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Nine ladies dancing
Meme’s Pound Cake
Our fellowship starts days before as we share the shopping and chopping. The baking commences early in the week, and the cakes and pies are held captive in various collections of Tupperware. The buttery smells of the cakes coming out of their pans is intoxicating. Whoever is hosting the dinner calls everyone and assigns a dish, often something on the sweet side. Our family holidays would not be complete without Meme’s pound cake. The best part is the crispy, dark-brown sugary edges. Much to my mother’s consternation, more than once, little pesky elves raided the opaque Tupperware cake container and nibbled away those tasty bits.
Makes one 10-inch cake
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the pan
3 cups White Lily flour or other Southern all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped, or 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening, preferably Crisco, at room temperature
3 cups sugar
Preheat the oven to 300oF. Generously grease a 16-cup (measure to the rim) Bundt pan with butter. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a large liquid measuring cup, combine the milk, eggs, and the scraped vanilla seeds. Set aside.
In the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer fitted with the paddle, cream together the 1 cup of butter, vegetable shortening, and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the flour and milk mixtures to the butter mixture in 3 batches, alternating between dry and liquid, occasionally scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Fill the prepared pan with batter (it should be no more than two-thirds full).
Bake for 15 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 325oF and bake an additional 45 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Remove to a rack and cool for 10 minutes. Invert the cake onto the rack and cool completely.
This cake will stay moist in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
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Ten lords a-leaping
Nathalie’s Oyster Casserole
This recipe, a marriage of a recipe I learned while an apprentice to Nathalie Dupree and Meme’s version of traditional oyster dressing, is an excellent side dish for a Thanksgiving feast. The myth about buying oysters only in the months with an R is not quite true, but not completely false either. However, it is best to buy oysters during the fall and winter when they are at their prime.
Serves 4 to 6
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the dish
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 green onions, white and green parts, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and finely chopped
1/2 pound white button mushrooms, thinly sliced
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 pints shucked oysters, drained (about 60 small oysters)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk, warmed
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (about 1 ounce)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1/2 cup fresh or panko (Japanese) breadcrumbs
Place the oven rack 6 inches below the broiler and preheat the broiler. Brush a gratin dish with butter.
In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the green onions, bell pepper, and mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Sauté until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the oysters and stir to combine. Decrease the heat to low and cook until the oysters are firm, an additional 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and keep warm.
In a medium saucepan, melt the 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Stir the flour and cook until foamy, about 2 minutes. Add the milk and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the cheese and stir to combine.
Pour the cheese sauce over the oyster mixture and stir to combine. Add the parsley, paprika, and cayenne. Taste and adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper.
Pour the mixture into the prepared gratin dish and top with the breadcrumbs. Broil until browned and bubbling, about 10 minutes.
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Eleven pipers piping
La Varenne Gougères (Pg. 16)
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Twelve drummers drumming
Meme’s Yeast Rolls (Pg. 205)
Meme may have made the rolls, but it was Dede who did a lot of the work. He beat the dough with a special wooden spoon that had a small ledge on the end for gripping. He’d cradle the big bowl in his arm and beat the wet dough so it slapped ‘wap, wap, wap’ against the bowl. All the ‘muscle’ developed the dough’s structure, causing the rolls to rise in the oven light as air, slightly sweet, and richly sour with the scent of yeast. We all thought it was Meme’s gently touch forming the rolls, but it was actually Dede’s strong arms that made them taste so good.
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