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Dining Leftovers and Rehashes

"In previous issues I stirred up some trouble, so I’m going to update some reviews."
By Frank Bailey |

There is always a little something left over in the larder. For this month, I have a couple of recipes that you will find educational, and an update on some of the restaurants reviewed in this column earlier. Lest you think me simply lazy, let me explain:

The sauces and souffle recipes were supposed to have been in the April issue, but, I am told, space was not sufficient. The restaurants are updated by popular request. Here is my offering of leftovers-but hopefully no table scraps.

When reviewing a restaurant, obviously you can only report on the way it was the several visits immediately preceding the writing (I usually make three trips to each within the two weeks prior to my deadline; four if I am not sure). Consequently, I am forever having people tell me that I was too hard on a place, or too quick to praise it. At the risk of compounding the problem, I am going to update my reviews periodically.

In Volume I, Number 1, I stuffed myself with steaks in old style steak-houses (those without salad bars and first-named waiters) and found Cattlemen’s serving the best steaks. They still serve delicious beef in hokey cap-pistol surroundings, and the service is still pleasant. Kirby’s also served and still serves very good beef. The last time I was there, the service was still good, but not up to previous visits. Dunston’s on Harry Hines (I still don’t like the one on Lovers Lane) stole best-steak-in-town-for-the-money honors with its $3.95 and $2.95 filets. There has been no change in price or quality. Sloan’s Steak House unregrettably is gone.

In Volume I, Number 2, I overstuffed myself with Italian offerings around the city. I1 Sorrento, which I gave my highest rating for service and very high ratings for food, remains one of the most enjoyable dining experiences around, but on my most recent visit, the service was slightly less smooth. The cooking was undimin-ished in its excellence. Pietro’s does not change. It is a solid family-run establishment with consistently good food and pleasant service. Ianni’s is also an unchanging family-run restaurant with good food, adequate service and lots of noise. Mario’s, one of the most elegant restaurants anywhere, was and is a delight to all the senses. It remains capable of more than excellent cuisine.

In Volume I, Number 3,I stirred up some trouble. I am unable to update my report on Oporto’s Oyster Bar because I am informed that I am no longer welcome there. Bellmaster was also upset by my reporting and incidents involving other agents of this magazine warn me that I have worn my welcome thin there also. Maybe in the future I shall let sleeping dogs lie. The Hungry Hunter is still the only place in town that always serves game, and that may become more attractive when hunting season is just a memory.

Oz, which has earned high praise from all quarters, has ironed out the small wrinkles that appeared after its opening, and is rapidly establishing itself as one of the best restaurants in the nation. There are some new dishes prepared with the finesse one expects from this premier kitchen, and the quality of the original favorites has not diminished. Good wine cellars cannot be bought, they must be built. Oz has a good start.

Perhaps the most feared operations in cooking are the making of Hollandaise sauce and its variations, and the making of souffles. True, both take care and effort but neither is beyond the interested cook. Besides, the results are worth it.

Hollandaise is the primary sauce in the group known as the egg yolk sauces. They are all thickened with egg yolks and incorporate butter or oil. Care must be taken when cooking these sauces not to scramble the delicate yolks.



HOLLANDAISE SAUCE

Use Hollandaise for poached eggs, fish and green vegetables.

1 1/2 sticks melted butter

3 egg yolks

1 Tablespoon cold butter

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Cook the egg yolks and cold butter slowly, stirring constantly for about a minute or until they become thick. Take off the heat. Add the lemon juice and begin to beat in the melted butter by drops at first. After 1/3 of the butter has been added, you can pour the butter in a thin stream. After you finish the sauce, season with salt, pepper and additional lemon juice or wine vinegar to taste.

Note: If any egg yolk sauce refuses to thicken or separates, it can be remedied by beating a teaspoon of lemon juice into a tablespoon of the sauce until it thickens. Then slowly beat the rest of the sauce into the thickened portion.



VARIATIONS:

Bearnaise – Reduce 1/4 cup white wine and 1/4 cup wine or tarragon vinegar with I tablespoon shallots, 1 tablespoon tarragon, 1/2 tablespoon chervil and parsley until the liquid is evaporated. Add the paste to Hollandaise made with only 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice. For meat, fish or chicken.

Choron – Add 2 tablespoons tomato paste per cup of bearnaise for meat or fish.

Mousseline – Add 1/4 cup whipped cream to 1 cup Hollandaise for fish.

Maltaise – Add 2 tablespoons orange juice and a little grated orange peel to a cup of Hollandaise, For asparagus, broccoli or brussels sprouts.



SOUFFLES

Souffles are a light elegant dessert, or a luncheon entree. The basics are the same; only the sugar content and the filling change.

The basis of a souffle is a thick bechamel:

2 Tablespoons butter

1 1/2 Tablespoons flour

1/2 cup scalded milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (omitted for an entree souffle)

5 egg yolks

3 Tablespoons sugar (less for entree)

6 egg whites

pinch cream of tartar

pinch salt

Cook flour and butter together over low heat five minutes. Add the milk and cook for five minutes over low heat. Add vanilla (or one cup cooked seafood or chicken). Beat the egg yolks well with the sugar, and add to the sauce. Beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar (to help them stiffen) and the salt until firm peaks are formed when the beater is taken out of the whites. Fold 1/4 of the whites into the sauce and incorporate them thoroughly. Then gently fold the rest of the whites into the sauce. Pour the entire mixture into a buttered and sugared souffle mold, and bake in a 400 degree oven for 25-30 minutes. Serve immediately. For variety, you may add melted chocolate in place of the vanilla extract, or a liqueur, or rum.

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