Julia's Kitchen Wisdom (17 page)

Cooking time: about 2½ hours.

Optional, but traditional for added flavor: 6 ounces
blanched bacon
lardons

2 to 3 Tbs cooking oil

About 4 pounds trimmed beef chuck, cut into 2-inch cubes

Salt and freshly ground pepper

2 cups sliced onions

1 cup sliced carrots

1 bottle red wine (such as zinfandel or Chianti)

2 cups
beef stock
or canned beef broth

1 cup chopped tomatoes, fresh or canned

1 medium
herb bouquet

Beurre manié
for the sauce: 3 Tbs flour blended to a paste with 2 Tbs butter

For the garnish: 24 brown-braised
small white onions
and 3 cups
sautéed quartered mushrooms

(If using
lardons
, sauté them to brown lightly in a little oil; set them aside and add to simmer with the beef, using the rendered fat in browning.) Choose a large frying pan and brown the chunks of meat on all sides in hot oil, season with salt and pepper, and turn them into a heavy casserole. Remove all but a little fat from the frying pan, add the sliced vegetables and brown them, and add to the meat. Deglaze the pan with wine, pouring it into the casserole along with enough stock almost to cover the meat. Stir in the tomatoes and add the herb bouquet. Bring to the simmer, cover, and simmer slowly, either on the stove or in a preheated 325°F oven, until the meat is tender—eat a little piece to check.

Drain through a colander set over a saucepan and return the meat to the casserole. Press juices out of the residue into the cooking liquid, then degrease and boil down the liquid to 3 cups. Off heat, whisk in the
beurre manié
, then simmer for 2 minutes as the sauce thickens lightly. Correct seasoning and pour over the meat, folding in the onions and mushrooms. (May be completed a day in advance to this point.)

To serve, bring to the simmer, basting meat and vegetables with the sauce for several minutes until thoroughly hot throughout.

BLANCHED BACON AND
LARDONS.
When you can’t find a piece of pork fat to protect the surface of roasting meat, use sliced bacon or salt pork, but you need to remove its smoky or salty taste. To do so, drop 6 to 8 slices into 2 quarts of cold water, bring to the boil, and simmer 6 to 8 minutes. Drain, rinse in cold water, and dry on paper towels.
Lardons
, pieces of blanched bacon or salt pork cut into ¼-inch-thick pieces about 1 inch long, are used for flavoring dishes such as beef bourguignon and coq au vin.

VARIATIONS

• POT ROAST AND DAUBE OF BEEF.
  For a 4-to-5-pound bottom round or top round of beef, serving 10 to 12. (Other possibilities: chuck shoulder, eye of round, middle cut of brisket.) Simmering time: 3 to 4 hours. Brown the beef on all sides, either on top of the stove or under the broiler, turning and basting with oil. Season with salt and pepper and set in a covered casserole with the same browned sliced vegetables, wine, stock, and other ingredients as for the preceding master recipe. When tender, proceed to make the sauce in the same manner.
  

• COQ AU VIN—CHICKEN IN RED WINE.
  For 3 pounds of cut-up frying chicken, serving 5 or 6 people. Cooking time: 25 to 30 minutes. Brown the chicken all over in hot oil and the rendered fat from the optional
  lardons.
  Then proceed exactly as for the master beef recipe, using the same ingredients and the garniture of onions and mushrooms.
  

• CHICKEN FRICASSEE.
  The fricassee is essentially the same as the coq au vin, but it is done in white wine rather than red, and the chicken is not browned. For 3 pounds of chicken, serving 5 to 6. Cooking time: 25 to 30 minutes. When 3 tablespoons of butter are foaming in the frying pan, stir in 1 cup of sliced onions; when they are tender, add the chicken pieces. Turn frequently until stiffened slightly but not browned. Season with salt and pepper, add a pinch of tarragon, cover, and cook very slowly for 5 minutes more, without coloring. Then simmer with 2 cups of dry white wine or 1½ cups of dry French vermouth and about 2 cups of chicken broth. Complete the sauce as described in the master recipe and garnish with
  white-braised little onions
  and
  simmered mushrooms
  . You may wish to enrich the sauce with a little cream.
  

Lamb Stew

(Note that this is always called a stew but it is actually a braise, because the meat is browned.) For 4 to 5 pounds bone-in lamb shoulder cut into 2-inch chunks, serving 6. Cooking time: about 1½ hours. Brown the lamb and 1½ cups sliced onions as in the master recipe. Season and turn into a casserole with 2 smashed cloves garlic, ½ teaspoon rosemary, 1½ cups dry white wine or dry white French vermouth, 1 cup chopped tomatoes, and enough chicken broth barely to cover ingredients. Simmer about 1½ hours and finish the sauce as suggested in the master recipe.

Lamb Shanks

1 or 2 hind lamb shanks per person, or 1 foreshank sawed into 2-inch lengths. Prepare them exactly as for the preceding lamb stew.

Ossobuco

Veal hind shanks sawed into 1½-to-2-inch lengths, 2 or 3 per person. Cooking time: about 1½ hours. Season and dredge the meat in flour just before browning—because of the flour, the sauce will need no further thickening. Simmer with
chicken stock
, sliced sautéed onions, and dry white wine or dry French vermouth. Finish with a sprinkling of gremolata—finely minced zest of an orange and a lemon, a minced clove of garlic, and a handful of chopped parsley.

FISH AND SHELLFISH—POACHING AND STEAMING

Fish Fillets Poached in White Wine

For sole, trout, and other thin skinless boneless fillets, 5 to 6 ounces per serving. Cooking time: about 10 minutes. For 6 fillets. Score the skin sides of the fish and season with salt and white pepper. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of minced shallots in the bottom of a buttered baking dish; lay in the fillets, skin side down and lightly overlapping. Scatter another tablespoon of shallots on top. Pour around them ⅔ cup of dry white wine or dry white French vermouth, and ⅓ cup of fish stock, chicken stock, or water. Cover with buttered wax paper and bring just to the simmer on top of the stove, then set in a preheated 350°F oven. The fish is done in 7 to 8 minutes, when just lightly springy to the touch and opaque (milky white). Drain cooking juices into a saucepan and boil down rapidly until almost syrupy. For a simple sauce, whisk in droplets of lemon juice and minced parsley and, if you wish, a tablespoon or two of butter. Spoon over the fish and serve at once.

Sea Scallops Poached in White Wine

For 1½ pounds whole scallops, serving 6. Simmer ½ tablespoon minced shallots for 3 minutes with ⅓ cup each of dry white French vermouth and water plus ½ teaspoon salt and a small imported bay leaf. Then add the scallops and simmer 1½ to 2 minutes, just until lightly springy to the touch. Remove from heat and let cool in the liquid at least 10 minutes, to pick up its flavor. Remove scallops, discard bay leaf, and rapidly boil down liquid until almost syrupy.

NOTE:
Simmering times
for quartered sea scallops and bay scallops, 15 to 30 seconds; for calicos, bring just to the simmer.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS

• FINES HERBES.
  Stir fresh minced parsley and/or dill, tarragon or chives into the reduced liquid, and briefly reheat scallops, folding in, if you wish, a few tablespoons of heavy cream.
  

• PROVENÇAL—WITH TOMATOES.
  Stir 1½ cups peeled, seeded, juiced, and
  chopped fresh tomatoes
  and 1 large clove of minced garlic into the reduced liquid. Cover and simmer 5 minutes, then uncover and boil down rapidly to thicken. Season. Fold in the scallops and reheat briefly. Fold in minced parsley or other green herbs and serve.
  

Poached Salmon Fillets

For 8 salmon fillets 6 to 8 ounces each. Bring 2 quarts of water to the boil in a large skillet, adding 1 tablespoon salt and ¼ cup white-wine vinegar. Slide in the salmon, bring back almost to the simmer, and poach just below the simmer for 8 minutes—the fish is done when just springy to the touch. Drain, remove skin, and serve with lemon wedges, melted butter, or
hollandaise sauce
.

Whole Steamed Salmon

A 5-to-6-pound salmon serves 10 to 12. Cooking time: about 45 minutes. Have the salmon eviscerated, gills removed, and fins trimmed. Brush outside with oil and season cavity with salt and pepper. Lay the fish on an oiled rack in a fish poacher or roaster and wrap rack and salmon in washed cheesecloth. Strew around the fish 2 cups of thinly sliced sautéed onions and 1 cup each of sautéed sliced carrots and celery, and a medium herb bouquet with parsley, bay, and tarragon. Pour in 4 cups of dry white wine or 3 cups of dry white French vermouth plus fish or light chicken stock to a depth of 1 inch. Bring to the simmer on top of the stove and seal top of poacher with heavy foil and a lid. Maintain at a slow simmer, basting rapidly several times with pan liquids. The fish is done at a thermometer reading of 150°F. Remove fish, slide onto serving platter, and keep warm. Drain cooking liquid out of poacher into saucepan, pressing juices out of vegetables. Boil down to a syrupy 1 cup. Enrich, if you wish, with heavy cream and a swirling of butter and chopped fresh parsley.