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Soup Makes a Hearty Meal

PASTA POTATO SOUP: 
2 tablespoons olive oil 
4 cloves garlic, crushed or chopped fine 
3/4 pound small white, red or Yellow Finn potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters 
2 medium carrots, cut into fairly thin coins 
Salt and pepper to taste (at least 1/2 teaspoon of each) 
1 1/2 cups (1 medium bunch) flat leaf or curly parsley 
12 ounces (3/4 pound) small dried pasta such as orecchiette or mini-macaroni 
Preparation Time: 10 minutes. 
Cooking Time: 25 to 30 minutes. 
Yields 6 servings. 
Cook oil and garlic together in large saucepan over medium heat about 2 minutes, or until garlic is golden; discard garlic and add potatoes and carrots to the oil. Toss and cook about 5 minutes, or until they are golden. Season generously with salt and pepper. 
Chop parsley and add to mixture. Add water to cover by about 2 inches, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat so liquid is at a simmer and cook about 10 minutes, making sure vegetables keep covered with 2 inches water. 
Bring soup to a boil, add pasta, reduce heat, cover and cook at a simmer about 7 to 10 minutes until pasta is just tender. Remove from heat, adjust seasoning to taste and serve at once or cover and refrigerate or freeze. 
Note: This is one of those adaptable recipes which can be adjusted. Add canned chicken broth in place of some or all of the water, toss in a 14-ounce can of tomatoes or leftover green beans or peas. Season while cooking with a 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme or rosemary, if desired. 
- - - 
There will need to be some trust on your part to try this salmon chowder. It is almost all convenience from a can. The result is hearty homemade flavor. 
SALMON CHOWDER 
1 small onion, chopped 
2 large ribs celery, chopped 
2 tablespoons butter 
1 (15 or 16-ounce) can salmon 
2 (10 1/2-ounce) cans cream of celery soup 
2 soup cans milk 
1 (12-ounce) can cream-style corn 
1 (12-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained 
1 tablespoon dried dill weed 
Preparation Time: 10 minutes. 
Cooking Time: 10 minutes. 
Yields 6 servings. 
Fry onion and celery in butter in large pan over moderate heat about 5 minutes. Remove large center bone and skin from salmon. Add salmon and all remaining ingredients, stir well and heat over moderate heat. Do not boil. Freezes well. 
- - - 
This speedy tomato soup has been a standby for years. Served with grilled cheese or ham sandwiches it's a heavenly supper. 
CREAMY TOMATO SOUP 
2 cups (1 14 1/2-ounce can) solid pack or Italian plum tomatoes 
1 tablespoon flour 
1 tablespoon butter, softened 
1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
1 1/2 cups half and half, whole milk or heavy cream, heated but not boiling 
Salt and pepper, to taste 
Chopped parsley for garnish (optional) 
Preparation Time: 5 minutes. 
Cooking Time: 10 minutes. 
Yields 4 to 6 servings. 
Break up undrained tomatoes in saucepan with spoon or wooden spatula; bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes while you blend flour and butter together. Add and stir to thicken; add soda and simmer for 3 or 4 minutes. If a smoother soup is desired, mash with a potato masher or portable blender. Remove pan from heat and stir in heated milk or cream and salt and pepper. Reheat over low flame, if serving later. Serve with parsley on top. 
Note: You can microwave milk or cream until hot or use a small pan on top of stove. Do not boil. 
QUICK TIP 
Try this dipping sauce with your next serving of boiled or roasted new potatoes or french fries. Mix 1 cup mayonnaise with 1 clove crushed or pressed garlic and 1 to 2 teaspoons wine vinegar or fresh lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon or more black pepper. Serve on the side. 
Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Main Courses

  1. Heat oven to 400°. Remove crusts from bread, and place slices in the bowl of a food processor. Process until fine crumbs form, about 10 seconds. Transfer bread crumbs to a large mixing bowl. Do not substitute dried bread crumbs in this step, as they will make your meat loaf rubbery.  

2. Place carrot, celery, yellow onion, garlic, and parsley in the bowl of the food processor. Process until vegetables have been minced, about 30 seconds, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice. (Chopping vegetables this way saves time and ensures that vegetables will be small enough to cook through and not be crunchy). Transfer vegetables to bowl with the bread crumbs.  

3. Add 1/2 cup ketchup, 2 teaspoons dry mustard, pork, veal, beef, eggs, salt, pepper, Tabasco, and rosemary. Using your hands, knead the ingredients until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute. The texture should be wet, but tight enough to hold a free-form shape.

4. Set a wire baking rack into an 11-by-17-inch baking pan. Cut a 5-by-11-inch piece of parchment paper, and place over center of rack to prevent meat loaf from falling through. Using your hands, form an elongated loaf covering the parchment. 

5. Place the remaining 3 tablespoons ketchup, remaining 2 1/2 teaspoons mustard, and brown sugar in a bowl. Mix until smooth. Using a pastry brush, generously brush the glaze over loaf. Place oil in a medium saucepan set over high heat. When oil is smoking, add red onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft and golden in places. Add 3 tablespoons water, and cook, stirring, until most of the water has evaporated. Transfer onion to a bowl to cool slightly, then sprinkle onion over the meat loaf.

6. Bake 30 minutes, then sprinkle rosemary needles on top. Continue baking loaf until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the loaf registers 160°, about 25 minutes more. Let meat loaf cool on rack, 15 minutes.  

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1. Heat oven to 450°. In a large bowl, toss vegetables with 2 tablespoons oil, 2 tablespoons apricot-jam mixture, and thyme leaves; season to taste with salt and pepper. Arrange in a 9-by-13-inch glass baking pan; roast for 10 minutes.  

2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat remaining teaspoon oil over medium-high heat; season chicken, and brown, 4 minutes. Remove from heat; fill cavities between breast halves with lemon, thyme branches, and fennel tops.  

3. Place chicken, skin side up, in a roasting pan, with vegetables around it; roast 15 minutes. Brush chicken with remaining jam; add 6 tablespoons water to pan. Roast until vegetables are tender and chicken is well browned, about 20 minutes. Discard lemon, thyme, and fennel. Bone each breast half with a sharp knife: Cut along breastbone, scraping rib cage with knife; remove meat with your fingers. Arange meat and vegetables on a serving dish. Pour pan juices over, and serve.

French Culinary Institute Faculty

Alain Sailhac

Biography

The Dean of Culinary Studies at The French Culinary Institute since 1991, Chef Alain Sailhac brings over 40 years of expertise to one of the country's leading gastronomic training grounds. A master of his art who brought a four-star rating from the New York Times to Le Cygne and reigned as the Executive Chef at Le Cirque during its heyday in the 1980s, Chef Sailhac takes pride in grooming the next generation of culinary stars by setting the same exacting standards that led to his own success.

Chef Sailhac, however, didn't find success overnight. Rather, it came after a lifetime of devotion to his craft. At the age of 14, he took his first job at Capion restaurant (rated one star in the Michelin Guide) in the small French town of Millau, deep in the heart of the Cevennes, where he was born in 1936. For three years, he biked to Capion at dawn to perform his first kitchen duties: cleaning the floor and shoveling coal for the hot oven fires. From 1954 to 1956, he refined his cooking skills in Paris, working in restaurants at the Hotel Claridge and Normandie Hotel and, later, at Club Med and Relais Gastronomique. He next honed his talents in such far-flung settings as the Grand Hotels in Guadeloupe and Rhodes and at Le Perroquet in Chicago.

But his greatest culinary achievement took place right here in New York City. In the seventies, he led the kitchens at Le Cygne and got the first four-star rating ever from the New York Times. Following Le Cygne, Chef Sailhac spent seven years as executive chef at Le Cirque during its heydey. There, he received another four-star rating and put many young cooks on the path to stardom. After Le Cirque, Chef Sailhac also served as executive chef at The "21" Club and The Plaza Hotel.

Looking for a "challenge" to top off his celebrated career, in 1990 Chef Sailhac accepted an invitation from Dorothy Cann Hamilton, Founder and CEO of The French Culinary Institute, to become the establishment's Dean and official mentor. There could not have been a better partnership, and it's easy to see why.

As Dean of Culinary Studies, Chef Sailhac personifies the spirit of the school. His dedication and willingness to work hard, even at the simplest tasks, are virtues he requires in each and every one of his pupils. It is really no surprise that the school's credo of Qualité, Discipline, and Réalité, so closely mirrors his own commitment to excellence.

From the South of France to Greece and New York, Sailhac has spent the better part of his life defining the standards by which the world's greatest chefs have been measured. But now, as Dean of Culinary Studies at The French Culinary Institute, he is doing more than just setting the standards -- he is producing the very chefs by whom future generations will undoubtedly be measured.                                                                                                     

Restaurant Review.....contd'... Global City News  -  Gulf City News  -  Asia Pacific City News

Chef's Magazine - Chef's Table..

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