The building blocks — the foundations you make once and reach for again, the quiet groundwork beneath the rest of the kitchen.
One bowl, cold butter, a little patience while it chills. The crust beneath every pie, tart, and hand pie that follows — the first thing worth learning by heart.
Read the RecipeSummer basil, toasted pine nuts, garlic, and good cheese, loosened with olive oil. The bright green thing to keep in the fridge all season — for pasta, eggs, bread, and everything else.
Read the Recipe"More foundations are joining the series — a good stock, the everyday vinaigrette, a loaf of bread, the puff pastry worth the trouble. Added slowly, as they're written."