Jumped-Up Pilaf of a Sort

This is something that is extremely quick, easy, and tasty. This is quite good when you are just out of steam, as it were. This will serve two. Do the math for your lot.

76 g chopped onion (about 1 small)
38 g chopped celery (about 1/2 as much as onion)
38 g chopped carrot (about 1/2 as much as onion)
1 cup chicken broth or stock
1/2 cup rice of choice
6 medium shrimp, peeled, deveined, cut bite size
scallops (equal to shrimp), cut bite size
olive oil
butter

Lube a medium skillet or heavy pan with olive oil, butter, or both. Sauté the mirepoix or trinity – the onion, celery, and carrot over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes or so until the onion is translucent. The combo of 2 parts onion, 1 part celery, 1 part carrot has been revered by cooks the world over for centuries. When finished set aside.

You can use any rice you please. Long grain will give you more of a French pilaf sort of thing. Short grain will give you more an Italian risotto. You may need to diddle the chicken broth/rice proportions for your particular rice. This works great for the long grain rice that I usually use. Begin heating the chicken broth while you re-lube your pan and pour in the rice. You want enough butter to coat the rice without being excessively wet. Cook the rice over medium heat for a few minutes, stirring and turning occasionally. The rice will turn translucent and back to a brighter white, but don’t worry about that. When you have cooked for between 2 and 4 minutes it will be fine.

{{Herself Sez: If you use a multi-rice mix (like Texmati or Lundberg Farms rice blends) you will have a more Middle-Eastern flavor. Cooking times and methods vary, so read the packages carefully. Himself doesn’t like these very much, but I happen to like these very much!}}

As the chicken broth comes to a boil add in the mirepoix, rice, and seafood. Be careful, if things have timed correctly the rice will be hot enough to kick the boil into high, so make sure your pot is big enough to handle a sudden doubling of liquid volume. Cook the rice, covered, for 20 minutes at a simmer. Your rice may vary a bit in time. Remove from heat and let rest 10 minutes. Serve. Enjoy.

You do know to use raw shrimp and scallops? Do not use the pre-cooked stuff. Fresh is best, but frozen raw is fine. We get shrimp raw and deveined in re-sealable bags. Still have to peel them, but that that is no big deal. I didn’t specify any number of scallops because that will depend on the size of the things. Sometime all that is available are about dime-sized in diameter, sometime they are more like half-dollars. So, just match the volume or weight of the shrimp. If they are big then chop them into bite-sized pieces.

You might also try this with chunks of ham instead of seafood. I would use smoked of sweet-cured ham. I would not use salt-cured ham.

Introduction to the Mother Sauces

No one really knows how long sauces have been used in cooking. Probably since early civilizations figured out how to make cooking vessels – it is hard to make a sauce on a spit. We know that people started writing about sauces during the middle ages.

As usual – where food is concerned – the great French chef Marie-Antoine Carême did the first analytical study of sauces. His system had four basic sauces from which all the rest derived. Carême’s four sauces were: Béchamel, Espagnole, Velouté, and Allemande. By the early 20th century the great Georges Auguste Escoffier added tomato sauces and emulsified sauces. Don’t worry – we will define all of these as we go along.

There are several interpretations of the sauces, even several different groupings. For our uses here are the classifications that we will use:

Espagnole: Brown sauce based on brown stock such as beef. Sauces under this heading would include Bordelaise, Chasseur, Lyonnaise, Madeira, Robert, and many others. That is pronounced Español – just like the name of the Spanish language.

Velouté: White sauces that are made with white stock such as chicken, fish, or veal and roux. Sauces under this grouping are Allemande, Ravigote, Suprème, and many more.

Béchamel – Named after the inventor Louis de Béchamel the steward of Louis XIV. These sauces are made with milk and pale roux. Common sauces in this group include Crème, Mornay and Soubise. Modern base Béchamel is somewhat simpler than the original.

Red sauces: Usually tomato based. Spaghetti sauces and Marinara sauces are included in this group.

Emulsions: The ever-wonderful Hollandaise and Mayonnaise are in this group. Emulsions are the blending of two immiscible (unblendable) liquids. Oil/water emulsions are quite common. There are two basic type of emulsion: oil-in-water and water-in-oil. Butter is a water-in-oil – the fat surrounds droplets of water. Milk and cream are just the reverse: oil-in-water where water surrounds droplets of fat. Kitchen chemistry for real.

After you fiddle with sauces for a while you come to realize that most sauces are some kind of liquid base plus something to thicken it up a bit plus some thing(s) for flavor. Shortly thereafter you realize that the liquid is usually what determines which family the sauce belongs to. If you learn to make the mother sauces you have the basic skills to make just about any sauce on earth. Here’s the liquid breakdown for this grouping:

1. Espagnole – brown stock.
2. Velouté – white stock.
3. Béchamel – milk.
4. Red – tomato.
5. Emulsions – fat.

There are many different thickeners used.

1. Roux – pretty much equal flour and fat

a. White – cooked rather short time – white in color – used in Béchamel.
b. Blonde – cooked medium time – blondish in color – used in Velouté.
c. Brown – cooked fairly long time – brown in color – used in Espagnole.

2. Whitewash – a slurry of flour and cold water.
3. Cornstarch – a slurry of cornstarch and cold water.
4. Liason – egg yolks. Do not add until tempered.

Tempering egg yolks. Well, let see – you’ve got a really hot (as in warm – not spicy) sauce going. If you just dump in the yolks, they will cook before they mix. So what you do is add small amounts of the really hot sauce base to the egg yolks a bit at a time and mix like crazy until the eggs are blended in and brought up to temperature. Then you dump the mix back into the hot sauce and stir it in. Good blend and no mess and no lumping.

Flavorings: Kinda’ sorta’ you name it and it has probably been used in one or more sauces. Flavorings frequently begin with the base liquid and may also add changes of consistency as well as flavor.

Common techniques in making sauces will frequently involve reducing the liquid by boiling off a considerable amount of the water content, which will concentrate the flavor left.

In the spices the most commonly misused is probably salt. Salt should be added last and only after tasting. The common stocks purchased already have salt in them and it is therefore quite easy to over salt, especially if the stock is reduced and concentrated. If you can get low salt or salt free stock do so. Even better – if you have the energy (I don’t) make your own stock.

A common characteristic of good sauces is that they usually involve a great deal of mixing and whisking. Most will lump up or not begin to combine if not stirred pretty constantly. Another characteristic is the careful control of temperature required by so many of the good sauces. Holding things just shy of a boil will take a bit of practice. Works best on a gas stove. On an electric you may have to move the pan off and on the burner to maintain correct temperature. The advent of the gas stove and the electric mixing appliance has really simplified the making of sauces. However – do remember that most of the world’s great sauces were developed and perfected with wood stoves and elbow grease.

A note on groupings: Julia Child groups them as White (Velouté and Béchamel) and Brown. She then groups Tomato, Egg Yolk and Butter Sauces together as the Hollandaise family. And finally the dressing or oil and vinegar group. She also adds flavored butters as a group. While I am nowhere near Julia as an expert I tend to go with the grouping I outlined.

Roux is the basis for many sauce’s thickening agent. It can be made from standard all-purpose flour and butter or just about any other fat desired. Start by melting butter (or heating fat) in a good saucepan, then add an equal amount of flour and stir constantly. When the mix is smooth and bubbly – usually 1 to 2 minutes – then you have a basic white roux.

There are different thicknesses recognized:

1. Thin – 1 Tbs flour per cup of liquid.
2. Medium – 1-1/2 Tbs flour per cup (probably the most common)
3. Thick – 2 Tbs flour per cup
4. Ridiculous – 3 Tbs flour per cup (Soufflés and the like)

Sauce Béchamel – make a basic white roux. When it is to the smooth and bubbly stage remove from the heat and when it stops bubbling pour in the required amount of boiling milk. You can add a pinch of salt at this point. Whisk the roux and milk together enthusiastically until all roux is incorporated. Return to the heat and boil and whisk for about a minute. Add salt and white pepper to taste. Did you notice the boiling milk? For most sauces you do not want to add something cold to something hot – this can really gum up the works. Pay attention to temperature.

Sauce Velouté – same as above but use a white stock instead of milk.

Milk or cream = Béchamel. Stock = Velouté. Now you see why Julia lumped them together. If you add cheese to Béchamel it becomes Mornay. If you add cream to Béchamel it becomes Sauce Crème. If you add cream to Velouté it becomes Sauce Suprème. All the other snazzy/fancy sauces in this group are simply additions or variations on these basics. Not to oversimplify, since there can be a great deal of stirring, careful heat control, and/or reduction of one or more ingredients before you get to the final product. But – if you conquer these basics and understand what you are doing you can deal with any variation with relative ease.

You should not have a whole lot of lumpy problems if the liquid is hot when it is added (and the roux is hot). If it does lump up you can force it through a strainer and then boil for a few minutes stirring like mad. So sayeth many authorities. I dunno’. If mine is lumpy it is easier to toss and redo. Suit yourself. If you got it too thin, then reduce it by simmering and stirring for a few minutes. If too thick add a bit more of the base liquid and stir it in. (Notice how many times the word stir is used in this discussion?)

The Brown sauces are harder in terms of number of ingredients and length of cooking time. But there is nowhere near the amount of constant stirring. Here is the basic brown sauce that is the mother of almost all brown sauces:

1 cup onions, diced
1/2 cup carrots, diced
1/2 cup celery, diced
2 Tbs clarified butter
2 Tbs all-purpose flour
6 cups brown stock
1/4 cup tomato purée
Bouquet Garni:

1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp dried thyme
4 fresh parsley stems

In an iron skillet or other heavy saucepan melt the butter over medium heat until it is frothy. Add the veggies and sauté until lightly browned. Stir the flour in a bit at a time until fully mixed and makes a roux. Cook the roux for a few minutes until it becomes brown – but not burned. This only takes a few minutes. By the way – this particular mix of veggies is considered something almost mystical by most of the great chefs. In English this mix is known as the Trinity. In French they call it Mirepoix (“Meer-pwah”). Either way it means onions, carrots, celery in a 2-1-1 proportion.

Whisk in the stock and the tomato puree, whisking firmly. Bring up to a boil, add the bouquet garni and simmer for about 45 minutes uncovered, stirring regularly so as not to burn.

Remove from the heat and discard the bouquet garni. Strain through a sieve and cheesecloth. This will make about a quart of Espagnole sauce, which is pretty good over red meat and such. Mostly this will be the base for many other wonderful sauces. You can refrigerate for a while and be fine.

Notice that this wasn’t all that hard – congrats – you are halfway through the mother sauces.

Red – tomato based sauces. Aw- c’mon, you’ve made spaghetti sauce at some point in your cooking. If you count the dressings in this class – throw together some decent oil. Olive oil is good, but extra virgin may or may not have enough flavor for you. Try some EVOO and some regular olive oil in similar dressings and see which you prefer. Anyway – oil, vinegar (preferably wine vinegar), salt, pepper, and other spices of choice and you have a basic dressing. Best made fresh at the table or just before serving.

Now the fun stuff – emulsions! I’ve already written up mayonnaise – the hard way, the easy way, and the embarrassingly easy way. Actually I’ve written about Hollandaise also, but I’ll recap that one for you:

3 egg yolks
1 Tbs hot water (optional – I usually don’t)
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and hot
Salt and white pepper to taste

Put everything except the butter into a blender. Blend for 1 minute on the lowest speed. With the blender running, dribble the hot butter through the open hole of the blender lid. Use a funnel if you are making a mess with the butter through the hole routine. Season to taste with salt and white pepper and keep warm.

There you have it: the basic mother sauces. If you learn these then every other sauce that you are likely to need will be simple (and probably based on one of these!)

Oh yeah – allemande. Well – that’s actually a Velouté derivative that is thickened with egg yolk, heavy cream, and lemon juice. Allemande was known as German sauce because of the color. Escoffier renamed it when it declined in popularity at the beginning of WWI to sauce blonde. Anything German wasn’t exactly popular at that time – even if only named that. It is usually called Sauce Parisienne nowadays. And it is not really a mother sauce – it is a derivative.

Pâte à Crêpes

Your basic French pancakes are called crêpes. You have heard of them even if you haven’t had them. Like a good many of the world’s greatest tastes, they are a whole lot easier to make than you may think. The main problem is that people who are good cooks are not necessarily food teachers and/or writers. Just follow these simple directions and you will get perfect results every time.

First – start off with Julia Child’s basic crêpe recipe.

——–Base – night before——–

1 cup cold water
1 cup cold milk
4 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 Tbs melted unsalted butter

——–Cooking——–

3 Tbs skillet lube
3 Tbs unsalted butter (or more)

Put all the night before ingredients into a blender the night before. Mix it up on high speed for about a minute. If some of the flour got stuck to the side(s) of the blender then just scrape it down and blend for a couple more seconds. Stick the whole vessel in the refrigerator and let it chill overnight. Julia gives a 2 hour minimum but I find that it works better overnight.

If you followed the above measures you shouldn’t have any problem with the thickness. When you take the blender vessel out of the ridge you may have a little bit of separation at the top. No biggie – just put back onto the blender and hit it for a couple of seconds.

Now melt a small amount of butter in a small skillet or other small pan. You do NOT need to spend multi-bucks on dedicated and specialized crêpe pans, just use a medium non-stick slope sided pan. You do want to get a silicon basting brush since the old-fashioned bristles melt when used for hot pan lubing. I’ve had very good result with a silicon brush. It doesn’t do basting very well but does do hot pan lubing quite nicely. Lube up the crêpe skillet with a very thin layer of lube of choice. I like butter, but olive oil or any other kitchen oil of choice can be used. Pour a thin layer about half the diameter of your skillet and swirl it around until there is a very thin lay coating the bottom. Relax for a while – a short while. Now we could talk about cooking time and all sorts of other things, but that is not necessary. When you get the temperature right – which is highly dependent on your stove, burner size, pan size, etc – you will know it. Anyway – just watch the crêpe, when the liquid look has disappeared from the top of the crêpe and the shiny has been replaced by a smooth mat look, then flip it. When you have the temperature and the time right it only takes another thirty seconds or so to do the second side. Flipping. Not rocket science. I use a silicon spatula to lift one edge, then grab with fingers and flop it over. You can do the fancy in the air flip if you are so inclined. Do shake the pan just a bit to make sure that the crêpe settles down with full contact.

You generally only have to re-lube about every second or third crêpe or so.

Now, stuffings. Basically whatever you like. Grated hardboiled egg, grated cheese, ham, prosciutto, sour cream, whipped cream, cottage cheese, caviar, jam of one kind or another. Whatever you like. A rather traditional is two spears of asparagus, some shredded cheese, a couple of strips of ham. Make them sweet, make them tart, make them whatever you like. Sour cream, a light sprinkle of caviar and minced onion or shallot is nice. Sprinkle inside or outside with powdered sugar if you like. Oh yeah, I guess that you do know to roll them up with the goodies in the middle. You may want to brush the inside with melted butter before adding the stuffing.

You can make a breakfast, lunch, dinner, or desert with these little goodies. After you do your first batch you will realize that thinking of these as hard or complicated is nonsense. They are pretty easy, after all.

It works better if you make them up ahead and keep on a warming plate and serve with all the goodies in little dishes so that each can make his own. Alternatively have a second person stuffing and wrapping as fast as they come off the pan. It is just about impossible for one person to get them cooked and stuff before they all get cold.

You may notice that these are very similar to blini, you can stuff them samey-samey if you like. You can use yeast in a blin (plural blini) if you like – but never in a crêpe.

{{Herself Sez: I find myself treating these like blini, but there are many other ways to go! Crepes St. Jacques, using Coquille St. Jacques as stuffing and as a “pour-over” is fabulous! So is a stuffing of a cheese blend (cottage cheese, ricotta, and marscapone or cream cheese plus a Tbs or so of sherry) with either a fruit jam or warm fruit compote on top. YUM!}}

Delicate Fish and Beurre Blanc

This is a take-off on the traditional French beurre blanc. Now beurre blanc means white butter. Remember classic French cooking:

1. Do Something
2. Add butter

And then:

1. Add butter
2. Do Something

So – what the traditional beurre blanc does is make a rich reduction sauce out of something acidic and shallots. If we add heavy cream then it becomes a beurre nantais – named for the city of Nantes, located in the Loire-Atlantique area. As in where the Loire river dumps into the Atlantic Ocean. This is really not a big surprise since this whole beurre blanc business is characteristic of (and originates in) the Loire Valley area of France.

Normal method: dump some wine and some shallots in a heavy skillet and reduce over fairly high heat until about half volume and it becomes a bit syrupy. Add some acid – lemon juice or wine vinegar and reduce some more – until syrupy again. If heavy cream is used here is where it is added, heated, whisked and thickened. Off heat add chunks of butter whisking all the while.

You can vary this basic sauce with all kinds of interesting things. Here is a nice one for perking up the taste buds.

—–Marinade and fish:—–

2 fresh limes or about 2 Tbs lime juice
8 (6-ounce) mahi-mahi fillets
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup Tequila or booze of choice
2 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs butter

—–Orange Beurre Blanc Sauce:—–

1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup heavy cream
1 Tbs very finely chopped fresh
parsley leaves or 1/2 Tbs dried
4 Tbs (1/2 stick) butter, cut into 4 pieces

—–Marinade and fish:—–

You can use lemon juice in the place of the lime if you prefer. Either juice a couple of limes or just use lime juice from a bottle. Mix with the booze of your choice. Lime and tequila is sort of traditional for an Island sort of flavor. You want to use a fairly delicate fish like mahi-mahi, which used to be called dolphon before all the political correctness got out of hand. Tilapia or any other mild flavored fish will do well. Anyway, soak the fish in the marinade in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

—–Orange Beurre Blanc Sauce:—–

About 1/2 hour before you are ready to eat start the beurre blanc. Combine the orange juice and the wine (or white vermouth) in a heavy pan and reduce over high heat, whisking often, until the volume is reduced by half. If you use dried parsley add it in here. Add in the heavy cream and bring up to a low simmer. Whisk often as it reduces and thickens. Whisk in the parsley and set aside while you do the fish. Keep it warm but not hot.

Heat oil and butter until the butter sizzles and begins to color. Sear the fish on one side for about 3 minutes (skin side first if not skinless), turn and sear the other side for about 2 minutes. If the fish is not done turn down the heat and cook gently until done. Set aside while you finish the sauce.

If necessary heat the sauce until it will melt butter. Off heat whisk in the butter one tablespoon at a time. Return to heat briefly as necessary to incorporate all the butter. Too cool and you can’t get the butter to melt and incorporate. Too hot and it will separate. Keep in between the two extremes and your sauce will be wonderful.

Spoon the sauce all fish and serve while it is hot.

The Best Hamburger You Will Ever Eat

Or – as the French call it – Biftek Haché à la Lyonnaise. This is from Julia Child’s seminal book The Art of French Cooking. As I may (or may not) have said at some point or other – if you can only have one cookbook, this should be it. Even if you don’t think that you want to learn French cooking Julia will teach you more about food and cooking in general than any other cookbook in the world. It is not that the French don’t eat burger biggies, they do. And they do a much nicer job than the charred lumps that you are used to having.

For beginners – get cheap ground meat. I know that sounds contrary to what you may have thought that you knew – but trust me. Get ground chuck or neck (or grind you own) with no added fat! The leanest that you can find. We will carefully introduce exactly the quantity fat that we want in the flavor.

You will notice that I differentiate the butter into A, B, C, D. That is so you know which butter (and quantity) I am talking about. Somewhere or other I read a description of French cooking that went thusly:

1. Do Something. Add Butter.
2. Add Butter. Do something.

Seems reasonable to me.

—–Burger—–

3/4 cup finely minced yellow onions
2 Tbs Butter – A
1-1/2 lbs lean, ground beef
2 Tbs softened butter – B
1 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp Thyme
1 Egg

—–Cooking—–

1/2 cup flour on a plate
1 Tbs Butter – C
1 Tbs olive oil

—–Sauce—–

1/2 cup dry white vermouth
2 Tbs softened butter – D

—– Burger —–

Mince the onion pretty fine. If you use a processor be careful not to go to a mush. As far as the onions go – a strong flavor is not a negative here. Cook the onions on low heat in butter – A for about 10 minutes until translucent but not brown. Mix together the onions, beef, butter – B, salt, pepper, thyme, and egg with a wooden spoon until blended thoroughly. Use some elbow grease. You may have heard that business about not mixing hamburger much, but that does not hold here – get it well mixed. Correct the seasoning to your taste. You want to wind up with patties about 3/4” thick. The easiest way to get there is to measure out 1/4 lb. patties on a good scale and then take a cutting ring about 3” or so and just pat down meat to a thickness of 3/4”. Adjust the size of the ring up or down so that you get nice round 3/4” thick burgers;. Cover with waxed paper and refrigerate until you are ready for action. You do want to do this ahead of time so that you can get the burgers rather cool. It makes them easier to handle.

—– Cooking —–

When you are ready then take a plate and put the flour in it and dredge both sides of the burger biggie carefully. Heat up butter – C and olive oil in a good cast iron or other heavy skillet, and set on medium high heat. When the butter just starts to turn golden put in the burgers. Now then, what you are looking for is a good sear to seal in the juices, but low enough so that you don’t wind up with burned shoe leather. Go for about 3 minutes a side on the highest heat you can get without burning and you should wind up about medium rare. Adjust the time up or down to suit your taste. If you are afraid of the meat then cook to shoe leather with some other method. Don’t waste this effort on something that is disgusting. Besides – if you are afraid of the meat, why eat it anyway? Set the burgers aside on a warming plate while you play with this wonderful sauce.

—– Sauce —–

Pour the fat out of the skillet, being careful to keep the brown goodies. Add the liquid and boil it down rapidly while stirring with a whisk. Reduce down to a pretty thick almost syrup consistency. Remove the skillet from the heat and blend in the butter – D a bit at a time, whisking constantly. If necessary return the skillet to the heat for a short while. If you do it right the butter will blend in completely forming a wonderfully smooth and flavorful sauce. Pour it over the burgers. Garnish with whatever suites.

Alternates: (But I gave the best in the base!)

For the butter – B in the burger you can substitute beef suet, beef marrow, or pork fat. Mostly you can’t get this stuff in the grocery, but if you have a source – try them.

For the cayenne in the burger you can use any other pepper that you like.

For the vermouth in the sauce you can use beef stock, beef bouillon, or red wine.

Garnish at the end. Try a few more leaves of thyme or some parsley.

The first time through with this don’t do the American thing with the bun. Just enjoy as-is with a simple salad and/or some fresh veggies and maybe some good French bread and butter. After you know what this delicacy is like do as you please. I will bet that you will want it without all the disguising that American burgers need to be palatable.

Basic Cobblers –

Cobblers are mostly US and UK in usage. ‘Course the Brits don’t mean the same as we do by the word. What was that about two peoples separated by a common language? Methinks that G.B. Shaw had it right. Anyway – to the American a cobbler is a desert with the crust on the bottom and usually some kind of very sweet fruit mix through which the crust rises and mingles as it cooks. You wind up with a nice brownish crust on top and a kinda’ dumpling sort of consistency through the middle of the goodie.

The Brits mean a meat pie or casserole sort of thing with a Cobbler – or biscuit – scone-like kind of topping. The Brits are starting now to realize that fruit fillings are also a good thing – but they mostly still put the crust only on the top.

The American cobbler has had many variations over the past couple of centuries: Grunt, Sonker, Betty, Buckle, Slump – and so on. Mostly a New England sort of thing in the beginning – but it has spread all over the country.

There is some disagreement as to whether Yankee flour – such as King Arthur – or Southern flour – such as Martha White – does better. A matter of personal taste, in my opinion. Get a bit more rise out of the King Arthur, which I like. Suit yourself and just use whatever you have handy in the way of an all-purpose type. If it is the old-fashioned Self-Rising Southern type then leave out the baking powder.

—–Fruit—–

340 g fruit (2-1/2 cups)
210 g sugar (1 cup)

—–Crust—–

150 g all-purpose flour (1 cup)
8 g baking powder (2 tsp)
4 g salt (1/2 tsp)
245 g milk (1 cup)
1 stick butter, melted (1/2 cup)
Cream, whipped cream or ice cream, if desired

—– Fruit —–

Most Berries: Stir together berries and sugar in a bowl big enough to hold them. Let stand about 20 minutes and then stir again gently. You should see a bit of syrup which has formed. Works fine for Blackberries, strawberries and the like. May not work for blueberries – I haven’t tested them yet.

Peaches: Blanche for 1 minute, then plunge in an ice bath for 1 minute. Peel, pit, cube or slice. Boil with sugar and 70g (1/3 cup) water, Simmer for 10 minutes. You can add a bit of cinnamon or whatever else tickles your taste.

Apples: Core, peel, slice. Use brown sugar. Can be boiled and simmered or mixed with crust. Cinnamon is pretty good with apples.

—–Crust—–

Mix flour, baking powder, salt and milk. Add the butter and stir just until blended. Pour into an ungreased pan big enough to hold everything with some room at the top. Spoon the fruit mixture over the batter.

Bake at 375°F for 45 to 55 minutes or until the dough rises through the fruit and is golden. I usually set the pan on top of a jelly-roll pan covered with aluminum foil. Otherwise a mess is had by all when the sugary fruit mix boils over the sides. An oven cleaning is then in order – NOT my favorite kitchen activity.

Serve warm with cream. Or with ice cream. Can be stored in the fridge and re-heated. Heat up in a 350°F oven for 20 to 30 minutes.

You can up to double the fruit filling if you want more fruit to crust ratio. You can adjust the sugar down if it is too much for you. Being a very traditional Southerner I like my peach or apple cobbler fairly sweet – but suit yourself.

Mayonnaise the Easy Way

Now that you have seen the original energetic way to make mayonnaise and have discovered the full flavor of the real stuff, you may wish there were an easier way. There is (are). The first method requires a food processor, which I suppose that most people have nowadays. This is pretty easy in that the processor does all the elbow work, but it is still a drop at a time method.

1 large egg
1 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 tsp sugar
2 Tbs lemon juice or wine vinegar
1-1/4 cups oil

If you have an emulsifying disk – use it – it works much better. Otherwise use the normal chopping blade. Then add the egg, mustard, cayenne, sugar and vinegar and blend until smooth. Now, you still need to add the oil SLOWLY! So – with the motor running, slowly dribble in the oil. The mixture will become thick and creamy. You may want to scrape down the processor side and mix again once or twice. You can stop blending when you have gotten to mayonnaise thickness. Keep it in an air tight container in the refrigerator. This uses the whole egg and does not get as nicely stiff as the yolk only recipes.

Now – the best possible way. You need two things: first – one of those handy stick-type blenders – you know the type – the blade is on the bottom of a fairly long stick. Also called an immersion blender by the technically correct. The second thing you need is a jar that is tall and not much wider than the bell of your blender. It so happens that a standard dill pickle jar works nicely for me. Oh, yeah. It should also be large enough to hold all the mayo for that session plus some extra room.

4 egg yolks
1 Tbs Dijon mustard
1 tsp salt
fresh ground black pepper
2-1/8 cups sunflower oil or safflower oil
1 Tbs lemon juice

Put the egg yolks, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper in the jar. Mix them together until smooth. Turn off the blender but leave it in the jar. Gently pour in the oil – all of it. You will notice that the oil sits on top of the egg yolk mixture, and that’s the secret. With the bell at the bottom of the jar, turn on the blender and slowly draw it up to the top of the oil. As you will have noticed, when you draw the blender up you keep blending only the small amount of oil that is at the border of the emulsified liquid. Pretty slick. You will probably need to keep the blender running and move it up and down and around a bit until all the oil is blended in and the more you beat it the stiffer the mix will get. You will get up to full mayo stiffness in a very short time. At this point add in the lemon juice and blend it in.

Take a taste and adjust your seasonings as you like. There is only one problem with this method: it is so easy that you may be ashamed to let anyone see you do it. After all – mayonnaise is supposed to be one of those things that only real cooks do. Oh yeah – since you should have mixed the stuff in the container that you are going to store it in there is much less waste since you don’t have to transfer the goodie – and one less mess to wash. Just scrape of the blender, cap the jar, and stuff it in the fridge. Too easy – way too easy.

Now then – you can add other things in as you see fit. Crush a clove of garlic and dump it in – wonderful. Add a bit of sugar – either white or powdered – for that sweet flavor that commercial mayo has. Try different mustards and more or less mustard for different kicks. French mayo has mustard – non-French has none – simple. Try cayenne pepper. Now the other thing to notice is that all the mayo recipes differ slightly in ingredients and/or proportions. That is fine. You need 3 things: egg, oil, and acid. Which ones you use and which other things you add will determine flavor. The essential method is: beat the devil out of the eggs as you add in the oil slowly. This forces an emulsion to take place. That is mayo.

Here are some variations:

Remoulade: chop up a hardboiled egg, some capers, parsley. Blend in & add a little more lemon juice to taste.

Aioli: Add 4 cloves minced garlic. Mediterranean sauce used with fish, veggies and such.

Add some sour cream, sweet cream, or yoghurt.

Add a couple of tablespoons of the herb of choice.

Add more mustard and some brown sugar and dill to taste.

Dream up your own variation(s).

Finally – use any of the mayo recipes with any of the methods – and enjoy superior flavor.

This stuff will keep for a week in a cold refrigerator.

{{Herself Sez: I keep our “upstairs” refrigerator at about 33 – 34 degrees – colder than most. Things tend to keep longer at this temp than at the “normal” temp of about 38 degrees. Problem is, occasionally it drops a degree or so, and some things freeze. Usually not a problem. Even the eggs will be ok if you plan to scramble them or beat them up in a recipe. But you can’t separate them and make the whites “work” for meringue. The lettuce, however, has to be tossed! O Well!!}}

Mayonnaise – The Real Thing

Or – How to get some exercise.

This is the second great classic sauce that every cook should be able to hammer out with little or no effort. I’ve already covered Hollandaise (see Eggs Benedict), so this bit on mayonnaise completes the Allemande (emulsion of lemon and egg yolk) class of the mother sauces of Escoffier. One of these days I’ll gather them all together in one place.

There are all kinds of stories about how mayonnaise came about and was named. I suspect that anywhere quality oil and eggs were available someone figured out how to emulsify the oil into the egg yolk. The name seems to be French in origin.

For those who are used to modern mayo from the jar this stuff is a bit of a shock. It actually has real flavor – and lots of it. It is also about 10 minutes of work – guaranteed to work your arm and give you a bit of cardio-vascular workout.

3 egg yolks
1 Tbs acid: wine vinegar or lemon juice
½ tsp Salt
¼ tsp dry mustard – up to ½ tsp by taste for French style (optional)
2 cups corn or safflower oil or NON-Virgin olive oil
2 Tbs boiling water

Make sure the mixing bowl is big enough for lots of elbow action. Also make sure the whisk is comfortable to use.

You want ingredients room temperature: 70°F or so. So don’t take stuff right out of the refrigerator and expect good results. If the eggs are cold you may heat up the mixing bowl with lots of hot water – just not hot enough to cook the yolks. It also helps to separate the yolks by hand, which will help warm them up. If your oil is cold, warm it up – but then, why should your oil be cold?

Whisk the egg yolks for a few seconds until they start to thicken a bit.

Add the acid – whether lemon juice or wine vinegar – and salt. Bit of discussion here: adding mustard is French, most others don’t. The mustard not only adds flavor but also helps to stabilize the mixture – your choice. Anyway – continue whisking while you add this stuff and beat for about another 30 seconds to a minute.

Take a deep breath. Shake your arms and get some blood into them. Relax. From here you cannot stop whisking for the next 5 to 8 minutes or so.

You do not have to whisk particularly fast – just steady – without stopping. You can switch hands or change directions – just don’t stop. Use a teaspoon and dribble the oil in a drop at a time while whisking steadily. When about half of the oil is in you can take a deep breath and take a SHORT pause. Then start adding from the measuring cup, about a teaspoonful at a time – whisking steadily. If at any time you see the mix looking oily stop adding oil and continue whisking until all has been absorbed. Usually it works out that about every 2 or 3 teaspoons of oil you will need to stir for a few extra seconds to get proper absorption. At no time let the mix get oily and loose.

When you get about ½ the oil worked in the danger of failure is pretty much over.

If you don’t get enough volume before the mix stiffens up too much to add more, then you can dribble in a few more drops of the acid, then go back to adding oil.

Add the boiling water, which will help the final consistency. Correct the seasoning to taste.

You can decant into a sealable container and store in the refrigerator for a few days. This is NOT commercial stuff with all the preservatives, etc. Therefore don’t think that you can ignore it in the fridge for more than a very few days.

Yes – you can make this in a blender on the lowest speed. Yes – you can use olive oil but it must NOT be extra virgin. Olive oil works and tastes very nice, but corn oil is a whole bunch easier to work with and tastes very, very good.

{{HERSELF SEZ: There is nothing – absolutely nothing – like homemade mayonnaise! This version is similar to other versions of homemade mayo that I’ve had or made – it’s a little “runnier” than the commercial kind. Doesn’t seem to be anything to do with this recipe to make it a thicker consistency. But I can easily get used to a runnier mayo for the taste!! Yum!}}

Strawberry Shortcake

This is an old-fashioned kind of dessert. The cake is not a cake. It is shortbread or shortcake to Americans or scone to Brits. What that means is a basic biscuit that is leavened by baking powder. The ingredients are not really blended, they are cut together – an entirely different proposition.

—–Biscuits:—–

300 g all-purpose flour (2 cups)
12 g baking powder (1Tbs)
3 g salt (1/2 tsp)
38 g sugar (3 Tbs)
1 stick butter, chilled, cut into 8 pieces
150 g heavy cream (3/4 cup)

—–Filling:—–

1 quart strawberries
72 g sugar (1/3 cup)

—–Topping:—–

230 g heavy cream (1 cup)
50 g sugar (1/4 cup)
7 g vanilla (1 tsp)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Set rack at mid-level.

—– Filling: —–

Rinse and drain the berries, hull and slice. To hull means to remove the green at the top of the berry. If you are worried about getting every last bit of strawberry goodie, then pick them off. I don’t usually bother, I just whack the top of the berry off, then turn and slice. A whole lot faster and you don’t really lose that much strawberry compared to the time and effort you save. When you have the berries sliced up sprinkle the sugar over them, cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. (Overnight is ok).

—– Biscuits: —–

Mix up all the dry ingredients in a fairly large bowl. All you really need to do is swirl everything around with your fingers thoroughly. Cut the butter into the mix with a pastry blender until the butter/flour mix resembles pea sized gravel. If you do not have a pastry blender – they are cheap and plentiful – popular lore has it that you can use two dull knives. I find that awkward to say the least. Bare hands would probably work better. Do NOT make the classic mistake of over blending. This is a biscuit (scone) – NOT a roll or bread. Make a well in the center of the mix and add the heavy cream, stirring it in with a fork until all the flour/butter is moist. Don’t over mix. If necessary add a little more cream.

Let the mix stand for about 5 minutes, then pour it out onto a lightly floured work surface. Fold and press 3 to 4 time until the mix starts holding together. You may find it beneficial to use the heel of the hand and the wrist rather than fingers or palm. The heel generates less heat into the mix and you don’t want to melt the butter.

Pat it out about ¾” thick or so and cut 3” circles out with a round cutter. You should be able to get 8 out of this dough. Put them on a cookie sheet – either non-stick or greased – brush the top with cream and lightly sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes or until they rise and are slightly browned.

Gently split and butter while they are still warm. A serrated knife works best – these are quite crumbly. {{Herself Sez: OR you can split them using a fork – as with English Muffins.}} Put about 1/3 cup strawberries in each biscuit, put the tops back on. Add a tablespoon or so of strawberries to the top, then cover with the whipped cream topping. Be sure to get some of the strawberry liquid from the bottom of the bowl dribbled over each biscuit.

—– Topping: —–

Whip the cream until almost stiff. Add sugar and vanilla; beat until cream holds peaks.

If you are not going to serve immediately the strawberries and the whipped cream will refrigerate nicely. Just assemble as many shortcakes as you need just before serving.

{{Herself Sez: Lots of Yummy Sounds for this one!}}

The Best Brownie You’ll Ever Taste

Herself used to say that the brownies that you made from the box were as good as it could get. There was therefore no need to make them from scratch. She no longer says this.

{{HERSELF SEZ: Lots and lots of Yummy Sounds!!}}

8 – 1 ounce squares of unsweetened chocolate
2 sticks butter (1 cup)
5 eggs
600 g sugar (3 cups)
12 g vanilla (1 Tbs)
230 g flour (1-1/2 cups)
7 g salt (1 tsp)
250 g chopped pecans or walnuts toasted (2-1/2 cups)

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lube a 9 x 13 pan with your favorite grease. I like unsalted butter.

The easiest way to melt the chocolate and butter is in a double boiler. Put enough water in the bottom pot to do some good, but just shy of touching the top pot when it is seated. Plop the butter and chocolate into the top pot and set it on the bottom pot when the water is boiling. Reduce the heat enough to keep the water boiling without getting it all over the place. Stir the chocolate and butter fairly frequently. When it is completely melted and smooth take it off the heat.

While the chocolate and butter melt set up a mixer and beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla at as high a speed as you can get without a mess. Usually works out to a 4 or 5 on my Kitchenaid. You want to just let it run for about 10 minutes. Yea, I know that this sounds excessive, but you will notice a definite color and texture change about 6 to 8 minutes into this. I would hate to do this by hand!

When the chocolate and the sugar/butter are ready, add the flour and salt to the butter/sugar and mix briefly. Add the chocolate melt in small batches, then add the nuts.

Dump everything into the pan and then bake for 35 to 40 minutes at 375°F.

Resist temptation and do NOT cut it until it has cooled off. Some nice home-made whipped cream goes well with this.