by Julia Child
Brocoli à la Polonaise
[Broccoli with Sautéed Bread Crumbs and Chopped Egg]
This more elaborate presentation of the brown butter sauce includes bread crumbs and sieved egg. You might serve it as a first course or in place of a salad. It would also go with plain broiled or roast chicken, chops, steak, hamburger, or broiled fish.
For 1 bunch (1½ to 2 lbs.) broccoli, serving 4 to 6
¼ lb. (1 stick) butter
A saucepan
An 8-inch frying pan
½ cup (lightly pressed) crumbs from fresh homemade-type white bread
Salt and pepper
1 hard-boiled egg
A sieve set over a bowl
Before cooking the broccoli (Master Recipe) melt the butter in the saucepan, skim off foam, and pour clear butter off milky residue and into frying pan. Stir in the bread crumbs and sauté over moderately high heat, stirring for several minutes until crumbs are lightly browned. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and set aside. Peel the hard-boiled egg, rub through sieve into bowl, and season with salt and pepper.
When broccoli is done, arrange on a hot serving dish and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Reheat the bread crumbs, mix in the sieved egg, strew over the broccoli, and serve immediately.
Broccoli with poached eggs
Omit the hard-boiled egg in the preceding recipe, and substitute one hot poached egg per person. When broccoli is cooked, arrange on hot serving dish and place hot poached eggs on top. Sprinkle the hot, browned bread crumbs over all and serve immediately.
Sauces to serve with plain boiled broccoli
Beurre au citron—A lemon-butter sauce, Volume I, page 98.
Sauce hollandaise, its variations with cream—sauce mousseline, or the orange-flavored variation—sauce maltaise, all of which are in Volume I, pages 79–83.
Cold boiled broccoli
Broccoli, peeled and blanched in the French manner, is delicious in cold vegetable combinations, accompanied by a vinaigrette or mayonnaise. So that it will retain all its fresh color and texture after cooking, spread it out on a clean towel as soon as you have removed it from the boiling water. When cold, refrigerate in a covered bowl.
BROCCOLI RECIPES THAT MAY BE PREPARED AHEAD
Brocoli Sautés à la Niçoise
[Broccoli Sautéed with Onions, Bacon, and Bread Crumbs]
Like the brocoli à la polonaise, this could well be a first course or served in place of the salad, or it could accompany poached or scrambled eggs, plain broiled chicken or fish, or pork or veal chops. In this recipe you may blanch the broccoli in advance, and sauté it just before serving.
For 1 bunch (1½ to 2 lbs.) broccoli
3 strips bacon
An 8-inch frying pan, no-stick recommended
⅓ cup (lightly pressed) crumbs from fresh homemade-type white bread
½ cup finely minced onions
3 Tb olive oil
1 large clove mashed garlic
The blanched broccoli
Salt and pepper
Before blanching the broccoli (Master Recipe) prepare the following garniture. Cook the bacon until lightly browned, and drain on paper towels; crumble when crisped and cool. Sauté the bread crumbs in the bacon fat, stirring, and when light brown scrape into a side dish. In the same pan, cook the onions in the olive oil for 8 to 10 minutes or more, until tender and translucent; stir in the garlic, and set pan aside.
Just before serving, reheat onions, add the cooked broccoli pieces, season lightly with salt and pepper, and toss and turn gently over moderately high heat, shaking and swirling the pan by its handle. When heated through, add browned crumbs and crumbled bacon, swirling and tossing for a moment more. Turn out onto a hot dish and serve immediately.
Brocoli Étuvés au Beurre
[Broccoli Braised in Butter]
When you cannot give broccoli last-minute attention you may blanch it until al dente, meaning not quite completely cooked, pack it into a casserole, and bake it with butter. It finishes cooking while you are having the first course, but do not leave it in the oven too long or it will lose its lovely fresh quality.
For 1 bunch (1½ to 2 lbs.) broccoli, serving 4 to 6
1 Tb soft butter
A 6-cup flameproof casserole or baking dish
The broccoli, blanched for 4 minutes only
Salt and pepper
4 to 5 Tb melted butter
A round of waxed paper
A cover for the casserole
Smear inside of dish with butter. Arrange cooked broccoli stalks in bottom of dish, season lightly and dribble on ⅓ of the butter. Arrange broccoli heads attractively on top, season, and dribble on the rest of the butter. Lay waxed paper on top and set aside until about 20 minutes before you are ready to serve. Preheat oven to 350 degrees in plenty of time. If casserole is heavy, heat on top of the stove. Cover, and set in middle level of oven until broccoli is bubbling hot. Serve as soon as possible, to preserve fresh taste and green color.
VARIATION
Brocoli Gratinés au Fromage or à la Milanaise
[Buttered Broccoli Gratinéed with Cheese]
Follow the preceding recipe but add ⅓ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese to the ingredients. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of cheese inside the buttered dish before arranging the broccoli on it, and sprinkle cheese over each layer of broccoli along with the butter. Cover and heat until bubbling in the oven, then set under a low broiler for a moment or two to brown cheese lightly.
Chopped Broccoli
Another solution for the chef-host-butler is to blanch the broccoli, cool it quickly, then chop it and reheat at leisure in one of the following ways.
SAUTÉ DE BROCOLI
[Chopped Broccoli Sautéed in Butter]
This very simple way with broccoli is also one of the most delicious, because the hot butter penetrates every surface. As well as being an almost all-purpose vegetable accompaniment, chopped sautéed broccoli may serve as a bed for poached fish fillets, poached eggs, chicken breasts, veal scallops, brains, or sweetbreads; these may then be sauced and, if called for, browned under the broiler.
For 1 bunch (1½ to 2 lbs.) fresh broccoli, serving 4 to 6
The broccoli, peeled, washed, and blanched as directed in the Master Recipe, but for 4 minutes only
Spread the blanched broccoli on a towel to cool. Then chop on a board with a big knife to make pieces between ⅛ and ¼ inch in size. If not to be cooked immediately, refrigerate in a covered bowl. (Makes about 2½ cups.)
3 to 4 Tb butter (2 to 3 Tb more if you wish)
A 10- to 12-inch frying pan, no-stick recommended
Salt and pepper to taste
Several minutes before serving, melt the butter in the frying pan over moderately high heat. When bubbling hot, pour in the chopped broccoli and immediately begin shaking and swirling the pan by the handle to toss the broccoli pieces in the butter until well heated through. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, toss a moment more, and turn into a hot dish. Serve immediately.
VARIATION
Brocoli Étuvés à la Crème
[Chopped Broccoli, Simmered in Cream]
Serve this tender, creamy broccoli dish with broiled or roast chicken, sautéed chicken breasts, veal scallops, brains or sweetbreads, or broiled or sautéed fish.
For 1 bunch (1½ to 2 lbs.) fresh broccoli, serving 4 to 6
The preceding recipe for blanched chopped broccoli sautéed in 3 Tb butter
1 cup heavy cream (a bit more if you wish)
2 tsp cornstarch in a 1 quart bowl
A wire whip
A rubber spatula
After the broccoli has been warmed in butter and seasoned, blend 2 tablespoons cream into the cornstarch. When smooth, blend in the rest and fold into the broccoli. Simmer, folding gently for 2 to 3 minutes, to cook starch and thicken cream. Taste for seasoning. Turn into a hot vegetable dish and serve immediately.
(*) AHEAD-OF-TIME NOTE: May be set aside and just heated through before servin
g.
Gratin de Brocoli, Mornay
[Chopped Broccoli Gratinéed with Cheese Sauce]
This is an especially good recipe to accompany roast turkey or chicken, and a boon for Thanksgiving because you may assemble the whole dish the day before and set it in the oven half an hour before serving. It also goes well with roast red meats, steaks, chops, and broiled fish or could be the hot entree at an informal luncheon where you were serving cold ham or poultry, or poached or shirred eggs.
For 1 bunch (1½ to 2 lbs.) fresh broccoli, serving 4 to 6
1) The broccoli and the cheese sauce
The peeled, blanched, and chopped broccoli sautéed in butter
4 Tb butter
3 Tb flour
1½ cups hot milk in a small saucepan (more if needed)
½ cup grated cheese, Parmesan and Swiss mixed (save 3 Tb for later)
A heavy-bottomed 2½-quart saucepan
A wooden spoon, wire whip, and rubber spatula
½ tsp salt or to taste
Big pinch white pepper
Prepare the broccoli and set aside. Make a white sauce as follows, starting with a butter and flour roux: Melt the butter in the saucepan, blend in the flour, and stir over moderate heat until flour and butter foam together for 2 minutes without browning at all. Remove from heat, and when roux stops foaming, vigorously blend in all of the hot milk at once with wire whip, beating until mixture is perfectly smooth. Return over moderately high heat, stirring with whip as sauce thickens and comes to the boil. Boil, stirring, for 2 minutes, and remove from heat. Let cool for a moment. Fold in all but 3 tablespoons of the cheese, and salt and pepper to taste.
2) Assembling the dish
A 6-cup baking dish about 2 inches deep
1½ Tb soft butter
Smear ½ tablespoon of butter inside the baking dish and spread 2 to 3 tablespoons of sauce in the bottom. Spread half the broccoli in the dish, and cover with half the sauce. (If sauce seems too thick for spreading, beat in a little more milk by spoonfuls.) Cover with the remaining broccoli and sauce; sprinkle the 3 tablespoons reserved cheese over the sauce. Dot with remaining butter.
(*) AHEAD-OF-TIME NOTE: Recipe may be completed to this point a day in advance. When cool, cover and refrigerate.
3) Baking—about 30 minutes at 375 degrees
About 30 minutes before serving, place broccoli in upper-third level of preheated oven and bake until bubbling hot and cheese has browned nicely on top. Do not overcook, or broccoli will lose its attractive flavor and texture. You may keep the dish warm for 15 minutes or so in turned-off oven or warming oven, but the sooner you serve it the better the flavor.
TIMBALES DE BROCOLI
[Broccoli Molds]
These are deep-dish custards that are unmolded for serving as first-course or luncheon dishes, or as an accompaniment to roast chicken or veal, broiled chicken, veal chops, or broiled fish. Use about 2½ cups peeled, blanched, and chopped broccoli in place of the zucchini (timbale de courgettes), or in place of the asparagus in Volume I, page 440.
EGGPLANT
Aubergines
Eggplant, like broccoli, is in season all year round, and is a marvelously versatile vegetable. National indifference to the eggplant, however, is so vast that our average per capita consumption amounts to only one modest serving once a year. Yet the eggplant has enormous potentialities besides French-frying, certainly the least interesting way of cooking this handsome vegetable. You may bake, broil, boil, sauté, stuff, soufflé, and gratiné eggplant, as well as serve it hot, cold, alone, or together with meat, fish, fowl, or other vegetables. Volume I contains a splendid eggplant stuffed with mushrooms, and moussaka and ratatouille, the first a marvelous mold of eggplant and lamb, and the second a Provençal casserole of eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, and onions. Here you will find it broiled, cold à la grecque with tomatoes and herbs, sautéed in various unusual forms, baked with meat, with cheese, and souffléed. Eggplant will also turn up in other parts of this book, as a filling, stuffing, or accompaniment to many a main dish.
HOW TO BUY EGGPLANT
Although you will occasionally see locally grown baby eggplant and small sizes, either round or egg-shaped, almost the entire large-scale commercially raised crop in this country consists of the big, dark-purple varieties weighing 1 to 2 pounds but going up even to 5 pounds. They are roundish, egg-shaped or bell-shaped, and half of all the harvest comes from Florida, whose climate and long growing season are ideal for eggplant.
Size is no signal of quality, because all eggplants are harvested when the fruit is still immature—the seeds sparse and soft, the flesh firm. When eggplants mature, the flesh softens, the seeds grow larger and tougher, and both seeds and flesh turn bitter.
When you are buying eggplants, therefore, look at each one carefully all over, which means that if they are packed in a plastic-covered carton you must open it up. Make sure that the skin is sleek and shiny, that it is taut over the flesh, that there are no pockmarks, brown spots, or wrinkles anywhere. Press each fruit gently all over to be sure the flesh is firm and resistant. Avoid any eggplant that is dull, wrinkled, blemished, or even slightly soft, because the flesh will have an off-flavor you can do nothing to correct.
STORING EGGPLANT
Unlike most other vegetables, eggplants store best at 45 to 50 degrees but even under these conditions the storage limit is only about 10 days. Unless you have a cold-room, therefore, buy eggplants only a day or two before you plan to cook them. In a cool kitchen, keep them in a plastic bag with a damp paper towel for humidity; in summer, you will have to refrigerate them. Under refrigeration, however, they will develop surface pitting and brown spots within 4 to 5 days, and begin to soften.
You may have wondered why a particular eggplant recipe sometimes comes off perfectly and at other times does not have the tender, delicious quality you remembered before. The answer is probably either that the eggplant was not really firm, fresh, and immature when you bought it, or that it had been kept too long under refrigerated storage.
PRELIMINARIES TO COOKING
Peeling, salting, blanching
Eggplant skin is edible when cooked long enough, as in a moussaka, gratinéed dish, or other recipe involving an hour in the oven. For the rapidly done sautés and for eggplant simmered à la grecque, cooking is so short that the skin remains rather tough and stringy.
Most recipes for eggplant direct that it be either macerated in salt or blanched in boiling salted water before the main cooking begins. There are three reasons for this. The first is to eliminate the slight bitterness usually present in even the youngest and freshest specimens, the second is to remove excess vegetable water that otherwise exudes during cooking, and the final one is to prevent the eggplant from absorbing too much oil or fat. You will find, in a comparison of sautés, that plain cubed eggplant will blot up 3 times more sautéing oil than blanched eggplant, that salted eggplant will use half as much as plain eggplant, and that blanched eggplant, which requires the least oil, will be the most tender of the three but have slightly less flavor. We therefore recommend salting in most recipes, and blanching only when we have found it is the best solution.
Salting, however, requires a wait of 30 minutes while the excess vegetable water slowly works its way out of the flesh, and if you are in a tearing hurry do not hesitate to blanch. To do so, drop the eggplant into salted boiling water after you have peeled and cubed or sliced it; boil slowly, uncovered, for 3 to 5 minutes or until it is almost tender but still holds its shape, then proceed with the recipe.
AUBERGINES EN TRANCHES, GRATINÉES
[Broiled Eggplant Slices]
Broiling and sautéing are by far the easiest ways of cooking eggplant, and thick slices of broiled eggplant are attractive to serve. Actually, the following recipe is a combination of baking, to soften the eggplant, then broiling, with a topping of tomatoes and bread crumbs. Serve with steaks, chops, roast lamb, broiled fish or chicken, or as a garnish with poached, scrambled, or fried
eggs.
For 4 people
1) Salting the eggplant
2 to 2½ lbs. fresh, shiny, firm, unblemished eggplant
A large tray
1½ tsp salt
Paper towels
Cut off cap, shave nubbin off bottom, and wash the eggplant (or eggplants), but do not peel. You are now to cut the eggplant into slices all somewhat the same dimension, 3 to 4 inches long, 2 inches wide, and ½ to ¾ inch thick. If you have large ones, for instance, cut the center slices into 4, other sizes into 3 or 2. Arrange on tray. Sprinkle salt on both sides and let sit for 20 to 30 minutes. Drain and press dry with paper towels.
2) Preliminary baking of the eggplant—oven preheated to 400 degrees
½ to ⅔ cup olive oil
Either 1 or 2 cloves mashed garlic;