The Bertranou Generation

Here is a selection of recipes that show how much food has changed in Los Angeles in the past 15 years. We begin with a Jean Bertranou recipe; the dish is completely French, very complex--and worth the time it takes to cook it. We also offer a classic tarte tatin from James Brinkley, who learned the art of pastry from Jean Bertranou. Michel Blanchet’s dish is also French--but lighter, more modern--and considerably less time-consuming to cook.

The other recipes demonstrate the different directions in which Bertranou’s disciples went: John Sedlar’s stuffed chile was created by a Southwestern chef with impeccable French training. And Roy Yamaguchi’s dishes are each models of modern Pacific Rim cooking, for they cross Asian ingredients with classic French techniques.

L’ERMITAGE AIGUILLETTE DE CANARD AU MEDOC

1 (5-pound) duck

1 gallon boiling water

1 onion, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

Butter

1 tablespoon thyme

6 bay leaves

1 tablespoon freshly cracked pepper

2 cups red wine

2 tablespoons tomato paste

Arrowroot

Bordelaise Base

2 tablespoons oil

4 teaspoons minced shallots

2 ounces Medoc wine

2 lemons

Watercress

Separate breasts and leg-thigh sections from duck. Reserve remaining bones. Discard innards and neck.

Place reserved bones in baking pan and roast at 350 degrees 30 minutes to remove excess grease. Add bones to boiling water.

Saute onion, carrot and celery in 1/4 cup butter until onion is golden. Add thyme, bay leaves, pepper and red wine. Reduce mixture by 1/3, then add along with tomato paste to water in which bones have been placed. Simmer 6 hours, skimming off film occasionally.

Strain contents into clean pot and bring to boil. Continue to boil 30 minutes, removing film that forms on top. Mix some arrowroot with water and add to pot to slightly thicken sauce. Add to Bordelaise Base and bring again to boil, removing any grease that has formed. Strain and keep warm while duck cooks.

Saute duck pieces in hot oil until golden on all sides. Place duck pieces in baking pan and bake at 450 degrees 10 to 15 minutes or until tender. Remove duck and drain oil. (Longer cooking may be necessary, depending on size of duck.)

For each serving duck, saute 1 teaspoon minced shallots in 1 teaspoon butter until golden. Add 1/2 ounce Medoc.

Bring desired amount sauce needed for 1 serving to boil and add Medoc mixture. Add 1 teaspoon butter for each portion. When butter is dissolved, sauce has reached perfection. (Reserve any remaining sauce for future use for poultry, game or ham.)

Slice duck or leave pieces whole. Pour sauce over duck and garnish with lemon half tied in cheesecloth and watercress. Makes 4 servings.

Bordelaise Base

3 shallots, chopped

2 tablespoons butter

8 bay leaves

1 teaspoon thyme

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon cracked black pepper

1 1/2 cups red wine

Saute shallots in butter. Add bay leaves, thyme, salt, pepper and red wine. Reduce by about 1/2.

MICHEL BLANCHET’S ROAST BREAST OF CHICKEN WITH SWEET PEPPER SAUCE

Vegetable oil

1 sweet red pepper

1 green pepper

1 sweet yellow pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 cup chicken stock

6 chicken breast halves

Salt, pepper

Sauteed Potatoes

Heat about 1 inch vegetable oil in skillet. Heat red, green and yellow peppers in hot oil until skin is blistered all over. When cool enough to handle, peel off skins. Dice each pepper, keeping separated by color. Reserve 1/3 of each pepper.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in saucepan. Saute onion until tender. Add diced peppers, red wine vinegar and chicken stock. Boil 15 minutes. Place sauce in blender and blend until very smooth.

Remove bones, not skin, from each chicken breast half. Place in large baking pan and season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Bake at 450 degrees 12 to 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked. Remove skins from chicken breasts.

Cut each breast into 6 or 9 slices, then arrange in circular shape on each of 6 plates. Pour sauce around chicken. Top each chicken slice with alternating colors of reserved diced peppers. Garnish each plate with Sauteed Potatoes. Makes 6 servings.

Sauteed Potatoes

3 large russet potatoes, peeled

2 tablespoons corn oil, about

2 tablespoons butter, about

Salt

Cut potatoes into small spheres with melon baller. Wash with cool water and dry. Heat corn oil and butter in skillet until golden brown. Saute potato balls about 10 minutes, turning frequently. Add more oil as needed to saute all potatoes. Season to taste with salt. Makes 6 servings.

JOHN SEDLAR’S GREEN CHILES STUFFED WITH MUSHROOM DUXELLES

3/4 pound mushrooms, roughly chopped

1/2 cup whipping cream

Salt

White pepper

6 poblano chiles or small green peppers, roasted, peeled and seeded

Creme de Chevre

Puree mushrooms in food processor. Add whipping cream and process again. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Make lengthwise slit in chiles, remove seeds and stuff with mushroom mixture. Close chiles, wrap in plastic wrap and steam on rack set over simmering water 5 minutes.

Serve with Creme de Chevre or cover bottom of large serving platter with sauce and arrange chiles over top. Makes 6 servings.

Creme de Chevre

1 cup whipping cream

2 1/2 ounces goat cheese

1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic

Bring cream to simmer in saucepan. Add cheese and garlic. Press sauce through strainer or colander. Makes about 1 1/3 cups.

ROY YAMAGUCHI’S GYOZA DUCK SALAD

6 uncooked gyozas (Japanese dumplings from Japanese bakeries or restaurants) or frozen, thawed

Olive oil

1 duck breast

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 small clove garlic, crushed

1 (1-inch) piece orange zest, chopped

1 teaspoon grated ginger root

1 cup black and white chanterelles, sliced

1 head radicchio

1 head Belgian endive

1 handful escarole, roughly sliced

1 handful chicory, roughly sliced

1/2 bunch fresh basil leaves

1 tablespoon raspberry vinegar

1 tablespoon walnut oil

Salt

White pepper

1/2 cup crushed hazelnuts

6 long chives, cut in halves crosswise

1 papaya, peeled, sliced in half lengthwise and seeded

12 raspberries

Saute gyozas in 1 tablespoon olive oil in large skillet. Add 1/3 cup water, cover and steam without turning gyozas. Drain water, sprinkle gyozas with oil and cook until browned underneath. Set aside.

Combine duck breast, soy sauce, garlic, orange zest and ginger in shallow bowl. Turn to mix well. Add duck and garlic mixture to skillet, cover and steam-cook about 20 minutes. Remove and when cool enough to handle, slice 1/8-inch thick.

Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to skillet. Add chanterelles and saute until barely tender, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Reserve 6 pretty radicchio leaves and 6 Belgian endive leaves. Tear remaining radicchio leaves into bowl. Cut remaining endive leaves into thin diagonal slices and add to bowl with escarole, chicory and freshly cut basil leaves. Add raspberry vinegar and oil, toss and season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss in hazelnuts, reserving some for topping.

For each serving, arrange reserved 3 radicchio leaves alternately with 3 endive leaves and 6 chive stalks around large plate. Slice each papaya half in crosswise slices. Fan out papaya slices on each side of endive. Place half of raspberries between endive leaves.

Heap half of green salad mixture in center of each plate. Arrange gyozas on side of each salad near top. Arrange half of duck breast, star-fashion, on top of each salad. Sprinkle with reserved hazelnuts. Makes 2 servings.

Note: Salad composition may be altered as desired to make 4 servings.

ROY YAMAGUCHI’S GRILLED PRAWN SALAD

5 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

40 small prawns or 12 to 18 large prawns, peeled and deveined

2 cups white wine

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup sugar

12 cloves garlic

1 head radicchio

1/2 head escarole

1 cup mache

6 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

1 tablespoon Sherry wine vinegar

Salt, pepper

16 Nicoise olives

Prepare hot grill. Combine 2 tablespoons olive oil, thyme and minced garlic in small bowl. Dip prawns in oil mixture to coat well. Grill prawns over hot coals just until seared.

Combine wine, butter and sugar with garlic cloves in saucepan. Reduce to syrupy consistency. (Garlic will be candied.) Set aside.

Combine radicchio, escarole and mache in bowl. Toss greens with garlic-syrup mixture (including candied garlic) and cheese. Add vinegar, remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Distribute greens among 6 plates. Arrange prawns and olives over greens. Makes 6 servings.

JAMES BRINKLEY’S TARTE TATIN

Pate Brisee

16 large Red Delicious apples

1/2 pound unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

Unsweetened whipped cream

Prepare Pate Brisee and chill at least 1 hour before using. Peel apples, cut into halves and core. Do not slice.

Mash butter over bottom of oven-proof skillet at least 3 inches deep and 9 inches in diameter. Sprinkle sugar evenly over butter.

Stand apple halves on end in pan until bottom is covered. Stack remaining apples on top. Stacked apples do not need to be placed on end.

Place skillet over high heat. Cook 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Fit slightly softened apples farther down into pan, standing on ends.

Adjust heat to slightly below medium. Return apples to heat and cook until sugar at edges appears thicker and apples are releasing juice, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes.

Again, fit apples down into pan. Return to medium-low heat and cook until sugar syrup has browned and appears thick and caramelized at sides of pan, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat. Push apples in toward center to make slight margin at sides of pan.

Roll Pate Brisee on lightly floured surface to circle about 10 inches in diameter. Pierce all over with fork to prevent dough from bubbling up during baking. Sprinkle top lightly with flour.

Place dough, floured side up, on top of apples. Fold back edges that lap over pan. Bake at 375 degrees 60 minutes, until crust and caramelized juices at edges of tart are medium brown. If desired, place baking sheet lined with wax paper under tart during baking to protect oven from spills.

Remove tart from oven and let stand 1 minute. Place large serving platter upside down on top of tart and invert. Serve tart hot with unsweetened whipped cream. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Pate Brisee

1 cup flour

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/3 teaspoon salt

1/3 teaspoon sugar

1 medium egg

1 tablespoon whipping cream

Combine flour and butter in mixing bowl and blend with fingers. Add salt, sugar, egg and whipping cream. Mix thoroughly. Chill at least 1 hour before using. Makes enough pastry for 1 (9-inch) tart.