Ham and Cheese Cream Puffs

October. The book has been out for six months. Ten thousand copies became fifteen thousand. The word of mouth — the church-to-church, kitchen-to-kitchen, "you have to read this" network — is doing what advertising can't. Mama's recipes are in kitchens I've never seen, in cities I've never visited, on tables I'll never sit at. The idea that strangers are making Mama's fried chicken while I sit in my Cascade Heights kitchen making my own version — the parallel cooking, the simultaneous stirring, the shared recipe across distance — is the most beautiful thought I've had since the book was published. We're all at the same table. The table is just bigger than I can see.

Homecoming season. Zoe went — senior year homecoming, the last one. She went with a group of friends in a dress she designed (gold, always gold, the girl's signature color is a precious metal). She came home at curfew and said, "That was the best one." The best one. Because it was the last one. Because she knows that lasts are the bests. Because she is, at seventeen, wise enough to know that the ending makes the thing precious.

Aaliyah is sixteen now. She called me — not through Set the Table, on my personal phone, because somewhere along the way this girl got my number and the getting of the number was the getting of the family. She said, "Mrs. Washington, I'm cooking dinner for my mom every night." Every night. The girl who ate cereal alone at twelve cooks dinner for her mother every night at sixteen. The line. From a church kitchen to a Decatur apartment to a stove where a sixteen-year-old girl feeds her mother. The line.

Made chicken parmesan — a simple, crowd-pleasing dinner that Curtis enjoys because it involves breading and cheese and he approves of both. He said, "This is Italian food." I said, "It's Tuesday." He said, "Same thing." SAME THING. Curtis said SAME THING. The virus has infected Curtis Jackson. The man is speaking in family code. I am weeping into the parmesan.

I made chicken parmesan that night, but the thing I keep coming back to is the cheese — specifically weeping into it while Curtis stood in my kitchen saying “same thing” like he’d been saying it his whole life. That moment deserved something celebratory and a little unexpected, the way Curtis himself was unexpected, so the next time I wanted to honor it at the table I turned to these ham and cheese cream puffs — because Curtis approves of cheese, I approve of anything that makes people lean in and reach across the table, and sometimes “same thing” is the highest compliment a dish can earn.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 45 min | Servings: 24 puffs

Ingredients

1 cup water
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
1 cup finely diced cooked ham
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven. Heat oven to 400°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or lightly grease them.
Make the choux paste. Combine water, butter, salt, pepper, and dry mustard in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a full boil, stirring until butter melts completely.
Add the flour. Remove pan from heat and add flour all at once. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the dough pulls away from the sides and forms a smooth ball, about 1 minute. Return to medium heat and stir constantly for 1–2 minutes to dry the dough slightly.
Incorporate the eggs. Transfer dough to a large bowl. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until the dough is smooth, glossy, and holds a slow ribbon when dropped from a spoon.
Fold in the fillings. Stir in the diced ham, cheddar cheese, Parmesan, and chives if using, until evenly distributed throughout the dough.
Portion and bake. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake for 22–25 minutes, until puffs are deep golden brown and feel hollow when tapped. Do not open the oven during the first 18 minutes.
Cool and serve. Transfer puffs to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. They reheat well at 325°F for 5 minutes.

Nutrition (per serving)

Ham and Cheese Cream Puffs — The Dish I Made While Weeping Into the Parmesan