Read The Essential James Beard Cookbook Online
Authors: James Beard
3 hard-boiled eggs, shelled
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped mixed herbs (chives, parsley, chervil, and/or tarragon)
1 tablespoon red or white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon finely chopped dill pickle
1 teaspoon drained and finely chopped capers
Clarified Butter
Makes about ¾ cup
This is something that you make, rather than buy. Melt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat, to prevent it from browning. The white froth that rises to the top should be skimmed off with a spoon, and the clear yellow “clarified” liquid butter carefully poured off into a container, leaving the curdlike dregs in the pan. Cover and refrigerate the clarified butter. You may make it in quantity and use as needed. Use it for sautéing when you need high heat.
Remove the yolks from the whites, put the yolks in a bowl, and crush with a fork. Finely chop the egg whites. Mix with the mustard, salt, and pepper. Gradually stir in the oil. When it is all absorbed, add the herbs, vinegar, chopped whites, pickle, and capers. Let stand for 1 hour or more to blend the flavors.
MANTEQUILLA DE POBRE
(POOR MAN’S BUTTER)
MAKES ABOUT 2 CUPS
Editor: This guacamole-like mixture is delicious served with grilled fish fillets.
2 large tomatoes, peeled
2 ripe medium avocados, pitted
12 scallions, white and green parts, finely chopped
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Kosher salt
Cut the tomatoes and avocados into small cubes. Toss gently in a bowl with the scallions, vinegar, and oil until well mixed. Season with salt. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving.
PESTO
MAKES 2 CUPS
I have basil plants growing in pots in the garden behind my house. I chop the fresh leaves onto summer tomatoes, and every so often I harvest a lot of leaves and make pesto. With pesto in the freezer, I can recover the fragrance of summer in my kitchen all winter long. Use it on plain noodles (you’ll need about ½ cup for 1 pound), or to flavor soups, stews, and salad dressings. For an extraordinary treat, combine it with pasta and new potatoes.
4 cups packed fresh basil leaves
½ cup pine nuts
½ cup packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
3 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ to 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup freshly grated pecorino or Parmesan cheese
Put the basil, pine nuts, parsley, garlic, and salt into the food processor or blender with ½ cup oil. Process, adding enough additional oil to make a smooth paste. Add the cheese and process a few seconds longer.
VARIATIONS
FREEZER PESTO:
To make pesto for the freezer, just process the basil, parsley, garlic, salt, and oil. Freeze it in 1-cup portions. When you are ready to use it, defrost the sauce and put it back into the processor with the nuts and cheese. If you want to use it as a seasoning, you can eliminate the nuts and cheese and simply chip off teaspoonfuls of puréed pesto from the frozen mass.
PESTO WITH WALNUTS:
Instead of the pine nuts, use ½ cup walnuts and omit the cheese.
PESTO WITH PARSLEY:
Instead of basil, use 3 cups packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves for a midwinter pesto.
BASIC VINAIGRETTE SAUCE
MAKES ½ CUP; ENOUGH FOR 8 CUPS OF MIXED GREENS
You can’t make a good salad without a good vinaigrette sauce. A true vinaigrette is as simple as one, two, three—oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper—and the success depends on the quality of the ingredients.
First, a good oil, preferably a rich, fruity, and flavorful olive oil. Other oils don’t have enough flavor to make a good vinaigrette.
Second, a vinegar that is not sharp or acid, either red or white wine vinegar (white tends to be milder). There are some fine imported French wine vinegars available and a few excellent ones from California. If you can’t find a good wine vinegar, use cider vinegar or lemon juice. I don’t recommend that you buy an herb-flavored vinegar—if you want an herb flavor in your salad it’s better to use real herbs, fresh or dried.
Third, salt and pepper. I like to use coarse (kosher) salt for salads, as for other cooking, because it has more flavor and guts than iodized table salt, and a better texture. Freshly ground black peppercorns have more spiciness and taste than ready-ground pepper which, as far as I’m concerned, is worse than useless.
As to proportions, after years of experimenting I find that I prefer to use 3 or 4 parts of oil to 1 of vinegar, depending on the heaviness of the oil and the sharpness of the vinegar. This is something you must learn to adjust so there is a perfect balance. Start with less vinegar than you think you will need, then taste and see if you need more. You can always add, but you can’t subtract.
6 tablespoons fruity olive oil
1½ to 2 tablespoons wine vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Blend the ingredients together in a bowl with a wooden spatula or a fork, using 1½ tablespoons vinegar. Then taste, and add more if you feel the dressing needs it.
Never add sugar to a vinaigrette. If the vinegar is mild, as it should be, no sweetening is necessary. Always mix your vinaigrette just before you intend to use it. The fresher it is, the better. Don’t follow that reprehensible practice of making the vinaigrette days ahead and keeping it in a jar in the refrigerator. For that matter, don’t store oil in the refrigerator. It gets cloudy, thick, and sluggish. If you are afraid of opened oil going rancid in hot weather, buy a small quantity at a time and use it up quickly.
VARIATION
MUSTARD VINAIGRETTE:
Whisk ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard with the vinegar, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Gradually whisk in the oil. This dressing is thicker than the Basic Vinaigrette.
INDEX
The index that appeared in the print version of this title does not match the pages in your eBook. Please use the search function on your eReading device to search for terms of interest. For your reference, the terms that appear in the print index are listed below.
aïoli:
basic recipe for
Boiled Potatoes with Aïoli
Cold or Hot Fresh Fish with Aïoli
Le Grand Aïoli
Hard-Boiled Eggs with Aïoli
Roast Suckling Pig with Aïoli
Salt Cod with Aïoli
alcohol, alcoholic beverages:
Beef Bourguignon Sauté
Boeuf Bourguignon (Beef in Red Burgundy)
in Bordelaise Sauce
Champagne Kraut
Cognac Sauce
Cold Poached Salmon in Red Wine Aspic
Coq au Vin
in Drunken Watermelon
in Estouffat de Noël
in Five-Day Plum Pudding
in Fried Shrimp
in Frozen Zabaglione
Goujonettes in Beer Batter
Grand Marnier Soufflé
in Green Salad, Vintner’s Style
Irish Whiskey Trifle
Madeira Brown Sauce
Melon with Port
Nut Rum Bread
in Pot Roast
in Pound Cake
Red Wine Marinade
in Rich Pumpkin Pie
in Roast Smoked Loin of Pork
Sautéed Liver with Shallots and Madeira
Sautéed Pheasant with Calvados and Apples
in Sauté of Quail with White Grapes
Shirred Eggs with Duck Livers and Madeira
Sole Poached in Vermouth
in Steak au Poivre
in Strawberries Romanov
White Beans with Cognac
See also
cocktails
almonds:
Brussels Sprouts Amandine
in French Chocolate Cake
in Gino’s Macaroons
Green Beans with Toasted Almonds
in Linzer Bars
Sautéed Trout Amandine
in Skordalia (Greek Garlic Sauce)
in Tuiles
anchovies:
Anchovied Pot Roast
Anchovy Canapés
Anchovy Hollandaise
Anchovy-Parsley Dipping Sauce
in Caesar Salad
Crudités with Anchovy Mayonnaise
Roasted Sweet Peppers with Anchovies
in Salade Niçoise
Spaghettini with Spinach-Anchovy Sauce
Spaghetti with Raisin and Pine Nut Sauce with Anchovies
in Vitello Tonnato (Veal with Tuna Sauce)
Angel Food Cake
angel hair pasta:
Angel Hair with Light Tomato Sauce
in Pasta Primavera
applejack
apples:
Apple Charlotte
Apple Fritters
Apple Pie
Apple Tapioca
Baked Spareribs with Sauerkraut, Apples, and Potatoes
Don Farmer’s Fresh Apple Cake
Horseradish Applesauce
Roast Holiday Goose with Apple and Prune Stuffing
Sautéed Pheasant with Calvados and Apples
Tapioca with Apples and Pears
apricots:
Apricot Fritters
in Bride’s Cake
Ice-Tray Apricot Ice Cream
Aromatic Rice with Peas
artichokes:
about
Artichoke Soup
asparagus:
Fresh Asparagus Vinaigrette
Minute Asparagus
aspic
Avgolemono (Egg-Lemon Soup)
avocados:
Avocado, Onion, and Grapefruit Salad
Avocado Pasta with Cream
in Mantequilla de Pobre (Poor Man’s Butter)
bacon:
Brussels Sprouts with Chestnuts and Bacon
Corn with Butter and Bacon Crumbs
in Greased Pig Salad
in John Beard’s Sautéed Chicken
in My Favorite Clam Chowder
in Roast Loin of Veal
Sautéed Calf’s Liver with Bacon
Tagliarini Verdi alla Pancetta
Barbara Kafka’s Buckwheat Noodles
Barley with Mushrooms
bars