Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1
Page 58
For 6 people
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2 lbs. “boiling” potatoes (6 to 7 cups when sliced)
Peel the potatoes and slice them ⅛ inch thick. Place in a basin of cold water. Drain when ready to use.
A fireproof baking-serving dish about 10 inches in diameter and 2 inches deep (if recipe is increased, dish must be wider but no deeper)
½ clove unpeeled garlic
4 Tb butter
1 tsp salt
⅛ tsp pepper
1 cup (4 ounces) grated
Swiss cheese
1 cup boiling milk
Rub the baking dish with the cut garlic. Smear the inside of the dish with 1 tablespoon of the butter. Drain the potatoes and dry them in a towel. Spread half of them in the bottom of the dish. Divide over them half the salt, pepper, cheese, and butter. Arrange the remaining potatoes over the first layer, and season them. Spread on the rest of the cheese and divide the butter over it. Pour on the boiling milk. Set baking dish over heat and when simmering, set in upper third of preheated oven. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender, milk has been absorbed, and the top is nicely browned. (As the oven is hot, and the dish shallow, the potatoes cook quickly.)
(*) May wait for half an hour, loosely covered, over simmering water. For a longer wait, stop initial cooking just before all milk has evaporated. Set aside uncovered. Shortly before serving, dot with 2 Tb butter, reheat on top of stove, and set in a 425-degree oven for 5 to 10 minutes to finish cooking.
VARIATIONS
Gratin Savoyard
[Scalloped Potatoes with Meat Stock and Cheese]
For 6 people
Ingredients for the preceding gratin dauphinois with the following exceptions:
1 cup brown stock or canned beef bouillon instead of milk
6 rather than 4 Tb butter
Follow the recipe for gratin dauphinois, but substitute stock for milk, and increase the butter proportions as indicated at the left.
Gratin Jurassien
[Scalloped Potatoes with Heavy Cream and Cheese]
Potatoes baked in heavy cream are mouth-watering with roast lamb or chicken, or turkey, veal, beef, or pork. An important point in this recipe is that you must never let the cream come quite to the simmer during the baking; thus it will not curdle.
For 6 people
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
4 Tb butter
A 10-inch, fireproof dish 2 inches deep
2 lbs. “boiling” potatoes, sliced ⅛ inch thick (6 to 7 cups)
1 tsp salt
⅛ tsp pepper
1 cup grated Swiss cheese
1¼ cups whipping cream
Smear 1 tablespoon of the butter in the baking dish. Arrange layers of potatoes in it, seasoning each layer with salt, pepper, cheese, and dots of butter. End with a sprinkling of cheese and butter dots. Pour on the cream and bring slowly almost to the simmer on top of the stove. Then place in middle level of preheated oven and bake for 1 to 1¼ hours, regulating oven heat throughout baking so that cream never quite bubbles. The gratin is done when the potatoes are tender and have absorbed the cream, and the top is lightly browned.
Gratin de Pommes de Terre Crécy
[Scalloped Potatoes and Carrots with Cream]
This mixture of potatoes, carrots, and cream is delicious with veal or chicken. It is the same as the preceding gratin jurassien but the potatoes are interspersed with sliced, braised carrots prepared as follows:
2 cups carrots sliced ⅛ inch thick
½ Tb butter
¼ tsp salt
2 Tb finely minced shallots or green onions
¾ cup water
A 4- to 6-cup, heavy-bottomed, enameled saucepan with cover
Boil the carrots slowly with the butter, salt, shallots or onions, and water in the covered saucepan for 20 to 30 minutes or until the liquid has evaporated and the carrots are tender. Then continue as for the preceding gratin jurassien, but alternate carrot slices with the potato slices.
Gratin de Pommes de Terre Provençal
[Scalloped Potatoes with Onions, Tomatoes, Anchovies, Herbs, and Garlic]
This casserole with its full-bodied Mediterranean flavor goes with roast lamb or beef, steaks, chops, or grilled mackerel, tuna, or swordfish. It is also good served cold. The potatoes need no other liquid than that rendered by the tomatoes as they cook together.
For 6 people
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2 cups thinly sliced onions
2 Tb olive oil
A small saucepan
1½ lbs. tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and juiced (4 to 5 tomatoes, 2¼ cups pulp)
¼ tsp salt
Cook the onions and olive oil slowly together in the saucepan until the onions are tender but not browned. Cut the tomato pulp into strips ⅜ inch wide. Fold the tomatoes and salt into the onions. Set aside.
6 canned anchovies packed in olive oil, drained
2 cloves mashed garlic
¼ tsp basil
¼ tsp thyme
⅛ tsp pepper
2 Tb olive oil (include as part of this the oil from the anchovy can)
In a small mixing bowl, mash the anchovies into a paste with the garlic, herbs, pepper, and oil.
An oiled baking dish about 10 inches in diameter and
2 inches deep 2 lbs. “boiling” potatoes sliced ⅛ inch thick (6 to 7 cups)
¼ cup grated Parmesan or Swiss cheese
1 tsp olive oil
Spread one quarter of the tomatoes and onions in the baking dish. Over them arrange half the potato slices, then half the anchovy mixture, then half the remaining tomatoes and onions. Spread over this the rest of the potatoes and the anchovy mixture; top with the last of the tomatoes and onions. Spread on the cheese, and sprinkle with olive oil.
Aluminum foil, if necessary
Place in middle level of preheated oven and bake for about 40 minutes, or until potatoes are tender and have absorbed all of the juice from the tomatoes. If the top browns too much during cooking, cover very loosely with a sheet of foil.
(*) Keep warm or reheat as for the gratin dauphinois.
POMMES DE TERRE SAUTÉES
POMMES DE TERRE POUR GARNITURE
POMMES DE TERRE CHTEAU
[Potatoes Sautéed in Butter]
Although we rationed ourselves strictly on potato recipes, potatoes sautéed in butter appear as a garnishing suggestion in so many of the main-course dishes that we are including directions for doing them. The following recipe demands that the potatoes be sautéed raw, which produces a delectable result. But the cooking is rather exacting as raw potatoes will stick to the sautéing pan unless certain precautions are taken.
PREPARATION FOR COOKING
If you were living in France, you would buy smooth oval potatoes 2 to 2½ inches long, with yellowish flesh, pommes de terre de Hollande. You would peel them neatly, and sauté them whole. Elsewhere, choose small boiling potatoes or new potatoes. Peel them, and cut them into elongated olive shapes all the same size, 2 to ½ inches long and 1 to 1¼ inches at their widest diameter. Cut them smoothly, so they will roll around easily and color evenly when they are sautéed. (You might save the cuttings for the good leek and potato soup.) Do not wash the potatoes; simply pat them thoroughly dry in a towel. If you peel them some time in advance of their cooking, roll them in a damp towel; dry them in a fresh towel just before sautéing.
For 4 to 6 people
2 lbs. (5 to 6 cups) “boiling” potatoes or new potatoes
Cut the potatoes according to the directions in the preceding paragraph. Remember they are not to be washed, merely well dried in a towel.
3 to 4 Tb clarified butter, or 2 Tb butter and 1 Tb oil, more if needed
A 10- or 11-inch heavy skillet large enough to hold all the potatoes easily in one layer
Add enough clarified butter or the butter and oil to the skillet to film it by 1/16 inch and set over moderately high heat. When th
e clarified butter is very hot but not coloring, or when the butter foam in the butter and oil mixture begins to subside, put the potatoes into the skillet. Leave them for 2 minutes, regulating heat so butter is always very hot but not coloring. Then shake the skillet back and forth to roll the potatoes and to sear them on another side for 2 minutes. Continue thus for 4 to 5 minutes more until the potatoes are a pale golden color all over, indicating that a seared, protective film has formed over them, so that they will not stick to the pan.
¼ tsp salt
Then sprinkle the potatoes with salt and roll them again in the skillet.
A heavy, close-fitting lid for the skillet
Lower heat, cover the skillet, and cook the potatoes for about 15 minutes, shaking them every 3 to 4 minutes to prevent their sticking to the skillet, and to insure an even coloring.
They are done when they yield slightly to the pressure of your finger, or when a knife pierces them easily; they should be a nice, fairly even, golden brown color. Hold the cover slightly askew over the skillet, and pour out the sautéing fat.
(*) If not to be used immediately, set cover askew to allow for air circulation, and place skillet on an asbestos mat over very low heat. The potatoes can be kept thus for about half an hour. Reheat just to sizzling hot before serving.
2 to 3 Tb softened butter
2 to 3 Tb minced parsley, chives, or fresh tarragon, or a mixture of fresh green herbs
Big pinch of pepper
A hot vegetable dish
Then off heat, add the butter and herbs, sprinkle on the pepper, and roll the potatoes in the skillet so they glisten with herbs and butter. Arrange the potatoes around your meat platter, or turn them into a vegetable dish.
VARIATIONS
Pommes de Terre Parisiennes
[Potato Balls Sautéed in Butter]
Pommes de Terre Sautées en Dés
[Diced Potatoes Sautéed in Butter]
Use exactly the same system as that in the preceding recipe, but form the raw potatoes into balls with a potato-ball cutter, or cut them into ¼-inch dice.
RICE
Riz
Whatever method you use for rice the grains should emerge whole, tender, and separate. Although raw rice is not difficult to cook, many people are so afraid of it they dare to attempt only the precooked or parboiled varieties, thus limiting their scope of rice dishes and denying their skill as good cooks. Two factors contribute to the gumminess of badly cooked rice. One is overcooking. The other is failure to deal with the floury coating which clings to raw rice and becomes sticky and gluey unless the rice is washed or sautéed in butter or oil.
TYPES OF RICE
Although more than 40,000 varieties of rice exist, only a few of them are available commercially. Long grain rice is the one that cooks up the fluffiest for plain boiled or steamed rice, risottos, and salads. Medium grain rice is shorter and tenderer, good for puddings. Short grain and glutinous rice, which vary from rather sticky to very sticky indeed, are used mostly by Oriental cooks and commercial gravy makers. Remarks on parboiled and precooked as well as wild rice are on this page.
ENRICHED RICE
This means that certain minerals and vitamins have been added to replace those lost during milling. Since the enrichment is on the surface of the grains, it is soluble, and that means (unless you do not want the enrichments!) you should neither wash rice before cooking nor rinse it afterward. Most states now have laws that rice must be enriched—your box or package will so indicate. It seems to us that enriched rice cooks faster by 2 to 3 minutes than un-enriched rice. In other words, whereas it used to take 18 minutes for the cooking of braised rice or risotto, it now takes about 15 minutes.
AMOUNT TO BUY
One cup of raw rice makes about 3 cups of cooked rice, or enough for 4 to 6 people.
WARNING
Never stir cooked rice with anything but a wooden fork or chopsticks; lift and fluff the rice, being careful not to mash or break the grains.
RIZ À L’INDIENNE-RIZ À LA VAPEUR
[Steamed Rice]
There are many ways to arrive at plain boiled or steamed rice, and most cooks choose one that best suits their temperaments. We find the following to be a foolproof system where the rice may be cooked hours ahead of time and reheated when needed.
For 4½ cups of cooked rice serving 6 people
1½ cups plain or enriched raw white rice
A heavy-bottomed 2-quart saucepan
3 cups water
1 tsp salt
Place the rice in the saucepan; stir in the water and salt. Bring to the boil over high heat, stir up once thoroughly, reduce heat to the simmer—very slight heat and bubbling—cover the pan and set timer for 12 minutes. Take a quick peek at the rice: the liquid should be almost absorbed. Fork up a few grains but don’t stir it because stirring at this point could turn it sticky. Bite into it. It should be very slightly al dente—with the faintest crunch, but almost tender. Cover the pan and set off heat to let the rice finish cooking. (If not tender, sprinkle on droplets of water and cook a few minutes more; if liquid has not absorbed, uncover and boil it off, fluffing with a fork.)
The rice is now ready to serve, but if you are not ready to serve it, here are the alternatives:
Reheating cooked rice
Once cooked, rice may be allowed to cool; then cover it airtight and refrigerate it for a day or two before reheating it. To reheat, first fluff it lightly and steam it as follows:
3 thicknesses of well-washed cheesecloth
A colander set over a pan of simmering water
A cover
Steaming—à la vapeur. Fold the rice into the cheesecloth, set in the colander, cover it, and place over the simmering water. Steam it for several minutes until well heated through.
ALTERNATE METHODS: Riz à l’anglaise or au beurre
The frying pan: Sauté the cooked rice lightly in butter, tossing and turning and fluffing it with seasonings as it warms.
Double boiler: Turn it into a covered pan and set in a larger pan of simmering water. Fluff it with butter, salt, and pepper as it heats.
VARIATIONS AND SERVING SUGGESTIONS
You can do many things to vary the flavor of plain rice. For instance, use half chicken broth and half water rather than water alone for its initial cooking. Or add some white wine or dry white French vermouth to your water or broth. You may wish an herb flavoring, like a bay leaf, a big pinch of thyme or tarragon, or an herb bouquet; add the herbs right at the beginning of the cooking. A big pinch of curry or turmeric or saffron flowers gives color to rice served with lamb stew or curried dishes. And there are always onions and garlic: Simmer ⅓ cup or so of minced onions in a tablespoon of oil or butter or half a cup of chicken broth or wine; when tender, proceed in the usual way. Or add minced garlic to the rice at the beginning of the cooking, or whole peeled raw garlic cloves, which will cook along with the rice. Here are other ideas:
Riz Duxelles
[Buttered Rice with Mushrooms]
½ lb. finely diced fresh mushrooms
2 Tb butter
1 Tb oil
1 to 2 Tb minced shallots or green onions
Salt and pepper to taste
1 to 2 Tb more butter
2 to 3 Tb minced parsley
Following the procedure for duxelles twist the mushrooms, a handful at a time, in the corner of a towel to extract their juice. Sauté the mushrooms in butter and oil for 6 to 8 minutes until very lightly browned. Stir in the shallots or onions and cook slowly for 2 minutes more. Mix in the hot, steamed rice with a fork and season to taste. Fluff in the rest of the butter and the parsley.
(*) May be set aside and reheated later.
RIZ A L’ORIENTALE
[Vegetarian Rice Bowl]
For 4 servings
4 cups hot steamed rice
1 cup minced onions cooked in butter and mixed herbs
1 cup diced eggplant sautéed in oil and garlic
⅓ cup chopped walnut meats
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
Salt and pepper
1 omelette, cut into strips
Chopped parsley
With the hot rice in a roomy saucepan, deftly fluff in the onions, eggplant, walnuts, and cherry tomatoes. Season carefully to taste, and turn into warm bowls. Decorate with the omelette strips, and sprinkle with parsley.
Pass chopsticks to your guests.
SALADES DE RIZ
[Rice Salads]
Cooked rice is a versatile base for many a salad combination, and it is always useful to have on hand for quick and attractive meals. Save up such treasures to combine with the rice as cooked peas or green beans, ham, chicken or other poultry tidbits, lamb, pork sausages, shrimp, crab, lobster—anything that you can dice up and, perhaps, marinate first in a tossing of oil, lemon, minced shallots or scallions, herbs, and seasonings. For instance:
For 4 servings
2 to 3 cups cooked rice
Good salad oil
Lemon juice or wine vinegar
Salt and pepper
4 scallions, thinly sliced, including tender green