LEMON ZABAGLIONE WITH FRESH FRUITS

 

 

Serves 6

 

Zabaglione (Italian) or Sabayon (French) is a simple but delicious dessert that can be made at the very last minute which I like best since its still warm.  It’s like a soufflé without the dish.  I serve it with fresh fruits either just spooned on the side or for a more dramatic presentation arranging the fresh fruits in a shallow bowl, spooning the zabaglione on top and quickly browning it with a propane torch or under a hot broiler.

 

Fresh seasonal fruits of your choice, cut in attractive shapes

2 large whole eggs

4 large egg yolks

3/4 cup sugar

Zest and juice of 2 medium lemons

1/2 cup white port, Muscat, Sauternes or other sweet dessert wine

Garnish:  mint sprigs and a crisp cookie of your choice

 

 

Arrange the fruits in shallow soup or pasta plates leaving room for the zabaglione.

 

Place in a metal bowl over simmering water and whisk vigorously until mixture has tripled in volume and is thick and light in color.  Total cooking time will be about 5

 

minutes.  Remove from heat and spoon into bowls with fruits and serve immediately garnished with mint and a cookie, if desired.

 

 

 

ROAST DUCK BREASTS WITH GRAPEFRUIT

 

Serves 4

 

This recipe could also be done with chicken breasts.  You could also prepare the meat on the grill rather than roasting.  My favorite grapefruit are the Texas pinks or reds that come to the market in the October thru June.

 

1 tablespoon honey

4 grapefruits, 2 squeezed for juice to make marinade and sauce below and 2 sectioned

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice or juniper berry

4 Pekin duck breast halves

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 large bunch watercress, preferably Upland Cress with big stems discarded

Grapefruit sauce (recipe follows)

 

Pre heat the oven to 425 degrees.  Whisk the honey 3 tablespoons of grapefruit juice and the allspice together in a small bowl.  Trim the breasts of excess far and score the skin in a crosshatch pattern cutting almost but not quite thru to the meat.  Brush the breasts with the honey mixture, season with salt and pepper and set aside for at least 15 minutes.

 

Heat an ovenproof sauté pan over moderately high heat.  Add the duck breasts skin side down and sear until golden brown, about 4 minutes.  Turn the breast over and place in the oven for 5 – 6 minutes more or until meat is medium rare.  Be careful not to overcook.  Remove pan from oven and then remove breast from pan to a cutting board and allow to rest for at least 3 minutes.  Cover loosely with foil to keep warm.

 

To serve:  Arrange grapefruit sections and watercress on plates.  Thinly slice the duck breasts and arrange on top, spoon warm sauce around and serve immediately.

 

Grapefruit Sauce

Makes about 3/4 cup

 

This tart-sweet sauce is delicious with all kind of grilled and roasted meat.  Note the addition of the bit of fresh grapefruit juice at the end.  This “brightens” the rich sauce and adds aromatics of the fruit to the finished sauce.

 

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons sugar

2 cups rich chicken or duck stock

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon grapefruit juice

1 cup heavy cream

Salt and freshly ground pepper

 

Add the balsamic vinegar and sugar to a saucepan and cook over high heat until the sugar is melted and the mixture is reduced to a syrupy consistency, about 2 minutes.  Add the stock and 1 cup of the grape fruit juice and reduce over high heat to 3/4 cup or so, about 10 minutes.  Whisk in the cream and continue to reduce until sauce is nicely thickened, about 5 minutes.  Off heat, stir in remaining 1 tablespoon grapefruit juice, season to your taste with salt and pepper and keep warm.  Can be made ahead and gently reheated.

 

 

 

 

FLAVORED BUTTERS

 

When I started my formal culinary training in France, one of the first things I learned to make were Beurres Composes or compound butters.  I still make them today and they are one of the simplest of the “flavor makers” in the cook’s repertoire.

 

A savory butter is a most delicious ways to complete a nicely grilled, roasted, sautéed or broiled fishes, meats or vegetables. Simply place on top and let it melt over, bathing and moisturizing the hot food as you bring it to the table.  Sweet butters, whether sweetened with an aromatic honey or with fruits, are delicious on toast, breads, pancakes, warm cereals and the like. The beauty of flavored butters is that they can be made entirely ahead of time.  Store in the refrigerator for up to a week and frozen up to 3 months (although once you know that they are there and start using them, they won’t last that long!).

 

Following is the most revered of savory butters, what the French call Beurre Maitre d’Hotel or a fresh herb and lemon butter.  If you are using prepared butters directly from the freezer you will want to soften them before using them so they’ll melt easily when they hit the hot food.  An easy way is to remove them from the foil and place them in a microwave at 50% power for 10 seconds or so.  In addition to its use as a topping for meats, fishes and vegetables, I love to use it as a quick “sauce” for pasta or as a topper for rice when I come home beat and don’t really want to spend much time cooking.  It can also be used to make a fast, simple and delicious “deglazing” sauce.  I’ve included a recipe for that too below.

 

 

To make flavored butters: The Basic Procedure

 

It couldn’t be simpler. Soften the butter at room temperature for an hour or so and then beat for a minute or so with the paddle of an electric mixer.  You can certainly do it by hand too with a heavy wooden spoon.  Beat in the flavoring ingredients until just incorporated (be sure they are cool if any of them are cooked).  Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days or roll into logs, wrap tightly in aluminum foil and freeze for later use.  Plan to use them up within 6 months.  A pound of butter may seem like a lot and you could certainly cut in half if you wanted to.  I like making a pound however because they store so well frozen.

 

 

Maitre d’Hotel Butter

 

3/4 pound unsalted butter

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons grated lemon zest

3/4 cup finely chopped parsley

1/2 cup finely minced shallots or green onions

Sea or Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

 

Beat the butter in a bowl until softened.  Beat in the lemon juice a tablespoon at a time and then mix in the rest of the ingredients.

 

Depending on your preference, you can use the shallots raw or sauté them till soft and cool them before beating into the butter.  Instead of just parsley you could also use a mixture of fresh chopped herbs of your choice.  In the summertime I mix chopped chives, parsley and basil from my garden.

 

 

 

PAN SAUTEED CHICKEN WITH HERB DEGLAZING SAUCE

 

Serves 4

 

Here I’ve used the Maitre d’Hotel butter above to make a quick sauce. This same technique can be use for anything sautéed including fishes or red meats.  One of my favorites is to sauté hamburgers and then make a deglazing sauce substituting red wine for the white, beef stock for the chicken.

 

4 skin-on, boneless chicken breast halves or 8 skin-on chicken thighs

Salt and freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 cup finely diced mushrooms

1/2 cup chicken stock

1/2 cup white wine

3 – 4 tablespoons Maitre d’Hotel butter, cut into bits (recipe above)

 

 

Season chicken lightly with salt and pepper.  Over moderately high heat, heat the oil and butter in a sauté pan large enough to hold the chicken in one layer without crowding.  Add the chicken skin side down and cook until richly browned and crisp, 5 – 7 minutes.  Turn and continue to cook until chicken is cooked through but and juicy.  To tell when it’s done, prick the chicken with the point of a knife and the juices should run clear with no hints of pink.

 

Remove the chicken and keep warm.  Pour off all but a tablespoon or so of the fat in the pan.  Add the mushrooms and sauté and stir over moderately high heat until they just begin to color.  Add the stock and the wine and boil stirring up all the juices and browned bits on the bottom of the pan.  Continue to boil until liquid has reduced at least by half and is thickened, about 5 minutes.  Off the heat, whisk in the flavored butter which will melt and thicken the sauce. Season with salt and pepper to your taste.  Spoon over chicken and serve immediately.

 

John Ash (c) 2018