Ok guys, you gotta be honest with me. Does this bright orange make my backside look big?

Notice anything different? The Ceramic Canvas is trying on a new outfit, a new look, a complete redesign of the website. Although it keeps the old sharp orange color scheme (what can I say, me likes bright shiny colors), the new site is more user friendly with a stronger emphasis on the food and photos.

I’ll be honest – reprogramming the site was often painful. I mean, I’m no html, css.layout data pro. At one point I thought I had lost all of my old content. I responded the only way I knew how – I curled up on the floor in the fetal position. And nothing good can come from a grown man on the floor in the fetal position. Well, except that I realized that I really need to dust my floors more often.

But here we are – a new look. I hope you like it. What do you think? What better way to kick off this new bright and shiny web design then with a bright and shiny dish.

I love pomegranates. In particular, I like that as I bite into the pomegranate seeds they release this tart burst of juice that wakes up my taste buds. It reminds me of summers growing up in Alabama (by the way, I’ve always thought of pomegranates as summertime fruits but evidently, they’re not. Who knew?).

So, I was raring to go when I came across this recipe for Pomegranate & Walnut Salad thumbing through one of my favorite cookbooks, Turquoise: A Chef’s Travels in Turkey by Greg & Lucy Malouf. It’s a beautiful book filled with amazing recipes and photographs of food and the Turkish land/cityscape that make you long to hop on a plane and eat your way through this amazing country.

I bought the book after my good friend (and soon to be neighbor) Rasha gave me a copy of its companion book, Saha: A Chef’s Journey through Lebanon and Syria, for my birthday. I highly recommend both books.

Back to the salad. While the tartness of the pomegranate is the undisputed star of the show, what makes this salad standout is the way the other flavors and textures, lingering around in the background, round out the dish: the crunch and slightness of the pistachios, the smokiness of the toasted walnuts, the sharp brininess of the green olives, the occasional heat from the Serrano chile.

While on their own none of these ingredients are shirking violets, the flavors really play well together.

I’ve made this salad a few times – tweaking it along the way. I’ve always envisioned this salad being fresh and bright. So, I have significantly increased the amount of pomegranate to amp up the flavor. I’ve also decreased the amount of nuts and green olives – they tend to overwhelm the other elements of the dish.

Lastly, the original recipe calls for pomegranate molasses. That’s way too complicated and specialized for me (translation, I’m too lazy to go out and find it). I’ve modified the recipe by using honey and fresh pomegranate juice instead.

The great thing about composed salads is the ease in which you can adjust the ingredients to suit your taste. So, give it a try and increase and/or decrease the ingredients as the mood strikes you.

Cheers!

POMEGRANATE & WEALNUT SALAD

Adapted from Turquoise: A Chef’s Travels in Turkey by Greg & Lucy Malouf

½ cup walnuts

¼ cup pitted green olives, coarsely chopped

¼ cup unsalted shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped

1 cup pomegranate seeds, finely chopped

2 small shallots, peeled and finely diced

1 red Serrano chile, seeded and finely diced

2 TBL shredded flat-leaf parsley

1 TBL extra virgin olive oil

1 TBL walnut oil

2 TBL of pomegranate juice

1 TSP of honey (feel free to add more to suit your taste)

Juice of ½ lemon

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350⁰F. Scatter the walnuts onto a cookie sheet pan and roast for 5-10 minutes, until deep golden brown. Pour the nuts into a dish towel and rub well to remove as much skin as possible. Chop the walnuts coarsely and toss in a fine-mesh strainer to remove any remaining skin or dust.

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and toss gently.

Leave to stand for 5 minutes or so before serving to allow flavors to meld.

Serves 4

Everyone has one. For some it’s a no fuss baked chicken. For others it may be a satisfying tray of hearty lasagna.

It’s their ‘go to’ recipe. A dish that you’ve made so many times that you can cook it on autopilot – an easy dish that always seems to hit the spot.

I have several ‘got to’ dishes (a few of them from McDonald’s). This recipe for Spaghetti all Carbonara is one of my favorites. It’s delicious, filling and very pantry friendly – between the fridge and the cupboards, I tend to always have the ingredients on hand.

It’s an awesome marriage of flavors: smoky bacon, spice of freshly cracked pepper, salty-sweetness of the Parmigiano-Reggiano/pecorino romano cheese blend, and richness of the egg yolk fat all finished off with a fresh lift from the sweet peas. You can’t go wrong.

As easy of a dish it is to make, there is a tiny bit of technique required. And that is in making the sauce. Working fast, you have to stir the eggs into the hot spaghetti until they are no longer liquid but have not yet formed curds (between me and you, even if you go a bit too long and ‘overcook’ the eggs it’s still an amazing dish…the sauce won’t be as creamy). Ideally, you’ll end up with a beautiful, velvety sauce.

A note about the cookbook, Essentials of Italian: Normally, I am not a fan of ‘corporate cookbooks’ – books that are not produce by a chef or individual but rather a corporate committee (some Martha Stewart Living books are the rare exceptions). These books tend to be impersonal and filled with generic recipes and uninspiring photography.

This book, produced by Williams-Sonoma, is an exception. The recipes and photos make me want to get in the kitchen and start cooking my way through the book. Several of the recipes have already become staples in my kitchen (including one for Braised Balsamic Chicken). All in all it’s an approachable, comprehensive and tasty guide through a modern take on Italian cooking.

Have a ‘go to’ recipe that makes your stomach sing? Share and tell us about it.

Cheers!

SPAGHETTI ALLA CARBONARA

Adapted from Essentials of Italian from Williams-Sonoma

6 oz precut bacon or slab bacon cut into ¼” thick batons

1 TBL extra virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1 lb spaghetti

1 cup frozen peas

½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (or a mix of Parm-Reg or pecorino romano)

2 large whole eggs, plus

1 large egg yolk, at room temperature

In a large frying pan over medium-low heat, combine the pancetta and olive oil and slowly heat slowly until much of the fat is rendered and the meat has browned a little, 10-15 minutes depending on the type of bacon or pancetta that you are using. Leave the meat and fat in the pan and cover to keep warm.

Bring a large pot three-forths full of water to the rolling boil and add about 2 tablespoons salt. Add the spaghetti, stir well, and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, according to the package directions.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix together the cheeses. In another bowl, whisk together the whole eggs and egg yolk until well blended. Stir the cheese mixture and several grinds of pepper into the eggs.

From this point on, timing and temperature are crucial. Put a large serving bowl in the sink and set a fine-meshed strainer or colander in the serving bowl. Place frozen peas in the bottom of the strainer. When the spaghetti is done, pour it into the strainer, so that its hot cooking water thaws the frozen peas and warms the serving bowl.

Toss the drained spaghetti into the pan with the bacon/pancetta and stir a couple of times to coat the pasta with the fat. Being careful not to burn your fingers, empty the hot water from the serving bowl, reserving about 2 ladlefuls. Transfer the pasta to the warmed bowl, add the egg mixture and stir and toss vigorously with wooden spoon to coat the pasta evenly. Adjust the consistency of the sauce with some of the cooking water if needed. Divide among warmed plates and serve at once.

Serves 4-6.

No doubt that many of you reading this entry will be very disappointed with the content. It’s all about cocottes. Evidently, the French word cocotte has two meanings. There’s the culinary definition – an individual serving sized dish of baked eggs and cream. And then there’s the other meaning referring to – well, you know – ladies of the evening.

So, if you’ve landed here via a Google search with hopes of photos and info on the red light district cocottes, sorry, this post is all about eggs. But if you’re here for the edible cocotte (I’ll restrain myself and not make an off-color joke here) then boy-oh-boy, do I have a dish for you.

The nuts and bolts of this dish are simple (and delicious): eggs, heavy cream, bacon, sautéed potatoes and butter. How can you go wrong, right? You can’t.

The other unique element of this dish is the presentation. It has the beauty of a sunny side up egg (bright, intense yellow yolk center) but with the ease of making a frittata – just mix and pop it in the oven. Again, how can you go wrong?

I was indirectly inspired to make this dish. Walking through a local home store, I found these cool tiny 6-ounce ramekins that were designed to look like a full sized Le Creuset enameled Dutch ovens. I saw them. I was intrigued. Resistance was futile. I bought them. (Did I mention that they were only $2.50 each?)

It wasn’t until I got home that I thought, “Sure they were cheap but what can I use them for?” Individual Mac & Cheeses? That could work. Or maybe soup dishes? Too awkward and forced.

At some point I thought of cocottes. I also remembered this Gourmet magazine recipe that I bookmarked a while back. At this point I should mention that the original Gourmet recipe has almost no resemblance to the recipe that I ended up making. It has been tweaked (ingredients & technique) almost beyond recognition. Not because I possess any advanced skills at culinary improvisation. I just didn’t want to go to the market and buy the ingredients. I used what I had on hand. As I have mentioned before on this site, I can be quite lazy.

More important than the presentation is the flavor. It’s delicious, filling and satisfying. The sautéed potatoes and leeks. The bacon. The lightly cook egg with the rich runny yolk. The cream.

I think this would make a great brunch dish. Or better yet, make them, serve them on a tray with the Sunday paper, orange marmalade buttered toast, a glass of OJ and/or coffee and it becomes the perfect breakfast-in-bed treat for your main squeeze.

NOTE: If you’re making this dish for a group. I would suggest that you cook the bacon and potatoes-leek mixture ahead of time (even the day before). And a bit before you’re ready to serve, assemble the ramekin components and pop them in the oven.

NOTE 2: The eggs in this recipe will not be fully cooked, which may be of concern if salmonella is a problem in your area.

NOTE 3: I recommend that you use a nonstick pan for sautéing the potatoes. I didn’t. A good deal of my potatoes burned and stuck to the pan. Using a nonstick pan also allows you to use less of the rendered bacon fat when cooking the potatoes. Which is good since it’s a bacon, heavy cream and yolk dish.

Cheers!

EGGS EN COCOTTE BAKED WITH CREAM & BACON

¾ cup slab bacon cut into lardons (1/4” wide batons)

2/3 cup potato, ½” diced cubes

1/3 cup leeks, diced

dash of dried thyme

2 large eggs

3 TBL heavy cream

1 TBL butter

Salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste

Chives, diced (for garnish)

Equipment: 2 (6-ounce) ramekins

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.

In a medium sized nonstick sauté pan, cook bacon lardons over moderate heat until it they are crisped and cooked through.

Let bacon drain on a paper towel.

Meanwhile pour off and discard all but 1 tablespoon of the rendered bacon fat. To the sauté pan, add potatoes, leeks and thyme and cook until the potatoes are cooked through, about 20 minutes.

Divide and layer the potato/leek mixture among the two ramekins. Add a layer of bacon lardons to each serving (reserving a few of the lardons to garnish the cooked dish). Spoon 1 tablespoon of heavy cream into each serving. Crack an egg into each ramekin and season lightly with salt and pepper. Spoon 1 teaspoon (2 teaspoons, if you dare) of cream over each egg. Cut the tablespoon of butter into 4-6 small pieces and dot the top of each ramekin with butter.

Put ramekins in a shallow baking pan and bake, rotating pan halfway through baking, until whites are just set but yolks are still runny, 15 to 20 minutes, removing from oven as cooked.

Serves 2

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

Wait!!! Don’t hit the “X” button on your screen.

You might be thinking, “A soup made out of nuts? No thanks. I’ll pass.”

But it’s actually a very delicious dish. Let me explain.

I was flipping through a back issue of the magazine, Metropolitan Home, when I came across a recipe for chestnut soup. Hmmmmmm. I was intrigued. I’d never heard of a soup made out of nuts before (keep in mind that I’m originally from Alabama, so, anything not deep fried is pretty exotic to me).

What would it taste like? Being a pureed nut soup, would the final product be grainy or smooth? I went through this deliberation process, but honestly because I love trying new dishes, I had pretty much already made up my mind to give this soup a try.

In addition to being unique, the recipe is also seasonal. With the exception of this delish Cranberry-Lemon Chocolate Tart from last week, I have been trying my best to cook with seasonal (and regional when possible) produce. And what can be more seasonal than roasted chestnuts in January?

I’ve only made a few tweaks to the original recipe.

First, the original recipe called for frozen chestnuts. To me the beauty of cooking is in using all my senses. I wanted to feel the soft but hard shells. I wanted to perfume the house with the smell of the sweet chestnuts roasting away in the oven. I wanted to hear the cracking and feel the anticipation as I work to release the chestnuts from their shells. So there would be no frozen chestnuts in this soup. I wanted the whole experience…I would roast them.

The second change was in how the fat and diary was incorporated into the recipe. The original recipe used only heavy cream which is added in the soup towards the beginning of the cooking process. I am not a big fan of boiling cream in creamed soup. I prefer to cook the vegetables with stock and milk (I use low-fat) and finish the soup off with a bit of heavy cream. It’s a technique from James Peterson’s book ‘Vegetables’ – which to me is the bible of vegetable cooking. The book’s cover proclaims it as “the most authoritative guide to buying, preparing and cooking” vegetable. I agree. It is.

In the end, I really enjoyed the soup and its complex flavor profile. The sweet ‘meatiness’ of the chestnuts paired with the tang of the cream fraiche is a great marriage. It’s also a great ‘soup & sandwich’ soup. It lends itself to being matched with a nice hearty, earthy sandwich.

No sandwich? It works well with a nice glass of dry white wine. Which is what I did.

Note: For a vegetarian version replace chicken stock with veggie stock.

Cheers!

ROASTED CHESTNUT SOUP WITH CRÈME FRAICHE

2 cups fresh chestnuts

½ cup yellow onion, diced

½ TBL dried thyme

1 TSP Kosher salt

2 TBL extra-virgin olive oil

2 cups milk (I prefer low-fat)

4 cups chicken stock (low sodium, reduced fat, if using canned) or veggie stock

1 cup heavy cream

Crème fraiche, for garnish

Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 425⁰F.

Placing the chestnuts flat side down on a dish towel (to prevent slipping), carefully score each with an “X” mark across the shell with a sharp serrated knife. Place chestnut in a baking pan with the “X” side pointing upwards. Roast chestnuts for 20-25 minutes. Remove chestnuts from oven. When they are just cool enough to handle peel them of their shell and inner skin. Note: Peel the chestnuts before they become cold.

Over medium heat, sauté the onions and thyme with a pinch of salt in the olive oil in a heavy bottom sauté pan until the onions are translucent, about 8 minutes. Add ½ cup water and simmer gently until the onions are soft and sweet and the water has almost evaporated. Add the milk and chicken stock and bring to a gentle simmer.

Add chestnuts and simmer until chestnuts are falling apart, about 25 minutes.

Remove soup from heat and stir in the heavy cream.

Using a hand held blender, puree soup until it is well blended and smooth. If the soup is too thick for your taste, feel free to add more milk to thin it out (or more heavy cream, if you dare). Salt to taste.

Note: For an extra smooth finish pass soup through a fine strainer after pureeing it).

Serve soup hot with a dollop of crème fraiche and lots of freshly ground black pepper over the top.

Serves 8 to 10

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 was having serious doubts about this one…it just seemed too good to be true.

While watching television a while back, I came across a recipe for Homemade Goat’s Cheese. I was instantly torn between two states of mind. First, I was excited. Was it possible that I could actually make my own goat’s cheese at home? I sat shocked as I watched the recipe being demonstrated, “Wow! That’s so cool.”

Then came the cynicism. “Hmmm…but it looks too good to be true. I bet it tastes crappy.” I mean, if it was so good how come I had never heard of it before. Despite my doubts, I was motivated. It seemed so easy, so simple that I figured the recipe would be worth the effort even if it flopped.

I was so excited that almost I immediately put on my coat and headed out of the door to the grocery store. I only had to pick up two ingredients: goat’s milk and lemons. All was fine until I started looking for the goat’s milk.

There was none in sight.

How could this be? The chef on television proclaimed that goat’s milk “is now readily available in most supermarkets.” I asked a stockperson who was working around the diary section if he knew where I could find the goat’s milk. He was puzzled and confused.

Ultimately, I went to three stores before I finally came across a local specialty food store that carried goat’s milk. Ugh!

Was it worth it? Yes! Making the cheese was fun. And more importantly, it was actually very delish. The goat’s milk gives the cheese a rich, deep and earth flavor. The lemon juice adds a nice counter – a bright acidity that hangs around in the background.

Definitely a dish that would be a hit at a party or with your kids.

NOTE: I originally made this cheese using goat’s milk. Since then I’ve tried the recipe using regular old whole cow’s milk from the grocery store. I think that I may like the cow’s milk cheese even better – it’s more subtle then goat’s milk and blends well with the lemon juice.

HOMEMADE GOAT CHEESE

Adapted from Over the Rainbeau: Living the Dream of Sustainable Farming

1 quart goats’ or regular cow’s milk

juice of 2 lemons

coarse salt (1/4 TSP or to taste)

2 TSP dill, finely chopped

Freshly ground pepper (1/8 TSP or to taste)

Gently heat milk in a heavy medium sized saucepan until it reaches 180 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice. Let stand until set, about 15-30 minutes. If milk does not set, add a little more lemon juice.

Line a colander with several layers of cheesecloth. Ladle set milk into colander. Tie the four corners of cheesecloth together; hang on the handle of a wooden spoon set over a deep bowl and let drain until it is the consistency of slightly dry cottage cheese, 1 to 2 hours (depending on the consistency that you are looking for. Shorter drain time means gives you a creamier texture, longer draining gives the cheese a crumbly texture). Transfer to a bowl and fold in salt, pepper and herbs. Store in an airtight container, refrigerated, up to 1 week.

Makes 8 to 10 ounces.

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.