Dan's Papers - May 23, 2008 - Silvia Lehrer's Cooking Column

Flags are flying this holiday weekend to commemorate and remember the men and women who have made the supreme sacrifice for our freedom. While not losing sight of honoring our current American heroes all over the world, their bravery and sacrifice, it is Memorial Day weekend, traditionally a time for celebration.

There will be festivals, fairs and parades. Family and friends will gather around on this official beginning of summer, and food, as with all celebrations, plays a pivotal role. One of the nicest ways to enjoy your guests is to entertain at home. Yet this can be stressful. Through many years of teaching cooking my focus was, and is, to prepare dishes with tons of flavor, and with advance planning, can be prepared ahead. Many recipes can be prepared completely ahead or at least up to a certain point.

Pick up a fresh bunch of beets with their greens still on at one of the many local farm stands to prepare a beet and pear salad from Giuliano Bugialli's Parma, celebrating the foods of the region. Beets can be roasted up to one week ahead and refrigerated right up to the time you need them. The best news is that you can buy rock hard pears and don't have to wait for them to ripen. Just peel, quarter and slice, and poach in boiling water for a few minutes. When ready to serve the salad, just peel and slice the beets, add them to the pears, dress with a fine quality red wine vinegar and extra-virgin oil and voila, this colorful and crunchy salad is ready to be served on a lettuce leaf.

I have no problem serving roast chicken, or in this case Cornish game hens, at room temperature. Marinate the hens overnight in a fresh herb and lemon mixture and roast an hour or so ahead - and they don't have to be piping hot when you serve them. If you have the time or stamina, julienne some vegetables such as fennel, carrot and sweet red pepper and sauté in olive oil with seasonings to taste. The vegetables can be prepared ahead and refrigerated in a Ziplock bag until ready to sauté.

Dessert can be an assortment of seasonal fruits lavished with spumante! This pleasing menu would be truly celebratory when our heroes return to our shores.

INSALATA DI BARBABIETOLE E PERE
"This salad with red beets and pears is in a sense, Medieval cooking in which savories are cooked together with fruit survives in this very valid vegetable dish."
An adaptation from Giuliano Bugialli's Parma, A Capital of Italian Gastronomy, 2005.
Serves 6

6 fresh medium-sized red beets with leaves
Coarse (kosher) salt
2 unripe Bosc pears
Julienne rind of lemon then cut in half
Fine salt
1 clove
2 medium-sized garlic cloves, peeled
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Freshly ground pepper

To serve
Leaves of Boston lettuce
Julienne of lemon rind garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

1. Scrub beets well and cut leaves to 1 inch above the beets. Dry well in paper towel, wrap beets in a large square of heavy-duty foil and place on a cookie sheet. Bake about 1 hour until tender when pierced with a knife. Let cool then peel; the skins will slip off easily. Can be prepared up to several days ahead and refrigerated in a suitable container.

2. Peel the pears, cut them into quarters, remove the cores and cut each quarter into 3-4 slices, depending on their thickness. Place the pears in a bowl of cold water with a few drops of lemon juice. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan bring two cups of cold water to a boil over medium heat, add coarse salt to taste, then a large piece of lemon rind, and the whole clove. Simmer for two minutes, then drain the pears. Add them to the boiling water and simmer for 5-7 minutes; pears must still be very crunchy. Drain the pears again and transfer them to a small bowl.

3. Cut the beets into 1/4-inch slices and add them to the bowl with the pears. Use a garlic press to squeeze the garlic cloves over the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle all the oil and vinegar over. Mix very well and refrigerate, covered, for at least one hour before serving. Place a large leaf of Boston lettuce in each of 6 individual salad plates. Divide the salad evenly over the leaves and top with lemon julienne.

ROASTED HERB AND LEMON CORNISH GAME HENS
Serve warm or at room temperature.
Serves 8

4 Cornish game hens, backbone removed

Marinade
6-8 cloves garlic, peeled
6-8 fresh sage leaves
1 tablespoon rosemary leaves
Small bunch Italian parsley, heavy leaves removed
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2-3 tablespoons lemon juice
Coarse (kosher) salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Remove backbone from each hen and make a small cut into the front of the breast bone. Firmly press down on the breastbone to flatten the hen. Rinse the hens and pat dry with paper towels. Loosen the breast skin of each hen by running your fingers between the skin and the flesh, being careful not to tear the skin.

2. Place garlic cloves and herbs in the work bowl of a food processor. Pulse several times to coarsely chop the ingredients. With machine running pour olive oil through the feed tube until mixture is homogeneous. Add the lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste and stir to mix.

3. Lift the skin of each hen and place a heaping tablespoon of the herb mixture under the skin, pushing it down towards the legs as well as possible. Place hens in large Pyrex or ceramic container, and pour over the marinade. Marinate, covered, for several hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

4. When ready to roast, arrange the hens in a roasting pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast, skin-side down in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Turn hens skin-side up and roast for about 15-18 minutes longer until skin is crisp and meat is cooked to 160 degrees. Be sure to baste hens from time to time.

5. To serve: Cut the hens in half through the center of the breast meat and serve on a bed of vegetable julienne, if desired.

2-3 cups assorted berries, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries
6-8 ripe peaches, nectarines and/or plums
1/2 pound sweet cherries
1 chilled bottle Spumante (Italian sparkling wine)

1. Wash and pat dry all fruits except raspberries and blackberries. Rinse raspberries and blackberries, if using, gently swish in a bowl of cold water before serving.

2. If using peaches, plums and/or nectarines, cut into neat little wedges, starting from the outer skin and working in toward the pit or core. Hull strawberries; then slice in half. Pit cherries if using.

3. Whatever combination of fruits you are using; prepare a bowlful early in the day. Refrigerate, covered. Bring to room temperature about 30 minutes before serving.

4. Meanwhile, chill a bottle of Spumante. Pour the bubbly liquid into the bowl of fruits and serve immediately from wide-mouthed champagne glasses or clear dessert bowls.