Author: Natalie Hanson

I am a software industry executive, most recently in life sciences management consulting. I build and lead teams who design, develop, and sell software and services. I lead and deliver with a human-centered lens. As an anthropologist, my research has focused on work practices and work environments. I am interested in interdisciplinary collaboration, as well as how institutions' response to macro trends affects the lives of employees. You can learn more about me at http://www.nataliehanson.com.

Supreme de volaille à l’Ecossaise

Natalie Hanson

4 chicken breasts
2 Tbsp butter
Lemon, salt, pepper
1 carrot, 2 celery stalks, 1 onion (diced)
2 Tbsp of butter

  • Season the breasts with salt, pepper, and lemon.
  • Cook the chicken in the hot melted butter on both sides quickly.
  • In the meantime, in a oven proof casserole, cook the diced vegetables with salt and butter until tender.
  • Put the breasts of chicken on top of the diced vegetables.
  • Cover with buttered waxed paper and cook in the oven for 5 to 6 minutes.
  • Transfer to a serving plate and keep warm in turned off oven.
  • Use the casserole to make the sauce.

Sauce

1/2 cup of whipping cream
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
Parsley

  • Pour the wine and the stock into the casserole with the remaining juices from the chicken breasts.
  • Boil down quickly over high heat until liquid is syrupy.
  • Stir in the cream and do the same again.
  • Season to your taste, pour the sauce over the suprêmes, sprinkle parsley and serve at once.

Supreme de volaille andelouse

Natalie Hanson

4 chicken breasts
2 Tbsp butter
Lemon, salt, pepper
1/4 cup cognac

  • Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • Season the breasts with salt, pepper, and lemon.
  • Fry the chicken in the hot melted butter.
  • Brown on both sides quickly.
  • Add cognac and flambé
  • Put in oven covered with buttered waxed paper and cook for 5 to 6 minutes.
  • Reserve and keep in a warm oven.

Sauce

2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp shallots
1-1/2 cups of tomato pulp
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup crème fraiche
Tarragon, parsley

  • Melt butter and add shallots.
  • Cook briefly.
  • Add the pulp, the wine, the broth, cream, and tarragon.
  • After the breasts of chicken are cooked, drain their juice in the sauce as well.
  • Reduce for about 30 minutes or until thick.
  • Pour the sauce over the chicken before serving and spread parsley on top.

Saucisses de Toulouse

Natalie Hanson

1-1/2 lb of lean pork
1/2 lb of pork fat
1 tsp peppercorns, coarsely crushed
Salt and pepper
Pinch of grated nutmeg
Small sausage casings

  • Work the lean and fat pork through the coarse plate of a mincer or grinder.
  • Add the peppercorns, salt, pepper and nutmeg and mix well.
  • Chill overnight so the spices blend.
  • Saute a small piece of the mixture and taste for seasoning.
  • Soak the casings in cold water for several hours; rinse them with cold water, letting the water run through them.
  • Tie one end of the casing and attach the open end to the base of a fennel or sausage stuffer.
  • Push the casing up the fennel until the closed end is reached.
  • Work the sausage filling through the fennel into the casing, letting the casing fall as the stuffing fills it.
  • Don’t pack casing too tightly, or it will burst during cooking.
  • When a length of casing is stuffed, tie the end closed with string.
  • Prick any air pocket in the sausages with a small pin.
  • To serve, brush with butter and grill/broil; alternatively poach in water for 10 minutes and drain thoroughly.

Roasted pork with garlic

Natalie Hanson

The meat should be prepared 12 hours in advance.

2 cloves of garlic
4 lb of loin of pork
salt and pepper
2 Tbsp of olive oil
1 carrot, 1 onion
1 tsp of flour
1-1/4 cups of stock 

  • Preheat oven to 400°F.
  • Peel the garlic, cut into strips and insert in the flesh of the pork.
  • Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with oil.
  • Place the roast in a roasting pan with the carrot and onion and cook for 2-1/2 hours.
  • Place on a hot serving dish.
  • Strain off the fat from the pan, retaining the juices, then add the flour, replace over the heat and brown well.
  • Add the stock slowly and bring to a boil.
  • Serve this sauce separately.
  • If you wish to vary the size of the meat, allow 30 minutes per lb plus 30 minutes extra.

Serve with Gratin dauphinois.

Roasted chicken with garlic

Natalie Hanson

Serves 4 to 6 people.

French bread, sliced, cooked in the oven at 300°F for 20 min. and brushed with olive oil.
12 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
4-1/2 lb roasting chicken
Salt and pepper
1 or 2 cups of chicken stock
2 Tbsp of butter

Stuffing

10 oz of spinach, cooked and drained
1 cup of sliced mushrooms, cooked
1/2 cup of bread crumbs moistened with cream
1 onion sautéed in butter (lightly cook the chicken liver in it)
1 egg
Thyme, salt and pepper
6 cloves of garlic, parboiled

  • Prepare the various elements of the stuffing as indicated above.
  • Mix the first 4 ingredients together then add the egg and the herbs.
  • Mince the garlic and add to the mixture.
  • Dry the chicken and season the cavity with salt and pepper.
  • Put the stuffing in and truss the chicken.
  • Over medium to high heat, brown the chicken until all sides are golden (about 20 minutes).
  • Turn the chicken breast side up in a baking pan and add the 12 cloves of garlic.
  • Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
  • Pour 1/2 cup of water into the pan and place in a 325°F oven, uncovered.
  • Baste the chicken every 20 minutes and cook for 2 hours.
  • At the end the skin should be brown and crisp.
  • Add chicken stock when necessary.
  • Remove the chicken to a carving platter.
  • Cut it up and place it around the stuffing in the middle of the pan.
  • In the meantime deglaze the cooking juice with some extra chicken stock.
  • Bring to a boil and reduce.
  • Whisk 2 Tbsp of butter at the end.
  • Moisten the chicken with the sauce.
  • Serve at once.

Roast duck

Natalie Hanson

For 8 people.

3 (4 to 5 lb) ducklings
1 Tbsp of cooking oil
1 carrot and 1 onion roughly chopped
Salt, thyme, bay leaf
1/2 cup of Dijon mustard
1 cup of white bread crumbs
2 Tbsp of butter, 2 Tbsp of minced shallots
1/2 cup of Madeira wine

  • Chop ducks’ wings off at the elbows and brown them in cooking oil with the necks, gizards and vegetables in a heavy saucepan.
  • Cover with water, add the herbs and simmer with 1/2 tsp of salt for 2 hours.
  • Sprinkle inside of ducks with 1/4 tsp of salt, a pinch of thyme and tuck in a bay leaf.
  • Pull out any fat from inside neck and cavity.
  • Prick the skin where you see yellow fat under skin.
  • Truss the wings and then the legs.
  • Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • Place ducks breast up in a roasting pan and set in middle of oven.
  • Roast 30 to 35 minutes until breast meat is just springy to the touch.
  • While the ducks are still warm, peel off their skin from the breasts.

Cut up the duck:

  • Remove the legs and separate leg from thigh.
  • Cut skin into strips and place in baking dish.
  • Paint legs and thighs with a thin coating of mustard, roll in crumbs, season to taste and put in another baking dish.
  • Cut the breast meat into thin slices and reserve in warm oven.
  • Add the rest of the carcass to your cooking stock and make sure it cooks for at least 1/2 hour (see first paragraph for 2 hours total cooking time).
  • Drain, degrease and reserve this duck stock for the sauce. You should have about 1 cup.
  • Melt 2 Tbsp of butter in a frying pan, sprinkle in the shallots and cook slightly.
  • Pour in the Madeira wine and the duck stock.
  • Reduce gently while doing the final roasting.
  • Reheat oven to 400°F.
  • Half an hour before you plan to serve dinner, set skin strips and duck legs in the upper third level of the oven.
  • Roast skin until brown.
  • Remove them with a slotted spoon and place on paper towel to drain.
  • Toss with salt and pepper.
  • Roast legs until just tender for 20 minutes.
  • Keep both warm in turned off oven until ready to serve.
  • Set the thin slices of breast meat in a pan.
  • Cover with some of the duck stock and bring to a gentle simmer to poach the meat.
  • Arrange it on a hot platter and boil down the cooking juice until syrupy while you arrange the legs and the skin cracklings on the platter.
  • Pour the juice over the breast meat and serve at once.
  • Pour the rest of the sauce into a gravy boat for additional serving.

Pork roast with apples

Natalie Hanson

3 boned rib end loin pork roast (boned and tied, about 6 lb each)
Salt, oil
6 small apples
2 Tbsp of brown sugar
3 Tbsp of butter
1/2 cup of water
1 cup of light beer 

  • Preheat oven 450°F.
  • Rub salt over the roast and grease the roasting pan with the oil.
  • Brown the roast and the bones for 20 minutes.
  • Reserve the bones.
  • Meanwhile peel the apples whole.
  • Core each 3/4 of the way through.
  • Put 1 tsp of brown sugar and 1/2 Tbsp of butter in the hole.
  • Add the apples to the roast and the bones.
  • Reduce temperature to 375°F, add 1/2 cup of water to the roasting pan and roast for another 40 minutes.
  • Baste frequently and add water as needed.
  • Pour a cup of beer in the pan and continue cooking for another 50 minutes, basting constantly even as the pan juices become syrupy.
  • Remove the roast and make sure the internal temperature reads 150/160°F.
  • Allow it to rest for 5 minutes.
  • Cut the strings and slice.
  • Degrease the pan juices, adding the juices spewing out of the roast.
  • Bring to a boil.
  • Taste and correct seasoning.

Pork chops with mustard & cheese

Natalie Hanson

The rib end of a loin (blade cut) is the end nearest to the shoulder. It is the best choice for this recipe. The center loin or loin end often becomes too dry.

The first 8 ribs cut into 1/2″ will serve 4-6 people since the first 2 chops are a bit fatty. Caramelized (Cortland) apple slices are a good complement to this dish.

Ask the butcher to cut 1″ off the end bone to make it easier to fit all the chops in the skillet.

3 Tbsp of butter
8 pork chops
salt, pepper
1 1/2 cups of grated swiss cheese (6 oz)
2 Tbsp of Dijon mustard
1/2 cup of dry white wine (some additional stock may be needed)

  • Melt the butter in a heavy skillet.
  • Brown the chops, without crowding them, on medium-high heat for 4 minutes on each side.
  • Sprinkle salt and pepper.
  • Discard the fat in the skillet, lower the heat to medium-low, cover and braise the chops 5 more minutes on each side.
  • Meanwhile, grate the cheese.
  • Do this at the last minute so the cheese does not pack.
  • Turn the broiler on.
  • Spread about 1/2 tsp of Dijon mustard on 1 side of each chop, then sprinkle half the grated cheese.
  • Broil a minute or two until the cheese starts to gratiné.
  • Turn the chops over and do the other side with mustard and cheese.
  • Reheat the juices in the skillet and deglaze with 1/2 cup of white wine.
  • Bring to a boil until the liquid is slightly syrupy.
  • If you do not have 1 Tbsp per person, add some stock and reduce again.

Porc Sylvestre

Natalie Hanson

5 Tbsp of cooking oil
4 lb boneless roast of pork, tied
3 Tbsp of butter, 2 Tbsp cooking oil
3 medium onions, peeled
2 carrots, sliced
1/2 cup of brown stock
3 large cloves of garlic unpeeled
bouquet garni, salt

  • In a heavy oven proof heat the oil.
  • Brown the pork on all sides for about 15 minutes.
  • Preheat oven 375°F.
  • Remove the pork, discard the oil.
  • Clean the pot and melt the butter and oil in it.
  • Stir in the onions and carrots and brown them slightly.
  • Return the pork to the pot, add the stock, garlic and bouquet garni and bring to a simmer.
  • Add 1/4 tsp of salt, cover with a piece of wax paper and the lid.
  • Set into the lower third of the oven.
  • After 1/2 hour turn and baste the meat.
  • Sprinkle with 1/4 tsp of salt and reduce the heat to 350°F.
  • Continue cooking, and basting every 1/2 hour, for 2-1/2 hours.

 Sylvestre filling

3 Tbsp of butter, 1 Tbsp of oil
4 Tbsp of shallots, minced
1-1/2 lb of mushrooms, minced and squeezed dry
1 cup of cream
salt and pepper

  • Sauté the shallots in the oil and butter for 2 minutes.
  • Then, add the mushrooms and cook, stirring constantly until dry.
  • Season lightly with salt and pepper.
  • Add the cream and reduce until the cream become a thick golden mixture, not runny.
  • Season well and set aside.

Sauce Mornay

3-1/2 cups milk
5 Tbsp of butter
8 Tbsp of flour
1/2 cup of swiss cheese, grated
salt, black pepper, nutmeg
1/2 cup of cream (optional)

  • Make a bechamel sauce.
  • Cool slightly and add the cheese.
  • Mix 1 1/2 cups of the sauce bit by bit to the mushrooms.
  • This sylvestre filling should be thick.

Final assembly

All this can be done a day or two in advance.

3/4 lb of prosciutto ham cut into pieces the size of the thickness of the roast
1/2 cup of brown stock
1/4 cup of swiss cheese, grated

  • Reserve 1 cup of the Mornay sauce for final cooking
  • When the pork is done, remove from the pot, cut the string.
  • Reserve the juices in a degreasing cup after straining to remove the vegetables and herbs.
  • Carve the pork in 1/3 inch thick slices (keep the shape of the roast).
  • In an oven proof platter start alternating each slice with the ham and about 2 Tbsp of filling per slice.
  • Use the Mornay sauce to “glue” the slices of ham to the pork.
  • Neatly fill in the gaps in the reconstituted roast with the remaining mushroom filling.
  • Remove the fat from the reserved juice, add the stock and deglaze the bottom of the pan by bringing the liquid to a boil.
  • Preheat oven to 350°F
  • Baste the pork with the cooking liquid.
  • Cover the dish with aluminum foil and reheat in the preheated oven
  • Warm up the remaining 1 Cup of Mornay sauce.
  • Coat the pork with it and sprinkle with the cheese.
  • Turn the oven up to 375°F.
  • Set in the upper level of the oven until the top is lightly browned.
  • If the pork has to wait, leave it in the oven with the heat turned off.
  • If you have some left over reheat the same way but with some additional Mornay sauce.

Porc braisé sauce Madère

Natalie Hanson

For about 6 people.  A good vegetable dish to accompany this pork recipe is peas and carrots parisian style (below).

2 tenderloin pork roast
2 Tbsp of vegetable oil
3 Tbsp of butter
1 large onion
2 carrots
1 Tb of herbes de Provence
1/2 cup of Madeira wine
Stock, about a cup (chicken or veal)

  • In a large skillet, brown the pork well on all sides.
  • Discard the oil.
  • Reduce the heat.
  • Put the roast back in the skillet with 3 Tbsp of butter.
  • Slightly brown one large onion, sliced, around the meat.
  • Add 2 carrots, thinly cut, and sprinkle the Herbes de Provence on top of it all.
  • Add 1/2 cup of Madeira wine and 1/2 cup of stock to the pan.
  • Cook gently, on top of the stove, for about 1/2 hour adding some stock as needed.

It was established as far back as 1919 that trichina are killed at a meat temperature of 131°F (137°F for official purposes).  In view of this fact there is no reason whatsoever for overcooking pork until it’s dry and lifeless. Pork develops its best flavor and texture when it is cooked to an interior temperature of 170 to 180°F and the center of the meat is slightly pink. This is particularly true for the tenderloin. Another clue: cook for about 1/2 hour per pound of unchilled meat. or until the juices run clear when pricked with a fork.

Peas and carrots parisian style

1 onion, coarsely chopped
olive oil
2 packages of frozen early peas
6 carrots, sliced and steamed (for 6 minutes)
garlic and parsley
a few lettuce leaves

  • Cook the onion in the olive oil until tender and slightly brown.
  • Add the carrots and peas, the lettuce and the garlic and parsley.
  • Correct seasonings and cook for 10 minutes.
  • Just before serving add a bit of butter.

A very simple dish of roasted potatoes

5 potatoes (peeled and cut in 2 inch chunks)
5 cloves of garlic, unpeeled

  • Oil a large roasting pan and spread the potatoes at the bottom without crowding.
  • Cook until golden brown at 400°F.