Roast Loin of Pork
For a 4-pound boneless roast, serving 8 to 10. Roasting time: 2¼ to 2½ hours at 350°F, to internal temperature 160°F. Buy the center cut of the loin, folded in two and tied fat side out to make a roast about 5 inches in circumference. I highly recommend the spice marinade. To use it, untie the roast and rub it all over with the mixture, using ¼ teaspoon per pound. Lightly score the fat side and retie. Cover and refrigerate for an hour or up to 48 hours. Roast, basting occasionally, as for the master recipe, and after 1½ hours strew into the pan ½ cup each of chopped carrots and onions and 3 large cloves of smashed unpeeled garlic. Make the sauce as described, or prepare a port-wine sauce.
VARIATIONS
ROAST FRESH HAM (LEG OF FRESH PORK). A 7-to-8-pound boneless leg serves 20 to 24. Timing: about 3½ hours, at 425°F for 15 minutes and then at 350°F, to internal temperature 160°F. A preroasting marinade is recommended: untie the pork and give it a 2-day spice marinade, as described for the pork loin, then retie. After browning the roast for 15 minutes, protect the areas not covered by fat by draping 8 to 10 strips of blanched bacon over the meat. Continue roasting at 350°F as described for the pork loin, strewing in the vegetables after 2½ hours. Remove the bacon strips the last ½ hour. The port wine sauce would go nicely here.
BAKED SMOKED HAM AND SHOULDER. These come fully or partially cooked. Follow the directions on the label for baking them. I prefer to braise them in wine.
Meat Loaf
Whether you roast it freeform in the oven or bake it in a loaf pan, meat loaf is certainly an all-time favorite, as, in France, is its cousin the pâté. Since they are so closely related, I consider the one a variation of the other and here are two of my favorites.
BEEF AND PORK MEAT LOAF. For a 2-quart loaf serving 12, sauté 2 cups of minced onions in 2 tablespoons of oil until tender and translucent, raise heat and brown lightly. Toss in a bowl with 1 cup fresh bread crumbs, 2 pounds ground beef chuck, 1 pound ground pork shoulder, 2 eggs, ½ cup beef broth, ⅔ cup grated cheddar cheese, 1 large clove puréed garlic, 2 teaspoons salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, 2 teaspoons each of thyme and paprika, 1 teaspoon each of allspice and oregano. To check seasoning, sauté a spoonful. Pack into a buttered 2-quart loaf pan and top with 2 imported bay leaves. Bake about 1½ hours at 350°F until juices run almost clear yellow and loaf is lightly springy to the touch.
Serve hot with tomato sauce, or let cool and then chill.
VARIATION
FRENCH-STYLE COUNTRY PTÉ. For a 6-cup loaf pan serving 8 to 10. Sauté ⅔ cup minced onions in 2 tablespoons butter until tender and translucent. Blend with 1¼ pounds pork sausage meat, ¾ pound ground chicken breast, ½ pound pork liver or beef liver, 1 cup fresh bread crumbs, 1 egg, ⅓ cup goat cheese or cream cheese, 1 medium clove puréed garlic, 3 tablespoons cognac, 1 tablespoon salt, ¼ teaspoon each ground allspice, thyme, imported bay, and pepper. Sauté a spoonful to check seasoning. Pack into a buttered loaf pan and cover with wax paper and foil. Set in a larger pan of boiling water and bake 1¼ to 1½ hours, until juices are almost pale yellow.
Let repose for an hour, then set a board or twin pan on top and a 5-pound weight (like canned goods). When cool, cover and chill. Let “cure” for a day or two before serving.
Roast Chicken
A 3½-to-4-pound chicken serves 4 or 5 people. Timing: 1 hour and 10 to 20 minutes, at 425°F for 15 minutes and then at 350°F, to internal temperature of 170°F. See box below. Before roasting, wash the chicken rapidly in hot water and dry thoroughly. For ease in carving, cut out the wishbone. Season inside the cavity with salt and pepper and, if you wish, a thinly sliced lemon, a small onion, and a handful of celery leaves. Salt the chicken lightly all over and rub with soft butter. Tie drumstick ends together, and set breast up in an oiled V-shaped rack (or fold wings akimbo and set on an oiled flat rack). After its 15-minute browning in the hot oven, reduce heat to 350°F, baste rapidly with accumulated pan juices, and continue, basting rapidly every 8 to 10 minutes. After ½ hour, strew ½ cup each of chopped carrots and onions into the pan, basting them. When the chicken is done, make the sauce as described in the master recipe.
WARNING: Because of possibly harmful bacteria in raw chicken, be sure to wash all utensils and surfaces the chicken may have touched.
WHEN IS A ROAST CHICKEN DONE? When an instant meat thermometer inserted between the thigh and breast reads 165°–170°F, its legs move in their sockets, the thickest part of the drumstick is tender when pressed, and when it is pricked deeply its juices run clear yellow. When you hold the chicken breast-up, the very last drops of juice to drain from the vent run clear yellow.
GIBLETS—THE LIVER, GIZZARD, AND NECK. Use the gizzard and neck for making light chicken stock. Tuck the liver inside the cavity and let it roast with the chicken, or save it in your freezer to make chicken-liver sauté or a French pâté.
TIMING FOR ROAST CHICKEN. Count on a basic 45 minutes plus 7 minutes per pound. In other words, a 3-pound chicken takes the basic 45 plus (7 × 3) 21, which equals 66 minutes, or just over an hour.
VARIATIONS
ROAST POUSSINS AND GAME HENS. About 1 pound each. Prepare them as for the preceding chicken, but roast them for 35 to 45 minutes in a 425°F oven, basting rapidly several times.
ROAST TURKEY. Count on ½ pound of turkey per serving, or 1 pound per person, with leftovers. Roast at 325°F (see box below for high-temperature roasting). Timing for unstuffed birds: 12 to 14 pounds, about 4 hours; 16 to 20 pounds, about 5 hours; 20 to 26 pounds, about 6 hours. Add 20 to 30 minutes in all for stuffed birds. Internal temperatures: 175°F at the thickest portion of the leg; 165°F in the breast; 160°F in the center of the stuffing. Stuffing amounts are ½ to ¾ cup per pound of turkey, making roughly 2 to 2½ quarts of stuffing for a 14-to-16-pound bird. I frankly prefer a flavoring in the cavity, as suggested for the roast chicken, rather than a stuffing, and I cook the stuffing separately. Make turkey stock with the neck and scraps, as for chicken stock. Save the liver, heart, and gizzard for giblet gravy (see box below). To prepare the turkey for roasting, cut out the wishbone and cut off the wing nubbins. Skewer the neck skin to the backbone, and skewer or sew the cavity closed or close it with foil. Rub the turkey with salt and vegetable oil. Roast breast up on an oiled rack, basting rapidly every 20 minutes or so. Start testing rapidly for doneness 20 minutes before the estimated roasting time—and note that a sure indication of approaching doneness is that turkey juices begin to exude into the pan.
WARNING: Do not stuff your turkey in advance, since the stuffing could start to sour and spoil inside the bird—goodbye, happy holidays.
DEFROSTING FROZEN TURKEY. Keep the turkey in its original wrapper. A 20-pound bird takes 3 to 4 days to defrost in the refrigerator, about 12 hours in a sinkful of water.
GIBLET GRAVY. Follow procedure for the simple sauce for meat and poultry, browning the chopped turkey neck and scraps as described. Peel the gizzard and add it to simmer with the rest of the ingredients, removing it after about an hour, or when it is tender. Mince it. Sauté the heart and liver briefly in butter, mince them, and add to the finished sauce along with the minced gizzard, simmering for several minutes and adding, if you wish, a spoonful or so of dry port or Madeira.
HIGH-TEMPERATURE ROASTING. In my system, you start the roasting at 500°F, and in 15 to 20 minutes, when the juices begin to burn, reduce the heat to 450°F. Add the chopped vegetables and 2 cups of water to the pan, pouring in a little more water now and then as needed to prevent burning and smoking. A 14-pounder will roast in about 2 rather than 4 hours. High heat makes a brown and juicy turkey, but you have little control in such a hot oven, and I think the slower, longer cooking produces a more tender bird.
Steam-Roasted Duck
This is one of my favorite recipes, where you not only get rid of excess fat, but you get delicious breast meat, tender thighs, and beautifully crisp brown skin. Note that you may complete the final roasting an hour or so after the second, or braising, step.
For a 5-to-5½-pound roaster duckling serving 4. Cut out the wishbone, and chop off the wings at the elbows. Salt the interior and rub outside and inside with cut lemon. Place breast-up on a rack over 1 inch of water in a heavy, covered casserole and steam for 30 minutes on top of the stove. Drain the duck, pour out steaming liquid (degrease and save for stock). Cover the rack with foil and set the duck breast-down on it. Strew around ½ cup each of chopped onions, carrots, and celery, pour in 1½ cups of red or white wine. Cover closely and bring to the simmer, then braise for 30 minutes in a 325°F oven. Finally set the duck breast-up on a rack in a shallow pan and roast 30 to 40 minutes more at 375°F, until the legs feel reasonably tender. The skin will be beautifully brown and crisp. Meanwhile, degrease the braising juices, mash the vegetables into them, and boil down rapidly until almost syrupy. Strain, and you will have just enough fragrant sauce to moisten each serving.
Steam-Roasted Goose
For a 9½-to-11-pound roaster goose serving 8 to 10. Use essentially the same system as for duck, but give it a trussing by running a skewer through the carcass at the shoulder to secure the wings in place, and another through the hips to secure the legs, then tie the drumstick ends together against the tailpiece. To aid in fat removal prick the skin with a sharp skewer around the lower breast and thighs. Count on about 1 hour for the first breast-up steaming, 1½ to 2 hours for the oven braising, and 30 to 40 minutes for the final oven browning. Make the braising liquid as for the duck, but with 2½ cups of wine or chicken stock. You may wish to thicken it lightly at the end by simmering it for a few minutes with 1½ tablespoons of cornstarch blended with ½ cup of dry port wine.
Roast Whole Fish
For bass, bluefish, char, cod, mackerel, salmon, trout, and others. This is one of the simplest and easiest ways to cook a fairly large whole fish, which roasts deliciously in its own juices. Timing in a 400°F oven for a 6-to-8-pound fish is 35 to 45 minutes; 4 to 6 pounds, 25 to 30 minutes; 2 to 4 pounds, 15 to 20 minutes. Scale and eviscerate the fish, remove the gills, and trim the tail and fins with scissors. Sprinkle salt and pepper in the cavity and tuck in a handful of fresh parsley sprigs or dill weed. Brush the outside of the fish with vegetable oil and set on an oiled baking sheet. Roast in the middle level of the preheated oven until you can smell the juices beginning to exude, meaning the fish is done—the back fin can be easily pulled out, and there will be no bloody tinge in the cavity. Serve with lemon, melted butter, a butter sauce, or hollandaise.
VARIATION
FOR SMALLER, MORE DELICATE FISH, LIKE TROUT AND SMALL MACKEREL. A 1-pound fish needs 15 to 20 minutes at 425°F. Prepare the fish as described, and brush it with oil or melted butter. Just before roasting, roll it in flour, shaking off excess, then roast it on an oiled baking sheet.
STEWING, BRAISING, AND POACHING
When food cooks in a liquid it is either stewed, braised, or poached. The first and simplest is the stew, typified by the pot-au-feu boiled dinner, where meat and aromatic vegetables simmer together in a big pot. Braising is more sophisticated, since the meat is first browned, then cooked in a fragrant liquid—beef bourguignon is the classic example here. Poaching is for fragile items like fillets of sole in white wine, where a small amount of liquid is at the barest simmer.
STEWING
MASTER RECIPE
Pot au Feu Boiled Dinner Serves 8
Cooking time: 2 to 4 hours, unsupervised.
2 quarts brown beef stock (and note that if you’re making a stock, the beef can cook along with it), or beef bouillon and water
Optional, for additional flavor: any beef bones and scraps, cooked or raw
1 large herb bouquet
Aromatic vegetables, roughly chopped: 3 large peeled carrots, 3 large peeled onions, 1 large washed leek, 3 large celery ribs with leaves
About 5 pounds boneless stewing beef (or sufficient bone-in meat), such as heel of the round, foreshank, neck pot roast, chuck, brisket, short ribs—all one kind or a mixture
Vegetable garnish suggestions, any or all of the following: 2 or 3 pieces each of turnips, parsnips, carrots, small white onions , cabbage wedges, boiling potatoes.
Bring the stock to the boil in a large pot with the optional bones and scraps, the herb bouquet, and the aromatic vegetables. Meanwhile, tie the meat into a neat shape with white cotton twine, and place it in the pot, adding water if necessary to cover by 1 inch. Bring to the simmer, skim off surface scum for several minutes, then cover the pot loosely and let simmer slowly until the meat is tender when pierced with a fork—cut off and eat a piece to be sure. If some pieces are done early, remove to a bowl and cover with a little of the cooking stock. When the meat is done, remove it from the pot, strain and degrease the cooking stock, correct seasoning, and return it to the pot with the meat. The stew will keep warm for a good hour before serving, or may be reheated, loosely covered.
Meanwhile, cook separately whatever vegetables you have chosen in a bit of the cooking stock, and when you are ready to serve, drain their cooking liquids into a saucepan. Then add a sufficient quantity of the cooking liquid to make a rich stock to serve with your pot au feu. Slice the meat, surround with the vegetables, and baste with the stock, pouring the rest into a sauceboat to pass at the table. Accompany, if you wish, with French cornichons, coarse salt, and horseradish sauce.
HERB BOUQUET. For a large herb bouquet, tie 8 parsley sprigs, 1 large imported bay leaf, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 4 whole cloves or allspice berries, and 3 large cloves of smashed unpeeled garlic together in washed cheesecloth. Sometimes the garlic should be omitted, and you can substitute celery leaves and/or split leeks.
VARIATIONS
OTHER MEATS. Include or substitute other meats in the stew, such as shoulder of pork or veal, or Polish sausage. Or you may wish to use a fine stewing hen, which you can include with the beef or cook separately, in this latter case using chicken rather than beef stock.
BLANQUETTE OF VEAL. For 4 to 5 pounds of real pale-pink special-fed veal cut into 2-inch chunks (a combination of boneless and bone-in chuck, shank, neck, and breast), serving 6 people. Simmering time: about 1½ hours. Bring the veal to the simmer for 2 to 3 minutes in a large pot of water until the scum ceases to rise. Drain. Wash off the veal and the pot, return veal to pot, then pour in veal, chicken, or turkey stock or canned chicken broth and water to cover by ½ inch. Add a large peeled and chopped onion, a peeled chopped carrot, a large chopped celery stalk, and a small herb bouquet minus garlic. Salt lightly, cover the pot loosely, and simmer about 1½ hours, until meat is fork-tender. Drain stock into a saucepan and return meat to pot. Degrease cooking liquid, and boil down rapidly until reduced to about 3 cups. Meanwhile, make a velouté sauce with 4 tablespoons butter, 5 tablespoons flour, and the cooking liquid, enriching it, if you wish, with a little cream. Simmer the veal to warm briefly in the sauce along with 24 small white-braised onions and ½ pound of small simmered mushrooms.
NOTE: “Real” veal is a calf either fed on mother’s milk or on milk by-products. “Free-range” veal, which is actually “baby beef,” produces an ugly gray-brown blanquette and an inferior sauce. It will, however, make an acceptable brown stew, using the following beef bourguignon system.
BLANQUETTE OF CHICKEN OR TURKEY. Use cut-up roasting or stewing chicken, or turkey parts, cooking them the same way.
BRAISING
In these recipes the meat is sautéed or browned before the actual cooking begins. Remember the rules for sautéing: the meat won’t brown unless you dry it, set the pan over high heat, and don’t crowd the meat in the pan.
MASTER RECIPE
Beef Bourguignon—Beef in Red Wine Sauce Serves 6 to 8
Cooking time: about 2½ hours.
Optional, but traditional for added flavor: 6 ounces blanched bacon lardons
2 to 3 Tbs cooking oil
About 4 pounds trimmed beef chuck, cut into 2-inch cubes
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 cups sliced onions
1 cup sliced carrots<
br />
1 bottle red wine (such as zinfandel or Chianti)
2 cups beef stock or canned beef broth
1 cup chopped tomatoes, fresh or canned
1 medium herb bouquet
Beurre manié for the sauce: 3 Tbs flour blended to a paste with 2 Tbs butter
For the garnish: 24 brown-braised small white onions and 3 cups sautéed quartered mushrooms
(If using lardons, sauté them to brown lightly in a little oil; set them aside and add to simmer with the beef, using the rendered fat in browning.) Choose a large frying pan and brown the chunks of meat on all sides in hot oil, season with salt and pepper, and turn them into a heavy casserole. Remove all but a little fat from the frying pan, add the sliced vegetables and brown them, and add to the meat. Deglaze the pan with wine, pouring it into the casserole along with enough stock almost to cover the meat. Stir in the tomatoes and add the herb bouquet. Bring to the simmer, cover, and simmer slowly, either on the stove or in a preheated 325°F oven, until the meat is tender—eat a little piece to check.