Dinners of this kind call for excellent wines. Here I have outlined my own preferences. Remember, though, that when many wines are served, only a scant glassful of each suffices and if the traditional formalities—handling the bottle, drawing the cork, and so on—are shirked, much of the pleasure of serving wine is consequently lost. For the fish dish a white Burgundy. perhaps a Puligny-Montrachet 1947, 1948, or 1950, or else a delicate Moselle, maybe a Piesporter Riesling 1950, would be most acceptable. A good red Burgundy is called for with the suprémes of guinea hen; Côte de Beaune wines of 1945, a very great year, are ready now and a Pommard from there would be my selection. And I find the wine service with the characteristic tender handling of the dusty bottles in their wicket cradles always enhances my enjoyment of a fine dish. Château Yquem of the exceptionally great 1937 vintage should be served with the marquise à l'ananas. Quail with a Château Lafite or Margaux 1947, or a 1945 or 1947 Châteauneufdu-Pape, would again be my choice. A demi-sec or sec champagne is the traditional dessert accompaniment, and cognac should follow the coffee.
Profiteroles aux Oeufs de Sterlet (Profiteroles with Caviar)
In a saucepan bring ½ cup water to aboil. Add ¼ cup butter and when the butter is melted, add ½ cup Hour all at once and cook, stirring briskly, until the mixture rolls away from the sides of the pan without sticking. Cool slightly. Add 2 eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Drop he paste in small balls, about the size of a small walnut, on a buttered baking sheet, brush the tops with a little beaten egg yolk mixed with milk, and bake in a moderately hot oven (375° F.) for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the profiteroles are puffed and golden brown and dry and feel light when lifted from the taking sheet. Cool.
When ready to serve, prepare a mimosa by mixing finely chopped hardcooked egg with a little finely chopped parsley. Cut the tops from the profiteroleS, fill the centers with fresh caviar, and decorate the edges with a border of mimosa. Replace the cover so that it rests halfway over the top yet shows he filling of caviar and the mimosa border. Place each profiterole on a plate lined with small leaves of lettuce, and garnish with a small wedge of lemon.
Petite Marmite
Cut into rather small pieces 1 pound of lean beef, 1 pound of fresh plate beef, 1 small oxtail, and the neck and 2 legs of a chicken. There should] be enough pieces to serve 6 people with 2 pieces each of beef and of oxtail. The chicken is mainly for flavor. Cover the meat with water and bring to a boil. Parboil for 10 minutes, drain, and rinse the meat with cold water. Put the meat into a large marmite, or deep kettle, and cover with 2 to 3 quarts of chicken stock or water. If water is used or if the stock is unsalted, add 2 teaspoons salt, Bring the liquid to a boil and simmer over low heat for 2 hours, skimming when necessary.
Meanwhile prepare the following vegetables: Peel 2 medium carrots and 2 small turnips, or enough to make twice as ninth carrot as turnip, and cut the vegetables into small balls or olive shapes. Cut 2 leeks and 2 stalks of celery into 1-inch pieces. Parboil the vegetables in water to cover for 5 minutes and add to the soup. Peel 2 small onions and saute them in a little butter until brown and add to the soup. Simmer the soup for 1 ½ hours longer, skimming when necessary. Correct the seasoning with salt. Place the marmite or kettle in a pan of boiling water to keep hot, but do not let it boil, and remove all the fat from the surface. Serve very hot. If desired, grated Parmesan or Swiss cheese may be served with it. Pass thin slices of small rolls. If marrow is available, cut it into small pieces and cover with cold water. Bring the water to a boil and transfer the marrow immediately to cold water. Place the marrow where it will keep warm until ready to serve. Pass the marrow with the soup.
Turban do Mousse do Soles au Howard Washington (Mousse of Sole with Lobster)
Place 1 pound of filet of sole, sea bass, cod. or other white fish on heavy parchment paper laid on a wooden board and pound the flesh with the dull edge of a heavy knife until it is very fine. Pound in ½ teaspoon salt and a little while pepper and then gradually add the whites of 2 eggs, mixing and pounding until they are thoroughly combined. Hub the mixture through a fine sieve into a metal pan. Set the pan in a bowl of cracked ice and. beat vigorously with a wooden spoon. Gradually work in about 2 ½ cups very heavy cream, adding a very little at a time, always stirring the mixture well after each addition. When all the cream has been added, test a small spoonful of the mousse as follows: Slip a small ball of the mousse into a little warm water and bring the water slowly to a boil. Turn the ball of mousse to poach it on the other side. If the mixture has been . worked enough, the mousse will become firm; if it falls apart, the mixture must be worked more over ice.
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