For rooking à Pétuvée the meat or poultry is usually cut up and liquid added to cover it. It is essential when cooking à Pétuvée that none of the flavor be permitted to escape. This is achieved in various ways: by closing the casserole with a very heavy close-fitting cover; by placing buttered paper directly on top of the food before putting the cover on, particularly in the case of vegetes like peas which require very little liquid; and by sealing the cover with a stiff paste pressed around the edge. In the last method the cover must be one of the sort that has a small hole in the top. or the pressure from inside will crack the seal.
Modifications of this type of cooking arc found in dishes prepared en chemise. rolled in a crust before baking; en papillote, French for cocoon, but in cooking, to bake in a paper case; and in the varibus pâtés, meat and game pies. These do not always require very gentle heat and arc usually baked in the oven. but they are always wrapped tightly so that the flavor is enhanced by the savory juices and steam that are trapped inside the wrappings. These entrées en chemise can be very elaborate or quite simple, but for the most part they arc made with the better cuts of meat and the finer kinds of fish. I recall, for example, one such fine dish made especially for King Leopold of BeIgium by the head chef Jules Tissier of the Hotel Bristol in Paris back in 1901. The king liked it so well and ordered it so often that it was finally named for him “Tenderloin of Beef Leopold.” A whole tenderloin was larced with fat pork and bâtonnnets (small square-ended strips) of truffle and routed until half cooked, about 15 to 16 minutes in a hot oven. Meanwhile a rich pie dough was rolled out about 1/8 inch thick. The meat had to stand out of the oven for a few minutes before it could he handled, and then it was coated with glace de viande and slices of pâté de foie gras (or the fresh goose liver sautédin butter) were laved over it. The whole was then wrapped in the dough, brushed with egg mixed with a little milk, and put back in the hot oven to finish cooking and brown the crust, about another 15 minutes. It was sliced and served with a Madeira sauce.
At the London Ritzone of the menu favorites was jambon porte-maillot. hither a large York ham or the smaller Prague ham—for a party of six to ten guests—was soaked, boiled, and baked in Madeira until almost, but not quite done. Then it was wrapped in a layer of bread dough for the last baking. The flavor of ham juice and Madeira in which it had already been baked were concentrated inside, improving the ham itself and also lending a delicious savor to the crust.
Chicken pies lake advantage of the principal of keeping flavor trapped inside a tasty crust. Different countries have their different ways of cooking them, however. The American spècialité and very popular as I so well know— uts precooked chicken in a seasoned white gravy. But at the London Ritz our chicken pies were made with the raw chicken and had a very thin gravy thickened with egg yolk and flavored with the acid of wine or a little vinegar. Quite a different flavor, but very delicious. Wewere always sold out of them at the Sunday lunch no matter how many we made. 1 remember M. Malley, the head chef who came from the same town in France that 1 did, Saying to me often, “Now when we retire to Montmeault we will cat chicken pies together every Sunday, as the English do.” Thatdream neither of us will see. But I always made chicken pies at the New York Ritz for our English guests-and for myself. In France the famous chicken pie is a coq en pate, made with the whole chicken. Only the breast bone is removed so it can be rolled in the pic dough more easily. This is considered a very elegant dish. In fact, when a dandy is living up to the height of fashion they say, it vit comme un coq en pâte, “lie is living like a rooster in a pie.”
Pouletait Via à l’Etuvée (Cbicken Braised Wine
Clean and singe a chicken weighing 3 to 4 pounds and disjoint it into legs. scond joints, wings, breasts, and back. Season with salt and pepper. Parboil ¼ cup salt pork, diced, lor 5 minutes in wafer to cover. Drain, put the pork in a shallow pan with 2 tablespoons butter, and cook until it is brown. Remove the pork dice with a skimmer and set aside. Cook the chicken in the hot fat until it is golden brown on all sides, then add 12 small onions and 12 mushrooms. Cover the pan and continue to cook gently until the vegetes begin to color.
Transfer chicken, onions, and mushrooms to a casserole. Discard half the fat in the pan and to the rest add 1 teaspoon chopped shallots or onions. 1 clove of crushed garlic, and 2 tablespoons flour. Cook gently, stirring constantly, until the Hour browns. Add 2 cups red wine, or white if preferred. bring to a boil, and cook, stirring until well blended.
Add the sauce to the chicken in the casserole with enough water to bring the liquid just to the top of the chicken. Add the pork dice and a faggot of 1 stalk of celery, 3 sprigs of parsley, 1 bay leaf, and a little thyme. Cover the casserole tightly and cook as slowly as posse until the chicken is tender, about 40 minutes for a young one, longer if it is older. Skim the fat from the surface of the sauce, discard the faggot. and correct the seasoning with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve in the casserole.
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