French Classics Made Easy (39 page)

1.
Preheat the oven to 400°F.

2.
Trim beets of all stems, leaves, and roots. Wash and scrub the beets as you would a baking potato.

3.
Wrap the beets in aluminum foil. (If they are not wrapped, the beet juice tends to seep and burn in the roasting pan.) Place the beets in a roasting pan and bake until a knife easily pierces the center of each beet, about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

4.
When ready to use, peel away the outer skin and slice, dice, or julienne. (See Serving Suggestion for how to serve.)

IN ADDITION

In the past ten years or so several new varieties of beets have appeared in many farmers’ markets and some supermarkets, including golden beets and pink-and-white-striped Chioggia beets. Their unexpected colors make them very appealing, and they are especially wonderful in a summer salad. As an added bonus, the golden beets do not “bleed” their color onto other ingredients.

SERVING SUGGESTION

The beets can be served sliced and tossed with a Vinaigrette (
page 336
) as a first-course salad accompanied by a warm baguette. They can also be served in Endive and Beet Salad (
page 29
). To serve the beets as a hot vegetable, reheat them in a covered saucepan over low heat with a small amount of butter for 5 to 10 minutes. Toss the beets to coat them with the butter and serve. I especially enjoy beets served with roasted or grilled chicken and veal.

BROCCOLI

[BROCOLI]

Broccoli is one of the most common American vegetables, but is rarely served in France—although Catherine de Médici brought it from Italy to France hundreds of years ago. Delicate and sweet in flavor when freshly picked, broccoli takes on a strong, disagreeable odor and flavor as it ages. Freshly picked broccoli cooks in only 3 to 4 minutes. After a few days, however, the outer skin of the stalk toughens, increasing the
cooking time dramatically. For best results, I always peel broccoli stalks before cooking. It is not difficult and allows the stalk and florets to cook in the same amount of time, avoiding the problem of undercooked stalks and overcooked florets.

Although there are many ways to prepare broccoli, I enjoy it best when simply steamed or boiled and served with melted butter and a sprinkle of salt.

SERVES 4

1 bunch broccoli

3 tablespoons butter, melted

⅛ teaspoon salt

1.
Trim any dried ends from the stalks. Peel the stalks: Look at the cut end and you will see a pale green stalk with a darker green edge. Insert your knife just behind this edge and hold the peel firmly between your thumb and the blade of the knife. Pull the peel down toward the florets. If the broccoli is fresh, it will peel easily from “stem to stern.” If the broccoli is not fresh, the peel will break off every inch or two, making the peeling process a little more time consuming, but all the more important.

2.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the broccoli and cook until a knife penetrates the stalk easily, 3 to 7 minutes. Since cooking time is directly related to freshness, when broccoli peels easily you know the cooking time will be short. Conversely, when the peeling is difficult, the broccoli will take longer to cook.

3.
Drain the broccoli on paper towels. Serve with melted butter and a sprinkle of salt.

SERVING SUGGESTION

To dress up the presentation, replace the butter with a Hollandaise Sauce (
page 326
) that has been flavored very lightly with lemon. Broccoli also makes an excellent purée (see
page 180
).

S
TEAMING
V
EGETABLES

There is a certain fallacy in the wisdom of steaming green vegetables, a cooking method that is very much in favor these days. Steaming is really only best for green vegetables that are straight out of the garden, or at least no more than two or three days from being picked. Steaming heightens a fresh vegetable’s natural sweet flavors.

However, the delicate sweetness of a fresh vegetable changes soon after it is picked, and within several days is replaced by a stronger, sometimes bitter taste. (This is particularly true of broccoli and spinach.) Steaming will only accentuate this off taste, and therefore I do not recommend its use for older vegetables.

Less fresh vegetables are far better when they are boiled or blanched in large quantities of water. This method yields a more delicately flavored vegetable and is my choice for most of the green vegetables I purchase in supermarkets.

WATERLESS COOKED CARROTS

[CAROTTES À L’ETUVÉE]

Of all the wonderful recipes I have taught over the years, this simple preparation of carrots has received more praise from my students than any other.

The best French method for cooking the vegetable is embodied in the classic recipe
carottes Vichy
. Originally designed as part of a healthful regime for those who went to the spas in Vichy for their rejuvenating waters, the recipe calls for the carrots to be boiled in mineral water until it all evaporates. By adding a tablespoon or two of butter, the carrots become coated once the water is gone. My method of preparing carrots goes one step further, using the carrots’ own moisture to cook them gently. When fully cooked, the moisture is gone, leaving the carrots with a sweeter and more intense flavor, as well as with a deeper and more vibrant color.

SERVES 6

2 pounds carrots, sliced, diced, or julienned

2 tablespoons butter

3 sprigs parsley, chopped

1.
Place the carrots and butter in a saucepan over very low heat and cover with a tight-fitting lid. The carrots will slowly steam in their own moisture. Shake the pan from time to time. To check the correct amount of heat, lift the lid after 10 minutes. You should see steam and only barely hear the carrots cooking. If there is no steam, increase the heat. If you hear sizzling or boiling, reduce the heat. As the carrots cook you will notice a combination of water and butter at the bottom of the pan.

2.
Cook until the carrots are tender. Depending on their size, they will take 15 to 40 minutes. Remove the lid and increase the heat to allow any remaining moisture to evaporate quickly. There should now be only a little clear butter at the bottom of the pan.

3.
Gently toss the carrots to coat with the butter. If you are not ready to serve the carrots, or if you are preparing them in advance, remove the pan from the heat. Reheat before serving over medium-high heat. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and serve.

IN ADDITION

Over the past couple of decades the style of preparing vegetables has gravitated toward the undercooked, with many cooks going to the extreme of serving them almost raw. I enjoy both raw and cooked vegetables, but rarely have I liked those caught somewhere in between, where they have the virtues of neither. For me a perfectly cooked vegetable is one that you feel on your teeth but do not hear while eating.

VARIATIONS

M
ADEIRA
-G
LAZED
C
ARROTS

[CAROTTES GLACÉES AU MADÈRE]

A
dd 2 tablespoons of Madeira when reheating the carrots in step 3. When all the liquid has evaporated and the carrots become glazed with the Madeira, they are ready to serve.

C
ARROTS WITH
G
INGER

[CAROTTES AU GINGEMBRE]

A
dd 1 teaspoon (or more to taste) of chopped or julienned fresh ginger to the carrots while cooking and sprinkle with chopped cilantro instead of parsley.

C
ARROT
P
UREE

[PURÉE DE CAROTTES]

S
imply use a food mill or processor to purée any of the above. Add ¼ cup of milk or heavy cream to thin and smooth out the purée.

CAULIFLOWER PUREE

[PURÉE DE CHOU-FLEUR]

There are a number of ways to make French vegetable purées. One classic method mixes a thick béchamel sauce with the puréed vegetable to enrich and smooth its texture (see Creamed Spinach,
page 191
).

In the method I use most often, I purée the vegetable together with cooked potato or rice for body and smoothness. Most classic purées usually include large quantities of butter or heavy cream. In fact, the purées are stirred over heat to dry them out so they can be moistened with either milk or cream. I omit this step because I prefer the lighter, less rich purée that results.

Use this recipe as a guide for puréeing other vegetables. I use a ratio of potato to vegetable of 1 to 3 or, at most, 1 to 2.

SERVES 6 TO 8

1 to 1½ pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled (2 to 3 large potatoes)

1 head cauliflower (about 3 pounds), cored and separated into florets

¼ to ½ cup milk (optional)

3 tablespoons butter

¾ teaspoon salt

⅛ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1.
Place the potatoes in a large pot and add water to cover by 3 inches. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook until tender, about 30 minutes. Add the cauliflower halfway through the cooking time.

2.
Drain the vegetables and purée them together in a food processor. (Using a food processor to purée potatoes alone will make them pasty; puréeing them together with another vegetable works exceptionally well.) The purée should be the consistency of smooth mashed potatoes. If it isn’t moist enough, add some milk.

3.
Stir in the butter and season with the salt and pepper. Blend well. (The purée can be made a day or two in advance and covered with plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out. Reheat in a water bath [
bain-marie
] or microwave oven.)

IN ADDITION

I have always enjoyed cauliflower, in all the many ways it can be served. Hot, with a butter, cheese, or curry sauce; cold, with mayonnaise or vinaigrette; and raw, as a crudité. On the other hand, my family is, at best, indifferent to it. Over the years, whenever I have suggested cauliflower for dinner, I have always been outvoted; that is, until recently.

One night I made dinner and, without asking, served a purée of cauliflower with broiled chicken and string beans. The purée, which was enough for six, was devoured by four, and I now receive frequent requests for it.

When boiling vegetables for a purée, I find that very little additional liquid is necessary for the purée, and any leftover cooking liquid makes a nice, light soup.

VARIATIONS

In step 1, when you cook the cauliflower, add one or all of the following: 1 onion, diced; 2 garlic cloves, or 2 carrots, thickly sliced.

T
URNIP
P
UREE

[PURÉE DE NAVETS]

Substitute 1½ pounds of turnips for the cauliflower.

B
ROCCOLI
P
UREE

[PURÉE DE BROCOLI]

Substitute 3 pounds of broccoli for the cauliflower.

GLAZED GARLIC

[AIL GLACÉ]

These tender, glazed garlic cloves are gently boiled in beef or chicken stock. The flavor, though obviously garlic, is much milder than you might expect. They are ideal for serving with roast leg of lamb and are also good served with roast chicken or sautéed rabbit.

The glazed garlic can be prepared in advance and reheated in several additional tablespoons of stock. Make sure you boil the additional stock so that it, too, thickens to glaze the garlic.

SERVES 6

P
EELING
G
ARLIC

Each clove in a head of garlic is protected by a tight-fitting skin, which can be difficult to peel. It’s easy, however, if the skin is loosened. Place a garlic clove on your work surface. Put gentle, but increasing, downward pressure on the clove until you hear it snap, crack, or pop. The skin will have loosened itself from the garlic and will come away easily. Too much pressure will smash or crack the garlic (or send it flying across the room), which in many cases is fine, but if you want the cloves to retain their shape (as in Glazed Garlic) you must take care not to exert too much pressure.

Many chefs use the side of a knife blade or a cleaver to press garlic, but I find it safer to use either my fingers or a flat wooden spatula.

3 medium to large heads of garlic, split into cloves and peeled

1 cup beef stock or chicken stock, homemade or canned (see chart,
page 305
)

1.
Trim the root ends from the peeled garlic cloves and place the cloves in a small, heavy saucepan. Pour in just enough stock to cover them.