Pear Clafoutis Serves: 8-10 Prep time: 1 ½ hours, plus 2 ½ hours for dough to chill For the pastry dough: Note: This is more dough than you will need for a single 9-inch pie pan. However, if you use a spring form pan, as I did, and you want to push the dough up the sides of the pan, this will give you enough dough to do that. For the poached pears: Glaze for pears:
Sometimes the visual element of cooking is so overpowering that how a dish tastes becomes nearly an afterthought. This pear clafoutis (pronounced claw-foo’-tee) looks as if it belongs in a Dutch still life, with ethereal-looking Bosc pears poking out of a golden custard as if they’re rising from the earth. It evokes a primal memory, like Stonehenge or Carnac: the solstice beckons. Emerson once said “There are only ten minutes in the life of a pear when it is perfect […]
Pumpkin Pie with Ginger Serves: 8 Prep time: one hour, 15 minutes, plus at least one hour to chill the dough For the pie dough:
Every now and then in life we meet someone who is so very gifted, so extraordinarily skilled at what they do, that it takes one’s breath away. Roland Mesnier is one of those people. He is a genius. I had the privilege of working with him at the White House, and it was a memorable experience for me. Roland was the Executive Pastry Chef in the White House from 1979 until 2004. His creations were so technically perfect, culturally astute, […]
Halloween is HUGE. It appeals to people in such a way that it brings out crazy, feverish, joyous creativity. Pumpkin-carving has reached such a level of artistry that it should probably have a museum, to preserve the art being made with squashes, gourds, and the simple orange jack o’ lantern. Halloween floral ideas are also extraordinary; it’s as if Halloween raises everyone’s creative game for no better reason than because we like it. And the costumes – Sigmund Freud could […]
