3/3/2 White Sauce

If you look for the classic bechamel sauce, you will usually find the 2/2/1 combination. I prefer this combination. It's lighter and less likely to glue up your dish. And unless you're cooking for 2 (with no leftovers) you'll need at least this much for any dish calling for a white sauce.

3 T. oil, butter, or a mix

3 T. flour

2 c. milk or cream

1/2 t. salt, or to taste

1/4 t. pepper (white if you don't want the black specks to show), or to taste

Heat the butter or oil in a skillet over medium low heat. Add the flour, stirring with a wire whisk. In a microwave oven, or in a separate small pan on the stove, warm the milk. (You can skip this step if your skillet is very large, allowing the temperature of the milk to rise immediately.) Slowly whisk in the milk, raise the heat, and stir constantly until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Cook for 1 minute more. Season with salt and pepper.

If you want to have a basic savory sauce, add a small onion with the oil and cook until the onion is clear. Proceed with recipe.

Shredded Cabbage and Chicken Salad

When Jesse and I visited Aunt Vicky in Cleveland,OH when we first moved to Buffalo, she took us to a Vietnamese restaurant. She ordered this dish and told us that she gets this dish often when coming to this restaurant because she liked it. Here is the recipe for that dish. This recipe is also from "The Home style Vietnamese Cooking" book.

Think of this dish as the Vietnamese version of the Western coleslaw, a dish of shredded cabbage dressed with a light mixture. But this recipe contains both shredded cabbage and shredded carrots, plus chicken and refreshing mint leaves, turning this into a light yet satisfying meal. You can make the dressing in advance and refrigerate it until ready to use. Plan to serve this dish as part of a whole meal to serve 6; alternatively, this recipe makes a light main salad serving 2 or 3.

250g (2 cups) chicken breast, cooked and shredded
320g (4 cups) shredded cabbage
1 large carrot, coarsely grated
10g (1/4 cup) fresh mint leaves
50g (1/4 cup) roasted unsalted peanuts, coarsely chopped
Fresh coriander (cilantro) sprigs for garnishing (optional)

Dressing:
2 Thai chillies, minced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons fish sauce
3 tablespoons salad oil
1 medium onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. To make the salad, combine the shredded chicken, cabbage, carrots and mint leaves in a large mixing bowl.
2. To make the dressing, combine the dressing ingredients in a bowl, stirring well to mix. Dress the salad and toss well to combine.
3. Transfer the salad to a serving plate. Garnish with the chopped peanuts and coriander sprigs and serve.

Serves 2-3
Preparation time: 10 mins

buffalo wings

this is a modification of the Joy of Cooking (1997 ed.) recipe for buffalo wings.  the sauce and the basic procedure for preparing the wings are from that book.

what is important to success is that you have a thermometer that can measure the temperature of your oil and you try to fry them in a heavy pot, like a dutch oven, which can keep the oil temperature a bit stable.  temperature control is responsible for whether your wings are juicy and crispy.

1. you change the sauce to barbecue sauce.  combine:

-1.5 c ketchup
-1c cider vinegar
-1/4c worcstershire
-1/4c soy sauce
-1c brown sugar
-2T dry mustard
-4T chili powder
-1T fresh ginger, grated
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-2T vegetable oil
-3 slices lemon

simmer for five minutes and it's done.

now for the wings:

-1.5 lbs chicken wings, divided into wing and drumette.  dry them off first.  (discard the tips or save them for stock)

dredge them in:
-1/3c flour
-1t salt
-1/2 t black pepper
(-1T ground cofffee) this is what i put in extra

fry them at 375F for 10 minutes, keep warm in a low oven while you prepare the other batches.

now you sauce them as you like.

Fish Sauce Dip (Nuoc Cham)

From "Homestyle Vietnamese Cooking," by Nongkran Daks and Alexandra Greeley.

The classic dipping and seasoning sauce of the Vietnamese table, nuoc cham makes its appearance at nearly every meal. It is easy to make and stores well in the refrigerator.

3 fresh red (Thai)chillies, chopped (preferred) or 1 teaspoon Asian chilli paste
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
60g(1/4cup) sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon vinegar
3 tablespoons fish sauce (3 crabs brand preferred)
125 ml (1/2 cup) water
1/2 teaspoon salt

Makes 250 ml (1 cup)
Preparation time: 10 mins

Although you can simply combine all the ingredients at once, you will get better results by pounding the chilli paste, which should contain bits of hot chillies, with the garlic and sugar before adding the remaining ingredients and mixing well.

Caviar D'Aubergine

Recipe from Richard Olney's "Provence: The Beautiful Cookbook"

Caviar D'Aubergine
Eggplant Spread
The spread is best served warm, as an hors d'oeuvre accompanied with warm toasts and chilled white or rosé wine.

3 elongated eggplants (aubergine), about 1.5lb (750g) total weight
2 cloves garlic
pinch of coarse salt
2 salt anchovies, rinsed and filleted
freshly ground pepper
fine salt
4-5 tablespoons (2-3 fl oz/60-90 ml) olive oil


1. Preheat an oven to 350°F (180°C).
2. Prick the eggplants several times and place them in a shallow baking dish. Bake until the flesh is very soft when pierced with a knife tip, about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and, when cool enough to handle, split the eggplants in half. Using a spoon scrape the flesh onto a plate. Discard the skins and mash the flesh to a coarse purée with a fork.
3. In a mortar pound together the garlic and coarse salt to form a paste. Add the anchovies, grind in pepper to taste and pound again. Empty the contents of the plate into the mortar and turn with the pestle, slowly adding the olive oil until the mixture is a loose, spreadable consistency. Add fine salt to taste.

Serves: 4

MaMa Routier's Eggplant Fritters

as told to me by her daughter, Barbara R. Lapeyre

1 "good sized" eggplant

1-2 T. self rising flour

1 egg

Peel the eggplant. (You could also leave the peel on but cut it in half) Boil in salted water. When soft, pour it into a colander and drain well. Scoop out as many seeds as you can. Mash it real well. (Mama says that MaMa used to put it in the "mixmaster". There was no such thing as a blender in those days.)

Drop an egg in and 1T self rising flour. The batter should be heavier than pancake batter, not runny. So you may or may not need the second tablespoon of flour.

Heat the oil to about 350°. Take a spoon and drop the batter into an elongated shape - not a ball, as it may be raw in the middle. If they brown immediately the oil is too hot. Brown and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with granulated sugar.

Eat while still hot!

Veal liver Knedles

Here is a classic, which I've never tried before:

Crush and press through a strainer:

150g veal liver

add:

-30g goose fat
-3 egg yolks
-a roll, wetted and then squeezed out
-30g white bread crumbs
-an onion, diced then blanched in water
-salt, pepper, paprika
-flour


says the book:
"Mix together this less than appetising mass with your hands.  Add enough flour to be able to mould it, with your floured hands, into fat balls like walnuts.  Poach them in salted boiling water for ten minutes.  Remove them from the water.  Let them cool.  Sauté them in the goose fat.  Serve hot."

Edouard de Pomiane (1929) Cuisine Juive, Ghettos Modernes