The Essential James Beard Cookbook (8 page)

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Authors: James Beard

BOOK: The Essential James Beard Cookbook

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1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice

1½ teaspoons kosher salt

½ teaspoon Tabasco

For the Garnish

2 peeled and thinly sliced oranges

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice

Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley or cilantro

To cook the fish: Dust the fillets lightly with flour and sauté them in the hot butter and oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat until delicately browned on both sides, turning them once and salting them lightly. As the fish browns, transfer to paper towels to drain and cool. Then arrange the fillets in a round or oblong serving dish that will look attractive on the table.

To make the marinade: Combine the ingredients and pour over the fish. There should be enough sauce to cover the fish, if there isn’t, add more oil and orange juice. Let the fish marinate for 8 to 10 hours, or up to 24 hours.

A few hours before serving, marinate the orange slices in the oil and lime juice. Serve the escabèche garnished with the orange slices and chopped parsley or cilantro.

STUFFED OYSTERS

MAKES 2 SERVINGS

Editor: To broil the oysters, the broiler pan should be ridged to hold the oysters upright. Rock salt also works to keep the oysters in place, too, but so does aluminum foil crumpled into a large rimmed baking sheet; just nestle the oysters in the foil.

¼ cup coarsely chopped shallots

½ cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

¼ cup finely chopped fresh chervil

6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

12 oysters on the half shell

Rock salt for holding the oysters

Blend the shallots, parsley, and chervil well with the butter in a medium bowl. Spoon the herbed butter onto the oysters in their shells. Arrange the oysters in a broiler pan. (Or fill two individual casseroles with rock salt and place 6 oysters in each casserole.) Place under a hot broiler or in a preheated 500°F oven until the butter is melted and the edges of the oysters begin to curl, just a few minutes.

PÂTÉ OF PIKE AND SALMON

MAKES 8 TO 10 SLICES

Editor: This pâté is another classic of French cuisine that Beard encouraged his readers to make at home. Pike, a freshwater fish, is most commonly sold during Passover, as it is an ingredient in many gefilte fish recipes. Substitute any mildly flavored, firm white fish, such as flounder or halibut.

1½ pounds fillet of pike, finely ground and well chilled

1½ cups heavy cream, well chilled

2 large eggs, plus 3 large egg whites, well chilled

3 tablespoons Cognac

Kosher salt

1 head romaine lettuce

Softened butter, for the mold

1 pound skinless salmon fillet, thinly sliced

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

¼ cup dry white wine

4 tablespoons (½ stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces

Working in batches, process the pike, cream, eggs, egg whites, Cognac, and 1 teaspoon salt together in a food processor fitted with the metal blade until smooth. Transfer to a chilled bowl and combine well; refrigerate. Blanch the romaine leaves in boiling, salted water for 1 minute. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold running water. Pat the romaine leaves dry with paper towels. Trim off the thick central stems from the leaves.

Using half of the romaine, line a well-buttered, 2-quart pâté mold or terrine. Season the salmon slices with salt and pepper and arrange half of them over the romaine leaves. Spoon in the mousse and cover with overlapping salmon slices and the remaining romaine leaves. Pour in the wine and dot the top with the butter. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in a roasting pan half filled with water in a preheated 300°F oven for 1 hour, making sure that the water never boils. (If it does, add ice cubes to the pan.) Remove the mold from the pan. Chill thoroughly—at least a couple of hours. To serve, unmold and slice.

SALMON TARTARE

MAKES 8 SERVINGS

This unusual variation on steak tartare, made with raw salmon, became the rage of Paris a few years ago.

Editor: Beard wrote this in 1981 when some of the great chefs were evolving their French version of low-calorie cooking, or cuisine minceur, which owed more than a little to the Japanese. It is essential to buy fish that has been freshly caught because, like the Japanese sashimi and sushi, it is eaten raw. If you have a food processor, use it to separately chop the salmon, onion, and garlic and then mix them all together.

4 pounds very fresh salmon fillets

1 medium-large yellow onion, very finely chopped

2 or 3 garlic cloves, very finely chopped, or more to taste

2 tablespoons Cognac

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill, or more to taste

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 to 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Salad greens, for garnish

Firm white sandwich bread, cut into “fingers” and toasted, for serving

Remove the skin and every tiny bit of bone from the salmon (after filleting pull out any bones left behind with pincers of tweezers). Chop the salmon quite coarsely, using a very heavy chef’s knife or a Chinese cleaver. Mix the onion and garlic well with the salmon, chopping it in with your knife, then mix in the Cognac, parsley, dill, and mustard; season with lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Keep tasting as you work and add whatever seasoning you think is needed. The amount depends on your personal taste. Pile the salmon tartare in a serving dish, garnish with greens, and chill for 1 hour before serving. Serve with freshly made toast fingers.

VARIATIONS

STURGEON TARTARE:
Instead of salmon, use fresh sturgeon.

TUNA TARTARE:
Instead of salmon, use fresh tuna.

STRIPED BASS TARTARE:
Instead of salmon, use fresh striped bass or rockfish.

SOUSED SHRIMP

MAKES ABOUT 20 SERVINGS

This keeps well and is good to have on hand for cocktails, so it is worth making in quantity—if affordable. The lemon slices must be cut paper thin.

5 pounds large cooked shrimp (preferably 15 count), shelled and deveined

3 medium red onions, thinly sliced

3 lemons, very thinly sliced

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary or 1½ teaspoons finely crushed dried rosemary

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

Olive oil, as needed

Nonpareil capers, for garnish

Arrange layers of shrimp, onion, and lemon in a good-sized bowl, sprinkling each layer with rosemary. Add the garlic and pour in the oil to cover the shrimp. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the shrimp marinate in the refrigerator overnight. Serve from the bowl.

VARIATION

TARRAGON SHRIMP:
Substitute fresh or dried tarragon for the rosemary.

Cocktails

Editor: Seeing this list of alcoholic beverages from the 1963 edition of
Hors d’Oeuvre & Canapés
illustrates how much drinking has changed in the intervening years. Vodka was a novelty liquor, and gin and whiskey ruled.

Here are some good and truly basic recipes for cocktails and long drinks. You will find it helpful in planning your party to budget the liquor beforehand. Allow an average of thirteen drinks per bottle and you will be safe on all sides. Of course, with vermouth and liqueurs used for flavoring, you will get far more, but for rum, whiskey, gin, brandy, and applejack, thirteen drinks allows a safe margin.

Cocktail recipes are sometimes outlined in terms of parts—one part of A to two parts of B. However, it is more accurate to use a jigger (also a unit of 1½ fluid ounces) to measure liquor. The most useful jigger has both 1½ ounce and ¾ ounce (a half jigger) measures. And note that many drinks are stirred in a cocktail shaker, as shaking froths and clouds a drink, and there are some that should remain crystal clear. Stir or shake for about 8 seconds, as the slight dilution of the ice makes for a smoother, better-tasting drink. These recipes make 1 cocktail each, but they can be multiplied as needed.