New collection gathers best recipes of ’01

loading...

THE BEST AMERICAN RECIPES 2001-2002, series editor Fran McCullough, Houghton Mifflin, New York, 2001, 360 pages, hardcover, $26.

The genuinely astute and dedicated need never buy a cookbook. Recipes are somewhat ubiquitous; promiscuous even, appearing everywhere you turn: Cookbooks, sure, but also in magazines, newspapers, on the Internet, enclosed in your junk mail, on cereal boxes even. The trick has always been keeping track of them.

In the past, I have had a failsafe method for ensuring those tantalizing snippets from the Sunday supplements are not lost: I tear them out and stuff them in a cookie tin. Once they are in the tin, we can happily forget about them as they lie crumpled among all the other recipes that fleetingly caught my eye. I must have about a thousand of these pieces of paper. I rediscover them every year or so, pry open the tin and say once again how fantastic a certain recipe may sound, how purely edible a picture. I will also never make this recipe. I will close the tin and forget about it for another year.

In simple terms, “The Best American Recipes” is the best-organized cookie tin I’ve owned; and one I’m likely to pry open more frequently. Editor Fran McCullough has done all the hard work for us, trawling through magazines, newsletters, pamphlets and the Internet, sifting out a tasty and eclectic mix of the best published recipes of 2001.

This is McCullough’s third collection in a series that I hope continues for many years to come. Much like an inspired compilation CD, this book is all killer and no filler. Almost every recipe seems to urge you to try it.

Tagging this book as the best American recipes of the last year is a red herring. Dad’s Baked Beans (from “Caprial Cooks for Friends”) and White House Egg Nog (“An Invitation to the White House”) may be as American as the World Series, but this is a global appreciation that reflects many current trends in American restaurants. As usual, the Mediterranean and Central America are strongly represented. Asian foods also make a strong showing this year. Most notable were Asian Tea Eggs (“The Good Egg”), which offer a striking marbled appearance and most unusual flavor, combining tea, star anise and sherry. They’re sure to impress the most jaded of dinner guests.

But don’t be surprised to suddenly unearth submissions from less exposed regions. Even Scandinavia gets a refreshing look-in with Cured Salmon and Potato Gratin (Food Arts), whose 24 hours of salt curing impart a sharp, crusty salinity that is perfectly offset by half-and-half, eggs and stacks of fresh dill. Truly, as the blurb notes, a cross between a gratin and a quiche. Oh, and then there’s the somewhat British (gasp!) tinged Port-and-Black-Currant-Glazed Chicken Thighs (Good Housekeeping).

There are also indispensable hints, for those venturing into unknown waters, as to meal composition, and a bagful of tips and tricks for most recipes.

This year’s edition of “Best American Recipes” is again an essential guide to the undercurrents and riptides of global cooking. So while the genuinely astute and dedicated need never buy a cookbook, they really should consider “The Best American Recipes 2001-2002.” For the rest of us, it’s compulsory.

Adam Corrigan is a free-lance writer from Dixmont.

Asian Tea Eggs

8 eggs, preferably medium-size

1/2 cup dark soy sauce

1/2 cup dry sherry

4 star anise

1 strip (1/2 x 2 inches) orange zest

3 cups water

3 Lapsang Souchong tea bags, strings removed

Toasted sesame oil for rubbing the eggs (optional)

Place the eggs in a single layer in the saucepan.; Cover with water and bring to a boil over medium heat. As soon as the water boils, remove the pan from the heat, cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Drain off the water, cover the eggs with cold water and let stand until cool enough to handle.

Meanwhile, combine the soy sauce, sherry, star anise, orange zest and water in the saucepan and bring to a simmer. Add the tea bags.

When the eggs are cool, gently tap them with the back of a tablespoon so the shells are evenly cracked. Do not peel. Using the spoon, carefully lower the eggs one at a time into the simmering liquid. If it does not cover the eggs entirely, add more water. Cover the pan and simmer for one hour.

Transfer the eggs to a bowl or small casserole with a lid. Cover with the hot liquid and cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate, preferably overnight.

Drain, peel and pat each egg dry. Rub with sesame oil if desired. Serve halved or quartered.

Cured Salmon and Potato Gratin

1/2 cup salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon white peppercorns, cracked

1 pound salmon fillet, skinned

Freshly ground black pepper

21/2 pounds potatoes, boiled peeled and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

1 onion, diced

2 bunches dill, chopped (about 3 cups)

3 large eggs

21/2 cups half-and-half

1/3 cup chopped fresh dill

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

1 cup freshly grated horseradish

Mix the salt, sugar and peppercorns in a bowl. Place the salmon in a nonreactive container. Rub the salt-sugar mixture into the salmon, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove the salmon from the refrigerator, wipe off the salt and sugar with a damp towel and thinly slice the salmon, seasoning each side with black pepper.

Grease an ovenproof baking dish (about 3 quarts) with butter. Starting and ending with potatoes, make alternate layers of potatoes and salmon, sprinkling onion and dill over each layer, saving a little dill for the final garnish.

Whisk together the eggs and half-and-half and pour the mixture over the layers. Bake for 45 minutes. Don’t overcook the potatoes. They should have some bite left or they’ll crumble when you slice the gratin.

To serve, cut the gratin into serving portions. Place a portion on each plate, sprinkle with dill, and serve the hot melted butter and horseradish in separate dishes on the side.