This essence of à la grecque technique is to cook vegetables in a court bouillon enriched with olive oil and aromatics. Following a recipe from Bouchon to completion, I served the veg glazed with a reduction of the liquid they were cooked in.
Over the course of several days I tried four vegetables: button mushrooms, baby artichokes, cauliflower, and "candy-stripe" beets (a delightful farmer's market discovery). All but the cauliflower -- despite the extra half-a-teaspoon of curry powder prescribed for it by the recipe -- were worth the effort. [Is my curry powder stale?] The mushrooms and the beets tasted as if they were pickled; the baby artichokes managed to hide the citric acid and tasted how you expect them to. The 'chokes, of course, each need a laborious haircut: keep breaking off the leaves until they are predominantly yellow, then cut off the green top and the stem, and even out the bottom.
The bouillon consists of a mixture of water, wine, olive oil, and lemon juice, with a cheesecloth sachet containing aromatics submerged in it. (One problem I had with the original recipe was that my celery seeds were too small to stay inside the sachet and thus ended up sprinkled -- harmlessly -- all over the final product.) The vegetables went either into a cold bouillon (artichokes and beets) or into a boiling one (mushrooms and cauliflower). After simmering long enough to make the veg tender, the entire contents of the pot can be cooled and refrigerated for a 2-3 days, satchet and all. To finish, reduce the liquid to just a few tablespoons and then toss the vegetables in it to coat.
These dishes are supposed to be served cold, with minced chives on top, but I suspect they are good at any temperature.
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup white wine
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/4 cup minced shallots
- 2 tsp celery seeds
In the sachet:
- 1 tsp peppercorns
- 1 parsley sprig
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
Over the course of several days I tried four vegetables: button mushrooms, baby artichokes, cauliflower, and "candy-stripe" beets (a delightful farmer's market discovery). All but the cauliflower -- despite the extra half-a-teaspoon of curry powder prescribed for it by the recipe -- were worth the effort. [Is my curry powder stale?] The mushrooms and the beets tasted as if they were pickled; the baby artichokes managed to hide the citric acid and tasted how you expect them to. The 'chokes, of course, each need a laborious haircut: keep breaking off the leaves until they are predominantly yellow, then cut off the green top and the stem, and even out the bottom.
The bouillon consists of a mixture of water, wine, olive oil, and lemon juice, with a cheesecloth sachet containing aromatics submerged in it. (One problem I had with the original recipe was that my celery seeds were too small to stay inside the sachet and thus ended up sprinkled -- harmlessly -- all over the final product.) The vegetables went either into a cold bouillon (artichokes and beets) or into a boiling one (mushrooms and cauliflower). After simmering long enough to make the veg tender, the entire contents of the pot can be cooled and refrigerated for a 2-3 days, satchet and all. To finish, reduce the liquid to just a few tablespoons and then toss the vegetables in it to coat.
These dishes are supposed to be served cold, with minced chives on top, but I suspect they are good at any temperature.
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup white wine
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/4 cup minced shallots
- 2 tsp celery seeds
In the sachet:
- 1 tsp peppercorns
- 1 parsley sprig
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tsp coriander seeds