Have Blade Will Travel: The adventures of a traveling chef by David Paul Larousse Page B
Authors: David Paul Larousse
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colander and add enough additional potatoes to bring it up to a drier consistency. He then turned me over to Malcolm’s supervision. Although I had clearly failed with the salad, I’d apparently passed the “first impressions” test. All he really wanted to know was if I could handle a knife, and was willing to work and follow his orders. And I had proven all that, without question.
― ● ―
Excellent Basic Potato Salad
2 pounds (1 kg) Yukon Gold potatoes
1 bunch scallions, trimmed of roots, rinsed, and sliced very thin
2 stalks celery, finely diced
¼ cup (60 mL) mayonnaise (approximately)
¼ cup (60 mL) plain, 2-percent yoghurt
¼ cup (60 mL) Champagne or white wine vinegar
¼ cup (60 mL) finely chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons (30 mL) finely chopped mint leaves
1 tablespoon (15 mL) finely minced tarragon leaves
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
4 hard-cooked eggs
parsley sprigs as needed
Peel and cut the potatoes lengthwise in half, then into slices about ¼-inch (.6 cm) thick. Put them into boiling, lightly salted water, and boil until tender, but still slightly firm (8-to-10 minutes). Drain and allow to cool.
Place the potatoes in a mixing bowl, add the remaining ingredients, and gently blend. Season with salt and pepper, and adjust as needed, the amounts of mayonnaise and vinegar.
Serve garnished with quartered or sliced eggs and parsley sprigs
― ● ―
Malcolm introduced me to the other members of the kitchen. Billy Byrd was the Sous-chef, (Sous = under), an Air Force veteran of twenty-years, who immediately picked up on my youthful enthusiasm, and took me under his wing as his own unofficial apprentice. He kept me running most of the summer, and I learned plenty. Twenty years later, my basic tomato sauce – Larousse All-Purpose Industrial-Strength Tomato Sauce – is modeled directly after the Billy Byrd Industrial Red Sauce he taught me that summer.
― ● ―
Larousse All-Purpose Industrial Strength Tomato Sauce (Yields 1 gallon)
½ cup (180 mL) olive oil
1 large Spanish onion, peeled, and quartered
1 large leek, root and outer leaves removed, and very-well-rinsed
3 large celery stalks, trimmed and well-rinsed
1 small carrot, peeled and top removed
1 bulb garlic, cloves peeled
½ bunch fresh basil, leaves only
1 bunch parsley, stems removed (and reserved for stock)
1 pound ground pork
2 quarts (2 liters) tomato purée
1 six-ounce (180 mL) can tomato paste
1 pint (½ liter) chicken stock (or water)
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Grind the vegetables, garlic, basil and parsley through the medium-holed plate of a meat grinder (or in a food processor).
Heat the olive oil in a heavy-gauge pot over medium heat, and sweat the ground vegetables (sweat = sauté covered) for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the ground pork and ground herbs, salt and pepper, and continue cooking.
Add the tomato products and chicken stock, using the stock to rinse out the tomato cans, and blend thoroughly. (Deposit the cans in the recycle bin.)
Simmer the sauce, stirring frequently, for 3 hours – skimming and discarding any impurities that collect on top. Adjust seasoning, allow to cool, then cover and refrigerate until ready to be used.
― ● ―
Wayne was the baker. He and Paul – the latter an experienced production man generally referred to as First Cook – formed a sort of Frick-and-Frack team. Both were married and were good friends outside of work. Wayne made one of the best sticky pecan buns I’ve ever tasted, but he was unwilling to part with his recipe. Paul was strictly a mechanic, which made him an extremely important member of the crew. I suspected he found my particular passionate approach rather humorous.
Richard was the pantry cook, a tall, quiet, zany character, who wore a wool cap trimmed with fur all summer. No matter that the kitchen temperature soared to 120-degrees behind the range, and probably 85-degrees or more
― ● ―
Excellent Basic Potato Salad
2 pounds (1 kg) Yukon Gold potatoes
1 bunch scallions, trimmed of roots, rinsed, and sliced very thin
2 stalks celery, finely diced
¼ cup (60 mL) mayonnaise (approximately)
¼ cup (60 mL) plain, 2-percent yoghurt
¼ cup (60 mL) Champagne or white wine vinegar
¼ cup (60 mL) finely chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons (30 mL) finely chopped mint leaves
1 tablespoon (15 mL) finely minced tarragon leaves
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
4 hard-cooked eggs
parsley sprigs as needed
Peel and cut the potatoes lengthwise in half, then into slices about ¼-inch (.6 cm) thick. Put them into boiling, lightly salted water, and boil until tender, but still slightly firm (8-to-10 minutes). Drain and allow to cool.
Place the potatoes in a mixing bowl, add the remaining ingredients, and gently blend. Season with salt and pepper, and adjust as needed, the amounts of mayonnaise and vinegar.
Serve garnished with quartered or sliced eggs and parsley sprigs
― ● ―
Malcolm introduced me to the other members of the kitchen. Billy Byrd was the Sous-chef, (Sous = under), an Air Force veteran of twenty-years, who immediately picked up on my youthful enthusiasm, and took me under his wing as his own unofficial apprentice. He kept me running most of the summer, and I learned plenty. Twenty years later, my basic tomato sauce – Larousse All-Purpose Industrial-Strength Tomato Sauce – is modeled directly after the Billy Byrd Industrial Red Sauce he taught me that summer.
― ● ―
Larousse All-Purpose Industrial Strength Tomato Sauce (Yields 1 gallon)
½ cup (180 mL) olive oil
1 large Spanish onion, peeled, and quartered
1 large leek, root and outer leaves removed, and very-well-rinsed
3 large celery stalks, trimmed and well-rinsed
1 small carrot, peeled and top removed
1 bulb garlic, cloves peeled
½ bunch fresh basil, leaves only
1 bunch parsley, stems removed (and reserved for stock)
1 pound ground pork
2 quarts (2 liters) tomato purée
1 six-ounce (180 mL) can tomato paste
1 pint (½ liter) chicken stock (or water)
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Grind the vegetables, garlic, basil and parsley through the medium-holed plate of a meat grinder (or in a food processor).
Heat the olive oil in a heavy-gauge pot over medium heat, and sweat the ground vegetables (sweat = sauté covered) for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the ground pork and ground herbs, salt and pepper, and continue cooking.
Add the tomato products and chicken stock, using the stock to rinse out the tomato cans, and blend thoroughly. (Deposit the cans in the recycle bin.)
Simmer the sauce, stirring frequently, for 3 hours – skimming and discarding any impurities that collect on top. Adjust seasoning, allow to cool, then cover and refrigerate until ready to be used.
― ● ―
Wayne was the baker. He and Paul – the latter an experienced production man generally referred to as First Cook – formed a sort of Frick-and-Frack team. Both were married and were good friends outside of work. Wayne made one of the best sticky pecan buns I’ve ever tasted, but he was unwilling to part with his recipe. Paul was strictly a mechanic, which made him an extremely important member of the crew. I suspected he found my particular passionate approach rather humorous.
Richard was the pantry cook, a tall, quiet, zany character, who wore a wool cap trimmed with fur all summer. No matter that the kitchen temperature soared to 120-degrees behind the range, and probably 85-degrees or more
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