Recipes for success

I have many cookbooks, but two reliable favorites are Julie Dannenbaum’s Complete Creative Cooking School Cookbook combined with Menus for All Occasions (two volumes in one) and Judith Huxley’s Table for Eight: Recipes & Menus for Entertaining with the Seasons. Both are out of print, but should you stumble upon them in a used bookstore or search them out on eBay or Alibris, buy them. I have cooked from these books for many years and know many of the no-nonsense recipes for delicious dishes by heart.

Dannenbaum, a longtime resident of Rittenhouse Square, once owned the largest non-professional cooking school in America. The late Huxley reviewed cookbooks and wrote food articles for The Washington Post. Her father-in-law was the writer Aldous Huxley.

Both books offer menus and recipes for cooking with the seasons. The first portion of Dannenbaum’s book is a soup-to-nuts edition. This means the volume is divided into appetizers, soups, salads, etc., all the way to desserts. Huxley’s book is all menu. Her recipes serve eight, but they can be easily cut in half.

Before I ever roasted a rack of lamb or fillet of beef, I consulted Dannenbaum’s book. Just thinking about her French pot roast makes me hungry. There are numerous gazpacho recipes floating around, but it is Huxley’s version I prepare time after time. The only ingredients I omit are green peppers and simply add an extra red pepper to the recipe. Huxley had a chatty, witty style of writing and you will enjoy her introductions and directions as much as her recipes.

Here are recipes from Julie Dannenbaum and Judith Huxley.

Composed Fall Salad
From Table for Eight

Ingredients:

1 small head red or green leaf lettuce
1 small head Boston lettuce
6-8 pale yellow chicory leaves
1/2 red bell pepper
4-5 raw mushrooms
1/4 cup thin slivers red onion
2 ounces marinated mushrooms (from the jar)
3 ounces marinated artichoke hearts (from the jar), halved lengthwise
3 hard-boiled eggs, each cut into six wedges
12-16 black Ni�oise olives
Pinch of "herbes de Provence"
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Wash and dry the greens, tear them into pieces and discard the coarse ribs of the leaf lettuce. Arrange in a low, flat-bottomed bowl. Using a potato peeler, peel the skin off the red pepper. It’s worth the trouble.

Cut the pepper into slivers and arrange around the outside edge on the greens. Clean the raw mushrooms, cut off the stems. (Freeze stems for the next stockpot.) Slice the caps thin and arrange in a mound in the center.

Arrange the red onions on the fresh mushrooms and place the marinated mushrooms around them. Then add a circle of the marinated artichoke hearts, then the egg wedges and finally the olives. Sprinkle the "herbes de Provence" and chopped parsley over all.

Whisk the remaining ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Add the dressing at the table just before serving and toss.

Serves eight.

Note from Phyllis: Don’t let the title of the recipe fool you. This is also a winter salad. Endive, escarole or frisee can be used in place of chicory. "Herbes de Provence," which is a blend of dry herbs used in southern French cooking, can be found in gourmet stores, spice shops and some supermarkets.

French Pot Roast
Adapted from Complete Creative Cooking School Cookbook

Ingredients:

1 (4-pound) chuck roast
3 cups dry red wine
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 cup olive oil
1-1/2 cups sliced onions
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Directions:

Place the beef in a large stainless steel or glass bowl. Pour in 2 cups of the wine. Add the rest of the ingredients and turn the beef over several times. Place in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Turn the beef every four hours while it marinates.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

When ready to cook, remove the beef from the marinade. Reserve the marinade. Dry the beef thoroughly with paper towels.

Heat the oil in a large, heavy casserole until it is almost smoking. Brown the meat on all sides over high heat, turning it with wooden spatulas. This takes about 15 minutes. Remove the beef and set aside.

Put the reserved marinade into the casserole and bring it to a boil. Add the remaining cup of wine. Return the beef to the casserole. Cover with a lid. Cook for three hours.

Serve the pot roast with buttered noodles or boiled potatoes.

Serves six to eight.

Note from Phyllis: The chuck roast does not have to marinate for 24 hours. You can begin to marinate the beef early in the morning. You can add a large handful of small boiling onions to the pot after the beef has cooked for two-and-a-half hours.

Saut�ed Mushroom Caps with Pine Nuts
From Complete Creative Cooking School Cookbook

Ingredients:

1-1/2 pounds mushrooms, wiped clean, stems trimmed
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Directions:

Heat the butter in a large skillet and when foaming subsides, add the pine nuts. Saut� them over high heat until lightly browned.

Add the mushrooms and remaining ingredients. Shake the pan, tossing the mushrooms over high heat for three minutes. Serve immediately.

Serves eight.

Mocha Almond Bombe
From Table for Eight

Ingredients:

2 quarts coffee ice cream
1 cup toasted unblanched almonds, coarsely chopped
1 quart butter almond ice cream
Chocolate syrup

Directions:

Line the bottom and sides of a 10-cup mold with all the coffee ice cream and stud with the almonds. Drizzle some chocolate syrup over the entire surface. Pack in enough of the butter almond ice cream to fill the mold. (Some of the ice cream will be left over.) Smooth the top, cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for at least three hours.

An hour to 90 minutes before serving, remove the mold from the freezer and dip it into a basin of hot water. Dry the mold and run a knife around the rim. Unmold the bombe onto a platter. Place in the refrigerator until serving time.

To serve, drizzle more chocolate syrup over the bombe and slice at the table with a knife dipped into hot water.

Serves eight.