Sometimes this matter of glazing the top of dishes that include a Mornay sauce presents another problem. Recipes say “to brown under the broiler or in a hot oven.” But a hot oven can be treacherous because Mornay sauce is rich in egg yolks and may curdle before the top is brown. This doesn't happen in the broiler where the heat is above and browns the top quickly. When I first started my career, we did not have the broiling ovens we have today. We had charcoal broilers for our grilled foods, which meant the heat was under the food, and so we had no other choice but to use a hot oven. And you, too, may some-time have to brown a rich dish this way. The trick I was taught was to place the dish to be browned on top of a pan of water. This baffles the heat, and the rich sauce will not curdle while the top is glazing.
Deviled Crab Meat
Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a sauce-pan and add 2 cups carefully picked-over crab meat. Heat gently but do not allow to cook. Mix 1 teaspoon English mustard with a little water and add it to 1 ½ cups Mornay sauce (GOURMET, January 1950). Add the hot crab meat, bring to the boil, and season with salt and pepper. Put into shells that have been thoroughly washed and dried in a hot place. Fold 2 tablespoons whipped cream into ½ cup Mornay sauce and spread over the crab meat mixture. Sprinkle with a little Parmesan cheese and brown under the broiler or in a hot oven.
Chicken Hash à la Ritz
Remove the white meat from boiled chicken (roasted chicken is too dry and never so white) and chop enough to make 3 cups. Do not chop it too finely. Put the chicken in a saucepan with I cup light cream and cook until the cream is reduced to about half the original quantity.
Meanwhile, make 1 ½ cups cream sauce. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan, add 2 tablespoons flour, and cook until the flour just starts to turn golden. Add 2 cups milk and cook, stir-ring constantly, until the sauce is reduced to about 1 cup. Stir in ½ cup cream. Add 1 cup of this sauce to the chicken mixture and season with a little salt and pepper. Place the hash in the serving dish and spread over the top the remaining cream sauce which has been combined with 1 beaten egg yolk and into which has been folded 2 table-spoons whipped cream. Put the dish in the broiler and brown the top quickly.
There are some people who want all baked foods to be well browned, even desserts such as rice and other puddings. But sometimes a pudding is done before it browns; we were in the habit of serving these puddings just as they came from the oven and passing a vanilla sauce with them. But one day a guest sent back a dish of rice pudding, saying he didn't want that white-looking pudding, he wanted a browned one. The sous chef, at a loss to know what to do, called me. Knowing my success with whipped cream, I carefully spread it over the pudding and put it into the broiler for a minute or two to brown The guest was completely satisfied, and this trick has been one that we have used ever since.
Another little trick is one for giving an unusual finish to potages such as pea soup and tomato soup. Put a spoonful of unsweetened whipped cream on the top of each cup or bowl of soup and run them under the broiler for a minute. The heat spreads the cream, browning it A little and giving the surface an appetizing glaze.
As for glazing the tops of fruit tarts. that is the simplest of all and a trick that the French have used for generations. After the tans are cooked but still hot, the top is spread either with melted currant jelly or with apricot sauce that has been thinned with a little hot water or sugar syrup. As a rule, we use the jelly for red fruits—cherries, plums, et cetera—and the apricot sauce for light-colored fruits—apples, apricots, peaches, pears—although either one can be used on all fruits. If it's a pie with a top crust that you want to have a golden-brown glaze, then brush it with an egg that has been beaten with two or three tablespoons of milk.
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