My Great Recipes Collection

Great Recipes From the Past

Alcohol

Bouillabaisse Bites

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Pastis, an aniseed-flavored liquor which turns cloudy when mixed with water, is a popular drink among the fishermen in Marseilles, home of the world-famous stew called bouillabaisse. Bouillabaisse Bites are humble reminders of that glorious dish. If Pastis is not available, substitute Pernod.

Makes 12-24 bites.

Apertifs, Card 36

Pastis on the Rocks

Fill Old Fashioned glass with ice cubes. Pour Pastis over ice and garnish with black olive.

Pastis Splash

2 jiggers Pastis
1 dash orange bitters
Stir Pastis and bitters well with ice. Strain into cocktail glass and add a splash of ice water to barely fill the glass.

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Bouillabaisse Bites

Ingredients

  • 12-24 medium shrimp shelled and deveined
  • 12-24 medium sea scallops
  • 2 cups tomato sauce
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 clove garlic minced
  • 1 10- ounce can whole baby clams
  • 1 teaspoon basil
  • 1 pinch saffron
  • 1 tablespoon Pastis
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

  1. Skewer desired number of shrimp and scallops on 8-inch bamboo cocktail skewers, allowing 1 shrimp and 1 scallop per skewer; wrap tail of shrimp halfway around scallop as shown in photograph.
  2. Mix together tomato sauce, bay leaf, garlic, clams, basil, saffron, Pastis, salt, and pepper. Place in saucepan, bring to gentle simmer and cook, slowly, 20 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350. Arrange skewered fish in bottom of shallow baking dish. Drizzle sauce over skewers. Bake uncovered 25 minutes.
  4. Transfer skewered bites to heated serving platter. Spoon sauce over bites. Serve with warm garlic bread.

Salmon Mousse Plate with Cucumber Wafers

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This sounds like a middle of the summer, don’t feel like cooking because it’s too damn hot meal. Combine with a tossed salad and a couple of drinks, and you’re set.
Aperitifs Card 38

Port Sangaree

2 jiggers white port wine
1 jigger water
1/2 teaspoon superfine sugar
1 pinch nutmeg
Dissolve sugar and water in bottom of Old Fashioned glass. Add white port wine and stir well with ice. Sprinkle with pinch of freshly grated nutmeg.

Port Sangaree Soda

Follow instructions above, but substitute 1 jigger club soda for water; garnish with orange twist. This is the drink on the front of the card.
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Salmon Mousse Pate with Cucumber Wafers

Ingredients

  • 1 16- ounce can salmond drained
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 1 cup clam juice
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
  • 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 2 cucumbers

Instructions

Make the Pate

  1. Remove skin and bone from salmon and flake with form; set aside.
  2. Sprinkle gelatin on surface of white wine and dissolve.
  3. Heat clam juice in small saucepan until simmering; add wine and gelatin and heat until gelatin has melted.
  4. Remove from heat; add flaked salmon, lemon juice, salt, pepper, cayenne, and celery seed. Puree in blender or food processor or pass through food mill or sieve. Cool to room temperature.
  5. Beat heavy cream until light peaks form. Gently fold in salmon mixture. Turn mixture into lightly oiled loaf pan 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" x 2 1/2" Refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.

Prepare the Cucumber Wedges

  1. Peel cucumber carefully, allowing slivers of peel to remain for color. Run tines of fork lengthwise down sides of cucumber to form ridges. Cut into 1/4 -inch slices and serve cold.
  2. To serve, unmold pate on serving platter. Serve with cucumber wedges.

Recipe Notes

May substitute 2 cups freshly cooked salmon for the canned.

Provencale Caviar

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Sometimes called “poor man’s caviar,” Provencale Caviar is neither poor nor caviar. A piquant blend of tuna, anchovies, and black olives, this concoction somewhat resembles sturgeon caviar in appearance; in taste it is reminiscent of the South of France favorite, Salad Nicoise. It is as elegant an appetizer as Vermouth Cassis is an apertif.

The recipe makes about 2 cups.

What is Creme de Cassis?
This is a sweeet aperitif liqueur made from black currants, often used to sweeten aperitif wines. A superbly easy dessert can be made just by pouring a few teaspoons of creme de cassis over raspberry sherbet. Call it Sorbet de Cassis.

Aperitifs Card 40

Vermouth Cassis

2 jiggers dry white vermouth
1/2 jigger creme de cassis
Club soda
Stir vermouth and creme de cassis in Old Fashioned glass with ice. Fill with club soda. Garnish with lemon or orange peel. For a Lillet Cassis, follow instructions above, but substitute white Lillet for dry white vermouth. For a Vermouth Cassis Rouge, follow instructions for Vermouth Cassis but substitute sweet red vermouth for dry white vermouth.

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Provencale Caviar

Ingredients

  • 10 anchovy fillets
  • 2 6- ounce cans black olives drained
  • 1 7- ounce can tuna packed in oil
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Instructions

  1. Rinse anchovy fillets lightly under running cold water to remove excess saltiness; pat dry on paper towels. Chop and combine with remaining ingredients. 

  2. Puree in blender or food processor. Serve with club crackers or bread sticks.

Hors d’Oeuvre Souffle

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This is nothing more than a traditional cheese souffle permitted to fall in its baking dish and cool; then it is unmolded and garnished with watercress and supreme black olives, and served in wedges, like cheese.

Aperitifs Card 37

Picon Grenadine

1 jigger Amer Picon
1/2 jigger grenadine
Club soda
Place Amer Picon and grenadine in Old Fashioned glass; stir well and add ice cubes. Fill with soda and garnish with lemon.

Variations

Picon Punch: Prepare as above, but float 1 tablespoon cognac on top of drink.
Picon Grenadine No 2: Prepare as first recipe, but add 1/2 jigger fresh lime juice to mixture and garnish with lime slice.
Amer Picon Cocktail: Follow instructions for Picon Grendandine, but add 1 jigger dry white vermouth to ingredients.

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Hors d'Oeuvre Souffle

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 3/4 cup boiling milk
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
  • 1 pinch nutmeg
  • 5 egg whites
  • 2 teaspoons parmesan cheese grated

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400.
  2. Melt butter in saucepan; add flour and cook slowly one minute, stirring constantly; pour in boiling milk all at once. Remove from heat, stirring with wooden spoon until mixture is thick. Add egg yolks one at a time. Stir in cheese, salt, pepper, cayenne, and nutmeg. Set aside.
  3. Whip egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold gently into cheese batter.
  4. Grease 6-cup souffle mold and sprinkle lightly with 2 teaspoons grated cheese. Scoup souffle mixture into mold and set in oven. Turn heat down to 375. Bake 25 minutes.
  5. Remove from oven and let souffle fall and cool to room temperature. Run edge of sharp knife around sides of souffle to loosen. Invert on tea towel and transfer unmolded souffle, upright, to serving platter. Garnish with watercress and extra-large supreme black olives. Serve in wedges.

Caviale Con Fagioli

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This distinctive blend of white beans, caviar, herbs, and olive oil and lemon juice is a specialty of the famed Florentine restaurant Paoli, housed in the cellar of a thirteenth century castle in the heart of Florence. The famed white beans of Tuscany are virtually impossible to find in the US, short of smuggling them in your pockets, but Great Northern beans, cooked according to instructions on the package, are a fair substitute. In a pinch, use the small canned white Puerto Rican beans found in the Spanish sections of supermarkets.

Apertifs, Card 35

Negroni

1/2 jigger Campari
1 jigger gin or vodka
1 jigger sweet red vermouth
Stir well with ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with orange or lemon peel. May be served on the rocks with splash or club soda.

Berini Bristol

1 1/2 jiggers Campari
2 taspoons Rose’s lime juice
Fugi or Perrier sparkling mineral water
Shake Campari and Rose’s lime juice well with ice and pour over ice into highball glass. Fill up with mineral water; garnish with lime twist.

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Caviale con Fagili

Ingredients

  • 4 cups white beans cooked and drained
  • 1/2-3/4 cup olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons tarragon vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon oregano
  • 1/4 teaspoon thyme
  • 2 tablespoons parsley chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon chervil
  • 6 ounces beluga caviar

Instructions

  1. Place beans in a salad bowl, cover, and chill until ready to serve.
  2. Place olive oil, lemon juice, and vinegar in screw-top jar and shake well; set aside.
  3. Crush oregano, thyme, parsley, and chervil with mortar and pestle; add to oil in jar; shake and refrigerate until serving time.
  4. To serve: bring salad bowl to cocktail table. Toss beans lightly with dressing; add caviar and toss gently. Serve in small consomme cups; pass pepper mill; instruct guests to grind pepper to suite taste.