29 May 2007

Memorial Day Tarts

I was invited to two barbecues on Memorial Day. For my part in both outdoor grilling festivities, I brought a fruit tart to each. I can't stress enough how easy it is to make a fruit tart—especially with the recipe I use—that I would encourage all to try it once when tempted to buy one instead. The only thing that I baked was the tart shell, everything else was bought and either cut or mixed.

Berries are in season and every other produce stand was selling them by the flat at my local farmers market, so it only made sense to use them as my fruit of choice—I'm also a big berry fiend. The filling was mascarpone sweetened with a generous spoonful of vanilla sugar. I assembled the tarts in the morning, although I baked the shells the day before and let them cool overnight



My tart recipe came courtesy of Jamie Oliver, aka The Naked Chef, and his first cookbook of the same name. The instructions I'm giving are only the bare essentials, minus the book's banter, although I heartily recommend the cookbook and Oliver's second, The Naked Chef Takes Off. His books read well and cook well, and his easy-going approach makes you wanna have a go of it in the kitchen.




SHORT CRUST SWEET PASTRY
(Makes two 12-inch shells)

1 cups plus 2 tablespoons of butter
1 3/4 cups of confectioners' sugar
a medium pinch of salt
just over a 1lb of flour
4 egg yolks
1/4 cup cold milk/water (Note: I used water.)

Cream together the butter, sugar, and salt, and then rub or pulse, if you're using a food processor, in the flour and egg yolks. When the mixture has come together, like coarse bread crumbs, add the cold water or milk. Work together gently, forming a ball of dough. Then shape it into a short, fat sausage, wrap in plastic wrap, and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Slice the dough in 1/8 slivers and place on the sides and in the bottom of a your tart pan. Push the pieces together and seal them. I suppose you could also roll out the dough, but the book says to slice—and I like this method.

Throw the pan in the freezer and let the dough rest again for at least an hour before baking, or you can store these pre-made crust in this state for future use. Pull the crust out of the freezer and pop it into an oven pre-heated to 350˚F for 15 minutes or until lightly brown.

Cool the crust before filling, if making a fruit tart.


MASCARPONE CREAM

1 tablespoon of vanilla sugar
9 oz of mascarpone cream

Mix sugar and cream together.

Note: I used an 8 oz. container of mascarpone with a little over 1 tablespoon of sugar to get the sweetness I liked; and I doubled the mascarpone and sugar equally to fill two tarts.


VANILLA SUGAR

In a food processor, "blitz" 2 lbs of granulated sugar and 4 vanilla beans until an "ashy-color". Store in an airtight container and use as desired.



Bonus Burger Pic—one of the many foods I ate that day.

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27 May 2007

Green Soup



As I shopped at my local farmers market this morning, I was struck by the desire to make leek and potato soup for lunch. And I not being one to fight a food impulse when it strikes, I went with this one and bought two leeks and a pound of Yukon Gold along with everything else I picked up—a bag of cherries, three baskets of strawberries, and two stalks of white corn.

The recipe I followed called for fresh tarragon, which I didn't have, so I substituted sprigs of flat-leaf parsley. It made the soup taste fresh and clean, but it also turned it a noticeable shade of green. Furthermore, I skipped the 1/2 cup of whipping cream and yogurt that finished the soup, because I felt the blended texture of the leeks and potatoes was smooth and velvety enough for my liking without adding additional calories, but I did drop a small dollop of crème fraîche in the bowl to dress things up a bit before I tucked in.


LEEK, POTATO, AND TARRAGON SOUP

Ingredients
3 tablespoons butter
2 leeks (white and pale green parts only), sliced (about 2 cups)
1 small onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, sliced
2 tablespoons water
1/2 pound red-skinned potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 cups low-salt chicken broth or vegetable broth
2 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup plain whole yogurt

Preparation
Melt butter in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add leeks, onion, garlic, and 2 tablespoons water. Cook until leeks are just golden, about 10 minutes. Add potatoes and broth; bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Mix in tarragon. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool slightly. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm before continuing.) Stir in cream and yogurt. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Bon Appétit, April 2003

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13 May 2007

A Taste of Yellow: Lemon Blueberry Bread

Barbara from Winos and Foodies has organized "A Taste of Yellow" in support of LIVESTRONG DAY, a day—May 16—that works to raise awareness about cancer issues.

Cancer is a disease that knows no boundaries and doesn't discriminate against gender, age, or ethnicity. It touches everyone whether you are a survivor, a friend or family to a survivor, or someone who has lost a loved one to it—and I haven't been immune to its impartiality. But it is because cancer affects so many in so many ways that it is even more important we do what we can to fight it on all levels by being educated, raising awareness, and supporting a cure.



My taste of yellow, yellow food is Lemon Blueberry Bread. I make this bread a lot, especially when blueberries are in season. It's one of my favorite recipes and is from a small (size) book called "Totally Teabreads" by Barbara Albright and Leslie Weinder. It makes one loaf, but I usually double the recipe and make a nice, full-size bundt cake.




LEMON BLUEBERRY BREAD

2-cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 container (8 oz.) lemon yogurt at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/2 unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen unsweetened blueberries

Lemon Drizzle (Optional)

3 to 4 tablespoons sifted confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1) Preheat oven to 350˚ F. Butter a 9 X 5 X 3-inch loaf pan.
2) To prepare bread: In a medium-size bowl, stir together flour, baking poweder, baking soda, and salt. In a small bowl, stir together yourt, vanilla, and lemon peel, until blended.
3) In a large bowl, and using a hand-held electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar until blended. One at a time, add eggs, beating well after each addition. In three additions each, alternately beat in flour mixture and yogurt mixture, beating just until combined. Stir in blueberries.
4) Scrape batter into prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in center of bread comes out clean.
5) Remove pan to a wire rack. Cool for 10 minutes before removin bread from pan; finish cooling on rack.
6) To prepare lemon drizzle: In a small bowl, stir together 3 tablesppons of confectioners' sugar and lemon juice. Add more confectioners' sugar, if necessary, so that mixture is thick enough for drizzling. Drizzle mixture over the top of the loaf. Store completely cooled bread in an airtight container at cool room temperate.

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08 May 2007

Braised Chicken and Roasted Asparagus

At first glance tomatoes and cilantro seem an unlikely combination, but I couldn't have been more pleased with the flavors that came together once everything was slow cooked. The puree of garlic, onions, and cilantro melded with the tomatoes, making for a wonderfully deep and mellow sauce that simultaneously felt rich and tasted fresh on the tongue. It's a chicken recipe I'm filling away and will definitely make again if I can remember it.

While the chicken was cooking on the stove, I roasted my first asparagus of the season in the oven. I like to keep my asparagus simple—olive oil, salt, and pepper. Sometimes I'll toss a few lemon wedges in the pan, but I didn't this time around. I love asparagus, and the first taste of them after a long Winter is always a joy. I had to stop myself from eating all those sweet green stocks pictured left at dinner so I would have a few to pack up in my lunch the next day.




HEARTY BRAISED CHICKEN LEGS

Ingredients

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 whole chicken legs, cut into thighs and drumsticks (2 pounds)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
3/4 pound white mushrooms, quartered
3 garlic cloves
1 medium onion, quartered
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1 cup tomato sauce

DIRECTIONS

In a very large skillet, heat the vegetable oil. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and add to the skillet, skin side down. Cook over high heat, turning once, until browned, about 8 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and pour off all but 3 tablespoons of the fat. Add the mushrooms to the skillet and cook them over moderate heat, undisturbed, until they begin to brown on the bottom, about 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a food processor, puree the garlic cloves with the onion and cilantro leaves. Add the garlic and onion puree to the mushrooms and cook over moderate heat until very fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the tomato sauce. Return the chicken legs to the skillet and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer the sauce until the chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Season the braised chicken legs with salt and pepper, transfer them to plates and serve with the sauce.

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