From the Bistros of France Comes a Natural for California

Cindy Black was introduced to good food as a child. Her father, whose work with the State Department required the family to travel abroad, experimented with exotic pates and croissants, and her mother was an excellent cook in her own right. After graduating from Wellesley College, Black spent more than a year as an apprentice at Madeleine Kamman’s cooking school and restaurant, Chez la Mere Madeleine, in Newton, Mass.

But it was in Mages, in the Landes area in southwestern France, that her desire for a professional career in cooking blossomed.

“I worked as apprentice at a wonderful restaurant called Auberge le Cabanon, where only the best natural ingredients of the region were used,” Black says. “We used things like confits of duck and goose, local foie gras , beautiful asparagus and game. It was a wonderful place because of its earthy cooking, simple braising, roasting or grilling, which in France is called cuisine de terroir . It’s really my favorite type of cooking.”

The Mages experience inspired Black’s philosophy of culinary naturalness, freshness and simplicity, and she has applied that technique as a working chef in the United States.

After she returned from France, Black worked at the Sheraton Boston Hotel--where she met her husband, Bob Brody, who was a restaurant chef there at the time--and at The Cranberry Mousse on Cape Cod. Later, Black and Brody moved to the Sheraton Harbor Island hotel in San Diego to take positions as executive chefs. Black currently is director of food operations for all seven Piret’s restaurants in the Southland, developing menus and recipes along French-bistro lines and training staff members to adhere to her culinary principles.

“I’m very interested in training and maintaining an excellent staff,” Black says. “I enjoy instilling in others the things that I’ve learned about techniques and about understanding the flavors and style that go along with the French concept of cuisine.”

The quail recipe here exemplifies her idea of a simple, natural cuisine. The dish has only five ingredients, including salt and pepper. Clarified butter, which gives the quail a nutty flavor, is mixed with cider to form earthy autumn flavors.

Served with Baked Turnips and Cream, Black’s Pan-Roasted Quail makes a delicious holiday entree. A fresh green salad with a simple vinaigrette dressing, chilled red or white wine and a fresh fruit tart with ice cream complete the menu. CINDY BLACK’S PAN-ROASTED QUAIL WITH HARD CIDER

Salt

Pepper

12 3-ounce whole quail

6 tablespoons clarified butter

1 cup hard cider

Season quail to taste with salt and pepper. Saute in butter until golden brown. Remove excess fat from pan. Cover and cook over low heat until quail are tender. Remove quail from pan and keep warm. Add hard cider to pan juices, scraping brown bits from bottom and sides of pan. Cook vigorously until liquid is reduced by . Serve quail with pan juices and Baked Turnips and Cream. Makes 6 servings.

Note: To clarify butter, melt butter over low heat until milky residue on surface evaporates and butter is clear, about 20 minutes. BAKED TURNIPS AND CREAM

1/2 cup cubed bacon

6 medium turnips, peeled and finely sliced (about 1/8-inch thick)

3 leeks, white portion only, cleaned and sliced

3 cups whipping cream

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons nutmeg

Salt

Pepper

Fry bacon until almost crisp. Drain. Layer raw turnips with bacon and leeks in baking pan. Combine whipping cream, Dijon mustard, nutmeg in small bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour over turnips and leeks. Bake at 350 degrees 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until turnips are tender. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

PRODUCED BY ROBIN TUCKER

STYLIST: MARLENE BROWN