July 2004

Departments

Jacques Pépin's "Summer Celebration"

Excerpted from Jacques Pépin Celebrates by Jacques Pépin.

Published by arrangement with Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.

Rillettes of Rabbit

Yield: 20 servings, about 6 cups

Rillettes are a pork spread that is always made with fatty pork and, sometimes, other meat, like duck, goose or rabbit. Ideal for serving in little crock containers for a party, the spread is eaten very cold with country bread and a dry white or light red wine.

This recipe yields enough rillettes for twenty people, since this type of dish is usually prepared for large parties. Although it can be cut down easily, it makes sense to prepare more, since the time of cooking and the amount of electricity or gas to do so will remain the same whether you prepare rillettes for four or twenty people.

After the mixture is packed in small earthenware crocks, it can be covered with rendered pork fat, lard, or even vegetable shortening. Stored this way, it will keep for weeks refrigerated, as the fat will seal the top and prevent oxidation and spoilage. Just before serving, scrape off and discard the layer of fat on the surface.

Rillettes:

1 rabbit, about 1-1/2 pounds, cut into pieces (may substitute duck or goose for rabbit)

2-1/2 pounds fatty pork shoulder (half fat, half lean), cut into 3-inch pieces

1 cup dry, fruity white wine

5 cups water

2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1-1/4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Extra pork fat or lard to cover rillettes (optional)

Garnish:

A few sprigs parsley

Toast, baguettes, or country bread

Put the rabbit, pork, wine, water, salt, thyme, allspice, and pepper in a large kettle (not aluminum) and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and boil very gently for two hours. Remove the cover, and continue cooking, gently boiling, for another 2-1/2 hours.

At the end of the cooking time, most of the moisture should have evaporated and the liquid that remains should be mostly fat. At that point, the mixture will start sizzling a little and begin to stick to the bottom of the pan. Continue to cook for about 10 minutes; a little browning will impart a nutty taste to the rillettes. Remove from heat, and let cool at room temperature until the meat can be handled.

Scoop out the solids and, using your hands, pick all the bones out of the meat, then break the pieces of meat into fibers. Return the meat to the fat, and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring.

Let cool again, then stir with a heavy metal or wooden spoon to mix well and achieve a homogenized texture. Do not over mix, or the fat will emulsify and the rillettes will get too white and creamy. Taste for salt and pepper, and add if needed. You should have about 6 cups of rillettes. Pack into earthenware crocks, and smooth the tops.

If the rillettes are to be kept more than 10 days, cover with about a 1/4-inch layer of rendered pork fat, lard, or vegetable shortening. When the fat is cold and hard, cover with plastic wrap, and keep refrigerated until serving time.

At serving time, scrape the fat from the surface of the rillettes, and make a crosshatch pattern on the top of each with your knife as a decoration, if desired. Garnish with parsley, and serve with toast, baguettes, or country bread.

Jacques' Tip: Conventional and Nonstick Skillets

"I love nonstick skillets and saucepans and use them often for cooking. However, when I want to create a sauce from the juice or glaze that comes out of meat as it cooks, I don't use a nonstick pan. The glaze from meat sautéed in a nonstick pan sticks to the meat. To create a sauce, I need the glaze to stick to the pan and solidify, as it does in a conventional skillet. These crystallized pieces melt when the pan is deglazed and form the flavorful base for a sauce."

Red Berries-Soaked Cake

Yield: 10 to 12 servings

Sponge Cake

1 teaspoon softened unsalted butter for coating pan

2 cups all-purpose flour (about 10 ounces), plus extra flour for pan

1-1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

6 large eggs, separated

1/2 cup safflower or corn oil

3/4 cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Red Fruit Puree

8 cups summer berries, a mixture of strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, loganberries, and red currants

2 cups seedless blackberry or raspberry preserves

1/3 cup fruit brandy, such as framboise, kirschwasser, or pear brandy

Custard Sauce with Gelatin

2 egg yolks from large eggs

1 cup milk

1/4 cup sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup heavy cream

Garnish

Mint sprigs

To prepare the sponge cake: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour a round cake pan approximately 9 inches in diameter and 3 inches deep. Toss the flour, sugar, and baking powder in a mixing bowl. Add the egg yolks, oil, milk, and vanilla, and mix well. Using a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry, and fold them into the yolk mixture with a spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, place the pan on a cooking sheet, and bake for about 70 minutes. Let the cake cool on a rack for 30 minutes at room temperature. It will shrink from the edge of the pan and can then be unmolded.

For the red fruit puree: Puree fruits and preserves in a food processor. Strain through a sieve. You should have 4 to 5 cups of puree, half for inside the cake and half to be served with it.

Trim the brown crust from the top, bottom, and sides of the cake. Use a 3-quart glass or stainless steel bowl with a round bottom for the cake. To aid in the unmolding later, cut two strips of parchment paper, butter them on one side, and place them in a crisscross pattern, buttered side down, in the mold, so they stick to it and extend beyond the rim of the bowl. To help remove the cake from the mold, you will pull the projecting ends.

Cut the cake crosswise into 3/8-1/2-inch layers or round slices. Put the first slice in the bottom of the mold, and press on it to make it conform well to the mold. Do not worry if the cake breaks here and there; by the time it is soaked with the fruit, these breaks will not be visible. Reversing enough slices of cake to use as a lid on the filled cake, cut the other pieces of cake into strips, and fit them around the interior of the bowl, so the entire inside of the bowel is lined with the cake. Ste aside the cake trimmings. (The four ends of the parchment-paper strips should be visible above the edge of the bowl.)

Sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of the brandy over the cake in the bowl, and pour in about 1 cup of the fruit puree. Add some of the reserved cake trimmings, sprinkling them over the puree. Add more fruit puree and more trimmings, until the inside of the bowl is filled. (You should have 2 to 2-1/2 cups of sauce remaining for serving over the cake when unmolded.) Cut the reserve slices of cake to make a lid that fits inside the cake pieces lining the sides of the bowl, and press it into place, enclosing the filling. Sprinkle the cake with about 2 tablespoons of the fruit brandy, and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours.

To make the custard sauce: Put the egg yolks in a bowl, and mix well with a whisk. Meanwhile, bring the milk to a boil in a saucepan. When it boils, add it in one stroke to the egg yolks, mixing it in with the whisk. The boiling mil will cook the egg yolks. Add the sugar, gelatin, and vanilla, and mix gently.

Strain the custard through a fine-mesh strainer set over a cold bowl. (The strainer will pick up any scrambling that may have occurred.) Refrigerate the custard, stirring it occasionally, until barely lukewarm. Beat the cream until it holds a soft peak but is not too firm, then fold it into the custard. Cover the custard sauce with plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for at least an hour. Add the remaining brandy to the reserved fruit puree.

Pulling gently on the ends of the parchment paper strips, unmold the cake onto a serving dish with sides high enough to contain the sauces. Spoon some of the custard sauce around the cake. The red sauce will run down the sides of the cake and begin to mix with the white sauce. With the point of a knife, draw the red sauce into the white sauce, and vice versa, to create a design.

To serve: Decorate the top of the cake with a few sprigs of mint, and bring to the table. Cut the cake into wedges for serving. Pass extra custard and red fruit sauce to spoon over the cake wedges.