When I got
married in the early seventies, no one told me that it wasn't expected of me to
cook like a restaurant chef. I was under the impression that you had to be able
to cook the best dishes, and be as good as any restaurant chef. So that was
what I aimed at for all my married years.
I struggled
through all sorts of cook books, some good some really awful, I gathered
whatever cooking information I could from any chef who crossed my path. I never
gave up the idea of matching the skills of a restaurant chef though. I still
can't understand why my husband prefers the simple, ordinary food, you know,
the kind you eat just to get your stomach full. As I mastered the skills of
good cooking I started to really enjoy myself and to get adventurous, and my
husband wasn't too happy ... but I didn't budge because the kids loved it.
So I was
cooking feverishly, hoping to match any chef on the planet, under the false
impression that it was expected of me. Eventually I realized that the idea of getting
fancy food was to dress up and go out, and find a good restaurant – away from the wife's boring home cooking – and
enjoy something special by candle light. But by then I've already managed to
cook quite a number of excellent dishes, and restaurants didn't attract me so
much.
Today, when
someone sits down in a restaurant and opens the menu, he'll find that the main
dishes are always about steaks. You can get steak with chips, or rice, of
fritters, or vegetables, etc., but mostly steak. Back when I was twenty two the
menu's looked a lot different. One would find classic dishes like Chicken Kiev,
Bœuf Stroganoff, Faison à la Normande, Chicken Maryland, Fondue Bourguignonne,
etcetera on the Menu then.
Today I
want to share with you a little of all those years of cooking away at the
stove. When something goes out of fashion, it does not mean it is useless. One
should never throw away old recipies, because one day you'll grow tired of the
new way of cooking, and you'll try all the old recipies again. And you'll be
surprised at how delicious they are.
So here is
one recipe I've kept all these years. It is one of those classic, tasty dishes
– Poulet
à la Marengo.
There is a
history to this one. Napoleon Bonaparte's chef was faced with the task of
providing a superb meal for his General on the field of battle. He was well
supplied with fairly luxurious ingredients, but had only one cooking utensil.
Everything was therefore cooked together and that way he created a dish that
has won universal acclaim.
Hope you
enjoy it as much as Napoleon did.
Poulet à la Marengo
You will need for 4 servings:
1 young
frying chicken
½ oz flour
Seasoning
2 oz butter
or oil
4 oz small
mushrooms
2 tomatoes
1
tablespoon tomato purée
¼ pint dry
white wine
1 clove
garlic
few olives
1 small
lobster
To garnish:
slices of
bread, 4 eggs, parsley
Joint the
chicken and coat it in seasoned flour. Fry in the butter until golden brown.
Heat the butter in a heavy saucepan, add the chicken and fry to brown on all
sides. Add the mushrooms, chopped skinned tomatoes, and tomato purée. Blend
this with the white wine and make sure it is smooth. Pour over the chicken,
then add the chopped clove of garlic and seasoning. Cover the pan with a tight
fitting lid and simmer gently for approximately 30 minutes. Add the olives and
the prepared lobster pieces and heat gently for about 10 minutes. Do not
overcook, otherwise the lobster will toughen. While the lobster is heating, fry
neat triangles of bread and the eggs. Dish the chicken and lobster mixture on
to a hot platter and top with the eggs, fried bread and chopped parsley.
The white
wine can be replaced with a dry cider which will give a pleasing variation. If
you don't have lobster, scallops can be used instead.
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