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Boston Lettuce Gratinée




Source of Recipe


wine @ msn


Recipe Introduction


A vegetable dish that is hard to figure out turns into a conversation piece. No one seems to know what's inside. Is it broccoli, zucchini, spinach? The lettuce gives it a light and refreshing taste. It goes well with any meat, and I think it's a great luncheon dish because it is light, like a quiche. I learned to make it many years ago from Simone Beck's Simca's Cuisine. You can make this even easier by doing a lot of the prep the day before.

Makes 10 servings




List of Ingredients




1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 3/4 cups plain dry bread crumbs
8 to 10 small heads Boston lettuce
1/3 cup minced shallots
1 cup cold milk
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup grated Swiss cheese
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves, for garnish


Recipe



Preheat the oven to 375 F. Using 2 tablespoons of the butter, grease the bottom and sides of a 1 1/2-quart mold. Line the bottom with waxed paper and grease it with 1 tablespoon butter. Dust the inside of the mold with 2 tablespoons of the bread crumbs and knock out the excess. Set aside.

Trim and wash the lettuce and separate the leaves. Drop the leaves into a pot of boiling water until they wilt, 3 to 4 seconds. Remove from the water using a slotted spoon, rinse under cold running water, and drain. Finely chop and set aside in a colander to drain completely. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight, if you wish.

In a medium-size saucepan over medium heat, melt 3 tablespoons of the butter. Add the shallots and cook, stirring, until softened. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and melt. Add the chopped lettuce and cook until there is no liquid left in the pan, 10 to 15 minutes.

In a large bowl, soak the remaining bread crumbs in the milk for 3 to 4 minutes, then mash with a fork. Add the eggs, Swiss and Parmesan cheeses, cream, and lettuce mixture and fold together. Add the nutmeg and season with salt and pepper. Spoon the mixture into the mold, leaving a 1-inch space at the top. Place the mold in a larger pan with 2 inches of water. Set the pan in the oven and bake until golden brown and puffed, about 40 minutes. Make sure the gratinée is set-firm in the center and pulling away slightly from the sides of the pan.

Remove from the oven and let cool slightly. Unmold onto a warm serving plate. Spoon some sauce from the pork loin over the top and decorate with the parsley.

Ellen's Tips: After rinsing the lettuce in cold water, I use my dish drainer to drain it.

The process of cooking the gratinée in another pan filled with water is called a bain-marie, or water bath. It is a gentle poaching process.

The way to divide and conquer this workload is to wilt and chop the lettuce, grate the cheese, and measure your ingredients the day before, then assemble the gratinée at the time of baking.