Curled up in the fetal position, I was in my own personal nightmare.

If you’ve been to the CeramicCanvas.com in the past two weeks you may have noticed something….there was no CeramicCanvas.com. It seems that we were experiencing some technical difficulties or as our web hosting support tech calls it, “a fatal programming loop.”

I confess, I’m way too IT-challenged to even begin to understand what that means. But luckily for me, all is well again with our little slice of the internets…and I’ve managed to pick myself up off of the floor.  There’s just one little problem. Because of our blackout, most of you never got the chance to see last week’s Blackberry Custard Tart recipe – which is a real shame, cause it is one of my favorite desserts of all time.

I found it back in 2000 while perusing a copy of Saveur magazine – and have loved it ever since. Packed with a one-two punch of berry flavor, it’s one of those fail safe recipes that you make when really need to wow a crowd. If you get a chance, check it out.

And speaking of desserts that I’ve had a long term affair with, the Rosemary-Olive Oil Cake featured in this post is nothing to sneeze at.

When I first came across this recipe in 2002, I was a bit scandalized. At the time I had never heard of using olive oil and rosemary in a dessert before. I was immediately skeptical and thought to myself, “Olive Oil and rosemary in a dessert? This is just crazy talk!”

But it was a Mario Batali recipe (from The Babbo Cookbook) so, I knew I had to try it. I figured it would expand my culinary horizons. With a small amount of trepidation I nervously got down to baking and about an hour later dove my fork into my first slice of Rosemary-Olive Oil Cake.

It’s been eight years now and I have to say I love this cake as much today as I did that first day. It’s super moist and delicate. It’s sweet but not overly sweet.

The rosemary adds a subtle smoky- woodsy twist to what looks to be a very ordinary pound cake. And the olive oil lends it’s unmistakable richness to this classic Italian treat.

It’s a perfect cake to serve with coffee and/or tea.

Cheers!

ROSEMARY & OLIVE OIL CAKE

As printed in The Babbo Cookbook by Mario Batali

4 large eggs

¾ cup sugar

2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 TBL fresh rosemary, finely chopped

1 ½ cup all-purpose flour

1 TBL baking powder

½ TSP Kosher salt

Preheat oven to 325⁰F. Spray a 10-inch loaf pan (or an 8-inch round cake pan) with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a bowl of an electric mixer, use the paddle attachment to beat the eggs for 30 seconds. Add sugar and continue to beat until the mixture is very foamy and pale in color. With the mixer running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Using a spatula, gently stir the rosemary into the batter.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through for even color. The cake is done when it is golden brown, springs back when touched, and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool briefly in the pan, then tip out onto a cake rack to continue cooling.

I doubt that I will survive the experience.

Since as far back as I can remember, I’ve never really been the tough guy. I have pre-school memories of a 5 year old me being mocked by the ‘mean girls’ cause they wouldn’t let me cook with them in the kindergarten’s play kitchen. “Go outside and play with the boys,” they’d taunt.

Considering this, I very seriously doubt that I would survive prison today. I shudder thinking of my first day behind bars and how it would bring back awkward pre and high school memories.

Would I fit into any of the cliques? Which cafeteria table would I sit at (would anybody even let me sit at their table)? Would I be as bad at making a shank as I was in high school wood shop? Ugh!

I think about how when everyone shares their tales of what landed them in prison (i.e. bank robbery, racketeering, money laundering), the awkward silence that will follow as I share my story of what landed me in The Rock…recipe plagiarism.

Normally, at the CeramicCanvas.com, when I come across a recipe that inspires me, I tweak it, cook it and share it. But this time is different. This time I am copying someone else’s recipe word for word…with absolutely no shame.

I’ve made and enjoyed this Blackberry Custard Tart for over a decade and I have never veered off the original recipe as it was printed in the October 2000 issue of Saveur Magazine.

I mean, why mess with a good thing.

It’s an explosion of berry flavors. The blackberries are incorporated in the tart in two ways. First, the berries are pureed and mixed into the egg custard – providing a sweet, creamy but distinctive summer-like berry flavor.

The second berry burst is more intense and comes from the blackberries that are left whole and allowed to ‘stew’ in the cooking tart. As they cook they release their juices and you’re left with berries that are full of tarty goodness.

Vibrant in color, this tart has a delicious one, two berry punch!

Considering the plagiaristic mess I’ve now gotten myself into, I can only hope that one day someone bakes and sends this tart to me in my jail cell (and please don’t forget to bake it with a file hidden inside) 

Cheers!

NOTE: The pastry recipe that was printed with the tart used vegetable shortening (which produces a flaky crust) but a good all-butter crust works just as well. The butter pastry recipe below is from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman.

BLACKBERRY CUSTARD TART

Originally published in Saveur Magazine

FOR THE PASTRY (Pastry Recipe Adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman):

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

2 TSP sugar

¾ TSP Kosher salt

10 TBL cold unsalted butter, cut into to ½ cubes

4 TBL ice water, plus more if necessary

FOR THE FILLING (Originally published in Saveur magazine):

6 eggs

1 1⁄4 cups superfine sugar

2 1⁄2 cups blackberries (or raspberries)

1 lemon

6 tbsp. heavy cream

For the pastry: Sift together flour, sugar, and salt into a large mixing bowl. Use a pastry cutter (or two knives) to work butter into flour until it resembles coarse meal. Drizzle in up to 4 tablespoons of ice water, stirring dough with a wooden spoon until it begins to hold together. Press dough into a rough ball, transfer to a lightly floured surface, then flatten slightly with your hand to make a round. Wrap dough in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 400°. Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface into a 14″ round, fit into a 12″ fluted false-bottom tart pan, and run rolling pin over rim to remove overhanging dough. Prick bottom with a fork. Line dough with parchment, add pie weights or dried beans, and bake until crust is set and edge begins to color, about 25 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°, remove parchment and weights, brush bottom and sides with egg, and continue baking until crust is golden, 15–20 minutes longer.

For the filling: Whisk together eggs and sugar in a medium mixing bowl until pale yellow. Purée 1 1/2 cups of the blackberries in a blender, and stir into egg mixture. Remove the zest from half the lemon, then squeeze juice from lemon and add both to egg mixture. Add cream; mix well. Arrange remaining 1 cup blackberries evenly on crust, pour in filling, and bake until filling is set, about 40 minutes. Set aside to cool before serving.

Changing your name and moving to an undisclosed location can be a massive disruption in your life but sometimes it’s so worth it. By the time you read this I will have already gone underground, totally untraceable and been made to ‘disappear’ like a KGB ‘person of interest.’ I’ve been enrolled in the Culinary Secret Witness Protection Program.

It’s a program for those who have committed the most egregious culinary gaffes… gaffes that have earned them shame and the scorn of their fellow foodies. I knew the second that I decided to make this easy ‘caramel’ sauce that my name would be mud. I mean, technically it’s not even a caramel (no brunt sugar) but man oh man, it is so delicious and best of all, it’s so so so easy to make.

Here’s the rub. It’s basically warmed, flavored condensed milk. I know what you’re thinking, “Warmed condensed milk? Not even Semi-Homemade’s Sandra Lee would stoop such lows.” And you’re probably right.

But you gotta cut me a little slack here. Making caramel can be a hassle. You have to burn the sugar just so, without scorching it. You have to deal with sugar crystal forming on the sides of your pan. You have to be on the ready as the whole thing bubbles up and splatters as you incorporate the heavy cream.

So, I was more than a little intrigued when I came across this easy, no fuss version in Dana Hay’s cookbook, Off the Shelf: Cooking from the Pantry.

Would it taste anything like caramel? (The answer is, Yes) Would it have the same deep, burnt flavor has the traditional version? (The answer is, pretty much, Yes).

I should also mention that I loved the cookie too. It’s kind of a cross between a sandie/shortbread and a traditional cookie. It has the density of a traditional cookie (not crumbly and dry like a good shortbread) and it has that beautiful light flavor that you expect to have in a shortbread cookie.

It’s a great companion for a good cup of tea or coffee: not to sweet and saturated – just light and buttery.

NOTE: I’ve made several ‘real’ caramel recipes during my time in the kitchen. If you want to go the more traditional way, try the caramel recipe used in these Pecan Sandies & Caramel Filling. It is BAR NONE the best caramel recipe that I have ever come across).

NOTE 2: While it truly is delicious, this caramel does have its weakness. If you need a caramel that hardens when it cools this may not be the best recipe (I wouldn’t recommend it as a cookie filling. Note how the caramel oozes out the side of these cookies. It’s very fluid.) But if you are looking for more of a caramel sauce (to pour over ice cream, to mix in a cake batter) this no-fuss baby will really shine.

Cheers!

TEA COOKIES WITH CARAMEL FILLING

Adapted from Off the shelf: Cooking from the Pantry by Donna Hay.

I divided the recipe in half when I made it. Which was relatively easy to do and the results were great. To use half an egg, light whisk the egg and pour about half of it in the recipe.

The original caramel recipe called for golden syrup – an ingredient not readily available in American markets. This recipe uses honey as a substitution.

2 stick butter, chopped

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

1 ½ all purpose flour

1 cup cornstarch

1 egg

Caramel filling

14oz can sweetened condense milk

½ stock butter

2 TBL honey

Preheat oven to 350⁰

Place the butter, icing sugar, flour, corn starch and egg in a food processor and process until smooth dough forms. Roll dough one tablespoon at a time into balls and place on a lined baking tray.

Flatten the dough slightly and place the trays in the refrigerator for 10 minutes or until firm. Bake the cookies in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden. Cool on racks.

To make the caramel filling, combine the condense milk, butter and honey in a heatproof bowl. Place bowl over a saucepan of boiling water and stir occasionally for 10-15 minutes or until the caramel is thick.

Cool the caramel for 10-15, then spoon onto the flat side of the cookie halves. Top with the remaining cookies and allow to firm.

It’s the first day of Spring 2010 and it was the night before Christmas!

Let me explain. It was life imitating art. As penned in the famous poem, Twas the Night Before Christmas, “The children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of sugar-plums danced in their head,” last Saturday, I was lying in bed half asleep, half awake when I was startled to consciousness by a vision that could only be described as a gift from the heavens… Mini Chocolate Pound cakes soaked in ginger syrup and topped with a white chocolate ganache (Wow! Was that a run-on sentence or what?).

The more I thought about this flavor combo, the more excited I got. And as luck would have it, I remembered that I already had little 3 ½” loaf/cake pans that I had bought over a year ago but never got around to using.

This was coming together. I was wound up. I could barely go back to sleep. I tried counting sheep but they would start turning into chocolate pound cakes jumping over a country wood fence in front of a stream of white chocolate ganache. Ahhh, they were so cute.

The next morning I sprung out of bed, dashed over to the market, grab a knob of fresh ginger and sprinted back home to start my mad science experiment.

I was reasonably confident that I could develop the ginger syrup recipe on my own, but I knew I needed a jumping off point to for the cakes and ganache. I found what I was looking for in my often used cookbook, Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook. I needed to make adjustments to the recipe.

The original recipe was for a classic standard sized pound cake (I cut the ingredients by half), I would need to add cocoa powder (so I reduced the amount of flour so that the final cake wouldn’t be too dry) and I needed to reduce the cooking time.

I am very happy with these cakes. The flavor profile came together almost exactly how I had imagined. The cakes themselves have a beautiful moist texture with a deep flavor from the cocoa powder. The ginger syrup, with its spicy, almost peppery flavor adds a spike of unexpectedness that really works well with the earthiness of the cocoa.

And then there’s the white chocolate ganache. It’s white chocolate…what else can I say.

One last thing. To give the cakes an added layer of flavor (and visual texture), I topped the cakes with a sprinkle of chopped crystallized ginger. This was my good friend Robert’s idea. And it was a stroke of genius on his part.

NOTE: You’ll have little more of the ginger syrup than you’ll need for the cakes. No worries. Mix a little of the syrup with a glass of club soda and you’ll have a fabulous homemade ginger root soda.

NOTE 2: I first tried spooning ginger syrup over the cakes (see photo). That didn’t work so well. The syrup didn’t absorb into the cakes – it just ran down the side. So, I decided to instead submerge the warm cakes upside down into syrup. That worked like a charm (photo above).

Cheers!

MINI CHOCOLATE POUND CAKE WITH GINGER SYRUP

GINGER SYRUP

Original Ceramic Canvas Recipe

4” piece of ginger

1 ½ cups of water

1 cup granulated sugar

Using the back of a spoon, gently rub the skin off of the ginger piece. Cut the ginger into medium sized dice. Add ginger pieces and 1 ½ cups of water into a small saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to the water barely simmers. Continue simmering until water has reduced to about 1 cup in volume, about 15 minutes.

Remove from heat. Pass liquid through a fine-mesh strainer to remove ginger pieces. Stir in sugar until it dissolves. Set aside.

MINI-CHOCOLATE POUND CAKE

Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook

¾ cup all-purpose flour

1 TSP kosher salt

4 TBL cocoa powder

1 ½ sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature

¾ cup of granulate sugar

1 TSP pure vanilla extract

3 large eggs

Special equipment: 3 ½” nonstick loaf pans

Preheat a convection oven to 325⁰ (or 350⁰ on a traditional oven). Line nonstick mini-loaf pans with parchment paper and set aside (alternatively, you can butter the loaf pans instead of using parchment paper). In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and cocoa powder, set aside.

In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, granulated sugar and vanilla on medium-low speed until the light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined. With mixture on low speed, add flour mixture, beat until just combined.

Spoon the batter into a prepared pan and smooth out with a spatula. Bake until cakes rise, turn rich brown and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 30-35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool just until they are able to be handled.

Makes 6 mini-loaf cakes

WHITE CHOCOLATE GANACHE CHOPPED GINGER GARNISH

Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook

3 TBL crystallized ginger

½ cup heavy cream

4 oz white chocolate, chips or finely chopped

Finely chop crystallized ginger and set aside.

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat bring cream to a full boil. Turn off heat. Add the white chocolate and swirl pan to completely cover it with the cream. Let stand about 5 minutes. Slowly whisk mixture until it is smooth. Transfer to a clean bowl, Let cool, stirring frequently.

Ganache will thicken as it sits. To cover cake, it should be pourable but still thick enough to coat. If not, place bowl of ganache over a pan of simmering water and stir until it reaches the right consistency.

Set ganache aside.

ASSEMBLING THE CAKES

Pour warm ginger syrup into a medium sized bowl. One by one, place upside-down cakes into the ginger syrup and allow them to absorb a good deal of the liquid, about 3-5 minutes each. Repeat process with all cakes.

Spoon white chocolate ganache over the ginger syrup-soaked cakes. Garnish with finely chopped crystallized ginger. Serve.

Sometimes you just gotta take matters into your own hands.

So far, 2010 is shaping up to be a very good year. Well, with the exception of one very scary close call.

Recently, I went out to dinner with a few good friends at one of my favorite Chinese restaurants. It was a great meal. But to me the best part of going to a Chinese restaurant is the fortune cookie at the end of dinner. Each of my friends took turns reading our fortunes out loud. It’s a contest on who has the silliest and most vague fortune of the group.

It’s usually a fun exercise. As we went around the table reading the fortunes out loud we came across the typical forecasts about future wealth and good times ahead. And then it was my turn. I was puzzled by my message, “You already know what lies ahead. Face it with strength.” I looked up at my friends with shock across my face, “Huh? What the hell is this?” I mean, that didn’t sound good.

A few days had past and I was still a bit annoyed (if not a little spooked) by my fortune. What did it mean? Was it a prediction of bad times on the horizon. I had a decision to make. I could sit by and do nothing or I could take the reins and head off my impending doom. I mean, I’m not a superstitious person but why take the chance, right? I knew actually what I needed to do. I would have to cancel out the last fortune cookie with a new one.

But this time I was leaving nothing to chance. I would make my own fortune cookies and stack the deck in my favor with self serving predictions of good fortunes.

Plus, I thought it would be kind of fun to make my own fortune cookies.

A quick web search gave me a boatload of super easy recipes to work with.

I picked one and almost immediately got to work. I just made a few minor tweaks. I decreased the amount of almond extract and incorporated lemon zest to give the cookies a little zip (I usually taste a bit of citrus in the restaurant cookies).

In the end, these cookies could be one of my favorite recipe discoveries since starting the Ceramic Canvas. They’re fun and super easy to make.

I think they’d be cool for parties – a really fun conversation starter.

Cheers!

NOTE: I have step-by-step photographs of how to fold the fortune cookies. I’ll try and post them soon.

NOTE 2: If after cooking and folding the cookies the centers are still soft and pliable you can pop the folded cookies back into the oven for a minute or two to let them harden. Just be careful not to leave the cookies in the oven for too long or they will turn dark brown and/or burn.

FORTUNE COOKIES

2 large egg whites

½ TSP pure vanilla extract

¼ TSP pure almond extract

1 TSP lemon zest

3 TBL vegetable oil

8 TBL all-purpose flour

1½ TSP cornstarch

¼ TSP kosher salt

8 TBL granulated sugar

3 TSP water

Write fortunes on pieces of paper that are 3 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease 2 9-X-13 inch baking sheets.

In a medium bowl, lightly beat the egg white, vanilla extract, almond extract, lemon zest and vegetable oil until frothy, but not stiff.

Sift the flour, cornstarch, salt and sugar into a separate bowl. Stir the water into the flour mixture.

Add the flour into the egg white mixture and stir until you have a smooth batter. The batter should not be runny, but should drop easily off a wooden spoon.

Place level tablespoons of batter onto the cookie sheet, spacing them at least 3 inches apart. Gently use the back of the back of a spoon to make circular motions on the surface of the batter to form circles with about 3.5” diameters.

Bake until the outer 1/2-inch of each cookie turns golden brown and they are easy to remove from the baking sheet with a spatula (14 – 15 minutes).

Working quickly, remove the cookie with a spatula and flip it over in your hand. Place a fortune in the middle of a cookie. To form the fortune cookie shape, fold the cookie in half, then gently pull the edges downward over the rim of a glass, wooden spoon or the edge of a muffin tin. Place the finished cookie in the cup of the muffin tin so that it keeps its shape. Continue with the rest of the cookies.

Makes about 14 cookies.

I’ve gone completely mad over the TV series Mad Man. The plot. The characters. The costumes.

In my pretend world I’m the lead character, Don Drapper – tall, handsome, cool, always in control.

I my reality world…well, let’s just say I’m no Don Drapper. The character is dripping with that cool 1950’s retro style that doesn’t come natural to me. Not that I haven’t tried.

Drapper wears skinny ties…I went out and got myself some skinny ties. Drapper drinks Scotch. I drink Scotch. Drapper lives in Westchester, NY. I lived there for a number of years. Drapper wears that cool brimmed dress hat…I found a similar one (actually, my hat is from Target. Don’t laugh).

I realized while standing in front of a full length mirror wearing my new treads that I didn’t look like Don Drapper at all. I looked liked I was going to a custom party. That’s when I also realized that some retro trends should just stay in the past. But there are exceptions. Take this dessert for instance: Clementine & Ginger Gelatin.

Excluding any recent hospital stays, can you even remember the last time you’ve eaten a fruit based gelatin dessert?

As best I can recall, I was probably around eleven years old. And quite frankly, I can’t say that I ever planned on eating it again. Plans change.

I recently saw this Clementine & Ginger Gelatin recipe in Jamie Oliver’s magazine, Jamie, and thought to myself, “This doesn’t look like the Jello of my past.” It was fresh – no artificial flavorings just freshly squeezed juice. It was not overly sweet – I had total control over the amount of sugar I used. And it incorporated a more sophisticated blend of flavors – instead of the laboratory-made grape and ‘tropical punch’ flavors of my childhood memories this had a more complex flavor profile of fresh clementine juice infused with a hint of ginger.

Plus, it looked ridiculously easy to make.

I used the Jamie recipe as a jumping off point. While I liked the concept of the dish, in my opinion, the recipe itself was poorly written: it offered no measurement for the sugar, no yield notation, and it called for the not so precise measurement of a ‘tiny bit’ of ginger. Seriously?

With that said, the dessert was pretty cool. And topped with a dollop of Greek yogurt and chocolate shavings it really comes alive. The gelatin is sweet, slightly sharp and acidic. The yogurt is creamy and slightly sour. And the chocolate is rich and deep. The three elements work very well together. (Note: Don’t use too much yogurt. It can easily over power the other elements).

This dessert has thought me a good lesson: sometimes there’s nothing better than a retro oldie but goody. Now, I just need to figure out what to do with all of those damned Mad Men skinny ties that mock me every time I open up my dresser drawer.

Cheers!

CLEMENTINE & GINGER GELATIN

2.5 cups of freshly squeeze Clementine juice (about 25 clementines)

¼ TSP ginger, diced

1- ¼oz pack gelatin

1/8 TSP of vanilla extract

2 TBL granulated sugar

½ cup of Greek yogurt, for garnishing

bitter sweet chocolate shavings, for garnishing

Pour clementine juice through a fine meshed strainer.

In a medium saucepan, heat the ginger and 2 cups of the clementine juice just until it begins to simmer. Remove from heat. Cover. Let juice and ginger steep for 20 minutes.

In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the remaining ½ cup of the clementine juice with the gelatin powder. Let mixture sit until the gelatin dissolves. About 3-5 minutes.

Strain out ginger from heated juice. Discard ginger. To the bowl containing the gingered clementine, add vanilla extract and stir in sugar until it dissolves.

Pour sweetened juiced into the bowl with the gelatin mixture and stir until well blended.

Divide mixture evenly among 4 juice glasses. Chill until set, about 2 hours.

Serve dessert with a dollop of Greek yogurt and chocolate shavings.

Serves 4

I can’t tell you how excited I am to share this recipe with you. It’s rich, deep and lush.

But this recipe comes with a shocking surprise. The twist is not the dessert but the source of the recipe.

This dessert is brought to you by… (insert dramatic pause here) …GQ magazine! Yeap, that GQ magazine, magazine.

I’ve read GQ for decades and have never thought twice about checking out the pub’s food/recipe section. I mean, it’s GQ after all. I turn to GQ for style trends. Such as, if I want advice on pleated vs. flat front trousers (evidently, for men, always flat) or if I should cuff the bottom of my suit pants (supposedly no cuffs are more contemporary). But GQ for recipes? This would have never crossed my mind.

But as I was flipping through the magazine I was stopped cold when I spotted a glistening spoonful of pot de crème. It was the color that first grabbed my attention – a mesmerizing and saturated deep amber hue. And that’s when I realized it was a butterscotch pot de crème. I knew then that I had to give this recipe some serious consideration.

And boy, am I glad that I did!

It’s a beautiful dessert. Not too sweet. Just perfect, actually. And it’s all about the butterscotch. It lends an intense yet creamy flavor to the final product. As a matter of fact, I sampled the custard so often after it was mixed that I made a serious dent in the amount of custard I had left to cook with. Yikes!

Sometimes I will make changes to a recipe when I am testing it out – alterations that make it more to my taste. But I made no major changes to this recipe. Just three extremely minor things.

First, I am not a big fan of extra large desserts. Thus, instead of the 5-ounce ramekins called for in the recipe, I used 3-ounce ramekins. Which worked out fine – it’s a very rich dessert. Secondly, I cut the recipe down by half. If you do the same, keep in mind that half of a ¼ cup is 1 fluid ounce (a standard shoot glass is 1 ounce).

Lastly, I topped the dessert with chocolate shavings to add a bit of extra sweetness to the palette. This was the right move. The chocolate gave an extra bit of dimension giving the final dessert a wonderfully complex flavor profile. Plus, it added great visual texture.

This dessert is definitely a keeper.

Cheers!

BUTTERSCOTCH POT DE CRÈME

GQ Magazine, September 2009

6 egg yolks

¼ cup packed dark brown sugar

1 cup milk

2 cups heavy cream

¾ granulated sugar

1 TSP pure vanilla extract

1 TSP kosher salt

¼ cup butter-sweet chocolate, shavings (for garnish)

Preheat oven to 300⁰F.

Place egg yolks in a large bowl and lightly whisk till smooth. Set aside.

Over a medium high flame, heat the brown sugar, milk and heavy cream in a heavy saucepan and stir until brown sugar start to dissolve. Then heat until the milk is steaming and tiny bubbles have formed along the edges, but do not boil. Remove from heat. Cover and keep warm.

In a medium saucepan, combine the granulated sugar with ¼ cup of water and bring to a boil over high heat. As soon as the sugar turns amber (ideally the color of a new penny), remove from heat. Carefully add ¼ cup of the hot cream mixture, whisking until combined. Whisk in 2 more cups of the cream mixture, then add the rest.

Pour the caramel cream into the yolk in a slow, steady stream and gently whisking the mixture continuously. Stir in the vanilla and salt. Strain the custard through a fine strainer (or sieve) into a pitcher. Skim off any foam or bubbles on top.

Pout the custard into six 5-ounce ramekins, leaving ½ inch at the top of each. Place ramekins in a roasting pan and carefully fill the pan with hot water until it comes halfway up their sides. Carefully cover the pan with foil.

Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes until set. When done, the center may still a bit loose when the custard is gently shaken.

Remove the pan from the oven and let the crème finish setting in the water bath at room temperature uncovered. When cool, refrigerate uncovered to preserve the burnished color.

Makes 6 5-ounce (or 10 3-ounce) desserts

I flunked out of my rehab program and I’m proud of it.

A few weeks back I made my big declaration on these pages about how I was only going to cook with seasonal, locally grown autumnal produce. Summer was over, I reasoned, and I needed to accept it. Thus, I set out on a mission to rehabilitate my need for non local and seasonal produce. Well, fast forward to last week. I wake up and its cold and the ground is covered with snow.

I’m forced to spend hours, braving sub-zero temperatures, trying my best to free my driveway from a one foot sheet of ice. Ok, technically, it wasn’t sub-zero temperatures…it was 24 but that’s still cold.

So, I don’t care what I said about appreciating all seasons and the bounty of fall. That was crazy talk. I want summer back…now. I want the sun. I want the green grass. I want the bright baby blue skies.

I don’t even mind having to witness tourists strutting around beaches wearing Speedos. On that note, unless you’re in Europe or on an Olympic swim team, it’s questionable whether any man should wear Speedos in public. And yes, Matthew McConaughey, I’m talking to you.

My mind was made up. I would thumb my nose at Old Man Winter by making a bright and summery lemon tart. Now, I just needed to find a recipe that inspired me into action.

Flipping through the cookbook, Stonewall Kitchen Harvest, I struck gold. A lemon and cranberry bar. Not only would I get the bright citrus flavor that I was after but this recipe with its use of a cranberry filling actually had a nod to fall/winter – which means I’m not totally off of the seasonal wagon.

While I liked the lemon-cranberry concept, I wanted to make a few changes. First, I could tell from the recipe that the lemon filling was going to be too dry and airy (like a meringue). I wanted something more dense and creamy like a custard. So, I searched for and found a lemon filling recipe in another book (The Art of the Tart by Tamasin Day-Lewis).

Secondly, the Stonewall Kitchen recipe was for bars and I wanted a tart. To help counter the double dose of tartness, I thought I would match the filling with a deep and rich chocolate shell.

This brings me to the star of this dessert – the chocolate tart shell. It’s from pastry chef extraordinaire John Iuzzini’s book, Dessert Fourplay. I can’t imagine that I would use any other chocolate crust recipe in the future. It’s crisp and crunchy like a cookie. It’s sinfully deep and rich. And when I say rich, I mean Oreo cookie chocolatety rich. This one is a keeper.

Thinking over the plan, I realized how insane I was. I was making one dessert compiled from three different adapted recipes from three different books. But guessed what? It worked. I really like that combo of flavors. Like I had hoped the filling had this wonderful bright flavor. And the chocolate tart shell really helped to counter and ground the tart.

Note: There was enough filling and dough left over that I was able to also make two smaller tarts. Thus, the photos in the step by step are intermingled with shots of both the larger and smaller tarts.

Note 2: As you can tell from the photos of the chocolate dough, this dough tends to break apart as you’re working with it. No problems. Just patch it back to together in the tart pan and you’ll never know the difference.

Oh, and by the way….HAPPY NEW YEAR’S Y’ALL!!!!!!!!

CRANBERRY & LEMON CHOCOLATE TART

Cranberry Filling (Adapted from Stonewall Kitchen Harvest)

13 ounce bag of fresh cranberries

¾ cups granulated sugar

1 1/3 cups water

Lemon Custard Filling (Adapted from The Art of the Tart by Tamasin Day-Lewis)

3 lemons, juiced and zest removed

1/3 cup corn starch

1 ¼ cup water

3 large egg yolks

6 TBL sugar

¼ TSP vanilla extract

4 TBL butter, cut into small cubes

Ultra Rich Chocolate Tart Shell (Adapted from Dessert Fourplay by Johnny Iuzzini)

10 TBL cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

¾ cup sugar

1/8 TSP kosher salt

1 large egg

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 TSP baking powder

Confectioner’s Sugar

TO MAKE THE CRANBERRY FILLING: Combine the cranberries and water in a large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir and cook until berries burst and the mixture thickens, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove mixture from heat and puree with a handle cranberries with a hand blender until the mixture is fairly smooth. Stir in sugar. Set aside.

TO MAKE THE LEMON CUSTARD: Put the lemon zest and juice in a small heat resistant bowl placed over a saucepan of simmer water. Add the cornstarch and whisk in 2 tablespoons of water until you have a smooth paste. Add the remaining water, boiling hot, and keep whisking over simmering water until the mixture is thick and bubbling.

Remove bowl from heat and whip in yolks, sugar, vanilla extract and butter. Let mixture cool slightly and set aside.

TO MAKE THE CHOCOLATE TART SHELL: Preheat conventional oven to 375⁰F or 350⁰F for convection.

Put the butter in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle along with the sugar and the kosher salt. Beat until pale.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg and egg white together. Add gradually to the butter, scraping the bowl often and beating until smooth. Whisk the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder together. Add to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed only until blended – do not over mix.

Dump the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and shape into a ball and flatten to a disc. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. (Dough will keep for several days in the refrigerator and for 2 months in the freezer. Defrost before rolling. )

When ready to use dough roll it between two sheets of parchment paper. Roll dough until it is wide enough to fit into an 11-false bottom tart pan – about 1/8 thick. Working fast, press dough into tart pan, making sure to press dough into the ridges on the sides of the pan. If the dough breaks apart just patch and press it into open areas of the tart pan (see above picture).

Dock tart with a fork to prevent the dough from rising during the cooking process. Line the tart with parchment paper and fill with pastry weights, rice or beans. Bake tart until cook through, about 15 minutes. Occasionally check tart to prevent it from burning. Remove shell from over and set aside.

TO ASSEMBLE AND COOK TART: Preheat conventional oven to 375⁰F or 350⁰F for convection.

Pour a layer of cranberry filling in the bottom of the pre-cook tart shell. Refrigerate for 20 minutes, until cranberry filling begins to set. Remove tart from the refrigerator and add the layer of lemon filling on top – being careful not to mix or swirl the lemon filling into the cranberry base.

Place tart on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, until the lemon filling has set. Be careful not to overcook or let the lemon filling brown or burn.

Remove tart and allow it to come to room temperature and refrigerate.

Optional: Garnish with a dusting of confectioner’s sugar and/or  lemon zest.

Makes one 11-inch tart.

I’ve never worked with phyllo dough before. I’ve never really been inspired to do so. But last week inspiration hit me like a ton of phyllo bricks.

I was watching Vefa Alexiadou demonstrate a Milk Pie recipe from her cookbook, Vefa’s Kitchen. I’ve been eyeing the book for some time but have always passed on getting it. I’m not quite sure why I’ve been holding out. I guess it’s because Greek Cooking has always been, well, ‘Greek to me.’ – get it? I couldn’t resist.

Watching Vefa, I decided that the time was now and that her encyclopedic 702 paged, Greek Cooking 101 manual, was the best place to get my feet wet.

What brought about this sudden change of heart? Her Milk Pie recipe (renamed Phyllo Custard Pie). I was intrigued. What’s not to like – heavily buttered, crispy, paper thin phyllo dough baked in a vanilla egg custard.

Plus, the dessert looked so easy to make that I just couldn’t resist it. I couldn’t wait to get started but first I wanted to make a few slight changes to the recipes. The recipe called for a 14” baking pan. Unless, you’re a wedding cake designer, who has a 14” cake pan? I adjusted the recipe for the far more standard 9” cake pan. Also, I wanted to add raisins. Not any ole’ raisins. I would soak and plump these raisins with warm Hazelnut Liqueur.

With a plan in mind I head to the supermarket to grab some phyllo dough. I was surprised to find it right there in the frozen food section. I thought to myself, “Hmmm, the recipe looks easy, finding the phyllo dough was easy, this is gonna be a cake walk.” I was wrong. There would be hitches.

First, I’m not a big believer in spending a lot of money on specialty foods. If I want puff pastry, I buy regular old Pepperidge Farm out of the grocery store. So, I didn’t think twice about getting the cheaper supermarket brand phyllo dough. Huge mistake. As I unrolled the dough I realized that it was too dry – a particular problem when working with paper thin phyllo dough. It just falls apart. I had to heavily butter the damage dough to keep it together long enough for me to work with it (as opposed to buttering the dough in the pan as the recipe suggested – this way worked fine, anyway). So, word to wise. If you are near a specialty store go ahead and spring for a quality phyllo dough…it’ll be worth it.

The second problem was 100% my fault. For some boned headed reason I decided to use a spring form pan. You already know what happened, right. As I poured the custard into the pan it immediately began seeping out the bottom. Sometimes I amaze myself with my stunning lack of common sense. Ugh!

But with all of the stumbles along the way I have to tell you this Phyllo Custard Pie with Hazelnut Raisins was totally worth it. The top is supper flaky and buttery and the bottom is pure vanilla cream. And I’m really happy with the addition of the raisins…they ground the pie with an unexpected nutty flavor.

This is a beautiful pie to look at and eat (it was devoured before bedtime). So, if you’re looking for something different, stunning and delicious, I highly recommend that you try this pie.

By the way what’s the difference in spelling it phyllo, filo or fillo?

PHYLLO CUSTARD PIE WITH HAZELNUT RAISINS (MILK PIE)

Adapted from Vefa’s Kitchen by Vefa Alexiadou

1/3 cup hazelnut liqueur

¼ cup raisins

6 TBL unsalted butter, melted

8 to 9 sheets store-bought phyllo

1/8 TSP ground cinnamon, plus more for dusting

1 ½ cups whole milk

3 large eggs

½ generous cup granulated sugar

½ TSP pure vanilla extract

Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

In a small saucepan, bring hazelnut liqueur to a boil. Boil until alcohol has burned off, about 3 minutes. Pour liqueur in small bowl and let slightly cool. Add raisins to the liqueur bowl. Let raisins seat in the liqueur until they are plump and tender, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush a 9-inch round cake pan with some of the clarified butter; set aside.

Place 1 sheet of phyllo dough on work surface with one long side parallel to edge of work surface. Using a pastry brush, brush butter all over phyllo dough. Using your hands, loosely ruffle phyllo by pushing short sides towards one another to create a long cylindrical shape. Place upright in center of prepared cake pan creating a spiral.

Repeat process with remaining sheets, continuing spiral outwards until bottom of pan is covered.

Sprinkle with cinnamon. Transfer to oven and bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat milk in a medium saucepan until it just barely begins to boil; remove from heat.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar. Gradually add heated milk, a little bit at a time, whisking constantly; whisk in vanilla. Set aside.

Meanwhile, sprinkle raisins across the top of pre-baked phyllo crust. Spoon 2 teaspoons of the steeped hazelnut liqueur across the top of the crust.

Spoon milk mixture over baked phyllo, evenly covering surface. Return pan to oven and bake until filling has set, 25 to 30 minutes more. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and cinnamon; serve immediately.

I’m starting to get a complex. Could I be the Dark Angel of Death?

It seems that whenever I show favor to a television program, magazine or movie it tanks. It’s banished to the land of The Nevermore.

Last year, I was nuts about the NBC drama ‘Kings’…NBC promptly cancelled the series. The same with ‘Southland’ (in my opinion the best police drama on TV since Hill Street Blues…Crap! Did I just date myself?).

I have a similar track record with magazines. Portfolio, Men’s Vogue…gone. And then there’s the Big Kohona. Earlier this year I decided to trim back my massive number of magazine subscriptions. I settled on Food & Wine and Gourmet. Despite being in circulation for over 68 years, Gourmet recently folded. How could this be?

I had a similar experience with the short-lived culinary magazine, Taste. Launched by Williams-Sonoma (2001- 2002), the publication was very much like Saveur magazine: two parts unique and worldly recipes with a heavy dash of culinary travel adventure. It was a great read.

I was so traumatized by the magazine’s demise that I stashed my back issues away in a box and I am just now getting around to testing out the recipes.

I’ve always wanted to try candied orange peels but I feared they would be bitter. But flipping through a back issue of Taste, I spotted this recipe for Chocolate Covered Candied Orange Peels and decided to face my fears and go for it.

I really liked them. For me the best part is the contrast of the sweet citrusy orange and the rich chocolate. The orange is pure and intense. The bittersweet chocolate reins in the orange’s sweetness and leaves you with a rich finish.

I added a splash of the French orange liqueur, Grand Marnier. It gives the dessert snack a more saturated orange flavor.

As for my fear of the bitter pith…no bitterness at all…just pure orange.

Cheers!

By the way, don’t waste all of that fresh orange juice. Save the juice to make these fantabulous Chocolate-Orange Squares – they’re one of my favorite new desserts.

CHOCOLATE COVERED CANDIED ORANGE PEELS

Adapted from Taste Magazine (via Deborah Madison), Holiday 2001

8 oranges

2 ½ cups granulated sugar, plus more for storage

1/4 cup light corn syrup

2 TSP Grand Marnier, orange liqueur (optional)

4 oz bittersweet chocolate

1 TBL unsalted butter

Scrub the fruit to remove any waxy coating. Score each fruit into quarters and peel; reserve the fruit for another use. Put the peels in a saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to a boil for 1 minute. Drain the peels and cover again with cold water. Place a heavy heatproof plate on top to keep the peels submerged. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let stand until the liquid reaches room temperature or as long as overnight. If the pith is very thick, scrape away the excess. Slice the peel into strips.

In a 3-quart saucepan, combine the 1 1/2 cups of the granulated sugar, corn syrup, Grand Marnier and 1 1/2 cups water and bring to a boil. When the sugar has dissolved and the syrup is clear, add the peels. Cook slowly until the peels are translucent, about 1 hour. Transfer the peels to a rack set over a tray to catch drips.

Pour the remaining 1 cup of granulated sugar out onto a plate. When the peels are cool enough to handle, roll each in sugar to coat, then return it to the drying rack for 1 hour. Coat the peels a second time with sugar, then return them to the rack to dry for 1 hour more.

If not dipping the peels in chocolate, sprinkle the bottom of an airtight container with sugar, arrange the peels in a tight layer on top and sprinkle with more sugar. Arrange the remaining peels in layers, sprinkling with sugar between each layer. Cover and refrigerate.

If dipping the peels in chocolate, melt the chocolate with the butter in the top pan of a double boiler set over but not touching simmering water in the bottom pan. Blend thoroughly.

Dip the ends of each cooled peel into the melted chocolate, coating just one side. Transfer to a sheet of waxed paper and set in a cool place to harden. Store in sugar as described above. Makes about 1 lb.