French Recipes: Light Entrées

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From Recipes of All Nations by Countess Morphy, 1936.

Light entrées

The French are very fond of these light entrées, and often they constitute the principal dish of their middle day meal. They have innumerable entrées and petits plats, and English cooks would do well to learn some of them, and not inflict roast or boiled joints and plain boiled vegetables and puddings on us year in and year out.

Le Godiveau

(Force-meat balls)

This is an essentially Parisian entrée, and the same ingredients are used for the delicious quenelles which garnish vol-au-vents and other dishes.

Ingredients: For about 30 godiveau — 1/4 lb. of fillet of veal, 6 ozs. of beef-kidney fat, which should be quite dry, 2 eggs, 6 tablespoons of milk, 1/2 oz. of butter, 1 oz. of flour, salt and pepper.

Method: The godiveau force-meat should be prepared several hours, or even the day before it is wanted, as it is then easier to handle. Take off the skin and any fibres from the kidney fat, and break it up in small pieces. Cut the veal in small pieces, put it through the mincer, then pound it in a mortar with the salt and pepper. Remove from the mortar, and pound the kidney fat. Have ready a paste made by putting the butter in a saucepan with the milk. When boiling fast, remove from the fire, and add the flour, stirring well. Replace on the fire, and cook till the mixture is very thick. When cold also pound this in a mortar. Now put all three ingredients back in the mortar, pound together, then add 1 whole egg, well beaten, continue pounding, then add the other egg.

When the mixture is perfectly smooth, rub through a sieve and put it on a dish, spreading it in a thin layer. Cover with buttered paper and let it stand in a cool place. Then shape into small balls, about the size of a golf ball, and either poach in boiling water or stock, or else put on buttered paper in a very moderate oven for 10 minutes.

Les Pieds de Veau a la Sainte-Menehould

(Calves’ feet a la Sainte-Menehould)

This is a simple recipe, very popular all over France.

Ingredients: The number of calves’ feet required, yolk of egg, 2 tablespoons of salad oil, white breadcrumbs, salt and pepper.

Method: With a sharp knife split the calves’ feet, which should have been thoroughly cleaned and scalded, tie with string and either boil or braise them. When done, let them stand till cold. Then dip them in the beaten yolks of 2 eggs, mixed with the salad oil, coat evenly with fine white breadcrumbs to which salt and pepper have been added, and grill till they are a golden brown.

Les Cépes a la Bordelaise

(Cépes a la Bordelaise)

The cépe is a fungus, very popular in France, and although it grows in England it is very little known and difficult to procure in this country. But large mushrooms are equally nice done in this way.

Ingredients: A few cépes or large mushrooms, 1 large shallot or 2 small ones, 1/2 clove of garlic, a few sprigs of chopped parsley, salt, pepper and salad oil.

Method: Peel the cépes or mushrooms carefully and put them in a deep frying pan of hot oil with the stalks upper-most, Cook for about 10 minutes, then turn them and cook slowly for another 5 or 8 minutes till they are tender. When they are half done, add the chopped shallots, garlic, and season well with salt and pepper. Serve on a very hot dish, pour a little of the hot oil, shallots and garlic over them and sprinkle with the parsley.

Les Rillons de Tour

(Potted pork)

Ingredients: 1 lb. of lean pork and 1 lb. of fat pork, spices, salt and pepper.

Method: Cut both the lean and fat pork into small pieces, and cook very slowly in a saucepan for 3 to 4 hours, with 2 or 3 tablespoons of water, the spices and the salt and pepper. When done, drain well and put through the mincer, then rub through a sieve. Put the rillons in little pots and cover with warm clarified fat. They will keep for some time in a cool place.

Artichauts Farcis á la Barigoule

(Stuffed artichokes á la barigoule)

This tasty dish, so popular throughout France, is of ancient origin, and is mentioned in a French cookery book dated 1750. The word “barigoule” is the local name in Provençe of a certain kind of mushroom.

Ingredients: For six people — 6 globe artichokes of equal size. For the stuffing — 1/2 lb. of mushrooms, 1 ½ ozs. of chopped onion, ½ oz. of chopped shallots, 1 yolk of egg, a little garlic (optional), 4 ozs. of grated bacon fat, 1 oz. of butter, 2 tablespoons of oil, 6 thin rashers, salt and pepper. For braising — a few rashers of fat bacon, 3 or 4 carrots, 3 or 4 onions, mixed herbs, a glass of white wine, 3/4 of a pint of stock, preferably veal stock, a sprinkling of flour.

Method: Remove some of the large, coarse leaves from the artichokes, and nip off the ends of the remaining leaves with a sharp pair of scissors. Blanch the artichokes in a large saucepan of boiling salted water for not longer than ten minutes. Drain thoroughly on a colander. Carefully remove the centre leaves, and with a small sharp knife remove the choke, and put a spoonful of the following stuffing in each: Melt a little butter in a saucepan, add a few tablespoons of stock, and cook the finely chopped mushrooms with the salt pork, which should have been minced. Mix all thoroughly. Add the yolk of an egg, the shallot and garlic, and season with salt and pepper.

When the artichokes are stuffed, put a rasher of bacon over each and tie with a piece of string. Put some rashers of fat bacon in a large saucepan, over them put the sliced vegetables, and place the artichokes on these. Add the stock and the white wine, and season with salt and pepper. Cover the saucepan and simmer gently for about 1 hour, till the artichokes are tender. For serving, remove the rasher from each artichoke, Strain the gravy, and put it in a small saucepan. Add a sprinkling of flour, stir well and, when it begins to thicken, pour over the artichokes.

Les Aubérgines Farcies

(Stuffed aubergines)

That delicious vegetable so attractive to look at, with its smooth and shiny purple skin, is almost as popular in France, Spain, Italy and Turkey, as the cabbage is in England. For some years now, it has made its annual appearance on the English market, and I have found it in most unexpected and out-of-the-way places and small towns in this country, although often the greengrocer who sells it is bewildered when a customer wants to know how it is cooked.

Ingredients: Allow 1/2 a large aubergine for each person. 1 teaspoon of cooked ham for each 1/2 aubergine, 1 of cooked meat or poultry, 1 of fine white breadcrumbs, 1 or 2 eggs, salt and pepper.

Method: Cut the aubergines in half, lengthwise, and either cook them in hot oil or butter till tender, or else blanch them in salted water. They must not be over-cooked, and must be fairly firm. When done, drain on a colander, then remove their pulp, and put it in a saute pan with either hot butter or oil, the chopped ham, the chopped meat, bread-crumbs, season with salt and pepper and bind with the eggs. Mix all well, and cook for about 10 minutes. Stuff each half of the aubergines with the mixture, put them in a well-buttered fireproof dish, sprinkle each with white bread-crumbs, and put small pieces of butter on the top of the aubergines. Cook in a moderate oven for 20 minutes.

Rognons Sautés au Vin Blanc

(Kidneys sautes in white wine)

This is a favourite luncheon dish in France, one of those excellent petits plats dainty and yet sufficing.

Ingredients: The number of lamb kidneys required — allow 2 for each person — 1 glass of white wine, butter, a little flour, 1 bayleaf, salt and pepper.

Method: Remove the fat and skin from the kidneys, and cut in very thin slices. Melt the butter in a saute pan and, when very hot, pilt in the sliced kidneys, the bayleaf, and season with salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes on a brisk fire, shaking the pan, and turning the kidneys with a spoon. When nearly done — they should not take longer than 8 to 10 minutes in all — sprinkle with a little flour, stir it in well, then remove the pan from the fire, and add the white wine. Replace on the fire, and stir a few minutes longer. Serve very hot.

Rissoles a la Parisienne

These light and dainty rissoles, with their delicious filling, are typical of Parisian cooking, and as the use of puff pastry is much more widespread than in this country, rissoles adorn the table of both rich and poor.

Ingredients: Puff pastry, cold chicken or any cold meat or game, a little lean ham, a few cooked mushrooms, the yolks of I or 2 eggs, a little bread soaked in milk, chopped parsley, salt and pepper.

Method: Mince all the ingredients very finely, and bind with the eggs. Season highly with salt and pepper. Roll out the puff pastry on a floured board to a thickness of about a tenth of an inch, and with a three inch cake cutter, cut in neat rounds. On each round, place a little of the mixture, fold the rissole over, and press the edges firmly together. Fry them in boiling fat — ^preferably in oil — drain on a cloth, and serve very hot, garnished with fried parsley.

Saucisses au Vin Blanc

(Sausages with white wine)

This is a typical bourgeois French dish, and the sausages used are often home-made, especially in country districts.

Ingredients: The number of sausages required, butter, a sprinkling of flour, a glass of white wine, 1 or 2 tablespoons of cream, slices of bread fried in butter, salt and pepper.

Method: Put the sausages in a pan with plenty of butter, and place in a moderate oven. When half cooked, sprinkle them with a little flour, add the wine, season with salt and pepper, and simmer on a slow fire till they are done. Just before serving, mix in the cream. Have ready the slices of bread, previously friett to a golden colour in butter, put these on a hot dish, and on them lay the sausages. Pour the sauce over them and serve very hot.

Pommes de Terre au Lard

(Potatoes with salt pork)

Vegetables are usually served as a separate course in France, except when they have been cooked with the meat, or as a garnish for a particular dish. Potatoes with gammon makes quite a substantial luncheon dish.

Ingredients: For 6 people — About 1 1/4 lbs. of potatoes, 1/4 lb. of lean gammon, 2 ozs. of butter or fat, 2 ozs. of chopped onion, 1 tablespoon of flour, 1/2 pint of stock, 6 tablespoons of white wine, mixed herbs, 1 teaspoon of chopped parsley, salt and pepper.

Method: Choose potatoes as much as possible of the same size. Peel them carefully, divide in quarters, and trim neatly, removing any sharp angles. Wash and drain the quartered potatoes. Cut the lean gammon in small dice, and blanch in boiling water for a few minutes. Dry them in a cloth, and fry them in butter till they are just beginning to brown. Remove them from the butter, and put the onion in the same butter. Cook very slowly, without browning. When quite tender, and when it begins to turn slightly yellow, add the flour, stir well, and cook for another 5 minutes. Then add the stock, the white wine, the herbs, the potatoes and gammon, and season with a little pepper. Bring to the boil, cover the saucepan, with a lid, and simmer very gently for about 40 minutes, till the potatoes are tender, but still firm. Put them on a hot dish with the gammon, and strain the sauce over them.

Morphy, Countess. Recipes of All Nations. H. Joseph, 1936.

Countess Morphy

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