The Jetset // Welcome to Pan Am flight 119 to London
Imagine boarding a domestic or international flight today and having your meal served to you on gleaming white china, the finest stemware, and a flight host that offers you a list of appropriate wine pairings for your entree. And, by the way, the entree is also found on the menu below on the ground at Maxim's in Paris. Hard to swallow?
Things have surely changed. Now, we're lucky to get anything at all and even then, the focus is on cost-savings rather than the customer experience. For almost all travelers, getting on a plane and heading out is more chore than adventure--something to be endured rather than enjoyed. But, there was a time when flying was an occasion for which people dressed in beautiful clothing and not just the travelers. Being an air hostess--as today's flight attendants, formerly known as stewardesses--was a top desirable job for young women, ranked right up with being a model. Couturiers designed the uniforms of flight crews and flight attendants were expected to represent a certain image of glamor in the jet set age. It wasn't all glamour for the flight attendants, however. For serving meals aboard the plane, they were expected to take sommelier class in order to suggest wine pairings and they had to pass tests on proper table arrangements, in order to be assigned to the much-desired transatlantic routes.
Meals were rolled out and roasts often carved and served at table side. Yes. For years, Maxim's in Paris had their chefs prepare all of Pan Am's in flight meals for their Atlantic Ocean flights. Let's step back for a moment to Pan Am Flight 119, for April 6, 1973 as it soared through the skies, high above the Atlantic Ocean, on its way to London. Of course, you're wearing your best. Flying in the golden age of jet travel required nothing less.
PAN AM FLIGHT 119 FROM NEW YORK TO LONDON // April 6, 1973
Salade de Saison // Farro Salad with Asparagus and Parmesan
2 cups farrow
3/4 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed
1 cup red and yellow cherry tomatoes, halved
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley
1/3 cup fresh chopped chives
1/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette, to taste
1/2 cup shaved Parmesan cheese, shaved
Soak farro in a large bowl of water for at least 12 hours. Drain.
Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, stir in the drained farro, and return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, then cook the farro uncovered, stirring occasionally for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to low, cover, and continue simmering until tender, about 30 more minutes. Drain and allow to cool.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the asparagus, and cook uncovered until tender, about 3 minutes. Drain in a colander, then immediately immerse in ice water for several minutes until cold to stop the cooking process. Once the asparagus is cold, drain well, and chop. Set aside.
Place farro, asparagus, tomatoes, walnuts, cranberries, parsley, and chives in a large bowl. Drizzle the balsamic vinaigrette over and sprinkle about 3/4 cups Parmesan cheese, then toss. Top with the remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese. Serve at room temperature.
Coq au Vin
2 1/2 to 3 pounds cut-up frying chicken, skin on and thoroughly dried
4 ounces lean thick-cut bacon
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup cognac
2 cups red wine (Pinot Noir, Burgundy, Beaujolais or Chianti)
2 cups homemade chicken stock or low-sodium chicken stock or broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, mashed or minced
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon thyme
Brown-Braised Onions (see recipe below)
Mushrooms (see recipe below)
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter, softened
Parsley sprigs
Dry chicken thoroughly in a towel. Season chicken with salt and pepper; set aside.
Remove any rind off the bacon and cut the bacon into lardons (rectangles 1/4-inch across and 1-inch long). In a saucepan, simmer the bacon sticks in 2 quarts of water for 10 minutes; remove from heat, drain, rinse in cold water, and pat dry.
In a large heavy frying pan, casserole dish, or electric skillet over medium heat, heat olive oil until moderately hot. Add the bacon and saute slowly until they are lightly browned. Remove bacon to a side dish. Place chicken pieces into the hot oil (not crowding pan), and brown on all sides. Return bacon to the pan, cover pan, and cook slowly for 10 minutes, turning chicken once.
After browning the chicken, uncover pan, pour in the cognac. Flambé by igniting with a lighted match. Let flame a minute, swirling pan by its handle to burn off alcohol; extinguish with pan cover.
Pour the red wine into the pan and add just enough chicken broth to completely cover the chicken pieces. Stir in tomato paste, garlic, bay leaf, and thyme. Bring the liquid to a simmer, then cover pan, and simmer slowly for about 30 minutes or until the chicken meat is tender when pierced with a fork or an instant-read meat thermometer registers an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
While the chicken is cooking, prepare the Brown-Braised Onions and the Mushrooms (see recipe below).
When the chicken is done cooking, remove from the pan to a platter, leaving the cooking liquid in the pan. Increase heat to high and boil the cooking liquid rapidly until approximately 2 cups of liquid remains.
While the liquid is boiling, in a small bowl, blend the 3 tablespoons flour and 2 tablespoons softened butter into a smooth paste; beat the flour/butter mixture into the approximately 2 cups hot cooking liquid with a whisk. Simmer and stir for a minute or two until the sauce has thickened (the result will be a sauce thick enough to lightly coat a spoon - just thick enough to coat the chicken and vegetables lightly). If sauce is too thin, boil down rapidly to concentrate; if sauce is too thick, thin out with additional spoonfuls of chicken stock. Taste the final sauce, adding more salt and pepper if necessary.
Before serving, reheat the onions and mushrooms (if necessary).
Storing: Chicken is now ready for final reheating, but can be set aside in the sauce until cool, then covered and refrigerated for 1 to 2 days. To reheat, simmer slowly, covered, over low heat. Baste and turn chicken every 2 minutes until thoroughly warmed through (6 to 8 minutes). NOTE: Do not overcook chicken at this point.
To serve immediately: Shortly before serving, bring the sauce and the cooked chicken to a simmer, cover and simmer slowly for 4 to 5 minutes, until chicken is hot through. NOTE: Do not overcook chicken at this point.
To serve: Either serve from the casserole dish or arrange the chicken on a large platter. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Arrange the Brown-Braised Onions on one side of the chicken and the Mushrooms on the other side. Decorate with sprigs of parsley. Accompany with parsley potatoes, rice, or noodles; buttered green peas or a green salad; hot French bread; and the same red wine you used for cooking the chicken. NOTE: This dish is traditionally served with wide egg noodles.
Makes 4 to 6 servings.
Brown-Braised Onions:
12 to 24 small white onions, peeled (or double the amount if you want to use tiny frozen peeled raw onions)*
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt to taste
While chicken is cooking, drop onions into boiling water, bring water back to the boil, and let boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and drain. Cool onions in ice water. Shave off the two ends (root and stem ends) of each onion, peel carefully, and pierce a deep cross in the root end with a small knife (to keep onions whole during cooking).
In a large frying pan over medium heat, heat the olive oil, add parboiled onions, and toss for several minutes until lightly browned (this will be a patchy brown). Add water to halfway up onions and add 1/4 to1/2 teaspoon salt. Cover pan and simmer slowly for 25 to 30 minutes or until onions are tender when pierce with a knife.
Mushrooms:
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, washed, well dried, left whole if small, sliced or quartered if large
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
Prepare mushrooms. In a large frying pan over medium heat, heat butter and olive oil; when bubbling hot, toss in mushrooms and saute over high heat for 4 to 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from heat.
Spring Vegetables with Lemon Tarragon Butter
8 tiny new potatoes, scrubbed and halved
8 radishes, tops removed except for a little sprig of green stem, cleaned and halved
8 baby carrots (actual baby carrots, not those bagged ones that are pieces of big carrots), halved, or 1 larger carrot, in matchsticks
1/2 bunch asparagus, stemmy ends removed and cut into 1-inch lengths
1 young leek, cleaned well and cut into thin slices, just the white and light green portions
1/2 cup English peas (you can resort to frozen if you can’t find fresh)
olive oil
sea salt and white pepper
lemon-tarragon butter (see below)
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the potatoes and turn to a low-boil. After about 3 minutes add the radishes and carrots. Cook another 3-5 minutes, at this point the vegetables should be starting to get slightly tender. (if they aren’t, continue cooking until they are) Add in the asparagus and cook for 3 minutes more. Then drain all these vegetables and run cold water over them to stop the cooking. Spread them on a clean towel or baking sheet to hang out while you sautee the leek.
In a large sautee pan, heat a splash of olive oil over medium heat. Add the sliced leek and cook until softened. Add the potatoes, radishes, carrots, asparagus, and peas to the pan.
Stir in the lemon-tarragon butter stirring to coat the vegetables well. Cook for about a minute or two until everything is just reheated. Season to taste with salt and white pepper and serve warm. Garnish with a bit more tarragon if desired.
Lemon-tarragon butter:
2 tablespoons minced shallot
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons heavy cream
4 tablespoons cold butter, cut into 1 Tbs. pieces
1 tablespoon minced fresh tarragon
Combine the shallot and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook for a couple of minutes, until the juice is approximately reduced by half.
Stir in the cream and simmer for 1 minute. Then, turn down to the lowest possible heat. Stir in the butter, 1 pat at a time, stirring constantly as they melt and adding each as the one before it finishes melting. Take off the heat and stir in the tarragon. Add to the cooked spring vegetables.
Chocolate Raspberry Brittany Shortbreads
Brittany shortbread pastry
160 g soft salted butter
140 g powdered sugar
3 egg yolks
210 g flour, sifted
5.5 g baking powder, sifted
Chocolate mousse
150 g dark chocolate (70 % cocoa)
270 ml whipping cream
75 g sugar
4 egg yolks
Decoration
raspberry-seed jam
250 g raspberries
Brittany shortbread pastry: Place the salted butter and powdered sugar in a large bowl and beat until creamy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition. Blend in the sifted flour and baking powder. Form the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic film; refrigerate 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Brush a 6 cm round pastry cutter with butter. Dust the work surface with flour and roll the dough out to a thickness of 2 mm. Cut out discs of dough using the pastry cutter and place on the baking sheet using a palette knife; leave a few centimetres between each one. Bake for 10 minutes, or until firm to the touch. Remove from the oven; cool on a rack.
Chocolate Mousse: Chop the chocolate and melt over a bain-marie; remove from the heat. Whisk the whipping cream with the sugar until firm peaks cling to the whisk. Beating quickly, add 1⁄3 of the cream and the egg yolks to the melted chocolate. Fold in the remaining cream with a spatula. Fit a piping bag with a fluted tip and fill with the chocolate mousse; refrigerate for about 20 minutes.
Using a teaspoon, spread a little raspberry jam on each biscuit, pipe with a rosette of chocolate mousse and top with a raspberry. Refrigerate the biscuits until required.
Of course, with dinner, you'll find a brioche with butter. To drink? You may have coffee or tea, or, if you're interested in something a bit more continental for dinner, you may have a sherry, martini, a manhattan, a whiskey sour, gin, or a daiquiri, in addition to a selection of red and white wines, a champagne brut, and several selected premium beers. Naturally a selection of cigarettes is available from your flight hostess. Thanks for flying Pan Am and enjoy your time in London or wherever your final destination may be.
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