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, […]
READ ONThis 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 […]
READ ONA 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, […]
READ ONEveryone 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. […]
READ ONYou want to talk about the dynamic nature of a soufflé? By the time I got this beast into my preferred light to snap this picture, it had already fallen from its peak about two inches over the rim of the form to a level about even with the form. That’s normal for a soufflé […]
READ ONBase 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 […]
READ ONStrawberry 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, […]
READ ONBiscuits, strawberries, whipped cream. Those are the base components of a classic strawberry shortcake. I vary it a little by using Chantilly cream which is a more indulgent version of whipped cream: heavy cream whipped with sugar and vanilla extract. The biscuits are a variation of my go-to recipe, but sweeter and incorporating Rose Levey […]
READ ONMy style of baklava is nut-heavy, as you can see. I like it that way, though it does produce a baklava that isn’t easy to eat according to formal Turkish baklava etiquette. If you’re a stickler for formality, cut down the nuts. The result will be pieces of baklava that are easier to spear with […]
READ ONIt’s a tough question, because it all depends on what you mean by baklava. I get frustrated reading a lot of food history, because so many food historians seem to want to trace everything back to antiquity. When cheesecake cookbook authors start talking about the Minoans, or deep-dish pizza recipe writers refer to the Etruscans, […]
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