Recipes for Coquilles Saint Jacques, buttermilk biscuits and Julia Child's cheese souffle

I hope each of you had a great Mother's Day weekend. It was a little strange for most of us; heck, since there were no nice expensive buffets, you saved a lot of money. My mom was looking down on us on lockdown. Now, this week would have seen me get ready for live cooking demos at the Spring Home Show, but the dates have been moved to the last weekend in June. Let's look at what National Food Days we have: Apple Pie Day, Crouton Day and Fruit Cocktail Day (May 13), Buttermilk Biscuit Day (May 14), Chocolate Chip Day and Pizza Party Day (May 15), Coquilles Saint Jacques Day (May 16) Cherry Cobbler Day and Walnut (May 17), Cheese Souffle Day (May 18), and we end with Devil's Food Cake Day (May 19). This week in my test kitchen, I pulled out recipes for Coquilles Saint Jacques that we will give you, buttermilk biscuits and a cheese souffle from the one and only Julia Child. This is to die for. Happy cooking. Coquilles Saint Jacques Ingredients 2 tablespoons unsalted butter ½ cup diced shallots ½ pound white button mushrooms, sliced Salt and pepper to taste 1 cup white wine 1 pound sea scallops ½ cup heavy whipping cream 1 egg yolk 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste 2 teaspoons mince fresh tarragon 1 teaspoon lemon zest 4 large oven-safe scallop shells ¼ cup shredded Gruyere cheese 1 pinch paprika 8 fresh tarragon leaves Directions Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; sauté shallots in the hot butter until translucent, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir mushrooms, salt and black pepper into shallots. Turn heat to medium-high and cook, stirring often, until mushrooms are golden brown, about 10 minutes. Pour white wine over mushroom mixture, dissolving any browned bits of food on bottom of skillet into wine; bring to a simmer. Gently place scallops into wine and poach in the mushroom mixture until barely firm, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer scallops to a bowl. Strain mushroom mixture into another bowl, reserving mushrooms and cooking liquid separately. Return strained liquid to skillet, pour in any accumulated juices from scallops, and stir in cream. Bring to a boil and cook until cream sauce is reduced by about half, about 10 minutes. Stir often. Turn off heat and let mixture cool for 1 minute. Quickly whisk egg yolk into cream sauce until combined. Transfer skillet to a work surface (such as a heatproof countertop or cutting board) and stir cayenne pepper, 2 teaspoons tarragon and lemon zest into sauce. Divide mushroom mixture into scallop shells, spreading mushrooms out to cover bottoms of shells; place about 3 scallops onto each portion. Spoon cream sauce over scallops to coat; let sauce drizzle down into mushrooms. Sprinkle lightly with Gruyere cheese and paprika or cayenne. Turn oven's broiler to high. Slightly crinkle a large sheet of aluminum foil and place onto a baking sheet. Place filled shells onto foil and press lightly to help them stay level. Broil about 10 inches from the heat source until sauce is bubbling and cheese is lightly browned, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer to serving plates lined with napkins to prevent shells from tipping; garnish each portion with 2 crossed tarragon leaves. Buttermilk Biscuits Ingredients 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface 4 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon sugar 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces 2 cups buttermilk Directions Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat (French nonstick baking mat) or parchment paper; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Transfer about 2 1/2 cups flour mixture to a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add butter, and pulse until the largest pieces are the size of peas. Return butter mixture to the bowl with the flour mixture. Use your fingers to combine. Add buttermilk and stir just until mixture comes together; the batter will be sticky. Transfer to lightly floured work surface; use floured fingers to pat dough to 1-inch thickness. Use a 2 1/2-inch round biscuit cutter or cookie cutter to cut biscuits as close together as possible to minimize scraps. Gather scraps together once, pat together and flatten, and cut out. Transfer biscuits to prepared baking sheet; bake until lightly browned, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven, cool on a wire rack. Serve warm. Julia Child's Cheese Souffle Ingredients 4 Tb of butter 1Tb for buttering mold 1 Tb grated Parmesan cheese for dusting mold 3 Tb flour 1 c milk lightly boiling 4 egg yolks 5 egg whites 1 c grated Gruyere cheese 1/2 tsp cayenne or paprika Salt and pepper to taste Pinch of nutmeg 1/4 tsp cream of tartar for the egg whites Instructions 1. Start by buttering the mold and sprinkling with cheese. I chose to use Parmesan cheese because it grated finer than Gruyere. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 2. The foil wrap: This will make sure your souffle will not spill over and will keep a high mold. 3. Tear a piece of foil so it is long enough to wrap around your mold. Fold in half length-wise and butter one side. The buttered side will be the "inside" of the mold. Wrap the foil around the mold. If your mold has little handles like mine does, cut small slits so the foil can fit. Secure loose top ends with paper clips. 4. Melt the 3Tb of butter in a sauce pan and stir in the flour with a spatula, cooking over medium heat until the butter and flour foam together for about 2 minutes without browning. 5. Remove from heat. When mixture has stopped bubbling, pour in all of the boiling milk at once and beat vigorously with a whisk until well blended. 6. Beat in the seasonings, cayenne or paprika, nutmeg and salt and pepper. Return to moderate heat and continue to stir with a whisk for another minute. The mixture will be very thick. 7. Remove from heat, take the egg yolks and beat 1 egg yolk into your white cream mixture one at a time until well incorporated. 8. Now for the egg whites. In a clean, dry mixing bowl, begin to beat your egg whites with a whisk attachment on low speed. You will see that the egg whites will break up and begin to have a foamy consistency. 9. As the egg whites are foaming, increase the speed gradually and add cream of tartar and a pinch of salt. Increase the speed to fast and continue to beat for a few more minutes. 10. Do not leave your egg whites! Continue checking them. What you want to see are "traces" on the surface. The egg whites should also have a glossy white sheen and be able to be stiff and firm when holding with a whisk. 11. Once the egg whites are done, don't let them sit for long. Take a large spoonful and stir it into the cream mixture to lighten it. 12. Stir all but about 1Tbl of the grated cheese into the cream mixture. 13. There is a technique with folding the rest of the egg whites. Take one large spoonful of the egg whites and using your spatula, cut down the middle and draw the spatula under, while scraping the side of the pan and turning the pan with the other hand. Basically, you folding under and to the side. 14. Continue with the rest of the egg whites. Be careful not to over fold. It's OK if there are white streaks left over. Now your mixture is ready! Carefully pour your mixture into the prepared mold. It should be about 3/4 high. Tap the mold carefully to even it out and top with remaining Tb of cheese. 15. Place on middle-back rack of pre-heated 400-degree oven. Once in, immediately turn down to 375 degrees. 16. Bake for exactly 30 minutes and DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT open the oven door ever during that 30 minutes! 17. The souffle will have puffed up a few inches over the mold and will be a gorgeous golden brown on top. Insert a tester; if it comes out clean, it's done. 18. To serve: Use 2 spoons and lightly puncture the top of the souffle. Don't scoop from the bottom, that will deflate it, just spoon vertically.