Let me walk you through the experience of eating a fresh gougère. It's surprisingly light as you pick it up, almost insubstantial and still hot from the oven. The crispy shell crunches as you pull it open, releasing a puff of savory steam. Then you hit the middle: soft, eggy, and indecently cheesy. Two bites and it's gone. You're going to want to make a batch of these soon, trust me.
Our pâte brisée--butter, salt, and a little water to bring it all together--is as traditional as a crust gets. Sebastien likes to add a bit of milk and egg to many of his doughs, for richness and binding power, but this pâte brisée reflects my enduring respect for classical technique. It's something every cook should master--it's so easy and so versatile. Pâte brisée is used for savory tarts, such as quiches, and for very sweet tarts.
Thin, crisp crusts like this one are the hallmarks of much of Italy's pizza. Another vital element is not overloading the pie with toppings; less is definitely more on pizza. This dough goes together quickly and can be used after a single rising. If time is very short, blend, knead, rest for 30 minutes, and roll out. No baking stone is needed, since you slip the crust out of the pan and crisp it directly on the bottom rack of the oven during the last two minutes of baking. Use stone-ground, organic, flour if possible.
No matter how hard we may try to be ecumenical, our heritage usually shows up at the table on this day. This is ours. Certainly bring yours into the mix as well!
In the early 1500s, Montezuma in his Mexico City palace drank chocolate daily, usually with red chile in it. Apparently the king knew that chile, in small amounts, amplifies and enriches the taste of chocolate. So does Jane Butel, the noted cookbook author and specialist in Mexican cookery, who generously provided the recipe from which this cake was adapted. At The Fort, it's a centerpiece of a birthday and anniversary ritual from which good-natured celebrants emerge with a photo of themselves in a horned buffalo or coyote hat.
Mary Cunningham lives in Choctaw County in Alabama, and she is a superb seamstress, a creative cook, and the mother of two grown daughters. She is also a loving woman and an active member of the C. J. Holiness Church, where during revivals and church functions she always arrives with a basket full of good food and memories.
I spent some time in Knoxville and got to know firsthand how pleasant the people are and how proud they are to maintain the tradition of the apple stack cake. Everyone knows it, and the routine that they follow to make and serve it is serious business.
A treat akin to marmalade is lemon (or orange) tart. The mother's traditional role in many a culture has been to provide warm affection, often in the tangible form of sweets and desserts. I am fond of the expression "As American as Mom and apple pie." There are French equivalents of apple pie; they include crème caramel, île flottante (otherwise knows as oeufs à la neige), and tarte au citron.
Whether you're celebrating your baby's first birthday or your great-grandfather's ninety-fifth, if you've got an audience with a yen for chocolate, here's your best-bet cake. It's classically American, with layers that are made with cocoa and buttermilk. They're tender, light and happy to be matched with just about any frosting. My favorite accompaniment for this cake is the Chocolate-Malt Buttercream, a soft, sweet chocolate frosting with just a hint of malt flavor and a slight tickle of sugar on the tongue, but you can choose from several other fill-and-frost possibilities.