No. 2839

Tomatoes in Cases, Baked

Tomates en Caisses Gratinees

Throw some tomatoes into boiling water to peel off their skins readily; cut them in two through their thickest part, press out all the liquid and seeds and fill them with a forcemeat made with cold chicken meat, cut from the legs, as much bread-crumbs and as much cooked fine herbs (No. 385) as bread; season well and stir in a few egg-yolks. Lay each half tomato in an oiled case (Fig. 439) stiffened in the oven, bestrew bread-crumbs and grated parmesan over, baste with butter and bake in a moderate oven.

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For the Modern Kitchen

A Delmonico's garnish dish that turns leftover chicken leg meat into a stuffing for tomato halves. The proportions are given by eye, so read the whole thing before shopping.

The forcemeat ratioThe recipe gives roughly equal parts: chopped cold chicken, breadcrumbs, and cooked fine herbs ("as much bread-crumbs and as much cooked fine herbs as bread"). No quantities are stated, and the text does not say whether the parts are by weight or volume. Ranhofer calls for "a few egg-yolks" to bind -- enough to hold, not enough to make it wet.
"Cooked fine herbs" (No. 385)This is not a handful of chopped parsley. Ranhofer's cooked fine herbs is a mixture of finely chopped mushrooms, onion or shallot and parsley cooked down in butter, along duxelles lines; see No. 385 for the exact composition. Raw herbs will not give the same result.
Moderate ovenThe book gives no figure; "moderate" is usually read as somewhere around 350F. The filling is already cooked, so the bake is only to set the yolks and colour the crumb-and-parmesan top.
The casesFig. 439 shows the case; the recipe's "oiled case... stiffened in the oven" points to a paper caisse. Foil baking cups or small ramekins do the same job, each tomato half being served in its own vessel.
Draining is the hingePress out the seeds and juice thoroughly, then salt the shells and let them drain cut side down for 15 minutes. Tomatoes hold far more water than the stuffing can absorb, and an underdrained shell collapses into the case.
Chicken legs specificallyThe recipe calls for cold chicken cut from the legs. Meat pulled from a roast chicken, or from a bird poached for stock, will serve; the book does not say why the leg is chosen.
SeasoningThe recipe says only "season well": salt and pepper at least, and Ranhofer's forcemeats not infrequently take a little nutmeg. Taste the forcemeat before the yolks go in, since everything in it is already cooked.
YieldTwo halves per person as a vegetable course or garnish; four as a light lunch. They are meant to go out hot and are poor reheated.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer's The Epicurean (1894) records the kitchen of Delmonico's in New York, and this entry sits in a long run of tomato preparations that shows how thoroughly the fruit had been absorbed into fine French-American cooking by the end of the century -- a shift from earlier American books, where tomatoes appear mainly stewed or pickled. The caisse, a pleated paper case oiled and stiffened in the oven, was standard restaurant equipment for individual service: it let a kitchen send out portions that looked composed. Dishes like this also make use of leg meat, which a house roasting birds all evening accumulates once the breasts are sold.