9. VEGETABLES

A gourmet can make a meal of vegetables alone—if prop­erly cooked.

Vegetables must be slightly undercooked and firm.

A pressure cooker is excellent for artichokes, beets, turnips and such—but tricky for softer vegetables which may easily turn into a mush, since cooking times are only 2 or 3 minutes.

Gourmet cooks depend upon frozen vegetables—and upon steaming baskets which are expandable metal gadgets that fit into any average saucepan, and hold the vegetables over steaming hot water so that all the flavorful juice is retained.

The best sauce for any vegetable is plain melted butter with a seasoning of salt and pepper—but Hollandaise is the traditional gourmet dressing for asparagus, broccoli and artichokes.

As a general rule, the simpler the main dish, the fancier the sauce for the vegetable—and vice versa.

Thin slices of white onion enhance carrots, peas and all lands of beans; crisp slivers of toasted almonds, hazelnuts or Macadamia nuts are delicious with Brussels sprouts, spinach and broccoli; a slight sprinkle, of caraway seed is fun with noodles, and parsley goes with absolutely everything—if you like it.

Grated Parmesan cheese is a gourmet addition to any baked or broiled vegetable, such as zucchini, mushrooms or tomatoes.

Never overlook the possible goodies in your neighborhood! Many a fresh water spring is surrounded by watercress, free for your picking . . . and when it comes to food, a gourmet never misses a bet. Watercress is a wonderful salad; a delight­ful soup; it is beloved of all English tea parties—rolled up in thin-sliced, de-crusted bread and butter, and chilled into dainty cigarette-shaped sandwiches—but it's also a delicious vegetable.

CRESSON A LA CREME

2 pounds of watercress

4 tablespoons of butter

4 tablespoons of heavy cream salt and pepper

Pick over the watercress, discarding tough stems and damaged leaves. Blanch in boiling water for 5 minutes, drain and rinse with cold water, pressing out as much as possible of the excess water.

Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the cress and season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer slowly for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently until soft.

Just before serving, add the cream and reheat—but do not boil. Serve very hot.

BAKED ENDIVE

In many parts of the U.S., true Belgian endive is ap­parently almost unknown, and greengrocers will insist upon offering chicory in its place (and if you then, cunningly, ask for chicory, they look completely blank!). But real endive (which is pronounced "ahndeev," please!) is a delicious, smooth-leafed, white-shading-to-pale-lemon-colored salad vegetable, shaped rather like an extra special Corona Corona cigar. It can be bought in tins, if fresh endive is not avail­able.

4 fine fat endives

4 thin slices boiled ham

4 hard-boiled eggs, shelled and cut in half

½ cup melted butter

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

If you use fresh endive, boil in salted water for 10-12 minutes, or until tender. Drain thoroughly. Then wrap each endive in a slice of ham, place in a buttered baking dish and surround tastefully with the halved eggs. Pour the melted butter over the endive, sprinkle with nutmeg, and bake 10 minutes at 400.

NOTE: If you really cannot obtain endive either fresh or tinned, celery hearts can be substituted.

LITTLE FRENCH PEAS

2 boxes frozen “tiny” peas

1 heart of lettuce

12 small white onions(or large drained tin)

4 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

1 teaspoon chervil

½ teaspoon salt

Melt butter in a heavy saucepan, add the peas (slightly defrosted, if possible), the peeled onions and the lettuce heart cut in shreds. Sprinkle parsley, chervil, sugar and salt over the peas, stir thoroughly until the butter is well dis­tributed over the peas. Then add 4 tablespoons of cold water, bring to a boil, cover tightly and reduce heat to a minimum. Cook for 15 minutes, add another 2 tablespoons of butter, and serve at once.

CARROTS FLAMADE

12 small scraped carrots, or 1 tin tiny whole carrots

3 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

¼ teaspoon pepper

¼ cup heavy sweet cream

Melt butter, add carrots and seasonings, cover and cook over the lowest heat for 15 minutes or until carrots are tender. Add the cream, stir thoroughly and simmer 4 minutes.

CURRIED SPINACH

1 box frozen spinach

3 T butter

½ tsp dry mustard

1 tsp curry powder

¼ tsp paprika

½ tsp salt

Cook the spinach and drain thoroughly; melt butter and seasonings in a frying pan. Add the spinach and coat well with the curry-butter mixture.

A box of frozen zucchini can be used instead of spinach.

RATATOUILLE (ra-ta-tooy)

A home-style French vegetable casserole – a good dish for Sunday night supper.

2 cloves of garlic

4 T olive oil

2 large onions, thinly sliced

2 green(or sweet red) peppers, seeded and sliced

1 small eggplant, sliced ¼ inch thick

2 small zucchini, thinly sliced

3 small tomatoes, thinly sliced

Heat olive oil, add thinly sliced garlic cloves and onions. Saute 8 minutes. Add green or red peppers, eggplant and zucchini, and saute very gently for 8 minutes; add the toma­toes, stir very gently to move the vegetables into different positions for the final cooking. Cover tightly and simmer for 10 minutes.

For a substantial one-dish meal, a couple of small cold boiled potatoes can be added in thin slices together with the onions, or the vegetable stew can be served with plain boiled rice ... in either case, each portion should be topped with a poached or fried egg.

AMERICAN RATATOUILLE

1 box frozen okra, cooked and drained

1 large green pepper, seeded and thinly sliced

2 onions, thin sliced

½ cup sliced celery

2 tomatoes, peeled and quartered(1 large drained tin of tomatoes)

1 clove of garlic, sliced very thinly

1½ cups of white sauce

4 poached eggs

Cook and drain the okra.

Steam green pepper, onions and celery while okra cooks.

Make the white sauce from a tin of condensed cream of celery soup combined with 1 cup thin cream.

Combine all the vegetables, plus the garlic, in a casserole; cover with the white sauce and simmer for 15 minutes.

Serve the vegetables on buttered toast or plain boiled rice, and top each portion with a poached egg.

ASPERGES PARMESANES

2 packages frozen asparagus, cooked and drained

½ cup Parmesan cheese grated

¼ cup melted butter

1 teaspoon nutmeg

Cook the asparagus until just underdone, and drain. Place in a buttered baking dish, sprinkle with grated cheese, melted butter and nutmeg, and place in the oven for 15 minutes.

HOLLANDAISE SAUCE

The traditional lemon-butter-egg sauce for vegetables can be bought in jars at any good food shop, and although ex­pensive, it may prove cheaper in the long run—because Hol­landaise is tricky to make.

It should be a smooth emulsion—but all too often it will curdle before your very eyes; it is very temperamental and must be prepared and served at once or it will grow tired of waiting and separate dispiritedly in the sauce boat.

All depends upon the cooking. Hollandaise should be pre­pared in the top of a double boiler . . . and in theory, the sauce is to be blended and warmed by gentle steaming. Thus, the water in the bottom part of your double boiler should be hot but never allowed to boil—and the amount of water should always be well below any possibility of contact with the double boiler top. Furthermore, the heavier the con­struction of the double boiler top—so that it does not heat up too rapidly—the less risk of failure. An old-fashioned earthenware mixing bowl (if you can arrange it to fit at the top of a saucepan), is excellent for Hollandaise.

Success or failure, Hollandaise takes only about 5 minutes to make—thus, it's wise to have everything else completed and ready to serve before you begin the sauce. Asparagus, broccoli, artichokes or whatever—all should be on their serving dishes, awaiting the final touch . . . and the instant the sauce is blended, you will be able to distribute it over the vegetables before it has a chance to separate.

The ingredients for Hollandaise:

¼ pound of butter, very cold and cut in three pieces

2 egg yolks

1 T lemon juice

¼ tsp salt

a dash of Cayenne pepper

Place the egg yolks and lemon juice in an unheated double boiler top, set over the hot water and add a piece of butter. Stir gently until it melts; immediately add the next piece of butter, and continue to stir until it is melted, add the final piece of butter, plus salt and pepper. Stir gently but con­stantly . . . and the instant the last bit of butter is melted and absorbed in the sauce—SERVE IT!

If the sauce insists upon curdling, add heavy cream or boiling water, drop by drop, stirring constantly until the emulsion is restored ... and if it refuses to pull itself to­gether after 2 tablespoons of cream or water, you must ac­cept it as a total defeat.

A second method of preparing Hollandaise is slightly more .foolproof, but does not produce quite such a handsome sauce.

Using the proportions above—

Cream the butter thoroughly in a heavy bowl, beat in the egg yolks and lemon juice gradually, and season. Set the bowl over hot water and stir constantly until the mixture thickens slightly—then remove from the hot water until you are about ready to use the Hollandaise.

At this final moment, add boiling water—1 teaspoon at a time—and stir constantly until the sauce is an acceptable consistency. You will need about 4 teaspoons of boiling wa­ter ... but add them very slowly, and stop as soon as the sauce is the right thickness.

POTATOES

In gourmet cookery, potatoes are served sparingly—but deliciously. They are often replaced in menu-planning by: rice, noodles, spaghetti, green noodles, garlic bread, squab stuffing—or the grated Parmesan cheese topping for a broiled dish—because a gourmet cook concentrates on the well-rounded meal, rather than merely a succession of rich foods.

For quick cookery, there are packaged potatoes, but un­less carefully prepared, these are never worthy of inclusion in at gourmet meal.

Packaged mashed potatoes—if you use, thin cream in place of water and a full quarter pound of melted butter—will be just-barely-acceptable as mashed potatoes . . . but they are fine for the basis of Potatoes Duchesse or Chantilly.

Frozen potato patties are not nearly so good as Zurich potatoes; frozen stuffed baked potatoes are acceptable with ordinary meals, but far short of a gourmet effort, due to the excessive amount of cheap seasoning used by packagers.

And definitely, frozen French Fries will never approximate the start-from-scratch variety for gourmet standards. For­tunately, home-made authentic French fried potatoes are not difficult to prepare . . . even when you are keeping an eye on a Chateaubriand!

FRENCH FRIED POTATOES

The underlying theory of perfect French Fries is to dunk cold potato slices into very hot fat, and after they are browned, to drain them completely of every drop of cooling fat and serve quickly. Idaho potatoes are best for French Fries because they can be cut in the distinguished long slim sticks—but any other kind of potato can also be used, from Maine to Long Island to what's in your own garden.

1 peeled medium-sized Idaho potato per serving portion A frying kettle, equipped with deep frying fat and a fry­ing basket Salt

First, peel potatoes, cut in sticks about ½ inch per side, and place in cold water.

Heat the frying fat; if you possess an electric frying kettle, follow the directions for your particular brand. If you are using the aluminum-saucepan-plus-strainer arrangement, use a thermometer and heat fat to 350.

Drain the potato shoes on a linen or paper towel, patting each individual stick dry. Distribute in the frying basket neatly, so that all the potatoes will be submerged in the first plunge . . . then lower frying basket into hot fat, gently. Be sure the first rolling boil of frying fat will not bubble up and over the side of the kettle, where it may possibly catch fire from the gas flame! Once sitting in the hot fat, you may for­get the potatoes for about 10 minutes; then redistribute the browned bottom sticks by vigorous shaking of the fry-basket, and return to the hot fat for a final 10 minutes, or until all potatoes are golden brown. Now turn off the heat and drain the fry-basket; shake it occasionally to hasten draining of excess fat—and plan to serve within 5 minutes.

Never try to keep French Fried potatoes warm for more than 5 minutes before serving; they become sad and limp if placed in an oven and will end by being no better than the bought frozen packages. The end-result of French frying, is to produce a food that is cooked and soft within, but crisp and hot without. Anything less than this may be edible, but can only be considered as a failure by the cook.

FRENCH FRIED ONIONS

These, too, can be bought either frozen or in cans (which are good on a canape tray)—but it is not difficult to make your own and the difference will be tremendous.

2 eggs, slightly beaten

½ cup of milk

Seasoned flour(2 cups, with salt, pepper and paprika)

Onions: 2 or 3, depending on the size

Bermuda or Spanish onions are excellent for French frying, but the ordinary yellow or white, and the sweet red Italian varieties are equally serviceable.

Peel the onions and cut into ½ to ¾ inch slices; separate each slice into rings. Combine beaten egg and milk, and soak onions while heating the fat kettle to 350. Drain the onion rings a few at a time and drop into a deep bowl con­taining seasoned flour. Toss until thoroughly coated, then carefully transfer to frying basket, layering the onions so all of them will be submerged at the first plunge into the hot fat. Finally, give the basket one good shake—to remove any excess flour—and place in the hot frying fat. After ten min­utes, redistribute the onion rings individually, if necessary to get a better coloring on the top rings—but do not redis­tribute by shaking as with French Fried Potatoes or you will dislocate the crisp crust about the rings. When all are deli­cately browned, drain thoroughly for 5 minutes and serve at once.

ZURICH POTATOES

Crispy browned on the bottom, and soft white potato on top. This is a quick dish that practically cooks itself while you are busy with other matters.

3 or 4 Idaho potatoes, peeled

½ cup butter

1 small white onion, grated

2 T each fresh minced parsley and green pepper

Paprika

Peel potatoes and grate them on the coarsest grater slot, placing them in cold water. Let stand for 5 minutes, then drain by handfuls, squeezing out all the milky potato starch. Dry on clean toweling. Melt half the butter in a large skillet, add grated onion and pepper, and saute 2 minutes. Add the drained dry potatoes. Sprinkle thickly with paprika, cover tightly and cook over a very low flame for 15 minutes. Check occasionally to be sure the potatoes are not sticking to the bottom of the pan—but do not stir or disarrange! Merely lift up with a spatula and add the rest of the butter if needed. Continue to cook for another 10 minutes.

POTATOES DUCHESSE, CHANTILLY, ANNA, NOISETTES

Four traditional French preparations for potatoes.

Potatoes Duchesse

2 cups of mashed potatoes – HOT

2 whole eggs

2 egg yolks

¼ tsp nutmeg

2 T melted butter

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

Add the butter and seasonings to the hot mashed potato; add the eggs and egg yolks, and beat the potato mixture until fluffy.

NOTE: These are the mashed potatoes used for rosettes in pastry tube garnish. In quick cookery, you won't have time for this, but you can serve Duchesse Potatoes by plain table­spoons, to accompany the finest steaks or chops.

Potatoes Chantilly

2 cups mashed potato

¼ cup heavy cream, whipped

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Place the mashed potato in a greased baking dish, just large enough to make four deep portions.

Whip the cream very stiff and distribute over the mashed potato; sprinkle with the grated cheese, and bake in a 475 oven until the cheese melts and the top is golden brown-bubbly.

Potatoes Anna

Take more than 30 minutes to bake, but they are so standard in gourmet cookery that the recipe cannot be omitted.

3 or 4 potatoes, depending on size

3 small white onions, peeled and grated

½ pound melted butter-mixed with: 1 tsp chervil, 1 T minced fresh parsley, ½ tsp tarragon, ½ tsp paprika, 1 tsp salt, ¼ tsp black pepper

Heat the oven to 450.

Peel potatoes and thin-slice on the large slot of a grater, placing the potatoes in cold water.

Combine butter and herbs in a pipkin, to melt gently over low heat.

Butter a casserole very generously.

Drain potato slices; fine the casserole dish with overlap­ping sections on bottom and side. Arrange them artistically because traditionally this is a dish that should be unmolded.

Sprinkle some of the grated onion and butter mixture over the bottom layer; add more potato slices, more onion and butter—and so on to the top.

Sprinkle the top thickly with paprika and minced parsley, and bake in a hot (475) oven for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 400 and continue to bake a further 20 minutes, or until potatoes are soft and cooked through.

Unmold on a serving dish, to be portioned at table.

Potatoes Noisette

Potatoes Noisette are simply tiny potato balls, oven-browned in butter . . . and probably easiest of all: Drain one or two tins of small Irish potatoes (depending on how many potato balls you want); place in a shallow baking pan with ¼ cup of butter, sprinkle with 2 T minced parsley, and brown in a moderate oven for about 20-25 minutes. Turn the potatoes over, once in a while, to brown all sides.

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