Cabbage paste

In our last round of Italian cooking versus French cooking from the Culinary Institutes' two 1954 books of the same, Italy had definitely pulled ahead with a simple crusty bread recipe and hearty polenta. Last night, France came back hard with the versatile and, at least in this neck of the woods, beloved cream puff filled with Chantilly cream and topped with a smear of chocolate ganache. Cream puffs are more than just those little addictive bites that come in a tub from the freezer at Sam's Club. The pastry can be used for almost anything and is so easy to make. Pipe it into long blobs and fill them to make eclairs, or slit them and make a strawberry shortcake. Pipe them in big rounds and fill them with chicken salad for lunch. Or add some herbs and a little hard cheese to the mix and make savory appetitzers for your next horse diverse tray. There is no actual cabbage in it unless you choose to put it there. I think the name comes from the roughly cabbage head shape that it puffs up into while it cooks. But hey, fill it with cole slaw? Sounds like another idea.

Pate a choux (direct translation: cabbage paste)
Bring to a rolling boil:
1 cup hot water
1/2 cup butter
1 T sugar
1/2 t salt

Add, all at once: 1 c flour

Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until mixture leaves the sides of the pan and forms a smooth ball. Remove from heat.

Quickly beat in, one at a time, beating until smooth after each one:
4 eggs.

Continue beating until mixture is thick and smooth. Dough may be shaped and baked at once or wrapped in waxed paper and store in refrigerator overnight.

Force dough through a pastry bag or drop by tablespoonfuls 2 in apart onto a lightly greased baking sheet. bake large puffs at 450 15 minutes. Lower heat to 350 and bake 20-25 minutes longer or until golden in color. bake small puffs at 450 ten minutes. Lower heat to 350 and bake 5 minutes longer. Remove to rack and cool.

Cut off tops and fill shells with chantilly cream, custard, any hot creamed mixture, or salad mixture.

As for the cream filling in this case: I whipped up heavy cream and added just a hint of sugar and real vanilla bean paste. Good vanilla is everything. And the ganache? That's melted dark chocolate with even more cream in it. I didn't have one left after band rehearsal.