Mission: Cook! (27 page)
This may seem primarily like a beef dish, but for my money, in terms of flavor, texture accent, and visual interest, the eggs, from both quail and chicken, play a starring role.
Prepare
the beef with a sharp knife, chopping it very fine (tartare). Mix the egg yolk, gherkins, capers, shallots, and 1 tablespoon of the chives. Season with Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, and sherry vinegar. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside briefly.
Heat the butter in a pan, add the brioche slices, and fry until golden brown. Cut the slices with the biscuit cutter. Using the cutter as a ring mold, form the tartare into circles the same size as the brioche, and place on top of the brioche. Fry the quail eggs in a little olive oil and place on top of the tartare on the brioche.
Toss the frisée, prosciutto, lemon juice, and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Place the salad next to the tartare and garnish with the remaining chives. Drizzle with olive oil.
SERVES
4
FOR THE RAVIOLI FILLING
4 ounces dried apricots
2 tablespoons apricot brandy
6 ounces fresh egg pasta dough
Mint leaves
Confectioners' sugar
3 sprigs of mint, steamed and minced
FOR THE SABAYON
2 egg yolks
2 eggs
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
¼ cup apple juice
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Juice of ½ lemon
EQUIPMENT
A pasta machine
A double boiler
A cookie cutter in a shape that will accommodate a filling
Take care with the quality of your eggs for this recipe. The better and closer to fresh, free-range, and organic they are, the better the taste and texture of your ravioli will be.
In
a medium saucepan, add the apricots, cover with boiling water, and set aside for 1 hour. Add the apricot brandy and cook over low heat for 20 minutes, or until the apricots are very soft. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool in the liquid. Strain, chop finely, and set aside.
Roll the pasta dough through a pasta machine until it is at its thinnest setting. Arrange mint leaves on half of the rolled-out piece of dough and fold the other half over the mint to enclose. Roll the dough again until it is through the finest setting, and place on a lightly floured work surface. Cut into shapes with a cookie cutter (I like leaf shapes for this recipe), place on a parchment-lined sheet pan, and set aside. On half of the cutout dough shapes, place 1 teaspoon of the apricot filling in the center of each, and lightly brush the edges with water. Cover the filling with the remaining cutouts and press the edges to seal. Cover the ravioli with a towel and set aside for 2 hours. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil, add the ravioli, and cook for 1 minute. Remove the ravioli with a slotted spoon, drain on a paper towel, and keep warm.
To make the sabayon, fill the bottom of a double boiler with 2 inches of water and bring to a simmer. Using the top of the double boiler as your mixing bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients, then place over the saucepan. Reduce the heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the sabayon is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and set aside.
PRESENTATION
To serve, arrange the ravioli on a plate, slicing one open to reveal the filling. Spoon some of the sabayon on the plate and garnish with confectioners' sugar and a sprig of fresh mint.
A Note on Making Your Own Fresh Pasta
If you were enamored of Silly Putty as a kid, then making pasta from scratch is for you. Technically you can do this with a rolling pin, but if you love pasta enough to make your own, set yourself up with a pasta machineâand get one with an electric motor so you won't have to crank.
You will need: 3 cups all-purpose flour, 3 eggs at room temperature, and 1½ teaspoons olive oil.
Mound the flour in the center of a clean room-temperature work surface, like a large wooden cutting board. Create a crater in the center of the mound. Crack the first egg into the center of the crater and add ½ teaspoon of the olive oil. With a fork, gently begin to scramble the mixture within the confines of the crater, whilst integrating the flour from the sides of the crater as you carefully beat the egg. Once the first egg is mostly mixed in, shore up the sides of the mound again with flour, maintaining the crater shape. Repeat the process with the second egg and ½ teaspoon olive oil, and again with the third egg and the remaining ½ teaspoon olive oil. Start kneading the dough with your palms, allowing the warmth of your hands to impart elasticity to the dough. Knead for a count of about 400 strokes, or until you feel you have created a cohesive mass. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and allow it to rest for about 30 minutes. Work with one-third of the dough at a timeâkeeping the balance wrapped in plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out. Use a pasta machine to gradually roll each section of the pasta down, successively reducing the setting on the machine until it is at its thinnest setting.
A Note on Cookie Cutters
Get into the habit of collecting stainless-steel cookie cutters in various shapes for your repertoire. You've seen them not only in cooking supply stores but in gourmet shops of all kinds as well as in gift and souvenir shops. The stainless-steel ones last forever and are usually quite affordable. Adding the touch of seasonal shapes of dough atop your holiday pie, cutting the tea sandwiches into interesting designs, orâas in the Apricot Ravioli recipe-going the distance to beautify filled pasta, will begin to give you the reputation of a culinary artist.
SERVES
8
FOR THE CRUST
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
3
/
4
stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3 tablespoons cold margarine, cut into pieces
3 to 4 tablespoons ice water, as needed (have a glass of ice water standing by)
FOR THE FILLING
4 ounce medium-thick bacon slices
3 eggs
1½ cups whipping cream
1 cup grated Swiss cheese
1
/
8
teaspoon grated nutmeg
Salt and pepper
This is my variation on quiche Lorraine, a classic dish that looms large in the legend of the egg.
To
make the pastry shell, sift the flour and salt into a bowl to aerate the mixture. Cut in the butter and margarine with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in just enough ice water to bind.
The pastry dough can also be prepared in a food processor equipped with a dough blade. To do so, you put the sifted flour, salt, butter, and margarine into the processor bowl and press the “pulse” button. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Then, whilst drizzling the ice water sparingly through the processor tube into the flour mixture, pulse just until the dough comes together. Then stopâyou don't want to overwork the dough. This method has the advantage of reducing the likelihood of overworking the dough, because the “X factor” of the warmth of your fingertips is removed from the equation.
Gather the dough into a ball, wrap in wax paper, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Place a baking sheet in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Roll out the dough
1
/
8
inch thick and transfer to a 9-inch tart pan. Trim the edge. Prick the base all over with a fork to keep the base from bubbling up. Line with parchment paper and fill with pie weights. Bake for 12 minutes. (Whilst the shell is baking, begin frying the bacon.) Remove the paper and weights from the pastry shell and continue baking until golden, about 5 minutes more, to dry out the base.
Maintain the oven temperature at 375 degrees.
Fry the bacon until crisp. Drain, then crumble into small pieces. Sprinkle in the pie shell.
Beat together the eggs, cream, cheese, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Pour over the bacon and bake until puffed and brown, about 30 minutes. Serve the quiche warm.
A Note on Tart Tins or Flan Pans
Making a successful quiche, tart, or flan (of the “tart” variety as opposed to the “custard” variety) is expedited by the use of a tin with rippled sides whose secret is its removable bottom. They are available in gourmet cooking stores in either a standard or a nonstick variety. You can also use a flan “ring,” which necessitates using it on a baking tin to support the bottom of the pastry crust as it bakes. A long spatula with a blade that's not too thick is helpful to help you disengage your “flan” crust from the bottom of the flan tin and to slide it gently to its destination. However, if it starts to break apart (as is more of a risk with one large flan than with smaller individual ones), the nearly invisible base of the flan pan enables you to use it for service with little consequence to your presentation.
SERVES
6
3 ripe pears, peeled, cored, and quartered
1 vanilla bean
Up to ½ cup fructose for pear puree (adjust according to ripeness of pears, see Note after recipe) plus 1 tablespoon for beating with egg whites
1 cup water
1 tablespoon pear liqueur
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, for buttering ramekins
7 egg whites, at room temperature
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 pint of vanilla ice cream or crème fraîche
EQUIPMENT
A blender or food processor
A mixer
A large copper or stainless-steel bowl
Six 8-ounce individual soufflé dishes or ramekins
If you have never before made a soufflé, I urge you to challenge yourself with this delicious dessert soufflé. You may find that soufflés are not as difficult to make as you've heard. The pear puree in this recipe serves the role of what we call the “base” in a soufflé. In traditional soufflés the base is usually pastry cream.
Place
the pears in a saucepan, and then slice the vanilla bean open lengthwise and scrape the vanilla seeds over the pears. Leave the vanilla pod in the pot whilst the pears cook. Add half the fructose and the water, and cook the pears uncovered over medium heat until very soft, adding more water if necessary to keep the mixture from burning.
Remove the vanilla pod and drain the pears through a strainer to remove any excess liquid. Transfer the pear mixture to a food processor and process until smooth. Remove the puree to a bowl and stir in the pear liqueur and additional fructose if necessary. (I would suggest adding fructose gradually to taste in 1-tablespoon increments since it can quickly get too sweet.) Add the egg yolks and combine well. Set aside and reserve.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees, with the rack placed at the middle position or just below the middle position of the oven. (If the rising soufflé gets too close to the heating coils it may fall.) Butter 6 individual soufflé dishes lightly and set aside. With the mixer beat the egg whites and cream of tartar in a copper or stainless-steel mixing bowl, starting on low and gradually increasing speed. When soft peaks form, add 1 tablespoon fructose and continue to beat until stiff but not dry.
Gently stir one-quarter of the beaten egg whites into the pear puree just until the color is fairly uniform. (This will lighten the density of the puree base to increase the likelihood that the egg white will remain filled with air.) Then fold in the remaining egg whites.
Fill the soufflé dishes and smooth the tops with a spatula. Run your thumb around the inside edge of each dish. This will form the “hat” on the soufflé and it will also eliminate the need for a collar.