New Orleans-Style Beignet Recipe

Troll around the web and you’ll find all sorts of overwrought beignet recipes, loaded down with eggs, butter, sugar, even evaporated milk. They’re all rather misguided to my way of seeing things. Though New Orleans beignets resemble doughnuts in many resects, they shouldn’t actually be doughnuts. Rather, they should be light and airy little frivolities […]

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How to Make Clafoutis

Having made so many clafoutises this week, er, clafoutees. No…clafouteece? Having made so much clafoutis this week, I’ve learned a thing or two. Firstly, that there’s simply no comparison between a clafoutis made with unpitted cherries and one made with pitted cherries. The unpitted version wins the taste, texture and appearance trifecta hands down. Second, […]

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Clafoutis Recipe

This is a slightly doctored version of Julia Child’s recipe. I know, I’m fiddling with a classic, but almond and cherries go together just too well (hence a little Amaretto in the mix). I’m also “country-ing” up the thing by adding some brown sugar. Note that in another divergence from the original, I suggest that […]

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Oh, and break out your cast iron.

A traditional clafoutis is made in a deep, flared ceramic dish about eight inches across and four inches deep. I don’t have anything like that handy, though I do have plenty of cast iron, which is pretty much perfect for a job like this. I’ll use either a 9″ skillet or a small Dutch oven, […]

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Big Butter Jesus Bites It

Everyone who’s driven I-71 between Louisville and Cincinnati in the last decade has seen the six-story yellow-tinted statue of Christ in front of Solid Rock Church in Monroe, Ohio, locally known as Big Butter Jesus. BBJ, or “Touchdown Jesus” as he is also known, has been a source of both humor and controversy for years. […]

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Cheese Soufflé Recipe

Base formulas for savory soufflées — their ratios of eggs, flour and liquid — are remarkably consistent from one recipe writer to another, at least in my experience. Where they differ is usually in the amount of flavoring added and the types of seasonings, though sometimes in the type of liquid used as well. Below […]

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How to Make Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry shortcake was a plated dessert in America before Americans even knew what plated desserts were. Here I’m continuing in that tradition, though I respect the single “big biscuit” approach that grannies all over North America have been employing for generations. You can adapt this recipe to make a single, large shortcake if you wish, […]

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