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A guide to modern cookery by A. Escoffier

CHAPTER XVIII

963 words  |  Chapter 146

VEGETABLES AND FARINACEOUS PRODUCTS The preparatory treatment of vegetables—parboiling and braising, &c.—having been explained in Chapter X., as also the preparation of purées, creams, and vegetable garnishes, it is now only necessary to deal with each vegetable separately. =Artichokes (Artichauts)= 2028—ARTICHAUTS A LA BARIGOULE Take some very fresh and tender artichokes. After having trimmed their tops, take off the outermost leaves; parboil the artichokes; remove their hearts, and completely clear them of their chokes. Season them inside, and fill them with a preparation of Duxelles (No. 224), combined with a quarter of its weight of fresh, grated, fat bacon, and as much butter. Wrap the stuffed artichokes in thin slices of bacon; string them, and set them in a saucepan prepared for braising. Braise them gently with white wine, and cook them well. When about to serve them, remove the string and the bacon, and dish them. Strain the braising-liquor, and clear it of grease; thicken it with the necessary quantity of good half-glaze sauce; reduce it sufficiently to produce only a very little sauce, and pour the latter over the artichokes. 2029—CŒURS D’ARTICHAUTS A LA CLAMART Select some very tender small artichokes, and trim them. Set them in a buttered _cocotte_, with a small quartered carrot and three tablespoonfuls of freshly-shelled peas to each artichoke, add a large faggot and a little water, and salt moderately. Cover and cook gently in a steamer. When about to serve, withdraw the faggot, and slightly thicken the liquor with a little _manied_ butter. Serve the preparation in the _cocotte_. 2030—ARTICHOKES WITH DIVERS SAUCES Cut the artichokes evenly to within two-thirds of their height; trim them all round; string them, and plunge them into slightly-salted boiling water. Cook them rather quickly; drain them well, just before serving them, and remove the string. Dish on a napkin, and send a butter, a Hollandaise, or a mousseline sauce, &c., at the same time. When artichokes, cooked in this way, have to be served cold, remove their chokes, dish them on a napkin, and send a Vinaigrette sauce separately. 2031—ARTICHAUTS A LA PROVENÇALE Select some very small Provençal artichokes; trim them, and put them in an earthenware stewpan containing some very hot oil. Season with salt and pepper; cover the stewpan, and leave to cook for about ten minutes. Then add, for each twelve artichokes, one pint of very tender, freshly-shelled peas, and a coarse _julienne_ of one lettuce. Cover once more, and cook gently without moistening. The moisture of the peas and the lettuce suffices for the moistening, provided the stewpan be well covered and the fire be not too fierce—both of which conditions are necessary to prevent evaporation on too large a scale. 2032—QUARTIERS D’ARTICHAUTS A L’ITALIENNE Turn, trim, and quarter some fair-sized artichokes. Trim the quarters, removing the chokes therefrom; rub them with a piece of lemon to prevent their blackening; plunge them one by one into fresh water; parboil and drain them. This done, set them in a sautépan on a litter of aromatics, as for braising; make them sweat in the oven for seven or eight minutes; moisten with white wine; reduce the latter; and moisten again, to within half their height, with brown stock. Cook gently in the oven until the quarters are very tender. When about to serve, set them in a vegetable dish; strain the cooking-liquor; clear it of grease, and reduce it; add an Italian sauce to it, and pour this sauce over the quartered artichokes. 2033—FONDS D’ARTICHAUTS FARCIS Select some medium-sized artichokes; clear them of their leaves and their chokes; trim their bottoms, rub them with lemon to prevent their blackening, and cook them in a Blanc (No. 167), keeping them somewhat firm. After having drained them, stuff them with a little Duxelles, prepared according to No. 224. Arrange them on a buttered dish; sprinkle the Duxelles with fine raspings and a little melted butter, and set in a hot oven for a _gratin_ to form. Serve a Madeira sauce at the same time. 2034—FONDS D’ARTICHAUTS A LA FLORENTINE Prepare the artichoke-bottoms as above. Meanwhile fry a large, chopped onion in butter; add thereto two-thirds lb. of parboiled and chopped spinach per twelve artichokes. Stir over an open fire, that all moisture may evaporate, and add salt and pepper, a piece of crushed garlic the size of a pea, a tablespoonful of anchovy purée, and two tablespoonfuls of Velouté. Cook gently for ten minutes. Stuff the artichoke-bottoms with this preparation; arrange them on a buttered dish; coat with Mornay sauce; sprinkle with Gruyère, cut _brunoise-fashion_, and set to glaze in a fierce oven. Upon withdrawing the dish from the oven, sprinkle the artichoke-bottoms with a few drops of melted anchovy butter. 2035—FONDS D’ARTICHAUTS AUX POINTES D’ASPERGES Prepare the artichoke-bottoms as above; stew them in butter, and garnish them with asparagus-heads, cohered with cream, and heaped in pyramid-form. Lay them on a buttered dish; coat with Mornay sauce, and set to glaze quickly. 2036—FONDS D’ARTICHAUTS SAUTÉS Remove the leaves and the chokes from the artichokes, trim the bottoms, and slice them up raw. Season them with salt and pepper; toss them in butter; set them in a vegetable-dish, and sprinkle them with herbs. 2037—PURÉE OU CRÈME D’ARTICHAUTS Take some very tender artichokes; trim and turn the bottoms, and half-cook them, keeping them very white. Complete their cooking in butter, and rub them through a fine sieve, together with the butter used in cooking. Put the purée thus obtained in a saucepan, and add to it the half of its bulk of mashed, very smooth, and creamy potatoes. Finish the purée with a little fresh and a little hazel-nut butter, the latter being used to increase the flavour of the artichokes. 2038—ASPARAGUS (Asperges) The best-known varieties of asparagus in England are:—
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Chapters

1. Chapter 1 2. PART I 3. CHAPTER I PAGE 4. CHAPTER II 5. CHAPTER III 6. CHAPTER IV 7. CHAPTER V 8. CHAPTER VI 9. CHAPTER VII 10. CHAPTER VIII 11. CHAPTER IX 12. CHAPTER X 13. PART II 14. CHAPTER XI PAGE 15. CHAPTER XII 16. CHAPTER XIII 17. CHAPTER XIV 18. CHAPTER XV 19. CHAPTER XVI 20. CHAPTER XVII 21. CHAPTER XVIII 22. CHAPTER XIX 23. CHAPTER XX 24. CHAPTER XXI 25. CHAPTER XXII 26. CHAPTER XXIII 27. PART I 28. CHAPTER I 29. 2. The brown stock or “_estouffade_,” game stocks, the bases of 30. 5. The various essences of poultry, game, fish, &c., the complements 31. 7. The basic sauces: Espagnole, Velouté, Béchamel, Tomato, and 32. 8. The savoury jellies or aspics of old-fashioned cooking. 33. 6. The various garnishes for soups, for relevés, for entrées, &c. 34. CHAPTER II 35. 2. Be scrupulously careful of the roux, however it may be made. By 36. CHAPTER III 37. 1. After having strained the braising sauce, completely remove its 38. 2. Strain the poëling stock, for ducklings or wild ducks, through 39. 1. Heat two oz. of butter in a stewpan, and insert one lb. of raw 40. 2. Pass the sauce through a strainer, pressing the aromatics; add a 41. 2. Substitute white fish jelly for poultry jelly. 42. 1. The Soubise is rather a cullis than a sauce; _i.e._, its consistence 43. 2. The admixture of Béchamel in Soubise is preferable to that of rice, 44. 3. In accordance with the uses to which it may be put, the Soubise 45. 2. The Villeroy Tomatée may be finally seasoned with curry or paprika, 46. 1. Add one-quarter pint of fish _fumet_ to one pint of thickened 47. 2. Almost entirely reduce one-quarter pint of fish _fumet_. To this 48. 3. Put the yolks of five eggs into a small stewpan and mix them with 49. CHAPTER IV 50. 1. If the sauce forms badly, or not at all, the reason is that the 51. 2. It is quite an error to suppose that it is necessary to work over 52. 3. It is a further error to suppose that the seasoning interferes with 53. 3. Excess of oil in proportion to the number of yolks, the 54. CHAPTER V 55. 2. That it be only added to the aspic when the latter is already 56. CHAPTER VI 57. 3. To apportion the wine and water in the ratio of two-thirds 58. 1. _Court-bouillon_ must always be prepared in advance for all fish, 59. 2. When a fish is of such a size as to need more than half an 60. 3. Fish, when whole, should be immersed in cold _court-bouillon_; when 61. 4. If fish be cooked in short liquor the aromatics are put under the 62. 5. _Court-bouillon_ for ordinary and spiny lobsters should always be at 63. 6. Fish which is to be served cold, also shell-fish, should cool in the 64. CHAPTER VII 65. 2. _Acid seasonings._—Plain vinegar, or the same aromatised with 66. 3. _Hot seasonings._—Peppercorns, ground or _concassed_ pepper, or 67. 4. _Saccharine seasonings._—Sugar and honey. 68. 2. _Hot condiments._—Mustard, gherkins, capers, English sauces, such 69. 3. _Fatty substances._—Most animal fats, butter, vegetable greases 70. 1. The quantity of spiced salt varies, a few grammes either way, 71. 2. According to the purpose of the forcemeat, and with a view to 72. 3. As a rule, forcemeat should always be rubbed through a sieve so as 73. 4. Whether the foie gras be added or not, chicken forcemeat may always 74. 1. _To roll quenelles_ it is necessary to keep the forcemeat somewhat 75. 2. _To Mould Quenelles with a Spoon._—This method may be applied to all 76. 3. _To Form Quenelles with a Piping-bag._—This process is especially 77. 4. _To Mould Forcemeat with the Fingers._—This excellent process is 78. CHAPTER VIII 79. CHAPTER IX 80. CHAPTER X 81. introduction into the vocabulary of cookery is comparatively recent, 82. 1. In all circumstances, _i.e._, whatever be the nature of the soup, 83. 2. The correct consistence of the soup is got by means of milk 84. 4. They are not buttered, but they are finished with one-fifth or 85. 1. If the liquor is required to be clear it need only be strained, over 86. 2. If, on the contrary, a sauce be required, the liquor should 87. 1. Too violent evaporation, which would reduce the liquor and disturb 88. 2. The running of a considerable risk of bursting the piece of poultry, 89. 1. All red meats containing a large quantity of juice should be 90. 2. In the case of white meats, whose cooking should be thorough, the 91. 3. With small game the fuel should be wood, but whatever fuel be used 92. 1. If the objects in question are _panés à l’anglaise_, _i.e._, dipped 93. 2. The same holds with objects treated with batter. Hence the absolute 94. 1. If too much sauce were used in proportion to the size of the object, 95. 2. If the sauce used were insufficient, it would be reduced before the 96. 3. The larger the piece, and consequently the longer it takes to cook, 97. 3. The blanching of certain other vegetables, which in reality 98. PART II 99. CHAPTER XI 100. CHAPTER XII 101. CHAPTER XIII 102. 2. Thick soups, which comprise the Purées, Veloutés, and Creams. 103. 3. Of a purée of asparagus-tops combined with a few cooked spinach 104. 4. Of a carrot purée (Purée Crécy). 105. 2. Cut six rectangles out of lettuce leaves; spread a thin layer of 106. 3. Prepare two tablespoonfuls of a coarse _julienne_ of carrots and 107. 1. Make a broth of the flesh of turtle alone, and then add a very 108. 2. Make an ordinary broth of shin of beef, using the same quantity 109. 2. The flavour which typifies them should be at once decided and yet 110. 3. When the flavour is imparted by a wine, the latter should be of the 111. 4. Supper consommés never contain any garnish. 112. 2. The velouté d’éperlans should, like almost all fish veloutés, be 113. 3. For this soup I elected to use a panada as the thickening element, 114. CHAPTER XIV 115. 1. +Crayfish Mousse+ with fillets of trout, decked with crayfish tails 116. 2. +Lobster Mousse+ with fillets of trout, decked with slices of 117. 3. +Shrimp Mousse+ with fillets of trout, decked with crayfish tails 118. 4. +Capsicum Mousse+ with fillets of trout, decked with strips of 119. 5. +Physalia Mousse+ with fillets of trout, decked with chervil, 120. 6. +Green Pimentos Mousse+ with fillets of trout, decked with strips of 121. 7. +Early-season Herb Mousse+ with fillets of trout, decked with 122. 8. +Volnay Mousse+ with fillets of trout, decked with anchovy fillets, 123. 9. +Chambertin Mousse+ with fillets of trout decked like No. 8. 124. 1. Put a preparation of Duchesse potatoes in a piping-bag fitted with 125. 2. Bake some large potatoes in the oven. Open them; remove their pulp, 126. 2. A garnish consisting of twelve rolled or folded fillets of sole 127. 1. For a mould capable of holding one quart, fold twelve small fillets 128. 1. A hot ravigote sauce combined with the gravy of the lobster, from 129. 2. Strain the contents of the dripping-pan (cleared of all grease) 130. CHAPTER XV 131. 2. At either end a nice heap of potatoes, shaped like long olives, and 132. 1. With a preparation of sweet potatoes, made after the manner of 133. 2. Cut some chow-chows in thick slices, _paysanne fashion_; parboil 134. 1. About one-quarter lb. of carrots turned to the shape of elongated 135. 3. The calf’s feet cut into small, square, or rectangular pieces. 136. 2. VEAL. 137. CHAPTER XVI 138. 1. The various pheasants, grey and red partridges, the Tetras 139. 10. The ortolans. 140. CHAPTER XVII 141. 1. _Oil seasoning_ may be applied to all salads, and is made up of 142. 2. _Cream seasoning_ is particularly well suited to salads of 143. 3. _Egg seasoning_ is prepared from crushed hard-boiled yolks of egg, 144. 4. _Bacon seasoning_ is used especially for dandelion, red-cabbage, 145. 5. _Mustard with cream seasoning_ is used particularly with beetroot 146. CHAPTER XVIII 147. 2. The green, Parisian asparagus, which is very small, and of which the 148. 4. English asparagus, which is somewhat delicate in quality, but 149. 2. Flemish chicory, which is genuine endive in its primitive state, 150. 3. Brussels chicory, or the Belgian kind; obtained from cultivating the 151. 2. Red cabbages: used as a vegetable, as a hors-d’œuvre, or as a 152. 3. Round-headed or Savoy cabbages: specially suited to braising and the 153. 4. Scotch kale and spring cabbages: always prepared in the English 154. 5. Cauliflowers and broccoli: the flower of these is most commonly 155. 7. Kohlrabi: the roots of these may be dished as turnips, and the 156. CHAPTER XIX 157. 1. The simplest way is to cover the pieces of toast with a thick layer 158. 2. The original method consists in melting the dice or slices of cheese 159. CHAPTER XX 160. 1. Extract the butter-milk, which is always present in more or less 161. 2. Make it sufficiently soft to mix with the various ingredients of 162. 3. For the quantities given (No. 2373), eight oz. of fresh Gruyère, cut 163. 4. Surprise omelets. 164. CHAPTER XXI 165. CHAPTER XXII 166. CHAPTER XXIII

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