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pochés à la Benedict
    Tomate Clamart
    Poireaux à la béchamel gratinées
    Pommes Berny
    Pommes St. Florentine
    Instructor: Dieter Faulkner
     Of all the dishes on this menu, the Salaison de Boeuf was the most dramatic and exciting.  Salaison means “salted meat,” and is founded on the Latin root for salt, which is sal – from which comes the word “salary,” and part of the salary for ancient Roman legionnaires was salt – a very rare and valuable commodity in the ancient world.
    In this dish, a boneless sirloin strip is seasoned with black pepper, and seared on all six sides in hot oil in a saut é  pan, at very high heat. A paste is then prepared, consisting of 15-pounds of kosher salt and one-pound of cornstarch, blended with about 18 egg whites – or enough egg white to create a malleable paste. Two-cups of the salt paste is divided up among four small bowls, to which is added a few drops of food color in each – red, blue, green, and yellow – then blended in and set aside. 
    On the bottom of a sheet pan, a one-inch-thick base of salt paste is sculpted, measuring 1-inch longer and wider than the sirloin strip.  The seared strip loin is set upon this base, in the center, then the remaining salt is packed onto the meat until it is fully encased.
    The colored salt pastes are each formed into rectangluar, half-inch-thick forms, on a cutting board, from which are cut out small shapes, used to decorate the top of the salt-encased roast.  Chef Faulkner used playing card suit cut-outs – a club, a diamond, a heart and a spade – and attached them using a small amount of egg white as an adhesive.
    The salt-encased beef is then placed in a pre-heated 375-degree F (190-degrees C) oven, roasted for 75 minutes, then removed from the oven and set aside to rest.  The heat drives the juices in the roast towards the interior of the meat – while the salt draws the juices back towards the exterior. The result, of course, is a roast of extraordinarily juiciness and flavor.
    After a half-hour of resting, during which time the juices return fully within the meat, the top of the salt casing is cut, using a serrated knife – being careful not to cut into the meat within.  This top is lifted up and set aside, then the roast is lifted out from its salt shell, using a fork held at each end, and place on a cutting board.  This cutting board is set onto a pan, so that the juices that run from the roast can be saved and used later – either for a gravy or as a simple jus.
    Three other dishes on Dieter Faulker’s menu were also memorable, including:
    Tomate Clamart : a medium tomato, scooped out, filled with green peas sautéed in butter, seasoned with salt and pepper.  (This was a garnish I used for Tournedos Henri IV during the summer of 1973, when I ran my first kitchen at Moon – a restaurant-and-disco in East Hampton, Long Island, N.Y.) 
    Poireaux à la Crème , Gratinée: the bottom half of leeks are split in half, not-quite-all-the-way-through, so the two halves remain connected at the base – allowing the leek to be carefully rinsed (there is often considerable soil in between the leaves), blanched in lightly-salted water, drained and cooled.  Prepare a Chicken Velouté finished with heavy cream, place the leeks in an oven-proof casserole, top with a light coat of sauce, then a slice of Gruyère cheese, and a light  sprinkling of grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese.  NB: This recipe originally called for a Béchamel Sauce, but milk-based white sauce has fallen from favor (Real chefs don’t drink milk!) and is often substituted with Chicken Velouté – chicken stock thickened with white roux, finished with heavy cream. 
    Pommes St. Florentine : Blanch Yukon Gold or Fingerling potatoes in boiling water, drain and cool; peel and cut into 1/8 th -inch-thick slices, and layer into a buttered casserole dish.  Top with a layer of creamed, chopped spinach seasoned with salt and pepper; repeat this process