Thomas Jefferson may not have been around to sample my mom’s yellow rice. But if he had been, I can only assume he would have found this dish a perfect side for his chicken fricassee….
Archives for February 2009
Meringues Chantilly
Meringues are a royal treat. Legend has it that Marie Antoinette loved meringue kisses so much, she often made them herself. So whether you’re making your meringues for the royal family or just your family, this elegant dessert is bound to please.
Meringues are built around sugar and egg whites. But despite this simplicity, there are a number of techniques to making the perfect meringues.
1) Look at your weather forecast. Heavy humidity …
Lady Bird Johnson’s Lemon Bundt Cake
In 1934, a day after meeting her, Lyndon Johnson, a 26-year old congressional aide, asked Lady Bird Taylor to marry him. A few months later, Taylor yielded to Johnson’s pressure, and the two were married. Sam Rayburn, the Speaker of the House and a long-time friend to Johnson, later told him that marrying Lady Bird was the wisest decision he ever made.
Indeed, Lady Bird Johnson was a quick study. She graduated from high school at the age of 15, and the University of Texas at 20, finishing in the top 10 of her class. She stayed another year at Texas, earning a journalism degree. In 1943, with her husband (now a Congressman) off at war, Johnson used her inheritance to buy a small Austin radio station. In a matter of years, she transformed the debt-ridden radio station into a media empire worth hundreds of millions of dollars. According to one biographer, Lady Bird was the only first lady to have built and sustained a fortune with her own money.
Her business acumen extended into the legislative arena as well. When President Kennedy won Texas in the presidential election, …
Creme Chantilly
Chantilly, France is a small commune located twenty miles North of Paris. For nearly 200 years, Chantilly belonged to the Princes of Conde, a younger branch of France’s royal family. During that period, the region served as an example of the ascendancy of French art, architecture, and taste. And on the matter of taste, no one exemplified French cooking better than Francois Vatel.
After an apprenticeship as a pastry chef, Vatel began working for Nicolas Fouquet at his Chateau in Vaux-le-Vicomte. Jealous of Fouquet’s displays of wealth and opulence, King Louis XIV jailed Fouquet in 1661. Six years later, Vatel moved to Chantilly, where he worked for Louis II de Bourbon, the Prince of Conde at the time. In 1671, King Louis announced he would be visiting the Prince at his Chateau in Chantilly. The visit required Vatel to prepare three days of meals for six hundred nobles and several thousand other members of the Sun King’s staff. Vatel was given fifteen days to prepare, and barely slept for most of them.
On the first day of his Majesty’s visit, unexpected guests arrived, leaving two tables without meat, plungingVatel into a deep depression….
Grilled Garlic Bread
If you were thinking about making my seven-layer spinach lasagna from the other day, grilled garlic bread would make the perfect appetizer….