To Serve Vegetables

I have never been interested in the vegetable primarily as an accompaniment to meat or fish. Except in rare instances, potatoes or rice or noodles can do that with great ease. So take a page from the notebooks of the best French chefs, and serve vegetables as a separate course after the main course. This will allow guests to savour the flavour of meat, game or fish more fully, and permit you to add another texture and flavour surprise in your separate vegetable course.

One of the best vegetable salads in the world is chilled string beans à la vinaigrette: string beans cooked in very little water with a little butter or olive oil until just tender, not mushy and overcooked, drained, and dressed with a Vinaigrette Dressing to which you have added finely chopped garlic and parsley. Try this, too, with broccoli or small Brussels sprouts. Delicious.