Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 2

by Julia Child

  Saucisson en Croûte

  [Sausage Baked in Plain Pastry or in Puff Pastry]

  Equally delicious, though naturally different in texture, is any one of the suggested sausages poached in bouillon, peeled, and baked in plain pie crust dough or in that wonderfully high-rising flaky dough known as French puff pastry. Use the pâte brisée à l’oeuf, or the demi-feuilletée. Form the dough around the sausage as described in the free-form system, Master Recipe. Paint top with beaten egg, press on decorative pastry cutouts, and bake exactly as described in the Master Recipe. (Illustrated directions for decorating this type of pastry are in Volume I, pages 574–5.)

  CAILLETTES—GAYETTES

  [Pork and Liver Sausages with Greens]

  These hearty green and brown sausages are made in the countryside where hogs are slaughtered, and the farmer uses every edible morsel for some specialty. His recipe usually includes lungs and spleen as well as the heart and liver we have specified, and, if he lives in Provence, he puts in plenty of garlic. Swiss chard (blettes) is the preferred green, but because it is not always to be had in this country, we have suggested kale or collards (chou vert non-pommé) and spinach as substitutes. Traditionally the sausages are formed into cushion or dumpling shapes 2 to 3 inches in diameter, wrapped in caul fat, and baked in a big pottery dish. You may also form them like regular sausages, like sausage cakes, or turn the whole mixture into a meat loaf. (NOTE: flavor will improve if you can make the mixture a day before cooking.)

  Serve with mashed or scalloped potatoes and broiled tomatoes, or an eggplant and tomato casserole, or the ratatouille in Volume I, page 503, or simply a green salad and French bread. A rosé wine or a domestic red would go nicely.

  For 6 cups of sausage mixture, making a dozen sausages

  1) The greens

  1 cup minced onions

  2 Tb pork fat or olive oil

  A heavy-bottomed saucepan with cover

  Either 1½ to 2 pounds fresh Swiss chard, kale, collards, or spinach;

  Or 1½ packages frozen greens defrosted in a basin of cold water

  A large kettle of boiling salted water

  The large bowl of an electric mixer, or 3-quart mixing bowl

  Cook onions and oil in covered pan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or so, until tender and translucent. Meanwhile, pick over fresh greens, wash thoroughly, and if you have chard use both the green leaves and the white stems; drop into boiling water and boil uncovered until wilted and just edibly tender—1 minute for spinach, 5 or more for other greens. Drain immediately, refresh in cold water, and drain again. (Fresh and defrosted greens may now be treated alike.) A smallish handful at a time, squeeze to extract as much water as possible; chop roughly with a big knife. You should have about 1½ cups. Stir into the onions, raise heat, and stir for several minutes to evaporate excess moisture. Scrape into mixing bowl.

  2) The sausage mixture

  Either 1½ lbs. (3 cups) fat-and-lean fresh pork shoulder butt;

  Or ¾ lb. lean pork from fresh ham or loin, and ¾ lb. fresh pork fatback or fat trimmed from outside loin

  Either ½ lb. (1 cup) fresh liver (pork, lamb, or beef) and ¼ lb. (½ cup) heart (pork, lamb, or calf);

  Or liver only

  1 Tb salt

  Either ¾ tsp épices fines, ¼ tsp pepper and ¼ tsp savory;

  Or ⅛ tsp allspice, ⅛ tsp mace, ⅛ tsp bay leaf, ¼ tsp savory, and ½ tsp pepper

  Optional: 1 or more cloves of garlic, finely minced or mashed

  Put meat, fat, and liver once through the coarsest blade of the meat grinder, or chop by hand into ¼-inch pieces. Add to bowl along with the seasonings, and mix thoroughly by electricity or by hand. Sauté a small spoonful until thoroughly cooked, taste, and correct seasoning if necessary. (Whether you form the sausages now or later, their flavor will improve if you wait 24 hours before cooking.)

  (*) STORAGE NOTE: May be refrigerated for 2 to 3 days; may be frozen for a month or two.

  3) Forming and cooking

  Caul fat. Form sausage mixture into a dozen balls or cylindrical shapes, wrap in caul fat, arrange in one layer in a greased baking dish, and baste with melted lard or butter. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes in the upper third of a preheated 375-degree oven until nicely browned.

  Sausage casings. Form in sausage casings, prick in several places with a pin, and either bake as described in preceding paragraph or poach in almost simmering water for 5 minutes, then brown in a frying pan.

  Sausage cakes. Form into sausage cakes with dampened hands. Just before cooking, dredge lightly in flour; sauté slowly in lard or cooking oil for 6 to 8 minutes on each side until nicely browned.

  Meat loaf. (This is particularly recommended when you want something to serve cold.) Either grease a 6-cup loaf pan or baking dish and pack the sausage mixture into it; or form the mixture into a loaf shape, wrap in caul fat, and place on a greased baking dish. Bake in upper third of a preheated 375-degree oven, basting several times with melted fat for an hour or more, or until juices, when meat is pricked deeply, run clear yellow with no trace of rosy color (180 to 185 dgrees on a meat thermometer).

  VARIATION

  Les Tous Nus—Quenelles de Boeuf Provençales

  [Provençal Sausages of Leftover Braised Beef and Greens]

  The naked ones, les tous nus, are sausages without casings, and a Provençal specialty. These are formed by hand, rolled in flour, and dropped for a moment in boiling water before they are baked in a shallow dish with a spicy tomato sauce. They are so fragrant and appetizing that you will find yourself braising beef just as an excuse for making les tous nus with the leftovers.

  For about 4 cups, serving 4 to 6 people

  1) The sausage mixture

  1 cup blanched and squeezed greens

  ¼ cup minced onions cooked with 2 Tb olive oil

  2 cups ground cooked beef, preferably braised

  Optional, to flavor boiled or roast beef: ¼ cup raw sausage meat and 1 Tb Cognac

  1 tsp salt

  Either ¼ tsp épices fines;

  Or allspice and mace

  ¼ tsp savory or oregano

  ¼ tsp pepper

  Big pinch of Cayenne or drops of Tabasco

  2 large cloves of garlic, minced or puréed

  ⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese

  ¼ to ⅓ cup beaten egg (1 to 2 eggs)

  (If you have chard, use green leaves only.) Blanch, squeeze, and chop the greens as described in Step 1 of the preceding recipe, and cook with the onions 2 to 3 minutes until all liquid has evaporated; greens must be as dry as possible. Blend them in a large mixing bowl with the beef, seasonings, and cheese. Beat in 3 tablespoons of egg; beat in driblets more egg, moistening only enough so that mixture will hold its shape for forming. Sauté a spoonful and taste; correct seasoning as necessary.

  2) Forming the sausages

  1 cup flour on a large tray

  A large frying pan full of boiling water

  A skimmer

  A rack, or paper towels on a tray

  1 or 2 shallow, greased baking dishes

  2 to 3 cups good tomato sauce, or Volume I, pages 76 or 78

  ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

  1 to 2 Tb olive oil

  Take up a 3-Tb gob of the mixture and roll into a sausage shape ¾ inch in diameter; roll in flour and set aside. When all the sausages are formed, drop half into the boiling water, bring back to the simmer for ½ minute. Dip out onto rack and continue with the rest. Arrange closely together in baking dish or dishes. Pour over the tomato sauce, which should barely cover them. Sprinkle on the cheese and dribble the oil over it.

  (*) AHEAD-OF-TIME NOTE: May be completed a day in advance to this point.

  3) Cooking the sausages—oven preheated to 425 degrees

  About 30 minutes before serving, bring to simmer on top of stove, then set in upper third of oven until sauce has browned and crusted lightly on upper part of sausages, and is bubbling underneath.

  Var
iations

  Like the caillette mixture in the Master Recipe, Step 3, the tous nus mixture may also be formed in caul fat or sausage casings, or may become sausage cakes or meat loaf.

  JAMBON PERSILLÉ AND HOME-CURED PORK

  Jambon persillé is the traditional Easter ham of Burgundy. Simmered in wine, then cut up or shredded and packed into a big bowl between layers of chopped parsley, aspic, and seasonings, each slice when served is beautifully patterned with wavy lines of bright green. It is a marvelous dish for cold lunches, supper parties, and receptions. The real Burgundian recipe is made with salt-cured ham, known in France as jambon demi-sel; this is the same process used in America for the dry-curing of salt pork. Although you may certainly use regular ham for the dish, the salt cure is so easy—all you need is 2 weeks of refrigerator space for the large bowl that holds the meat—we highly recommend that you try it. It is not only that you will have the authentic meat for jambon persillé, but also that you can cure a loin of pork for chops or roasting, since salted pork makes a delicious change from ordinary pork and is broiled or roasted in exactly the same way. At the same time, if you can find any hog jowls or bellies, you can also make your own salt pork.

  SALAISON À SEC

  [Home Dry-curing of Pork]

  The object of curing pork is not only to preserve it but to give it that special maturity of taste that only comes through salting. For our purposes here, we are more concerned with taste than with preservation. There is no need for brines, vats, and smokehouses, only for saltpeter, sugar, spices, and salt. Saltpeter imparts an attractive rosy color to the meat, sugar develops its flavor and counteracts the drying effects of saltpeter, spices play their habitual role, and salt preserves the meat while it matures. The following 15-day cure is for the boned fresh ham or shoulder that may be used for jambon persillé, and for loin roasts and salt-pork cuts; these are all pieces, in other words, that are no thicker than 4 to 5 inches.

  TEMPERATURE FOR CURING

  Curing should take place at around 38 degrees Fahrenheit, which is the range of most refrigerators. At temperatures over 40 degrees, the meat may spoil before the salt can penetrate, and at below 36 degrees the salt penetration is too much slowed down.

  THE MEAT AND ITS PREPARATION FOR THE CURE

  For jambon persillé you may use either fresh ham (leg of pork) or fresh shoulder-arm; shoulder is usually cheaper and weighs around 6½ pounds, or half as much as a ham. Many markets do not carry either of these fresh pork cuts, and you will have to order them. Before curing, remove the rind, which is to be cured and cooked along with the meat, and slice off as much fat from rind and outside of meat as you easily can; bone the meat as neatly as possible so that you do not end up with any more small pieces of meat than necessary. Render the fat, if you wish, and use it for general cooking. Simmer the bones with vegetables and herbs as for an ordinary meat stock, and store in the freezer until it is finally time to cook the meat. If you want to add a loin roast of pork to the cure, bone it or not, as you choose, and slice off all but a ⅛-inch layer of covering fat. Pork jowls, belly, and fatback are cut into whatever sizes you find convenient, and are cured as is, with the rind left on.

  Note on meat-to-bone ratios

  The amount of usable meat you will get from a bone-in fresh ham or shoulder-arm is roughly 60 per cent. In other words, a 6½-pound shoulder-arm will yield approximately 4½ pounds of meat, which, when cooked and trimmed, usually amounts to 6 cups.

  Dry-salt cure for 10 pounds of pork

  10 lbs. fresh pork prepared as described in preceding paragraph (include rind if making jambon persillé)

  A glazed or enameled bowl or casserole large enough to hold meat closely packed

  1½ cups salt (sea salt, coarse salt, or table salt)

  ¼ cup sugar

  1 tsp saltpeter (potassium nitrate from a pharmacy)

  1½ tsp crushed juniper berries

  Either 1½ tsp épices fines;

  Or ¾ tsp white pepper, ¼ tsp allspice, and ¼ tsp each: pulverized thyme and bay leaf

  A bowl to mix salt and spices in

  A large tray to salt meat on

  Plastic wrap, a large plate, and a 7- to 10-pound weight, meat grinder, brick, stone, or other heavy object

  Prepare the pork as described and be sure curing bowl is the right size. Stir the salt and other ingredients thoroughly in the small bowl and divide in two, reserving ½ for later salting. Starting with the largest pieces of meat, rub salt thoroughly into all sides, corners, and crevices. Pat a 1⁄16-inch layer over meat and pack into bowl. Continue with the smaller pieces and end with the rind, if you are using it, placing it fat side down over the meat. Cover meat with plastic wrap, plate, and weights. Refrigerate (or place in cold room) at 36 to 40 degrees for 5 days. Then remove meat, leaving accumulated brine in bowl, resalt with reserved mixture, and return to bowl with plastic, plate, and weight on top. Refrigerate for 10 days more, turning meat once or twice to be sure everything is well salted; meat is then ready to use.

  (*) STORAGE NOTE: Meat may remain in cure for 6 to 8 weeks in all, but be sure all pieces are well covered with salt.

  COOKING NOTE: Salted meat must be de-salted before cooking—soak in several changes of cold water overnight if cured 15 days, 24 hours if cured several weeks.

  JAMBON PERSILLÉ

  [Mold of Parslied Ham in Aspic]

  As described in the introduction to this section, jambon persillé is a Burgundian creation. Inevitably when dealing with well-known regional specialties, there are dozens of variations and minor versions, and always hundreds of very definite opinions on how to conduct each step. Among the considerable number of serious and trustworthy formulas we have studied, this is the one we prefer.

  A NOTE ON STORE-BOUGHT HAM

  If you are not using home-cured ham, buy 6½ to 8 pounds of bone-in, ready-to-bake, mild-cured smoked ham or picnic shoulder. Omit Step 1, proceeding directly to the simmering in Step 2; skin and bone the ham after cooking.

  For 2½ to 3 quarts of ham, serving 12 to 16

  1) Soaking the ham—12 to 24 hours

  4 to 6 pounds of boned, home-salted fresh ham or shoulder-arm, and the salted ham rind (preceding recipe; or see preceding note)

  Soak the ham and the rind in a large basin of cold water, changing water 2 to 3 times. Overnight is enough for ham cured about 15 days; soak for 18 to 24 hours if ham has cured longer. (Soaking removes the preserving salt, not the flavor.)

  2) Simmering the ham

  A kettle just large enough to hold ham comfortably

  Either 1 bottle best quality, young, strong, dry white wine (Côtes du Rhône or Pinot Blanc);

  Or 3 cups dry white French vermouth

  3 cups bouillon (made from fresh ham bones, or a mixture of beef and chicken bouillon)

  Necessary water

  1 tsp thyme, 2 Tb tarragon, 4 allspice berries, 2 imported bay leaves, and 2 large cloves of garlic tied in washed cheesecloth

  1 large onion, roughly chopped

  1 medium carrot, roughly chopped

  1 celery stalk

  Place soaked ham (and rind) in kettle, add wine, bouillon, and enough water to cover by an inch. Add rest of ingredients listed, bring to the simmer, and skim for several minutes until scum ceases to rise. Cover partially and maintain at the simmer until ham is tender when pierced with a sharp knife (about 2 hours for boned, home-cured ham). Let ham cool in liquid an hour or two.

  While still warm, remove rind from kettle (or from bone-in ham), scrape off and discard as much fat as possible, and purée rind through coarse disk of food mill or fine blade of meat grinder; reserve in a 1-quart bowl. Tear ham apart with your fingers, discarding fat and gristle. Cut ham into pieces about ½ inch thick and 1½ to 2 inches square, and place in a 2-quart bowl along with any meat scraps. Moisten with a tablespoon or so of cooking stock, and set aside. Thoroughly degrease cooking stock, boil down rapidly to concentrate flavor if necessary, and correct seasoning.

  3) The
aspic—for about 4 cups

  5 cups thoroughly degreased ham-cooking stock in a saucepan

  2 to 3 egg whites (½ cup)

  Optional for added flavor: ½ to 1 cup minced green tops from leeks or scallions

  2 packages (2 Tb) powdered unflavored gelatin

  Following directions in Volume I, pages 111–13, clarify the cooking stock with the egg whites, add optional greenery, strain, and then dissolve the gelatin in it.

  4) The parsley and aspic flavoring

  The bowl of puréed rind

  1 cup (lightly pressed) chopped fresh parsley

  1 clove of garlic, mashed

  1 Tb dried tarragon or 3 Tb fresh minced tarragon leaves

  1 Tb wine vinegar

  Salt and pepper to taste

  1 cup of the aspic, cool but not set

  Mix all ingredients except the aspic in the bowl, and just before assembling the ham in Step 5, stir in the cup of aspic. (You will have 2 to 2½ cups when all is blended.)