I think red plums are best when stewed and served in a compote. To keep them from bursting while cooking, prick the skins with a large needle or skewer and do not let them boil, merely simmer. Leave the pits in the fruit for more tang. Cook the plums in water barely to cover in which a little sugar has been dissolved and, for variety, add a few slices of lemon to point up the flavor.
I think red plums are best when stewed and served in a compote. To keep them from bursting while cooking, prick the skins with a large needle or skewer and do not let them boil, merely simmer. Leave the pits in the fruit for more tang. Cook the plums in water barely to cover in which a little sugar has been dissolved and, for variety, add a few slices of lemon to point up the flavor.
In France we have a green-yellow plum called reine Claude, something like the greengage of this country but sweeter. This is very popular for making jam and to make a delicious sweet sauce to serve with puddings.
Sauce Reine Claude (Plum Sauce)
Remove the pits from 1 pound fresh greengage plums, but do not peel the fruit. Mix 1 1/2 cups sugar with 1/2 cup water, bring to a boil, and cook until it spins a thread (238° F. on the sugar thermometer). Add the green gages to the syrup and cook for about 1/2 hour, or until they are soft and the mixture is thick. Rub through a sieve and add 2 ounces kirsch.
Here are a few more tricks with soups, this time with clear soups, timely now with colder weather coming along. Of course, soup, in my opinion, is good all the year, but I notice more people eat it in cold weather than in summer. I can't emphasize too strongly the importance of bones in making soup stock. If there are enough bones, a good broth can be made with no meat at all. For example, here's a recipe for Scotch mutton broth made with bones.
Scotch Mutton Broth
Parboil 2 or 3 pounds of lamb or mutton bones for 5 minutes, drain, and put in the soup kettle. Parboiling removes any fine bits of broken bone and any other bits that will make a cloudy broth. Add 2 leeks, 2 stalks of celery, 1 carrot, 2 onions, 6 or 8 peppercorns, 1 teaspoon salt, and 3 quarts water. Bring to a boil, skim well, and cook slowly for 2 to 3 hours. Strain.
In another pan prepare a brunoise of vegetables as follows: Melt 1 tablespoon butter and add 1 carrot, 2 stalks of celery, and 2 leeks, all cut in small dice. Cook until they start to turn golden. Pour the strained broth over the vegetables and add 1/2 cup pearl barley that has been washed in cold water. Bring to a boil and cook slowly for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, skimming as needed. Correct the seasoning with salt before serving.
When making chicken broth, remember that the best flavor comes from amature fowl and that using the feet is a great improvement, too. They not only add flavor but also supply gelatin, and the stock can be used for making jellied soups or aspics.
The feet, however, have to be skinned before being added to the soup kettle. There are two ways of doing this. Chop off the ends of the claws with a heavy knife or ask the butcher to do it. Parboil the feet in boiling water for about 5 minutes. Plunge into cold water. Pull off the skin from the top just as a glove is pulled off. Or, the feet can be seared over the flame on the range to loosen the skin. Follow any recipe for chicken soup and add the prepared feet.
Another trick in making good chicken soup or broth is to use leeks and to avoid using too much carrot, which may overwhelm the flavor of the chicken.
I have had so many guests ask for the directions for making consommé Windsor that I feel I should include it here. Consommé Windsor is a clear consommé thickened with tiny yellow flecks of egg. and this is how it is made.
Consommé Windsor
Bring 1 quart rich beef consommé to a boil. Mix in a bowl 2 eggs, 1/4 teaspoon flour, and 1 tablespoon heavy cream. Strain through a fine sieve into the boiling consommé, stirring all the time. Place the soup where it will keep warm but not boil for a few minutes before serving.
Scallops are one of the shellfish now coming into their best season. They require a little care in cooking, but once you learn the tricks, they are no trouble at all. They must never be overcooked, and that means just a couple of minutes' cooking when they are deep-fried. The trick in sautéing them is to use oil instead of butter and then to serve them with beurre meunière (browned butter). For quick sautéing, the fat used must be very hot, and butter doesn't stand that temperature so well as oil. Frying, broiling, or sautéing are the ways most used to prepare scallops in this country, but I think scallops poached in white wine and served with a curry, paprika, or cream mushroom sauce are really more delicious. Equally good are scallops served with a Mornay sauce and browned in the shell, the well-known coquille Saint-Jacques. Actually a true coquilles Saint-Jacques is made from a special coquillage found off the coast of Brittany but not in the waters around the United States. But scallops are the nearest thing to it. I recall a request of the late Mr. Robert Walton Goelet, who built the New York Ritz-Carlton Hotel, written to me as he embarked on the boat coming home from France many years ago. It was for a coquille Saint-Jacques such as he had eaten in Brittany. I had to explain when he arrived that we could not get the classic shellfish, but that otherwise the dish was the same. This is the recipe that I always used for him:
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