minute. Remove from heat and correct seasoning.
Salt and pepper
Sprinkle salt and pepper over the sautéed scallops and arrange in the skillet, basting with the cream and mushrooms.
(*) May be done ahead to this point. Set skillet aside, partially covered.
Several minutes before serving, cover the skillet and bring almost to the simmer for 4 to 5 minutes, to warm the veal thoroughly but not to overcook it.
A hot platter Parsley sprigs
Arrange the scallops on a hot platter. Spoon the cream and mushrooms over them and surround, if you wish, with the rice or risotto. Decorate with parsley, and serve.
Rice, noodles, or sautéed potatoes go well with this, and green peas or beans. Accompany with a red Bordeaux wine.
For 6 people
12 veal scallops
Prepare and sauté the veal as described in the preceding master recipe. Place on a plate while completing the following sauce.
3 Tb minced shallots or green onions
½ cup dry white wine or ⅓ cup dry white vermouth
1 Tb fragrant tarragon, fresh or dried
1 cup brown sauce, or 1 cup brown stock or canned beef bouillon plus 1 Tb arrowroot or cornstarch blended with 1 Tb water
Cook the shallots or onions for a minute in the sauté skillet, then deglaze the skillet with the wine and tarragon, reducing the liquid to 2 or 3 spoonfuls. Add the brown sauce, or the stock and starch mixture, and boil for 2 to 3 minutes until the sauce has reduced and thickened lightly. Correct seasoning.
Salt and pepper
A hot platter
2 Tb softened butter
1 Tb fresh minced tarragon or minced parsley
Season the veal with salt and pepper. Return it to the skillet, and baste with the sauce. Cover the skillet and heat for 4 to 5 minutes without boiling. Arrange the meat on a hot platter. Off heat, swirl the butter into the sauce by small spoonfuls. Swirl in the herbs. Spoon the sauce over the veal and serve.
Serve rice, noodles, or sautéed potatoes with this, green peas or beans, or sautéed eggplant, and a Beaujolais or chilled rosé wine.
For 6 people
12 veal scallops
Prepare and sauté the veal as described in the preceding master recipe. Place the meat on a plate while completing the following sauce.
¼ cup minced shallots or green onions
¾ lb. firm, ripe, red tomatoes, peeled, seeded, juiced, and chopped (makes 1 cup of pulp)
½ clove mashed garlic
¼ tsp salt
Pinch of pepper
½ tsp basil or tarragon
½ cup white wine or ⅓ cup dry white vermouth
½ cup brown sauce, or ½ cup brown stock or canned beef bouillon plus 1 Tb arrowroot or cornstarch blended with 1 Tb water
Cook the shallots or onions for 1 minute in the skillet. Stir in the tomatoes, garlic, seasonings, and herbs. Cover the skillet and simmer for 5 minutes. Pour in the wine, and the brown sauce or the stock and starch. Boil rapidly for 4 to 5 minutes until the sauce has reduced and thickened. Correct seasoning and remove from heat.
In a separate skillet, sauté the mushrooms in very hot butter and oil to brown lightly. Season to taste and scrape them into the tomato sauce. Simmer for 1 minute and correct seasoning again.
A hot platter
2 Tb fresh minced tarragon, basil, or parsley
Sprinkle the veal scallops with salt and pepper and return them to the skillet. Baste with the sauce. Cover and heat for 4 to 5 minutes without boiling. Serve on a hot platter and decorate with the herbs.
The best treatment for veal chops, in our opinion, is the simple one of browning them, then cooking them slowly in a covered skillet or casserole for 15 to 20 minutes until their juices have turned from rose to yellow. They are particularly good if aromatic herbs and vegetables are braised with them as veal usually needs other flavors to make it more interesting.
PREPARATION FOR COOKING
Buy loin, rib, or shoulder chops 1 to 1¼ inches thick. Have the corner of the backbone at the top of the chop cut off so the meat will lie as flat as possible on either side.
CÔTES DE VEAU AUX HERBESThis is an excellent basic recipe for all veal chops, whether they are served with a plain deglazing sauce made from the pan juices, or with any of the suggestions listed at the end of the recipe. Sautéed potatoes, broiled tomatoes, string beans, and a chilled rosé wine would go well with chops prepared in the following manner.
Cooking Note: For 2 or 3 chops, the final cooking may be done on top of the stove in a covered skillet. For 6 chops, it is easier to finish cooking them in the oven.
For 6 people
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
A heavy, 10- to 12-inch fireproof casserole with cover6 large veal chops cut 1 inch thick
A 10- to 12-inch skillet
2 Tb butter and 1 Tb oil, more if needed
Salt and pepper
Dry the chops on paper towels. Heat the butter and oil in the skillet until you see that the butter foam has almost subsided, then brown the chops, two or three at a time, for 3 to 4 minutes on each side. As they are done, season with salt and pepper and arrange in the casserole, overlapping them slightly.
3 Tb butter, if needed
3 Tb minced shallots or green onions
Optional: 1 clove mashed garlic
½ cup dry white wine or dry white vermouth
1 tsp mixed basil and thyme, or tarragon
Pour all but 3 tablespoons of fat out of the skillet. If fat has burned, pour it all out and add butter. Stir in the shallots or onions and optional garlic, and cook slowly for 1 minute. Then pour in the wine, add the herbs, and simmer for a few minutes, scraping up the coagulated sautéing juices. Scrape the mixture into the casserole over the chops.
Heat the casserole on top of the stove until the liquid is simmering. Cover and set in lower third of preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Turn the chops and baste them with the liquid in the casserole 2 or 3 times during this period. The chops are done as soon as their juices run yellow when the meat is pierced with a fork.
A hot platter
¼ cup stock, canned bouillon, or cream
Salt and pepper
1 to 2 Tb softened butter
Remove the chops to a hot platter. Add the stock, bouillon, or cream to the casserole and boil rapidly for a few minutes until the liquid has reduced and thickened slightly. Correct seasoning. Off heat, swirl in the butter by bits. Pour the sauce over the chops and serve.
(*) AHEAD-OF-TIME NOTE
Veal chops may be browned well in advance of their final cooking. Once cooked, they may be kept in the hot, turned-off oven, casserole cover askew, for about 20 minutes. But do not allow them to overcook or overheat for they will dry out.
In addition to the following sauces, you may use the mushrooms and cream, mushrooms and tomato, or brown tarragon sauces described in the recipes for veal scallops.
Sauce Tomate or Coulis de Tomates, tomato sauce
Sauce Madère, brown sauce with Madeira wine
Sauce Robert, brown sauce with mustard and onions
Before cooking the chops, prepare 2 cups of one of the sauces listed at the left. When the chops are done, pour the sauce into the casserole, basting the chops. If not to be served immediately, set aside. Shortly before serving, cover the casserole and reheat for 4 to 5 minutes without simmering. Arrange the chops on a platter. Off heat, swish 1 or 2 tablespoons of butter into the casserole, then pour the sauce over the chops.
The recipe for sautéed chicken aux herbes de Provence, has an herb-and-garlic type of hollandaise sauce which can be adapted for veal chops. Another idea is to add almost cooked small potatoes and onions, and browned lardons of blanched bacon, all of which will finish cooking with the chops; follow the directions for them in poulet en cocotte but boil the vegetables long enough so they are almost tender before arranging them in the casserole to bake with the chops. Following the same system with other vegetables, you could use a combination of butter-braised carrots and artichoke hearts with sautéed mushrooms.
Veal steaks 1 to 1¼ inches thick cut from the round roast or the sirloin may be cooked exactly the same way as veal chops.
Here is a fine recipe for ground veal patties. Arranged on a bed of braised spinach, surrounded with baked or stuffed tomatoes, and served with a chilled rosé wine, they make a most attractive informal main course. Other vegetables are suggested in the list under roast veal. Neck, shoulder, shank, or breast meat may be used for grinding; be sure the meat has first been pared of gristle, tendons, filaments and other miscellaneous matter. Always include a proportion of ham fat, pork fat, or sausage meat; otherwise the patties will be too dry.
FRICADELLES DE VEAU À LA NIÇOISE[Veal Patties with Tomatoes, Onions, and Herbs]
Onions, garlic, and tomatoes are particularly good mixed with ground veal. If you happened to have the remains of a ratatouille (eggplant and tomato casserole), half a cup of it could replace the tomatoes and onions in the following recipe.
For 6 people
½ cup finely minced onions
2 Tb butter
Cook the onions slowly with the butter in a small skillet for 8 to 10 minutes, until they are tender but not browned.
2 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded, juiced, and chopped
1 clove mashed garlic
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp basil or thyme
A 3-quart mixing bowl
Add the tomatoes, and other ingredients. Cover and cook slowly for 5 minutes. Uncover, raise heat, and boil rapidly until the tomato juices have almost entirely evaporated. Scrape into the mixing bowl.
1 cup stale white bread crumbs and ½ cup milk
OR, grind ½ cup of cooked rice with the veal
While the tomatoes are cooking, soak the bread crumbs in the milk for 5 minutes. Pour into a strainer and press out as much of the milk as you can. Add bread crumbs to mixing bowl.
1 lb. or 2 cups lean raw veal, ground with 2 ounces (½ cup) of boiled ham and 2 ounces (½ cup) of ham fat or fresh pork fat
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
3 Tb minced parsley
1 egg
A wooden spoon
Add the meat, seasonings, parsley, and egg to the mixing bowl and beat vigorously with wooden spoon to blend thoroughly. Taste carefully for seasoning, adding more if you feel it necessary. Form the mixture into 6 or 12 balls. Flatten them into patties ½ inch thick with the palm of your hand. If not to be cooked immediately, cover with waxed paper and refrigerate.
½ cup sifted flour spread on a dish
Just before sautéing, dredge the patties in the flour and shake off excess flour.
1 to 2 skillets each containing 2 Tb butter and 1 Tb oil
Set the skillet or skillets over moderately high heat. When you see that the butter foam has almost subsided, brown the patties for 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Pour out excess fat, cover and cook very slowly for 15 minutes, turning the patties once.
A hot platter
Arrange the meat on a hot platter with whatever vegetables you have chosen, and keep warm for a moment while finishing the sauce.
⅔ cup brown stock or canned beef bouillon
1 to 2 Tb softened butter
Pour the fat out of the skillet. Add the stock or bouillon and boil rapidly, scraping up coagulated cooking juices and reducing liquid to 3 or 4 spoonfuls. Off heat, swirl in the butter by small spoonfuls. Pour the sauce over the patties, and serve.
(*) AHEAD-OF-TIME NOTE
After the patties have been browned, arrange them in a casserole. De-glaze the skillet with stock and set aside. About 20 to 30 minutes before serving, heat the casserole until the meat is sizzling, cover and finish cooking in a 325-degree oven. Reheat and butter the sauce just before pouring it over the patties.
[Veal Patties with Cream and Herb Sauce]
½ Tb tarragon or basil
½ cup dry white wine, dry white vermouth, or stock
½ to ¾ cup whipping cream
2 Tb softened butter
½ Tb fresh minced tarragon, basil, or parsley
Cook the patties and remove them to a hot platter as directed in the master recipe. Add the tarragon or basil and wine or stock to the degreased skillet. Boil down liquid to 3 tablespoons, scraping up coagulated cooking juices. Then pour in the cream and boil it down rapidly to reduce and thicken it lightly. Off heat, swirl in the butter by bits, then swirl in the herbs. Pour over the patties.
Coulis de Tomates à la Provençale, fresh tomato sauce with herbs
Sauce Brune aux Fines Herbes or à l’Estragon, brown sauce with mixed green herbs or tarragons
Sauce Madère, brown sauce with Madeira wine
Sauce Robert, brown sauce with mustard and onions
After cooking the patties, deglaze the skillet with half a cup of white wine or white vermouth, then add 1½ to 2 cups of any of the sauces listed at the left. Simmer for a minute or two. Off heat, swirl in 1 to 2 tablespoons of softened butter and pour the sauce over the meat.
Use the same mixture of ground veal, onions, and tomatoes as described in the master recipe.
¼ lb. finely minced fresh mushrooms
Squeeze the mushrooms, a handful at a time, in the corner of a towel to extract their juice. When the minced onions in the master recipe are tender, add the mushrooms. Raise heat and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes. Then add the tomatoes and proceed with the recipe.
This Italian and Mediterranean combination is especially good accompanied by braised spinach and grilled or baked tomatoes, or fried or sautéed potatoes and a salad of fresh tomatoes.
½ cup drained and mashed canned tuna fish
6 canned anchovy filets drained and mashed, or 1 Tb anchovy paste
Prepare the ground veal mixture as described in the master recipe and beat into it the tuna and anchovies. Then proceed with the recipe.
Follow any of the preceding combinations, substituting cooked veal for raw veal. To prevent the meat from being too dry, add to the mixture ½ cup of sausage meat or an additional ¼ cup of ground ham fat or pork fat.
Use any of the preceding ground veal combinations and pack the meat in a loaf pan or a soufflé mold. Over the top of the meat lay 2 or 3 strips of blanched bacon. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 1 to 1½ hours.
The loaf is done when the meat has shrunk slightly from the sides of the mold and the surrounding juices are clear yellow with no trace of rosy color, or at a meat-thermometer reading of 175 to 180 degrees. Unmold the loaf and serve it with a tomato sauce. If the loaf is to be served cold, place a weight on top of it after cooking to compress the meat as it cools.
Fresh pork, whether it is a large piece for roasting, or a thin piece for sautéing, will be tenderer and have a more interesting flavor if it receives a marination before cooking. This is not an essential step, but you will find it most effective, and cold leftovers will be even better than usual. You may use a simple dry mixture of salt, herbs, and spices, or a liquid marinade of either lemon juice or wine and vinegar with herbs and aromatic vegetables.
Always marinate the meat in a noncorroding container: porcelain, pyrex, enamelware, or stainless steel.
TIME REQUIRED
(If the meat is refrigerated, increase the minimum marination time by at least one third.)
Chops and steaks—a minimum of 2 hours; 6 to 12 are even better.
Loin roasts—a minimum of 6 hours, but 24 are recommended.
Fresh hams and picnic shoulders—a minimum of 2 days, but 4 to 5 are more effective.
[Salt Marinade with Herbs and Spices]
Fine for all types of fresh pork. This is our favorite, as it tenderizes the pork and accentuates its natural flavor.
Per pound of pork
1 tsp salt
⅛ tsp freshly ground pepper
¼ tsp ground thyme or sage
⅛ tsp ground bay leaf
Pinch of allspice
Optional: ½ clove mashed garlic
Mix all the ingredients together and rub them into the surface of the pork. Place in a covered bowl. Turn the meat 2 or 3 times if the marinade is a short one; several times a day if it is of long duration.
Before cooking, scrape off the marinade, and dry the meat thoroughly with paper towels.
[Lemon Juice and Herb Marinade]
For chops, steaks, and small, boned roasts. This is also an effective marinade giving the pork a slightly different flavor than the dry one.
Per pound of pork
⅛ tsp pepper
3 Tb lemon juice
3 Tb olive oil
3 parsley sprigs
¼ tsp thyme or sage
1 bay leaf
1 clove mashed garlic
Rub salt and pepper into the meat. Mix the other ingredients in a bowl, add the pork and baste it. Place a lid over the bowl. Turn and baste the meat 3 or 4 times during its marination period.
Before cooking, scrape off the marinade, and dry the meat thoroughly with paper towels.
[Wine Marinade]
May be used for chops, steaks, and small roasts, but is usually reserved for fresh hams and picnic shoulders. This is a special 2- to 4-day marinade which gives pork a taste akin to that of wild boar, marcassin.
[NOTE: If the pork is to be marinated for more than 3 days, cook the carrots, onions, and garlic very slowly in the olive oil before proceeding with the recipe.]
Per each 3 pounds of pork
1 Tb salt
1 cup dry white wine or ⅔ cup dry white vermouth
½ cup wine vinegar
4 Tb olive oil
3 halved cloves garlic
½ cup thinly sliced carrots
½ cup thinly sliced onions
½ tsp peppercorns
2 bay leaves
1 tsp thyme
Optional: ¼ tsp each of basil, tarragon, sage, and mint; 5 coriander seeds; 5 juniper berries
Rub salt into the pork. Mix the other ingredients in a bowl, add the meat and baste it. Place a lid over the bowl. Turn and baste the meat 3 or 4 times a day. Before cooking, scrape off the marinade and drain the meat for half an hour or so. Then dry it thoroughly with paper towels.
Pork may be roasted slowly in an open pan in a 325-degree oven, and basted occasionally with a spoonful or two of wine, stock, or water to aid in the dissolution of its fat. But we think pork is more tender and juicy if it is browned in hot fat, then roasted like veal in a covered casserole. This slow, steamy cooking tenderizes the meat and renders out the fat very effectively.
PREPARATION OF ROASTS FOR COOKING
The flavors of a marinade will penetrate pork more thoroughly if the meat is boned; it is rolled and tied after marination. All but a ⅛-inch layer of outside fat should be cut off, as well as any loose interior fat or heavy layers of fat. If you are using a fresh ham or shoulder, remove the rind; it may be frozen and used whenever you are cooking braised meat to give body to the sauce.
CUTS FOR ROASTING OR BRAISING
One pound of boneless pork will serve 2 or 3 people. For bone-in roasts, particularly the loin, allow ¾ pound per person.
Loin of Pork—Longe. The loin is divided into the following cuts:
Center Cut—Milieu de Filet. This is lean meat, and corresponds to the porterhouse and T-bone steak section of beef with both loin and tenderloin. If it is not boned and rolled, have the backbone part removed for easier carving.
Rib Cut—Carré. This is lean meat, and corresponds to the rib section of beef with loin but no tenderloin. If it is not boned and rolled, have the backbone section removed.
Loin End—Pointe de Filet. This corresponds to the rump of beef and should be boned. It makes a juicy roast with a combination of fat and lean.
Shoulder or Blade End—Échine. This combination of fat and lean is a favorite roasting cut in France; it is the shoulder-chop end of the loin and should be boned.
Shoulder Butt or Boston Butt—Palette. The shoulder butt is a combination of fat and lean and should be boned.
Picnic Shoulder or Shoulder Arm—No French equivalent: part of it is palette; part is jambonneau. This is lean meat, and should be boned.
Fresh Ham—Jambon Frais. Fresh ham is lean meat. It may be bought whole, or in part, and may be boned or not, as you wish.
TEMPERATURE AND TIMING FOR ROAST PORK
Pork, in our opinion, develops its best flavor and texture when it is cooked to an interior temperature of 180 to 185 degrees on a meat thermometer. At this point all its juices have turned clear yellow with no trace of rosy color, and the meat is somewhat gray with only a suggestion of pink overtone. It was authoritatively established as far back as the year 1919 that trichinae are killed at a meat temperature of 131 degrees (137 degrees for official purposes) or when the pork is still rare. In view of this fact there is no reason whatsoever for overcooking pork until it is dry and lifeless.
From 30 to 45 minutes per pound are required to roast a 3- to 8-pound piece of unchilled fresh pork to an internal temperature of 180 to 185 degrees. A long, thin, pork loin takes less time to roast than a thick fresh ham or shoulder of the same weight. Boned roasts usually require 5 to 10 minutes per pound more than bone-in roasts. As it takes a good hour for a large roast to cool off when it is out of the oven, you can afford to allow yourself plenty of time. Here are some examples for covered roasting in a 325-degree oven:
A 3-pound loin
Bone In—1½ to 1¾ hours
Boned and Rolled—1¾ to 2 hours
A 5-pound loin
Bone In—2½ to 3 hours
Boned and Rolled—3 to 3½ hours
A 5-pound fresh ham or picnic
Bone In—About 3½ hours
Boned and Rolled—About 4 hours
VEGETABLE SUGGESTIONS
Potatoes
Roast potatoes, which may cook with the pork
Sautéed potatoes, which may be done in pork fat rather than butter
Boiled potatoes, plain, mashed potatoes, or the garlic mashed potatoes
Scalloped potatoes with stock and cheese, or with tomatoes and onions
Other vegetables
Braised white cabbage, red cabbage, or sauerkraut, which may cook with the pork
Brussels sprouts braised in butter, or with cheese
Braised leeks, or braised celery root
Stuffed tomatoes; ratatouille (eggplant and tomato casserole)
Glazed onions, or turnips, which may cook with the pork
See also the fruit suggestions (apples, peaches, and cherries) in the Duck section; and the prunes in the Goose section
WINE SUGGESTIONS
Serve a dry white wine, Riesling, Traminer, white Côtes du Rhône, or a rosé.
RÔTI DE PORC POÊLÉAs most French recipes call for a boneless roast, we shall so specify in this recipe and its variations. The loin is the most expensive cut and also the most attractive looking. But any other cut among those listed may be substituted, and may be boned or not.
For 6 people
A 3-lb. boneless roast of pork, previously marinated, if you wish, according to one of the suggestions
4 Tb rendered pork fat, lard, or cooking oil
A heavy fireproof casserole just large enough to hold the meat
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Dry the meat thoroughly on paper towels. Place the fat in the casserole and set over moderately high heat. When fat is almost smoking, brown the pork on all sides. This will take about 10 minutes. Remove pork to a side dish.
1 sliced yellow onion
1 sliced carrot
Optional: 2 cloves unpeeled garlic
A medium herb bouquet: 4 parsley sprigs, ½ bay leaf, and ¼ tsp thyme tied in cheesecloth
Pour all but 2 spoonfuls of fat out of the casserole. If fat has burned, throw it all out and add more butter. Stir in the vegetables, optional garlic, and herb bouquet. Cover and cook slowly for 5 minutes.
A bulb baster
Place the meat in the casserole, its fattiest side up. (If pork was not marinated, season it with salt and pepper, and half a teaspoon of sage or thyme.) Cover the casserole and heat it until the meat is sizzling, then place in lower third of preheated oven for about 2 hours or to a meat-thermometer reading of 180 to 185 degrees. Baste the roast 2 or 3 times during this period with the juices in the casserole, and regulate oven heat so the pork is cooking slowly and evenly. The pork and vegetables will render about 1 cup of juices as they roast.
A hot platter
When it is done, place the pork on a hot serving platter and discard trussing strings.
½ cup dry white wine, stock, canned bouillon, or water
A hot gravy boat
Pour the liquid into the casserole and simmer slowly for 2 to 3 minutes. Then tilt the casserole and skim out all but a tablespoon or two of fat. Mash the vegetables into the juices; boil rapidly until you have about 1 cup. Strain into a hot gravy boat. Surround the pork roast with whatever vegetable garnish you have chosen, and serve.
(*) AHEAD-OF-TIME NOTE
If you are not serving immediately, return pork and sauce to casserole. Cover loosely and set in turned-off hot oven with door ajar. The meat will stay warm for a good half hour.
Any of the following sauces may be prepared while the pork is roasting, then simmered for a moment to blend with the degreased juices in the casserole.
Sauce Diable, peppery brown sauce
Sauce Piquante, spicy brown sauce with pickles and capers
Sauce Robert, brown mustard sauce
Sauce Poivrade, peppery brown sauce with vinegar and wine for use especially if the pork has been marinated in wine, this page
Sauce Tomate, a good tomato sauce
For about 2 cups
After the pork has been cooked and placed on a platter, keep it warm for 10 to 15 minutes while preparing the sauce.
Strain the meat juices into a bowl and degrease them.
⅓ cup cider vinegar
10 crushed peppercorns
Pour the vinegar and peppercorns into the casserole and boil until the vinegar has reduced to about a tablespoon. Pour in the meat juices and boil them down rapidly until they have reduced to about ⅔ cup.
1½ cups whipping cream
Salt
2 tsp dry mustard mixed with 2 tsp water
Add the cream and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring in salt to taste. Beat in the mustard mixture and simmer 2 or 3 minutes more. Sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon lightly. Correct seasoning.
1 to 2 Tb softened butter
A warm gravy boat
Off heat and just before serving, swirl in the butter by bits, then pour the sauce into a warm gravy boat.
Onions and potatoes absorb a distinctive flavor when they cook with pork in this manner.
For 6 people
A 3-lb. boneless roast of pork previously marinated in salt for several hours, if you wish
Roast the pork in a covered casserole with seasonings as described in the master recipe, but omit the vegetables. After 1 hour, add potatoes and onions which have been prepared as follows:
12 to 18 peeled white onions 1 to 1½ inches in diameter
Pierce a cross in the root end of the onions, and boil them for 5 minutes in salted water. Drain.
12 to 18 small new potatoes or “boiling” potatoes, peeled and cut into 1½ inch ovals
A skillet
2 Tb rendered pork fat or cooking oil
Salt and pepper
Drop the potatoes into a pan of boiling salted water. Bring to the boil and boil ½ minute. Drain. Just before adding the potatoes to the casserole, roll them for 1 to 2 minutes in hot fat in skillet to brown very lightly. Season with salt and pepper.
After the pork has cooked for an hour, arrange the potatoes and onions around it and baste them with the juices in the casserole. Cover the casserole and return it to the oven until the meat is done, basting the vegetables once or twice.
A hot platter
1 to 2 Tb chopped parsley
Remove the pork to a hot platter and arrange the vegetables around it. Decorate with chopped parsley. Degrease the meat juices and either pour them over the vegetables, or into a hot gravy boat.
Turnips are wonderful when cooked in pork juices. Use the same general system described for the onions and potatoes in the preceding recipe. Peel and quarter the turnips; allow 4 to 6 pieces per person. Drop them in boiling water and boil 2 minutes. Drain. Add them to the casserole for the last hour of cooking.
[Casserole-roasted Pork with Cabbage]
This is a great dish for lovers of cabbage. Serve it with boiled potatoes and a dry Alsatian wine, or beer.
For 6 people
Roast the pork in a covered casserole with carrots, onions, and seasonings as described in the master recipe. After an hour, add the cabbage which has been prepared as follows:
1 lb. (about 6 cups) green or white cabbage cut into ½-inch slices
A kettle containing 7 to 8 quarts of rapidly boiling water with 1½ tsp salt per quart of water
Drop the cabbage into the boiling water. Bring rapidly to the boil and boil uncovered for 2 minutes. Immediately drain in a colander, and run cold water over the cabbage for a minute or two. Drain thoroughly and set aside.
½ tsp salt
⅛ tsp pepper
Optional: ½ tsp caraway seeds
After the pork has cooked for an hour, arrange the cabbage around it. Fluff salt, pepper, and the optional caraway seeds into the cabbage, and baste it with the juices in the casserole. Cover the casserole, bring to the simmer, and return it to the oven until the pork is done. Baste the cabbage several times with the meat juices during this period.
A hot platter
Salt and pepper
Parsley sprigs
Then remove the pork to a hot platter. Lift the cabbage out of the casserole with a fork and spoon so it will drain, and arrange it around the meat. Season it with salt and pepper if necessary. Degrease the juices in the casserole and pour them over the cabbage. Decorate with sprigs of fresh parsley.
PORC BRAISÉ AUX CHOUX ROUGESA good dish of red cabbage is even better when a roast of pork is cooked with it. The casserole of cabbage cooks for 3 hours before the pork goes into it, and needs 2 hours more in the oven until the pork is done.
For 6 people
Ingredients for the braised red cabbage (omit the chestnuts if you wish, but they are a good accompaniment)
Braise the cabbage for 3 hours in a 325-degree oven, following the directions in the recipe.
Brown the pork in hot fat in a skillet. After the cabbage has cooked for 3 hours, place the pork in the casserole with the cabbage. Cover the casserole and return it to the oven to braise for two hours more or until the pork is done.
A hot platter Salt and pepper
Then place the pork on a platter, drain the cabbage and arrange it around the pork. Correct seasoning. Degrease and season the cooking juices, and pour them over the cabbage.
Use exactly the same method as for red cabbage but substitute sauerkraut. After the sauerkraut has braised for 3 hours, brown the pork, add it to the casserole, and cook for another 2 hours or until the pork is done.
A loin of pork is cut lengthwise from the top almost to the bottom to make 3 or 4 long leaves or slices so the roast may be opened up like a book. It is marinated for several hours, then stuffed with slices of Swiss cheese and cooked in a covered casserole. Follow the recipe for veau Sylvie, but use one of the pork marinades and omit the slices of ham.
Pork chops and steaks are best, we think, when they are cut thick, browned on each side, then cooked in a covered casserole or skillet like the preceding casserole roasts of pork.
Have the chops or steak cut between 1 to 1¼ inches thick, and ask that the backbone corners of chops be leveled or removed so the meat will lie perfectly flat on either side. All but a thin layer of fat should be trimmed off. The best chops are from the center loin or the rib loin. Second choices are the loin end or rump, shoulder loin chops, and blade and round-bone chops from the shoulder. Steaks are usually cut from the picnic shoulder or shoulder arm, or from the fresh ham.
Usually 1 thick chop per person is sufficient. For steaks, count on 1 pound for 2 or 3 people. As steaks or chops are interchangeable in these recipes, we will call everything chops.
VEGETABLE AND WINE SUGGESTIONS
These are the same as the suggestions for roast pork.
CÔTES DE PORC POÊLÉES[Casserole-sautéed Pork Chops]
Three or four chops or one or two steaks may be cooked in a covered skillet on top of the stove. For a larger quantity oven-cooking in a covered casserole is easier.
For 6 people
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
3 to 4 Tb rendered pork fat, lard, or cooking oil
A heavy, 10- to 12-inch fireproof casserole
Dry the pork chops on paper towels. Heat the fat or oil in the casserole until it is moderately hot, then brown the chops, 2 or 3 at a time, on each side for 3 to 4 minutes. As they are browned, transfer them to a side dish.
If the chops have not been marinated, season them with salt, pepper, and ¼ teaspoon of thyme or sage.
2 Tb butter
Optional: 2 halved cloves garlic
Pour the fat out of the casserole and add the butter and optional garlic. Return the chops, overlapping them slightly. Baste them with the butter. Cover and heat the casserole until the meat is sizzling, then set in lower third of preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Turn and baste the chops once or twice. They are done when the meat juices run a clear yellow with no trace of rose. Make a deep cut next to the bone if you have any doubts.
A hot platter
½ cup dry white wine, dry white vermouth, brown stock, canned beef bouillon, or marinade liquid
Arrange the chops on a hot platter with whatever vegetable garnish you have chosen. The chops will have rendered about ½ cup of juices during their cooking; remove all but 2 tablespoons of fat from them. Pour in the ½ cup of liquid and boil rapidly, scraping up all coagulated cooking juices, until you have about ½ cup of concentrated sauce. Taste for seasoning, and pour it over the chops.
(*) AHEAD-OF-TIME-NOTE
If the chops are not to be served immediately, return them to the casserole, baste them with the sauce, cover loosely, and keep warm in turned-off oven for 20 minutes or so.
Any of the sauces suggested for roast pork may also be used for pork chops. Here is another suggestion:
While the pork chops are cooking according to directions in the master recipe, prepare the following:
1½ cups whipping cream
¼ tsp salt
Pinch of pepper
Simmer the cream, salt, and pepper in a small saucepan for 8 to 10 minutes, or until it has reduced to 1 cup.
1 Tb dry English mustard
2 Tb tomato paste
Beat the mustard and tomato paste together in a small bowl, then beat in the hot cream. Set aside.
2 Tb fresh chopped basil, chervil, or parsley
After removing the chops from the casserole and de-greasing the meat juices, pour in the cream mixture and simmer for 3 or 4 minutes. Correct seasoning, stir in the herbs, and pour the sauce over the chops.
Include sautéed potatoes and a chilled rosé wine on the menu with this good dish of pork chops. If you stir chopped pickles and capers into the sauce just before serving the chops, they become côtes de porc charcutière.
For 6 people
6 pork chops cut 1 inch thick and previously marinated for several hours, if you wish, according to one of the formulas on this page
A heavy, 10- to 12-inch fireproof casserole
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Brown the chops in hot fat in the casserole as described in the master recipe, and set them aside.
2 Tb butter
1 cup minced yellow onions
1 Tb flour
11 lb. ripe tomatoes peeled, seeded, and chopped (1½ cups)
½ tsp salt
⅛ tsp pepper
¼ tsp sage or thyme
1 large clove mashed garlic
Pour out the browning fat, add the butter and onions, cover and cook slowly for 10 minutes. Mix in the flour and stir over low heat for 2 minutes more. Stir in the tomatoes and other flavorings. Cover and cook slowly for 5 minutes.
1 cup dry white wine or ⅔ cup dry vermouth (include marinade liquid, if any)
½ cup brown stock or canned beef bouillon
1 to 2 Tb tomato paste
Stir in the wine and stock or bouillon and simmer for 10 minutes. Correct seasoning and stir in enough tomato paste to deepen the flavor and color of the sauce.
If the chops have not been marinated, season them with salt and pepper. Arrange them, slightly overlapping, in the casserole and baste them with the tomato sauce.
(*) May be done in advance to this point.
Cover the casserole and bring to the simmer on top of the stove, then set it in the lower third of the preheated oven. Regulate oven temperature so casserole simmers slowly and regularly for 25 to 30 minutes or until the chops are done.
A hot platter
1 to 2 Tb fresh chopped basil or parsley
Arrange the chops on a serving platter. Degrease the sauce and if necessary boil it down rapidly until it is lightly thickened. Correct seasoning and pour it over the chops. Sprinkle with herbs and serve.
Browned pork chops may also finish their cooking for half an hour or so in a casserole of braised red cabbage, or braised sauerkraut. Or you can add blanched onions, carrots, new potatoes, or turnips to the casserole with the browned chops so the meat and vegetables finish their cooking in the oven together.
The following recipes for beef stew are also very good with pork rather than beef. Use boneless pork cuts which contain a mixture of fat and lean, such as shoulder loin chops, loin-end chops, or shoulder (Boston) butt. Cooking time is 2 to 2½ hours rather than the 3½ hours required for beef.
Boeuf à la Catalane, stew with rice, onions, and tomatoes
Daube de Boeuf, casserole with wine and vegetables
Daube de Boeuf à la Provençale, casserole with wine, vegetables, anchovies, and garlic
Ham is a fine dish for large parties, but a parade of plain boiled or baked hams can become woefully monotonous especially around Christmas and Easter. Here are a handful of French recipes which will lift any ham into la grande classe.
VEGETABLE SUGGESTIONS
Classic accompaniment
Spinach braised with cream or with stock
Other vegetables
Braised celery, celeriac, or lettuce
Braised chestnuts, pureéd chestnuts
Braised onions, or leeks
Mashed potatoes
Fruits
The French do not go in much for fruits and ham, but if you like them, see the prunes in wine in the Goose section, and the fruits suggested for duck on this page.
WINE SUGGESTIONS
The best choice is a not-too-heavy red wine such as Bordeaux-Médoc, or a Beaujolais, Mâcon, or Chinon.
TYPE OF HAM TO BUY
All of the recipes in this section call for cooked, mild-cured ham. In the recipes for whole braised ham, we have specified 8 to 10 pounds; a pound or two more will make little difference except in the braising time. You may buy whole ham, which always looks more festive, or half a ham, or a picnic or boned shoulder butt. We have allowed about 1 pound of bone-in ham for 2 people. If the ham has been boned, 1 pound should serve 3 and possibly 4 people. When you buy ham, have the skin or rind removed, and cut off all but a ⅛-inch layer of covering fat. Hams labeled “fully cooked” usually require reheating to an internal temperature of between 130 and 140 degrees. But you should test the meat anyway, to see if a fork will pierce it fairly easily; if not, continue cooking until the ham is tender.
JAMBON BRAISÉ MORVANDELLEHam heated in a covered roaster with aromatic vegetables, herbs, stock, and wine absorbs these different flavors, and the braising liquid is easily transformed into a good sauce.
For 16 to 20 people
¼ lb. (about 1 cup) sliced carrots
¼ lb. (about 1 cup) sliced onions
2 Tb butter and 1 Tb oil, or 3 Tb rendered ham fat
A heavy covered roaster or fireproof casserole just large enough to hold the ham
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Sauté the vegetables in butter and oil or ham fat for about 10 minutes in the roaster or casserole until they are tender and very lightly browned.
An 8- to 10-lb. cooked ham or picnic shoulder, skinned, and trimmed of excess fat
6 parsley sprigs
1 bay leaf
6 peppercorns
½ tsp thyme
3 whole cloves
4 cups white Burgundy wine (Chablis or Pouilly-Fuissé) or 3 cups dry white vermouth
4 to 6 cups white or brown stock or canned beef bouillon
Place the ham over the vegetables, its fattiest side up, and add the rest of the ingredients at the left. Bring to the simmer on top of the stove, cover, and place the roaster or casserole in the middle level of the preheated oven. Regulate heat so liquid barely simmers for about 2 hours. Baste every 20 minutes. The ham is done when a trussing needle or sharp-pronged fork will pierce the thickest part of it fairly easily.
Optional glazing
Powdered sugar in a shaker
A shallow roasting pan containing a rack
When the ham is done, drain it. If you wish to glaze it, dust the top and sides with powdered sugar, and place it on the rack in the roasting pan. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Place the ham in the upper third of the oven and let it brown lightly for 10 to 15 minutes. Basting is not necessary.
Let the ham sit at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes before carving. If it is to wait longer, put it in the turned-off hot oven with door ajar where it can stay for an hour. The braising liquid is turned into a sauce as follows:
Version I
2 lbs. sliced fresh mushrooms
3 Tb butter
1 Tb oil
3 Tb minced shallots or green onions
A large enameled skillet
Salt and pepper
Dry the mushrooms in a towel. Sauté them for 5 to 6 minutes in hot butter and oil until they are very lightly browned. Stir in the shallots or onions and sauté for a minute more. Season to taste and set aside.
The ham braising liquid
¼ cup Marc de Bourgogne, Madeira, or port
A 2½-quart enameled saucepan
4 Tb flour mixed to a paste with 4 Tb softened butter
2 to 3 cups whipping cream
Degrease the braising liquid in the roaster. Set roaster over high heat and boil rapidly until liquid has reduced to about 3 cups and is full of flavor. Add the marc or wine and simmer for a minute or two to evaporate the alcohol. Strain into a saucepan and beat in the flour and butter paste. Beat in 2 cups of cream, then stir in the sautéed mushrooms. Simmer for 5 minutes. The sauce should be just thick enough to coat a spoon very lightly. Stir in more cream if sauce seems too thick. Taste carefully for seasoning.
(*) If not to be served immediately, set aside uncovered, top of sauce filmed with a spoonful of cream to keep a skin from forming. Reheat when ready to serve.
Version II, with egg yolks
2 lbs. fresh sliced mushrooms
3 Tb butter
1 Tb oil
3 Tb minced shallots or green onions
The ham braising liquid
¼ cup Marc de Bourgogne, Madeira, or port
A 2½-quart enameled saucepan
Following Version I of the sauce, sauté the mushrooms in butter and oil, adding the shallots or onions at the end. Degrease the ham braising liquid, reduce it to about 3 cups, add the marc or wine and simmer for a moment. Strain into the saucepan, add the sautéed mushrooms and simmer for 5 minutes.
5 egg yolks
1 tsp cornstarch (anticurdling insurance)
A 2-quart mixing bowl
A wire whip
2 cups whipping cream
Blend the egg yolks and cornstarch in the mixing bowl with wire whip. Beat in the cream. Then gradually beat in about 1½ cups of the ham braising liquid from the saucepan. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan with the rest of the braising liquid and mushrooms.
(*) May be done in advance to this point.
A wooden spoon
½ to 1 cup whipping cream
A warmed sauce bowl
Shortly before serving, set saucepan over moderate heat and stir with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens lightly, but do not let it come near the simmer (maximum temperature, 165 degrees) or the egg yolks will curdle. Stir in more cream by spoonfuls if the sauce seems too thick. It should coat a spoon lightly. Taste carefully for seasoning, pour into a warmed sauce bowl, and serve.
The combined flavors of Madeira and ham have always been a favorite in France. Spinach braised in stock, broiled or stuffed mushrooms, and a red Bordeaux-Médoc wine are good accompaniments for this dish.
For 16 to 20 people
1 cup sliced onions
1 cup sliced carrots
2 Tb butter
1 Tb oil
A covered roaster
An 8- to 10-lb. cooked ham or picnic shoulder, skinned and trimmed of excess fat
2 cups Madeira
3 cups stock or canned beef bouillon
6 parsley sprigs
1 bay leaf
½ tsp thyme
Powdered sugar in a shaker
Following the general directions in the preceding master recipe, preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cook the vegetables in butter and oil in the roaster until lightly browned. Place the ham in the roaster, pour in the wine, the stock or bouillon, and add the herbs. Bring to the simmer on top of the stove, cover, and bake very slowly for 2 to 2½ hours, basting every 20 minutes. When the ham is tender, glaze it with powdered sugar as described in the master recipe.
Degrease the braising liquid and boil it down rapidly to 3 cups. Strain it into a saucepan.
3 Tb arrowroot (preferable to cornstarch as it does not cloud the sauce)
2 Tb cold stock, wine, or truffle juice
2 or 3 chopped, canned truffles and their juice OR, ½ cup mushroom duxelles (finely diced, sautéed mushrooms)
Blend the arrowroot with the cold liquid and beat it into the hot braising liquid. Stir in the truffles or mushrooms. Simmer for 5 minutes. Correct seasoning. Sauce will have a very light thickening; the butter enrichment will give it more body and character.
3 Tb softened butter
A warmed sauceboat
Reheat when ready to serve. Off heat, beat in the butter by bits, and pour the sauce into a warmed sauceboat.
JAMBON FARCI ET BRAISÉA fine dish for an important dinner is ham sliced into serving pieces, reconstructed with a stuffing between each slice, then braised in Madeira.
For 12 to 14 people
2 lbs. fresh mushrooms
3 Tb butter
1 Tb oil
½ cup minced shallots or green onions
Trim, wash, and mince the mushrooms. A handful at a time, twist them into a ball in the corner of a towel to extract their juice. Sauté in the butter and oil with the shallots or onions for 8 to 10 minutes until the mushroom pieces begin to separate from each other.
Add the wine to the mushrooms and boil rapidly until the liquid has almost completely evaporated.
Salt and pepper
6 to 7 ounces or ¾ cup mousse de foie gras, or mousse de foie d’oie (the latter is puréed liver from a plain goose and is much less expensive)
½ tsp sage or thyme
Pinch of allspice
Optional: 1 or 2 diced, canned truffles (reserve their juice for your sauce)
Scrape the mushrooms into a mixing bowl and season with salt and pepper. Blend in the rest of the ingredients. Taste carefully for seasoning, but do not salt too heavily because the ham is salted.
A 10-lb. cooked ham, skinned, and trimmed of excess fat
A large square of well washed cheesecloth, if needed
Cut the upper two thirds of the ham into neat, thin, horizontal serving slices, piling them to one side in the order in which you slice them. Leave the lower third of the ham intact to act as a cradle to hold the slices when you put them back. Spread a spoonful of the mushroom stuffing in the center of each slice and pile the slices back onto the ham, reconstructing it into approximately its original shape. If the slices have been arranged neatly and solidly on the ham, no tying is necessary to keep them in place while the ham braises. But if you are doubtful, wrap the ham in cheesecloth.
Then braise the ham for about 2½ hours with cooked vegetables, herbs, stock, and Madeira as described in the braising recipe, this page. Serve it with the same Madeira sauce, and braised spinach.
A splendid way to serve the preceding sliced and stuffed ham is to bake it in a pastry crust. To do so, after stuffing and braising it, allow it to cool for about an hour. Then, following the directions for duck in a crust, surround it with a decorated pastry dough and bake it in a 375-degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes until the crust is cooked and nicely browned.
Sliced ham responds to a number of interesting preparations which are relatively quick and simple to do.
[Ham Slices Baked with Tomatoes, Onions, and Peppers]
This savory recipe for thick slices of smoked ham may be prepared for baking several hours before it is set in the oven. Sautéed potatoes, green beans, and a light red wine or a rosé go well with it.
For 6 people
2½ to 3 lbs. of cooked ham, sliced ½ inch thick, and cut into serving pieces if you wish
3 Tb rendered ham fat or olive oil
A large skillet
A shallow baking dish large enough to hold ham in one layer
Trim off excess fat, and dry the ham slice or slices on paper towels. Heat the fat or olive oil in the skillet until it is almost smoking, then brown the ham lightly for a minute or two on each side. Remove skillet from heat and place the ham in the baking dish.
1 cup sliced yellow onions
1 cup sliced green bell peppers
Lower heat, and stir the onions into the fat in the skillet. Cover and cook slowly for 5 minutes. Stir in the peppers and cook 5 minutes more or until the vegetables are tender but not browned.
2 lbs. firm, ripe, red tomatoes, peeled, seeded, juiced, and sliced (makes 3 cups of pulp)
2 cloves mashed garlic
⅛ tsp pepper
Pinch of cayenne pepper
¼ tsp sage or thyme
Spread the tomato pulp over the onions and peppers, add the garlic and seasonings. Cover and cook slowly for 5 minutes so the tomatoes will render their remaining juice. Then uncover and boil for several minutes, shaking the skillet, until the tomato juice has almost entirely evaporated.
Cover the browned ham with the vegetables.
(*) May be done in advance to this point.
2 to 3 Tb minced parsley
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. About 20 to 30 minutes before serving time, cover the baking dish and place it in the middle level of the oven and bake until the ham is heated through and tender when pierced with a fork. Baste with the juices in the dish and correct seasoning, adding salt if necessary. Decorate with parsley and serve.
Placed on a bed of spinach braised in stock, surrounded with broiled mushrooms or sautéed potatoes, this is a delectable ham dish. Serve with it a light red wine, or a Chablis or Pouilly-Fuissé.
For 6 people
2½ to 3 lbs. of cooked ham, sliced ¼ inch thick
Trim off excess fat, and cut the ham into serving pieces. Dry on paper towels.
2 Tb butter
1 Tb oil
An enameled skillet
A few pieces at a time, brown the ham lightly for a minute on each side in hot butter and oil. Set the ham aside.
3 Tb flour
2 Tb minced shallots or green onions
A wooden spoon
Pour all but 2½ tablespoons of fat out of the skillet. Stir in the flour with a wooden spoon, then the shallots or onions, and cook slowly for 2 or 3 minutes without browning. Remove from heat.
1 cup very good ham stock, white or brown stock, or canned beef bouillon
½ cup Madeira or port
A wire whip
1 Tb tomato paste
Big pinch of pepper
Bring the stock or bouillon and wine to the simmer in a small saucepan. Blend it into the flour in the skillet with a wire whip. Beat in the tomato paste and pepper.
Bring the sauce to the simmer, stirring, then beat in the cream. Simmer for 4 or 5 minutes, allowing the sauce to reduce until it coats the spoon lightly. Taste carefully for seasoning but do not oversalt. Stir in the cognac. Then add the ham slices and spoon the sauce over them.
(*) May be done in advance to this point. Film surface with a spoonful of cream and set aside.
A hot platter on which, if you wish, is a mound of spinach braised in stock
Shortly before serving, bring to the simmer, cover, and simmer slowly for a minute or two until the ham is tender when pierced with a fork. Taste again for seasoning. Transfer the ham to a platter, or place it over a bed of braised spinach. Spoon the sauce over the ham and serve.
Mix sliced, sautéed mushrooms into the sauce to simmer with the ham.
[Sautéed Ham Slices—Fresh Cream Sauce]
This famous recipe is the same idea as the preceding one, but is made with a richer and more delicate sauce.
For 6 people
2½ to 3 lbs. cooked ham, sliced ¼ inch thick
2 Tb butter
1 Tb oil
A 9- to 10-inch skillet
2 Tb shallots or green onions
⅔ cup Madeira or port and 3 Tb cognac
A wooden spoon
Trim off excess fat, cut the ham into serving pieces, and dry on paper towels. Brown the slices lightly on each side in hot butter and oil and set them aside. Pour all but a tablespoon of sautéing fat out of the skillet, stir in the shallots or onions, and cook slowly for 2 minutes. Pour in the wine and cognac and, scraping up the coagulated sauté juices with a wooden spoon, boil rapidly until the liquid has reduced to 3 or 4 tablespoons.
2 cups whipping cream
2 Tb Dijon-type prepared mustard mixed with 1 Tb tomato paste and 2 Tb whipping cream
Big pinch of pepper
Add the cream to the skillet, beat in the mustard mixture, and the pepper. Simmer slowly for 10 to 15 minutes, until the cream has reduced to about 1½ cups and has thickened lightly. Correct seasoning, but do not oversalt.
Return the ham slices to the skillet and baste them with the sauce.
(*) May be done ahead to this point.
A hot platter on which, if you wish, is a mound of spinach braised in stock
Shortly before serving, bring to the simmer, cover and simmer for several minutes until the ham is reheated and tender. Arrange the ham on a hot platter or on the bed of spinach. Spoon the sauce over the ham and serve.
Cassoulet is a rich combination of beans baked with meats, as much a part of southwestern France as Boston baked beans are of New England. The composition of a cassoulet is, in typical French fashion, the subject of infinite dispute, so much so that if you have read or heard about cassoulet and never tasted it, you come to expect a kind of rare ambrosia rather than the nourishing country fare it actually is. As cassoulet is native to a relatively large region of France, each part of which has its own specialties, arguments about what should go into this famous dish seem based on local traditions. Toulousains insist that it must include among its meats preserved goose, confit d’oie, or it is not a real cassoulet. After all, something must be done with all the geese which housed the foie gras, and cassoulet is a natural solution in the Toulouse area. Then there are those who declare the cassoulet was born in Castelnaudary, and originally contained only beans, pork, and sausages. A heretical few suggest the cassoulet was not a French invention at all, but an adaption from the Arab fava bean and mutton stew. And so on, with variations and dogmatisms rampant. Fortunately all the talk can be regarded as so much historical background, for an extremely good cassoulet can be made anywhere out of beans and whatever of its traditional meats are available: goose, game, pork, sausages, lamb, mutton. The important item is flavor, which comes largely from the liquid the beans and meats are cooked in. And truth to tell, despite all the to-do about preserved goose, once it is cooked with the beans you may find difficulty in distinguishing goose from pork.
The following recipe makes no attempt to cut corners, for the concoction of a good cassoulet is a fairly long process. You can prepare it in one day, but two or even three days of leisurely on-and-off cooking are much easier. It calls for a roast loin of pork, shoulder of lamb braised in wine, homemade sausage cakes, and beans cooked with pork rind, fresh bacon or salt pork, and aromatic vegetables. The meats are cut into serving pieces and arranged in a casserole with the beans and various cooking juices. Then the dish is baked in the oven for an hour to blend flavors. Time could be saved if the lamb were roasted whole or if leftover roast were used, but flavor would be lost, and there would be no splendid braising liquid to give character to the cassoulet. Polish sausage could cook with the beans, replacing the homemade sausage cakes. But after you have made the dish once or twice, you will see that you can pretty well invent your own formula as long as you supply excellent flavor through one means or another. Suggestions for other meats are at the end of the recipe.
MENU SUGGESTIONS
Any cassoulet worthy of the name is not a light dish, and is probably best served as a noontime dinner. The rest of the menu should consist of a simple first course if any—a clear soup, jellied soup, or oysters—then a green salad and fruits. For wine, choose a strong, dry rosé or white, or a young, full-bodied red.
THE BEANS
Most French recipes specify simply “dry white beans.” A few call for white beans from certain localities in France such as Cayence, Pamiers, Mazères, Lavelanet. We have found American Great Northern beans to be entirely satisfactory, but they should not be old and stale. If you wish to pressure-cook them instead of using the open-pot method, soak them as directed in the recipe, then add all the ingredients listed and, following the directions for your cooker, bring them quickly to 15 pounds pressure. Cook for exactly 3 minutes, then allow the pressure to go down slowly by itself, 15 to 20 minutes. Let the beans stand uncovered in the cooking liquid for at least 30 minutes so they will absorb its flavor.
A NOTE ON THE ORDER OF BATTLE
All of the various steps leading up to the final assembly in the recipe below may be carried on at various times or almost simultaneously. Once the cas soulet is made ready for the oven, it may be refrigerated and baked a day or two later.
CASSOULET DE PORC ET DE MOUTON[Beans Baked with Pork Loin, Shoulder of Mutton or Lamb, and Sausage]
For 10 to 12 people
The pork loin
2½ lbs. of boned pork loin, excess fat removed (It will taste even better if marinated overnight in salt and spices.)
Following directions roast the pork to an internal temperature of 175 to 180 degrees. Set it aside to cool. Reserve cooking juices.
The beans
2 lbs. or 5 cups dry white beans (Great Northern, preferably)
An 8-quart kettle containing 5 quarts of rapidly boiling water
Drop the beans into the boiling water. Bring rapidly back to the boil and boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let the beans soak in the water for 1 hour; they will cook in the soaking water, and the cooking should proceed as soon as possible after the soaking process is completed.
½ lb. fresh pork rind or salt pork rind
A heavy saucepan
Heavy shears
While the beans are soaking, place the rind in the saucepan and cover with 1 quart of cold water. Bring to the boil and boil 1 minute. Drain, rinse in cold water, and repeat the process. Then, with shears, cut the rind into strips ¼ inch wide; cut the strips into small triangles. Cover the rind again with a quart of cold water, bring to the simmer, and simmer very slowly for 30 minutes. Set saucepan aside. This process freshens the rind, and softens it so it will lose itself as it cooks with the beans.
A 1-lb. chunk of fresh, unsalted, unsmoked lean bacon (or very good quality lean salt pork simmered for 10 minutes in 2 quarts of water and drained)
1 cup (4 ounces) sliced onions
The pork rind and its cooking liquid
A large herb bouquet, with garlic and cloves: 6 to 8 parsley sprigs, 4 unpeeled cloves garlic, 2 cloves, ½ tsp thyme, and 2 bay leaves tied in cheesecloth
No salt until later if you have used salt pork; otherwise 1 Tb salt
Place all the ingredients at the left in the kettle with the soaked beans. Bring to the simmer. Skim off any skum which may rise. Simmer slowly, uncovered, for about 1½ hours or until the beans are just tender. Add boiling water if necessary during cooking, to keep beans covered with liquid. Season to taste near end of cooking. Leave beans in their cooking liquid until ready to use, then drain. Reserve cooking liquid. Remove the bacon or salt pork and set aside. Discard the herb packet.
The lamb or mutton
2 to 2½ lbs. boned shoulder or breast of mutton or almost mature lamb, fell (skin covering meat) and excess fat removed
4 to 6 Tb rendered fresh pork fat, pork-roast drippings, goose fat, or cooking oil; more if needed
A heavy, 8-quart fireproof casserole
About 1 lb. cracked mutton or lamb bones; some pork bones may be included
2 cups (½ lb.) minced onions
Cut the lamb or mutton into chunks roughly 2 inches square. Dry each piece in paper towels. Pour a 1/16-inch layer of fat into the casserole and heat until the fat is almost smoking. Brown the meat, a few pieces at a time, on all sides. Set the meat on a side dish. Brown the bones and add them to the meat. If fat has burned, discard it and add 3 tablespoons of fresh fat. Lower heat, and brown the onions lightly for about 5 minutes.
4 cloves mashed garlic
6 Tb fresh tomato purée, tomato paste, or 4 large tomatoes peeled, seeded, and juiced
½ tsp thyme
2 bay leaves
3 cups dry white wine or 2 cups dry white vermouth
1 quart brown stock or 3 cups canned beef bouillon and 1 cup water
Salt and pepper
Return the bones and lamb or mutton to the casserole and stir in all ingredients on the left. Bring to the simmer on top of the stove, season lightly with salt. Cover and simmer slowly on top of the stove or in a 325-degree oven for 1½ hours. Then remove the meat to a dish; discard the bones and bay leaves. Remove all but 2 tablespoons fat and carefully correct seasoning of cooking liquid.
Pour the cooked and drained beans into the lamb cooking juices. Stir in any juices you may have from the roast pork. Add bean cooking liquid, if necessary, so beans are covered. Bring to the simmer and simmer 5 minutes, then let the beans stand in the liquid for 10 minutes to absorb flavor. Drain the beans when you are ready for the final assembly farther on.
Homemade sausage cakes—a substitute for Saucisse de Toulouse
1 lb. (2 cups) lean fresh pork
⅓ lb. (⅔ cup) fresh pork fat
A meat grinder
A 3-quart mixing bowl
A wooden spoon
2 tsp salt
⅛ tsp pepper
Big pinch allspice
⅛ tsp crumbled bay leaf
¼ cup armagnac or cognac
A small clove mashed garlic
Optional: 1 chopped truffle and the juice from the can
Put the pork and fat through the medium blade of the meat grinder. Place in bowl and beat in the rest of the ingredients on the left. Sauté a small spoonful and taste for seasoning, adding more to the mixture if you feel it necessary. Form into cakes 2 inches in diameter and ½ inch thick. Brown lightly over moderate heat in a skillet. Drain on paper towels.
Final assembly
An 8-quart fireproof casserole 5 to 6 inches high: brown earthenware glazed inside is typical, but other types of glazed pottery or enameled iron will do nicely
2 cups dry white bread crumbs mixed with ½ cup chopped parsley
3 to 4 Tb pork roasting fat or goose fat
Cut the roast pork into 1½ to 2 inch serving chunks. Slice the bacon or salt pork into serving pieces ¼ inch thick. Arrange a layer of beans in the bottom of the casserole, then continue with layers of lamb or mutton, roast pork, bacon slices, sausage cakes, and beans, ending with a layer of beans and sausage cakes. Pour on the meat cooking juices, and enough bean cooking juice so liquid comes just to the top layer of beans. Spread on the crumbs and parsley, and dribble the fat on top.
(*) Set aside or refrigerate until you are ready to take up the final cooking of about an hour. The cassoulet should be served soon after its baking, so it will not dry out or overcook.
Baking
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bring the casserole to the simmer on top of the stove. Then set it in the upper third of the preheated oven. When the top has crusted lightly, in about 20 minutes, turn the oven down to 350 degrees. Break the crust into the beans with the back of a spoon, and baste with the liquid in the casserole. Repeat several times, as the crust forms again, but leave a final crust intact for serving. If the liquid in the casserole becomes too thick during the baking period, add a spoonful or two of bean cooking liquid. The cassoulet should bake for about an hour; serve it from its casserole.
Here are some additions or substitutions for the meats in the preceding recipe.
Preserved Goose, Confit d’Oie. This is goose, usually from the foie gras regions of France, which has been cut into wing, leg, and breast sections, poached in goose fat, and preserved in goose fat. It can usually be bought in cans from one of the food-importing stores. Use it instead of, or even in addition to, the roast pork in the recipe. Scrape the fat off the pieces of goose, and cut the goose into serving portions. Brown them lightly in some of the fat from the can. Arrange the goose in the casserole with the beans and meats for the final baking.
Fresh Goose, Duck, Turkey, or Partridge. Roast or braise any of these, and carve into serving pieces. Use along with or instead of the roast pork in the recipe, arranging the pieces with the beans and meats in the casserole for the final baking.
Ham Hock or Veal Shank. Simmer either of these with the beans. Cut into serving pieces before arranging in the casserole for the final baking.
Polish Sausage. This sausage can usually be bought in any American market, and is a good substitute for such French sausages as de campagne, de ménage, à cuire, à l’ail, or de Morteau. First simmer the whole sausage for ½ hour with the beans. Then cut it into ½-inch slices and arrange in the casserole with the beans and the other meats for the final baking. Polish sausage may be used instead of or in addition to the sausage cakes in the recipe.
It is most important that calf’s liver be sautéed in very hot butter and oil, so a crust will form on the outside which will keep the juices in. Do not crowd the skillet, use two skillets if necessary, and do not use a skillet too large for your source of heat. Sautéed liver should be pink inside, its juices will run a very pale rose when the meat is pricked with a fork. Have the liver cut into even slices ⅜ inch thick, and ask that the surrounding filament be peeled off each slice; if this is left on, the liver will curl as it cooks.
WINE AND VEGETABLE SUGGESTIONS
Broiled tomatoes, braised spinach, or ratatouille (eggplant and tomato casserole), and sautéed potatoes go well with liver. Wine choices would be chilled rosé, or a light red such as Bordeaux or Beaujolais.
FOIE DE VEAU SAUTÉ[Sautéed Calf’s Liver]
For 6 people
6 to 12 slices of calf’s liver ⅜ inch thick, with surrounding filament removed
Salt and pepper
½ cup of sifted flour on a large plate
Just before sautéing, season the slices with salt and pepper, roll in flour, and shake off excess flour.
1 or 2 heavy skillets
2 Tb butter and 1 Tb oil for each skillet
A hot platter
A vegetable garniture, water cress, or parsley
Place the butter and oil in the skillet or skillets and set over high heat until you see that the butter foam has almost subsided, indicating it is hot enough. Then arrange the liver in the skillet, leaving a ¼-inch space between each slice. Sauté for 2 to 3 minutes, regulating heat so butter is always very hot but not burning. Turn the liver with a spatula and sauté for a minute or so on the other side. The liver is done when its juices run a very pale pink if a slice is pricked with a fork. Remove the liver to a hot platter and serve, surrounded by whatever garniture you have chosen, or decorated with water cress or sprigs of parsley.
[Cream and Mustard Sauce]
For about 1 cup
½ cup brown stock or canned beef bouillon
¾ cup whipping cream
As soon as the liver has been removed to a platter, pour the stock or bouillon into the skillet and boil down rapidly until it has reduced by half. Then add the cream and boil for a moment to reduce and thicken it slightly.
1 Tb prepared mustard, mashed with 2 Tb softened butter
Parsley sprigs
Off heat, swirl the mustard-butter into the skillet. Pour the sauce around the liver, decorate with parsley, and serve.
The sauces in the following list can be prepared in advance; either serve them separately, or pour them around the sautéed liver. About 1½ cups should be sufficient.
Coulis de Tomates, fresh tomato purée with herbs
Sauce Robert, brown sauce with mustard and onions
Sauce Brune aux Fines Herbes, brown herb sauce
Sauce à l’Italienne, tomato-flavored brown sauce with diced mushrooms, diced ham, and herbs
Beurres Composés, flavored butters. These include butter creamed with mustard, with herbs, with garlic, and with wine and herbs. Spread a spoonful over each slice of sautéed liver, or cut chilled, flavored butter into pieces and pass separately.
[Liver with Mustard, Herbs, and Bread Crumbs]
This is an appealing way to prepare liver. It is sautéed very briefly to brown lightly, then painted with mustard and herbs, rolled in fresh bread crumbs, basted with melted butter, and set under a hot broiler to brown the crumbs. The preliminary sautéing and crumbing may be done several hours in advance of the final cooking, which takes about 5 minutes. For this recipe, the liver is sliced thicker, so it will not cook too quickly.
For 6 servings
6 slices of calf’s liver cut ½ inch thick, outside filament removed
Salt and pepper
½ cup sifted flour on a large plate
2 Tb butter
1 Tb oil
A heavy skillet
Season the liver with salt and pepper, dredge in flour, and sauté for 1 minute on each side in very hot butter and oil. The slices should be very lightly browned and slightly stiffened, but not cooked through. Remove to a dish.
3 Tb prepared mustard of the strong, Dijon type
1 Tb finely minced shallots or green onions
3 Tb minced parsley
½ clove mashed garlic
Pinch of pepper
3 cups fine, white, fresh bread crumbs spread on a large plate
A greased broiling pan
Beat the mustard in a small bowl with the shallots or onions and seasonings. Drop by drop, beat in the liver sautéing fat to make a mayonnaiselike cream. Paint the liver slices with the mixture. One by one, lay the slices in the bread crumbs and heap bread crumbs on top, gently shake off excess, and pat the adhering crumbs in place with the flat of a knife. Arrange the liver on the broiling pan.
(*) If not to be broiled immediately, cover with waxed paper and refrigerate.
Shortly before serving, heat broiler to very hot.
6 Tb melted butter
A hot platter
Baste the liver with half the melted butter. Place so its surface is about 2 inches from the broiler heat to brown for a minute or two. Turn, baste with the remaining butter, and brown the other side quickly. Arrange on a hot platter and serve.
Sweetbreads and brains have much the same texture and flavor, but brains are more delicate. They both receive almost the same treatments. Both must be soaked for several hours in cold water before they are cooked, to soften the filament which covers them so that it may be removed, to dissolve their bloody patches, and to whiten them. Some authorities direct that they always be blanched before cooking—that is, poached in salted and acidulated water or a court bouillon; others do not agree. If the sweetbreads or brains are to be braised, blanching is a useless and flavor-losing step. If they are to be sliced and sautéed, blanching firms them up so they are easier to cut, but removes some of their delicacy and tenderness. Both brains and sweetbreads are perishable, and if they are not to be cooked within 24 hours, they should be soaked and blanched which will help to preserve them.
SOAKING SWEETBREADS AND BRAINS
Wash in cold water, then place in a bowl and soak in several changes of cold water or under a dripping tap for 1½ to 2 hours. Delicately pull off as much as you easily can of the filament which encloses them, without tearing the flesh. This is a rather slow process. Soak them again for 1½ to 2 hours, this time in several changes of cold water containing 1 tablespoon of vinegar per quart. Peel off as much more filament as you can, and they are ready for trimming and cooking.
TRIMMING
A whole sweetbread, which is the thymus gland of a calf and usually weighs about 1 pound, consists of 2 lobes connected by a soft, white tube, the cornet. The smoother, rounder, and more solid of the two lobes is the kernel, heart, or noix, and choicest piece. The second lobe, called throat sweetbread or gorge, is more uneven in shape, broken by veins, and is often slit. Separate the two lobes from the tube with a knife. The tube may be added to the stock pot.
For brains, cut off white, opaque bits at the base.
Sweetbreads, trimmed and soaked as in preceding directions
An enameled saucepan just large enough to hold them
Cold water
Per quart of water: 1 tsp salt and 1 Tb lemon juice
Place sweetbreads in saucepan and cover by 2 inches with cold water; add salt and lemon juice. Bring to simmer and cook, uncovered, at barest simmer for 15 minutes. Drain and plunge into cold water for 5 minutes. Drain. The sweetbreads are now ready for sautéing.
Brains, trimmed and soaked as in preceding directions
An enameled saucepan just large enough to hold them
Boiling water
Per quart of water: 1 tsp salt and 1 Tb lemon juice
Place brains in saucepan and cover by 2 inches with boiling water; add salt and lemon juice or vinegar. Heat to just below simmer and maintain water at a not-quite-simmering temperature, timing as follows:
Lamb brains, 15 minutes
Calf or pork brains, 20 minutes
Beef brains, 30 minutes
Then set saucepan aside and let the brains cool for 20 minutes in the cooking liquid; if they are not to be used until later, set saucepan in refrigerator. Drain the brains, and they are ready for sautéing.
PRESSING BLANCHED BRAINS OR SWEETBREADS UNDER A WEIGHT
Some cooks like to weight blanched sweetbreads or brains for 2 to 3 hours under a heavy dinnerplate. This forces the water out of them, and flattens them so they are easy to cut into narrow slices. Follow this system or not, as you wish.
RIS DE VEAU BRAISÉS[Braised Sweetbreads]
Braising is a preliminary cooking for sweetbreads, and you will note that no blanching is required. The soaked and peeled sweetbreads are first cooked slowly in butter to firm them a little and to render some of their juices; they are then baked with wine and other flavorings. After this cooking, or braising, which may take place as long as the day before you are to use them, the sweetbreads are ready for saucing and serving. Sauced sweetbreads may be arranged in a ring of rice or risotto, in a vol-au-vent or pastry shell, on a platter, or they may be gratinéed. Drained, braised sweetbreads are also good cold, in a salad.
VEGETABLE AND WINE SUGGESTIONS
Rice or risotto, and buttered peas or creamed or braised spinach go well with sweetbreads. Serve a light red wine such a Bordeaux-Médoc, or a rosé with sweetbreads in brown sauce; a white Burgundy or a white Graves with sweetbreads in cream sauce.
For 6 people
¼ cup each: finely diced carrots, onions, celery, and diced ham
4 Tb butter
A medium herb bouquet: 4 parsley sprigs, ¼ tsp thyme, and ½ bay leaf tied in cheesecloth
⅛ tsp salt
Pinch of pepper
A 10-inch enameled skillet
Cook the diced vegetables and ham slowly in the butter with the herb bouquet and seasonings for 10 to 15 minutes, until tender but not browned.
½ tsp salt
Big pinch of pepper
1½ to 2 lbs. sweetbreads previously soaked, peeled, and trimmed as directed
Season the sweetbreads. Arrange them in the skillet and baste them with the butter and vegetables. Cover and cook slowly for 5 minutes. Turn, baste, and cook 5 minutes more. They will render quite a bit of juice.
A buttered fireproof casserole or baking dish about 7 inches in diameter, or just large enough to hold the sweetbreads in one layer
Transfer the sweetbreads to the casserole.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
¾ cup dry white wine or ½ cup dry white vermouth
1 cup brown stock or canned beef bouillon if you are serving a brown sauce; 1 cup white stock or canned chicken broth if you are serving a white sauce
Pour the wine into the skillet with the sweetbread juices and vegetables, and boil down rapidly until the liquids have reduced to ½ cup. Then pour the liquids, vegetables, and herb bouquet over the sweetbreads; add sufficient stock, bouillon, or broth barely to cover them.
Bring to the simmer on top of the stove. Cover the casserole and place in lower third of oven. Regulate heat so the sweetbreads cook at the barest simmer for 45 minutes.
(*) Let the sweetbreads cool in their cooking stock until you are ready to use them.
For 6 people
The braised sweetbreads in the preceding recipe
Remove the sweetbreads from the braising casserole. Drain, cut into ½-inch slices, and set aside.
1 Tb cornstarch blended with 1 Tb dry white wine or vermouth
1 Tb tomato paste
½ lb. finely diced fresh mushrooms sautéed in butter
¼ cup diced, boiled ham
Salt and pepper
Rapidly boil down the cooking stock in the casserole to 1½ cups. Remove from heat and discard herb bouquet. (The braising vegetables and ham remain, and become a part of the sauce.) Beat in the starch mixture and the tomato paste. Stir in the mushrooms and additional ham; simmer for 3 minutes, stirring. Correct seasoning and fold in the sliced sweetbreads.
(*) If not to be served immediately, film sauce with a spoonful of stock.
2 Tb minced green herbs such as parsley, chervil, and tarragon, or parsley only
Reheat for 2 to 3 minutes at below the simmer just before serving. Arrange on a serving dish, or in a patty shell or ring of rice. Sprinkle with herbs, and serve.
1½ to 2 lbs. braised sweetbreads, master recipe
Cut the braised sweetbreads into slices ½ inch thick and set aside. Rapidly boil down their cooking stock until it has reduced to 1¼ cups.
A 6-cup enameled saucepan
2½ Tb butter
3 Tb flour
In a separate pan, cook the butter and flour slowly together until they foam for 2 minutes without browning. Off heat, strain in the hot cooking stock and beat vigorously to blend. Bring to the simmer, stirring, for 1 minute. Sauce will be very thick.
⅔ to 1 cup whipping cream
Salt and pepper
Drops of lemon juice
Beat in ½ cup of cream, simmering, then beat in more by spoonfuls until the sauce thins out and coats the spoon nicely. Correct seasoning, adding drops of lemon juice if you feel it necessary.
Replace the sweetbreads in their original casserole, or in a fireproof serving dish, and pour the sauce over them.
(*) If not to be served immediately, film top with a spoonful of cream.
2 Tb minced, mixed green herbs or parsley
Reheat for 3 to 4 minutes at below the simmer before serving, then decorate with the herbs.
[Creamed Sweetbreads with Mushrooms]
Ingredients for the preceding creamed sweetbreads
½ lb. sliced fresh mushrooms
After making the sauce, stir in the mushrooms and simmer for 10 minutes, allowing the sauce to reduce slightly as the mushrooms will thin it out. Then proceed with the recipe.
[Sweetbreads au Gratin]
Arrange the sliced sweetbreads in a buttered baking dish or individual shells or dishes. Pour sauce over them. Sprinkle on the cheese, and dot with the butter. Set aside until ready to serve.
About 10 minutes before serving, place 7 to 8 inches under a moderately hot broiler to heat the sweetbreads through and to brown the top of the sauce lightly.
These are done exactly like brains sautéed in butter, and are accompanied by any of the sauces suggested at the end of that recipe.
Although calf’s brains are those most universally known in America, lamb brains are equally good. Mutton, pork, and beef brains are less delicate in texture than calf brains and are best when braised, but you may sauté them if you wish. Soaking and peeling directions for brains are at the beginning of this section on this page. We shall call everything in the following recipes calf’s brains with the understanding that calf, lamb, mutton, pork, and beef brains are interchangeable though their cooking times differ slightly as indicated in the blanching directions.
CERVELLES AU BEURRE NOIR[Calf’s Brains in Brown Butter Sauce]
Brown butter sauce and calf’s brains are almost synonyms, they go so well together. To be at its best, the sauce should always be made separately, not in the pan in which you sautéed the brains. It is thus clear and unspeckled, and also much more digestible. In addition, as the brains can be sautéed only at the last minute, the dish will then be ready to serve almost at once.
Of the several methods for cervelles au beurre noir, we have chosen that of pre-cooking the brains, slicing them, marinating them in a vinaigrette, then sautéing and saucing them. As alternatives, you may simply pour a brown butter sauce over hot, blanched brains, or you may omit the pre-cooking and marination altogether. In this case, slice raw, soaked, and trimmed brains, season, dredge in flour, and sauté them; then pour the sauce over them.
VEGETABLE AND WINE SUGGESTIONS
This dish often constitutes a separate course, but if you wish to serve the brains as a main course, accompany them with mashed or parsley potatoes and either buttered green peas or the spinach braised in stock. Wine choices would be a light red, such as Bordeaux-Medoc, or a rosé; good but less usual would be a white Burgundy.
For 6 people as a main course
Cut the blanched brains into slices ½ inch thick.
3 Tb lemon juice
⅛ tsp salt
A 2½ quart mixing bowl
Pinch of pepper
1 Tb olive oil
2 Tb minced parsley
Beat the lemon juice and salt in the bowl until the salt has dissolved. Then beat in the pepper, oil, and parsley. Fold the sliced brains into the sauce. Marinate for 30 minutes, or until you are ready to sauté them.
1 cup brown butter sauce, with or without capers
While the brains are marinating, prepare the sauce and keep hot over simmering water.
1 cup flour sifted into a dish
Just before sautéing, drain the brains. Roll in the flour and shake off excess flour.
1 or 2 heavy skillets
2 Tb butter and 1 Tb oil for each skillet
Set the skillet or skillets over moderately high heat with the butter and oil. As soon as you see that the butter foam has almost subsided, brown the brains lightly for 3 to 4 minutes on each side.
Arrange on a hot platter, pour the hot butter sauce over them, and serve.
Sauce à l’Italienne, tomato-flavored brown sauce with diced mushrooms, diced ham, and herbs
Coulis de Tomates, fresh tomato sauce with herbs
The brains are cooked in butter with aromatic vegetables, herbs, wine, and stock. Follow the recipe for braised sweetbreads, and use the same sauces, but the oven-simmering times are:
20 minutes for lamb brains
30 minutes for calf and pork brains
45 minutes for beef brains
This dish makes a complete course in itself. Serve a light red Burgundy or Mâcon wine.
For 6 people
2 cups good, young, red wine (Mâcon or Burgundy)
1 cup brown stock or canned beef bouillon
An enameled saucepan just large enough to hold the brains in one layer
¼ tsp thyme
4 sprigs of parsley
½ bay leaf
1 clove mashed garlic
1½ lbs. calf’s brains, previously soaked and peeled
A buttered, fireproof serving dish
Bring the wine and stock or bouillon to the simmer in the saucepan with the herbs and garlic. Add the brains, bring to the simmer, and cook uncovered at just below the simmer for 20 minutes. Allow the brains to cool in the cooking liquid for 20 minutes, so they will absorb flavor, and firm up. Then drain them, slice into ½-inch pieces, and arrange in the buttered serving dish.
½ Tb tomato paste
2 Tb flour mashed to a paste with 2 Tb softened butter
Salt and pepper
Beat the tomato paste into the cooking stock, and boil down rapidly until the liquid has reduced to 1½ cups. Off heat, beat in the flour-butter paste. Boil, stirring, for 1 minute. Correct seasoning.
Arrange the onions and mushrooms around the brains, and strain the sauce over the brains and vegetables.
(*) If not to be served immediately, film the sauce with a spoonful of stock or melted butter.
1 to 2 Tb softened butter
Just before serving, set over low heat to warm through for 3 to 4 minutes without simmering. Off heat, tip dish, add butter, a half-tablespoon at a time, and baste brains and vegetables with the sauce until the butter has absorbed.
Decorate with croûtons and parsley, and serve.
Cooked kidneys should be tender and slightly pink near the center. The bursting-out of juices is always a problem when they are sautéed in slices. Unless your source of heat is a very strong one, within a few seconds after the slices hit the pan their juices pour out and the kidneys boil and toughen rather than sauté. An excellent solution—and, in fact, the best method for kidneys in our experience—is to cook the whole kidney in butter, then slice it, and warm the slices briefly in a sauce. However, if you prefer to sauté raw sliced kidneys, do so in very hot butter and oil for only 2 to 3 minutes. They do not brown; they just cook through, turning a uniform gray outside but remaining somewhat pink inside. Then remove the kidneys to a hot dish, make one of the sauces described in the following recipes, and return the kidneys to warm in the sauce without boiling.
Any of the following recipes may be done at the table in a chafing dish.
LAMB KIDNEYS
All of the following recipes are for veal kidneys, but are equally applicable to lamb kidneys. Allow 2 or 3 lamb kidneys per person. Cook them whole in butter as described in the master recipe, but only for 4 to 5 minutes rather than the 10 for veal kidneys. Then proceed with the recipe.
PREPARATION FOR COOKING
Both lamb and veal kidneys are encased in a layer of fat which has usually been peeled off, presumably without breaking the kidneys, before you buy them. Under this is a thin filament surrounding the kidney; it should also be peeled off. Cut out most of the button of fat on the underside of lamb kidneys, and most of the knob of fat under a veal kidney. A trimmed veal kidney will weigh 6 to 8 ounces; a lamb kidney, 1½ to 2 ounces. Kidneys should have a good, fresh odor and only the faintest suggestion, if any, of an ammonia smell. Veal and lamb kidneys should never be washed or soaked in water, as they absorb too much of it.
ROGNONS DE VEAU EN CASSEROLEIf you want to serve this as a main course rather than as a hot hors d’oeuvre, potatoes sautéed in butter and braised onions make good accompaniments. Red Burgundy goes especially well with kidneys.
For 4 to 6 people
4 Tb butter
A fireproof casserole or chafing dish which will just hold the kidneys easily side by side
3 veal kidneys, peeled and trimmed of fat
A hot plate and cover
Heat the butter in the casserole or chafing dish until you see the foam begin to subside. Roll the kidneys in the butter, then cook them uncovered for about 10 minutes; turn them every minute or two. Regulate heat so butter is always very hot but is not discoloring. A little juice from the kidneys will exude and coagulate in the bottom of the casserole. The kidneys should stiffen but not become hard, brown very lightly, and be pink at the center when sliced. Remove them to a hot plate and cover to keep warm for a few minutes.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.