Robes Fleisch Fein Garniert (Beefsteak Tartare)
Chop very finely 1 tablespoon capers, enough white onion to make 2 tablespoons, 6 thin slices of dill pickle, A anchovy filets, and a small bunch of fresh chives. Chill A ounces of black caviar.
With a silver spoon, scrape a 1-pound slice of top round of beef. It should be at room temperature. Hold the slice of beef on a wooden chopping board with one hand and scrape away from you with the other. As the beef is scraped off and cupped in the spoon, lay it in the center of the plate from which it will be served. Turn the slice several times while scraping it, to get the meat from both sides. Properly scraped, a 1-pound slice of beef should make 2 very generous servings, and only a net of sinews and fat should remain. Form the raw beef into a mound and make a small well in the center. Drop a perfect egg yolk carefully into the well and surround the beef with little mounds of the cold caviar and the chopped anchovies, capers, onions, chives, and dill pickle and with little piles of paprika, black pepper, and salt. Makes 2 servings.
Lachs-Crème (Salmon Mousse)
Place 1 pound fresh salmon, sliced, in a saucepan with 2 cups light white wine, cover the pan. and simmer the fish in the wine until it flakes easily, about 12 minutes. Drab the fish well and pound it in a mortar to a fine paste or put it through the finest blade of the food chopper twice. Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a saucepan with 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion until the butter bubbles. Stir the mixture over low heat for a few minutes, taking care not to brown the butter. Take the pan from the heat and stir in ½ cup warm milk. Return the sauce to low heat and cook it very slowly for a few minutes. Add a pinch of cayenne and ½ teaspoon anchovy paste and stir the sauce into the salmon paste. Season to taste with salt and pepper, bearing in mind that whipped cream will be added, so that the mixture becomes blander. Add 1 tablespoon fresh dill and ¼ cup pistachio nuts, both finely chopped, and chill the mixture in the refrigerator.
Soften 1 envelope of gelatin in ½ cup cold water and dissolve it over hot water. To ½ cup strong chicken stock add 1/3 cup Sherry and bring the stock just to a boil. Remove the stock from the heat, stir in the dissolved gelatin, and cool the aspic.
Set a 1-quart fish mold in a bed of cracked ice. Coat the bottom and sides with a layer of cool, but still liquid, aspic and let it set. Lay a round slice of truffle in the mold as an eye and a line of crescent-shaped truffle slices to show the spine of the fish. Black olives may be substituted for the truffle. Pour in a second layer of aspic and continue to paint the sides of the mold until it has a coating of at least 1/8 inch. Chill the rest of the aspic in a shallow pan in the refrigerator until it sets.
Whip 1 cup heavy cream with a pinch of salt. Fold it carefully into the salmon paste, correct the seasoning, and blend the mixture until it is smooth. Turn it into the mold and chill the mousse for at least 2 hours.
Unmold the salmon mousse onto a large platter, surround it with sliced hard-cooked eggs, water cress, and cold boiled shrimp, and decorate the platter with chopped aspic. Serve fresh herb mayonnaise separately.
Fresh Herb Mayonnaise
Place 1 ½ cups thick mayonnaise in the container of a blender with a generous bunch of chives, the leaves from A sprigs of tarragon, and 4 sprigs of parsley. Add the zest of 1 lemon, salt to taste, and more chives and tarragon. if desired. Cover the container and blend until the sauce is soft green, about 30 seconds.
Palacsinta (Rolled Pancakes with Jam)
Stir 1 tablespoon brandy into 1 cup of either apricot or strawberry jam. Sift into a bowl 1 cup flour with a pinch of salt. Stir in 2 tablespoons sugar and, gradually, 1 cup milk, to make a smooth batter. Add 2 eggs and stir until the baiter is again smooth.
Heat a 9-inch skillet and pour in just enough melted butter to cover the whole surface when the pan is tilted. Pour in enough batter to cover the pan thinly but completely. Cook the Palacsinta over medium heat until the underside is lightly browned and the pancake is firm, Turn the pancake with a spatula or wide knife and brown it lightly on the other side. Transfer the first Palacsinta to a warm plate, butter the pan again and pour in the batter for the second Palaesinta. While it is browning, spread the entire surface of the first Palaesinta with a thin coating of the apricot or strawberry jam. Roll it up neatly, place it on an ovenproof or silver platter, and keep it hot in a slow oven (250° F.). Repeat this procedure until all the baiter is used, laying the Palacsinta side by side or stacking them like logs. Oust the finished Palacsinta generously with vanilla—sugar powdered sugar in which a vanilla bean has been buried for several days or weeks.
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