French Classics Made Easy (37 page)

Authors: Richard Grausman

5.
Bring the sauce to a boil and add the dissolved arrowroot to thicken it slightly. If the sauce is too thick, add a little water to thin it; if too thin, boil to reduce and thicken it. Season with salt and pepper to taste and stir in the port. Just before serving, beat in the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon at a time. Do not allow the sauce to boil once the butter has been added.

6.
To serve: Slice the roast and arrange it on a platter. (When slicing the roast, I always leave a small piece—2 to 3 inches—unsliced. Placed at one end of the platter and followed by the overlapping slices, this makes an attractive presentation.) Surround it with the prunes and raisins. The carrots and onions from the roasting pan may be mixed with the fruit. Spoon some sauce over the meat and fruit and serve the remaining sauce separately.

F
RENCH
P
RUNES
:
Les Pruneaux d’Agen

Agen, a town in the southwest of France, is famous for its moist, semidried prunes. Succulent, sweet, and rich tasting, they are treasured by the French, who hold them in high esteem and use them in a variety of ways.

California prunes, or dried plums as they are now being marketed, are nearly as good, although they are not praised in the United States for their culinary value, as they are in France.

I have created several recipes for this very healthy dried fruit that I hope will turn you into a prune lover. The Pork Rib Roast with Wine-Poached Prunes (
page 163
) is one of my favorites. Other recipes you shouldn’t miss are the Chocolate-Dipped Fruit (
page 297
), Armagnac-Soaked Prunes (
page 298
), and the Armagnac-Prune Ice Cream (
page 292
).

NOTES:

The roast should be tied like a fillet of beef in one long roast. When you order the pork roast, make sure that the butcher gives you the rib bones with the backbone removed so they can be cut up and scattered in the roasting pan. They will add flavor to your sauce and will be delicious to nibble on before your guests arrive. You can use an unboned roast, but add 20 minutes to the roasting time.

You can use whatever port you have on hand. If you cook with port frequently, buy an inexpensive bottle of tawny port and save your best for drinking.

IN ADDITION

To make entertaining easy, I generally have the roast, sauce, and prunes cooked in advance of my guests’ arrival and only need to reheat, carve, and serve. Once roasted, I wrap the meat in aluminum foil. If the meat has cooled by the time I am ready to serve, I reheat it in a 350°F oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

SERVING SUGGESTION

Begin with a soup, Cream of Asparagus (
page 24
) or Cream of Broccoli (
page 25
). With the pork roast, serve Garlic Mashed Potatoes (
page 205
) and Carrots with Ginger (
page 179
). For dessert, serve Paris-Brest (
page 228
).

WINE

Try a full-bodied red from the Rhône valley, such as Châteauneuf-du-Pape or St-Joseph.

VARIATIONS

O
LD
-F
ASHIONED
R
OAST
P
ORK WITH
C
ARROTS AND
O
NIONS

[RÔTI DE PORC GRAND-MÈRE]

Omit the prunes, raisins, red wine, beef stock, arrowroot, and port. Serve the roast with the carrots and onions from the roasting pan and mashed potatoes.

R
OAST
P
ORK WITH
S
AUCE
R
OBERT

[RÔTI DE PORC SAUCE ROBERT]

Omit the prunes, raisins, red wine, beef stock, arrowroot, and port. Serve the roast with Sauce Robert (
page 321
).

PORK MEDALLIONS
WITH SAUCE ROBERT

[MÉDAILLONS DE PORC SAUCE ROBERT]

Pork served with a classic mustard-based brown sauce called
sauce Robert
is a bit of an undertaking. I make mine with a Thickened Beef Stock (
page 318
) instead of a demi-glace, which cuts out 2 hours of preparation. In another slight twist on the original sauce, I deglaze the sauté pan with Cognac and add the flavorful juices to the sauce. Since the
sauce Robert
is made in advance, final preparation of this dish is very easy.

SERVES 6

1½ tablespoons butter

6 boneless center-cut pork loin chops, 1 to 1¼ inches thick

Pinch of salt

Pinch of freshly ground pepper

¼ cup Cognac

Sauce Robert (
page 321
)

3 sprigs parsley, chopped

1.
In a 12-inch skillet, melt the butter over high heat. Add the pork and brown quickly on one side, about 1 minute. Turn and season with the salt and pepper.

2.
Cover the pan, reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook gently until the meat is well done, firm or just slightly springy to the touch, 10 to 12 minutes.

3.
Transfer the meat to a warm platter and keep warm. Over high heat, reduce the pan juices to a glaze, until no liquid remains. Discard any butter remaining in the pan.

4.
Remove the pan from the heat, add the Cognac, and flame (see “How to Flambé,”
page 282
). When the flames die, return the pan to the heat and stir to loosen the glaze in the pan. Add the
sauce Robert,
bring to a simmer, and stir in the parsley. Pour the sauce over the pork and serve.

SERVING SUGGESTION

Start with Watercress Soup (
page 22
). Serve the pork medallions on a large round platter with a mound of Waterless Cooked Carrots (
page 178
) in the center. Not only is this an attractive presentation, but it is a delicious combination as well. Finish with an apple Alsatian Fruit Tart (
page 216
).

VARIATION

P
ORK
C
HOPS WITH
S
AUCE
R
OBERT

[CÔTES DE PORC SAUCE ROBERT]

Although the medallions make a very elegant presentation, there is no reason why you can’t serve the
sauce Robert
with bone-in pork chops. Increase the cooking time by about 3 minutes.

LIGHT CASSOULET

[CASSOULET MAIGRE]

What baked beans are to Boston, cassoulet is to the southwest of France. Toulouse, Carcassonne, and Castelnaudary have competed for generations for the top honors as the city with the best cassoulet. Each town has its own special version of this legendary dish.

All versions of cassoulet contain beans as well as a combination of meats. Although made from scratch in restaurants, it is often seen as a way to use up leftovers in the home. I have made a number of changes that may be noticeable to those familiar with traditional cassoulet recipes.

One reason for changing the recipe is that although I have fond memories of delicious cassoulets in southwestern France, I also remember the nights of restless sleep due to the difficulty I had digesting all the fat. I have omitted the unsmoked bacon or salt pork normally used. I have also omitted the goose or duck fat that usually accompanies the traditional confit (preserved duck or goose). The fresh duck that I use in the recipe can be skinned to remove all fat, if desired. The pork rind also found in many recipes has been omitted because it is not readily available in our markets. Also omitted are the bread crumbs normally added during the last hour of cooking to absorb the excess fat and to form a crust.

Because I have omitted so much fat from the recipe, I have dubbed it
maigre,
meaning “thin.” Although the purist may be skeptical of my omissions, I hope that you will consider the ease of preparation, the healthier, lowered fat content, and the wonderful flavors of the finished recipe when passing final judgment on my version.

The preparation of the cassoulet is divided into two procedures. The beans are actually the recipe for White Beans à la Bretonne (
page 184
), and should be made a day or two in advance. And the cassoulet itself should be made one or two days ahead of time (an ideal dish for entertaining), because it tastes best when reheated.

SERVES 8

1 duck (4½ to 5 pounds)

2 tablespoons butter or vegetable oil

1½ pounds boned pork shoulder, cut into 1½- to 2-inch cubes

1½ pounds boned lamb shoulder, cut into 1½- to 2-inch cubes

2 pounds Hungarian, Polish, or any good sausage, cut into 2-inch pieces

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

⅔ cup dry white wine

2 teaspoons Meat Glaze (optional;
page 309
)

White Beans à la Bretonne (
page 184
), prepared 1 day or more in advance, at room temperature

1.
Remove the legs from the duck and separate into drumsticks and thighs. Remove the
breast meat by cutting next to the bone. Cut each breast in half and remove any excess fat.

2.
In a large skillet, melt the butter over high heat. Working in batches, add the duck pieces, pork, lamb, and sausage and sauté until browned, about 5 minutes. Season with the salt and pepper and remove the meat from the pan. Pour off the fat.

3.
Deglaze the pan by adding the white wine and stirring to loosen the caramelized bits on the bottom and sides of the pan. Reduce the liquid over high heat by half, about 1 minute. Stir in the meat glaze (if using). Stir this liquid into the beans.

4.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.

5.
In a large casserole, layer the meat and beans. Cover and cook until the meat is tender, about 2 hours. Adjust the heat, if necessary, so that the beans simmer gently. (The recipe can be, and is best if, made ahead of time. Let cool to room temperature, cover, and refrigerate. Reheat in a 350°F oven until the beans and meat are hot and simmering, about 1 hour.)

6.
To serve, bring the casserole to the table. Spoon some of the beans and various meats on each plate and top with a piece of duck.

CHICKEN AND PORK
IN A POT

[POTÉE MA FAÇON]

A potée is a wonderful and warming, peasant-style dish. Although there are almost as many variations of this regional classic as there are towns in France, a
potée
almost always contains pork, cabbage, potatoes, and—usually—sausage. Then, depending on the region, it might also contain beef, lamb, rabbit, goose, duck, pheasant, or partridge—plus any number of root vegetables and sometimes dried beans.

The main meat in my version of a
potée
is chicken, which in times past would rarely have been squandered on such a humble dish because it was much too expensive. These days, just the reverse is true. The meats that used to be cooked in a
potée
are now far more costly than chicken, so my modern-day
potée
is a departure from the authentic but is in keeping with its spirit.

This dish can easily be made in advance, but shorten the cooking time in step 3 to avoid overcooking the vegetables when the dish is reheated for serving.

SERVES 10