SIMPLE PLEASURES

At the beach that afternoon I had reread Elizabeth David’s French Provincial Cooking.

And, as usual, was enthralled by the essays at the front of the section called “The Cooking of the French Provinces.” And a description, of “Escoffier’s Shooting Weekend Fifty Years Ago” which, in his account of it, he tells of the basis of successful cuisine then and today, food one could eat every day, and of the maxim “faites simple.”

At the end of the passage, after complimenting the beauty of the countryside and the hospitality received, Escoffier says, “For my part, I have never forgotten the sauce of horseradish and walnuts.”

I looked to see if Mrs. David had let such a tantalizing statement go by, and she had not. There is a recipe for sauce raifort aux noix. It is not so much the sauce recipe that stays with me as Escoffier’s personal devotion to the “simple” pleasure of that one element in a what must have been a glorious and very grand few days.

Walnut & Horseradish Sauce

Perfect with cold poached or grilled fish. Or smoked trout

Grated fresh horseradish mixed with an equal quantity (50 gr) of finely chopped skinned (must be) walnuts. Put into a food processor with a tablespoon of powdered sugar, the juice of a lemons, a pinch of salt and enough fresh heavy cream (150 ml) to make a sauce “neither too thick nor too liquid.”

Pulse a few times but not enough to curdle the cream.

If it had been my picnic I would have included a few other perfect simplicities.

Like a chicken club.

Chicken BLT Club Sandwich

Ever since I was old enough to order Champagne, the combination of a club sandwich and a great, slightly old, yeasty Champagne has been the perfect palliative for many trying moments.

If I had just arrived in a hotel, too tired or late to go out for dinner, it’s the right thing. If I’ve been out to dinner in a strange city, and the food was bad, all I had to do was return to the hotel and call room service.

Unforgettable are the out-all-nights in Hong Kong when I was researching the re-opening of its famous and famously run-down Peak Café. With the sun rising over the harbor in front of my balcony, with yet another business lunch to be followed by a heavy dinner, I felt safe knowing that when I finally made it back to the Mandarin Hotel, I could rely instead on its world-perfect twenty-four-hour room service and a BLT chicken club.

They are the night owls and the too-tired-to-go-to-dinner companions. The apotheosis of twenty-four-hour room service, especially when both are combined into one, and the sun is coming up.

Serves 2

6 slices                    bacon or pancetta

4 slices                    artisanal white bread

2 tablespoons         unsalted butter

 1/2 cup                 mayonnaise

1                            whole chicken breast, poached, skinned & shredded

1 tablespoon          olive oil

sea or kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

4 pieces                  greenleaf or curly leaf red lettuce, washed, dried

6 slices                   ripe tomato, cut 1/4 inch thick

Lay the bacon or pancetta out in flat strips and broil or bake in the oven until crisp.

Grill, broil, or toast the bread until just golden.

Meanwhile, add olive oil, and a generous pinch of kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to the shredded chicken. Stir well to combine.

Once toasted, immediately butter the bread then spread the slices liberally with mayonnaise.

Put the lettuce down first, then the shredded chicken, then tomato slices, the bacon, and then the remaining bread.

Cut each sandwich in half and serve with potato chips.

Amongst many things that Elizabeth David and I talked about and usually agreed upon was the magnificence of Montpelier butter.

Agreeing that it is the greatest of all “compound” butters. Traditionally made in a mortar with a pestle, and that method gives the best smooth and flavorful result.

But a food processor will do.

It is very good with cold poached fish, especially salmon, but is equally delicious with hot grilled fish. Spooned between slices of cold roast veal or pork, the slices reassembled, left for a day, and served at room temperature, it creates a lifelong memory.

Montpellier Butter

6 leaves                  spinach

½ bunch                 watercress leaves

2 tablespoons         fresh parsley leaves

2 tablespoons         fresh chervil leaves

2 tablespoons         chopped fresh chives

1 tablespoon          fresh tarragon leaves

2                           shallots, peeled, chopped

2                            cornichons

4                            salted anchovy fillets, soaked, drained

2 tablespoons      capers, rinsed

1 clove                   garlic, peeled

½ teaspoon            salt

¼ teaspoon            freshly ground pepper

¼ teaspoon            cayenne

3                             hard-cooked egg yolks

2 large                    raw egg yolks

¼ pound                unsalted butter, room temperature

½ cup                     olive oil

1 teaspoon             white wine vinegar

Makes 1 cup

Blanch the spinach, watercress, herbs, and shallots in boiling water for 1m minute.

Drain, refresh under cold water, and squeeze dry.

Put them in a mortar or food processor. Add the cornichons, anchovies, capers, garlic, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Work with a pestle or process to a smooth paste.

Add the egg yolks and the butter and process again until thoroughly mixed. Put through a food mill, fitted with the fine-mesh disk (or through a fine sieve) into a bowl or back into the mortar and whisk in the oil by hand. The mixture should be glossy and as smooth as velvet.

Beat in the vinegar and taste to see if it needs more salt and pepper.

I never went on a picnic with Elizabeth, probably because who would carry the case of chilled Chablis we would need and consume?

But if we had, I would have brought one of my favorite simple foods.

Stuffed Eggs

I adore stuffed eggs. And have enjoyed them in many places in many different versions. In the Yucatan with grilled, peeled and sliced red and green poblano chilies and once with the Mexican black truffle – Huitlacoche. In Puglia with cooked lobster scraps (along with the tomalley and fat in the shell) after buying the lobsters to make a salad. In the South of France with cumin, fresh mint, salted almonds, pistachios, and salt-preserved lemons. And in Perigord with fresh black truffles.

Here is a Mexican version of mine.

Serves 4-6

16 large                  eggs

2 large                    fresh poblano chilies

½ cup                     sour cream

2 tablespoons         Hellman’s mayonnaise

1 teaspoon             ground cumin seeds

2 tablespoons         fresh mint leaves, finely chopped

large pinch             salt

large pinch             chili powder

Put the eggs in a heavy pan and cover them with cold water by one inch.  Then bring to the point just before a boil, remove from the heat, cover, and let stand 10 minutes. Then run cold water over them, adding ice if you are in a hurry, until they are cool enough to peel. 

Roast the chilies over a fire on over a gas stove until the skin is charred all over.  Put them in a plastic bag just large enough to hold them, twist the top closed, and leave the chilies for 30 minutes.  Take them out, cut off the top and bottom, flatten out the chilies:  on the inside scrap off the ribs and seeds and on the outside scrape off the skin.  Save any juices and strain.

Peel the eggs, cut in half lengthwise, remove and mash up the egg yolks with the sour cream, mayonnaise, cumin, and mint.  Add half the salt, mix, and taste.  Add more salt if desired.  Stuff the whites with the yolk puree, and sprinkle with the chili powder.

Anchovy Butter and a Baked Potato

One of my favorite things to do with anchovy fillets is make anchovy butter. It is so easy, takes 5 minutes, and keeps well in the fridge or freezer. Even though it's only 3 or 4 ingredients (because depending on the batch of anchovies you have, it may not even need extra salt), it's one of the most flavorful "compound" butters that can be added to any protein, vegetable, or piece of bread.

My favorite way to serve it is as I do here, generously heaped into a baked potato hot out of the oven. A dish so incredible, all it needs is a glass of cold white wine to go with it.

Yields 1 cup of Anchovy Butter, enough to top at least 4 baked potatoes.

2 sticks            unsalted butter

1 cup                12 salted anchovy fillets, cleaned & rinsed

2 cups               loosely packed basil leaves, loosely packed

1 pinch              kosher salt, as needed

4                        large russet potatoes

extra virgin olive oil and fresh ground black pepper for finishing the baked potato

Preheat oven to 400. Place the potato on a rimmed baking sheet or in a baking dish and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until very tender when squeezed or pierced with a fork. Remove the potatoes from the oven. Slice the potato open at the top lengthwise. Top with a generous heap of the anchovy butter.

Drizzle each potato with extra virgin olive oil, and top each with several grinds of black pepper. Serve immediately.

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