Recently I`ve been on the road, and I must confess I enjoy it. Sure, a different hotel each night disturbs one`s sleep. Airline travel is hard, not to mention airline food. But the chance to visit restaurants in a variety of cities, to taste local specialties and to explore different interpretations of new-style cuisine amply compensate for jet lag and an extra inch on the waistline.
This menu combines some of the ideas I wanted to try as soon as I got home. Roquefort puffs, for instance, were a New York novelty. I`ve had camembert puffs and brie puffs and plain old cheese puffs made with gruyere, so why not Roquefort?
As an experiment, I worked the cheese through a sieve, beat it into choux (cream puff) dough and baked small spoonfuls until brown–good, but not light enough. So I creamed the Roquefort with milk before adding it to the dough and results were just right. In New York, the puffs were served with homemade applesauce, an inspired combination (think of apple pie and cheddar cheese).
This next dish comes from Florida. Swordfish has to be one of the great indigenous American ingredients. If the French only knew more about it, they`d go crazy. I find baking the best way to cook it, for the firm texture of swordfish makes it difficult to fry successfully as it takes too long, while broiling can make it dry.
To serve vegetables with fish surely isn`t new, but it often seems so. Here the vegetables for garnish are steamed (favorite new-style method), and the fish is served with a chic little butter sauce, a version of beurre blanc. Butter sauces are trickiest of all, for they depend for consistency on an emulsion stabilized, believe it or not, by the whey content in the butter. (Beurre blanc cannot be made with clarified butter.) One chef`s ruse to lessen the danger of separation is to add a few spoons of cream (i.e. more milk solids), an example I`ve followed here. The sauce is flavored with saffron, which colors it to a glowing golden yellow. Look for filaments rather than powdered saffron, which quickly loses its aroma.
From Boston to Los Angeles, the favorite flavor for dessert is chocolate, in as concentrated a state as possible. It would be hard to find anything denser than this marquise (a French term for any rich, elegant mixture), a combination of chocolate, butter and egg that sets to a solid brick. Then it is sliced as thinly as possible and served plain, surrounded by a ribbon of the palest green pistachio custard sauce. Here again are the trend-setting signals of a few key ingredients used to maximum effect.
WHAT TO DRINK:
One of the best drinking innovations is the new-style aperitif. One of my favorites, as served at Taillevent in Paris, is well worth importing. A couple of tablespoons of pureed fruit (usually whatever berries are in season) are put into a champagne flute which is then filled with sparkling wine.
Each guest is provided with a long-handled teaspoon to stir the mixture. Fruit is, of course, a wonderful complement to cheese, perfect with Roquefort puffs. For the swordfish I`d advise a white wine full enough to stand up to the saffron sauce, more specifically French Meursault.
On the domestic front I think immediately of chardonnay. In my travels I`ve tasted the product of nearly every wine-producing state and I`ve seldom been disappointed.
A NEW-STYLE DINNER FOR 8
Roquefort puffs
Baked swordfish with
spring vegetables
Saffron butter sauce
Chocolate marquise
Pistachio custard sauce
TIMETABLE:
New-style cooking unfortunately does not take kindly to advance preparation so, though much can be done ahead for this menu, some last-minute cooking is needed. As compensation, the cook is free until half an hour before the meal, ideal for anyone with a busy business schedule.
Up to one week ahead: Make marquise; refrigerate.
Up to one day ahead: Make pistachio custard sauce; refrigerate.
Up to eight hours ahead: Make Roquefort puffs; store in airtight container. Prepare swordfish for baking; refrigerate. Steam vegetables;
refrigerate. Reduce wine and cream for sauce. Chill wines.
Thirty minutes before serving: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Slice marquise; set on plates; refrigerate. Set table.
Twenty minutes before serving: Put swordfish in the oven to bake.
Five minutes before serving: Reheat Roquefort puffs.
Just before serving puffs: Turn the oven to low; leave swordfish there to keep warm. Make aperitifs; serve.
After serving puffs: Heat vegetables in steamer. Finish sauce by adding butter; keep warm. Arrange swordfish on plates with vegetables; serve.
After main course: Spoon custard sauce around marquise; serve.
An excellent hors d`oeuvre with cocktails, as well as a first course. A good, not too salty, domestic blue cheese is fine for this recipe, too.
ROQUEFORT PUFFS
Makes 40
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
6 ounces Roquefort cheese, crumbled
2 tablespoons milk, more if needed
Pepper and possibly salt
Ground nutmeg
1 egg, beaten to mix with 1/2 teaspoon salt (for glaze)
For choux pastry:
1 cup flour
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
4 to 5 large eggs
1. Heat oven to 425 degrees.
2. For choux pastry, sift flour. Heat water and butter in saucepan until butter melts. Bring just to boil. Remove from heat. Immediately add flour all at once; beat vigorously with wooden spoon until mixture is smooth and pulls away from pan to form ball. Return pan to heat; beat 30 to 60 seconds to dry mixture. Remove from heat; cool slightly.
3. Beat 1 egg to mix; set aside. Beat remaining eggs into warm dough, 1 by 1, beating thoroughly after each addition. Beat enough of reserved egg into dough to make very shiny mixture which just falls from spoon. Note: If too little egg is added, puffs will be heavy; if too much, they will not hold their shape.
4. Work Roquefort through sieve; beat in enough milk to make stiff paste. Beat paste into dough; season to taste with pepper and nutmeg. Salt may not be necessary as Roquefort is already salty.
5. Using two spoons, pile dough in walnut-sized mounds on baking sheets, leaving plenty of space between mounds for them to puff. Brush puffs with egg glaze; bake until crisp on outside and golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Note:
Puffs should be soft in center.
6. Puffs can be baked up to 8 hours ahead and stored in airtight container. To reheat, warm in low oven 5 minutes just before serving.
White, green, yellow and gold, this dish combines all the colors of spring. Swordfish can be replaced by halibut, salmon or any firm fish steaks. BAKED SWORDFISH WITH SPRING VEGETABLES, SAFFRON SAUCE
Eight servings
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes
4 pounds swordfish steaks, cut 1 inch thick
2 tablespoons butter
3 to 4 tablespoons white wine
Salt and pepper
Vegetable garnish:
1 pound baby carrots, pared
1 pound baby turnips, peeled
1/2 pound snow peas or green beans, strings removed
Saffron butter sauce:
1/2 cup white wine
2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
3/4 cup whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon saffron
1 1/4 cups butter
1. Cut swordfish into 8 equal size pieces, using sharp knife. Discard skin and bone. Thickly butter baking dish; add swordfish. Dot with remaining butter, pour over wine; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover tightly with foil.
2. For garnish: If carrots are large, cut in big sticks; put in steamer;
steam until just tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Cut turnips in wedges about same size as carrots. Put turnips in steamer; cover; steam until tender, but still firm, 4 to 5 minutes. Add turnips to carrots; put peas or beans in steamer; steam until tender, but still very firm, 2 to 3 minutes peas or 4 to 5 minutes for beans. Combine them with other vegetables.
3. For sauce: Cook shallots with wine in heavy saucepan until reduced to about 1 tablespoon. Add cream and saffron; reduce again to about 1/3 cup.
4. Fish, vegetables and sauce can be prepared up to 8 hours ahead to this point; undercook vegetables slightly to allow for reheating. Refrigerate fish and vegetables; keep sauce at room temperature.
5. To finish, heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake swordfish until it just flakes easily, 15 to 20 minutes. Meanwhile, reheat vegetables in steamer.
6. For sauce, heat cream mixture until very hot. Take pan from heat;
whisk in cold butter in small pieces, taking pan on and off heat so butter melts and emulsifies to make creamy sauce. Note: Do not overheat sauce or it will separate. Taste for seasoning; transfer to sauce boat; keep in warm place.
7. To serve, set swordfish steak on one side of each individual plate;
pile vegetables on other side. Serve sauce separately.
Tip: If saffron is unavailable or not to your taste, try curry powder as a substitute.
This close relation to chocolate mousse is denser and even richer.
CHOCOLATE MARQUISE
Eight servings
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Chilling time: 24 plus 2 hours
9 ounces semisweet chocolate
3/4 cup confectioners` sugar
3/4 cup butter, at room temperature
5 large eggs, separated
3 tablespoons brandy
Pistachio custard sauce, recipe follows
1. Line 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-by-2-inch loaf pan with wax paper or foil. Coarsely chop chocolate; put in metal bowl. Set bowl in water bath of simmering water; melt chocolate, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Remove bowl from water bath; beat in egg yolks, one at a time. Beat in softened butter and brandy. Return bowl to water bath to keep warm, off heat. 2. Whip egg whites until stiff, but not dry. Add 1/4 cup sugar; whip to form meringue or until whites are glossy and stiff, about 30 seconds. Fold in remaining sugar.
3. Remove bowl containing chocolate from water bath; fold in meringue as gently as possible, in three batches. Note: Meringue must be completely incorporated or marquise will be marbled when it is unmolded.
4. Pour mixture into prepared pan; press piece of wax paper or foil on top. Chocolate marquise must be made at least 24 hours ahead and refrigerated. It can be stored up to one week in refrigerator or can be frozen.
5. To serve, turn out marquise onto work surface; discard paper or foil. Carefully cut thin slices; set two on each dessert plate. Chill up to 2 hours. Just before serving, spoon pistachio custard sauce around marquise.
PISTACHIO CUSTARD SAUCE
Makes 2 cups
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
4 ounces shelled pistachios
1 3/4 cups milk
6 large egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1. Blanch pistachios by putting in cold water; bring to a boil; simmer 2 minutes. Drain; peel.
2. Scald milk in heavy saucepan. Beat egg yolks with sugar until thick and light. Stir in hot milk, return custard to pan; heat, stirring constantly with wooden spoon until mixture thickens slightly or clear trail is left when you draw your finger across back of spoon dipped in custard. Note: Do not boil custard or it will curdle.
3. Immediately strain custard into bowl; stir in vanilla; add pistachios. Puree in blender or food processor. Custard can be made up to 2 days ahead, then covered and refrigerated.
