Fritatta

When I lived in Italy I learned to make this Italian version of an omelet. Its texture and more substantial ingredients make it more of a meal than the light and fluffy French dish. The idea is to use whatever you find in the fridge in any combination that appeals to you. It usually contains a vegetable or two (asparagus, zucchini, tomato, mushrooms, spinach, etc), an onion (yellow onion, shallots, scallions, leeks or chives) and a cheese (gruyere, cheddar, parmesan, ricotta, Swiss, cream cheese, etc) and perhaps a type of ham (prosciutto, bacon bits, or boiled ham in strips or small chunks) and / or sliced cooked potatoes. The proportions are not important; the ingredients must be precooked and slightly warm when used. It can be served hot or room temperature. This versatile dish can be baked in the oven in a pie plate or cooked on the stove in a non-stick frying pan and finished in the oven or under the broiler. It can be served in the pan (the easy way) or turned onto a dish (which is nicer looking but more difficult to do.) It can be made for 2-3 people with 4 eggs in an 8” pan, for four people with 5 eggs in a 10” or six people 6 eggs in a 12” pan.  The other evening I made the following for Gerard and me and served it with a green salad. It hit the spot.

Ingredients

4 large eggs, beaten

6 boiled potatoes (small Yukon golds) peeled and sliced
1-ounce of Gruyere Cheese grated

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Pinch salt

1 teaspoons butter

1 teaspoon olive oil (not extra virgin)

1/2 cup chopped roasted leeks

1/2 cup chopped prosciutto ham

1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves

Directions

Preheat oven to broil setting. Beat the eggs add a tablespoon of cold water and season with salt and pepper. Heat the non-stick pan over medium high heat.  Add butter and oil to pan and melt. Add potatoes to pan, when warm and slightly golden add the leeks and 2 minutes later add the ham strips. Stir so ingredients are evenly spread out. Pour egg mixture into pan. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes slightly raising the sides and tipping the pan to allow egg to run to the bottom and cook. While cooking sprinkle the grated cheese onto the mixture. When the egg mixture has set on the bottom and begins to set up on top. Place pan into oven and broil for 3 to 4 minutes, until lightly browned and fluffy. Protecting your hands with pot holders, place a serving plate that is (at least as big or slightly larger than the pan) over the pan and turn the pan upside down allowing the fritatta to end up on the plate.  Cut into pie shaped portions and serve immediately.

Vol au Vent aux Escargots

We love escargots, which I learned to make many years ago in Paris when Gerard started gathering them in the Bois de Boulogne. Yes—this is a true story. Every time it rained, Gerard would go out the following morning and while walking the dogs, he would pick up a dozen or two live escargots and bring them home. I checked with Madame St. Ange (my cooking bible) and learned how to get them cleansed by feeding them lettuce until we had gathered enough of them and then giving them only white flour. When the flour came out of them as white as when it went in, it meant that all dirt and poisons they may have had inside were cleansed and they were ready to cook.

One spring we built a cage in the tiny backyard of our home in the 16^th arrondissement, where we gave a series of dinner parties featuring escargots that impressed both our friends and family. One day we invited Gerard’s colleagues from the radio station where he worked for dinner, and the next day they spoke of the escargots from the Bois de Boulogne on their talk show. From that day on, hundreds of people started gathering the tiny creatures, and we could never again find enough for a meal.  So like everyone else, we learned to buy the escargots in cans with the shells and make the garlic butter ourselves. Last week I wanted to make escargots, but to my great shock, Adams did not have any more of the cans with shells and I had to buy the ones without shells. So I started a new adventure —this new recipe.

In the frozen-food section, I bought pastry shells that I have successfully used in many other recipes (shrimp, scallops, or mushrooms in a béchamel sauce also make very good fillings).

I followed the directions on the package to bake the pastry shells earlier in the day. I made the garlic butter and put it in the refrigerator. The following recipe was perfect for six people.

Ingredients
(Serves six)

¾ pound salted butter, softened, at room temperature

4 teaspoons finely chopped shallots

4 cloves finely chopped (not minced) garlic

4 teaspoons finely chopped parsley

1 teaspoon salt

12 pastry shells (two boxes, Pepperidge Farm found at Marona’s)

2 cans escargots, each containing two dozen (found at Adams’)

Directions

Blend the softened butter with the shallots, garlic, parsley, and salt until the ingredients are evenly distributed throughout. (This can be done in a mixer or by hand.)  Refrigerate for at least one hour.

Bake the pastry shells according to the package directions until the pastry is golden brown and well risen. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly. Remove the caps and hollow out the middle to make room for the snails and butter (to be added later). Set the shells aside. (This is easier to handle if you put the shells on a greased baking sheet and keep them on that sheet as they go in and out of the oven until they are ready to be served. They can be plated at the table or in the kitchen. )

Drain the contents of the escargot cans, leaving the snails in a colander to drain off the juices.

Remove excess liquid by wiping with paper towels.

Preheat oven to 450ºF. Gently push two snails into each of the cooked vol-au-vent shells and cover with a thin layer of the garlic butter. Add one or two more snails and a thick layer of garlic butter. Replace the pastry caps and reheat the shells for three to five minutes. (You are looking for the butter to bubble.)  Serve two per dish immediately. Warm up any remaining snails and  extra butter in a small casserole dish and serve on the side for anyone who wants more.  

Braised Guinea Fowl

Last weekend Gerard and I gave our annual luncheon for our chef friends. They brought foie gras they had made and dozens of fresh oysters, which we had at the “aperitif,” after which we had my mother-in-law’s Vitello Tonnato—a very copious appetizer of slices of veal covered with a tuna fish sauce. I thought the meal should have just gone on to salad, cheese and dessert, but Gerard insisted I make a main course. There was too much food to add a meat or starch, so I settled on this recipe, which I had successfully made twice before. (I do not like to experiment when the chefs are coming!) Guinea fowl is very lean, and the three vegetables are all light and flavorful. Much to my great surprise, it was all consumed, and every plate was clean. The sauce was delicious, so I share this recipe with you.

12 servings (I had to use two Dutch ovens)

Ingredients

12 guinea fowl legs (I buy them by the dozen at www.Dartagnan.com)

For the marinade:

2 bottles dry white wine

20 black peppercorns, crushed in a mortar

4 carrots, chopped

4 ribs celery, chopped

2 onions, chopped

12 sprigs thyme

8 bay leaves

12 branches Italian parsley

For the braise:

The guinea fowl pieces listed above

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

16 carrots, peeled and cut in half horizontally— and, if thick, vertically as well.

8 small onions, peeled and halved

16 small leeks, white and light green parts only, very well washed.

1 quart chicken stock

Bouquet garni of several branches of thyme, parsley, bay leaves

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

For the accompaniment:

16 small baby turnips, peeled and halved or quartered (if larger than an inch in diameter)

3 tablespoons butter

½ teaspoon sea salt (preferably fleurs de sel de Guérande)

Directions

Early in the day, combine the marinade ingredients in a large noncorroding pan and marinate the fowl, turning from time to time, for about two hours. During that time boil the turnips until they are no longer hard. Then, in a pan, melt the butter and brown them. Keep them in the pan, and warm them up for a couple of minutes just before serving.

When the guinea fowl have marinated for two hours, pat them dry with a paper towel and brown until slightly golden in a bit of olive oil, over medium heat.  (If the heat is too high, the skins will stick). Take them out and set them aside. Add some more olive oil (just enough to coat the bottom of the pot) and, once hot, brown the carrots and onions for two minutes and then add the leeks—all over medium heat. Stir. Strain the marinade, adding the liquid to the pot. Bring to a boil. Lower the flame and place the guinea fowl on top of the vegetables. Add enough stock so that most of the vegetables are covered in liquid but the guinea fowl is above the liquid. It will cook from the moisture of the liquid, taking on the flavors of the vegetables. Cover the pot and place either in a 350º F oven or on the stove over a low flame for about 90 minutes.

I prepared the vegetables all in one pot and then divided them, the guinea fowl and the liquids into the two Dutch ovens, finishing them on the stove. To keep them warm while we had the aperitifs and appetizer, I put all of the cooked vegetables into a large roasting pan with half of the remaining liquid. I placed aluminum foil over the roasting pan and put it into a 200ºF oven to keep warm without further cooking. Just before serving I put the broiler on for about three minutes, which further browned the skin of the guinea fowl legs.

About a half hour before serving, I reduced the rest of the liquid to a rich, thick sauce by removing two-thirds of it and boiling down the one-third remaining in the pot. When it started to thicken, I then added, spoon by spoon, the rest of the cooking juices into the pot, allowing each to be absorbed before adding the next. Then I strained the sauce. To serve I placed the guinea fowl on one platter, spooning some sauce over each piece and serving the rest in a gravy boat on the side. The roasting pan vegetables were served apart, as were the turnips.

Prime Ribs Dinner

Perfect Prime Ribs
“Prime rib” refers to the standing rib roast; “standing” because to cook it, you simply position the roast on its rib bones in the roasting pan—no need for a rack. When you order a “prime” rib, it doesn’t mean that you are getting USDA Prime. Most “prime ribs” we get from butcher are actually “USDA Choice” quality, which makes for a very nice meal. If “USDA Prime” Prime Rib is within your budget, however, go for it. It can cost up to 50 percent more; it is the absolute superior grade (top 2 percent) of beef, generally reserved for top restaurants. There is a real difference in tenderness and flavor, and it will make the meal truly memorable for beef lovers.
A standing rib roast will serve anywhere from 6 to14 people. Each rib will feed two people, and you must cook at least three ribs for it to be a Standing Rib Roast. (Less is just a very thick steak.) It is best to use a meat thermometer, inserted at the center of the meat, not too close to the bone.

Ingredients

1 standing beef rib roast (4 to 7 ribs; 9 to 18 pounds)

Softened butter (½ tablespoon per bone)

Salt (½ teaspoon per bone)

Fresh, coarsely ground black pepper, as needed

½ cup sliced shallots

1 quart cold beef broth

½ cup red wine

2 tablespoons flour

Directions

Remove the prime rib from the refrigerator. Use a paper towel to pat the roast dry, and place it in a heavy metal roasting pan with 3-inch sides, bone side down. Rub the entire surface of the cold roast with butter and coat evenly with the salt and black pepper. Leave the prime rib out at room temperature for two hours.
Preheat the oven to 450° F. When the oven is hot, put the roast in and cook for 20 minutes to sear the outside of the roast. After 20 minutes turn the oven down to 325° F. Roast for 30 minutes. Add shallots to the pan, scattered around the roast, allowing the juices of the roast to drip on them. After a few minutes, when they begin to caramelize, add ½ cup of the beef broth and scrape. Continue to roast for a total of 15-20 minutes per pound (including the first half hour) or until internal temperature is 110° F for rare, 120° F for medium rare, 130° F for medium and 140° F for medium-well. The roast will increase its temperature by about 10° F during its resting period. Transfer to a large platter and let the prime rib rest, loosely covered with foil, for 30 minutes before serving. Cutting into the meat too early will cause a significant loss of juice.

Doneness	Total roasting time per pound	Internal temperature
Rare	15 minutes	110° F
Medium-Rare	17 minutes	120° F
Medium	19 minutes	130° F
Medium -Well	21 minutes	140° F

To make the "Au Jus" sauce
While the prime rib is resting, place the roasting pan on the stovetop over medium heat. Add the ½ cup of red wine and reduce the liquid to about half. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for five minutes to form a roux. Pour in the rest of the beef broth and whisk into the roux, scraping all the caramelized beef drippings and shallots from the bottom of the pan. Turn heat to high and cook the sauce for ten minutes until it reduces and thickens slightly. Serve in a gravy boat alongside the prime rib.

Carving the well-rested roast:

Use a sharp knife to cut the meat off the bones by making one cut across the bottom of the roast to detach the chine bone and running the sharp edge of the knife parallel along the rib bones, to cut off the entire rib section in one piece. Place boneless portion of the prime rib roast on the cutting board with the rib bone side down. Cut slices across the grain of the roast to desired thickness. Slices are cut ¼-inch to ½-inch thick.

Yorkshire Pudding

A traditional side dish for Prime Rib is Yorkshire Pudding, a puffy, popover-like pastry that the English have contributed to culinary excellence.

Ingredients (all at room temperature)

²/₃ cup milk

¹/₃ cup water

1¼ cups flour

1 teaspoon Salt

1 large egg

1 tablespoon drippings
Directions

One hour before the meat is ready to be removed from the oven, mix the milk and water together. Sift flour with salt into a mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and add the unbeaten egg and half of the liquid. Stir slowly, gradually drawing the flour into the liquid. Add half of the remaining liquid and beat well. Stir in the rest of the liquid and allow to rest at room temperature.

When you remove the beef from the oven, turn the temperature back up to 400° F. Coat a pie plate with a tablespoon of drippings from the roast (tilting the pan and turning it so the drippings coat the bottom and sides well). Pour the batter into the pie plate and bake in the hot oven for 30 to 35 minutes. (Do not open the oven door during cooking, or the popover will fall.) It will rise to a light, fluffy consistency. Serve immediately, and enjoy the crispy outer edges and the custardlike inside.

Parsley Potatoes

Ingredients

18 small Red or Yukon Gold potatoes

½ cup fresh parsley

½ stick butter

1 garlic clove, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Rinse potatoes and cut off any unsightly parts. Add to a pot and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil and cook until they are still firm but a fork can pierce them. Drain. Peel and slice each potato in half. Place parsley, butter, garlic, and potatoes in a saucepan over medium heat, and combine well. Cover and cook for ten minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Sautéed Mushrooms

Ingredients

2 pounds mixed mushrooms

½ cup good olive oil

1 cup chopped shallots (4 shallots)

4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter

2 teaspoons kosher salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons chopped garlic (6 cloves)

1 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions

Wipe the cap of each mushroom with a clean sponge. Remove and discard the stems. Slice the small mushrooms thickly; cut the big ones in large dice. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the shallots and cook over low heat for five minutes, or until the shallots are translucent. Add the butter, mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook over medium heat for eight minutes, until they are tender and begin to release their juices, stirring often. Stir in the garlic and cook for two more minutes. Toss in the parsley, sprinkle with salt, and serve warm.

Horseradish Cream

Ingredients

½ cup crème fraîche or use half sour cream and half heavy cream, mixed

2 tablespoons prepared horseradish

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Salt

Directions

In a small bowl, mix together all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Timing Tips

I chose these particular side dishes because they are delicious, go well with the roast, are not time sensitive, do not require the oven, and can be mostly prepped in advance so they do not monopolize you at the last minute, when you need to be working with the roast. The following can be prepped hours before you start cooking the roast.

Prime Rib and Yorkshire Pudding: Take out the beef and the egg and milk from the refrigerator to allow them to reach room temperature.

Parsley Potatoes: Wash and boil the potatoes. Once they have cooled, peel and halve them and place them in a Tupperware container or bowl. Do not refrigerate. Chop the parsley and shallots and leave in small cups until required. While roast is out of the oven and the Yorkshire Pudding is rising, you can finish off the potatoes and leave covered until ready to serve.

Sautéed Mushrooms: You can prepare the mushrooms hours in advance up until the point of adding the garlic. Instead add a tablespoon of lemon juice, toss, and allow to rest, covered, until almost ready to serve. Then stir in the garlic and cook for two more minutes. Toss in the parsley, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and serve warm.

Horseradish Sauce:  The sauce can be made early in the day and refrigerated. It is served cold or room temperature.

Recipe: Christmas Goose Dinner

Goose is one of my most favorite festive dishes. You will hear people complain that it is “too fatty,” probably because they have never had goose prepared correctly. This recipe will give you moist, succulent dark meat without the excess fat or fatty flavor. It is not difficult, but you must start a couple of days before roasting.  Also, a goose should be stuffed with a bread, potato or rice stuffing that will absorb some of the delicious fat from the inside of the bird. Do not use a sausage stuffing, or it will add to the fattiness. I am including a recipe for wild rice stuffing, which I personally like. Goose goes particularly well with tart fruit flavors to complement its richness, so I have included suggestions and recipes for accompaniments for the roasted goose. Next week: recipes for Prime Ribs of Beef Dinner.

Roast Goose with Wild Rice Stuffing

Ingredients

One fresh goose, 8–10 pounds for 5–6 people, or 11–12 pounds for 7–8 people; if the goose is frozen, it should be defrosted slowly in the refrigerator for two full days and then brought to room temperature for a few hours before starting this process.

6 cups chicken stock

1 onion

1 carrot, sliced

1 stalk celery

Sprig of parsley

Bay leaf

1 cup wild rice

2 tablespoons butter

2 shallots, finely chopped

1 cup sliced mushrooms

Juice of ½ lemon

⅔ cup wine

Directions

From 24 to 48 hours before roasting, fill two-thirds of a pot large enough to hold the goose with water and bring to a boil. While water is heating up, remove the neck and giblets and set aside to make the stock and gravy. Trim excess fat from inside the body cavity, slice off the wide belly flaps covering the body cavity, and remove the fatty tail. (For the ambitious, this fat can go into a pot with a little water (about ½ cup) and be put over low heat to render out and make goose fat for frying potatoes— better than butter or oil.)

You still need to give the fat underneath the goose’s skin somewhere to go; if you don’t, the skin will never fully crisp up and the fat will stay in the meat. The best way to do this is to prick the skin with a clean, sharp sewing needle (or paring knife) from an angle, so that you are not piercing the flesh of the goose, just the skin. Do this all over the goose.

When the water comes to a rolling boil, submerge the goose, neck side down, for one minute, until goose bumps (yes, that is where that expression comes from) appear on the goose. Turn it tail side down, and repeat the process. Remove goose from the pot, and drain. Place, breast side up, on a rack in a large roasting pan. Set it in the refrigerator, uncovered, to dry the skin for 24 to 48 hours.

Early on the day of roasting, make the stock and the stuffing. For the goose stock, cut up the giblets (but not the liver) and place them in 2 cups of the chicken stock, along with one sliced onion, one sliced carrot, one stalk of celery, salt, pepper, a sprig of parsley, and a bay leaf. Bring to a simmer for about 30 minutes.

For the stuffing, simmer the rice in a covered pot with the remaining 4 cups of chicken stock for 40–45 minutes, or until all of the liquid is absorbed. (If the rice is fully cooked before all of the liquid is absorbed, uncover the pan and boil until the liquid has evaporated.) In a small pan, melt the butter and sauté the shallots until soft. Add the mushrooms and cook for another 23 minutes, or until the moisture has evaporated. Add the lemon juice and stir the mushroom mix into the rice, seasoning with salt and pepper. Allow to cool, but do not refrigerate.

Remove goose from the refrigerator two hours before roasting. 

Preheat oven to 375°F.
When the bird reaches room temperature, stuff it. Seal cavities by sewing skin together with a clean needle and thread or using a special skewer and thread bought for the purpose. Draw the thighs close to one another and tie together with kitchen twine. Rub salt and pepper all over the skin. Place the bird on its side on a rack in a roasting pan, and place in the oven. In 15 minutes turn the bird on its other side and baste with some of the stock. After another 15 minutes, turn the bird on its back, breast side up, baste and continue roasting. After a total of 45 minutes of roasting, turn the oven temperature down to 350°F and continue roasting until the bird has roasted 15 minutes per pound, or until its internal temperature, when tested with a meat thermometer, has reached a minimum of 180 degrees.

When done, transfer the goose to a carving board; remove trussing, string, or skewer and cover with aluminum foil, loosely tented over it, allowing the bird to rest before carving.

To make gravy, pour off most of the fat from original roasting pan and place it over two burners. Mix in the ⅔ cup of wine and scrape the pan with a wooden spoon. Pour a cup of giblet broth over the drippings and reduce to make a gravy.

Braised Red Cabbage

Ingredients

1 head red cabbage, sliced

4 tablespoons butter

1 onion, sliced

2 apples, pared, cored and sliced

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1½ tablespoons sugar

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon flour

Directions

I encourage you to cook this the day before. It is even better heated up, and not having to worry about this will reduce the pressure on the day you are cooking everything else.

Preheat oven to 325°F.

In a large pot of boiling water, blanch the cabbage for one minute and drain. The cabbage will turn a deep violet color, but it will come back to its natural color later in the process, when the vinegar is added. In a flameproof casserole (large enough to later add the cabbage), melt 2 tablespoons of the butter and fry the onion until soft but not browned.  Add the apples, stir, and cook for 2–3 minutes. Remove apple-onion mixture from the pot. Add layers of cabbage and apple mixture, sprinkling each layer with vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper. Cover with buttered brown or parchment paper or aluminum foil and then the pot’s cover. Place in the oven and allow to braise until cabbage is soft, usually 1½–2 hours. Stir cabbage occasionally, adding ¼ cup of water if dry. Allow to cool, and refrigerate overnight. Remove from the fridge a few hours before reheating. While the goose is roasting, reheat cabbage on the stove, stirring and adding a tablespoon or two of water to avoid it being totally dry. Then take the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and knead it with the flour. Stir into the cabbage, a little at a time, to thicken the juices while reheating. Add salt and pepper.

Glazed Sweet Potatoes or Yams

This is especially nice because it can be prepared in advance and finished in the oven while the goose is resting.

Ingredients

8 sweet potatoes of about the same size, peeled

1 tablespoon lemon juice

½ cup honey

½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts
2 tablespoons butter

Salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Cook the potatoes in salted boiling water for 20–30 minutes, depending upon size, until potatoes are soft but still intact. Drain, allow to cool and slice. Butter a flat baking dish and arrange the slices of cooked sweet potatoes, tightly overlapping, to fill the dish.with one layer. Spoon over the lemon juice, honey.and nuts. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and dot with butter. Bake for 15 minutes, until lightly browned.

Apple Sauce

This sauce can be made the day before and refrigerated. It may be served cold or at room temperature, or heated up and served warm. You decide.

Ingredients

8 apples (I like to mix up the varieties)

1 pear

Directions

Pare, core and slice the fruit. Place in a saucepan and add enough water to cover about half of the fruit. Cook over medium heat, watching to see if too much water evaporates—in which case, just add more. Do not allow fruit to brown. When the fruit gets pulpy and begins to fall apart, mash and mix with a wooden spoon. You may leave this a bit chunky or strain if needed to make it smooth.

Turkey Waldorf Salad

First created in the 1890s at the Waldorf Hotel in New York City, the traditional Waldorf salad is made of fresh apples, celery and walnuts dressed in mayonnaise and is served on a bed of lettuce as an appetizer. Sometime in the 20th century, it became popular to add diced cooked chicken to make a real meal out of it. It was not a big leap from there for me and many other cooks to decide that this would be an excellent dish for turkey leftovers. After the traditional sandwich and perhaps the turkey pot pie, the turkey Waldorf is a great way to finish off the bits.

Ingredients

(Serves six)

½ cup plain yogurt

½ cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon white sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

⅛ teaspoon salt

3 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped

1 cup thinly sliced celery

½ cup chopped walnuts

1 cup seedless grapes, washed and cut in half lengthwise

2 cups diced cooked turkey

 

Directions

In a medium bowl, whisk together the yogurt, mayonnaise, sugar, lemon juice, and salt.

Stir in the apples, celery, walnuts, grapes and turkey. Chill until ready to serve.

Pumpkin Soup in its shell

I am always looking for creative ways to cook and serve the traditional Thanksgiving meal. Some years ago, I followed this recipe for a Halloween party, and this year I have decided to use it for Thanksgiving. Serving the soup in a pumpkin shell is not absolutely necessary, but it certainly makes it more festive, attractive, and fun. Use one large pumpkin shell for the table or small pumpkin shells for individual servings.

Preparing the pumpkin shell(s)

Select short, round, squat pumpkin(s) rather than upright tall, thin ones. Wash the pumpkin(s) in warm, soapy water, rinse well and dry. Using a sharp knife, insert the tip about 1/3 of the way down and cut away the top to form a lid. Scoop out the seeds and stringy mass. Lightly oil the pumpkin inside and out, and sprinkle the inside with salt. Place cleaned pumpkin(s) and lid(s) on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 325°F for one to one and one-half hours, depending on the size of the shell. Bake the pumpkin shell until the pumpkin flesh begins to soften. WATCHPOINT: You want the pumpkin flesh to be just soft enough to scoop out, but the shell must not get soft or it will not support the weight of the soup. If unsure, it is better to underbake. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Gently scoop out some of the soft, cooked pumpkin from the wall and lid, being careful not to puncture the shell. Use this for the pumpkin soup.

For 8 servings:

2 cups finely chopped onions

½ cup finely chopped leeks

½ cup finely chopped celery

½ cup finely chopped carrots

½ cup peanut oil

8 cups chicken stock 

4 cups (2 pounds) cooked pumpkin (You can add or substitute cans of pumpkin.)

2 Idaho or Russet potatoes, peeled, washed and cubed

1 bay leaf

2 cups milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Grated Parmesan or Swiss cheese

Fresh chopped parsley

Fleur de sel

In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, sauté onions, leeks, celery and carrots in oil. Cook until onions begin to look translucent. Add stock, pumpkin, potatoes and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 30 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove bay leaf. Add milk and cook over low heat for five minutes. Do not boil. Add ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper. (If it is too thick, add water or more milk and cook another five minutes.) Ladle hot soup into pumpkin shell(s). Serve hot with grated cheese, chopped parsley and fleur de sel as garnish.

Eugénie’s Chocolate Cakes (Made with Salted Butter)

Photo by Eugénie Martinez

I have had family from France visiting with us for the past few weeks, and I occasionally relinquish my kitchen to them—always with good results, but this time my niece, Eugénie  produced an outstanding new dessert that will henceforth be among my staples. The use of salted butter in making individual chocolate cakes and then the sprinkling of Fleur de Sel de Guerande over them just before tasting is a stroke of culinary genius. You may use an old cupcake pan or one of the new multiple individual portion cake pans. The batter does not rise to a full cupcake, but remains flat as shown in the picture.

Ingredients

7 ounces dark chocolate (or semisweet), cut into pieces

8 ounces salted butter, cut into small pieces

Extra butter with which to grease the pan

8 ounces sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla sugar (or vanilla extract)

4 eggs, at room temperature

1 tablespoon flour, sifted

Fleur de Sel de Guerande (sea salt)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Coat the inside of a pan for multiple individual cakes (cup cake or muffin mold will do) with butter.

Melt chocolate over boiling water in a separate pot or a double boiler. As soon as it is melted, take it off the fire and mix in the butter, piece by piece, adding the sugar and vanilla until well mixed, thick and smooth.

Separate the eggs. Add the egg yolks to the chocolate mixture. Add the flour. Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold them into the chocolate mixture.

Fill the buttered molds halfway with the mixture. Bake for 10–20 minutes. (The actual time required depends on the size of your cakes.) Leave the oven light on and check frequently to see the cakes form. Take out of the oven once the cakes seem solid on the outside.

These can be served hot and molten inside or allowed to cool. Serve with the Fleur de Sel de Guerande or any other coarse sea salt, allowing each person to sprinkle a few grains on his or her own dessert. The cakes, of course,go well with any type of ice cream—but espresso or coffee would be my favorite. If you enjoy these as much as I do, don’t thank me. Thank Eugénie 

Mini Eggplant Pizzas

Use slices of roasted eggplant to replace the pizza crust and you have a delicious dish to please dieters, vegetarians and gourmands alike. I served it this weekend before a main course of pasta and got rave reviews.

Ingredients

(Serves 4–6)

1 eggplant, cut into thick slices (about ¼-inch thick)
4 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 14.5 oz can Del Monte Stewed Tomatoes, Italian Recipe

1 14.5 oz can Del Monte Stewed Tomatoes, Original Recipe
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Fresh Basil (rinsed, dried and cut up)

 

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425° F. Brush both sides of the eggplant slices with the oil and season with the salt and pepper. Arrange on a baking sheet and bake until browned and almost tender, 6 to 8 minutes, turning once.

Place the contents of the cans of stewed tomatoes in a mixer so that the tomatoes are mashed into the liquid to create a thick sauce. 

Spread a tablespoon of tomato sauce on each eggplant slice. Top with the shredded cheese. Bake until the cheese melts, 3 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle fresh basil on the top. Serve hot.

Sauteed Foie Gras on a Bed of Caramelized Onions

Many chefs cook fruit to accompany fresh foie gras, which we love, but Gerard and I have always preferred to serve it with sweet caramelized onions—a recipe we learned while vacationing in Béarn years ago. You can make the onions and slice the foie gras in advance. Keep the foie gras slices refrigerated and the onions in the pan, where they need to be warmed up before serving. Invite the guests to the table before finalizing the dish. As with a soufflé, the guests wait for the food, the food does not wait for the guests.

Ingredients

(Serves six.)

5 large onions, yellow, white, or red

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

1 Grade-A duck foie gras, in ½ inch slices

6 slices white bread

Directions

Caramelizing the onions

Slice off the root and top ends of the onions, and peel the onions. Cut them in half. Lay them cut side down and slice them lengthwise to about quarter inch thickness.

Use a wide, thick-bottomed sauté pan for maximum pan contact with the onions. Coat the bottom of the pan with olive oil. Heat the pan on medium-high heat until the oil is shimmering. Add the onion slices and stir to coat the onions with the oil. Spread the onions out evenly over the pan and let cook, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to medium to prevent the onions from burning or drying out. After ten minutes, sprinkle the salt over the onions and add the sugar to help with the caramelization.

Let cook for 30 minutes to an hour more, stirring every few minutes. To keep the onions from drying out as they cook, add a little water to the pan (1/4 cup). As soon as the onions start sticking to the pan, let them stick a little and brown, but then stir them before they burn. The trick is to let them alone enough to brown (if you stir them too often, they won't), but not for so long that they burn. After the first 20 minutes, turn temperature to medium-low. As the onions caramelize, scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a spatula. As the onions cook down, you may you need to scrape the pan every minute instead of every few minutes. Continue to cook and scrape, cook and scrape, until the onions are a rich, browned color. At the end of the cooking process, take the pan away from the heat , remove the onions and add a spoonful of balsamic vinegar to help deglaze the pan, and then put the onions back in to absorb the added flavor.

When the guests are seated, excuse yourself and pop the bread in the toaster. (I have Gerard serve the wine; he usually talks about the wine long enough to divert everyone’s attention while I prepare the dish—that’s teamwork.) Warm up the onions for two minutes. Spread the onions over the toast and place a slice of toast onion-side-up on each dish.

Sauté the Foie Gras

Season the foie gras with salt and pepper, and then dredge it lightly in flour. Heat a heavy bottom pan on high heat. When the pan is very hot, add the foie gras slices and lower the heat to medium-high. Sear until the foie gras slices are dark brown ( a couple of minutes). Turn them over and cook on the other side until fully cooked but still soft to the touch. Top off each toast with the foie gras. Serve all of it; if it is too abundant, add pieces beside the toasts.