Julia's Kitchen Wisdom (7 page)

1 large head Boston-lettuce leaves, washed and dried

1 pound
green beans
, cooked and refreshed

1½ Tbs minced shallots

½ to ⅔ cup
basic vinaigrette

Salt and freshly ground pepper

3 or 4 ripe red tomatoes, cut into wedges (or 10 to 12 cherry tomatoes, halved)

3 or 4 “boiling” potatoes, peeled, sliced, and cooked (see
potato salad
)

Two 3-ounce cans chunk tuna, preferably oil-packed

6
hard-boiled eggs,
peeled and halved

1 freshly opened can of flat anchovy fillets (see box below)

⅓ cup small black Niçoise-type olives

2 to 3 Tbs capers

3 Tbs minced fresh parsley

Arrange the lettuce leaves on a large platter or in a shallow bowl. Shortly before serving, toss the beans with the shallots, spoonfuls of vinaigrette, and salt and pepper. Baste the tomatoes with a spoonful of vinaigrette. Place the potatoes in the center of the platter and arrange a mound of beans at either end, with tomatoes and small mounds of tuna at strategic intervals. Ring the platter with halves of hard-boiled eggs, sunny side up, and curl an anchovy on top of each. Spoon more vinaigrette over all; scatter on olives, capers, and parsley, and serve.

VARIATIONS

• COLD ROAST MEAT SALAD.
  Thinly slice, or cut into cubes or strips, a pound of cold roast or braised beef, veal, or pork, and refrigerate for several hours in a bowl with sufficient vinaigrette to enrobe the pieces, turning and basting several times. To serve, arrange nicely on a platter, surrounded with pickles, capers, olives, tomatoes, sliced red onions and green peppers, cooked green beans, or whatever appeals to you.
  

  FRESHLY OPENED CAN OF ANCHOVIES.
  Anchovies go “off” in taste when they sit around in an open can—which is probably why many people hate anchovies.
  

• SYRIAN LAMB SALAD.
  Marinate for several hours a dozen thin slices of cold roast leg of lamb in garlic-flavored vinaigrette plus several puréed freshly opened anchovies. Mound 3 cups or so of prepared bulgur (cracked wheat; see box below) in the center of a platter, and surround with the lamb slices. Garnish as you wish with olives, hard-boiled eggs, tomato wedges, sliced bell peppers, marinated
  cucumber
  .
  

  TO PREPARE BULGUR—CRACKED WHEAT.
  Stir a quart of boiling water into 1 cup raw, dry bulgur. Let sit 15 minutes, or until pleasantly tender. Drain, rinse in cold water, and squeeze dry in a towel. Toss with 1 Tbs each of olive oil, grated onion, and chopped parsley. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and lemon juice.
  

• BREAST OF PHEASANT, DUCK, CHICKEN, OR TURKEY SERVED IN A SALAD.
  Marinate slices of the cooked breast for 30 minutes or so in the vinaigrette. Then, for each serving, arrange several strips over a bed of tender frizzy lettuce leaves. Baste with vinaigrette and decorate with small segments of orange, thin red-onion slices, and a spoonful of toasted pine nuts.
  

MASTER RECIPE

Chicken Salad
Serves 6 to 8

6 cups cooked chicken, cut up into good-sized pieces

Salt and freshly ground white pepper

1 to 2 Tbs olive oil

2 to 3 Tbs fresh lemon juice

1 cup diced tender celery stalks

½ cup diced red onion

1 cup chopped walnuts

½ cup chopped parsley

1 tsp finely cut fresh tarragon leaves (or ¼ tsp dried tarragon)

⅔ cup or so
mayonnaise

Fresh salad greens, washed and dried

For decoration: all or a choice of sliced or chopped hard-boiled eggs, parsley sprigs, strips of red pimiento

Toss the chicken with salt, pepper, olive oil, lemon juice, celery, onion, and walnuts. Cover and refrigerate at least 20 minutes or overnight. Drain out any accumulated liquid; toss with the parsley and tarragon. Taste analytically and correct seasonings. Fold in just enough mayonnaise to enrobe ingredients. Shred the greens, arrange on a platter, and mound the salad on top. Spread a thin coat of mayonnaise over the chicken and decorate with the eggs, parsley, and pimiento strips.

VARIATIONS

• TURKEY SALAD.
  Follow the same general system as for chicken.
  

• LOBSTER, CRAB, OR SHRIMP SALAD.
  Follow the same general system, and use some of the shells for decoration.
  

Pasta Salad

On one of our television shoots we had a caterer who started us out with a quite acceptable pasta salad but then let it continue, recycled and recycled, day after day, for a week; finally, rebellion forced a change of caterers. I’ve never much cared for the dish since, but I do admit it can be good when creatively made. I even showed a children’s version myself on the TV show
Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.
It was regular long spaghetti cooked, drained, and tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper, diced green and red peppers, scallions, black olives, and walnut meats. “Spaghetti Marco Polo.” We ate it with chopsticks.

American-Style Potato Salad

The Potato Base.
Halve 3 pounds of “boiling” potatoes and slice 3/16 inch thick. Boil in lightly salted water for 3 to 5 minutes, just until tender. Drain out cooking water, then cover the pan and let sit 3 to 4 minutes, to firm up. In a large mixing bowl, gently fold the slices with
salt, pepper, ½ cup minced onions, and ¾ cup chicken broth; let sit for a few minutes, then very gently fold and let sit twice more.

The Finish.
Fold in a finely chopped dill pickle, 3 or 4 chopped hard-boiled eggs, 3 or 4 finely diced tender celery ribs, and 4 or 5 strips of crumbled crisp bacon. Let salad cool, then fold in enough mayonnaise just to enrobe the potatoes. Correct seasoning, and garnish if you wish with hard-boiled eggs and parsley.

VARIATIONS

• FRENCH POTATO SALAD.
  Prepare the potato base as described, and, while still warm, fold in olive oil, chopped parsley, and seasonings to taste. Let cool.
  

• WARM POTATO SALAD WITH SAUSAGES.
  Prepare the French potato salad above, and serve warm with generous slices of delicious warm sausage.
  

  PROCESSOR MAYONNAISE.
  Break 1 whole egg into the container of a food processor, add 2 egg yolks, and process 30 to 45 seconds, or until thick and lemon-colored. With the machine running, add 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice and/or wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon Dijon-type mustard, ½ teaspoon salt, and several grinds of white pepper. Still with the machine running, and by very small dribbles at first, start adding up to 2 cups of olive oil and/or vegetable oil. After about ½ cup has gone in, add the oil a little faster, until you have a thick mayonnaise. Taste carefully, processing in lemon or vinegar and seasonings as needed.
  

  Storage.
  Refrigerate in a covered container; the sauce will keep for about a week. Note that a chilled sauce can sometimes turn or thin out when stirred up—best to transfer it by spoonfuls into a warmed mixing bowl, whisking as you add each to the bowl.
  

  Troubleshooting.
  If the sauce separates or thins out, let it sit for several minutes, until the oil has risen over the clotted residue. Spoon as much of the oil as you quite easily can into a separate bowl. Dip a tablespoon of the residue into a clean bowl. By hand or with a portable mixer, whisk it vigorously with ½ tablespoon of Dijon-type mustard until creamed and thickened. Then by half teaspoons at first, whisk in additional residue, letting the sauce cream and thicken after each addition. Finally, continue with the oil, adding it by dribbles. (Note that using the same techniques you can also accomplish this in the electric blender.)