The Essential James Beard Cookbook (25 page)

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Authors: James Beard

For the Pork Loin

One 4-pound boneless, center-cut pork loin roast, tied

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon dried thyme

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons dry sherry

½ cup plus 1 tablespoon Japanese soy sauce

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 tablespoons peeled and grated fresh ginger, or 6 pieces candied stem ginger cut into slivers

²⁄
₃cup apple or currant jelly

To make the horseradish applesauce: Mix the applesauce and horseradish together in a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Vary the amount of horseradish to make the sauce hotter or milder.

To prepare the pork loin: Rub the roast with the dry mustard and thyme. Make a marinade with ½ cup of sherry, ½ cup of soy sauce, and the garlic and the ginger, and pour it over the roast. Let the pork marinate at room temperature for no more than 2 hours, turning it several times as it soaks. You may let it stand all night in the refrigerator and roast it early in the morning, if you wish.

To cook, remove the roast from the marinade. Bake in a preheated 325°F oven, allowing about 20 minutes per pound, for 1 hour, 20 minutes, or until a meat thermometer reads 145°F. Let the roast cool to room temperature. Do not refrigerate unless the day is exceptionally hot.

Melt the jelly in a heavy pan over medium heat and when it is bubbly, add the remaining sherry and soy sauce. Remove from the heat and let it cool down for a minute or two, stirring constantly. Spoon over the pork which has been placed on a rack and refrigerate briefly to set the glaze. Slice and serve with horseradish applesauce.

CASSOULET

MAKES 10 TO 12 SERVINGS

There are many versions of cassoulet, all monumentally substantial. This version, one of the best I’ve ever eaten, was originated by a fine cook of an independent turn of mind, a Frenchwoman who had lived for many years in this country and adapted the recipes of her native land to the local ingredients. You can vary this recipe by adding roast or preserved goose or crisp roast duck, or you can make it with just roast lamb and sausages, omitting the pork, or leave out the tomato paste and add more garlic. Serve the cassoulet with crusty bread and a hearty red wine.

2 pounds dry white beans, such as Great Northern

1 medium yellow onion, stuck with 2 whole cloves

1 pig’s foot, split lengthwise

8 to 10 garlic cloves

1 bay leaf

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

One 3½-pound leg of lamb, with the bone

3 pounds pork loin (from the rib end) or shoulder roast, on the bone

2 cups hearty red wine

1
saucisson à l’ail
(garlic sausage), cotechino, or kielbasa)

1½ teaspoons dried thyme

2 tablespoons tomato paste

6 thin slices salt pork

1 cup fresh bread crumbs, made from day-old bread

Soak the beans overnight in a large bowl with water to cover by at least 2 inches. The next day, drain well. Put in a pot with the onion, the pig foot, 4 garlic cloves, and the bay leaf. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the beans are tender, about 1½ hours, adding 1 tablespoon salt halfway through the cooking. Set the beans aside.

While the beans are cooking, salt and pepper the lamb and pork and roast in a large roasting pan in a preheated 325°F oven for 1½ hours, basting from time to time with 1½ cups of the red wine. Let the meats cool, then chill in the roasting pan until the fat congeals on the pan juices and can be skimmed off. Reserve the juices. Cut the meats into 2-inch cubes and reserve.

Poach the sausage in water to cover for 35 to 40 minutes. Drain and slice ½ inch thick. Finely chop the remaining garlic cloves and mix with the thyme and 1 teaspoon pepper.

When the beans are cooked, strain them, reserving the liquid. Remove the bay leaf, onion, and pig’s foot. Cut the skin and meat from the pig’s foot and reserve. Discard the onion and bay leaf. Put a layer of the beans in a large earthenware or enameled cast-iron casserole and sprinkle with some of the garlic mixture, cubed meats, meat from the pig’s foot, and sliced sausage. Continue making layers until all these ingredients are used, ending with beans. Combine the reserved pan juices with the bean liquid, ½ cup red wine, and the tomato paste. Pour enough of this liquid over the cassoulet to reach almost to the top layer of the beans, reserve any remaining liquid. Top the casserole with salt pork slices and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 1 hour. Remove the foil and sprinkle the bread crumbs on top. Bake for 1 hour more, or until the liquid is absorbed, the top is glazed, and the crumbs are browned. If too much liquid is absorbed during the first hour of cooking, add more.

CHOUCROUTE GARNIE

MAKES 8 TO 12 SERVINGS

This dish happens to be one of my all-time favorites, and I’ve found that it is a great stimulus to the appetite. The sight of the glistening mound of sauerkraut surrounded by delicate pink pieces of smoked pork loin and sausage is calculated to nudge the most jaded palate. If you are serving choucroute, make it for a large group of people so you can have an interesting selection of meats.

Wash
4 pounds of sauerkraut
well and drain thoroughly. Wash a
2-pound piece of rather lean salt pork
. Cut several fairly thick slices (about ½ pound) of the pork, and parboil them for 10 minutes in simmering water. Drain, and arrange in the bottom of a heavy 8-quart pot or flameproof casserole. Cover with the sauerkraut, and bury the remaining salt pork in the center. Add
3 to 4 cups
Chicken Stock
or
Beef Stock
, or enough to cover the sauerkraut, bring to a boil over brisk heat, and boil for 5 minutes. Add
2 finely chopped garlic cloves
and
½
teaspoon freshly ground black pepper,
and simmer, covered, for 1½ hours. Add
1 or 2
saucisson à l’ail
,
and simmer for another 40 minutes. Add
10 to 12 juicy knackwurst
and
1 or 2 rings of Polish sausage or ring bologna
, and simmer for 20 minutes more.

Meanwhile, bake a
3- to 4-pound smoked loin of pork
in a preheated 350°F oven for about 1 hour, until browned. Most smoked pork loin is already cooked and merely needs heating through. It can be kept separate after browning or added to the sauerkraut mixture for the last few moments of cooking.

Boil
16 small red-skinned potatoes
, peeled and trimmed to fairly equal size, in salted water to cover for about 20 minutes, or until they are tender. Drain, return to the pan, and set over low heat to dry for 1 or 2 minutes.

Gently heat
8 fairly thin slices of cooked ham
in white wine barely to cover, but do not let them simmer.

To serve the choucroute garnie: Mound the sauerkraut on a large platter. Slice the smoked pork loin, the cotechino, and the Polish sausage or ring bologna, and place them around the sauerkraut, along with the whole knackwurst. Put some slices of the salt pork at one end of the sauerkraut. Roll the ham slices, and place them at the other end.

Serve with the boiled potatoes, lightly dusted with
chopped parsley
,
mustards of all types
, and
rye or French bread
. Drink an Alsatian Riesling or a California Johannesburg Riesling. This makes a truly gargantuan feast. The meats can be varied still further to include boiled beef, fresh pork, spareribs, pig’s feet, duck, or goose.

BAKED SPARERIBS WITH SAUERKRAUT, APPLES, AND POTATOES

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

While spareribs have a lot of bone (count on at least 1 pound per serving), they go further if cooked or served with other ingredients. For this dish, buy the country spareribs, which have more meat on them than the regular kind. [
Editor: Sauerkraut is highly salted, so you probably won’t need to salt the ribs. You can always add it at the table during serving, if need be.
]

4 pounds country spareribs

3 to 4 pounds fresh sauerkraut, well rinsed, drained, and squeezed to remove excess water

2 tart apples, peeled, cored, and sliced

3 medium red-skinned potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

1 to 2 teaspoons caraway seeds

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Place half of the ribs in a lightly buttered baking pan, fat side down. Layer the sauerkraut, apples, and potatoes on top, sprinkling the layers with caraway seeds. Season with the pepper. Top with the remaining ribs and press down onto the sauerkraut mixture. Cover the pan with aluminum foil. Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 1 hour, then remove foil and bake 1 hour more, or until the top ribs are browned and tender.

SALT AND PEPPER SPARERIBS

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

Editor: Beard’s original recipe called for one hour of roasting, but that is not enough for today’s larger pigs. Let the final tenderness of the meat be your guide, and allow at least 1½ hours.

4 pounds spareribs

1 tablespoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons freshly grated black pepper

Cut the spareribs into manageable slabs. Sprinkle liberally with the salt and pepper. Place on the rack of a broiling pan. Roast 30 minutes in a preheated 350°F oven. Turn the ribs and roast 30 minutes longer. Turn again and continue roasting until browned and very tender, about 30 minutes longer. Let stand for 10 minutes, then cut between the bones into individual ribs.

ROAST SUCKLING PIG WITH PISTACHIO-RICE STUFFING

MAKES 12 TO 14 SERVINGS

A spectacular roast for a holiday party. Suckling pigs may be bought most easily around Christmas, but if you order far enough ahead you can get them during the summer months and spit-roast them over charcoal.

Try to get the smallest pig possible, about 12 to 14 pounds. Take out your tape measure and see whether it will fit into the oven—this is vital. If you can’t get a pig of a size to fit in your oven, forget it! For oven roasting, the pig should rest on a rack in a fairly shallow pan. It is nice to stuff the pig, but since the meat is so rich, the stuffing must not be too rich.

I’ve been battling a long time about the way roast suckling pig is usually served. I’m against the rather pagan way people have of decorating them. I feel that a roast suckling pig can be a beautiful sight without the silly embellishments. There is nothing wrong with simply garnishing it with masses of parsley or watercress or with roasted apples and onions. One really needn’t make a caricature of the poor beast. [
Editor: For the roast apples and onions, peel and quarter tart apples and yellow onions, and core the apple wedges. During the last 30 minutes or so of roasting time, add to the roasting pan with the pig and stir to coat with the pan juices. Roast with the pig until the pig is done. Keep the apples and onions warm in the turned-off oven while the pig is resting before carving
.]