The Mini-Gala

We can't think of a much more pleasant way of proving to the light in your life that she's something special than by making her the sole sharer of your holiday feast. And at this time of the year--when crowd scenes of epic dimensions seem overpoweringly omnipresent--it's a welcome change of pace to dispense with extraneous babble and bodies, so that one may concentrate on essentials. Of course, pouring man-hours and talent into the boned breast of chicken with ham and the rich Bavarian cream of chestnuts and meringue shells may not create quite the same impression as tossing her a little ten-carat trinket from Tiffany's, but at least you'll be able to partake of the fruits of your labors.

The secret of a successful dinner for two is to plan it with the care you would give to a feast you'd set forth for 12 or 20--the menu, table appointments and room ambiance should be artfully plotted. If there are flowers, whether in a vase or floating in a shallow bowl at the table, they should be luxuriantly fresh; the champagne glasses should sparkle; the tray of assorted liqueurs should be ready for pouring. Gleaming linen and a graceful candelabra on the table don't mean that you're locked into hosting a stiffly formal affair; it couldn't be with a guest list of one. But it shouldn't be frenetically antiformal, either. If you intend to go night-clubbing after dinner, black tie would be apropos. And even if your after-dinner plans go no further than your digs, black tie could strike the properly elegant note the occasion demands.

Common sense will tell you that if the girl craves some particular food or drink, it should be proffered, if possible (a hamburger-and-French-fries fanatic obviously presents special problems). In any event, the menu you decide upon should consist mainly of food that's ready to be served right after cocktails, or ready for oven-popping without any distracting preliminaries.

You might start with something as simple and luxurious as fresh Beluga caviar, which needs only fresh toast as an accompaniment. But if you want to show your culinary acumen right away, the avocado antipasto, including egg stuffed with caviar (see the following recipe), will pamper the most capricious winter appetite. A dinner menu for two naturally excludes roast tom turkey and other holiday clichés. But it's still the Christmastide; and for those who like a bird in some form with their bottle and blue-eyed bird, breast of chicken with ham and pineapple can be prepared hours or even a day beforehand and then gently reheated while you're felicitating over cocktails. "Ye grete boar's hede with sweet rosemary and bays around it spread" is now a trifle obsolete, especially in a bachelor's apartment. But pork at the end of the year is still a worthy tradition, and one of its most gratifying forms is a double-thick chop cut from the center of the loin, spread heavily with freshly ground pepper, seared briefly and then kept in a lazy oven heat until the meat is almost as tender as that of suckling pig. The pepper treatment is more commonly used in the French steak au poivre. It sounds as though it would be mouth-searing; actually, the pepper buoys your taste buds and perks up your appetite.

You may have an overpowering hunger for a dish that is out of season--lobster, for instance. In the summer, it's normally a part of every shore feast. In the very dead of winter, the meat of the Northern lobster is at its succulent best. It's scarce not because lobsters have suddenly disappeared from the ocean bottom but because commercial fishermen must battle sub-zero gales and other ravages of winter. But any first-class seafood dealer will stock live lobsters during summer and winter; and if you give him advance notice, he'll boil them to order for you. (Lobster gives you the chance to judge something of the girl's good taste. Almost any girl who's passionately fond of lobster will turn out to be passionately fond of the other great amenities of good living.) Long before dinner, the cooked lobster meat is removed from the shell, diced and mixed with a white sauce. Before dinner, it's piled back into the shell. You can quietly rest on your oars while the sauce gratines in the oven just before serving.

To cap your feast, it's easy to go overboard and order the biggest and most sumptuous cake you can find in the patisserie, on the theory that every girl is a sweet-toothed creature who dissolves instantly when the very word dessert is mentioned. In some cases this may be true. But the girl whose culinary education didn't stop with ice cream and hot-fudge sauce will expect something else for holiday rejoicing--and a Bavarian cream with French marrons will more than fill the bill. This dessert would be a monumental job if it weren't for canned chestnut purée (purée de marrons), which is imported and which is infinitely smoother and more delicious than any purée you could attempt to concoct from fresh chestnuts pulled out of your own fire. The purée is made delicately firm with gelatin and becomes Ariel-light with whipped cream and beaten egg whites. Just before it's served, each portion, marked by a meringue shell, is crowned with a whole chestnut in vanilla syrup and a dollop of whipped cream. It's the kind of dessert of which Croesus might have dreamed.

The holiday spirit that fires the imagination should pervade the drink department. Before your dinner, martinis, stirred with a whisper of fino sherry instead of dry vermouth, or fruity cognac sours are sure to pique the most jaded palate. For each cognac sour, use 1-1/2 ozs. cognac, 1 oz. fresh lemon juice, 1/2 oz. fresh orange juice and a teaspoon (heaping, if you wish) sugar. As to the main course, champagne will always build its halo around meat, fowl or seafood. Be sure to start with no less than a fifth in your champagne bucket; bubbly has a way of disappearing with amazing rapidity. As the bestower of gifts, you can choose as much as quickens your appetite and as time allows from the first course, three entrees, salad and dessert that follow.

[recipe_title]Avocado Antipasto[/recipe_title]

[recipe]1 small-to-medium-size ripe avocado[/recipe]

[recipe]Olive-oil French dressing[/recipe]

[recipe]1/2 bunch water cress[/recipe]

[recipe]1 hard-boiled egg[/recipe]

[recipe]1 teaspoon softened butter or butter at room temperature[/recipe]

[recipe]1 teaspoon mayonnaise Salt, pepper[/recipe]

[recipe]1-oz. jar caviar, Beluga, if possible[/recipe]

[recipe]1/4 cup heavy cream[/recipe]

[recipe]1-1/2 teaspoons prepared mustard[/recipe]

[recipe]1/4 teaspoon lemon juice[/recipe]

[recipe]1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh chives[/recipe]

[recipe]6 tiny artichoke hearts in oil, drained[/recipe]

[recipe]6 cocktail mushrooms in oil dressing, drained[/recipe]

Cut avocado in half lengthwise; remove peel and brush with French dressing. Wash water cress; dry very well with paper toweling. Place water cress on two serving plates or one small platter. Drizzle lightly with French dressing. Place avocado on water cress. Cut hard-boiled egg in half lengthwise. Remove yolk and mash with butter and mayonnaise. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Fill cavity of egg with caviar; pile yolk mixture on top, spreading it to form mound. Place egg in hollow of avocado. Whip cream until thick. Stir in mustard and lemon juice, mixing well. Add a dash of salt. Spoon cream dressing over egg. Sprinkle egg with chives. Arrange artichoke hearts and mushrooms around avocado. Chill in refrigerator until serving time.

[recipe_title]Breast of Chicken with Ham and Pineapple[/recipe_title]

[recipe]2 large boned breasts of chicken with shoulder bones attached, wings cut off, skin on[/recipe]

[recipe]Salt, pepper[/recipe]

[recipe]2 tablespoons bread crumbs[/recipe]

[recipe]1/4 cup sour cream[/recipe]

[recipe]1/2 small onion[/recipe]

[recipe]2 thin slices boiled ham no larger than chicken breasts[/recipe]

[recipe]2 cocktail pineapple sticks[/recipe]

[recipe]Flour[/recipe]

[recipe]1 egg, beaten[/recipe]

[recipe]2 tablespoons milk[/recipe]

[recipe]Bread crumbs[/recipe]

[recipe]Salad oil[/recipe]

Make sure that chicken breasts are cut from large-size fryers; small breasts will not accommodate filling. Place chicken between several layers of wax paper and pound thin with meat mallet; do not, however, pound so thin that chicken is torn. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Mix bread crumbs with sour cream and grate onion into mixture. Place chicken, skin side down; spread with sour-cream mixture. Place a slice of ham on each breast. Place pineapple sticks on ham. Roll chicken, tucking end in, so that filling is completely enclosed in a roll. Cover rolls tightly with aluminum foil, leaving shoulder bones uncovered. Place in freezer for an hour or until the rolls become firm and will not open when handled. Remove foil. Dip chicken into flour. Beat egg with milk. Dip chicken into egg, coating well. Dip into bread crumbs, making sure there are no uncoated spots. Preheat 1/2 in. oil in skillet until hot but not smoking. Sauté chicken until light brown, turning once. Remove from oil. Keep chicken in refrigerator until needed. Preheat oven at 375°. Place chicken in lightly greased shallow pan. Bake 30--40 minutes or until chicken is golden brown. Fasten a paper chop frill to each shoulder bone. Scrape shoulder bone, if necessary, to fasten frill.

With chicken on serving platter or plates, serve wild rice and patty shells of creamed fresh green peas with mint. (continued on page 328)Mini-Gala(continued from page 154) Wild rice may be bought fresh or in cans and reheated. Prepared patty shells are available in gourmet shops and French bakeries. Cook fresh peas, drain and combine with cream sauce and chopped fresh or dried mint to taste. Heat patty shells just before serving. Pour peas into and alongside shells.

[recipe_title]Baked Lobster Mornay[/recipe_title]

[recipe]2 1-1/2-pound fresh Northern lobsters, boiled[/recipe]

[recipe]1 tablespoon finely chopped shallots or scallions, white part only[/recipe]

[recipe]4 tablespoons sweet butter[/recipe]

[recipe]2 tablespoons amontillado sherry[/recipe]

[recipe]2 tablespoons instantized flour[/recipe]

[recipe]1 cup milk[/recipe]

[recipe]1/3 cup light cream[/recipe]

[recipe]2 egg yolks, slightly beaten[/recipe]

[recipe]Grated parmesan cheese[/recipe]

Salt, white pepper, cayenne pepper Cut each lobster in half lengthwise.

Remove and discard sac in back of head. Remove lobster meat. Save tomalley and roe, if any. Detach claws, crack them and remove meat. Save lobster shells for stuffing. Wipe inside of shells dry. Cut lobster meat into 1/2-in. dice and combine with tomalley and roe. Sauté shallots in 2 tablespoons butter over low flame until merely softened, not brown. Add lobster meat and sherry and continue to sauté just until lobster meat is heated through. Remove from flame. In another saucepan, mix flour, milk and cream until smooth. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Heat over low flame, stirring, until sauce is thick. Add a few tablespoons sauce to egg yolks. Return to saucepan and cook, stirring constantly, letting sauce bubble about a minute or until it is again thick. Remove from flame and stir in 1 tablespoon cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste and a dash of cayenne. Set aside 1/4 cup sauce for topping. Combine lobster and balance of sauce and spoon meat carefully into shells. Spoon reserved sauce on top. Sprinkle lightly with cheese. Preheat oven at 375°. Bake 20--25 minutes. If additional top browning is desired, place lobster under broiler flame for a moment or two, watching constantly.

Serve with grilled large tomatoes and potato croquettes.

[recipe_title]Double Pork Chops Au Poivre[/recipe_title]

[recipe]2 center-cut double pork chops, 3/4 lb. each, each portion with two ribs[/recipe]

[recipe]1 tablespoon freshly ground pepper Salt[/recipe]

[recipe]1 tablespoon salad oil[/recipe]

[recipe]1 tablespoon butter[/recipe]

[recipe]1/4 cup bottled sauce Robert[/recipe]

[recipe]2 tablespoons heavy cream[/recipe]

[recipe]1 tablespoon sugar[/recipe]

[recipe]1 tablespoon lemon juice[/recipe]

Rub pepper into pork chops. Pat it firmly onto meat. Sprinkle chops with salt. Heat oil and butter in skillet. When butter melts, sauté chops until brown on both sides. Transfer chops to shallow baking pan or casserole. Cover with aluminum foil. Preheat oven at 275°. Bake 2 hours or until chops are extremely tender. In a small bowl, mix sauce Robert, cream, sugar and lemon juice, blending well. Chill in refrigerator until serving time. Serve in sauceboat as a cold sauce or dip for pork chops.

As vegetable garnishes for chops on serving platter, plan to serve freshly cooked buttered Brussels sprouts, parisienne potatoes (small balls of potatoes, French fried) and buttered imported baby carrots (carrots tournés).

[recipe_title]Stuffed Apple Salad With Belgian Endive[/recipe_title]

[recipe]2 large Golden Delicious apples[/recipe]

[recipe]Orange juice[/recipe]

[recipe]1 piece celery[/recipe]

[recipe]2 small stalks Belgian endive[/recipe]

[recipe]2 tablespoons mayonnaise[/recipe]

[recipe]1/2 teaspoon lemon juice[/recipe]

[recipe]1/2 teaspoon sugar[/recipe]

Cut 1/2-in. slice off top of apple for cap. Remove stem from cap and, with knife or apple corer, cut a hole through center of cap. Dip cap into orange juice to prevent discoloration. Remove inside of apple by scooping out meat with a parisienne-potato cutter. Be careful not to tear skin of apple. Bottom of apple should be intact, about 1/2 in. thick. Brush inside of apple with orange juice. Cut away and discard core, including seeds and any sharp pieces. Cut apple meat into small dice. Dip into orange juice and drain well. Cut celery into small dice. Remove four leaves of endive for decoration; cut balance into small dice. Mix diced apple, celery and endive with mayonnaise, lemon juice and sugar. Add more mayonnaise if desired. Pile fruit into apple shell. Place two leaves of endive in each apple cap like a pair of ears. Place cap on each apple. Chill well before serving.

[recipe_title]Marron Bavarian Cream[/recipe_title]

[recipe]15-1/2-oz. can chestnut purée[/recipe]

[recipe]1 envelope (1 tablespoon) unflavored gelatin[/recipe]

[recipe]1/2 cup granulated sugar[/recipe]

[recipe]1 teaspoon vanilla extract[/recipe]

[recipe]2 egg whites[/recipe]

[recipe]1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) granulated sugar[/recipe]

[recipe]3/4 cup heavy sweet cream[/recipe]

[recipe]2 tablespoons sifted confectioners' sugar[/recipe]

[recipe]6 medium-size meringue shells (available at bakeries and gourmet shops)[/recipe]

[recipe]6 whole marrons in syrup[/recipe]

An occasional problem in cooking for two is the minimum size of certain foods or utensils. You can't cook an apple pie for two in a 9-in. pie plate. Marron purée comes in 15-1/2-oz. cans, enough for about six portions. This recipe, written for six, may be cut in half, providing enough for a festive couple, with an additional bonus for each.

Soften gelatin in 1/2 cup cold water in small saucepan or top part of double boiler. Place over hot water until gelatin dissolves. Mix chestnut purée with gelatin, 1/2 cup granulated sugar and vanilla extract, stirring extremely well with a wire whip until thoroughly blended. Turn into large mixing bowl and chill in refrigerator until edge of mixture begins to jell. Beat egg whites at high speed in mixing machine until light and foamy. Add 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold egg whites into chestnut mixture. Beat cream until thick. Stir in confectioners' sugar. Set aside about a third of the whipped cream and keep covered in refrigerator until needed. Fold balance of whipped cream into chestnut mixture. Spoon into deep saucer-champagne glasses or a soufflé dish. Place meringue shells upright in mixture, so that about one third of each meringue is visible. Chill in refrigerator. Just before serving, place a whole marron alongside each meringue shell. Top each marron with reserved whipped cream. Pour a little marron syrup from bottle over whipped cream.

Preparing the aforementioned will provide the basic ingredients for your mini-gala; it goes without saying that the ultimate success of your holiday fete will depend on who shares it with you. Happy holidays!