Recipe

Daring Bakers do Crostata

~ Lynn ~ 29 Comments


The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Simona of briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi’s Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well.

This was my first Daring Bakers Challenge that didn’t scare the bejezus out of me. It was nice to just take a couple hours to put together this classic tart. I thought about what to fill the tart with for a while, then finally asked my family what they wanted. My brother requested something creamy/custardy, my mom requested lemon. And so my lemon scented custard crostata was born.

I wanted to try a lattice top to the tart, but I wasn’t able to slice the into even strips so I chose to cut out circles of dough instead. Once the crostata had baked I topped it with some of the candied lemon slices I made.  The crostata was delicious, but I think baking it in a tart pan was a mistake. To me a crostata should be more rustic looking, like it just got thrown together by an italian nonna on a Sunday afternoon. I thought about making another one, but my ever expanding waistline talked me out of it. There is a lot of baking to be done leading up to Christmas, and I need to choose my calories wisely.

Crostata

For the Crust:

  • 3/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 and 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
  • a pinch of salt
  • 1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  • 1 large egg and 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten in a small bowl

For the filling

  • 2 extra-large eggs
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 500 ml milk
  • 3 strips of lemon peel about 3″ long and 1/2″ wide
  • 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp limoncello (optional)
  1. Make the crust: In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the butter to the flour and rub the mixture together until it has a coarse crumb consistency.
  2. Make a well in the center of the butter flour mixture and pour the egg into it. Use a fork to blend the dough together. Knead the dough lightly, then form a disk.
  3. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours.
  4. Once chilled, cut 1/4 of the dough off then roll the remaining dough out and place into a 9 inch tart pan. Chill the rolled out dough for 30 minutes.
  5. Dock the pastry (poke little holes), cover with parchment and weigh the crust down with pie weights or dried beans.
  6. Bake for 15 minutes at 350. Remove the weights and let the dough cool.
  7. Make the filling: In a large saucepan heat the milk and lemon peel slices until steaming. Let the milk and lemon steep for 10 minutes. Remove the lemon peel.
  8. In another bowl, mix the eggs, sugar and flour together. Pour a small amount of the milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly and quickly. Slowly pour the rest of the milk into the egg mixture, always while whisking.
  9. Pour the custard back into the saucepan and warm at very low heat, stirring often. When the mixture starts to thicken, turn the heat up higher and cook one more minute, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and stir in the limoncello.
  10. Pour the custard into the tart shell. Roll out the remaining dough, cut into strips or shapes and place on top of the custard.
  11. Bake in a preheated oven at 300 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
  12. Decorate with candied lemon slices.

Enjoy!

Red Rice and Chickpea Salad

~ Lynn ~ 7 Comments

Last night I had dinner at Au Pied de Cochon for the first time. It was an incredible meal. I shared the Foie Gras Poutine with one of my cousins. For those of you who don’t know, poutine is a Quebecois dish that consists of french fries topped cheese curds and covered in gravy. Under normal circumstances it’s delicious, but when the gravy is made with foie gras, the cheese is homemade, and the whole thing is topped with a piece of seared foie gras, it is artery clogging heaven.

As a main dish I ordered the Duck in a Can. It’s a magret duck breast with a piece of seared foie gras placed between the meat and the skin, the duck breast is then canned with wine braised cabbaged and cooked in the can. The waiter opens the can at the table and empties it onto a plate of celery root and potato puree and a piece of toast. The duck breast is perfectly cooked, and the foie gras somehow stays intact. It was incredible. For dessert I had a molten chocolate cake, which was also delicious, but I think next time I’ll have the Pudding Chomeur. Pudding Chomeur, which translates to welfare pudding,  is  a Quebecois dessert that was popularized during the depression. It’s a vanilla cake batter cooked in a hot sugar syrup, and the version served at Au Pied de Cochon is oh soo good.

Strangely enough, this morning I woke up with desire to eat nothing but salad. What I made was inspired by the Wild Rice Salad in Ina Gartens new book, How Easy Is That?. I was missing a couple of the ingredients, and I wanted something that could be a main course rather than a side, so I made a few changes.

Wild Rice and Chickpea Salad

  • 2 cups red rice, cooked (2 cups cooked is about 1 cup raw)
  • 2 cups cooked chickpeas, or one can drained
  • 2 oranges, peeled and sectioned
  • 1/4 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/4 cup almond slivers, toasted
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp orange juice
  • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • parley to garnish
  1. In a large bowl toss the rice, chickpeas, orange sections, cranberries and almonds together.
  2. In a small bowl or cup, stir together the olive oil, orange juice, vinegar and seasoning.
  3. Dress the rice salad with the orange juice mixture. Garnish with parsley.

Enjoy!

A Messy Potato Gratin & A Blog Award!

~ Lynn ~ 18 Comments

My first thought when I pulled this dish out of the oven was that there is no way I can post it. It looks burnt, and it’s a huge mess. But then I tasted it, and it was delicious. The deliciousness pushed me to post it. I figured I could share my mistakes with world so that they are not repeated.

I was inspired by all the bloggers who made potato gratin for French Fridays With Dorie to make one myself. I don’t have the book (yet) so instead I used a recipe I already had. Potato gratin is very easy in theory. Slice potatoes, pour cream over them, top with cheese, bake. But there are a couple of things to keep in mind. Milk and cream bubble when heated, so don’t fill the baking dish up to the top (unless you like scrubbing burnt cream out of your oven). Another option is to place a baking sheet that won’t warp under the baking dish to catch any overflow. Slice the potatoes as thinly as possible so that they cook evenly, no one likes a raw potato. Also, the cheese can be put on the gratin midway through the baking so that you don’t end up with a burnt looking gratin like mine.

Next up, an award!

When I started this blog I had no expectation that anyone would read it. It was something I decided to do for myself. Through it I have discovered some wonderful blogs and people and I happy (and shocked) to say that one of those people has been kind enough to give me a blog award. Patty of Patty’s Food has passed on the One Lovely Blog Award to me, and I am very honoured.

There are a few bloggers out there whose posts just make me happy when I read them. They are funny and kind and amazing cooks. I hope you take some time to check them out if you don’t already know them.

Janice of Kitchen Heals Soul

Roxan of Kitchen Meditation

Heather of Pretty Peas

Azmina of Lawyer Love Lunch

Sarah of Baking Serendipity

 

Potato Gratin

  • 2 lbs potatoes, sliced thinly
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup milk
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • one pinch dried rosemary
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled
  • cheese, grated to cover
  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
  2. In a large saucepan, cook potato slices, cream, milk, garlic and seasonings until the milk starts to boil. Stir very gently so that the potato slices don’t break.
  3. Discard the garlic cloves and pour potato and cream mixture into a baking dish.
  4. Bake for 20 minutes, then cover with cheese and bake for 20 more minutes.
  5. Let cool (the gratin will still look liquidy when first pulled out of the oven, but will set as it cools.

Enjoy!

Magazine Monday – Candied Lemon Slices

~ Lynn ~ 16 Comments

I bought an enormous bag of lemons at Costco the other day for a dessert I have planned, but the rest have just been sitting in a bowl waiting for a use. Sometimes when I walk by them I hear them say “eat me”.

So I flipped through a bunch of magazines and found a recipe for candied lemon slices in the March 2005 issue of Martha Stewart Living. Candying a couple of them seemed like a great way to use them. While making this recipe I realized for about the millionth time that I could really use a mandoline. I haven’t bought one yet because they scare me (I’m known for making stupid kitchen moves) but it would really make life a lot easier to have one.  Maybe one day I’ll develop the focus required for using one.

Other than my issues with slicing thinly, this recipe is pretty easy. It takes about an hour and 15 minutes, but most of that time is unattended.

I’ll be submitting this post to Cream Puffs in Venice for Magazine Monday. Magazine Monday’s are a chance to get through all those magazine recipes we have bookmarked to make but never do. Make something, post it, and share it with the rest of us!

Candied Lemon Slices

  • 1 large lemon
  • 1 cup sugar
  1. Prepare an ice water bath.
  2. Using a mandoline or a very sharp knife, slice the lemon very thinly.
  3. Bring 2 cups of water to boil in a saucepan. Add the lemon slices and boil until slightly softened (about 1 minute). Remove lemon slices and put them in the ice water bath.
  4. In a medium sauce pan bring 1 cup of water and the sugar to boil. Place the lemon slices in the sugar-water in one layer and lower the heat to simmer.
  5. Simmer the lemon slices for 1 hour, then place the slices on a baking sheet lined with parchment.

Magazine Monday – Roasted Stuffed Acorn Squash

~ Lynn ~ 14 Comments


(Photo by my brother)

Michael Symon is my favourite Iron Chef. It’s not that I think his food is any better than the others, I supposed I’d have to taste them all to make that call, I just like his personality the best. I think it might be the giggle.

When I saw this recipe in Food and Wine in March I immediately added it to make “to make” list, not only did it sound delicious, it was also a  Michael Symon recipe. It sat on the to make list for a while, but I finally got around to making it this week. I replaced the vinaigrette with some lemon juice and olive oil to make it sugar-free challenge friendly, and I was missing a couple of ingredients so I just used the ones I had on hand for the stuffing. Oh, and I used acorn squash instead of delicata. Okay, maybe that’s a lot of changes but I think it’s still true to the spirit of the original recipe.

This is my Magazine Monday post from this week. Ivonne at Cream Puffs in Venice has been a little swamped lately (she was working on Sunday!) so I’m hosting this week. Here is what the other Magazine Monday-ers were up to:

Roasted Stuffed Acorn Squash

  • 2 acorn squash, halved with the seeds scooped out
  • 1 cup quinoa
  • 1 large Cortland Apple, cored and diced
  • 1/4 cup raisins
  • 1/4 cup pistachios
  • crumbled feta to taste
  • olive oil
  • lemon juice
  • salt and pepper
  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Season the insides of the squash with salt and pepper, and brush with olive oil. Place on a baking sheet skin side down and roast for 45 minutes.
  2. While the squash is roasting, cook the quinoa. In a medium pot, boil 2 cups salted water. Add quinoa and cook for 10 minutes. Add raisins and cook until all the water has been absorbed.
  3. Mix cooked quinoa with the diced apple and pistachio. Dress with olive oil and lemon juice.
  4. Scoop the quinoa mixture into the center of the cooked squash.
  5. Top with crumbled feta.

Enjoy!

Indian Spiced Popcorn

~ Lynn ~ 18 Comments

I’m finding the sugar-free/gluten-free challenge to be a little tougher this time. I’m having more sugar cravings than I did the first time around. My nutritionist would say I’m missing protein, but I think it’s because I don’t have the support group I had last time. Those of us doing the challenge would get together and compare notes, and since I was doing the challenge with Janice we had daily chats comparing menus and sharing ideas. This time it’s just me and my blog (although Janice is still hearing about, thanks for listening!)

So I decided to make myself some popcorn as a treat. Popping my own kernels made this totally within the rules, and to make it a little more interesting I added some curry powder and chili powder to the melted butter. The spice gave the popcorn a really nice kick. I could have eaten it all day.

Indian Spiced Popcorn

  • 1/2 cup popcorn kernels
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 2 tbsp butter, melted
  • curry powder, chili powder and salt to taste
  1. Coat the bottom of a large pot (make sure you use one with a lid) with the oil. Add the kernels, cover and turn on heat to medium high.
  2. Let the pan heat till you start to hear kernels popping, then lower the temp to medium. Shake the pot occasionally until you don’t hear kernels popping anymore. The whole process takes 5 to 8 minutes.
  3. Transfer popcorn to a large bowl.
  4. Add spices to butter then drizzled over popcorn. I like the layering method to ensure even popcorn coverage.

Gluten-Free Breakfast – Poached Eggs with Spinach & Home Fries

~ Lynn ~ 19 Comments

Earlier today we celebrated Sasha’s second birthday. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of fun I had at a child’s party. Turns out toys are fun for grown ups too. I have to tell you I am incredibly proud of myself for not breaking my sugar-free/gluten-free fast. Turning down the birthday cake was a lot easier with a gluten-free buddy, and I discovered that another party goer was in the process of eliminating gluten to test for intolerance. We both agreed that snacks and breakfast are the toughest meals of the day. She’s tackling the situation the way I did the first time I eliminated gluten, by replacing her usual foods with gluten-free versions. Although that works it is very expensive; a small loaf of bread is anywhere from 5 to 7 dollars in Montreal.


(I love the spots on organic eggs)

This time I decided to tackle the situation by actually changing the way I eat. Gluten free bread is a poor substitute for the real thing, so I see no point in eating it. The question then becomes, what to eat for breakfast? This meal is one of my solutions. I was inspired by Janice’s Bistro Style Egg Sandwich, but replaced the English muffin with oven baked home fries. This breakfast is great for a Saturday morning. It’s filling and delicious and pretty easy to make if you have a little time. I used a poach pod to poach my egg as none of the traditional methods ever work for me.

Poached Eggs With sautéed Spinach and Mushrooms and Home Fries.

  • Potatoes
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • 1-2 mushrooms per person
  • A large handful of baby spinach per person
  • Eggs

For the Potatoes:

  1. Slice the potatoes in half and peel them.
  2. Boil the potatoes in salted water for 10 minutes. Potatoes should be slightly less than cooked through.
  3. Cube the potatoes and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight if you are planning ahead (this step is important, it leads to crispy fries)
  4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees
  5. Toss the chilled potatoes with olive oil to coat and salt and pepper to taste.
  6. Bake for 20- 30 minutes, flipping the potatoes at least twice so that the are properly browned.

For the Spinach and Mushrooms

  1. Heat some olive oil in a skillet. Cook the sliced mushrooms until browned.
  2. Add the spinach and cook until wilted.

For the Eggs

  1. Crack an egg into a lightly greased poach pod.
  2. Fill a medium pot with about 2 inches of water. Heat until simmering. Gently place the poach pod in the simmering water. Lower the heat to maintain a simmer and cover.
  3. Cook the eggs for 4 to 7 minutes, depending on the desired doneness (that might not be a word).

Place the spinach and potatoes on a plate, and top the spinach with the poached egg. Season with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!