Mission: Cook! (6 page)
Insert the sugar thermometer into the mix and watch it until it reaches 170 degrees. Whisk in the yogurt and remove from the heat quickly, stirring the entire time.
Transfer the mix to a large bowl that fits on the electric mixer, and whip it until it gets very thick and cool, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
Wash your mixer blades, rinse in cool water, and dry them.
In another mixer bowl, combine the heavy cream with the remaining
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cup sugar and the Grand Marnier, and whip with the mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. Gently fold the cooled egg mixture and lemon juice into the whipped cream slowly.
Spoon the mixture into the soufflé dishes that you have already prepared, and place in the freezer until set (at least 4 hours or overnight), similarly to hard ice cream.
To prepare the fruit, mix all the ingredients together.
PRESENTATION
To present this dish, remove from the freezer about 15 minutes before service and slide the parchment paper away whilst the soufflé is still frozen. (A butter knife can be used to smooth the vertical edge if the soufflé becomes too mussed during the removal of the parchment paper.) Top with the berry mixture and sprinkle with cocoa powder using a sieve.
T
HERE ARE THEMES THAT RUN THROUGH THESE TWO STORIES THAT HAVE
meaning not only to me, because they recur over and over again in virtually every meal I have prepared, but, I think, to anybody who is interested in cooking and in cooking well.
I will start with the simple premise that food is one of the most important things in the world.
Eating is a requirement that is common to every living being on the planet, whether you are a huge Hollywood star, the Queen of England, or an evacuee stranded on a beach in South Yemen. Think of how quickly those people on that beach might have fallen into despair or disputation had they not been given a warm, sustaining meal. And how telling is it that the first stop after attaining the greatest honor that one's profession can offer, the Academy Award, is a party at which to share a drink and a bite to eat with your friends and admirers?
Food has the ability not only to nourish the body but also to inspire the soul! It can be as simple as a slice of warm bread from the oven covered in fresh creamery butter, or as sublime as a whisper of caviar on a dollop of toro tuna tartare. Getting it can be as easy as plucking a blackberry off a bush, or as difficult as delicately hand-extracting saffron threads from the heart of a crocus that does not even exist in nature and must be painstakingly cultivated by man.
The consumption of food goes far beyond mere nourishment. Sure, in the beginning, man got hungry, woman got hungry, saw berries on a bush or apples on a tree, as far back as the Garden of Eden, and ate them. The simple answer to the question “Why do we eat?” is “We eat to live.” The truth behind that answer is that most of us live to eat.
The most meaningful moments of our lives, great and small, are often planned around lunches, dinners, quick bites, and sumptuous banquets. Weddings, baptisms, funerals, retirements, award ceremonies, testimonialsâall are inevitably accompanied by food. Practically every romance starts with an invitation to lunch, dinner, or coffee. If you want to understand a country or a people, take a look at how they dine with one another. The great Jackie Mason once said, “When a Gentile says âlet's get coffee,' he wants a drink. When a Jew says âcoffee,' he means âcake'!” The immortal Brillat-Savarin famously said, “Show me what you eat and I'll show you what you are.”
Food has the power to bring us together with our friends, families, loved ones, and business associates, even across cultures and nationalities. What gesture is more universally acknowledged and gratefully accepted than that of sharing a meal with another human being? How much conflict might be avoided in the world if everybody simply had enough good food to eat? Where there is plenty, there is peace.
SERVES 6 TO 8
FOR THE PISTOU
1 or 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
½ cup (packed) basil leaves
4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
FOR THE SOUP
1½ cups fresh fava beans, shelled, or
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cup dried navy beans, soaked overnight
½ cup dried herbes de Provence
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 small leeks or 1 large leek, finely sliced
1 celery stalk, finely sliced
2 carrots, finely diced
2 small potatoes, finely diced
4 ounces green beans
5 cups water
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 small zucchini, finely chopped
3 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
1 cup shelled garden peas, fresh or frozen
A handful of spinach leaves, cut into thin ribbons
Sprigs of fresh basil to garnish
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
There is an old chestnut that makes a wry comment on the legendary Italian hospitality at the table and the habit of unannounced visitors and relatives it engenders right around suppertime. Mamma is in the kitchen stirring up the soup for dinner and Pappa looks out the window and sees his in-laws coming up the walk. He turns and shouts to the kitchen, “Mamma, you better add some-a water to the soup!”
This is a delicious, healthy, and bounteous soup, and it is easy to double the recipe for unannounced guests.
A Note on Pistou
“Pistou” sounds like, but is different from, “peace too.” (Although some peace would be nice, too.) It is a basil-garlic condiment.
To
make the pistou, put the garlic, basil, and Parmesan cheese in a food processor and process until smooth, scraping down the sides once. With the machine running, slowly add the olive oil through the feed tube. Or, alternatively, pound the garlic, basil, and cheese using a mortar and pestle and stir in the oil.
To make the soup, if using dried navy beans, place them in a saucepan and cover with water. Boil vigorously for 10 minutes and drain. Place the parboiled navy beans (or fresh fava beans, if using) in a saucepan with the herbes de Provence and one of the garlic cloves. Add water to cover by 1 inch. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer over medium-low heat until tender, about 10 minutes for fresh beans and about 1 hour for dried beans. Set aside in the cooking liquid.
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and add the onion and leeks. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion just softens. Add the celery, carrots, and the other garlic clove and cook, covered, for 10 minutes, stirring.
Add the potatoes, green beans, and water, then season lightly with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, skimming any foam that rises to the surface, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
Add the zucchini, tomatoes, and peas, together with the reserved beans and their cooking liquid, and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, or until all the vegetables are tender. Add the spinach and simmer for 5 minutes. Season the soup
with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Ladle into serving bowls and swirl a spoonful of pistou into each bowl. Garnish with basil and serve with a little grated Parmesan cheese.
A Note on Herbes de Provence
Herbes de Provence are dried herbs that typically grow wild in the south of France and traditionally include lavender, thyme, sage, rosemary, and sometimes basil.
F
OOD INSPIRES PASSION, AND I'M NOT JUST TALKING ABOUT APHRODISI
-acs, though there exists plenty of material on that subject. Why else would food inspire so much variety, experimentation, excitement, literature, film, television, creation, conversation, and obsession? My experience at the Academy Awards illustrates this point on a number of levels. Think of all the thought, creativity, and expertise that went into the making of the food for that event. Think of the knowledge and experience that each chef brought to the design and creation of his dishes, and of their collective dedication to flawless ingredients impeccably prepared and served. The passion was reciprocated by the diners. Who among us wouldn't want to partake of some or all of the items on that menu? That kind of passion draws people in, attracts them, no matter what station in life they may occupy.
My passion for food has taken me literally all over the world, from England to the Americas, the Far East, and beyond. It has opened doors for me through which few have passed. I have cooked for once and future kings and queens, prime ministers, and presidents, for shipmates, fellow travelers, and fellow cooks. Food can transport you even if you never leave your kitchen. Isn't the taste of lasagne Bolognese, shrimp étouffée,
phad nor mai,
or tarte tatin the next best thing to being in Emilia-Romagna, New Orleans, Phuket, or Marseilles?
Food provides
pleasure.
I would say to you that eating is and always has been one of the greatest sources of pleasure for the human animal. If you find yourself in the presence of a very small child (and if someone else hasn't already beaten you to it), take a tiny spoon and give him his very first taste of vanilla ice cream. Look at that face. Case closed. Giving pleasure to someone by presenting him/her with a beautiful meal, whether it's something new, bold, and exciting or an old, comfortable favorite, is about the best instant karma I know.
SERVES 6
FOR THE CAKE
1¼ cups granulated sugar
(¼ cup plus 1 cup measured separately)
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cups sifted cake flour
1½ cups egg whites from about 12 eggs, at room temperature
1¼ teaspoons cream of tartar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
FOR THE ICING
½ cup pure maple syrup; more as needed
1½ cups confectioners' sugar
EQUIPMENT
A mixer
One 9- or 10-inch tube pan or 6 miniature ones
A bottle on which to hang the cake upside down. (An unopened bottle of wine works great for this because its weight is heavy enough to hold the cake in its pan, and the neck of the bottle is narrow enough to fit the tube on the cake pan. Besides, it gives you a good excuse to go out and get a bottle of wine for dinner.)
With a nod to the Royal Family as well as to the exquisite maple syrups of Vermont, I present this very special angel food cake. A tiny wisp of this icing on the end of your finger can serve the same function as a tiny spoonful of vanilla ice cream for little angels.
Heat
the oven to 375 degrees. Sift ¼ cup of the granulated sugar together with the sifted cake flour 3 times to aerate the mixture. Gently set aside for the moment.
In a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, or using a hand mixer, whip the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and salt and continue whipping until soft peaks form. With the mixer running, gradually add the remaining 1 cup granulated sugar and continue whipping until the egg whites are stiff, about 30 seconds more.
Fold the sifted sugar and cake flour mixture into the beaten egg whites. Then fold in the vanilla and maple syrup.
Spoon the batter into an ungreased 9- or 10-inch tube pan or 6 miniature ones. Smooth the top with the back of the spoon. Bake until light golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool by hanging the cake (in the pan) upside down around the neck of a bottle until it cools to room temperature. Run a long, sharp knife blade around the cake to loosen it, then knock the cake out onto a plate. The outside crumb of the cake will remain in the pan, exposing the white cake underneath.
To make the icing, stir the syrup and confectioners' sugar together until smooth, adding more maple syrup if necessary. Pour over the top of the cake and spread with a spatula, letting the glaze trickle down the sides. Let set for at least 30 minutes, or until the icing is hard, before serving. Slice with a serrated knife, using a sawing motion.
A Note on Baking Ingredients
Cake flour is different from all-purpose flour. It is ground from specific grains to a specific fineness by people who know all about baking. Using such a flour for cakes will increase your chances of successfully producing the quality of cake we know as angel food. Cream of tartar, as a substance that causes leavening, must be fresh.
A Note on Using the Real Thing: Pure Vanilla and Pure Maple Syrup
Nowadays grocery stores are more apt to carry imitation vanilla extract made with artificially produced flavoring. The pancake syrup in supermarkets is often made of corn syrup and natural and artificial flavors.
Vanilla beans are obtained from vanilla orchids, which grow in Central America, Madagascar, and wild on the islands of Oceania. Vanilla beans must be cured and then tightly closed up so they will “sweat.” It's an expensive process, but the result is so good.
Pure maple syrup is made from the sap of North American sugar maple trees and it takes 30 to 50 gallons of the sap to produce 1 gallon of the syrup. So it, too, is precious. And there is nothing quite like it.
You deserve to use the real thing for your Windsor Angel Food Cake.