Ingredients:
8 Tablespoons unsalted sweet butter
6 Tablespoons flour
1 Quart milk
How to do it:
Melt the butter over medium heat and add the flour. Cook for 6-7 minutes stirring constantly until the roux is a blond color.
Heat the milk in a separate pan until it’s nearly boiling. Add the hot milk one cup at a time to the roux, whisking constantly. Bring to a boil. Cook for 10 minutes whisking constantly. Remove from heat and set aside until ready for use.
Ingredients:
How to do it:
1. In a food processor, combine the olives, capers and garlic. Blend, incorporating the lemon juice and oil slowly, until the mixture is chunky and easy to spread. Do not overmix.
2. Season with pepper and add the herbs.
3. The tapenade is ready to serve now or it may be refrigerated for later use.
Yield: 32 fluid ounces
Ingredients:
How to do it:
1. Place the yogurt in a cheesecloth-lined strainer or coffee filter. Set the strainer in a bowl and drain for at least 8 hours in the refrigerator.
2. Combine the yogurt and cucumbers.
3. Add the garlic, cumin, turmeric, salt and pepper.
4. The sauce can be served chunky or pureed until smooth. It is ready to serve now, or it may be refrigerated for later use. Stir the sauce and adjust seasoning if necessary before serving.
Yield: 32 fluid ounces
Ingredients:
How to do it:
Combine all the ingredients and mix thoroughly.
The cocktail sauce is ready to serve now, or it may be refrigerated for later use. Stir the sauce and adjust the seasoning before serving.
Yield: 32 fluid ounces
Ingredients:
How to do it:
Place the herbs in a clean sterile jar and use a spoon to bruise them. Pour the vinegar over the tarragon and cover the jar tightly. Place the jar in a dark place at room temperature and allow the tarragon to steep in the vinegar. Shake the jar every few days and taste the vinegar after a week. If the flavor is not strong enough, allow to steep for another 1-3 weeks, checking the flavor weekly. When the flavor is to your liking, strain the vinegar into a different sterilized jar and cap tightly.
Ingredients:
How to do it:
In a saucepan, melt butter, clarify and set aside. In a separate saucepan, combine vinegar, vermouth, green onions, parsley, tarragon, chervil, and peppercorns. Over high heat, reduce this liquid until it barely covers the bottom of the pan. Cool the mixture by setting the pan in cold water before adding the eggs. In a heavy saucepan, not over heat, place egg yolks, water and cooled reduced vinegar mixture, beating with a wire whisk until frothy, approximately 3-5 minutes. Place over low heat and continue beating vigorously several minutes longer. The pan should be removed from the heat often during this process to ensure slow cooking. Beat constantly until it is the consistency of a thick cream sauce.
Remove the pan from the fire, and while continuing to beat, slowly add clarified butter to the mixture a tablespoon at a time until all the butter is used. Add salt, parsley or chives, while beating in well. If mixture curdles, add 1 tablespoon cold water and beat vigorously. To prevent scum from forming on the top, cover the sauce with 6 thin slices of butter and place on top of the stove near the pilot light or place in a double boiler over lukewarm water. You may add a tablespoon of warm water and beat again before serving.
Yield: 2 cups
Béarnaise Sauce is very rich sauce that can be served on chicken, seafood, veal, beef or pork. It’s also excellent on eggs.
Ingredients:
How to do it:
Melt the butter and margarine in a 1-quart saucepan over low heat. Increase the heat and bring to a rapid boil. Remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes. Skim the froth from the top of the butter and discard. Pour the butter into a large glass measuring cup and set aside.
In a separate 1-quart saucepan, combine 3 tablespoons of the wine, the tarragon, salt and pepper. Cook over high heat until most of the liquid had evaporated, about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let cool for 5 minutes.
In a medium size stainless steel mixing bowl, combine the remaining 2 teaspoons wine, the cooled tarragon mixture, and the remaining ingredients except the butter. Mix together with a metal whisk until frothy, about 1 minutes.
Place the bowl over a pan of slowly simmering (NOT boiling) water. Do not allow the bowl to touch the water. Vigorously whisk the egg mixture, picking up the bowl frequently to let steam escape. Whip until the egg mixture is very light and creamy and has a sheen, about 5 to 7 minutes. This beating allows the cooked egg to hold the butter. Remove the bowl from the pan of hot water. Gradually ladle about 1/4 cup of the butter mixture (use the top butterfat, not the solids from the bottom) into the egg mixture while vigorously whipping the sauce. Make sure the butter is well mixed into the sauce before adding more. Continue gradually adding the butterfat until you’ve added about 1 cup.
Ladle out and reserve about 1/2 cup of the surface butterfat in a separate container to expose the butter solids. The butter solids will add flavor and thin the sauce. Gradually ladle all but 1/3 cup of the butter solids into the sauce, whisking well. Then gradually whisk enough of the reserved top butterfat to produce a thick sauce. The butterfat thickens the sauce, so you may not need to use all of it. Keep the sauce in a warm place until ready to serve.
Yield: 2 cups
Also know as confiture aux figues, you can either can the preserves or use them make Fig Sweet Dough Pie. Use firm figs that are as ripe and unblemished as possible.
Ingredients:
How to do it:
Wash the figs in cold water, removing any blemishes. Drain well, then wash again. Drain and remove the stems.
Combine all of the ingredients in a large stainless steel pan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally. Continue boiling while skimming off any yellow foam which forms on the surface. This will take approximately 10 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium and continue cooking for 50 minutes, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pain to prevent scorching. If the mixture becomes too thick during cooking, add 2 to 4 tablespoons of water. Toward the end of the 50 minutes, the mixture should become very thick and the large figs should be broken down to the consistency of a puree. Remove from heat and can as usual.
Ingredients:
How to do it:
Beat eggs yolks in a large bowl with a metal whisk until frothy, about one minute. Slowly add 1 cup of oil, whisking until oil is incorporated before adding more. Whisk in the lemon juice, vinegar, salt and pepper, then gradually whisk in the remaining 1 cup of oil. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to meld.
Yield: 2 1/3 cup
Ingredients:
How to do it:
Line a colander or sieve with a large paper coffee filter. Plate the colander or sieve over a deep bowl. Put the yogurt into the filter, cover with waxed paper and place in the refrigerator. Leave it undisturbed for 24 hours or until no more liquid (whey) drains from the yogurt. Remove the yogurt from the filter and place it in a bowl.
Cut the cucumber into quarters and remove the seeds. Finely chop the cucumber and place it on paper towels to drain some of the excess moisture. After allowing it to drain, combine the cucumber, olive oil, vinegar and garlic into the yogurt. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Return the the refrigerator and allow it to rest for at least 1 hour before serving.
It goes quite well with lamb.
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