So French

Dany Chouet

– published by Murdoch Books. RRP $69.95.
Photography: Alan Benson
Available from Accoutrement.
Check MOSMAN 2088 MAGAZINE for more recipes from Accoutrement every month.

Acclaimed restaurateur Dany Chouet helped shape French cuisine in Australia throughout the 1970s and 80s through her successful restaurants Upstairs, Au Chabrol and Cleopatra. Now back in south-west France, she and her partner are wooing international customers with gourmet tours and Dany’s quintessential country cooking. In her first book, So French, Dany tells her fascinating life story which is interwoven with more than 60 timeless recipes and complemented by stunning images taken at her home and guesthouse in the south of France. This is truly a book to treasure. From traditional garlic and onion soup to hearty salt cod and potato ragoût and sweet nectarine and raspberry gratin, browsing through the pages of So French is sure to make your tastebuds tingle and your thoughts travel to Provence.

Asparagus, Spring Onion
and Chervil Tartlets

Serves 4

To make the pastry shells: Brush the insides of four 10.5cm loose-based tartlet tins with the melted butter. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured work surface to 3mm thick and use to line the tins, trimming any excess. Place on a baking tray and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Line the base and sides of the pastry shells with aluminium foil, fill with dried beans or pastry weights and refrigerate for 10 minutes. Bake the pastry shells for 10 minutes, then remove the foil and weights. Reduce the temperature to 180ºC and bake for a further 5-10 minutes or until evenly coloured and light golden. Cool a little, before carefully removing the shells from the tins. Place them back on the baking tray. Turn the oven temperature down to 160ºC.

To make the asparagus filling: Trim 1cm from the asparagus bases and, using a vegetable peeler, peel from the base to about halfway up the spears. Cut off the tips, at about 7cm long, and set aside. Cut the remaining asparagus stems into 2cm) lengths. Melt the butter and oil in a medium-large frying pan over medium heat. Add the prosciutto and spring onion and sauté for 1 minute. Add the asparagus stems and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes. Add the duck demi-glace, reduce the heat to very low, cover and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Reserve some of the chervil sprigs for garnish and finely chop the remaining sprigs. Add the cream, chopped chervil and tarragon to the asparagus stems and cook for 10-15 minutes or until reduced to a creamy consistency. Meanwhile, place the asparagus tips in a steamer basket placed over a saucepan of simmering water and steam for 3-4 minutes. Fill the pastry cases with the asparagus cream, top with the steamed asparagus tips and garnish with a sprig of chervil.

Dany’s Cassoulet

Serves 8-12

1/2 garlic bulb, finely chopped
1 bunch flat-leaf (Italian) parsley, finely chopped
1.5 kg neck of pork (scotch fillet)
1kg lean pork belly
800g pork skin, without fat
1.5 litres (6 cups) dry white wine
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 large bouquet garni (12 thyme sprigs,
2 bay leaves, 20 parsley sprigs)
1 kg dried white Great Northern or cannellini beans
1 brown onion, unpeeled, studded with 2 cloves
1 bay leaf
250g speck, diced
60g duck fat
3 medium carrots, diced ito 1cm cubes
3-4 large onions, finely diced
4 large very ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
(or 800g tinned Italian peeled tomatoes)
1/2 garlic bulb, extra, chopped
1.5 litres (6 cups) chicken, pork or duck stock
bones reserved from the pork belly
6 thick pork Toulouse-style sausage, halved lengthways
12 confit duck legs
80g dry breadcrumbs
1 large garlic clove, crushed
1 bunch flat-leaf (Italian) parsley, chopped
melted duck fat to drizzle

The day before serving: Combine the garlic and parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove excess fat from pork neck and trim. Pierce holes along the meat and insert one-third of the garlic and parsley mixture deep into the meat. Tie up with string like a roast. Leave the skin on the pork belly, remove the bones and reserve them for later.

Arrange the pork skins flat on the work surface, season with salt and pepper and spread thickly with the remaining garlic and parsley mixture. Roll up like a thick sausage and secure with string at 1.5cm intervals.

Place the three cuts of meat in a large container. Cover with wine, sprinkle over the black peppercorns and immerse the bouquet garni. Cover and refrigerate. Ensure you turn the meats around in the marinade once during the 24 hours.

To prepare the dish: Place the beans in a large stainless-steel stock pot, cover generously with cold water, add the studded onion and the bay leaf. Bring to the boil and cook until they are only half-cooked and swollen, just a bit more than blanched.

Strain the beans into a colander and refresh under cold water. Discard the onion and bay leaf and leave the beans to drain. Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Remove the meat from the marinade and place the pork neck only in a roasting pan with a little marinade and place the other meats in a bowl covered in refrigerator until needed. Strain the marinade (reserving the bouquet garni) and set aside. Roast the pork neck, basting often with a little of the marinade. Cook for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, then remove and set aside. Then collect the roasting juices and set aside.

In a 15 litre stainless-steel heavy based saucepan, fry the speck with the duck fat until golden. Add the carrot and onion and saute gently for about 15 minutes without browning. Add the tomato and reduce to a nice, thick consistency. Season with freshly ground black pepper only. Add the drained beans, pour in the reserved marinade from the meat and bring gently to the boil. Bury the pork belly and pork skin-roll, reserved bouquet garni, pork belly bones and garlic in the beans. Add enough stock to cover the beans by 2cm.

Do not stir the mixture any more. Simmer, covered, for at least 1-2 hours or until the pork belly is tender (checking with a skewer to see if it is done) and beans are soft but still holding their shape.

Remove the pork belly and pork skill roll from the pot. Set aside with the roast pork neck to cool. If they are to be used the day after, cool and keep well covered in the refrigerator. Pour beans out of the pot into a bowl and stir to distribute the flavours. Discard the bouquet garni and the pork bones and check the seasoning.

Serving the Cassoulet: Preheat the oven to 200ºC. You need two 4 litre earthenware or cast-iron pots for this. Divide the beans between the pots so that they come halfway up the side of each pot. Thickly slice the roast pork neck and the pork belly, then remove the string and thinly slice the pork skin roll. Chargrill the pork sausages on one side only (or cook under the grill). Remove the duck legs from their fat.

Divide the duck legs, pork neck slices, pork belly slices, pork skin slices and sausage between each pot, pressing the meat and skin so that most of it is covered by the beans and some of the meat is still visible so that it will brown during cooking. Pour over the reserved roast pork juice.

Mix together the breadcrumbs, garlic and parsley and sprinkle generously all over the top. Drizzle a little liquid duck fat on top of the breadcrumbs to crisp them. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown on top, very hot and sizzling around the edges.

Almond-Lemon Tartlet
with Lemon Verbena Ice Cream

SERVES 4

200g pâte sucrée (sweet short crust pastry)
1 large egg
20g caster sugar
zest and juice of 1 lemon
30g ground almonds
1 drop of almond extract
30g melted butter
30ml cream
250g mixed red berries, such as strawberries, raspberries or redcurrants
1 tablespoon icing sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon

Lemon Verbena Ice Cream
15 fresh leaves lemon verbena (if you aren’t fortunate enough to have a lemon verbena bush, buy a small plant from a nursery)
250ml - 1 cup milk, heated
4 egg yolks
40g sugar
125 ml - 1/2 cup cream

To make the Lemon Verbena Ice Cream: Make the ice cream the day before you want to serve this dessert. Infuse all the leaves in hot milk for at least 15 minutes, then strain the leaves out.

Whisk the yolks and sugar until pale, pour the hot milk over this and keep whisking until well mixed. Transfer to a clean saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the custard thickens and coats the back of the spoon. Do not let it boil. As soon as it is thick, strain into a bowl and cool.

Freeze in an ice-cream machine according to the manufacturer’s directions. Transfer to individual moulds or in one container to serve.

Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Roll out the pastry to 3mm thick and line four 8cm long boat-shaped tartlet moulds, place them on a baking tray and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes or until the pastry is firm.

Using an electric mixer, whisk the egg, sugar and half the lemon zest and juice. When pale, add the ground almonds, almond extract, melted butter and the cream. Pour into the prepared tartlet moulds lined with pastry and cook for 8-10 minutes or until the filling is set and the pastry is light brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Mix the fresh red berries of your choice, icing sugar and the remaining lemon juice, to taste. Just before serving, take the ice-cream moulds fom the freezer to soften a little. Arrange the fruits and the almond tartlet on server plates and unmould or scoop the ice cream last.