The Essential James Beard Cookbook (33 page)

Of course, I neglected to say that he admitted someone else to the kitchen in time to make a huge pan of crispy hot biscuits or an iron pan filled with magnificent popovers.

Need I add that friends of the family and of mine were always pleased to stay overnight at our house?

Editor: When Beard’s father was cooking chicken in the first decades of the twentieth century, the birds were much smaller than they are now. The average chicken weighed about 2½ pounds. Today this size chicken is very difficult to find, but you may find chickens weighing around 3½ pounds at natural food stores. For the larger bird, increase the total cooking time to about 45 minutes, or until the cooked chicken meat shows no sign of pink when pierced at the thighbone with the tip of a sharp knife. For the gravy, pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the “excess grease,” and then proceed with the recipe using 2 tablespoons of flour. Half-and-half is a good substitute for “rich milk.”

CHICKEN CRÊPES

MAKES 12 TO 14 CRÊPES; 6 SERVINGS

Editor: Crêpes remain a reliable dinner and brunch dish. Save the cooking broth from the poached chicken to make the Sauce Suprême.

For the Basic Crêpes

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 large eggs

4 to 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

¹
⁄
₈
teaspoon kosher salt

1 to 1½ cups whole milk, or as needed

Melted butter, for cooking the crêpes

For the Chicken Filling

3 cups
Poached Chicken
, cut into ½-inch dice

2 cups
Sauce Suprême
, flavored with 2 tablespoons Madeira

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

To make the crêpe batter: Whisk the flour, eggs, melted butter, and salt together in a bowl. Gradually whisk in the milk until the batter has the consistency of light cream. (Or process all of the ingredients together in a blender.) Cover and let the batter rest for 2 hours before using.

To cook the crêpes, butter a 6-inch nonstick skillet with rounded sides and heat over medium-high heat. When the butter sizzles, pour about ¼ cup of the batter into the skillet, tilting and rotating so the batter coats the bottom evenly. Pour any excess batter back into the bowl. Cook about 30 seconds, until lightly browned on the underside, then turn with your fingers and brown the other side. Remove from the pan and transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining batter, separating the crêpes with pieces of waxed paper.

To make the filling: Mix the chicken, two-thirds of the sauce, and the chopped parsley. Place a generous spoonful down the center of each crêpe, and roll. Arrange, seam side down, in a buttered 13- by 9-inch baking dish. Spoon the remaining sauce over the crêpes and sprinkle lightly with the Parmesan cheese. Bake in a 375°F oven until heated through and the cheese is lightly browned, about 20 minutes.

SUPERB CHICKEN HASH

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

1 large yellow onion, finely chopped

2 green bell peppers, seeded and diced

5 tablespoons (½ stick plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

4 cups
Poached Chicken
, cut into ½-inch dice

¼ cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

½ cup coarsely chopped blanched almonds or walnuts

1½ teaspoons dried tarragon

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Tabasco

8 large eggs

¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the broiler. Sauté the onion and bell peppers in the butter and oil in a large skillet until just wilted, about 3 minutes. Add the chicken and mix well. Add the parsley, almonds, and tarragon, and season with salt and pepper. Press the chicken down well in the skillet, cover, and cook over medium heat for 2 or 3 minutes. When the chicken is heated through, beat the eggs with the Parmesan cheese. Pour into the skillet and cook over low heat until set. Put the skillet under the broiler and broil for 2 or 3 minutes to brown the top.

PENNSYLVANIA DUTCH CHICKEN “POT PIE”

MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS

Not at all what you think it is. In Pennsylvania Dutch cooking, “pot pies” are noodle squares that are added to rich chicken or beef broth. You serve them in a bowl, with a lot of broth and some of the chicken. If you wish, cook the chicken in chicken stock instead of the water.

For the Filling

One 4- to 5-pound stewing fowl or standard chicken

1 leek, white and pale green part only, coarsely chopped and well washed to remove grit

1 medium yellow onion, peeled and stuck with 1 whole clove

1 carrot, scrubbed

1 garlic clove, smashed and peeled

1 bay leaf

2 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley

3 whole black peppercorns

2 quarts cold water, as needed

Kosher salt

For the Noodles

2½ cups all-purpose flour

2 large eggs, beaten

1 tablespoon or rendered chicken fat or unsalted butter, softened

½ teaspoon kosher salt

½ cup cold water, or as needed

Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

To make the pot pie filling: Put the chicken, leek, onion, carrot, garlic, bay leaf, parsley, and peppercorns into a large pot. Barely cover with water. Bring the liquid slowly to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and skim off any scum that rises to the surface. Cover the pot and simmer very gently, so that the surface barely moves, until the chicken is tender, about 2½ hours for a stewing fowl and 1¼ hours for the young, standard chicken.

Transfer the chicken to a platter and, when it is cool enough to handle, discard the skin and bones, and cut the meat into large pieces; set the meat aside. (If not serving within 2 hours, cover and refrigerate the meat.) Strain the broth, correct the seasoning with salt, and put it back on the stove over very low heat while you make the noodles.

To make the noodles: Combine the flour, eggs, chicken fat, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in enough water to make a stiff dough. Turn out on a lightly floured work surface and knead for a few minutes, until smooth. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for 30 minutes. Cut the dough into quarters. Using a rolling pin, and keeping the other pieces covered, roll out one-fourth of the dough on a lightly floured work surface until it is very thin. Using a knife or a pastry wheel, cut the dough into 2-inch squares. Use them immediately or dry them as you would any other noodles, on lightly floured kitchen towels.

When you are ready to serve, return the chicken pieces to the broth and simmer for a few minutes to heat through. Then carefully add the noodles to the simmering broth and cook them until risen and tender, about 15 minutes. Ladle the broth, chicken, and noodles into soup bowls, and sprinkle with lots of chopped parsley.

BAKED CHICKEN POT PIE

MAKES 8 SERVINGS

Editor: Unless you live in Pennsylvania (see
here
), this is what chicken pot pie means to most cooks—a creamy chicken and vegetable filling topped with pastry.

For the Chicken and Vegetables

One 3½-pound chicken

Half of 1 lemon

Kosher salt

1 medium yellow onion, stuck with 3 whole cloves

A few celery leaves

12 small white boiling onions, peeled (see Note,
here
)

6 carrots, scraped and quartered

16 potato balls (cut from peeled baking potatoes with a melon baller) or very small new potatoes, peeled

Freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Pinch of dried marjoram

For the Sauce

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups reserved broth from the chicken

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Rich Tart Pastry (
Pâte Brisée
) (
here
), without the sugar

To cook the chicken and vegetables: Rub the inside of the chicken with the lemon half. Place the chicken in a large, deep pot and add enough lightly salted cold water to cover the chicken. Add the onion and celery leaves. Bring to boil over high heat, skimming off any scum that rises to the surface. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until tender, about 50 minutes. Let cool in the broth. Discarding the skin and bones, cut the meat into bite-size chunks; reserve the broth.

In a separate saucepan, combine the boiling onions, carrots, and potatoes and add enough lightly salted water to cover. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain well. Arrange the chicken and vegetables in a large shallow baking dish or deep-dish pie pan. Season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with the parsley and marjoram.

To make the béchamel sauce: Skim the fat from the reserved broth. Measure 2 cups and save the remaining broth for another use. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and let bubble without browning for 1 minute. Whisk in the broth and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, whisking often, until lightly thickened and no taste of raw flour remains, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over the chicken and vegetables and let cool.

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Roll out the pastry on a floured work surface into an
¹
⁄
₈
-inch-thick shape that is about ½ inch larger than the baking dish; trim as needed. Place the pastry over the baking dish and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375°F and continue baking until the pastry is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Serve hot.

CLUB HOUSE SANDWICH

MAKES 1 SANDWICH

It may seem superfluous to include this veteran, but it is so often badly or incorrectly made that is could stand reviewing. To serve at a large party have the toasters going, arrange plates of the other makings, and let everyone do his or her own construction work. Green olives and sweet pickles are the traditional accompaniments.

2 slices crisp, hot buttered toast

Cooked sliced chicken, as much as you want

4 slices peeled ripe tomato

Mayonnaise, homemade (
here
) or store-bought

3 or 4 slices crisp, hot bacon

Lettuce (optional)

Construct in this order: 1 slice of toast, chicken, tomato, mayonnaise, bacon, lettuce, and the second slice of toast. The mayonnaise then holds the bacon and prevents slipping and sliding.

CHICKEN TETRAZZINI