Around My French Table (51 page)

TO MAKE THE BEEF:
Put all the ingredients except the bouillon cube in a Dutch oven or soup pot and bring to a boil, skimming off the foam and solids that bubble to the surface. Lower the heat and simmer gently for 1½ hours. The broth will have a mild flavor, and that's fine for this dish, but if you want to pump it up, you can stir in the half bouillon cube—taste the broth at the midway point and decide.

Drain the meat, reserving the broth. Transfer the meat to a cutting board and discard the vegetables, or if they've still got some flavor to spare, hold on to them for the filling. Traditionally hachis Parmentier is vegetableless, but that shouldn't stop you from salvaging and using the vegetables. Strain the broth.
(The beef and bouillon can be made up to 1 day ahead, covered, and refrigerated.)

Using a chef's knife, chop the beef into tiny pieces. You could do this in a food processor, but the texture of your hachis Parmentier will be more interesting if you chop it by hand, an easy and quick job.

TO MAKE THE FILLING:
Butter a 2-quart oven-going casserole—a Pyrex deep-dish pie plate is just the right size for this.

Put a large skillet over medium heat and pour in the olive oil. When it's hot, add the sausage and cook, breaking up the clumps of meat, until the sausage is just pink. Add the chopped beef and tomato paste and stir to mix everything well. Stir in 1 cup of the bouillon and bring to a boil. You want to have just enough bouillon in the pan to moisten the filling and to bubble up gently wherever there's a little room; if you think you need more (a smidgen more is better than too little), add it now. Season with salt and pepper, especially pepper. If you've kept any of the vegetables from the bouillon, cut them into small cubes and stir them into the filling before you put the filling in the casserole. Scrape the filling into the casserole and cover it lightly; set aside while you prepare the potatoes.
(You can make the dish to this point up to a few hours ahead; cover the casserole with foil and refrigerate.)

TO MAKE THE TOPPING:
Have ready a potato ricer or food mill (first choices), a masher, or a fork.

Put the potatoes in a large pot of generously salted cold water and bring to a boil. Cook until the potatoes are tender enough to be pierced easily with the tip of a knife, about 20 minutes; drain them well.

Meanwhile, center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil or a silicone baking mat (you'll use it as a drip catcher).

Warm the milk and cream.

Run the potatoes through the ricer or food mill into a bowl, or mash them well. Using a wooden spoon or a sturdy spatula, stir in the milk and cream, then blend in the 3 tablespoons butter. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Spoon the potatoes over the filling, spreading them evenly and making sure they reach to the edges of the casserole. Sprinkle the grated Gruyère, Comté, or Emmenthal over the top of the pie, dust with the Parmesan (if using), and scatter over the bits of butter. Place the dish on the lined baking sheet.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling steadily and the potatoes have developed a golden brown crust (the best part). Serve.

MAKES 4 GENEROUS SERVINGS

SERVING
Bring the hachis Parmentier to the table and spoon out portions there. The dish needs nothing more than a green salad to make it a full and very satisfying meal.

STORING
It's easy to make this dish in stages: the beef and bouillon can be made up to a day ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator, and the filling can be prepared a few hours ahead and kept covered in the fridge. You can even assemble the entire pie ahead and keep it chilled for a few hours before baking it (directly from the refrigerator if your casserole can stand the temperature change)—of course, you'll have to bake it a little longer. If you've got leftovers, you can reheat them in a 350-degree-F oven.

BONNE IDÉE
Quick Hachis Parmentier.
You can make a very good hachis Parmentier using ground beef and store-bought beef broth. Use 1 pound ground beef instead of the steak, and when you add it to the sausage in the skillet, think about adding some finely chopped fresh parsley and maybe a little minced fresh thyme. You can also sauté 1 or 2 minced garlic cloves, split and germ removed, in the olive oil before the sausage goes into the skillet. (The herbs and garlic help mimic the aromatics in the bouillon.) Moisten the filling with the broth, and you're good to go.

I'
VE BEEN COOKING FOR DECADES
, but every time I make something delicious from leftovers, I'm as proud as a kitchen newcomer. I was particularly proud of this beef salad the first time I made it. In fact, I was so happy with it that now I actually go out and buy the "leftovers" so that I can make it for lunch or an informal supper.

The original leftover beef came from a Saturday night's boeuf à la ficelle for a crowd. Channeling my inner French homemaker—my French friends would never, ever let a scrap of anything good languish, spoil, or be tossed—and scavenging the refrigerator's shelves and the basket of vegetables on the counter, I discovered that I had a plethora of made-for-salad things at my fingertips. The challenge was not to add so many of them that the dish would lose its integrity, a danger when you're doing a refrigerator sweep.

In the end, my salad included green olives (part of Saturday's predinner nibbles), cornichons (a fridge staple for me), capers, tomatoes, bell pepper, hot pepper, onion, apple, and a dressing of (store-bought) mayonnaise and mustard. Served over arugula, it was a great one-plate meal.

I'm giving you a "real" recipe for this salad, but you should treat it as a base to riff on, which is what I do. Depending on what you've got at hand, you can add cubes of Gruyère, mozzarella, or Gouda; top it with shards of Parmesan; toss in minced fresh tarragon, basil, chives, and/or chopped garlic; or stir in chopped cooked potatoes or even hard-boiled eggs. And feel free to up the quantity of olives, skip the capers, or play around in any other way to make the salad your own and to help you use up the tidbits tucked away in your fridge.

In a small bowl, stir the mayonnaise and grainy mustard together. Taste the dressing and, if you think you want a little more heat, blend in the Dijon mustard.

Toss all the remaining ingredients except the salt and pepper into a large bowl and stir to mix. Spoon the dressing over the salad and, using a rubber spatula, stir together well. Season generously with salt and pepper.

Line a serving bowl or plate with the arugula or other greens (there's really no need to dress them, although you can toss them with a little olive oil, if you'd like to) and mound the beef salad over it.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

SERVING
The salad needs only a loaf of bread, but serving a little soft cheese on the side—a very un-French thing to do—is a nice touch.

STORING
Eat up and enjoy.

I
OWE THE INSPIRATION FOR THIS STEW
to my close friend Martine Collet, who was the first to make a version of it for me. It's intriguing for its bold use of leafy vegetables and herbs: a combination of arugula, spinach, parsley, dill, and tarragon.

The ingredients for this stew are available year-round, but the dish is truly meant for spring, the best season for veal and the time when the stew's vibrant color and deep vegetal flavor will match the landscape. That said, it would be awfully nice to bring this to the table in the depths of winter, when we all need to be reminded that spring will come—eventually.

A word on the crème fraîche: It's good to have the thickness and no-worries heatability of crème fraîche in this dish, but you can replace it with easier-to-find heavy cream (in which case, you might want to be generous with the lemon juice, to give the dish the tang it needs) or even sour cream. If you're using sour cream, you have to be careful not to let it boil—too much heat, and sour cream (unlike crème fraîche) will separate.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Drop in the cubes of veal and boil for just 1 minute to rid the meat of impurities that might later cloud your sauce. Drain and rinse the meat.

In a Dutch oven or other large casserole with a tight-fitting lid, stir together the broth, water, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, thyme, and bay leaf. Season the mix with salt and white pepper and bring to a boil. Stir in the veal and bring the broth back to a boil, then cover the pot (if your lid is a little shaky, seal the pot with foil and then top with the lid) and lower the heat to a gentle simmer. Cook the veal for 1½ hours.
(You can make the dish up to this point and, once cooled, refrigerate it for a few hours, or for as long as overnight; reheat gently until the meat is heated through before continuing.)

Transfer the meat to a bowl, cover, and keep it warm while you work on the sauce.

Remove the vegetables and herbs from the broth (you can fish them out with a slotted spoon or strain the broth and return it to the pot) and discard them. Bring the broth to a boil and boil until reduced to about 1½ cups.

Toss in all the greens and fresh herbs and cook for 1 minute. Puree the mixture using a handheld blender, a regular blender, or a food processor; if necessary, return the sauce to the pot. Whisk in the crème fraîche and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Taste the sauce, add more lemon juice, if you'd like, and season as needed with salt and white pepper.