Heartland : A Simple Sampler

The phrase “simple food” is captivating. Richard Olney called his first book “Simple French Food”; James Beard’s last published book is “Simple Foods.” John Thorne writes a monthly journal, Simple Food, and the world-famous French chef Escoffier was known for his often-repeated dictum, “Keep it simple.”

But simple means different things to different cooks at different times. Escoffier, for example, a master of classic French sauces, called for 16 ingredients in his demi-glace.

As a home cook in Walnut Creek, I consider the following menu simple: Asparagus 1930s-Style; a bowl of hard-boiled eggs sprinkled with olive oil and fresh chopped herbs; popovers; and sliced mangoes with strawberry syrup. I suppose a glass of milk, toast and a bowl of greens would be even simpler, but how many friends would beat a path to your table? And what is life without sharing at the table?

Asparagus on toast with sauce comes from the Depression days of the ‘30s. It shows how money doesn’t necessarily buy good food. With it, serve a bowl of hard-boiled, shelled eggs covered with a thin drizzle of olive oil and fresh chopped chives, parsley, and coarse salt and ground pepper.

My newest recipe for popovers has finally solved the problem of making them rise perfectly. The critical point is that the popovers must be baked in separate containers that can be surrounded by heat in the oven.

The popovers are at their very best buttered and eaten with strawberry jam. The Strawberry Jam and Syrup is an easy way of getting maximum mileage from two boxes of strawberries. The syrup can be poured over hot biscuits, muffins, toast, baked apples, sliced summer fruit or vanilla ice cream.

ASPARAGUS, 1930s-STYLE 2 1/2 pounds asparagus, trimmed of coarse stems 3 cups water Salt 3 tablespoons butter 4 tablespoons flour 1/2 cup milk 1/4 teaspoon ground mace Black pepper 4 slices warm toasted buttered bread

Cut asparagus into 1/2-inch pieces. Put asparagus into saute pan and cover with 3 cups lightly salted water. Cover and simmer 6 to 8 minutes, or until tender when pierced with knife. Remove asparagus from pan and set aside.

Reserve 1 1/2 cups vegetable liquid and set aside.

Melt butter in pan until golden for nutty taste to sauce. Stir in flour and cook, stirring couple minutes. Slowly add vegetable liquid, stirring constantly. Cook about 5 minutes, until sauce is thickened. Add milk. Season to taste with mace and pepper. Stir to blend and cook, stirring 1 more minute.

Put 1 slice of warm buttered toast on each plate. Divide asparagus between 4 plates and place on toast. Spoon hot sauce over each serving. Makes 4 servings.

Each serving, without buttered toast, contains about: 181 calories; 183 mg sodium; 26 mg cholesterol; 10 grams fat; 18 grams carbohydrates; 11 grams protein; 2.38 grams fiber.

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For popovers to rise perfectly, the containers have to be well heated; make sure that hot air can circulate freely around them. Use either individual 3/4-cup glass baking dishes or nonstick 3/4-cup popover pans that are hung separately on thin bars. If using glass baking dishes, put the batter-filled dishes on a rack in the oven, rather than on a baking sheet.

POPOVER UPDATE Butter or oil 3 large eggs 1 cup milk 1 cup flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup grated cheese, optional

Butter each baking container.

Put eggs into mixing bowl. Beat eggs until well mixed. Add milk and stir to blend. Add flour and salt and beat until smooth. This takes brisk beating, or batter may be made in blender.

To make 8 small popovers, fill containers half full. To make 4 large popovers, fill containers 2/3 full. Bake at 400 degrees 25 to 35 minutes, or until golden.

As soon as popovers are removed from oven, make slits in 2 or 3 places with small sharp knife to release steam. This keeps popovers from collapsing. Any leftovers may be rewarmed later. Makes 4 large popovers or 8 small popovers.

Each large popover contains about: 199 calories; 383 mg sodium; 167 mg cholesterol; 6 grams fat; 25 grams carbohydrates; 10 grams protein; 0.09 gram fiber.

STRAWBERRY JAM AND SYRUP 6 cups whole strawberries 1 1/2 cups sugar 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Rinse strawberries. Stem and slice berries, and put 1/2 in saute pan. Sprinkle sugar to taste and lemon juice over and mash berries with potato masher or fork. Cook over medium-low heat, about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and strain syrup into container, leaving thick fruit pulp. Syrup will thicken little as it cools.

Cut remaining strawberries into small pieces and stir into cooked pulp. Put strawberry jam into jar and let cool. Makes 1 1/2 cups jam and 1 1/2 cups syrup.

Each tablespoon contains about: 60 calories; 0 sodium; 0 cholesterol; 0 fat; 15 grams carbohydrates; 0 protein; 0.2 gram fiber.