Bones_ Recipes, History, and Lore - Jennifer McLagan [29]
Mustard Sauce
Sauce Robert, a classic sauce for pork, is made from onion, wine, and mustard. With the addition of cornichons, it becomes sauce charcutière. With or without the cornichons, the sauce is a great match for pork chops, baked ham, or pig’s feet and tails. If you can’t find the small French cornichons, substitute diced sour gherkins.
3 tablespoons (45 g) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1½ cups (375 ml) Pork Stock (page 58)
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 shallot or small onion, finely diced
¼ cup (60 ml) dry white wine
2 tablespoons finely diced cornichons, optional
¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley, optional
1. Melt 2 tablespoons (30 g) of the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and mustard and cook, stirring constantly, for about 3 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and gradually whisk in the stock.
2. Return the pan to the heat and continue whisking until the mixture boils. Reduce the heat, add the salt, and simmer for 15 minutes, whisking occasionally.
3. While the sauce is simmering, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon (15 g) butter in a small frying pan. Add the shallot and cook until soft and just starting to color. Pour in the wine and boil until it has almost all evaporated.
4. Add the shallot mixture to the sauce, along with the cornichons and parsley, if using. Serve warm.
Split Pea Soup with Chestnuts
I grew up with the comfort and warmth of my mother’s pea soup on cold days, so on one bone-chilling day, I ordered it for lunch in a Paris restaurant. It was delicious and restorative, and I felt better with each mouthful—but it wasn’t anything like my mother’s soup. What were those brown bits floating in it, mushrooms? No, they were sweet, floury chestnuts, an inspired addition.
This soup is delicious with or without chestnuts.
You can roast your own chestnuts for this soup, but cooked chestnuts are readily available vacuum-packed or canned in gourmet shops and grocery stores. If you buy the canned ones, be sure they are unsweetened.
12 ounces (350 g) split peas
1 large ham bone, with some meat left on it
1 large onion, diced
2 large carrots, peeled and diced
3 celery stalks, sliced
3 garlic cloves, halved
2 bay leaves
1 large thyme sprig
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 cooked chestnuts, diced, optional
1. Put the peas in a colander and rinse well under cold running water. Place the peas, ham bone, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, bay leaves, and thyme in a large stockpot. Add 10 cups (2.5 1) water and bring slowly to a boil. Skim off the foam that has risen to the top, reduce the heat, partially cover, and simmer for 1½ to 2 hours, or until the meat is falling off the bone and the split peas are very soft. Remove from the
2. Carefully remove the ham bone, bay leaves, and thyme from the soup, making sure you don’t leave the knuckle or any bone splinters behind. Let the bone cool, then remove any remaining meat and dice or shred it.
3. Puree the soup using an immersion blender or in batches in a regular blender or food processor. Pour into a clean saucepan, stir in the meat, and season with salt and pepper. Add the chestnuts, if using. Reheat gently and check the seasoning.
TIP No ham bone? Use a small smoked ham hock. Add an extra 2 cups (500 ml) water, because the collagen in hock will make the soup thicker. Use only ½ cup (125 ml) of the meat from the hock for the soup, and keep the rest of it for a dish of lentils or beans.
Spicy Korean Pork Soup
When my husband and I went to our neighborhood Korean restaurant to try pork bone soup, the specialty, it was so spicy that after the first two mouthfuls, I couldn’t taste a thing. And the soup, true to its name, was full of big bones. I make a slightly tamer version at home, and don’t serve the bones in the finished soup. You can adjust the heat of the soup by adding more or less chili powder and/or kimchee. Kimchee is a spicy fermented cabbage condiment found in Asian markets; it keeps well in the