French Classics Made Easy (23 page)

1.
Place the blade of a small kitchen scissors into the intestinal tract.

2.
Cut through the shell down the back of the shrimp to the tail.

3.
Peel off the shell, remove the vein, and rinse.

SHRIMP A LA PROVENCALE

[CREVETTES À LA PROVENÇALE]

This flavorful recipe is fast and easy. You sauté shrimp and then add them to a Provence-style sauce made with ingredients typical of the south of France: tomatoes, garlic, and olive oil. Traditionally this sauce is covered and cooked slowly. I use high heat instead to cook it rapidly, and have also reduced the quantity of olive oil used to about half. The recipe serves four as a main course with rice pilaf or six as a first course.

SERVES 4 OR 6

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 pounds tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and diced, or 1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes, drained

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

¼ teaspoon salt

⅛ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

6 sprigs parsley, chopped

1½ pounds large shrimp, shelled and deveined (see
page 101
)

1.
Make the sauce: In a skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over high heat until it is smoking. Add the tomatoes. (Be careful; the hot oil may spatter.) Toss or stir quickly. Add the garlic and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, 3 to 5 minutes. Season with the salt and pepper, remove from the heat and stir in three-fourths of the chopped parsley. Pour the sauce into a bowl and set aside. (The sauce can be made 1 day in advance. Cover and refrigerate.)

2.
In a skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and sauté until they change color and begin to curl, 2 to 3 minutes.

3.
Add the sauce to the cooked shrimp and bring to a boil. Transfer the shrimp and sauce to a hot serving platter and sprinkle with the remaining chopped parsley before serving.

IN ADDITION

The Provençale sauce in this recipe is extremely simple and, therefore, quite versatile. It can also be used with fish, chicken, veal, pasta, and omelets. Using the proportions here you can make larger quantities, but do not try to make any more than a double recipe. You need a great amount of heat to evaporate the liquid from the tomatoes rapidly without cooking them to a purée (and most home stoves don’t get hot enough). The sauce as I have designed it should, if possible, retain the texture of the diced tomatoes. You can vary the sauce by adding ¼ pound of sautéed sliced mushrooms.

SERVING SUGGESTION

Serve with a salad and Rice Pilaf (
page 207
). For dessert, serve a fruit tart.

WINE

I enjoy a red Côtes-du-Rhône with this flavorful sauce, but it also goes well with chilled white or rosé from Provence.

SHRIMP
WITH CURRY, GINGER, AND TOMATO

[CREVETTES À L’ORIENTALE]

If a classic French dish has the word
orientale
or
indienne
in its name, it generally signifies that a curried sauce is a part of the presentation. In most cases, curry powder is used to flavor a flour-based sauce, such as béchamel or velouté. In this lightened version of a French curry dish, I use cream and fresh tomatoes for the sauce and add two Asian and Indian ingredients: cilantro and fresh ginger. Cilantro has a flavor that our taste buds either like or hate. If you don’t like it, use parsley.

SERVES 6

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 piece (1 to 1½ inches) fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

2 to 3 teaspoons curry powder, to taste

2 to 3 pinches of cayenne pepper, to taste

¼ cup dry white wine

1 cup heavy cream

¼ teaspoon salt

⅛ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 pounds large shrimp, shelled and deveined (see
page 101
)

2 pounds tomatoes, peeled (see
page 194
), seeded, chopped, and drained, or 1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes, drained

12 sprigs cilantro, chopped

1.
In a 12-inch skillet, heat the oil over medium-low heat. Add the onion and gently cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, curry powder, and cayenne pepper and stir with a wooden spoon. Add the wine and boil over high heat until reduced by half, 10 to 15 seconds. Stir in the cream and season with the salt and pepper. (This sauce can be made up to 2 hours in advance and held at room temperature.)

2.
About 5 minutes before serving, bring the sauce to a boil, add the shrimp, and cook rapidly, turning the shrimp occasionally, until they change color and begin to curl, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and two-thirds of the cilantro and cook just long enough to heat the tomatoes through. (Do not boil the sauce after the tomatoes have been added or it will become watery.) Transfer to a warm serving platter and sprinkle with the remaining cilantro before serving.

SERVING SUGGESTION

Watercress Soup (
page 22
) or another light vegetable soup makes a good first course. Serve the curry with Boiled White Rice (
page 206
) or Rice Pilaf (
page 207
) and your favorite chutney. Follow with a mixed green salad and a soufflé or a fruit sorbet for dessert.

WINE

Try a dry white wine or rosé with the shrimp.

GRILLED LOBSTER

[HOMARD GRILLÉ]

The first time I had grilled lobster was in France in a small town on the Brittany coast, a region renowned for its lobsters. The small half-lobster that was served was very delicious and very expensive, but the flavor was superior to any steamed lobster I had ever eaten, although its claws and legs were dry.

Over the years I have re-created the delicious flavors of a grilled lobster and solved the problem of dry claws and legs. I cook the body of the lobster on the grill, to develop its flavor, and steam the claws and legs separately, to keep them moist and sweet.

SERVES 6

3 lobsters (3 to 4 pounds each; see Note), split lengthwise, claws and legs removed (see “Preparing a Lobster for Grilling,” right)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs, such as tarragon, chives, dill, or basil

8 tablespoons (1 stick; 4 ounces) butter, melted

FOR SERVING (OPTIONAL)

2 lemons, cut into wedges

2 sticks (8 ounces) melted butter, for dipping

P
REPARING A
L
OBSTER FOR
G
RILLING

Lobsters are generally split in half lengthwise for grilling to gain flavor from the grill.

After you split the lobster, remove the stomach (which is found in the head area) and the intestine (a small clear or black tube running the length of the lobster), if you find it. Twist the claws and legs from the body and keep separate for steaming. The claw shell, which is softer before being cooked, can be cut on one side with a large knife. This will alleviate the need to crack them at the table.

Because lobster meat breaks down or spoils rapidly once the lobster is dead, they are most often split just before grilling. If you are unable to kill and split the lobsters yourself, have the market do it for you no more than 4 to 6 hours in advance and keep the lobsters well iced until you are ready to cook them.

1.
Preheat a grill to high.

2.
Place the lobsters on a large tray or baking sheet. Cut off the antennae, and if the two halves have not been completely separated, use a pair of scissors to do so. Reserve the claws and legs. Place a large pot with 1 inch of water over high heat and bring to a boil.

3.
Add the chopped herbs to the 1 stick of melted butter and use a pastry brush to coat all the interior parts of the lobster bodies.

4.
Place the lobster bodies, shell side down, on a very hot grill and cover. If your grill does not have a cover, make one with aluminum foil. Put the legs and claws into the pot of boiling water, cover, and cook until the bodies on the grill are done, 10 to 15 minutes. When done, the juices in the shell will be sizzling, the meat will be opaque and firm to the touch, and (if female) the roe, which is dark green when raw, will be red.

5.
To serve: Lift or slide the bodies onto individual serving plates and serve. Bring the drained legs and claws to the table in a large bowl and serve with lemon wedges and melted butter, if desired.

NOTE

These large-size lobsters can be hard to find, so you will most likely have to order them in advance.

SERVING SUGGESTION

I usually grill lobster during the summer months when there is a great selection of fresh vegetables. A simple string bean salad can be made by cooking and chilling the beans and tossing them with some Vinaigrette (
page 336
) made with some finely chopped shallot and parsley. The same vinaigrette can be used to dress ripe sliced tomatoes. Make sure to have warm baguettes on hand to wipe up the juice left on the plate. A summer Blueberry Tart (
page 214
) is a perfect ending for this meal.

LOBSTER
IN A SPICY TOMATO SAUCE

[HOMARD À L’AMÉRICAINE/HOMARD À L’ARMORICAINE]

This wonderful lobster dish could be found for years on restaurant menus as either
homard à l’américaine
or
homard à l’armoricaine.
One possible explanation for the name of the dish is that the Brittany region of France, famous for its lobsters, is also known as Armorica, thus
homard à l’armoricaine.
Another explanation is that a chef from the south of France working in a Parisian restaurant made this dish for an American couple that wanted lobster in a hurry. This makes some sense since the flavors in the dish—olive oil, garlic, tomatoes, and herbs—are typical of the southern region of Provence. Either way, the dish has pleased diners ever since. Although the traditional recipe calls for fresh live lobsters, this recipe uses lobster tails, which are easier to deal with.

SERVES 6

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

6 lobster tails (5 to 6 ounces each), cut into 1- to 1½-inch pieces