If you eat, maybe you should be glad that Perla Meyers has an opinion–about everything.
She expresses lots of opinions in her ninth cookbook, the just-released “How to Peel a Peach and 1001 Other Things Every Good Cook Needs to Know” (Wiley, $29.95). Meyers wrote the much-lauded “The Seasonal Kitchen” in 1973, which won three R.T. French Tastemaker awards, the precursor to the James Beard cookbook awards. She teaches at cooking schools across the country, and at her home in Connecticut.
Meyers’ opinions may chafe some readers: “Whenever you cook a thick chop or steak, you should cook it in clarified butter or rendered duck fat . . . ” A beginning cook would have neither on hand from which to choose. The question of whether steaks and chops even need extra fat in the pan is not open for discussion, at least to Meyers.
Yet seasoned cooks will find many fresh tips: “Only need half a lemon? Immerse the other half in a glass of water and store it in the refrigerator. Change the water every day, and it will keep for a week to 10 days.”
Meyers invokes the dual culinary ironclads of seasonality and quality. Good food requires sensitivity to both, she insists. Having established that, she moves on to a refreshing discussion of the equipment that a beginner needs to cook. Surprise! You need less than you think, and virtually none of it electric.
From there, Meyers discusses how to stock and keep pantries, both basic and specialty. Where she mistrusts her own expertise, she turns to other acknowledged pros such as Alice Medrich, author of “Cocolat: Extraordinary Chocolate Desserts” for chocolate; Susan Purdy, author of “The Perfect Cake,” for flours. Refrigerated staples like cheeses and nuts follow (Meyers argues that nuts should be refrigerated, so they stay fresh longer).
The next chapter is vegetables and herbs; after that, seafood; poultry; meat; pasta, grains and beans; fruits; a chapter called “The Grill”; and finally, 10 recipes for basics, such as stock.
Each chapter begins with answers to questions, and closes with related recipes. The recipes’ titles are printed on each chapter’s opening page.
The Tribune’s test kitchen found the three recipes it tested well-written and easy to follow, but sometimes a little finicky in procedure. We wondered, for example, why Meyers directed us to sugar blueberries before serving; blueberries don’t surrender juice when sugared like sliced strawberries do.
Meyers lists sources for kitchenware and specialty ingredients in a resource guide at the book’s back. Perhaps most surprising and useful are Meyers’ candid assessments of brand names for various staples and condiments.
“As long as you buy top brands of Italian plum tomatoes, preferably those imported from the San Marzano area, you will get plenty of tomato pulp,” Meyers says. “The worst offenders [for underfilling cans] are brands such as Progresso and Vitello that contain tomatoes of inferior quality, with little pulp and lots of juice.” On the other hand–and on the same page–she recommends to “look for Progresso light tuna packed in olive oil. It is an excellent brand that is widely available.”
Like that no-nonsense aunt who taught you how to make one of Grandmother’s special dishes, Meyers is, by turns, crusty and marshmallow-soft. She does things in certain ways, for reasons she has thought through carefully and settled once and for all. You don’t have to listen to her suggestions. But if you do, your life in the kitchen will be immeasurably easier and far more satisfying.
Blueberries in lemon sabayon
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 8 minutes
Cooling time: 1 hour
Chilling time: 3 hours
Yield: 6 servings
“This recipe was first published in 1973 in my cookbook `The Seasonal Kitchen,’ and made the cover of House & Garden magazine that year,” writes Perla Meyers in “How to Peel a Peach.” “I have since adjusted the lemon sabayon, which in the original recipe was quite fragile and could not be made ahead of time. The revised version will keep well for 3 to 4 days.”
1 quart blueberries, washed, stemmed
1 cup sugar
5 extra large eggs, separated
Juice of 2 large lemons
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
1 cup whipping cream, whipped
Tiny leaves of fresh mint
1. Place the blueberries in a glass serving bowl. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of the sugar and set aside.
2. In a double boiler, combine the egg yolks and remaining 3/4 cup sugar. Whisk until fluffy and pale yellow. Add the lemon juice and zest and whisk until well blended. Set over simmering water and whisk constantly until the mixture is thick and heavily coats a spoon, about 5 minutes. Be careful not to overcook, or the eggs will curdle. Immediately transfer the sabayon to a stainless steel bowl and let cool completely.
3. Beat the egg whites in a large bowl until they form firm peaks. Add them to the cooled sabayon and fold in gently but thoroughly. Add the whipped cream and again, fold in gently but thoroughly. Cover and chill until very cold.
4. Spoon the sabayon over the berries, garnish with mint leaves, and serve at once.
Nutrition information per serving:
396 calories, 43% of calories from fat, 20 g fat, 11 g saturated fat, 259 mg cholesterol, 50 g carbohydrates, 7.7 g protein, 84 mg sodium, 2.5 g fiber
Slow-braised chicken breasts with peas and lemon-dill sauce
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 26 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
“The mild taste of the chicken breasts takes well to many herbs and vegetables, and even fruit and lemon are perfect partners,” writes Perla Meyers in “How to Peel a Peach.” “When fresh peas are not available, you can use asparagus tips or cubed mushrooms instead. You can also substitute a mixture of tarragon and chives for the dill depending on your mood.”
1/2 cup whipping cream
Juice of 1 lemon
3 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half
Salt and freshly ground white pepper
All-purpose flour, for dredging
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons peanut oil
1/2 to 3/4 cup chicken stock or bouillon
1 tablespoon flour mixed into a paste with 1 tablespoon softened butter
1/2 cup cooked fresh peas, optional
2 to 3 tablespoons minced fresh dill
1. In a small bowl, combine the cream and lemon juice, mix well, and set aside to develop flavor.
2. Dry the chicken breasts thoroughly with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper and dredge lightly in flour, shaking off the excess.
3. Melt the butter together with the oil in a large heavy skillet over high heat. Add the chicken breasts without crowding the skillet and saute until nicely brown on both sides. Add a little stock or bouillon, reduce the heat, and simmer covered, for 7 minutes, or until the juices run pale yellow when the chicken is pricked at thickest part. Add a little more stock or bouillon to the skillet if the pan juices run dry before the chicken is done. Transfer the chicken to a dish.
4. Add the remaining stock or bouillon to the skillet, bring to a boil, and reduce to 1/4 cup. Add the lemon-cream mixture, bring to a boil, and reduce slightly. Whisk in bits of the flour-and-butter paste until the sauce lightly coats the spoon. Correct seasoning.
5. Reduce the heat to low. Return the chicken to the skillet together with the peas and just heat through. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter, spoon the sauce over, and garnish with dill, chives or tarragon. Serve hot with buttered orzo or couscous.
Nutrition information per serving:
230 calories, 71% of calories from fat, 18 g fat, 10 g saturated fat, 84 mg cholesterol, 2.3 g carbohydrates, 14 g protein, 118 mg sodium, 0.1 g fiber
Shallot and cassis marmalade
Preparation time: 45 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour, 5 minutes
Yield: 3 cups
“I first had a taste of this delicious `marmalade’ in the city of Tours in the Loire region of France, known for its superb goat cheeses. It was served as an accompaniment to warm goat cheese toasts and a simple salad. I like to serve the jam this way, but it also goes well with grilled salmon fillets, pan-seared tenderloin steaks, and sauteed calves’ liver,” writes Perla Meyers in “How to Peel a Peach.” Creme de cassis, a black currant liqueur, is sometimes hard to find; Torani makes non-alcoholic black currant-flavored syrup that can substitute.
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 pounds shallots, finely sliced
1/4 cup sugar
3 cups dry red wine
1/4 cup creme de cassis
1 1/2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1. In a large cast-iron skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the shallots and sugar and cook until the sugar has melted and the shallots begin to brown
2. Reduce the heat, add the red wine, cassis and vinegar, and cook for 25 to 30 minutes, or until all the liquid has evaporated and shallots are soft and nicely caramelized. Season with salt and pepper and serve as an accompaniment to grilled or pan-seared fish.
Remarks: You may add 1/3 cup plumped currants and 1/4 cup pine nuts, sauteed in a little olive oil, to the marmalade for a more unusual taste and texture.
Nutrition information per 1 tablespoon:
30 calories, 43% of calories from fat, 1.4 g fat, 0.9 g saturated fat, 3.8 mg cholesterol, 3.8 g carbohydrates, 0.4 g protein, 2.2 mg sodium, 0.1 g fiber
