Shirred eggs -- Oeufs sur le plat -- Oeufs miroir

I know I saw The French Chef episode called "Elegant Eggs" (the video in a new window) with these cool eggs. But I had forgotten it (as I have most things I saw in the 1960s). So it was with a sense of revelation that I discovered a new (to me) way to fix eggs. And super fast (MAFC I p. 122) and so versatile. You can throw anything on them, almost, including chicken livers!--Julia puts this first! 

Plain (or with cream and cheese) it takes only 5 minutes. With sauteed chicken livers it takes 10 minutes. And they really do come out "perfect," as she says in the video.

Serves two as a first course

2 eggs
olive oil cooking spray
[optional:] 2 tablespoons cream or crème fraiche
[optional:] 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan or Swiss cheese
[optional:] chopped herbs or scallion tops

1. Heat the broiler and place the rack in the closest position to it. 
2. Place a half sheet or shallow pan over two burners on high heat and add 1/4 inch water. 
3. Spray small two shallow dishes (3-4" diameter) or ramekins with olive oil cooking spray, place them in the water, and carefully crack an egg into each.
4. Season lightly with salt and pepper (remember the cheese will add some saltiness).
5. [optional:] Spoon one tablespoon of the cream over each and grate about 1 tablespoon of the cheese on them.
6. When the eggs have just begun to set on the bottom (you see the first white), place the pan of water under the broiler so the eggs are almost touching the flame. 
7. Broil for 30 to 60 seconds or until the top has just begun to bubble and set.
8. Garnish with chopped herbs or scallion tops.

VARIATIONS:

Oeufs sur le plat avec leur foies de volailles 

Serves two as a first course

2 eggs
olive oil cooking spray 
1/4 pound chicken livers
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons Port, Madeira, Muscatel, or other fortified wine

[optional:] chopped herbs or scallion tops

1. Heat a small skillet over high heat.
2. Dry the livers on paper towels. Season them.
3. Heat the broiler and place the rack in the closest position to it. 
4. Place a half sheet or shallow pan over two burners on high heat and add 1/4 inch water.  
5. Add the butter and olive oil to the skillet, and when the foam subsides, add the livers. Saute 5 minutes, tossing once or twice so that all the surfaces are browned. When done, the livers will be springy to the touch. Or poke and peek at one. The interior should be rosy pink. Remove to a warm plate and season again if necessary.
6. Spray small two shallow dishes (3-4" diameter) or ramekins with olive oil cooking spray, place them in the water, and carefully crack an egg into each.
7. Season lightly with salt and pepper (remember the cheese will add some saltiness).
8. [optional:] Spoon one tablespoon of the cream over each and grate about 1 tablespoon of the cheese on them.
9. When the eggs have just begun to set on the bottom (you see the first white), place the pan of water under the broiler so the eggs are almost touching the flame. 
10. Broil for 30 to 60 seconds or until the top has just begun to bubble and set.
11. Garnish with the livers and chopped herbs or scallion tops.

Plat de charcuterie d'Iowa - Is it bacon or not?

My wife and I had a (dare I say rare?) dispute this morning over whether fancy bacon should be called bacon. The cause was a charcuterie plate I put together with the help of Maddie when I was running late preparing a dinner party for two visiting teachers from Brazil. I wanted to give them a taste of Iowa, and what could be more Iowa than pork? Well, corn-fed pork anyway.

So I went to Wheatsfield Coop for some old genes pork chops from the Rosman Farm, which I cooked as Julia suggests. I realized I didn't have an Iowa starter in mind--or much time. So I picked up some charcuterie from La Quercia: prosciutto, speck, and lomo (which I had never had before).

I also picked up some Iowa cheeses: Maytag blue (of course), Maytag Munster, and from the Milton Creamery their Prairie Rose, which looks and tastes as lovely as its name sounds.

I called my daughter who came over to help clean--and to arrange the charcuterie platter. Great job, as you see. The cornichons (in a coeur à la crème mold) and Maille Dijon were necessary, the halved yellow cherry tomatoes (hot house Iowa btw) gave it color.

Now to the dispute. This morning I asked J if she liked the bacon appetizer. She didn't very much, as it turned out.
"That's not bacon!"
"Yes it is. It's Iowa Italian bacon but it's bacon."
"No, it's not smoky or salty enough to be bacon."
"We're going to agree to disagree. But next time I'll fry you up some bacon strips for the charcuterie plate."
"Good. Just make them burnt the way I like it."
"Done."
Later I asked some of J's foodie colleagues, when we were at the Drake Diner, if I had a point. They unanimously agreed. With Joyce. Ah. 

I suppose the only things I need to say in the way of a recipe are:

1. This fed four hungry people for a big first course, with crackers and some homemade bread. It's about one ounce of each of the three meats. (The two-ounce packs of the La Quercia meats cost between five and six dollars each, which works out to about $40 a pound. Worth every penny!)
2. It' takes a while to separate the paper-thin slices of meat, even though they come with thin bits of paper between each slice. So this takes 10 minutes to prepare, at least.

Soupe de concombre: Cucumber soup

This to me is the essence of August in Iowa. Well, that and the State Fair.

1 tablespoon mint leaves packed
1 medium cucumber
1 cup yogurt
1 cup milk
salt and pepper

1. Process the mint leaves 10 seconds in a food processor or blender.
2. Peel and roughly chop the cucumber and process 30 seconds
3. Add the yogurt and skim milk, a pinch of salt and a pinch of white pepper, and process one second.
4. Correct seasoning and serve, garnished with mint leaves.

Mushrooms à la Grecque

Mushrooms à la Grecque is for Julia (MAFC I 537) a long process of making a court bouillon, slowly simmering the mushrooms or other vegetables in it, and finally reducing the bouillon. I speed up the process by using a good vegetable stock, which has already got the great vegetable flavors and been reduced. I then add the Greek flavors as the mushrooms are cooking. Fortunately, Wheatsfield coop has some really really good quality vegetable stock.

I like this best with mushrooms, but it works very well with all kinds of vegetables. My favorite thing is to take this on a picnic.

1 cup vegetable stock, best quality, low salt
8 ounces small mushrooms or larger ones cut in half
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 peppercorns
6 coriander seeds
pinch of fennel seeds (1/8 teaspoon)
two branches of celery leaves, chopped roughly
pinch of thyme (1/8 teaspoon)
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a covered saucepan over high heat, bring the stock to a boil.
2. Add the mushrooms and cover.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients, recovering the pan and shaking it occasionally.
4. After eight minutes, remove the mushrooms, using a slotted spoon or skimmer.
5. Allow the stock to continue boiling for a minute. Then pour it over the mushrooms and refrigerate for six hours or overnight, covered.

Fish stew Burgundy--Matelote de poisson

The best is Lotte, the lobster of fish, and the ugliest of fish too. But catfish will do nicely, as it is firm and holds up in the stewing (simmer only, please). You can use the catfish 'nuggets'--the meat from behind the gills. It comes with some skin. OK. My wife thinks this tastes 'rangey'--and she is a rancher's daughter. But I like it. It's a workman's (specifically fisherman's) dish after all. And it is priced like that--half of what the catfish fillets cost. But you can buy the catfish fillets and cut them in pieces. Fine. Or you can take out a second mortgage, travel to New York, and buy Lotte, which is called Monkfish or Angler Fish. God they are ugly.

This is really a stew, so it's good to serve it in a big shallow bowl or deep plate. Have a soup spoon there, and good bread to soak up the soup. Toasted is nice. This you can have simmering away in 10 minutes.

Serves 3-4

2 ounces lardons OR salt pork in 1/2 inch cubes, OR pancetta OR bacon in 1-inch pieces
1 cup sliced onions (or 1/4 cup sliced onions and 12 small boiling onions, peeled and added later)
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup red wine, preferably Burgundy or Pinot Noir
1 cup clam juice (or fish stock)
pepper
bay leaf
1 allspice berry (or one clove)
1 clove garlic, mashed
salt (none if you use fish stock)
8 ounces mushrooms, cut in half or quartered
[optional: 2/3 cup frozen boiling onions]
1 and 1/4 pounds catfish OR scallops, or other fish such as walleye, halibut, haddock, etc.

1. In a fait-tout over high heat, cook the pork (no need to wait for the pan to heat).
2. Slice thinly and add the onions. Cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally
3. Add the flour and stir until it is browned, about 2 minutes
4. Add the rest of the ingredients except the fish and bring to a boil, stirring the bottom to incorporate the browned flour.
5. Add the fish pieces, reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the fish is done, about 8 to 10 minutes.
6. Serve in bowls, garnished with chopped parsley, along with bread or potatoes or pasta

Potage Magali: Mediterranean Tomato Soup with Rice

Every year at the end of the season, Doug at the Farmer's Market in the North Grand Mall parking lot brings in big boxes of tomatoes to sell for real cheap. They aren't perfect but they ain't bad. And I just core them, seed them, and run them through the Cuisinart, skins an all, and right straight into three-cup plastic containers from the Dollar Store and then down in the freezer. Unpeeled. It takes almost no time. (See the comment in the introduction to this blog for who cleans up the mess.)

Thawed in mid-winter, this tomato puree is a magic realist window on summer. It smells of August. And made into Julia's Mediterranean soup (MAFC II p. 20), it is August in Nice.

Serves three or four

1/2 cup onions chopped fairly fine
2 garlic cloves pressed or chopped finely
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups tomato puree, canned, fresh or frozen (see above)
1 cup chicken stock, preferably homemade
1/2 cup cooked rice or 2 tablespoons raw rice (or 4 tablespoons couscous)
1 teaspoon herbs de Provence or fresh herbs tied together
salt and pepper to taste
a small pinch of saffron, if you can afford it!

1. Heat a heavy bottom sauce pan over medium heat. Chop the onions and add them with the olive oil, stirring occasionally, for about seven minutes.
2. Chop or press the garlic, and add it after about three minutes.
3. Assemble the rest of the ingredients, and add them to the pot after seven minutes.
4. Turn the heat to high for one minute, then down to simmer. Check seasoning and simmer on low for 30 minutes.
5. Garnish with herbs and serve.

Braised endive / Endive

Belgian endive, braised MAFC I 493). Yumm. I ate this all over Belgium and northern France, Albertville, for example.
A pressure cooker makes this easy, as with most braises. Vegetables or meats.
Serves from 1 to 12

• For each medium endive, with tight leaves, beautifully light green.
• 1 tablespoon butter
• tiny pinch of salt
• two grinds of fresh pepper
• lemon juice--a small squirt

1. Heat a pressure cooker on high
2. Spray the bottom of the pressure cooker with oil or smear with butter
   
3. Halve each endive and cut off the stem end if necessary
4. Place in layers in the cooker, cut side down
5. Sprinkle the top (uncut) side of each half with a tiny pinch of salt, a grind or two of pepper, a squirt of lemon juice, and a teaspoon of butter
6. Seal with the cover and cook under pressure for seven minutes.
7. Release the pressure and remove the endives, cut side up, to a platter or plates.
8. Garnish with chopped chives or parseley
9. [These will keep in the refrigerator for a week, to reheat or prepare as in the variations below.]
   
   

Variation 1

This takes more than 10 minutes, but not much.

1. While the endives are cooking, preheat the broiler.
2. For each two whole endives (four halves) mix together one half cup cream and one egg. or 2/3 cup béchamel sauce.
3. Lay on a baking dish as many thin slices of boiled ham as there are whole (two halves) endives.
4. When the endives are done, wrap each endive (two halves) in ham.
5. Slather the cream and egg mixture (or béchamel) over the endive.
6. Grate about two tablespoons Swiss or Gruyere cheese on top of each endive (two halves).
7. Broil for three minutes or until the cheese is golden brown.

8. Garnish with chopped parsley, chives, or other herbs.