Jambon Persillé à la Bourguignonne
Soak a slice of tenderized ham weighing 2 to 2½ pounds for a while, to remove some of the salt. Make a fine stock with a shin bone or knuckle of veal (some meat with the bones), 2 calves’ feet, a good quantity of parsley, tarragon, 2 bay leaves, 1 teaspoon thyme, salt, pepper, 2 or 3 shallots, a bottle of dry white wine, and a little water. The bones should be more than covered. Put on the lid and simmer for about 3 hours. Add the ham slice and cook in the stock until rather tender. Break it up and mash with a fork or chop coarsely, meat and fat together, and press gently into the bottom of a glass bowl. Strain the stock through a fine sieve and allow it to cool considerably. Remove all fat from the surface. Clarify by pouring over a beaten white of egg in a saucepan and reheating very gradually over the fire, stirring continually with a whisk. When it reaches the boiling point, let it stand 10 minutes over a very low fire, the liquid barely moving. Put through a strainer lined with a fine, clean cloth, and the result should be a good, clear stock. Pour a small amount, just enough to moisten, over the ham. Let the remainder cool in the refrigerator and when it is just beginning to jell, add 1 tablespoon tarragon wine vinegar, ¼ cup dry white wine and a large amount fresh parsley, finely chopped. Pour this over the ham and allow to jell in the refrigerator. The result will be deliciously flavored, pink morsels of ham, covered with a layer of beautiful green jelly, to be served directly from the glass bowl.
If you would introduce the splendors of Burgundian cookery to your home, we hope that you start with quenelles de brochet, an utterly different and delectable poached white forcemeat based on the ground meat of pike and served with an unctuous sauce Nantua. It isn’t too difficult to achieve, and it absolutely sublimates the unsuspecting pike. This recipe will serve six to eight persons.
Quenelles de Brochet (Pike Quenelles)
Put 1 pound fresh pike filets through the meat grinder, reserving the head and bones for stock, and work to a paste as smooth as possible, adding salt, pepper, and a pinch nutmeg. Put 1 cup stale French-bread crumbs through the grinder, add a little salt and 1 cup hot milk, and work together until a smooth paste is achieved. If too soft, dry out a little by stirring over the fire. Spread the paste on a plate and chill in the refrigerator until firm. There should be about 10 ounces of this panade to 1 pound of fish.
Cream a scant ½ pound butter little by little with the fish, then add the panade until all is well blended. (This, you will find, will include the ingredients of patience and elbow grease in considerable quantity.) Add, one after an other, 2 whole eggs and 4 egg yolks. Mix well together.
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