Julia's Kitchen Wisdom (11 page)

CLARIFIED BUTTER—FOR SAUTÉING.
The simple system: melt the butter and pour the clear yellow liquid off the milky residue. The professional, long-keeping method: bring the butter to the slow boil in a roomy saucepan and boil until its crackling and bubbling almost cease; pour the clear yellow butter through a tea strainer into a jar, where it will keep for months in the refrigerator or freezer.

The Best Grated Potato Pancakes

This is my version of those wonderful ones Sally Darr used to serve in the sixties in her charming New York restaurant, La Tulipe. For 3 or 4 large-size baking potatoes, serving 6. Steam the potatoes 15 to 20 minutes, until almost but not quite tender. Set aside for several hours, until completely cold. Then peel and rub through the large holes of a hand grater. Toss with a sprinkling of salt and pepper and divide loosely into 6
mounds. Film a frying pan with ⅛ inch of clarified butter (see box above), and when butter is hot, spread in 2 or 3 mounds, pressing the potatoes together lightly with a spatula for 4 to 5 minutes. Sauté for several minutes, until browned on the bottom, turn with care, and brown on the other side. Set aside uncovered, and reheat briefly in a 425°F oven.

VARIATION

• LARGE POTATO GALETTE.
  Form the potatoes into one large cake and sauté in a large nonstick frying pan. When bottom has browned, either flip it over, or slide out onto a baking sheet and plop it browned side up back into the pan to brown on the other side.
  

French Fries

For 3 pounds (4 or 5) baking potatoes about 5 inches long and 2½ inches across, serving 6. Trim potatoes into even rectangles and cut into strips ⅜ inch wide. Swish in cold water to remove surface starch. Just before frying, drain and dry thoroughly. Heat 2½ quarts fresh frying oil (I use Crisco) to 325°F. Fry the equivalent of 1½ potatoes at a time for 4 to 5 minutes, until cooked through but not browned. Drain, and spread out on paper towels. Let cool at least 10 minutes (or up to 2 hours). Just before serving, heat oil to 375°F and fry, again by handfuls, for a minute or two, to brown nicely. Remove and drain on paper towels. Salt lightly, and serve at once.

RICE

Plain Boiled White Rice

For 3 cups. Measure 1 cup plain white rice into a heavy-bottomed saucepan; stir in 2 cups cold water, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 to 2 tablespoons butter or good olive oil. Bring to the boil over high heat and stir well; reduce heat to slow simmer, cover pan tightly, and cook undisturbed for 12 minutes—8 minutes for fat Italian Arborio. The rice is done when the liquid is completely absorbed and steam holes are visible on the surface. The rice will be almost tender, with the slightest crunch in the center. Let sit 5 minutes off the heat, covered, to finish cooking. Then fluff with a wooden fork, and correct seasoning.

VARIATIONS

• BRAISED RICE—RISOTTO (FRENCH STYLE).
  Sauté ¼ cup of finely minced onion in 2 tablespoons of butter to soften. Stir in 1 cup of rice and cook, stirring with a wooden fork, for 2 to 3 minutes, until grains look milky. Stir in 2 tablespoons dry white French vermouth and 2 cups chicken stock, add 1 imported bay leaf, and bring to simmer. Season lightly. Stir once, lower heat, cover, and cook as for basic boiled rice.
  

• BRAISED WILD RICE.
  For 1½ cups rice, making 4 cups cooked, serving 6 to 8. To clean and tenderize the rice, thoroughly wash and drain it, then boil for 10 to 15 minutes in 4 cups of water, until softened but still a little hard at the center. Drain, and wash again in cold water. Then proceed as for the preceding braised rice, but substitute ¼ cup
  mirepoix
  or
  mushroom duxelles
  for the onions. When tender, sauté in its pan, stirring with a wooden fork, to evaporate moisture and crisp the rice lightly, adding, if you wish, another tablespoon or so of butter.
  

DRIED BEANS

Dried Beans Preliminary—the Quick Soak

Pick over 1 cup of dried beans, removing any debris, wash thoroughly, and bring to the boil in 3 cups of water. Boil exactly 2 minutes, cover, and set aside for exactly 1 hour. The beans and their liquid are now ready for cooking.

Open-Pot Bean Cookery

For 1 cup dried beans, making 3 cups, serving 4 to 6. Add to the preceding beans and their liquid a medium
herb bouquet
, a peeled medium onion and carrot, and, if you wish, a 2-inch square of
blanched salt pork
. Season lightly with salt, and simmer, partially covered, for 1 to 1½ hours, or until tender.

Pressure Cooker Beans

Using the same ingredients as for the preceding open-pot beans, bring to 15 pounds pressure for exactly 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let pressure go down by itself—10 to 15 minutes.

Crock-Pot or Slow-Cooker Beans

No presoaking is necessary. Just put the raw, unsoaked beans and other ingredients into the Crock-Pot at 6 p.m. and turn to “low”; they should be perfectly done the next morning. (Or set them in a covered casserole and bake in a 250°F oven overnight.)

Getting a laugh out of lobster

Know where your meat comes from.

Serve a hearty, dry white wine or a simple red with your bouillabaisse.

Unmolding the omelet

Enjoying a talk with Professor Raymond Calvel on making French baguettes