THE HOME COOK : Summertime Chicken, Corn Bread and Salad

The first and last days of summer are my favorite times.

In the small foothill town of La Crescenta where I grew up, we spent long summer evenings, after breathlessly hot days, swinging in the hammock and eating ice cream. Everyone had a hammock (also called a glider), the type that had a padded bench on chains so you could swing back and forth. We always had an early supper and then retired to the hammock to watch the stars come out and to catch any little breeze that rippled by.

Around 8 each evening, it seemed that everyone in town walked down to Watson’s drugstore to buy a quart of ice cream. He had chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, tutti-frutti and spumoni. (I never knew anyone who bought tutti-fruiti or spumoni.) My memory of Watson’s ice cream was that it was perfect; my memory of supper was that it was not.

I think this may be because my mother followed the government pamphlets on nutrition that she sent away for, and paid no attention to taste. Vitamins and minerals were where it started and ended in our house. A typical supper was cold sliced ham, bread and butter, hard-boiled eggs, pickles and lettuce with tomatoes or beets. The salad dressing was known as French. I think this reads better than it tasted, which is not true of the root beer party our neighbors the Merricks gave each summer.

The Merricks made root beer with great success every summer except for the first summer, when they couldn’t afford a bottle-capper. They made their first batch, corked it and put it in the attic to ferment. In a day or two, all the corks flew out of the bottles, making a colossal mess.

Each summer (after that) they would give a root-beer-float party for the neighborhood. The party included platters of cookies, quarts of Watson’s vanilla ice cream and bottles of cold root beer. This event was quite a worthwhile indulgence. Root beer floats should only be drunk in the summertime; some preparations are as seasonal as fresh produce.

With all these memories in mind, I’ve concocted a menu for six that brings back the best of previous summers, my mother’s cooking excluded. It begins with a simple roast chicken, coated with butter, flecked with sage and designed to be eaten hot or cold.

The chicken is accompanied by yeasted corn bread and a salad of the much-maligned iceberg lettuce, gussied up with slices of tomatoes, beets and cucumbers wedged between the leaves and lightly dressed with a well-balanced vinaigrette.

The meal ends with one of the real delights of the season--Strawberry Chiffon Pie.

Although a three-t o- five - pound chicken is called a roaster, small broiler-fryers can also be cooked this way. Use a roasting pan that accommodates the bird comfortably; if the pan is too big, the pan drippings will spread out and cook away.

ROAST CHICKEN

1 (2 1/2-to 3-pound) chicken

Stuffing, optional

1/4 pound butter, softened

2 teaspoons finely crumbled dried sage

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

Rinse and pat chicken dry. Remove 2 fat pads at opening of cavity. Fill body and neck cavities with stuffing, if desired.

Blend butter and sage. Rub mixture inside and out, covering chicken all over. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Place chicken, breast side up, using V-shaped rack to hold chicken. (This is not necessary if you don’t have one. Don’t baste; it doesn’t do anything.)

Roast at 350 degrees about 50 minutes, or until meat thermometer registers 160 degrees. (Or make small slit with knife at second-joint where leg connects. If juices run clear, chicken is done; if juices are pink, roast another 10 minutes, or until done.)

Remove and let stand 10 minutes before carving, or cool and refrigerate until needed. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

LETTUCE BED SALAD

1 medium head crisp iceberg lettuce, cored

1 ripe tomato, cut in half and sliced

1/2 cucumber, peeled and sliced

1 beet, cooked, peeled and sliced

1 cup watercress, chopped

Well-Balanced Vinaigrette

Salt, pepper

Loosen lettuce leaves and place head of lettuce in bowl. Combine sliced tomato, cucumber, beet and watercress in bowl. Add enough vinaigrette to coat vegetables thoroughly. Gently stir.

Place vegetable slices in between leaves of lettuce, evenly distributing throughout. Drizzle over remaining vinaigrette as desired. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve very cold. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Well-Balanced Vinaigrette

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon cold water

Combine olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and cold water in cup. Mix very well. Makes about 2/3 cup.

YEASTED CORN BREAD

1/2 cup warm water

2 packages dry yeast

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup oil

2 teaspoons salt

1 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

4 1/2 cups flour, about

Place warm water in small bowl and sprinkle in yeast. Stir and let stand 5 minutes to dissolve.

Combine cornmeal and baking soda in large mixing bowl. Combine oil, salt and buttermilk in saucepan. Heat until lukewarm. Add to cornmeal, along with yeast mixture. Stir in eggs and beat mixture until smooth. Add 2 cups flour. Beat until well mixed. Add 2 more cups flour and mix well.

Turn dough out onto floured board and knead, adding enough flour to make dough manageable. Knead 1 to 2 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes. Resume kneading until dough is smooth and elastic. Divide dough in half and place each half in two greased 8x4-inch loaf pans. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled (dough will come to top of pan). Bake at 375 degrees about 45 to 55 minutes, or until loaves are golden and done. Remove from oven and cool on racks. (Bread freezes well.) Makes 2 loaves.

STRAWBERRY CHIFFON PIE

3 cups strawberries, hulled

1 envelope unflavored gelatin

1/4 cup cold water

4 eggs, separated

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup whipping cream

1 baked (9-inch) pie shell

Puree strawberries. Sprinkle gelatin over cold water. Stir and let soften several minutes.

Place egg yolks in heavy-bottomed saucepan. Beat with wire whisk or fork to blend, then add lemon juice and 1/2 cup sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens (do not boil).

Remove from heat and stir in gelatin and strawberry puree. Pour into bowl. Chill until consistency of unbeaten egg whites, stirring mixture frequently as it cools. (If it stiffens or forms hard gelatinous lumps, rewarm over low heat to liquefy.)

Beat egg whites with salt to soft peaks. Gradually add remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, beating until stiff and shiny. Whip cream to soft peaks. Fold both whipped cream and egg whites into strawberry mixture until well blended. Spoon into pie shell and chill until set, about 3 to 4 hours. Makes 1 (9-inch) pie.