Volume 9, Issue 73 - October 12, 2005

Hello Recipe Club,

When your peers and industry associates have good things to say about you...you know you have made it. Here are a few quotes about Paula Wolfert and her book.

A true culinary zealot, Paula Wolfert champions forgotten dishes, uncovers regional cooking in surprising places, and reminds us of our resources and roots. In writing about the earthy food of France's Southwest, she teaches us how to cook foods that are traditional, slow and sustainable."
—Alice Waters, Chez Panisse

"No one has broadened our culinary horizons with more generosity, integrity, insight, and charm than Paula Wolfert. Her Southwest France is enchanting, irresistible. If you don't yet know the region, you are in for a treat, and if you thought you knew it, prepare yourself for the new vintage, the best ever from the region."
—Judy Rodgers, Zuni Cafe

"Americans have only recently come to know what the people of Southwest France have known for generations—that the key to great cooking is in its simplicity and depth of flavor. In this book, Paula has taught us to fully enjoy each bite, to share our joy through the food that we cook and serve."
—Thomas Keller, French Laundry, Per Se, Bouchon

Michel Guérard's Puréed Celery Root with Apples
(Purée de Céleri-Rave aux Pommes)

This is an incredibly delicious vegetable and, to my taste, is the best of the purées. Serve with Broiled Duck Breasts and deep-fried celery leaves.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Active Work: 10 minutes - Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 pound celery root
1 quart milk
3/4 pound Delicious apples
2 to 3 tablespoons heavy cream
salt and pepper

Preparation:

Peel celery root and cut into chunks, using a stainless steel knife. In a non-corrodible saucepan, simmer, covered with milk, 10 minutes.

Meanwhile peel, core and quarter the apples. Add to the celery and cook together 10 minutes, or until celery root is tender. Drain.

Purée celery root and apple quarters in batches in food processor until smooth. Add the cream if necessary to loosen the mixture. Season with salt and pepper to taste. For a perfectly textured purée, push the puréed mixture through a fine wire sieve. Can be prepared several hours ahead. Cool, cover and refrigerate. Reheat gently before serving.

Note to the Cook: The apples replace the more commonly used potatoes, resulting in a more silky, moist purée. The flavor of the apples is hardly noticeable, yet it heightens the flavor of the celery root. The very moist quality of the apple eliminates the need for large quantities of butter and cream.

Adapted from a footnote in Michel Guerard's La Cuisine Gourmande.

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Quick Duck Confit

Total time: 25 minutes active time, 24 hours marinating, 3 hours baking, plus cooling and chilling time

Ingredients:

6 duck legs
1/4 cup coarse salt
1 tablespoon lightly cracked juniper berries
1 1/2 tablespoons lightly cracked black peppercorns
1 teaspoon lightly cracked coriander seeds
1 1/2 tablespoons roughly chopped garlic
2 bay leaves, crumbled
3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 lightly cracked clove
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
4 cups rendered fat (any combination of homemade lard, goose fat and duck fat)

Preparation:

Begin 2 to 7 days in advance. Trim the duck legs of fat but leave as much skin intact as possible. Render the duck fat; cool, cover and refrigerate.

Mix the salt, juniper berries, black peppercorns, coriander seeds, garlic, bay leaves, thyme leaves, clove, nutmeg and parsley in a small bowl.

Rub the duck legs with the spice mix. Place in a glass or earthenware dish, cover and refrigerate 24 hours.

The next day, wipe away all the flavoring and juices with a dry towel. Place the duck in a deep baking dish, add the rendered fat. (It should cover the meat fairly well, more fat will render out in cooking to submerge it.)

Place the dish in a cold oven, set to 275 degrees and cook about 3 hours, until the duck is very tender. Remove the dish from the oven and allow the duck legs to cool in the fat.

Transfer the duck to a deep container. Ladle fat over the duck to cover. When cold, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. (The confit keeps up to 6 days, submerged in its cooking fat in the refrigerator. Scrape off all fat before using.)

Fava Bean Ragout with a Quick Duck Confit

One of the best spring stews of the French southwest is the combination of fresh favas and duck confit, a variation on the original fava cassoulet, made before the discovery of America and the importation of the white bean. This is a wonderful dish and one of my favorites.

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

Quick Duck Confit (see recipe)
6 to 7 pounds fresh unshelled favas (about 4 cups shelled)
1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots
1/4 pound salt pork, cut into 1/4 -by-1-by-1-inch pieces to make 3/4 cup, blanched in boiling water for 10 minutes
2 small thinly sliced artichoke bottoms
1/2 small fennel bulb, trimmed and thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3/4 cup low-salt chicken stock
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

Preparation:

About 4 to 5 hours before serving, remove the duck confit from the refrigerator. Shuck the fava beans and discard the pods. Drop into boiling water, allow the water to return to a boil and drain the favas. Rinse under cool water, peel off the skins. Cool, wrap in plastic and refrigerate.

About 1 to 2 hours before serving, scrape off any congealed fat from the duck confit. Place the duck skin-side up in a 12-inch nonstick skillet, cover and fry over medium heat until lightly browned and crisp, about 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Carefully remove the duck skin and return it to the skillet to render any remaining fat. Drain the skin. Remove all but 1 tablespoon of the fat from the skillet. Cover the duck and skin with foil to prevent drying out.

Add the shallots and salt pork to the skillet. Cover and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Uncover and continue cooking until the pork and shallots are light brown around the edges. Add the artichoke slices, fennel and sugar and cook 2 minutes, stirring. Over high heat, deglaze with one-fourth cup of water and reduce slightly. Remove from the heat. (Recipe can be made to this point 1 to 2 hours ahead. Set the skillet, uncovered, in a cool place.)

About 10 minutes before serving, preheat the broiler. Meanwhile, add the stock and favas to the skillet and bring to a boil. Cover tightly, reduce the heat and cook until the favas are fully cooked, 4 to 5 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Put the duck on a broiler pan. Replace the skin on each piece, crisp-side up and dab with the oil. Heat the duck under the broiler and crisp the skin, about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Arrange in a deep, warm serving dish and pour the favas over. Sprinkle with the parsley and thyme. Serve at once.

Source: Paula Wolfert's World of Food

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Artichokes and Potatoes Au Gratin
(Artichauts et Pommes de Terre au Gratin)

In the Pyrenees, this dish is made with raw churned milk, rarely found anymore. No matter - it works fine as I have adapted it and it is great with roast leg of lamb.

Makes 4 servings

Active Work: 20 minutes - Cooking Time: 1 1/2 hours

Ingredients:

4 large or 5 medium fresh artichokes (see note)
2 lemons
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon finely minced garlic
2 baking (russet) potatoes (about 1 pound)
2/3 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon meat glaze or 1/4 cup meat stock reduced to a glaze (optional)
crumbled thyme leaves

Preparation:

Twist or break off the stem from each artichoke. If the stem base is too thick or short, make a small incision around the base of the artichoke and it will twist off easily. This will remove the tough inner fibers of the base.

By hand, break off 2 rows of outer tough leaves. With a thin-bladed, very sharp knife, remove the leaves one by one, using a seesaw motion behind each leaf. The knife should cut off just the leaf, leaving the fleshy part attached to the artichoke bottom. Repeat all around the artichoke until the trimmed leaves are tender, cone-shaped and pale green. Cut off this cone about one third of the way down.

Using a swivel vegetable parer, trim the bottom and top of each artichoke to remove any tough green exterior.

Rub artichokes all over with half a lemon. As you prepare them, drop the artichoke bottoms into a bowl of acidulated water (juice of 1 lemon mixed with 3 to 4 cups water).

In a large pot, bring 6 cups of salted water to a boil. Add remaining lemon half, 1/3 cup milk and the artichoke bottoms. Cover the pot and cook 3 minutes (see note 2).

Drain the artichoke bottoms well and discard the chokes. Slice them on the diagonal into thin slices, you can use the food processor fitted with a thin (3 mm) slicing disk.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small skillet, melt half the butter, cook the onion and garlic until soft but not brown. Spread remaining butter on the bottom and sides of a shallow 10-inch baking pan. Scatter the onion-garlic mixture on the bottom of the pan.

Peel potatoes and slice as thinly as the artichokes (see notes 3 and 4). Arrange artichoke and potato slices in rows, overlapping.

In a mixing bowl, combine 1/2 cup of the heavy cream, the remaining 2/3 cup milk, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/3 teaspoon white pepper, meat glaze (if using) and thyme; blend well. Pour over the potatoes and artichokes. Bake 1 1/4 hours. Can be prepared 1 hour ahead up to this point, set aside uncovered.

15 minutes before serving, preheat the broiler. Spoon remaining heavy cream over vegetables and run under the broiler until hot and golden brown. Serve immediately.

Notes to the Cook:

1. Frozen artichoke hearts may be used, but the results are not as tasty.

2. The artichokes are only partially cooked before being layered with potatoes. Cook them just before using to avoid any loss of flavor and oxidation.

3. The potatoes can be peeled in advance and kept covered in salted water in the refrigerator. Do not slice until ready to assemble and bake.

4. The secret of this dish is not to wash the potato slices. Their starch thickens the liquid and creates a creamy texture until the crust is formed. Remember that when you make gratins you must use enough milk or cream to cover the vegetables, otherwise they will shrivel on top and there won't be sufficient liquid to make them tender. Use more cream if necessary.