postlet - a simple suggestion for lemon curd

a great number of you have asked me what my favorite way to eat and serve lemon curd is, that is other than spooning heaping mounds of it directly into my mouth, and I must say that it's in tart form.

 the naked tart

The curd is sinfully good on a simple shortcrust pastry, however, I prefer it on a ginger crust just to give it that extra kick. The best part about my ginger crust is that it's two ingredients, yep, two! And so this tart is done in minutes (that is, if you already have the curd on hand).

I also like to dress the tart up a bit at the end, and you can really have a lot of fun with this (especially if you're obsessively aesthetically minded like I am). When I make these tarts in individual tart shells I like to take my brulee torch and give the tart a crisp sugar coating that goes crunch when you tap it with your fork (this is also my favorite part of eating creme brulee). On a bigger tart this doesn't work quite as well. It's still beautifully appealing, but a little messy when you cut slices into it. Blueberries or raspberries, a dusting of powdered sugar or even cocoa powder are all great substitutions here.

a crunchy brulee crust

 you think we liked it?

RECIPE

lemon tart on ginger snap crust
serves 8

2 x recipe for lemon curd
2 cups ginger snaps (I really like to use Trader Joe's triple ginger cookies so try and find these if you can, but if you can't any ginger snap will do)
4 Tbsp butter, melted

- preheat the oven to 375 degrees
- butter a ten inch false bottom tart pan (or three false bottom 3-inch tart pans)
- in a food processor or blender whiz the ginger snaps for about 20 seconds
- pour in the melted butter, whiz until totally combined (about 20 more seconds)
- press the crust into the tart pan using your fingers or the back of a spoon. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until fragrant
- remove from oven and press down once more to make sure you still have you tart edges (they might have melted into the bottom crust during cooking.
- pour in the lemon curd and place in the fridge for an hour.

options:
- for the brulee top, generously sprinkle granulated sugar on top of the tart so that it is completely covered and white. Using a kitchen torch, melt the sugar until a light golden brown and so there is no more "white" sugar visible.
- otherwise, finely dust powdered sugar and/or cocoa powder, or top with fresh berries.

chanterelles + flaky crust = paradise

You hear people say that Santa Barbara is paradise, especially people from Santa Barbara. Now, I'm a firm believer in the fact that each person's paradise is their own, especially having grown up in the Northwest and loving everything about it (yes, even the rain).

However, when a friend came by the other day wielding a paper sack FULL of local chanterelle mushrooms, well I couldn't help but think "I guess Santa Barbara is paradise," (I mean we have 70 degree weather 362 days out of the year and chanterelles grow here - I'm sold!) and then proceeded to make a mental list of all of the deliciously decadent ways I could prepare these little pillows of goodness.

 The mighty Chanterelle

Now anyone unfamiliar with the Chanterelle, you need to try them now. Even if you're not a fan of mushrooms, these are different...so different. Chanterelles are a light orange color and have flat tops and have not one, but two soul mates - cream and garlic.Yes, they can be a little expensive, but you don't need a whole lot of them to impart a ton of flavor.

I think that my favorite way to prepare chanterelles is in a cream sauce for pasta, but this time I decided to do something different. This time I decided to make a tart with them and combine them with the lovely head of cauliflower that I received in my box this week. Now the challenge of being able to whip up a tart after work on a school night is being able to make a good enough crust in a small enough amount of time. After some searching around, I've found a recipe (see below) that is super simple and is flaky and tasty after only an hour's chilling time.

 

 

Next, an important thing to note about all mushrooms is that they are like 99% water (not really, but you get the gist). That means that they either need to be sweated first or your method of cooking them either calls for the mushroom water (as in pasta sauce) or your going to cook it down sufficiently enough. For this tart I chose to pre-saute the mushroom so as to get rid of as much of the water as possible. That way I didn't end up with goopy tart.

 like i said, paradise

The rest from there is just tossing the ingredients into the pan, letting the flavors infuse and popping it into a tart shell...couple that with a nice glass of Chardonnay and you've got paradise just about anywhere...

RECIPES

pate brise (shortcrust pastry)

for a 9-10 inch tart/pie

1 1/4 cups of flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cubed
5-8 Tbsp iced water
*if you want to make a sweet crust, add 1 Tbsp sugar in with the dry ingredients


- put dry ingredients into the food processor and whiz a few times
- add the cubed butter to the food processor and pulse about 5 or 6 times
- add 5 Tbsp of iced water and pulse 8-10 times, the dough should come together into a ball that is only lightly wet. If you need more water, add it in, one Tbsp at a time.
- shape the dough into a disc, handling it as little as possible, and place it in plastic wrap (I like Ziploc bags for this).
- refrigerate the dough at least one hour or up to overnight.
- to roll out the dough, place a generous amount of flour on the work surface. Place the dough disc atop the flour and then sprinkle flour on top of the dough.
- roll the dough out. Once you've got the dough rolled out an inch on all sides, add a bit more flour to the dough. This will prevent it from sticking to your rolling pin.
- now your dough is ready for use.

Chanterelle and Cauliflower Tart

serves 4-6

1/2 lb fresh chanterelle mushrooms
2 Tbsp butter
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried thyme (1 Tbsp fresh)
1 head cauliflower, cut into small bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste

- preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Cut this chanterelles into 1/2 inch strips. Place them in a saute pan over medium-high heat and saute until the majority of the water has come out of them
- pour off the water and set the mushroom aside.
- place the butter in the pan and add onions. Cook until translucent and add the garlic and thyme. Saute another 2 minutes.
- return the mushrooms to the pan and add the cauliflower. Saute until the cauliflower just starts to get golden.
- add the white wine and cream. Cook down to about a 1/4 cup (or so that it pretty much just coats the mushrooms and cauliflower), this should take about 8-10 minutes.
- place your rolled out tart crust into a ten inch tart pan and place the filling in the crust.
- bake your tart for 30 to 40 minutes and remove from the oven. Let sit for 10 minutes before slicing.

Homemade ketchup, salty chocolate bark and baby pies!

The holidays are definitely upon us and I'm still loving all of the baking and crafting I'm getting to do in order to get all of the Christmas gifts ready. This week was a bit of a whirlwind as I am preparing to head out of town for almost three weeks on a camper van odyssey up the California-Oregon-Washington border to spend some well deserved time with my family.

 However, I did manage to squeeze in making a few sweet treats to give away...including individual apple pies and the easiest salty pecan chocolate bark you ever did see. I also made some homemade ketchup to go on some tourtiere (Quebecer-speak for meat pie) that I had made and that turned out quite well, though I wouldn't call it a holiday gift as someone might look at you sideways if you handed them a jar of ketchup and said "Merry Christmas!"

Nothing like homemade ketchup to say Happy Holidays!

The ketchup was quite easy though, if you have a food processor or solid blender that is. All I did was roast the ingredients together (unpeeled), peel them when they were done, through them in the food processor with some vinegar and sugar and voila! See the complete recipe below.

The chocolate bark was completely inspired by my friend Jessica's cooking adventures and she made these for holiday treats. She got such great reviews on it that I decided to make some this year. This recipe is quite possibly the easiest recipe this side of making toast. Plus, the results are absolutely gorgeous! It is even easier if you buy the pecans already roasted and salted, because you take that step out of the process.

Salty Pecan Chocolate Bark - no easier gift this year...

Lastly, no, I am not obsessed with apples. I happen to have tons of them from my CSA box (Community Supported Agriculture) and since I'm going away for almost three weeks, I wanted to use a bunch of them up. I figured I'd make mini apple pies and give them to friends for a nice holiday surprise. Using a very simple crust recipe and the french style crust (place your filling in the middle and fold up the sides to provide structure, these treats were whipped up in a snap (literally between coming home from work and going out to dinner). Wrap them in a rustic cloth and tie it with a ribbon and you've got a lovely favor.

These pies made tasty and attractive gifts.

Though this may be it for holiday gift ideas (I'm not sure yet...) stay tuned for some eating, drinking and cooking adventures up north in jolly (and tasty) Seattle!

RECIPES

5 minute (plus chilling) Chocolate Bark

makes 1 large cookie sheet

12oz bittersweet chocolate, either chips or baking bars cut into 8 pieces

12oz white chocolate, either chips or baking bars cut into 8 pieces

3/4 - 1 cup pecans - if you get them pre-roasted, you won't have to do that step yourself.

1 tsp sea salt

*if you don't have roasted pecans, roast them on a cookie sheet at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes, stirring at least once. Keep an eye on these as burnt pecan don't taste good!

- preheat oven to 175 degrees

- distribute the chocolates alternatively on a parchment-lined cookie sheet so that there are pockets of brown and pockets of white (if using chips, make these pockets up with small handfulls of them).

- bake chocolate for 5-10 minutes (take it out as soon as the chips have melted)

- using a fork, swirl the chocolates together

- sprinkle pecans on top (pressing down slightly on them if you like)

- sprinkle sea salt over the entire bark

- chill in the fridge until hard (at least 4 hours)

- remove from fridge and break into pieces

Mini Apple Pies

makes 6

Crust:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp brown sugar

2 stick (16 tbsp) butter, cubed and chilled

8-10 Tbsp ice water

Filling:

6-8 apples

6 Tbsp butter

1 tsp cinnamon

1 Tbsp brown sugar

- Combine the flour, salt and sugar in a food processor.

- Add the cold butter cubes and pulse until the butter is about the size of peas.

- Add 8 Tbsp of ice water and pulse until the dough comes together (you may need to add more water) into a ball.

- divide the dough into 6 pieces and flatten into disks and chill at least one hour, but over night is good too.

- peel and slice the apples.

- in a heavy skillet, melt the butter and add the apples, sugar and cinnamon - saute until golden.

- on a floured surface, roll out the dough disks until about 1/4 inch.

-place about a cup of apple slices in the middle of each crust and fold the edges up to keep the pie contained.

- Bake the pies for 20-25 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.

- Cool for at least 60 minutes before wrapping.

Homemade Ketchup

makes 1 pint

10 large tomatoes
2 onions
4 gloves garlic
1/4 c sugar
1/4 c balsamic vinegar
1-2 tsp salt (depends on taste)

(you can add oregano, basic, allspice and cayenne if you like)

Ketchup ingredients, fresh out of the oven    

- place the tomatoes, onions and garlic on a baking sheet and roast at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes (remove the garlic after 15 minutes) - until the tomatoes split.
- Remove from the oven and let cool until you can handle them without burning yourself.
- peel the tomatoes, onions and garlic and process them in the food processor until saucy.
- put the sauce into a heavy medium saucepan, add sugar, salt, vinegar and desired spices.
- cook down over medium heat for about 15 minutes (this will bubble and splatter so make sure you have something to cover your pot with).
- once you have your desired consistency, you can keep the ketchup for three weeks in an airtight container or can it for later use.

Healthy Pie #1: results are in!

So, the first healthy pie met its slicey finish and was not, altogether, a failure. In fact I think that a few tweaks would make it rather good indeed.

The crust was a little on the salty side, but was otherwise very tasty. I am definitely a fan of the whole wheat crust and I think it would add a tremendous amount to a savory crust-needing dish like quiche or pot pie.

I think that the whole experience was a little tarnished by the fact that I simply not a big fan of apple pie, which this one was. Next time I will definitely try with berries (my favorite pie filling) and report back.

Here's a thought for the day: If pie were healthy, would people still eat it?

Sunday Supper #1

One of my favorite days growing up was Sunday. The threat of Monday morning and the return to school was certainly trumped by the delicious anticipation of Sunday dinner. My mother is a great cook, but no night was better than Sunday - for Sunday she pulled out all of the stops.

I have held on to this tradition and have tried my very best to keep it as my own. So last Sunday I did a full on Sunday Dinner for us and our good friends Lindsey and Jesse.

On the menu was:

Fresh baked pain a l'ancienne (country bread) with Irish butter
Marinated Flank Steak
Tomates a la creme
Baby dumpling quash and potato mash

and last, but certainly not least,
Blackberry Pie



The bread was really fun to make, though it is definitely an all-day process with the multiple rising times and all. The end result was fantastic though - especially slathered with some of the buttery goodness.

The steak is an old standby, but when paired with the tomates a la creme (creamy tomatoes) it was superb, hence recipe to follow. I made the squash and potato mash because we received the baby dumplings in our weekly CSA box and I wasn't quite sure what to do with them in the heat of summer...so mashing them in with potatoes it was and the result was velvetty sweetness, a little too sweet for my taste, but the guests loved it.

Lastly came the pie. I happen to love blackberry pie, especially in summer as it seems to pinpoint the very essence of my youth. Pie crust is always a daunting task and there are many philosophies on what ingredients make the best pies. One of my all time favorite cookbooks, The Best Recipe put together by Cooks Illustrated, suggests that a mixture of veggie shortening and butter makes the flakiest tastiest crust. I, however, had no shortening on hand so I went the all-butter route. I would have to agree with them though that it wasn't as flaky as I would have liked, but tasted good all the same.

Another pie item discussed in The Best Recipe is what type of pie pan to use. They say that the Pyrex glass pie pans are the best for even baking of the top and bottom crust, but a metal pie pan does a pretty good job too - you just can't see the status of your bottom crust as you can with the Pyrex. I naturally threw these rules by the wayside and went with my super-cute ceramic pie pan that I just love! And lo and behold, my bottom crust did not get cooked through and I was reminded that The Best Recipe is most often right.

The pie was good nonetheless and made breakfast for several mornings thereafter - I LOVE pie for breakfast.

And thus ends, another Sunday supper at the Red Door.

RECIPE

Tomates a la Creme

4-5 tomatoes, halved
3-5 oz of heavy cream
1 large pat of butter
salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in the pan at medium heat. Put the tomato halves in cut-faced down and cook for five minutes. Poke many holes in the rounded sides of the tomato to allow juices to flow. Flip the tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes. Add the cream and salt and pepper and cook for another five minutes. Serve immediately, very hot.

The result is a creamy, saucy dish that does a great job of being a gravy for the steak and potatoes.