Petits Pois à la Bonne-Femme

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •10-inch (25 cm) wide sauté pan with straight sides
• •Slotted spoon
• •Kitchen thread

Instructions

1. 1

   Ready the garnish

   Have the diced breast of bacon prepared according to Blanchings (No. 273), then pat it thoroughly dry so it fries instead of spitting in the butter. Peel the small onions, tie the parsley stems together, and measure the consommé before the pan goes on. Keep the peas cool until their turn.

2. 2

   Fry the onions

   Melt the butter in a wide sauté pan over medium-low heat. Add the onions and fry them for 7 to 9 minutes, rolling them often, until golden in patches but still holding their shape. They need not be tender yet. If the butter begins coloring before the onions do, lower the heat and add a teaspoon of consommé; the onions need patient contact with the pan, not scorched milk solids. Lift them out with a slotted spoon.

3. 3

   Build the light roux

   Add the diced bacon prepared according to Blanchings (No. 273) to the same pan and fry for 2 to 3 minutes, until its edges take a little color and its fat begins to render. Scatter the flour over the bacon and stir for 1 minute, keeping the roux pale. Pour in the consommé gradually while stirring and scraping the pan floor, then bring it to a boil for 30 seconds. If the flour gathers into lumps, take the pan off the heat and whisk firmly until smooth. Ça se rattrape.

4. 4

   Simmer and reduce

   Add the peas, fried onions, and tied parsley to the sauce. Return everything to a lively uncovered simmer and cook for 8 to 12 minutes, turning the mixture gently, until the peas are tender and the sauce has reduced by half to a light, glossy coating. This timing is the dish. If the sauce tightens before the peas are tender, add consommé or water one tablespoon at a time. If the peas become tender while the sauce remains loose, lift the peas, onions, and bacon out with the slotted spoon, reduce the sauce alone for a minute or two, then return them to the pan.

5. 5

   Finish and serve

   Remove the parsley bunch and roll the peas gently through the finished sauce. Taste before reaching for salt, because both the bacon and reduced consommé have brought their own. The sauce should cling in a thin sheen, with no floury heaviness and no puddle beneath the peas. Spoon everything into a warm serving dish and bring it straight to the table. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Freshly shelled peas are the first choice when they are genuinely sweet. If the pods have traveled too far, use 2 cups (280 g / 10 oz) frozen peas straight from the freezer and begin checking them after 4 minutes. An honest frozen pea is better than a tired fresh one.
• •Choose pearl onions no wider than about 3/4 inch (2 cm), so their centers become tender while the sauce reduces. Larger onions should be halved through the root, which keeps their layers together in the pan.
• •Use prepared consommé, not undiluted concentrate, and taste it before cooking. It should be clean and moderately seasoned, because reducing it by half also concentrates every grain of salt.
• •Breast of bacon, or poitrine de lard, should be meaty and preferably unsmoked or only lightly smoked. Follow Blanchings (No. 273) as the source requires; the preparation tempers excess salt and smoke without removing the bacon's character.

Advance Preparation

• •The onions may be peeled and the bacon prepared according to Blanchings (No. 273) up to one day ahead. Keep them covered separately in the refrigerator and dry the bacon again before frying.
• •This dish is best served as soon as the reduction finishes. Leftovers keep for up to two days in the refrigerator, but the peas will soften; reheat them gently with a spoonful of water.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 140g)