The Essential James Beard Cookbook (50 page)

BROCCOLI BEURRE NOIR

MAKES 8 SERVINGS

Editor: While
beurre noir
means black butter in French, it is a misnomer here, as the butter in this recipe should only be colored to a brown the color of hazelnut shells, or
beurre noisette
. This deepens the butter flavor to make it an even better accent to plain vegetables than plain butter.

8 large broccoli florets

6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter

1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cook the broccoli in a large saucepan of lightly salted water over high heat until tender but still crisp, about 4 minutes. Drain, transfer to a serving dish, and cover with aluminum foil to keep hot. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat, shaking often until the butter turns nut brown. Add the lemon juice. Pour over the broccoli and season with salt and pepper. Serve hot.

BUTTERED BRUSSELS SPROUTS

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

Brussels sprouts, members of the cabbage family, are underrated because they are usually very badly cooked to a mushy tastelessness with little or no character. Sautéing keeps them crisp and interesting. These are good with broiled or roast meats.

2 pints Brussels sprouts

6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Kosher salt

Trim the sprouts, being careful not to cut away too much of the stem end. Remove discolored outer leaves. Put them in a 2-quart saucepan with enough salted water to come one-third of the way up the pan, bring to a boil and blanch, covered, for 5 minutes, or until barely cooked through. Drain well.

Melt the butter in another pan, add the sprouts, and cook, covered, shaking the pan well, for 3 to 4 minutes. Season with the pepper and lemon juice, and a sprinkle of salt.

VARIATIONS

BRUSSELS SPROUTS AMANDINE:
Sauté ½ cup thinly sliced almonds in 2 tablespoons unsalted butter until golden and add to the sprouts.

BRUSSELS SPROUTS WITH CHESTNUTS AND BACON:
Combine the sprouts with an equal quantity of whole, cooked, peeled chestnuts, heated in butter and seasoned to taste, and a few pieces of crumbled crisp bacon.

RED CABBAGE WITH CHESTNUTS

MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS

Red cabbage goes well with game and red meats. The following recipe, which comes from the central part of France, works as a complete vegetable course—the chestnuts supplying the starch.

4 pounds red cabbage

5 tablespoons (½ stick plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter

2 pounds roasted and peeled chestnuts (see Note)

1½ teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 cups
Chicken Stock
, as needed

Wash the cabbage, quarter it, and cut out the core, then cut it into very thin shreds with a large chef’s knife.

Melt the butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the cabbage, chestnuts, salt, and pepper, and just enough stock to cover. Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until the cabbage is tender, 40 to 45 minutes.

Editor: To roast chestnuts, using a paring knife, cut an X in the flat side of each chestnut, cutting through the tough outer skin just into the flesh. Spread on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated 400°F oven until the skins are curling and the flesh looks roasted, about 30 minutes. While the chestnuts are still warm, use a paring knife to remove the thick outer skin and the thin brown inner skin.

CHAMPAGNE KRAUT

MAKES 8 SERVINGS

Editor: This isn’t green sauerkraut, but fresh cabbage cooked in sparkling wine. It doesn’t have to be French champagne; any good sparkling wine from Spain, California, or Australia will do. Bacon drippings are essential for flavor. If you don’t keep a can of bacon drippings in the refrigerator, as was the custom of home cooks for decades (if not centuries), just cook a few slices in a skillet over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until crisp, reserve the drippings, and save the bacon for another use.

¼ cup bacon drippings

1 large head green cabbage, cored and shredded

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

One 750-ml bottle champagne or sparkling wine

Heat the bacon drippings in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the cabbage, cover, and cook, tossing occasionally, until wilted, about 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste, then the champagne. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Uncover, toss well, and continue cooking until the cabbage is done to your taste. I prefer mine quite crisp.

CARROTS VICHY

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

I’m sure the reason most of us shun carrots is that they are prepared so indifferently in restaurants—boiled to death and combined with canned peas or dressed with a mere sliver of butter. As a result they have no trace of flavor. This classic way of cooking them is certainly a change for the better.

2 pounds fairly small carrots

¼ cup water

4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter

1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon sugar

¼ teaspoon dried marjoram

1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

¼ cup heavy cream (optional)

Scrape the carrots and cut them into very thin rounds. Put them in a saucepan with the water, butter, and salt. Cook, covered, over medium heat, shaking the pan from time to time and making sure the carrots do not brown or cook too fast, until they are just tender when pierced with the point of a small sharp knife, about 6 minutes. Add the sugar and marjoram and toss well, then sprinkle the carrots with parsley and serve. If you like, add the cream to the carrots just before sprinkling them with the chopped parsley.

PURÉE OF CELERY ROOT

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

Simmer
2 to 2½
pounds celery root
in salted water to cover until it is just tender. Peel it, cut off the little root ends, and cut the bulbs in quarters. Put the bulbs through a food mill or food processor. Whip the purée with
6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter, 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper,
and
additional salt,
if needed. Spoon it into a heated serving dish, sink
a large piece of butter
in the center, and serve at once.

Or you may combine the
celery root purée
with an
equal quantity of puréed potatoes
and whip them together with
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
and
3 to 4 tablespoons heavy cream.
Spoon the purée into a heated serving dish and top it with
a square of butter
and some
chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley.

CHARD, SPINACH, AND ZUCCHINI TIAN

MAKES 8 MAIN-COURSE OR 12 BUFFET SERVINGS

Editor: Buffets were Beard’s favorite way to entertain, probably necessitated by the cramped quarters in his early New York apartments. He would usually serve a dish like this as part of a menu with meat or seafood salads, but it makes a good vegetarian main course, too.

Olive oil

2 pounds leaf spinach, stems trimmed, leaves well washed and coarsely chopped

2 pounds Swiss chard, well washed and coarsely chopped

6 or 8 small zucchini, finely diced

2 medium yellow onions, coarsely chopped

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

½ cup finely chopped fresh basil leaves or 2 tablespoons dried basil

Kosher salt

1½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

8 large eggs, lightly beaten

1½ cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese

½ cup fresh bread crumbs

Cover the bottom of a large skillet with olive oil and add the spinach and Swiss chard. Cook, stirring often, until just wilted, about 5 minutes. Drain in a colander, let cool, and press out all the liquid. Add the zucchini, onion, and garlic to the skillet with some oil and cook until the zucchini is tender.

Combine the vegetables and the basil in a bowl. Season with the salt and mix in the pepper. Spread in a lightly oiled, heavy earthenware casserole. Pour the eggs over the vegetables and top with the Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. Bake in a preheated 350°F oven until the eggs are just set and the cheese is melted and bubbly, about 30 minutes. Let cool, and serve warm or at room temperature.

CORN ON THE COB

Corn is certainly one of our most popular vegetables. It’s been much spurned by most Europeans, probably because it has never been a standard item of their diet. However, I well remember a delightful bistro in Paris where during corn season it was not unusual to find delicious corn from Alsace presented in a most intelligent way. The corn on the cob was cooked in half milk and half water and served as an hors d’oeuvre, which to me makes great sense. At the beginning of a meal it is delicious, refreshing, and most satisfying, and you are not chewing on an ear while other things on your plate get cold. Naturally, the best way to prepare corn is to rush it from your garden to a pot of boiling water and eat it at once. Few of us can do that anymore.

Everyone has his own opinion as how corn should be cooked. This is my preferred method. Shuck the ears and put them flat in a skillet with cold water. Bring to a boil over rather high heat and remove the corn when the water reaches a full, rolling boil. Serve the corn at once with plenty of melted butter, salt, and a peppermill.

VARIATIONS

CORN WITH BUTTER AND BACON CRUMBS:
Roll the cooked corn in melted butter and then in crisp bacon crumbs.

CORN WITH GREEN PEPPER BUTTER:
Combine butter with finely chopped peeled green bell pepper.

CORN OFF THE COB

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

6 to 8 ears corn

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter

½ to ¾ cup heavy cream

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

With a sharp knife, remove the kernels from the corn. Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan or skillet over medium heat. Add the corn and shake the pan for about 1 minute, just to heat it through. Add the cream, season with salt and pepper, and heat. Then serve at once.

VARIATIONS

CORN WITH ONION AND GREEN PEPPER:
Sauté 4 tablespoons chopped yellow onion and ½ cup seeded and finely chopped green or red bell pepper in 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter. Add the corn kernels and sauté in this mixture until just heated through.

CORN WITH FRESH BASIL:
Mix 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves into the corn just before serving. This felicitous combination of flavors is Chilean.

CORN OYSTERS

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

Editor: Thanks to their blob-like shape, corn fritters are also known as corn oysters. Some people like them with maple syrup drizzled on top.

12 ears corn

3 tablespoons heavy cream

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, sifted

1 large egg, well beaten