Posts from the ‘Desserts’ Category

Sep 15

Sir Johns Table A Review

I follow many blogs and more than a few are authors, I love reading and it’s a big plus for me when there is mention of food in the book. I was honored to recieve a copy of Lindy Mechefsky’s new book “Sir John’s Table”. This book is fascinating, giving some insight into the life of Canada’s first Prime Minister Sir John Alexander MacDonald. Many of you know Lindy and her beautiful blog Love In The Kitchen not only is Lindy an amazing cook and recipe developer but she is an accomplished author, her blog is intellectually stimulating as well as hunger inducing, in one of my favorite posts she artfully links Jung to food in particular a cranberry almond apple tart. You will find all of her recipes are delicious and most are woven with literary references, brilliant Lindy!!

Lets get back to the book. Beautifully written, it tells the history of Sir John and each chapter boasts a wonderful recipe from that era. See Lindy’s recent post on a Champagne Cup cocktail which is found in Chapter 14 of her book. You get a lovely recipe along with the Victorian disposition to alcohol consumption. Great reading and drinking.

I chose a recipe in Chapter 21 for Sir John A. Pudding, I love bread pudding and this is just that, but made with breadcrumbs rather than slices or chunks of bread. Or at least I think it’s breadcrumbs. The recipe is a bit vague, 4 cups milk may not be 8oz in Victorian. Anyway I added 4 cups and my pudding was quite soupy, so I added another 2 cups of breadcrumbs. We’ll see how I do with Victorian cooking. They may have meant tea cups which are about 4 oz. The recipe say’s a few minutes in the oven, well, It’s been in the oven 30 minutes and it’s still like soup. It tastes really nice though. There was no mention of oven temperature I guess in those days you heat the oven and put your food in hoping for the best, I baked at 350 degrees. I don’t think I would make it in a Victorian kitchen. I am having fun though, trying to channel Mrs. Patmore from Downton Abbey. After about an hour in the oven it came out and it’s quite lovely. I think I have a new found respect for cooks of that era now, we have our kitchen gadgets and measurers which they did not have. Cooking was instinctual and I think although the recipes are simple a good outcome was harder to come by simply because they did not have the tools we possess today.

Sir John A. Pudding

Sir John A’s Pudding out of the oven

The book is written in a way that makes a historical novel approachable and interesting, Lindy took a political figure and brought him to life by intermingled some fun and delicious recipes which gives insight into what it was like in a Victorian home and kitchen. Highly recommend this book.

Lindy’s book is published by Goose Lane Publishers and is available here:

Order at Chapters/Indigo.

Order at Amazon.ca

Order at Amazon.com

Since I am getting all literary I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention other amazing authors who I count as friends and fellow bloggers, I faithfully read their blogs and books and I hope you check them out.

Teagan Riordain Geneviene – Teagan’s Books Teagan is an amazing fantasy writer and pens a weekly series of interactive episodes on her site with a continuing story that is both fascinating and entertaining. She is also a published author and oh so talented!! Teagans books are available on Amazon and other purveyors of good reads, you have to read “Atonement Tenessee”, it’s so good. I told Teagan to write a screen play it would make a great movie.

Sean Munger – Sean Munger.com– Historian, brillian writer and a very very interesting blog. I am a horror fan and Sean writes some fantastic horror novels. Sean’s latest book is “Doppelganger” I thoroughly enjoyed reading this ghostly thriller set in Victorian New York.

David Prosser – Barsetshire Diaries David writes about his daily exploits, he is a character and one of my favorite people. he is also an accomplished author. I love reading Davids descriptions of what his day was like, his family and friends and Joey his parakeet, he always includes some great music and photo’s as well. A very lovely read, and David I promise to purchase and read one of your books soon.

Sep 12

66 Comments

Chocolate Cake

This is a recipe from Bon Appetit for Chocolate Cake. What sets this cake apart is the method of preparation. When I read the directions I really wanted to give it a try, I have a simple chocolate cake recipe that I have been using for years and it’s fantastic, it’s a very old recipe from Hershey’s and it’s right on their can of unsweetened cocoa. I love it and have never deviated or tried another recipe, it’s that good.

The method of preparation is the brainchild of the great Rose Levy Beranbaum, she is amazing and I have several of her cookbooks but missed this and it took Claire Saffitz from Bon Appetit to bring it to life. I will let her explain why this method is so genius.

Contrary to the traditional method of creaming the butter and sugar before adding eggs and wet and dry ingredients, reverse creaming does pretty much the opposite. The dry ingredients and sugar are mixed with the fat (oil and butter) plus some of the wet ingredients (eggs + buttermilk + melted chocolate + coffee). The fat coats the dry ingredients and inhibits gluten formation, which would normally result in a tough cake, while the addition of some moisture simultaneously develops just enough gluten to give the cake structure. It’s hard to overmix with this method, giving you a tender crumb. Because there’s less air in the batter due to no creaming, the layers bake evenly and stack up without the need to level or trim. It’s the perfect method for building a layer cake.

Batter is thick and creamy

Cake

Bon Appetit by Claire Saffitz adapted from a recipe by Rose Levy Beranbaum

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup brewed coffee
⅔ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1¾ teaspoons kosher salt
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1½ teaspoons baking soda
2½ cups (packed) light brown sugar
¼ cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350˚. Butter two 9″-diameter cake pans and line bottoms with parchment paper rounds. Butter parchment and dust with flour, tapping out excess.
Heat chocolate, coffee, and ⅔ cup cocoa powder in a medium heatproof bowl set over a medium saucepan of barely simmering water (water should not touch bottom of bowl), stirring until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Let cool, then whisk eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla into chocolate mixture.
Using an electric mixer on low speed, mix salt, baking powder, baking soda, and 2 cups flour in a large bowl just to combine. Add brown sugar, oil, ½ cup butter, and ½ cup reserved chocolate mixture and beat on medium speed until flour is evenly distributed and mixture is smooth, about 2 minutes. Add remaining chocolate mixture in 2 additions, scraping down sides and bottom of bowl as needed and beating until smooth after each addition. Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top.
Bake cake until top is firm to the touch and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 30–40 minutes. Transfer cake pan to a wire rack and let cake cool in pan 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Let cool completely.

cake sunk in the middle

nice rise

Tomorrow I will frost and taste the cake but have to to say so far I am not in love with it, it took longer to bake than the directions, now that could be my wonky oven that I had repaired to tide me over until I get my new stove. So that could have been a factor but the cake feels drier than my go to Hershey’s cake, I tend to like layer and cupcakes that use oil rather than butter, I find the crumb is perfect, they are light and moist. This cake feels more like a brownie that is a bit overdone. I also like that the Hershey’s recipe is one bowl, super fast and easy. This was not difficult but had steps that I normally don’t have to do. It is possible I did something wrong or it was my oven so I cannot say with certainty that there is a flaw in the recipe.

The proof will be in the tasting so stay tuned because tomorrow I will frost and try the cake.

Full disclosure: I got distracted and forgot to add the vanilla.

Aug 20

96 Comments

A Theraputic Tart

Peach and blackberry therapy pie

I have been absent for a while, a few weeks. Honestly, it has been very hard coping and adjusting and I was not doing well. I have felt uninspired and have not cooked at all for almost 3 weeks. Today though I started reading posts from you all, I have a back log and will try to get to them all, I may not be able to but I will try. Your blog posts inspire me and I actually felt better today after looking at some of your wonderful recipes and stories. It will take me a few days to catch up and I am looking forward to all the good reads.

So today I made a tart. Saturday for only the second time this summer I went to the farmers market and I thought seeing all the gorgeous summer produce would inspire me. I bought tomatoes, peppers, peaches, nectarines, Japanese turnips and a few other things. They sat in a bowl on my table until today. I decided I better start cooking again and the peaches were in danger of going bad so I made a peach tart I also threw in a few blackberries that I had in the freezer. I like to think of this as therapy, making myself get back into the kitchen was good for me. The peaches were amazing, tart and sweet at the same time, perfectly ripe and juicy.

The pie dough is my go to basic recipe from Julia Child. It has never failed me.

Julia Childs Pie Dough Recipe

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup cake flour

1/2 tsp salt

6 oz cold butter cut into cubes

4 tbs cold shortening or leaf lard

1/2 cup ice water

Whisk salt and flour together, add the butter and shortening or lard, using your hands or pastry cutter work into the flour until it resembles crumbs with pieces of the butter the size of peas.Alternately you could use your food processor pulsing it. Add the water and mix with a fork until combined. Don’t over work. Gather it with your hands, divide into two discs and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate overnight or for at least an hour.

The fruit filling is simple I used 5 peaches and a handful of blackberries, peeled and sliced the peaches, added 1/3 cup sugar, 2 tbs flour and a pinch of salt and cinnamon.

If I were making pie I would not blind bake but for the tart I did. Blind bake the crust, line with parchment, weigh it down with beans or pie weights put it in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes, remove the parchment and pie weights and bake another 10-15 minutes, it should be blonde only ever so slightly brown. Add the fruit, I like to make a lattice top, place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes, lower the oven temp to 375 degrees and bake for about 45 minutes until its golden brown and bubbly. Oh, don’t forget to put an egg wash on the lattice top and sprinkle with a little sugar before baking.

Jul 10

89 Comments

Roasted Tomato, Ricotta And Herb Tart For Fiesta Friday #76

My favorite of all the summer produce is vine ripened tomatoes, they are starting to pop up at farmers markets now. There is nothing like a fresh tomato and this was my inspiration for this summer tart. I found some home made ricotta at the market and thought it would go very nicely with oven roasted plum tomatoes and herbs from my garden. I used basil, parsley, chives and oregano, you can use whatever you have on hand or like. It makes a great meal with a simple salad. The filling is so light and although similar to a quiche it has a different texture and flavor. Don’t skimp on the cheese or herbs!

I am bringing this savory tart to the party this week! Angie@The Novice Gardener and Fiesta Friday are doing something a little different this week, the party is a quiet one, yes usually we are a raucous bunch but not this week. There are no designated co hosts, we are all the co hosts this time and there will be no features. I hope everyone enjoys this tart!

Makes a 9 inch round or rectangular tart or approximately 6 individual tarts

Blind baking the tart:

Blind baked

Pre heat oven to 375 degree’s. Place pie dough (recipe here) in your tart pan, prick the bottom with a fork and place in the freezer for 15 minutes. Place a piece of parchment or foil in the tart pan and fill with pie weights or beans. Bake for 25 minutes the crust will be light blonde you don’t want it to be browned, remove from the oven, and take the pie weights and parchment out. Let cool on a rack. Keep the oven on you will need it for the tomatoes.

Roasting the tomatoes:

8-10 roma or plum tomatoes cut in half

2 shallot sliced

olive oil

Place the tomatoes skin side down and shallots on a sheet pan drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven turning the tomatoes over after 20 minutes, continue roasting for another 15 or 20 minutes until the tomatoes and onions are caramelized. Note: If the tomatoes give off too much juice pour excess off and don’t throw it away it can be used in another dish. My tomatoes were very juicy, I saved almost 1/4 cup of juice. When the tomatoes and onions are done remove from sheet pan and set aside.

The filling

Make the filling and bake the tart:

10 oz whole milk ricotta (I recommend draining in cheesecloth)

2 large eggs lightly beaten

1/2 cup grated parmesan or whatever cheese you want to use (I used a mix of parmigiana, romano and asiago)

handful of parsley chopped

8 basil leaves chopped

1 tbs fresh oregano chopped

1 tbs chives, chopped or snipped

salt and pepper

Place the ricotta, eggs, grated cheese and herbs, season with salt and pepper and mix until combined. Add the ricotta mixture to the cooled pie crust, arrange the tomatoes and onions on top and bake in the 375 degree oven for 30-35 minutes. Let cool on rack and serve room temperature. I like to drizzle a little olive oil on the tomatoes and sprinkle with some of the chopped herbs. NOTE: I recommend draining the rictotta for at least an hour before making the filling, you don’t want any water seeping out to make the crust soggy.

ready for the oven

I had a little ricotta that I didn’t use in a rectangular tart so you could use a about 1 1/2 cups if you don’t want leftovers. I used the leftover ricotta mixture with pasta, it was delicious.

So good

Jun 26

80 Comments

Pecan Brittle Ice Cream- Dairy Free For Fiesta Friday #74

Creamy and dairy free

I made this creamy non dairy ice cream for the latest contest at Food52, they are asking for our best recipe for non dairy frozen treats. This ice cream is so creamy and delicious you would never know it’s non dairy. I made homemade almond cream, same method as making almond milk but using less water so it’s thick and creamy using that for the custard base with a little corn starch to thicken. I wanted something similar to a pralines and cream, I love that flavor. This has to be dairy free so I made a dairy free pecan brittle using vegan butter, brown sugar and dark corn syrup, it hardened nicely almost like toffee, I chopped it finely and added to the ice cream. It really is delicious, you wouldn’t know it’s dairy free.

Since there is a party today, you know Fiesta Friday I thought this would be the perfect summertime treat to cool us all down. Angie@The Novice Gardener is hosting the bash and to help her this week is Loretta @ Safari Of The Mind and Caroline @ Caroline’s Cooking. You all can join the party, follow the link to Fiesta Friday (Angie) and join the fun.

Pecan Brittle Ice Cream

Makes 1 quart

Almond Cream and quick and easy brittle:

3 1/2 cups raw almonds
3 cups filtered or spring water
pinch of salt
Quick Pecan Brittle
2 tablespoons dairy free butter (I used earth balance)
1/2 cup loose brown sugar (dark or light)
2-3 tablespoons dark corn syrup or golden syrup (use 3 if you want softer)
3/4 cups pecans broken into pieces
generous pinch of sea salt

pecan brittle

Soak almonds overnight in spring or filtered water. Drain almonds after soaking, place in food processor with 3 cups water, salt and process. Strain through nut bag, cheese cloth or sieve. Refrigerate until ready to use. The almond cream will be quite thick the consistency of light cream.
I did not use a candy thermometer for the brittle, Melt the butter in a small saucepan add the brown sugar and cook until the sugar is completely melted and its smooth, add the syrup and salt and pecans and cook on medium an additional five minutes stirring continuously. Line a small sheet pan with parchment or silpat and scrape the brittle onto it, spread as best you can, I pressed it flat with a doubled piece of parchment paper. Allow to cool, it will get hard, break into pieces and chop it into small fine pieces. Place in lidded container and store until ready to use.

Custard base and Making the ice cream:

3 cups almond cream
1/2 cup sugar
pinch salt
1 teaspoon corn starch
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Add all the ingredients except for the vanilla into a heavy saucepan. Heat on medium high whisking constantly until custard becomes thickened and coats the back of the spoon. Remove from heat, add the vanilla. Pour into a heat proof container, cover with plastic wrap directly on the custard. Bring to room temperature and refrigerate over night.
Make the ice cream according to manufacturers directions on your ice cream maker. When it’s sufficiently thick add the crushed/finely chopped brittle. Spoon into freezer container and freeze until it’s scoopable consistency.

Pecan brittle ice cream

Fiesta Friday

Jun 24

80 Comments

Nando’s Wheels A Backyard Redux And A No Recipe Crumble

Pets on wheels from Red Flyer Facebook site

I follow a blog Lessons From A Paralyzed Dog, Sharon who authors the blog is one of the sweetest most caring individuals I know, she cared for her sweet Sophie for many years and she is an inspiration.

Nando as many of you know who follow this blog is very old and has many health issues. The most recent is a degenerative disc disorder that has left his hind legs almost paralyzed. He can barely stand at times and falls continuously when he is trying to do his favorite thing in the world, eat. Recently Sharon posted on her blog information about a program that loans wheelchairs to handicapped pets. How brilliant is this idea, wheelchairs are very very expensive and for many it’s something that is unattainable. Harlan from Red Flyer, The Handicapped Pets Community initiated this great program to help pet parents obtain one of these wheelchairs at no cost, you only must return it when done.

I sent the wonderful people at Red Flyer Nando’s dimensions now I just wait for Nando’s wheelchair. It will make such a difference for him when he eats. He can no longer stand for more than a few seconds at a time while eating and because of this he has become discouraged and doesn’t eat as much. He is losing weight which is not good. I will post some photo’s when Nando gets his wheels. If any of you know of someone not using their pet wheelchair ask if they will donate to pets in need, contact Harlan on Facebook use the link I provided in the previous paragraph.

Before- weeds, way too many shrubbery

My Garden

I think I have mentioned before that I am not a gardener, don’t have a green thumb and systematically destroy almost every plant that I put in the good earth with exception of my roses which for some reason have defied the odds and are gorgeous and healthy and of course the many varieties of weeds that I can’t kill no matter how hard I try. It was pretty early for my weeds to grow so huge but they did so I put a message out on a neighborhood message board Next Door Clinton Hill asking if anyone knew someone who would clean up my backyard. The good people at Root and Stalk answered my request, Jessica is the plant whisperer and she and her team came over to assess my mess. She was very kind and didn’t say what she probably thought about my lack of gardening prowess but she gave me some solutions that I really liked. Several of the excess shrubs were re-homed, she and her team also repositioned much of what I had planted to better spots in the garden. It really does pay to have an expert (if you are not one) do it right. We still have some finishing touches, some additional annuals and perennials to plant but already it is a huge improvement and I love having a backyard I can use. Now I will get a new grill and some additional seating and I’m set.

Problem #1- Weeds out of control huge overgrown ugly weeds. Jessica has planted ground cover, thinned out some of my overgrown shrubbery, dug some up and is giving them a new home somewhere else, I seriously over did it with shrubs. She planted some gorgeous pots of flowers, made a raised bed with my herbs and climbing hydrangea, planted perennials and annuals and my garden looks just beautiful. I had a problem with weeds in between my blue stone patio so they planted creeping thyme.

Problem #2- mosquitoes Well I have a major mosquito problem, hundreds and thousands maybe millions of them and I refuse to use mosquito spray it’s poisonous so I just didn’t use my backyard starting the end of June until around Thanksgiving. Thats not acceptable. Jessica said to put fans in the back yard which I will do but there is already a huge improvement after she got rid of my weeds and multitude of shrubs.

Almost finished planting

Pretty pots with flowers

More flowers in pots

raised bed with herbs and climbing hydrangea

Mixed Fruit Crumble

I had some nectarines that I got at Food52 from Frog Hollow Farms, they are a once a year indulgence for me and boy are they delicious (I get 3 lb nectarines and 3 lbs peaches, seriously they are amazing). I ate what I could and the rest were getting too soft so I decided to make a crumble. I also had some frozen raspberries and blackberries that I got from the green market so I put them all together in a buttered 8×8 square pan. The crumble is simple, oats, spelt flour, pastry flour (ratio’s are equal parts oat and spelt and a smaller amount of pastry flour) butter approximately 2 oz (4 tbs), pinch of salt and about 1/4 cup brown sugar to taste. Mix it all up it should be crumbly but not dry, it should clump together. Butter your baking dish add the fruit and sprinkle with some sugar. Cover the fruit with the crumble mixture, drizzle with a little honey and bake at 375 until browned and bubbly. Serve with heavy cream or ice cream. Delicious. NOTE: You don’t have to use spelt flour you can use any combination you like, sometimes I use barley and oats sometimes regular AP flour and oats, You can customize to your taste.

Jun 7

98 Comments

Peach,Raspberry Rose’ Sorbet For Fiesta Friday #71

Sorbet

It has been a while since I have participated in Fiesta Friday, It’s about time I join the party again. Angie has been great, checking in on me and I so appreciate it. We are but a few short weeks away from the start of Summer and I thought I would bring a cooling, refreshing sorbet to the party. Now this is sorbet with a kick, it’s made with Rose’ and some fruit. It’s great on it’s own or made into an ice cold spritzer with some sparkling water or even add a scoop to some prosecco!! This week’s party is hosted by sweet Angie@The Novice Gardener and the lovely co hosts are Laurie @ ten.times.tea and Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook. Welcome Laurie, this is her first time hosting!!!

About a week ago Aleksandra a regular on Food52, a friend and author of the gorgeous (James Beard nominated) blog Three Little Halves posted a question on the Hotline asking for ideas on what to do with a bottle of Rose’ wine that she was not in love with to drink but wanted to use so as not to waste. We went back and forth she eventually decided on a jelly, I had suggested a sorbet. Inspired by our conversation I decided to make sorbet out of rose’. I used the great recipe by David Lebovitz for Rasberry Rose sorbet and changed it a bit using juicy ripe peaches along with the raspberry and a hint of orange (2 small pieces of tangerine skin).

Blended, strained and ready to chill

Peach,Raspberry Rose’ Sorbet

Adapted from a recipe by David Lebovitz

Serves 6-8 depending on serving size

2 cups rose’

2/3 cup sugar

3 cups raspberries and peaches

small piece of orange or tangerine peel

Pour the rose’ and sugar in a non reactive saucepan, bring to a boil and immediately removed from the heat. Add the raspberries, peaches and orange peel. Let sit until it reaches room temperature then blend until smooth. Pour through a sieve into a bowl or container and refrigerate until very cold.

Process using manufacturers directions in your ice cream maker.

Serve on it’s own as a palette cleansing sorbet or add a couple of scoops to sparkling water for a delicious and refreshing drink.

A great way to enjoy wine!!

Mar 22

135 Comments

Orange Angel Food Cake, Whipped Cream Frosting And Berries For Fiesta Friday #60

This is a very special Fiesta Friday, we have new digs, I mean this is exciting our own space for the party, check it out!! Angie@The Novice Gardener has surprised us all with this gorgeous new home for our party. Thanks so much Angie!!! This weeks co hosts are Tracy @Scratch It Cook and Nancy @Feasting With Friends.

For this special party in our new home I am bringing cake, a light as a feather angel food cake flavored with the zest of a mandarin orange, I frosted the cake with an orange scented whipped cream frosting and loaded the top of the cake with fresh berries sprinkled with some orange scented sugar. Can you tell I am a fan of orange.

Angel Food Cake

James McNair

2 cups egg whites at room temperature
1 1/2 cup sugar divided
2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup cake flour
zest of 1 orange (I used a mandarin)

Pre heat oven to 325 degree’s. Place egg whites in a scrupulously clean bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Beat the eggs until frothy and add the cream of tartar. Continue beating on medium high until egg whites are billowy, now add 3/4 cup sugar a tabelespoon at a time beating continuously. Beat the whites until they are somewhat stiff and hold shape when you lift the whisk, add the zest and vanilla and beat just until combined.

Place a sieve over a bowl and add the flour, sugar and salt and sieve twice. Sift over the beaten egg whites and gently fold in. Make sure all the dry ingredients are mixed into the whites. Place in your 10 inch tube pan with removable bottom. Bake for approximately 50 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and tester comes out clean. Cool the cake upside down the angel food cake pan has feet that it rests on. Let cake cool completely. Run a small flexible offset spatula around the cake the outer edges and around the tube. Gently push the bottom up and then turn cake upside down and run the spatula or a knife around the edges of the bottom of the bottom to release the cake. Store in air tight container until ready to use.

Whipped Cream Frosting

James McNair

generously frosts a 9 in cake

1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 cups Heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
orange liquor like Grand Marnier or orange extract to taste

Place metal bowl and wire whisk beater or beaters in freezer to chill.
In a small saucepan combine the powdered sugar and cornstarch whisk until mixed. Slowly whisk in 1/2 cup heavy cream whisk until smooth. Place on medium heat and stir constantly to prevent scorching at the bottom stir constantly until mixture thickens and almost comes to a boil. Remove from heat, transfer to a bowl and set aside stirring occasionally until it reaches room temperature. Make sure it is completely cooled before adding to the heavy cream..Very Important!!!
In the chilled bowl combine the remaining 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream and the vanilla beat with the chilled whisk of your stand mixer or your hand held mixer until the cream begins to hold shape, it will still be rather loose. While still beating add the powdered sugar mixture a little at a time. Beat just until the mixture forms stiff peaks when the beater is raised and is spreadable, be careful not to over beat. Use immediately.

Fruit:

Blackberries

Raspberries

Strawberries Blended into a coulis.

Orange sugar- orange zest and sugar to sprinkle on fruit

The strawberries were just not good enough to put on the cake so I made a coulis by blending the strawberries with a little orange sugar and 2 tbs mandarin orange juice.

Mar 13

121 Comments

Leek, Asparagus,Chanterelle And Gruyere Mini Quiche For Fiesta Friday #59

Mini quiche

I am not re-inventing the wheel here, quiche in all it’s forms with varied and myriad ingredients has been made over and over but no matter how many times you see, eat or make it’s always delicious. I decided to make individual quiche, no cutting just grab and go.

I like to blind bake my crust so it doesn’t get soggy, use half and half in the custard, I’m generous with the cheese and vegetables making this a substantial and satisfying meal. I used fresh asparagus, chanterelle mushrooms, a young leek, and some lovely gruyere. One of my favorite meals is a fresh salad with quiche and look at this salad that Margi@La petite casserole made.

Angie@The Novice Gardener and her cohosts this week Jhuls@The Not So Creative Cook and for the first time Mila@Milk And A Bun are ensuring that a good time is had by all, the drinks are flowing and the food is plentiful. Thank you all!!

Quiche With leek, asparagus, chanterelle, gruyere

Makes approximately 8 mini tarts(4 inch)

Recipe for double crust flaky pastry I used my go to Julia Child recipe

Approximately 1/2 lb gruyere grated

4 large or extra large eggs

1 1/2 cup half and half

asparagus (enough for 3 stalks on each quiche)

mushrooms (I used chanterelle) about 1 cup chopped

1 spring or young leek cut into rounds and cleaned thoroughly

pinch nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

Blind baking your pie crust:

1. Press your pie dough into tart pans and refrigerate (I like to make the night before and refrigerate covered overnight. Preheat oven to 400 degree’s

2. Place parchment in each tart pan and add beans or pie weights

3. Bake for 15 minutes, remove parchment and pie weights and bake for another 15 minutes or until just lightly browned.

Making the quiche:

Place mushrooms and asparagus on baking sheet lined with parchment, brush with olive oil and bake at 375 for 15 minutes. Remove from oven to cool and keep the oven temp at 375 degrees.

Heat a tbs of butter in saute pan and saute the leeks after they have been cleaned and dried.

Grate the cheese and set aside.

Beat the eggs and half and half, salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Assembling:

Place some cheese at the bottom of each tart pan, add leek and mushroom filling to the top of each pan, pour enough egg custard to fill each, lay the asparagus on top and add a little more of the grated cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the egg is set.

Enjoy with a fresh salad.

Feb 15

98 Comments

Dessert And Wine A Valentines Day Tasting And Guest Pairing From Anatoli@ Talk A Vino!

Pug and wine Print (Etsy)

This is Part II of my Valentines Post, the cake will be paired with wine, I am not adept at pairing so I looked to my friends, the experts for the perfect pairing for this dessert. Anatoli whose wonderful, informative blog Talk A Vino is one of my go to sources when I want information regarding wine and everything involving the wine culture. I will be posting the wine pairing in a separate post. Anatoli has gone above and beyond and we will be comparing 3 different wines, I felt that this deserves a separate post. I had no idea pairing wine or Champagne or sparkling wine with chocolate is difficult but it is. Isn’t that pug the cutest, Michelle from Rockin Red Blog tweeted to me and when I saw it I had to have it, found on Etsy, bought it and I am now the proud owner of this print. The pug looks like my Izzy.

I thought it would be fun to invite some friends over on Valentines Day and have them participate in the dessert/wine tasting. Anatoli chose a sparkling red, a Brachetto di Acqui from the Piedmont region of Italy. He suggested Rosa Regale and while searching for this wine I also came across one that sounded interesting also and Anatoli gave it his stamp of approval so I got both the one I added is Marceno Brachetto di Acqui, now this is not the wine I ordered, I wanted the Marceno Spumante Brochette di Acqui but they sent the wrong one, same grape so we’ll give it a go. The other suggestion was a Port Wine. When I told Anatoli I didn’t like Port, he asked if I have ever tried a 20 year old Tawny to which I said no I hadn’t. I decided to add a bottle of Taylor Fladgate 20 year Tawny port also.

The lineup of wines

Here is Anatoli’s Write up:

Pairing Dessert with Wine
When fellow blogger and a wonderful cook Suzanne asked me if I would be interested in providing some suggestions for Champagne or Sparkling wine to pair with dessert, I bravely said “of course”. Yes, “of course”, but pairing dessert with wine is generally not an easy fit, outside of nice Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot with equally nice dark chocolate. And Champagne or Sparkling wine don’t bode particularly well with the desserts, unless we are talking about lightly fizzed Moscato, which generally stands a better chance of pairing with the dessert.
Next email brought in more details about the dessert: it will be a “Chocolate cake filled with blood orange curd.cream and frosted with chocolate nutella buttercream”. Urgh. Lots of ingredients, lots of flavors – no straightforward pairing.
Pairing of the wine and food can go in three different ways. Well, to be precise, there is another option, but it it is not worth talking about as the option #4 is called “fail” – this is when wine and food don’t work together. Three positive variants can be called indifferent, complementing and contrasting. Indifferent simply means that even when you take a sip of wine with your food, both wine and food stay in their own realm and don’t bother each other. Complementing and contrasting usually means that your experience is enhanced by adding wine to the food. Big tannic wine is often works well with the steak by complementing the flavors. Cutting acidity of the white wines can be great with appetizers by bringing out sweet notes. So all of this is good in theory, but then we have a particular pairing to do at hand.
So for the dessert above, I need to think about it. First we got chocolate cake – but then we got blood orange cream, and lots of sugar – we need to go into the sweet wines here, and sweet Champagne is simply not something I have a knowledge of. Moscato? Might be, but I wouldn’t do Moscato with chocolate, we need deeper flavors. So, what to do, what to do – ahh, I know – how about some Brachetto d’Aqcui? Brachetto d’Acqui is an Italian wine, produced from Brachetto grape and typically fizzed and sweet. The red grape profile of this wine makes it better suitable for the dishes with chocolate, and sweetness typically is not overpowering, which should make it a good complement. So my recommendation was Banfi Rosa Regale Brachetto d’Acqui, which also comes in a very nice and presentable bottle (remember, your enjoyment of the wine starts form the bottle and the label, so bottle matters).
Okay, so I found a suggestion for the sparkling wine, but considering the complexity of the flavors (don’t forget “chocolate nutella buttercream”), I wanted to suggest something else to complement this dessert. One of the first thoughts was about Pedro Ximenez Jeres, but it might be way too sweet for this seemingly delicate dessert. So, if not Jerez, then may be Port? Yes, Port should work perfectly! Not any Port – the young Vintage port will overpower the dessert, and the young Ruby or Tony will be lost on it. But 20-years old Tawny ( or anything older that that), should work fine, considering the variety of flavor such port possesses – all of the hazelnut and almond flavors, dry figs, raising, dates – there is a lot in the aged Port profile which could make it an ideal suitor of the this dessert. As an additional bonus, going with 20+ old year’s Port gives an additional advantage – lots of choices. You can go with Graham, Taylor, Sandeman, Burmester and many many others, and they all should work quite well with the dessert.
Well again – for me, it is just a theoretical exercise. For Suzanne? She actually will have to do the hard part – entertain people and drink the wines with the dessert – and I’m really curious to know how did it go.

Well, before I will turn it over to Suzanne to tell the rest of this pairing story, I have to also share my scary moment with this pairing (happy food and scary moments don’t bode well together, don’t they?) After all was said and done and Suzanne got the wines and was ready for her evening, I saw her latest post popping up on Friday, talking about “Tartlets With Blood Orange Curd, Whipped Cream And Nutella”. My heart literally sunk – this is the dessert Suzanne is serving, and it is apparently different from the original – and she has the wines – how is it going to work now? Well, Nutella still was the there, and it technically represents both hazelnuts and chocolate, so I shouldn’t lose the hope…
Now it is really the time for Suzanne to tell the rest of the story…

Dessert is served

First of all I feel so badly that I changed the dessert, well it really was the same flavors but in a different form. My cake failed mainly because of the pan I bought, long story that I won’t get into now. I decided to make the tartlets, I’m sure you saw my FF#55 post. I planned a Valentines Day dinner party and invited some close friends, we had lamb kofta in a tomato sauce with eggplant, basmati rice prepared in the Persian way, labneh and lots of salads, and with this I served a wonderful 2008 Napa Valley Zinfandel (Green and Red from Chiles Mill Vineyards) and it paired very nicely it was really a great wine.

I served the dessert to my friends with the Rosa Regale Brachetto di Acqui. The wine was bubbly, and I served well chilled in champagne flutes. Everyone got some of the tart and I also served the chocolate cake with a simple cream cheese buttercream. The wine was light and fruity, on the nose fresh berries, it’s like springtime in a glass, tasting this wine you are immediately overwhelmed with the lovely taste of fresh fruit, strawberries, peaches and nectarines. It’s a bit sweet but in a very good way. All of my guests including myself absolutely loved this wine with the tart, it was in my humble opinion a perfect pairing, honestly it could not have been better. We finished the wine and dessert and at that point could not have anymore so decided to save the port for the next day.

Rosa Regale

I want to thank Anatoli@Talk A Vino for helping me with this very special and highly successful pairing. It was a wonderful evening and thanks to Anatoli’s expertise and intuitive pairing a really wonderful and delicious dessert. Thank you so much Anatoli!! Please check his blog out, there is a wealth of information about wine, including great recommendations, reviews and tutorials. A definite must read for anyone interested in learning more about wine and the wine culture.

A very special thank you to Maia and Laila my young and willing helpers who decorated the Valentines table for me, isn’t it pretty!!!

good food with simple ingredients

Posts from the ‘Desserts’ Category

Sir Johns Table A Review

Chocolate Cake

A Theraputic Tart

Roasted Tomato, Ricotta And Herb Tart For Fiesta Friday #76

Pecan Brittle Ice Cream- Dairy Free For Fiesta Friday #74

Nando’s Wheels A Backyard Redux And A No Recipe Crumble

Peach,Raspberry Rose’ Sorbet For Fiesta Friday #71

Orange Angel Food Cake, Whipped Cream Frosting And Berries For Fiesta Friday #60

Leek, Asparagus,Chanterelle And Gruyere Mini Quiche For Fiesta Friday #59

Dessert And Wine A Valentines Day Tasting And Guest Pairing From Anatoli@ Talk A Vino!

The pugs

Contact me

Recent Posts

Archives

Meta

Bake Sale For No Kid Hungry

My Taste

Food52

Food52 Cookbook Vol.II

Follow Blog via Email

Blogroll

A Pug In The Kitchen

Fiesta Friday

Four Seasons Food Challenge

About Us

Pages

Categories

Search