New at the Site

Wines from SW France - Bergerac

  • Clos des Terrasses

Getting Around the Site

Search Food, Wine, Life's Pleasures

Cassoulet

  • Cassoulet

A Good Appetite

  • A Good Appetite

    Excerpted from JUST ENOUGH LIEBLING by A. J. LIEBLING

    The primary requisite for writing well about food is a good appetite. Without this, it is impossible to accumulate, within the allotted span, enough experience of eating to have anything worth setting down. Each day brings only two opportunities for field work, and they are not to be wasted minimizing the intake of cholesterol. They are indispensable, like a prizefighter's hours on the road. (I have read that the late French professional gourmand Maurice Curnonsky ate but one meal a day-dinner. But that was late in his life, and I have always suspected his attainments anyway; so many mediocre witticisms are attributed to him that he could not have had much time for eating.) A good appetite gives an eater room to turn around in. For example, a nonprofessional eater I know went to the Restaurant Pierre, in the Place Gaillon, a couple of years ago, his mind set on a sensibly light meal: a dozen, or possibly eighteen, oysters, and a thick chunk of steak topped with beef marrow, which M. Pierre calls a Délice de la Villette-the equivalent of a "Stockyards" Delight." But as he arrived, he heard M. Pierre say to his headwaiter, "Here comes Monsieur L. Those two portions of cassoulet that are left-put them aside for him." A cassoulet is a substantial dish, of a complexity precluding its discussion here. (Mr. Root devotes three pages to the great controversy over what it should contain.) M. Pierre is the most amiable of restaurateurs, who prides himself on knowing in advance what his friends will like. A client of limited appetite would be obliged either to forgo his steak or to hurt M. Pierre's feelings. Monsieur L., however, was in no difficulty. He ate the two cassoulets, as was his normal practice; if he had consumed only one, his host would have feared that it wasn't up to standard. He then enjoyed his steak. The oysters offered no problem, since they present no bulk.

Categories

Merchants

Producers

« Stollen Secrets | Main | To Roast A Beef »

January 20, 2008

Eqq Nogg

The Beiers-Jones Egg Nog

Adapted from The Merrie Christmas Drink Book, 1984, Peter Pauper Press

Ingredients:

12 eggs, separated 8 ounces sugar (confectioners) 1 quart Heavy Cream 1 quart Milk 1 quart Rum whole nutmeg for grating

Beat Egg whites till stiff-add pinch or two of salt to taste and set aside Beat egg yolks with sugar until dissolved Add rum, milk, and cream to yolks/sugar and place in wide serving bowl. Fold/cut in the egg whites. Keep chilled till serving To serve ladle into cups and grate a dusting of nutmeg on top

Recipe states that it makes "40-50 servings" though we usually make 4 batches to serve about 80 people. KitchenAid mixing bowl is not quite big enough so the last mixing is in the serving bowl.

The Merrie Christmas Drink Book recipe uses 1 quart whiskey and 8 ounces of Jamaican Rum. The extended Beiers family maintains regional variation on the relative proportions of whiskey versus rum.

Egg whites will float on top so wide bowl is essential to thin the top layer out. Or decrease the amount of egg whites.

 Safety note:
We have made this every year for over 20 years with zero problems attributable to raw eggs. Keep the liquor content high. Headaches may occur and we know of one gall bladder casualty.

Comments

Verify your Comment

Previewing your Comment

Posted by:  | 

This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.

Working...
Your comment could not be posted. Error type:
Your comment has been posted. Post another comment

The letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again.

As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.

Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.

Working...

Post a comment