Month: December 2023

A Troubled King. An Exceptional Cheese. A Wonderful Soup: Veloute de Roquefort

A Troubled King. An Exceptional Cheese. A Wonderful Soup: Veloute de Roquefort

  This would be a delightful soup to serve on New Year’s Eve.  It’s delicious.  It’s beautiful. The Roquefort cheese and butter mixture stirred into the soup at the list minute adds a subtle and unexpected flavor that should wow your guests on that special…

Oldies But Goodies: Blueberry Cornmeal Shortbread Tart

Oldies But Goodies: Blueberry Cornmeal Shortbread Tart

Every month Blue Cayenne features recipes from our archive of more than four hundred recipes. These recipes are our “Oldies But Goodies.”  Today’s Oldie But Goodie recipe is for a spectacular Blueberry Cornmeal Shortbread Tart . You can find the  original recipe here. You don’t want…

Lemon Curl Cookies

Lemon Curl Cookies

Christmas cookies!

Who doesn’t love Christmas cookies?

The New York Times is running its annual Christmas Cookie extravaganza and one of their star cooks, Yewande Komolafe, offered up these Lemon Butter Curls.

They are wonderful–lemon wonderfulness to be precise along with a very crisp, short pastry. They’re easy, too.

Here is the cookie recipe as I prepared it in my kitchen. There are no leftovers!

Lemon Butter Curl Cookies

December 10, 2023
Ingredients
  • Cookie Recipe
  • 1 C. salted butter (softened)
  • 3/4 C. granulated sugar
  • 2 egg yolks (room temperature)
  • 1 lemon
  • 2 C. all-purpose flour
  • 2 T. cornstarch
  • 1/4 t. fine sea salt
  • 1 T. heavy cream
  • Glaze Recipe
  • 3 C. sifted powdered sugar
  • 6 T. fresh lemon juice
Directions
  • Step 1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare two large cookie sheets by lining them with parchment.
  • Step 2 Cream softened butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer (using the paddle attachment) until the mixture is a soft yellow color and is fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add egg yolks and mix to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the zest of one lemon to the mixture and mix to combine. Set aside.
  • Step 3 In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, cornstarch and salt together. Add this dry mixture  all at once to the butter mixture and mix to combine. Add the heavy cream. Mix to combine. Your ingredients should come together to form a dough.
  • Step 4 Prepare a piping bag using a large star tip. Spoon a small amount of the dough into a piping bag. Pipe the dough onto the parchment-lined cookie sheets. Pipe the dough in “S” shapes (or whatever shape you prefer). This is a stiff dough and it is important to only fill the piping bag with a relatively small amount of the dough at a time so that you can pipe the cookies successfully.Otherwise, it will be too difficult to push the dough through the bag and the tip. Repeat until you have piped all the cookies. Once you have piped the cookies onto the parchment, refrigerate the tray(s) of cookies for about 15 minutes.
  • Step 5 Bake the cookies at 350 degrees F. for about 15 minutes. You want the cookies to begin to turn a soft brown around the edges. Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool.
  • Step 6 While the cookies are cooling, make the glaze. Combine the powdered sugar and the lemon juice until you have a runny consistency. Spoon the glaze over the cooled cookies. Let the cookies set out on your counter for the glaze to solidify.
Beet, Walnut and Arugula Salad with a Schmear of Goat Cheese

Beet, Walnut and Arugula Salad with a Schmear of Goat Cheese

There is a surprise in every delicious bite of this unusual salad! The big surprise here is a big schmear of softened goat cheese and cream cheese hiding under this pretty pile of greens and golden beets.  More good news! There can be a real…

Reine de Saba Cake

Reine de Saba Cake

Ah, Julia! I had friends over for a party recently and decided to delve into Julia Child’s classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking for something special to bake. And there it was! Reine de Saba cake! The cookbook is part of a two-volume masterpiece…