The closest I ever got to career planning was on a plane flying from Chicago, bound for London on a January evening. I had already taken the first step; I had enrolled at the Cordon Bleu Cookery School as it was known then. I had taken a year's worth of French classes on my lunch hour so I would know how to pronounce all the French cooking terms I was about to learn without embarrassing myself. I had learned to say "blur" instead of blue for the word "bleu." I had packed well for an English winter. The requisite rain gear and lots of wool filled my suitcases.
After my delicious airplane dinner (the dessert was something I had never seen before or since, fortunately), I pulled my journal out of my carry-on bag and began to write about what I wished would happen to me. I had left my job as a researcher in Chicago because I was more interested in the food pages of the New York Times than in the business section. I couldn't wait to begin my adventure. As soon as I had slept off the jag lag, I went to look at the Cordon Bleu. Just look, I couldn't bring myself to go inside before my appointed day and time.
It wasn't what I expected, but I didn't really know what that was. Now, the school is all state-of-the-art and called Le Cordon Bleu, but then it was charmingly old-fashioned. It gave me a glimpse into a world that an average American visitor would never see. It was very English upper class, but real-life upper class, not like a public tour of a stately home. Half of my class was filled with girls completing their educations in a finishing school manner. The other half was filled with those like me, changing or advancing their careers.
The kitchens were the biggest surprise. There were two rows of compact kitchens, with eight students per row. Each team of two students had two gas burners and two electric. Naturally, we all fought for those gas burners. We had two ovens and not an overstock of equipment, but enough to do everything. I didn't know it at the start, but the situation taught me how to cook anywhere. While we had a thorough grounding in classic French cuisine, we also learned about traditional British food and even got some American recipes, some of which we natives hardly recognized!
Oh yes, back to my journal. I wrote that I wanted to teach at the Cordon Bleu after finishing my course, and then go on to write about food for a magazine, preferably one in London. I didn't really want to go home right away. Little did I know that I wouldn't go home for good for 10 years. Did my wishes actually come true? They did, but I never knew if that was due to planning, positive thinking or precognition. I didn't teach at the Cordon Bleu or get a magazine job right away. I had to go out into the wide world first and just begin.
The Recipes:
Poisson Veronique - serves 4
A recipe with Veronique in the title usually includes green grapes. The sauce is a classic veloute, and with a flour and butter roux to thicken the liquid. Known as a blond roux, the flour-butter mixture is meant to be cooked to a pale straw color, just sort of beige. One of the little hints I learned was that when the roux is still hot, cold liquid should be added to it. When the roux is made in advance and is cold, hot liquid is what's needed. Both methods prevent lumps, although whisking like mad doesn't hurt either.
For the classic recipe, the grapes would be peeled, but if you have ever done that, you will know why I've left that out of my recipe! Any white fish fillets will work for this, although I've never used cod. If you would rather have chicken, substitute 4 skinless, boneless breasts and call the dish Supremes de Volaille Veronique.
3 1/2 tbsps butter
3 tbsps all-purpose flour
1 1/2 lbs white fish fillets (flounder, orange roughy, sea bass, tilapia, or halibut)
1 cup dry white wine
1 1/4 cups water
1/4 cup cream or half and half
Salt and white pepper
Lemon Juice
16 seedless green grapes, washed and halved
Chopped fresh parsley
Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan and stir in the flour until smooth. Cook over low heat, whisking continuously until the roux turns to a pale straw or beige color. Don't let the roux brown. Set the roux aside. Preheat oven to 325 F. Place the fish in an ovenproof dish and pour over the wine and water. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Cover with foil and bake about 10 minutes for thin fillets or up to 20 minutes for thicker fillets, like sea bass. Chicken breasts will take at least 20 minutes or until juices run clear when a skewer is inserted into the thickest part.
Remove fish or chicken from the dish, cover and keep warm. Strain the cooking liquid into the pan with the roux. Whisk until smooth and cook over moderate heat, whisking constantly, until thickened. Add the cream or half and half, salt and pepper to taste. Add a little lemon juice and the grapes. Heat gently. Transfer fish or chicken to a serving dish and pour over the sauce. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.
Barbecued Chicken - serves 4
This is a British version of BBQ sauce that makes chicken breasts ready for the dining room rather than the deck. You can use this for basting chicken on an outdoor grill, but the original version is definitely an indoor recipe.
1 lb tomatoes, skinned and chopped
4 Roma tomatoes, skinned, seeded and diced
2 stalks of celery, chopped
2 thin slices of lemon
2 1/2 tbsps vinegar
2 tbsps tomato ketchup
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
4 tbsps olive oil
1 tsp dried rosemary or thyme
Salt and pepper
To skin tomatoes, bring water to the boil and have a bowl of ice water ready. Cut a cross in the rounded end of each tomato. Place in boiling water for 8 - 10 seconds. Remove and place in ice water. The peel should loosen easily starting at the cross on each tomato. For the Romas, cut peeled tomatoes in half and scoop out the seeds. A melon baller work well for this. Cut the flesh into 1/4 - inch dice and set aside.
Combine the other chopped tomatoes, celery, lemon slices, vinegar, ketchup and Worcestershire sauce in a saucepan. Bring to the boil then simmer gently, partially covered, for 20 minutes. When the vegetables and lemon slices are completely soft, strain the sauce, pressing with the back of a spoon to extract all the juices. Season with salt and pepper to taste. The sauce should coat the back of a spoon fairly thickly. If it doesn't, simmer the strained sauce until thickened.
Mix olive oil, herbs and a pinch of salt and pepper. Brush over both sides of the chicken. Broil chicken on both sides, about 6 - 8 inches away from the heat for about 15 minutes per side or until juices run clear when a skewer is inserted into the thickest part. Reheat the sauce and spoon over the chicken. Garnish with the diced tomatoes.
Brownies - makes 16
Wednesday afternoons were always reserved for baking at the Cordon Bleu. This is their recipe for an American favorite. Demerara cane sugar is available in supermarkets now on this side of the Atlantic, but look for the finer granulated kind for this recipe . If you want a bit of the whole grain, try wholewheat pastry flour; it's lighter than plain wholewheat flour.
2 oz unsweetened chocolate
1/2 stick plus 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1 cup demerara cane sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 cup walnuts or pecans, roughly chopped
Confectioner's sugar
Preheat oven to 350 F. Chop the chocolate and put into a saucepan with the butter and melt over low heat. Whisk eggs and sugar together and whisk in the chocolate mixture. Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt. Fold into the chocolate mixture with a rubber spatula and fold in the nuts. Do not over mix; this tends to develop the gluten in the flour and makes the brownies tough. Spray an 8-inch baking pan with cooking oil. Spread in the brownie mixture. Bake for 25 minutes or until a crust has formed on top and the edges pull away slightly from the pan. Do not over-bake. Cool slightly then cut into 2-inch squares. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar. Serve when cooled.
Eve's Pudding - serves 4 - 6
While there is no dessert more English than a steamed pudding, this is not the weather for one. The last thing anyone wants at this time of year is a pot of water boiling on the cook top for 2 or 3 hours. As anyone who has watched PBS over the years or BBC America now will know, a dessert in the U.K. is referred to as a pudding. This is more like a pudding cake and has a layer of apples on the bottom, hence its name. You can make it in advance and reheat it or serve it cold.
Bottom layer:
Zest and juice of one lemon (be sure to grate the zest before squeezing the juice)
1 lb apples (choose ones like Granny Smith that hold their shape when cooked)
1/4 - 1/2 cup fine demerara cane sugar
1/2 cinnamon stick
Topping:
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup fine demerara cane sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
Set aside the lemon zest to use later. Measure the lemon juice and add enough water to make 1/3 cup. Peel, core and thinly slice the apples. Place them in a saucepan with about 3 tbsps of the lemon juice-water mixture, 1/4 cup sugar and the 1/2 cinnamon stick. Cook slowly until the apples are soft, but holding their shape. Add more sugar if needed and the remaining lemon juice-water if the mixture is too dry. Remove the cinnamon stick and place apples in a greased ovenproof baking dish.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the lemon zest and the eggs one at a time. If the mixture looks a little curdled, this won't affect the taste, but fold in a little of the flour until it looks smoother. Mix remaining flour with the baking powder and salt and fold in until the mixture is thick, but will drop from a spoon easily when you shake it. Add a little milk or water if the mixture is too thick.
Spread mixture over the apples and bake for about 35 - 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the topping comes out clean. Serve with whipped cream, ice cream or plain.
Next time: Queen of the Condiments
