Finding Time

I heard what they said. I didn't believe them.

They said once you make food your profession, you will no longer have the passion/desire/need to cook or bake in  your free time. You will lose a hobby. I thought they were crazy. They may have been right...but now I am fighting back.

I forgot for a minute that free time spent in the kitchen behind the stove stirring lemon curd, or at the counter kneading bread dough, is soothing for my soul, and good for my sanity. After long hours in a restaurant kitchen, I thought that curling up on the couch and ordering Thai food was the only cure for my exhaustion and my restlessness. I was so, so wrong.

Wednesdays are one of my days off, and this week I decided I wasn't going to waste it by "relaxing" or cleaning, or sleeping. Instead, I spent the day where I feel most at home (second only to my real home), in my little apartment kitchen, baking up a storm. At the end of the day, when I sat down to enjoy a creamy almond mascarpone tart with tangy apricots and crunchy almond brittle, I felt better than I have in a long while.

So when my mind plays tricks on me and makes me think that the last thing on earth I want to do is bake some more, I will remind myself that it's all lies. My career in the this field is dependent on trying new things, tasting new combinations, testing out new techniques, and if I ever lose the desire to do that, then I am in trouble. I don't like being in trouble.

Honey Mascarpone Tart with Almond Crust, Apricot Compote, and Almond Glass
adapted heavily from bourke street bakery and epicurious
makes 1-9inch round, or 12 inch rectangular tart

Almond Pate Brisee Crust

400 grams (14 oz) unsalted butter, chilled, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar
100 grams (3 1/2 oz) granulated sugar
2/3 cup water, chilled
665 grams (1 lb 7 1/2 oz) all purpose flour1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon almond extract

Remove butter from fridge 20 minutes before mixing.

In a small bowl, combine sugar, water, and vinegar, stir to aid the dissolving of the sugar. Set aside in refrigerator for 10 minutes. Then, stir again to completely dissolve sugar.

In a food processor, pulse the flour and salt together a few times to combine. Add the butter, and pulse in one second bursts about 3-4 times until butter is cut in and evenly dispersed. You should have visible chunks of butter in your flour mixture, this is where the flakiness comes from.

Pour mixture into a large bowl and make a little well in the middle of the flour. Pour the vinegar water mixture into the well, along with the almond extract, and gently mix liquids into the flour with a fork. When liquid is evenly dispersed, dump dough out onto a clean surface and knead gently a few times, just until dough comes together in one cohesive ball. It may be a bit shaggy or falling apart, but that's okay, while it is resting the moisture will bind everything together.

Cut ball of dough in half and shape each half into a disc about 1/2 - 3/4 inch thick. (use one for this tart, and you can freeze the other half for later use) Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least two hours, or overnight. Take dough out of fridge about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Place one of your discs of dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll out to a 1/8 inch flat disc. Always start in the center of the disc and roll outward, turning the disc 30 degrees after each roll to get an even thickness throughout. If you are using a rectangular pan, you will want to roll out your dough into a longer strip instead of a round circle. Carefully move the dough to your tart pan and press evenly into all corners, pinching off the excess.

Dock with a fork (meaning poke a bunch of tiny holes in the bottom of the tart crust with a fork) and freeze for twenty minutes. Preheat your oven to 400 F. Place a piece of tin foil over your tart shell, pressing it down to fit the form of your tart, and fill with beans or rice or pie weights. Blind bake your tart for 20 minutes, flipping the pan front to back halfway through. Remove the pie weights and tin foil and bake for another 5-7 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Let cool completely.

Mascarpone Filling

8 oz mascarpone cheese
6 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip the cream cheese until smooth. Add the sour cream, the sugar, and the honey and mix until incorporated. Add the mascarpone, lemon zest, and vanilla and whip until smooth. Spread evenly into cooled tart shell and chill for at least 4 hours, or overnight.

Apricot Compote

4-5 apricots, pitted and cut into eighths
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons water
pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (or use a vanilla bean if you have one on hand)

Place the apricots, honey, water, and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Simmer just until apricots are softened and starting to break down. Let cool for a few minutes then stir in the vanilla, or if you are using a bean scrape the seeds into the compote and stir in. You can use this slightly warm, or chilled.

Almond Glass

sliced almonds
corn syrup

Preheat oven to 350 F. Place a pile of sliced almonds on a silpat lined baking sheet and spread them out into a single thin layer. drizzle corn syrup over the almonds, making sure to cover them all. This should be a light coating, it will spread and fill in any gaps while it is baking. Place in the oven and bake until the syrup caramelizes to a amber brown color. Let cool completely, then break into shards. Store in an airtight container.

Home Sweet Home...and Pie

Home sweet home. I finally picked a day to drive to Minnesota that was not smack dab in the middle of a snowstorm. The past few years for Christmas and Thanksgiving, whenever i decide to make the drive, old man winter decides to throw a ridiculous snowstorm at me. I am not sure what he has against me going home, but I showed him this year. Though, it was intensely sunny and when I opened up my sunglasses case, one of the screws was missing, so I spent the entire 7 hour drive squinting into the setting sun....I can't win.

It is wonderful to be home, I am sitting in my pj's, dad cooked me truffled eggs for breakfast, we are bracing for the storm of the century, and the smells of thanksgiving dinner are beginning to waft through the house. Onions caramelizing, sage frying, homemade turkey broth bubbling, it all has me salivating for tomorrow's feast. It is just a lovely way to start the day.

Are you ready for thanksgiving? Is all your shopping done, and food prepped? The nice thing about coming home is that all I have to do is drink wine and chop/stir/plate where needed. I already had my effort-heavy thanksgiving meal last weekend, so this time around I just get to kick back and enjoy it. I was in charge of dessert last weekend, and, though most of us were too full by the time we got there, it was a tasty ending to a fun and friend-filled day.

I made this pumpkin pie from the Thanksgiving Bon Apetit Magazine, substituting my very favorite pate brisee crust. It is a beautiful twist on the plain whipped-cream topped pumpkin pie we are used to seeing around this time of year. Toasted nuts with crystallized ginger creates a pretty border and adds that crunchy extra-something to the creamy pie and buttery crust.

Pumpkin Pie with Glaze Ginger-Nut Topping
adapted from Bon Apetit Magazine

1/2 batch pate brisee (or pie crust of your choice), rolled out to 1/4 inch thick disc and chilled

Topping:

1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons pepitas
2 tablespoons brown sugar
large pinch of salt
2 tablespoons minced crystallized ginger

Filling:

1 - 15 ounce can pure pumpkin puree
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs + 1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 cups heavy cream

Transfer crust to a 9-inch pie pan, pressing the dough into the corners. Cut off excess dough, and crimp edges with thumbs. Freeze for 1 hour before baking.

In a large non-stick skillet, heat the butter over medium high heat. Add almonds, pecans, and pepitas and saute until nuts begin to brown slightly, just about 2 minutes. Sprinkle brown sugar and salt over and stir and cook another 2 minutes, until sugar has melted and nuts have been coated. remove from heat and stir in ginger. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F, with rack in center position. Line the pie crust with tin foil, and fill with pie weights, rice, or dried beans. Bake crust for 25 minutes, remove weights and tin foil, and bake for another 8 minutes. Remove crust from oven, but leave the oven on.

While the crust is blind baking, in a large bowl combine the pumpkin, both sugars, molasses, flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt. Whisk together until combined. Add the eggs, yolk, and cream. Whisk until smooth.

Pour filling into warm crust and bake for 20 minutes. remove pie from oven, and wrap strips of foil gently around the exposed crust to prevent it from becoming too dark and/or burning. Return to oven and bake for another 40-55 minutes, depending on how deep your pie pan is. Mine is very deep so it took close to 55 minutes for middle to set. It may still jiggle a bit in the center, but if you touch the center with your finger, and it is tacky, but not liquid-y, the pie should be good to go.

Transfer to pie rack and sprinkle the nut topping around the perimeter of the filling, leaving a circle in the center exposed.

Mini Stone Fruit Galettes

The heat is on. 120 mini desserts down, 1 two-tiered wedding cake to go.


I am officially halfway through another baking marathon, and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. But as you may imagine, I don't find myself with a lot of free time right now. So I will let these next few desserts mainly speak for themselves through their pictures.


I will say though that I tried a new pate brisee (sweet shortcrust) recipe, and I won't be going back to the old one. Ever. The last one I used from Dorie Greenspan was good, almost sugar cookie like in taste and texture (maybe I did it wrong, who knows) but this one, oh my god, this one turned out flaky, buttery, and almost like a dense puff pastry. My boyfriend actually uttered the words "this is my favorite thing you have ever made". It's that good.

Take that crust and fill it with fresh stone fruit and ground nuts, and you have a winner. This is my kind of dessert, lots of butter, not too sweet, and comes in a compact size.

I made these galettes miniature of course, but you could also use this to make one big galette, for a fairly quick and quite easy dessert. Personally though, I can barely handle how cute the little guys are. I mean come on, look at them.

You know how some people gush and coo at any little baby they see on the street? Well that's how I am with miniature baked goods. I think I have a problem.

Mini Stone Fruit Galettes

makes 20-24 galettes

1 batch Pate Brisee (sweet shortcrust pastry), rolled out to two 1/8 inch thick discs and chilled (see recipe below)

2 large nectarines (or 4 large black plums), pitted, cut in quarters, and sliced crosswise very thinly

3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
zest of one lemon
1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup pistachios (I used pistachios with the nectarines, and almonds with the plums) ground finely
1/2 cup turbinado sugar

In a medium bowl, mix together your fruit, 3 tablespoons of sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest. Let the flavors mingle for at least an hour in the fridge. Meanwhile, remove one disc of dough from the fridge and use a 4.5-inch round cutter to cut 10 circles. (you may fit more, I got 12 out of some of my dough). Place circles back in fridge, and repeat with the other disc.

Pour fruit mixture into a sieve and set over a large bowl. Let as much liquid drain off as possible so your galettes don't get soggy.

I didn't get my dough as thin as I wanted it, so as I was assembling these, I placed each disc between two sheets of parchment paper and rolled them a bit thinner, and wider (about 5-6 inched across).

Working with 6-7 discs at a time (if you can fit all 20 of these onto two baking sheets, go for it, I chose to work in smaller batches) re-roll each disc if needed, and space evenly on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Place about a teaspoon of you ground nuts in the center of each round, and top nuts with about 1-2 tablespoons of your fruit mixture.

Gently fold dough up around the fruit, crimping and pinching it together every so often. A trick here is to dip your crimping finger into your egg wash before each pinch, this way, they won't unfold and fall apart in the oven, as the egg acts as a glue. Brush some more egg wash over all the exposed dough (I just used my finger) and sprinkle about a teaspoon of turbiando sugar over dough and fruit. Repeat with remaining dough.

Chill assembled galettes for at least 20 minutes before baking. This will also help them stay together in the oven, and encourage the flaky dough to develop properly.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Bake on middle racks for 25-30 minutes, depending on how big your galettes are, and how thick the dough is, until the fruit is a little bubbly and the crust is a deep golden brown, switching pans top to bottom, and front to back halfway through baking time. Let cool completely on a baking rack, and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator if you are able not to eat them all straight from the oven.

These are delicious served warm, but were really really good served the next day at room temperature. Three days later, they are still wonderful straight out of the fridge.


Pate Brisee
recipe from Bourke Street Bakery Cookbook

400 grams (14 oz) unsalted butter, chilled, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar
100 grams (3 1/2 oz) granulated sugar
2/3 cup water, chilled
665 grams (1 lb 7 1/2 oz) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

Remove butter from fridge 20 minutes before mixing.

In a small bowl, combine sugar, water, and vinegar, stir to aid the dissolving of the sugar. Set aside in refrigerator for 10 minutes. Then, stir again to completely dissolve sugar.

In a food processor, pulse the flour and salt together a few times to combine. Add the butter, and pulse in one second bursts about 3-4 times until butter is cut in and evenly dispersed. You should have visible chunks of butter in your flour mixture, this is where the flakiness comes from.

Pour mixture into a large bowl and make a little well in the middle of the flour. Pour the vinegar water mixture into the well and gently mix liquids into the flour with a fork. When liquid is evenly dispersed, dump dough out onto a clean surface and knead gently a few times, just until dough comes together in one cohesive ball. It may be a bit shaggy or falling apart, but that's okay, while it is resting the moisture will bind everything together.

Cut ball of dough in half and shape each half into a disc about 1/2 - 3/4 inch thick. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least two hours, or overnight. Take dough out of fridge about 30 minutes before you roll it out. Place dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll out to a 1/8 inch flat disc. Always start in the center of the disc and roll outward, turning the disc 30 degrees after each roll to get an even thickness throughout. Place thin discs on a flat platter or pan, and chill for two hours to let the gluten relax. You are now ready to cut dough into circles for the galettes.

I used this crust for another yummy dessert for this bridal shower, so stay tuned, more minis to come!

Et tu macarons?

2 days, 6 aged egg whites, and 4 pans of macarons. My first and second attempts at making these delicate, immensely sweet french cookies, were filled with apprehension, excitement, disappointment, pride, betrayal, and a little bit of swearing...okay a lot of swearing.

I have seen the beautiful pictures of these cute little sandwiched cookies all over the blogosphere, and although I had never even tasted one, I knew I had to give them a go. I made these purely for superficial reasons, they are just so pretty, plus I love a challenge.

Any of you who know me knows I am not a big sweets person, but I truly enjoy the process of baking. I love the repetition, and the preciseness of baking. I didn't always feel this way, but have come to think that the tediousness of baking is a great way to hone your skills in the kitchen. The focus and attention to detail that is required in making something like macarons is something that can be applicable to other areas of cooking.

I think of it almost like doing yoga. When holding a pose in yoga, you have to completely clear your mind and focus on the pose itself, because if you are thinking about tomorrow's to-do list, you will fall on your ass. Lose your focus in a macaron-making kitchen, and you will wind up with meringue in your hair, and pistachio powder in your slippers (don't ask me how I know this).

They are known for being fussy, and boy did they live up to their reputation. After the first two attempts, I am only a little closer to making perfect macarons. The first batch was much too liquid-y and did not hold their shape on the pan, nor did the batter stay in my piping bag very long before dripping out all over the floor.

I attributed this to not whipping the eggs whites long enough. I baked them anyway, and lo and behold, they got their feet anyway.

The 'feet' are the little ruffles that form when the macarons are baked, and they are usually a good sign that you did something right. So I had the feet, but unfortunately between the feet and the glossy domed top, they were hollow and missing their light cake-like mid section. That is a sign that I did something wrong. So deceptive, these little creatures. They can look perfect from the outside, but poke the top and the crumble into a thousand little shards of pistachio-flavored betrayal.

My second attempt went much more smoothly and was much less emotional than the first.

The egg whites were whipped into oblivion and the batter in turn, actually held together when it was piped onto the baking sheets.

The two pans went into the oven and they were flipped top to bottom and front to back halfway through. Even as I tried to get even cooking between the two pans, they still came out of the oven completely different. One of the pans was lopsided and hollow, and the other was the closest I came over these two days of macaron-making to actually succeeding.

Since I am FAR from being an expert on macaron making, and haven't really nailed down a reliable process and recipe, I am going to turn you, my dear readers, over to one of my favorite blogs, Tartlette. She is the macaron expert, and her recipes are tried and true. She takes beautiful pictures of these lovely cookies. So until I prefect these little critters, and by god someday I will, I shall defer to her:

Pistachio Macarons with Lemon and Raspberry Buttercream Filling by Tartlette.

I used her pistachio shell recipe to a T, and modified her basic buttercream recipe, adding lemon zest and juice to half, and homemade raspberry jam to the other half. Even though some were hollow, some were gooey, and some were lopsided, they all still tasted wonderfully like pistachio sugary goodness.

This will not be the last time we meet my little macarons, but I may need a little time apart before our next encounter.

Pre and Post

Recently I enjoyed a fabulous meal with my wonderful friends up in Minnesota. There were appetizers by Heather, an amazing salad by Jen, mustard-coated pork tenderloin, caramelized onions and green beans, and roasted potatoes by Stefanie, and a gluten-free white peach galette by yours truly. Oh yes, and lots of wine. It was a definite group effort for this dinner but somehow I only managed to get pictures of the pre-dinner and post dinner eats, and I blame it on all that wine. I did get one picture of the beautiful potatoes, but only because one of the strawberries jumped ship while under the broiler.

Heather provided a simple and tasty appetizer that included french bread, brie cheese, and fresh strawberries. These tidy little stacks were slid under the broiler for a few minutes, where they turned into hot and molten morsels.

Dessert was my job, and yes once again I went for a gluten free adaptation for Miss Jeni. After a lovely trip to the Minneapolis farmer's market, I found myself with some gorgeous white peaches, and a bag of golden raspberries. I wanted something simple that would showcase these late summer beauties. I opted for a galette, with is simply a free-form tart. You roll out a big circle of what is essentially pie dough, put your fillings in, and fold up the edges to hold it all in.

The galette was tasty, but it didn't hold together very well at all, and I am sure that was do to my improvised crust. I found a pie dough recipe and substituted gluten-free baking mix and almond flour in for all purpose flour. Next time I think I would eliminate the almond flour from the dough, and just use more almond flavor in the filling.

For the filling, I sliced the peaches really thin and laid them in concentric circles on the disk of dough. I cooked the golden raspberries down with some sugar, gelatin, and some limoncello to make a sort of jam. It was a bit of a random combination, but that's what's great about relying on my parents well stocked pantry instead of using a recipe. You never know what fun things you will find in there. I brushed this mixture over the peaches, folded up the dough and sprinkled with white sugar and sliced almonds.

Served with fresh whipped cream, it was a good ending to a sublime evening (okay that's a lie, the evening ended with us drinking beer at Williams Pub, but it was the ending to a great meal anyway).

Crust

3/4 cup gluten-free baking mix

1/2 cup almond flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

3 to 4 tablespoons ice-cold water

Add baking mix, almond flour, sugar, and salt to food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Add cold butter and pulse until butter has been cut into pea-sized chunks. Add water one tablespoon at a time and pulse until dough forms a rough ball. Turn out dough onto floured surface, gently form into a disc, cover it with plastic wrap and let rest in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours.

Golden Raspberry "Jam"

1 cup golden raspberries

3/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon gelatin, dissolved in 1 tablespoon water

a few tablespoons of Limoncello, or other citrus liqueur

Combine all ingredients into a small saucepan, and simmer over very low heat for about 20-30 minutes, until berries break down, and sauce thickens.

Galette

1 chilled pie dough

golden raspberry 'jam'

2-3 white peaches, skin and pits removed, halved and thinly sliced

1 egg, beaten

sugar and sliced almonds to garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

On a floured surface, roll out dough to form a large circle about 13 inches in diameter. Place dough on a parchment paper or sil-pat lined baking sheet. Arrange peach slices in concentric circles, leaving at least a 3 inch border of dough. Brush 'jam' on top of the peaches. Fold the edges of the dough up over the filling. The great thing about this kind of tart, is that it is supposed to look rustic. So don't worry if it looks bad now, it will most likely look beautiful when it comes out of the oven.

Lightly brush the top of the dough with the beaten egg, and while it is still wet, sprinkle crust with sugar and almonds.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes until golden brown. Serve with fresh whipped cream.

There are definitely more riffs on this classic tart in my future. I can't wait to try it with regular pie crust, and all kinds of fillings, and oh yes, there WILL be ice cream involved.