My Favorite Cookbook - Now in English!

THIS IS NOT A RECIPE. IT IS A PLUG FOR A COOKBOOK OF WHICH I AM A FAN AND HAVE BEEN FOR DECADES. I DO NOT KNOW THE PUBLISHER OR ANYONE INVOLVED WITH IT. I WILL NOT MAKE A DIME FROM IT. I AM TELLING YOU ABOUT IT BECAUSE I PROMISED TO SHARE MY COOKING SECRETS WITH YOU AND THIS IS CERTAINLY ONE OF THEM!

I have often written about my French mother-in-law, Loulou who has taught me many secrets known to the French and little known to others.  I have also referred to how much I have learned from many of the French chefs with whom we are friends and with whom I have had the enormous privilege of cooking. But the truth be known, the person who has taught me the most about French cooking is someone I have never met - a certain Evelyn Sainte-Ange.

First published in 1927, La Bonne Cuisine De Madame Saint-Ange is the “bible” of French cooking technique, and is found on most kitchen shelves in France. A housewife and a professional chef, she wrote in a highly instructive style, explaining in extraordinary detail the proper way to cook just about everything. During my years in France I used this cookbook to learn how to make many of the French classics and especially on how to cook game (Gerard is an avid hunter!). Among the students of her technique was Julia Child herself whose recipes were often influenced as much by Saint-Ange as they were by the famous Parisian “Le Cordon Blue Cooking School”. 

For years, I struggled through the long texts in French, learning as much about the language as I did about the cuisine. I used the book so often that after 20 years it was so smudged with cooking stains that I was forced to buy a second copy – which by the way has by now also seen better days.

I learned that it had recently been translated into English and I immediately bought myself a copy. I am thrilled! Over 1300 recipes explained in detail. A number of people close to me will be receiving this for Christmas (including my two daughters!!  If you are interested in French cooking or know someone who is - this is a treasure. 

Maria’s Bouillabaisse

(Seafood Stew from the port of Marseilles with various kinds of cooked fish and shellfish and vegetables, flavored with a variety of herbs and spices such as garlic, orange peel, basil, bay leaf, fennel and saffron.)

Once a week I get together with a group of female friends for an afternoon of bridge, scrabble and / or mahjong depending on who shows up. But mostly we take turns trying to impress one another with our cooking prowess and have an excuse to eat and drink some wine together. Last week – Maria won hands down with her Bouillabaisse.  I arrived early enough to help her put it together so I feel qualified to share her recipe which is for 8 people.

INGREDIENTS

2 leeks white part only sliced 1/8 inch or so thick
4 cloves of garlic finely diced
1 jalapeno (remove half of the seeds)
1 onion chopped
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
rind of 1 orange julienned
1 32 oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 cup of fish stock
1 1/2 lb catfish or monk fish cut into 2 inch chunks
1 lb sea scallops
24 little neck clams (soaked in cold water mixed with 1 tablespoon of flour for 15 minutes to get the sand out)
1 lb cleaned shrimp

2 potatoes (boiled and peeled)
4 gloves of garlic (minced)

½ red bell pepper and 1 jalapeno (boiled for three minutes, drained and chopped).

Two baguettes warmed in the oven.

DIRECTIONS

Sauté the leeks, garlic, onion and jalapeno, in 3 tablespoons of olive oil slowly over medium/low flame until soft (15 minutes) Add fennel seeds, orange rind, cook for another 5 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes and stock.
Cook for 20 minutes. This can be made several hours prior to serving but you will need to reheat the soup base before continuing. 20 minutes before serving add the clams set timer for 5 minutes then add the rest of the seafood. Cook another 5-6 minutes

Use a potato ricer to crush the potatoes, garlic, red pepper and jalapeno together to make the “Rouille” which is served in a small bowl next to the stew.

Serve the stew in large bowls with pieces of the warm baguette.  Pass the Rouille so each can add 1-2 tablespoons to their bowls.

  

Boeuf Aux Carottes (Beef Braised with Carrots)

Much of this recipe has been inspired from a dish made by Guy Savoy, one of the world’s best chefs.  (Recipe is for 8 people) and really not as difficult as it looks. It is delicious made with ordinary chuck, but if you feel like splurging for Wagyu chuck, it will melt in your mouth!

INGREDIENTS
4 lbs of chuck (beef) cut into 8 pieces per pound
16 nice carrots
4 onions
4 cloves
2 tablespoons of grape seed oil
½ cup of butter
2 bottles of red wine
2 quarts of veal stock
2 branches of thyme
4 bay leaves
4 branches of celery
4 branches of flat parsley
12 grains of white pepper
12 grains of black pepper
3 tablespoons of kosher salt

DIRECTIONS

24 hours in advance

Peel 3 of the carrots and cut them in half

Peel and cut the onions in half and put a clove in half of them, cut the others in halves again.

Melt half of the butter and all of the grape seed oil in a large braising pot. Brown the meat. Add the carrots and quartered onions (not the ones with the cloves) and allow to brown for about 3-4 minutes. Add the red wine scraping the bottom of the pot to release the juices of any meat or vegetables that have stuck to the bottom and allow the liquid to reduce to two thirds. Add the veal stock, celery, thyme, parsley, two of the bay leaves, the onions with the cloves, the pepper grains, and the kosher salt. Cover and braise on a low flame for 2½. Allow to cool and refrigerate over night.

Two hours before serving

Remove meat from the refrigerator and scrape off the yellow fat that has congealed at the top of the liquid.

Slowly heat the casserole to a simmer. When warm, take out the meat and pass the sauce through a fine strainer and then reduce it. If it is not thickened, remove half of it and continue to reduce. Take a ¼ cup of the warm sauce and mix with a tablespoon of arrowroot or cornstarch and when dissolved add to the sauce. Stir well and allow to reduce. Slowly ladle the remainder of the sauce into the reducing sauce and it will stay thick.

Boil salted water in another casserole and add the remaining bay leaves. Peel and slice into rounds the rest of the carrots. Add the carrot slices to the boiling water for 5-7 minutes or until cooked but still crispy. Refresh the cooked carrots in cold water and pat dry with a paper towel.

Just before serving

Add the carrots to the warm sauce. Remove and keep warm. Put the meat back in the casserole to warm. Plate on warm dishes by first setting down a layer of the carrots and top with 3-4 pieces of meat and some sauce.

Serve with boiled potatoes (Fingerlings or Yukon gold babies) or mashed potatoes.