California Country Roads Fondue Goes Gourmet

Producers of some of our favorite artisan cheeses, Cowgirl Creamery and Bellwether Farms are country neighbors just a half hour’s drive apart on winding Northern California back roads. In this fondue, the full-flavored, washed-rind Red Hawk from Cowgirl Creamery is nicely balanced by Bellwether Farms’s buttery, smooth Carmody. A splash of sweet wine complements both cheeses.

Ingredients:
• 1 (12-ounce) round Cowgirl Creamery Red Hawk, rind discarded, cubed
• 8 ounces Bellwether Farms Carmody, grated
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup Napa or Sonoma sauvignon blanc
• 2 tablespoons muscat or other sweet dessert wine

Preparation:
Toss the cheeses with the flour in a bowl and set aside. In a fondue pot, bring the sauvignon blanc to a boil over medium-high heat. Decrease the heat to low and add the cheese mixture, ½ cup at a time, stirring until melted after each addition. Add the muscat and stir until smooth. Serve immediately.

Makes 2 cups

SERVE WITH: toasted walnut or other rustic bread cubes • pear chunks • apple chunks • fresh figs, quartered • fig bars • Graham crackers

BEVERAGE SUGGESTIONS: pinot noir • blanc de noirs (sparkling wine) • fino sherry

CHEESE NOTES: Red Hawk is a triple-crème cheese washed with a brine solution that promotes the growth of beautiful red-orange bacteria on the rind. It’s made with organic milk from Marin County’s Straus Family Creamery, located right up the road from the Cowgirl Creamery dairy in Point Reyes Station. If you are not able to find Red Hawk, substitute Italian Taleggio or Robiola, or the French Époisses. Made with rich milk from Jersey cows, Bellwether’s Carmody is an Italian-style cheese with a golden rind and a buttery texture that is balanced by a slightly tangy flavor—perfect for a grilled cheese sandwich.

This recipe was published in 'Fondue by Lenny Rice and Brigid Callinan'.

Champagne Velvet Fondue Goes Gourmet

A fun little four-pack of Rubicon Estates Sofia Blanc de Blancs inspired Lenny to create this velvety fondue indulgence. The base is Taleggio, one of her favorite Italian cheeses. Taleggio is available at varying stages of ripeness, and we recommend a younger, firmer one for this recipe. It will be easiest to remove the rind and cut up the Taleggio while it is very cold.

Ingredients:
• 20 ounces Taleggio, rind discarded and cubed
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup blanc de blancs (sparkling wine)

Preparation:
Toss the cheese with the flour in a bowl and set aside. In a fondue pot, bring the wine to a boil over medium-high heat. Decrease the heat to low and add the cheese mixture, ½ cup at a time, stirring until melted after each addition. Serve immediately.

Makes 3 cups

SERVE WITH: toasted baguette cubes • grapes • apple chunks • pear chunks • fresh figs, quartered • spears of Belgian endive • roasted onion quarters • chopped toasted walnuts

BEVERAGE SUGGESTIONS: off-dry gewürztraminer or riesling • prosecco • blanc de blancs (sparkling wine)

CHEESE NOTES: From Italy’s Lombardy region, Taleggio is a rich, semi-soft cheese with a thin rind of orange mold. Though it has a pungent aroma, its flavor is sweet and mild, with a hint of yeastiness. It gets runnier and more flavorful as it ages. Excellent with fruit, Taleggio is also traditionally served with bitter salad greens like radicchio.

This recipe was published in 'Fondue by Lenny Rice and Brigid Callinan'.

The Luck of the Dutch Savory Classics

Lucky you if you’ve had the chance to visit Ireland’s beautiful County Cork, where dairy cows graze on rolling green hills in the shadow of Blarney Castle. From Northwest Cork comes Coolea, an Irish version of Holland’s Gouda. We pair Coolea here with another Dutch classic, Heineken beer. Bringing nations together, that’s what fondue is all about!

Ingredients:
• 1 pound Coolea, Gouda, or Edam cheese, grated
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup beer (Heineken or other pale lager)

Preparation:
Toss the cheese with the flour in a bowl and set aside. In a fondue pot, bring the beer to a boil over medium-high heat. Decrease the heat to medium-low and add the cheese mixture, ½ cup at a time, stirring until melted after each addition. Serve immediately.

Makes 2 cups

SERVE WITH: Irish brown soda bread cubes • toasted wheat or walnut bread cubes • apple chunks • boiled red or Yukon gold potatoes • roasted or boiled onions • cooked Irish sausages or bacon, cut into bite-size pieces

BEVERAGE SUGGESTIONS: brown ale • Amontillado sherry • blanc de noirs (sparkling wine)

CHEESE NOTES: The Willems family swapped a hectic life in the Amsterdam restaurant business for a farm in the remote countryside of Northwestern County Cork, Ireland. Today they produce Coolea, a Dutch Gouda-style cheese named after the tiny Irish village they now call home. Though it is very much like traditional Dutch Gouda, Coolea has a creamier texture and a nuttier, more caramel-like flavor. It makes a fantastic fondue.

This recipe was published in 'Fondue by Lenny Rice and Brigid Callinan'.

Classic Plum Galette

A fresh-baked fruit galette is proof that you don’t need specialty equipment—or even a pie plate—to successfully bake a beautiful dessert from scratch. Here, sliced plums are arranged on an irregular round base of pâte brisée (ground almonds are sprinkled over the crust first). The dough is then simply folded over the filling to make a rough border. There’s no crimping or embellishment required; the unfinished edge is a big part of the appeal.

SERVES 8

Ingredients:
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting Pâte Brisée (do not divide into 2 disks)
• ¼ cup whole raw almonds, toasted
• ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
• 5 to 6 plums, halved, pitted, and sliced ¼ inch thick (keep sliced halves together)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons heavy cream, for brushing

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. On a lightly floured piece of parchment, roll out dough into an approximate 16-inch oval, ¼ inch thick. Transfer dough (on parchment) to a large baking sheet.

2. Pulse almonds, 3 tablespoons sugar, and the flour in a food processor until ground to a coarse meal. Sprinkle almond mixture over dough. With a spatula, transfer plum slices to dough, spacing close together and leaving a 2-inch border; press lightly to fan out. Fold edge of dough over fruit. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

3. Brush dough with cream; sprinkle galette evenly with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake until crust is deep golden, and plums are juicy and bubbling, about 70 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely.

This Classic recipe was published in 'Martha Stewart's New Pies and Tarts: 150 Recipes for Old-Fashioned and Modern Favorites by Martha Stewart Living Magazine'.

Classic Pecan Pie

Home cooks in the South take great pride in their pecan pies, but the Thanksgiving classic is well loved in all corners of the United States. Sometimes it’s flavored with bourbon (add two tablespoons to the egg mixture in step 2) or chocolate (stir in half a cup of coarsely chopped semisweet chocolate along with the pecans in the same step). Cream cheese gives this crust a slightly tangy flavor. A fluted edge, made by shaping the dough with your knuckles or fingertips, is both decorative and practical—it helps anchor the crust to the pie plate, preventing it from shrinking or sliding as it bakes.

MAKES ONE 9-INCH PIE

Ingredients:
• All-purpose flour, for dusting Cream Cheese Pie Dough
• 4 cups (13 ounces) pecan halves, toasted
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon salt

Preparation:
1. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to a 13-inch round. Fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim dough, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Turn overhang under, flush with rim. Flute edge. Refrigerate or freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 325°F. Set aside 1¼ cups pecan halves; coarsely chop remaining 2¾ cups pecans. Stir together eggs, sugar, corn syrup, butter, vanilla, and salt in a medium bowl until well combined. Stir in chopped pecans, and pour mixture into prepared pie shell, spreading evenly. Arrange reserved pecan halves on top in concentric circles until surface is completely covered.

3. Place pie on a rimmed baking sheet, and bake until filling is just set and crust is golden brown, about 90 minutes. (If nuts are getting too dark, tent pie loosely with foil.) Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely before serving. (Pie can be stored at room temperature, loosely covered, up to 1 day.)

This Classic recipe was published in 'Martha Stewart's New Pies and Tarts: 150 Recipes for Old-Fashioned and Modern Favorites by Martha Stewart Living Magazine'.

Classic Peach and Berry Tart

Making a pie, or in this case a tart, can be remarkably simple—as easy as baking a batch of cookies, in fact. Pâte sablée is essentially a cookie dough. Here it’s pressed into a springform pan before baking. In this recipe, cornmeal stands in for some of the flour; its flavor works well with summer fruits, but if you don’t have it, you can certainly use all flour. To make the filling, toss fresh fruit with sugar, add it to the partially baked tart shell, then finish baking. Peaches and berries are pictured, but if you have apricots or cherries on hand, feel free to use them instead; this low-key recipe takes kindly to improvisation.

MAKES ONE 8-INCH TART

Ingredients for the Crust:
• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup yellow cornmeal, preferably stone-ground
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 large egg yolk
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Ingredients for the Filling:
• 3 ripe peaches, pitted and sliced into ½-inch wedges
• ¾ cup assorted fresh berries, such as raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries
• ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar


Pressing The DoughPreparation:
1. Make the crust: Preheat oven to 400°F. In a food processor, pulse flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, butter, egg yolk, and vanilla until dough just begins to come together. Press dough evenly into the bottom and about 1 inch up the sides of an ungreased 8-inch springform pan or tart pan with a removable bottom; set pan on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until golden and slightly puffy, about 15 minutes. Using an offset spatula, gently flatten bottom of crust. Reduce heat to 350°F.

2. Meanwhile, make the filling: In a medium bowl, toss together peaches, berries, and sugar.

3. Arrange fruit in crust. Bake until peaches are juicy and tender, 30 to 35 minutes more. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool slightly. Serve warm or at room emperature.

This Classic Peach and Berry Tart recipe was published in 'Martha Stewart's New Pies and Tarts: 150 Recipes for Old-Fashioned and Modern Favorites by Martha Stewart Living Magazine'.