GREAT HOME COOKS - The Blowout: Born to Cook

Leda Fertig’s parties are legendary, which doesn’t mean they’ve always worked out as planned.

Fertig laughingly tells about the days she spent one time preparing a dinner of her native Chilean dishes. To her disappointment, only 35 of the 70 invitees showed up. The others, says Fertig, were scared off by what they thought might be “weird food.”

The brave ones who came were entranced by Fertig’s culinary prowess, her ability to put together beautiful arrangements of food and to remain calm and cordial under the pressure of a party. Word got around. And Fertig’s next dinner drew 20 more people than she’d invited.

It’s no accident that Fertig handles large groups easily. She grew up on a ranch, where it was necessary to cook in big quantities.

And it’s no accident that she cooks well. Most of the ingredients she cooked were grown on the property. Olives were processed on the spot, flour was ground from the wheat crop, and in summer, vegetables were picked each morning for the day’s needs. Grape arbors sheltered outdoor dining tables, and fruit and nut trees yielded bountiful harvests. The fruits were preserved for winter, and Fertig still has the antique unlined copper bowl in which apricots were boiled down into fragrant marmalade. Pork was ranch-raised too. Only a few staples, such as sugar, came from town--15 miles away.

Fertig delights in recalling the fresh hot breads that were baked daily in a mud oven. Soon she’ll be baking her popular Chilean Christmas bread, an elaborate concoction of fruits, nuts and spices, in a similar oven to be built behind her West Covina home.

As a child, Fertig learned how to generate her own amusements. She knitted doll socks with needles fashioned from saguaro cactus spines and at the age of 8 cooked her first meal. “It was the most awful meal,” she says, “but everyone said they liked it.” Cooking became for her a new form of amusement, and there was lots of opportunity to practice. The custom was to have four meals a day: breakfast, a four-course lunch, afternoon tea and dinner at 9 p.m. “I used to eat them all,” Fertig says.

No wonder that she is a resourceful, organized, hard-working cook who is so dedicated to quality food--and memories of her rural upbringing--that she grows her own vegetables, herbs, citrus fruit, peaches and apricots. A sociable cook, Fertig had her kitchen remodeled so it would be open to viewers. Strings of tiny earthen pots made in Chile hang from the skylight along with real and artificial braided vegetables. A long counter holds buffets.

When Fertig gives a party, her chief helper is her husband, Ron. “He knows a lot of my recipes,” she says. “He puts them together, washes the dishes, vacuums.” One of several who nominated Leda as a Times Great Home Cook, her husband wrote: “She has never served me a meal that was not absolutely delicious and beautifully prepared. Leda loves to cook and I love to eat. We’re a match made in heaven!”

The Fertigs met in Chile, where Ron was employed in the construction of a copper mine. They’ve since lived in Europe, the Caribbean, Africa, Oregon and Alaska, adding new flavors to Fertig’s repertoire.

Her Rice Caribe, for example, came from a friend in the Dominican Republic. “The Dominicans cook the best rice I ever tasted,” she said. It took Fertig eight months to duplicate the dish to her satisfaction, and now it’s a fixture on her buffets. The rice draws a wealth of flavor from meats, vegetables, herbs, Worcestershire and soy sauce. “The more you keep it the better it tastes,” Fertig says. “It freezes very well.”

Fertig’s Roast Beef With Mushroom-Rum Sauce also comes from the Dominican Republic, where rum is plentiful. “It’s something I created,” she says. Fertig roasts the meat until well done, arranges the slices on a platter and covers them with sauce. A fresh vegetable such as steamed asparagus goes on the side.

At Christmas Fertig cooks a complete Chilean dinner, but on other occasions she prefers a mixed menu, which may incorporate a Chilean dish or two. She often makes two refreshing salads. One is nothing more than peeled celery, crisped in cold water and combined with a simple oil-and-lemon-juice dressing. In Chile, she says, this is a summer salad that is served in restaurants and homes. The other salad combines diced tomatoes with onions that have been treated with salt to reduce their bite.

For bread, there might be freshly baked flat buttermilk rolls, called pan amasado (kneaded bread). Dessert is likely to be an opulent cream-covered pineapple cake, known in Chile as torta de pina. Fertig soaks the cake layers with pineapple juice and fills them with fruit, vanilla custard and whipped cream. An avid gardener, she likes to arrange a band of pansies over the whipped topping that coats the cake. As a variation, she may add mangoes to the filling.

One of Fertig’s most admired dishes is her shrimp centerpiece. She’s made it for as many as 500 attending a hospital benefit but can scale it down for a small party. The components are simple: It’s the artistic way Fertig arranges them that catches the eye.

The focal point is a bowl of ice containing shrimp and a catsup-and-horseradish dip. Around this, Fertig masses greens such as leaf lettuce, curly endive, kale and parsley. Hollowed red and green peppers hold celery, carrot and zucchini sticks and green onions. Dips for the vegetables are placed in hollowed red and green cabbages. Additional vegetables and seasonal fruits are scattered throughout the display.

At home, Fertig arranges the greens and dips on platters. For a friend’s party, she placed them in baskets. And for the hospital party, she set up the massive display in produce crates.

Fertig is a generous cook. She takes food to the hospitals where she volunteers and to her husband’s office, and this summer she will help out a friend by preparing the cake and food for a wedding reception. “When you like to do something,” she says, “it’s not really hard work.”

LEDA’S CHEESE DIP

1 cup small-curd cottage cheese

3/4 cup crumbled Roquefort cheese

3 tablespoons sour cream

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1 green onion, finely chopped

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

Dash ground cumin

Dash ground sage

Dash ground thyme

Dash curry powder

Combine cottage and Roquefort cheeses, sour cream, parsley and green onion. Season with Worcestershire, cumin, sage, thyme and curry powder. Serve as dip with raw vegetables. Makes about 2 cups, or 12 servings.

Each serving contains about:

49 calories; 212 mg sodium; 10 mg cholesterol; 3 grams fat; 1 gram carbohydrates; 4 grams protein; 0.02 gram fiber.

ROAST BEEF WITH MUSHROOM-RUM SAUCE

1 (5-pound) beef sirloin tip roast

Butter

4 cloves garlic, crushed

Coarsely ground black pepper

Dash ground thyme

Dash ground cumin

Dash ground sage

1 pound mushrooms, sliced

Salt

1/3 cup dark rum

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 cup cold water

Rub roast all over with butter, then with garlic. Sprinkle generously with pepper. Roast at 300 degrees 3 hours. Raise heat to 350 degrees and roast 1 hour longer. Meat will be well done. Remove to serving platter and keep warm.

Turn roast drippings into bowl and season with thyme, cumin and sage. Heat 6 tablespoons butter in large skillet. Add mushrooms and saute until partly cooked. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add drippings and bring to simmer. Stir in rum and add more salt if needed. Blend cornstarch with cold water. Stir into sauce and cook and stir until slightly thickened. Slice roast. Arrange slices on platter and pour sauce over. Serve any remaining sauce on side. Makes 10 servings.

Each serving contains about:

286 calories; 188 mg sodium; 109 mg cholesterol; 14 grams fat; 3 grams carbohydrates; 32 grams protein; 0.4 gram fiber.

RICE CARIBE

4 cups long-grain rice

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

6 ounces ham, cut into small pieces

6 ounces dry salami, cut into small pieces

1 bunch green onions, finely chopped

3 celery stalks, finely chopped

1 green pepper, finely chopped

1 bunch cilantro, finely chopped

1 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

3 tablespoons soy sauce

4 1/2 cups water

2 beef bouillon cubes

Tomato slices

Cilantro sprigs

Place rice in colander and rinse well with cold water. Drain. Add lemon juice and stir to mix. Rinse quickly with water and drain well.

Heat olive and vegetable oils in 6-quart pot. Add ham and salami and saute over medium-high heat 5 minutes. Add green onions, celery stalks, green pepper, cilantro and rosemary and cook and stir 5 minutes. Add Worcestershire and soy sauces and mix. Add rice and mix well. Add water and bouillon cubes and bring to boil. Lower heat to simmer, then cover and cook about 45 minutes, or until rice is tender and water is absorbed. Arrange on platter and garnish with tomato slices and cilantro sprigs. Makes 20 servings.

Each serving contains about:

217 calories; 465 mg sodium; 12 mg cholesterol; 7 grams fat; 31 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams protein; 0.24 gram fiber.

CHILEAN PEELED CELERY SALAD

3 bunches celery

1/2 cup oil

Juice of 3 lemons

Salt

Divide celery bunches into stalks. Discard leafy tops. With knife, peel strings from each stalk, starting at wide end. Cut stalks crosswise into 3-inch lengths. Cut each of these into 3 or 4 sticks, leaving attached at one end, if desired.

Place in large bowl and cover with cold water or ice water. Let stand until celery is crisp and curled. Combine oil, lemon juice and salt to taste. Shake thoroughly to blend. Pour over celery just before serving, or serve separately. Do not allow celery to marinate in dressing or it will soften. Makes 15 servings.

Each serving contains about:

78 calories; 89 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 8 grams fat; 3 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram protein; 0.6 gram fiber.

LEDA’S PINEAPPLE-MANGO CAKE

6 eggs, at room temperature, separated

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 (20-ounce) cans pineapple chunks

Vanilla Cream

1 large, very ripe mango, peeled and cut in chunks

1 cup whipping cream, whipped

1 (12-ounce) container non-dairy whipped topping

Line bottom of 10-inch springform pan with wax paper and set aside.

Beat egg whites at high speed of electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Gradually add powdered sugar and beat until stiff. At low speed, add egg yolks 1 at time, then add and incorporate flour and baking powder. Turn batter into prepared pan. Bake at 300 degrees 30 minutes. Raise heat to 350 degrees and bake 10 to 15 minutes longer, or until cake tests done. Cool cake on rack and remove from pan.

Cut cake in half horizontally, forming 2 layers. Drain pineapple, reserving juice or syrup. Spoon 10 tablespoons juice evenly over cut side of bottom layer of cake. Spread with Vanilla Cream, then add pineapple chunks and mangoes. Cover fruit with whipped cream. Top with remaining cake layer, cut side down. Poke holes in top and spoon over another 10 tablespoons pineapple juice. Cover cake completely with whipped topping and decorate with edible fresh flowers (such as pansies), if desired. Makes 12 servings.

Each serving contains about:

405 calories; 131 mg sodium; 211 mg cholesterol; 21 grams fat; 54 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams protein; 0.5 gram fiber.

Vanilla Cream

1 cup half and half

1 cup milk

1/2 cup sugar

1 stick cinnamon

3 egg yolks

1/3 cup water

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine half and half, milk, sugar and cinnamon in small saucepan and bring to boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

In bowl, whip egg yolks with fork, add water and cornstarch and stir until cornstarch is dissolved. Add to half and half mixture, return to heat and cook and stir until thickened. Remove from heat, discard cinnamon stick and stir in vanilla.