It was in that spirit that I agreed to the request by Working Class Foodies to be filmed making my favorite confection - French nougat. 

Getting this recipe right was not so simple. When I prepared it for my candymaking exam in pastry school, it was so brittle, morsels went flying across the room the minute I cut it.  My table partner told me to stick it in the microwave to soften it up, which helped me cut enough to turn in on the exam. But there was no fooling these chefs.  By the time it cooled for the chef to grade, it was as hard as it had been before. 

The moral of the story - go easy!  Don't overbeat this.  Three minutes is three minutes.  

Most of all, be inventive. Tradition is so comforting that it was at first hard for me to toss in the 50 grams of dried Michigan cherries from my friend Pete Klein, who owns Seedling Fruit.  But once I re-grouped - and contemplated the possibility of selling nougat at Chicago's Green City Market - I eventually dispensed with the traditional toasted almonds and pistachios altogether.  It didn't hurt that I had been munching on the Tennessee pecans of my market "neighbor" Tracy Vowell from Three Sisters Garden.  It should be obvious, given the amount of honey, that a good honey is absolutely essential.

Let me know what you come up with. I'd love to add it to this entry.