Whole Meyer-Lemon Tart

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This is one of the easiest, and most delicious recipes for a dessert that I’ve made. The crust is oh-so-simple, and the filling is just as easy. The real trick, though, is a meyer lemon. I’ve tried making this with regular lemons (even using only the zest and the fruit/juice), but it really isn’t as tasty that way. The regular lemon is too bitter for my taste.

The crust is based on Dorie Greenspan’s sweet tart dough. I love this because you can just press the dough (made in the food processor) into the pan. It gets frozen for a bit, then par-baked prior to adding the filling. The filling is based on a recipe from Smitten Kitchen.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick plus 1 tablespoon (4 1/2 ounces) very cold (or frozen) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk

The flour, sugar, salt are mixed in the food processor. Add the chunks of butter and process for a few pulses until it’s an uneven coarse meal. Add the egg yolk and process just until it comes together. I usually press the dough into my pan (so I can skip chilling and rolling steps), and then put the whole thing into the freezer for at least 20 minutes. but until you’re ready to use it. I use a 9″ French tart pan.

The crust is taken from the freezer, foil placed directly on the dough (it can be weighted down with pie weights or beans, but it’s not really necessary), and baked in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes. The foil gets removed, and then baked for about 5 minutes more. If it puffs up, press it down a little so that it retains the shape. Remove from the oven and let cool a bit.

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You’ll make the filling in the same processor bowl. No need to clean it out (unless of course, you’ve waited a few days with your crust in the freezer…). You will need:

1 average-sized Meyer lemon
1 1/2 cups  sugar
1 stick  unsalted butter, cut into chunks
4 large eggs
2 T cornstarch
1/4 t table salt

The lemon gets sliced up,  the seeds removed, and placed in the processor. Sugar and the butter (it can be cold or room temperature) are added and processed, until the whole mixture is smooth.

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Then, the eggs, cornstarch and salt are added, and mixed well.

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This mixture gets poured into the prepared shell, and placed on a parchment-lined baking sheet. The filling should just fill the shell, be careful that it’s not too full, or it will overflow and stick to the pan. If your butter was chilled, it holds together pretty nicely for this step.

This gets baked at 350 degrees for about 35-40 minutes. Once removed from the oven it gets cooled. This can be served chilled or at room temperature. I ended up taking this to share at my niece’s university graduation, so I don’t have lovely photos of this served. That said, this was a huge hit, just plain, cut into neat slices (the crust is both delicate and sturdy – so you can actually eat thin slices out-of-hand!). It would be fabulous with fresh berries, or any kind of coulis – you could even gild it with some cream. But this is a very quick and easy (easy) recipe for a fabulous dessert – so fresh for spring and summer.

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ffwd – Food Revolution Day

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Today is Food Revolution Day, and our French Fridays with Dorie crew is participating by blogging about a recipe from Around My French Table. The idea behind the Day is that we need to get back to making healthy food at home. So many people who are busy working, with family and other activities struggle to find the time or inclination – or they never really learned how to make meals in the first place – so this is a day to share our love of cooking and sharing what we make with our friends and family.

The rule of this week’s challenge was to make a recipe from the book and blog about it. There are lots of great recipes, and this is a great way to learn to cook, or add some skills. That said, when I think of “what do I think are basic/essential types of recipes for a beginning cook”, these aren’t necessarily the ones I think of. It wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be to choose one that fit my criteria.

Absent the cookbook requirement, there are things I think people should know how to do: a bechamel (white) sauce so you can make “stuff on toast”, or a great mac and cheese, authentic lasagna or canneloni, or even use it for a soup base. Other things would be something like muffins – an essential quick bread – nothing says “I care about you” more than something warm, yummy and homemade. I often bake something to share when I’m not in the best of spirits. Eggs! Or a simple vinaigrette. Any kind of vegetable. Fresh Salsa! I could go on.

In the end, I decided to make curried chicken, peppers and peas en papillote. While it sounds fancy, it’s actually very easy, a well-rounded meal – and quick! When I was contemplating what to make, I reminded myself of the near-daily conversation in my head while driving home: “I’m hungry, I should just stop and get X” “No, I have stuff at home, I just bought a bunch of vegetables” “But I don’t feel like cooking anything right now” “Oh really? It will take about the same time as picking something up anyway, and besides, you don’t want to waste that food!”. This is exactly the kind of thing that fits into that scenario.

These are ingredients that I almost always have on hand. The only thing to do is get some chicken breasts thawed (or pick them up at the store) – otherwise, only a very few ingredients: bell pepper (I like red or yellow), red onion (or any kind, but this is pretty), some frozen peas, plus a little olive oil and for Dorie’s version – curry powder.

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This is super-simple. The oven is heated to 400 degrees. The chicken is cut into strips, and the vegetables are prepped. Except for the peas, I wanted everything to be a similar size – mostly so it looks nice, but things cook more evenly that way too.

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I recently read that 3-sided peppers are “female” and 4-sided are “male”. The suggestion was to buy the 4-sided because it’s easier to cut them up – maybe, but picking the freshest -looking is really my goal. I started cutting up peppers this way a few years ago – it’s a bit less messy to cut sections off of the stem/core.

All of the ingredients are mixed together in a bowl.

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The olive oil is added, and then seasonings. As I mentioned before, Dorie suggests curry powder. And to be honest, I still think it’s my favorite. But I have a lot of different seasoning blends, so sometimes it’s fun to try something new.

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This time, I decided to split the recipe in halves – I used the classic curry in one, and a sate seasoning in the other. To that one, I added a little sesame oil as well for a little extra flavor. I’ve tried adding sauces in the past, but it doesn’t work very well – as the chicken and vegetables release their juices too, and it can be a bit too much. All of the seasonings and bit of oil (about 1 t per packet) get mixed together so that the chicken and vegetables are evenly coated. They get a bit more seasoning with salt and pepper as well.

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Rather than the traditional parchment paper, I used foil. I’m sure it’s fancier to use the parchment, but since I wasn’t serving this for company – I thought I’d stick with what’s simple. For this recipe, it requires 4 sheets (for 2 chicken breasts, 1 each pepper and onion and about 1 c of frozen peas), about 12″ square. The mixture is divided evenly among them and then the packages are sealed up. Dorie mentions that they can just be gathered together – I think it’s a bit easier to fold them up. But in any event, leave some space for the ingredients to steam in the oven. The packets get put onto a baking sheet before putting them in the oven.

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At this point, it’s possible to put these into the refrigerator for a few hours – just add a couple of minutes to the overall time. The packets are baked for a bit over 20 minutes, and then they are ready to serve. Almost exactly the amount of time to make a bit of rice in my rice cooker!! Once the time is up, check to make sure that the chicken is cooked through. The packets can be served at the table, or plated in the kitchen.

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Of course, this dish can be switched up –  change the chicken out for fish, use all vegetables, add fresh herbs or other seasonings, change the vegetables to whatever you have on hand – and if you’re willing to take some more time, you could even add potatoes or other root vegetables (which reminds me of the “hobo dinners” we’d have while camping as kids). It really depends on what you have on hand, and what suits your mood.

It’s my hope that this year’s Food Revolution Day will inspire people to cook a bit more, to spend time in the kitchen and at the table together – and to occasionally ignore that thought that tells us to just pick something up or go out. Happy cooking!

“Food Revolution Day is a chance for people all over the world to come together and stand up for good food and essential cooking skills. It’s a chance for people to come together in homes, schools, workplaces and communities to cook and share their kitchen skills, food knowledge and resources. Food Revolution Day is a global day of action to raise awareness about the importance of good food and better food education for everyone.

ffwd – coupetade (french toast pudding)

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I’ve looked at this recipe several times in the past and always thought “really? you make French toast and then make that into bread pudding?”. I happen to love French toast (and have been making Smitten Kitchen’s Cinnamon Toast French Toast lately). I also really like bread pudding and often make Paul Prudhomme’s version out of his amazing cookbook Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen. So I thought this would be interesting to try.

Again, we used challah for the base along with sugar, eggs, a little butter, milk, vanilla, and we were supposed to use dried fruit (as you can see, I was planning on using dried cherries – we’ll get to that).

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There is a first mixture made for the original French toast. This is really just eggs, sugar (kind of a lot) and a bit of milk. The bread is sliced, then soaked in the mixture. I added some cinnamon, because, well, I like cinnamon – a lot.

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The slices get browned in butter, then placed into a prepared baking dish.

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Another mixture of eggs, even more sugar, milk and vanilla is mixed together and poured over the top. It’s allowed to rest for about 10 minutes, then placed in a larger pan with a water bath, then baked for about 1-1/2 hours or so. As you can see, I managed to completely forget about my cherries, so this probably isn’t as traditional without the fruit.

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What didn’t make sense to me was how bread, already soaked in eggs and milk would be able to soak up any more egg-and-milk mixture. Maybe it was my expectations that were wrong, but the result ended up about as anticipated – a (fairly large) layer of custard alone with the toast rising to the top.

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What this meant was that there was weeping. Not mine, but the custard’s. That was ok, but just not as anticipated. I have to admit that I tried it when I first made it (warm) and was underwhelmed. Since I’m leaving town today for my niece/goddaughter’s university graduation, this was a time to share. I ended up taking this to work, and getting some testers. That also meant that I was “honor-bound” :) to try it again cold.

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I have to say, the reviews were pretty good. One friend, who is much more knowledgeable than I, actually knew that the dish was really supposed to turn out that way! (go figure, thank goodness for friends!) Another actually made the trek to my desk to thank me – and I’m not very easy to find these days.

I have to say, that when it was cold, I liked the contrast of the crispy edges of the toast and the creamy custard. But, that said, it was really too sweet for breakfast/brunch, and not really something I would choose for dessert. Maybe just too sweet in general. Perhaps some fresh berries would have lightened it up a little. I’m sure that the dried cherries that I’d planned would have been good and added a bit of tartness.

I’m not sure that I’m a convert, but this was fun to make. If you’d like to see how others fared with this recipe, stop by and check them out at French Fridays with Dorie. Happy weekend!

ffwd – creamy mushrooms and eggs

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Unfortunately, life has gotten in the way over the past few months. I was remodeling the exterior of my house, and then it was the holidays. Then my Dad’s health went downhill and we lost him in March. Of course (at least for me) with Easter comes hope and renewal. One of the big things that needed a re-start was my connection with friends. Not the least of which are my friends in the French Fridays with Dorie community. I’ve missed them, and I’ve missed a lot of recipes, and haven’t kept up with all of the posts, but with some of them over the past couple of months, I’m not sure I was too worried. :) .

This recipe is not one of those. I’ve made this a couple of times, though probably not always as close to the recipe as possible. This time, I thought – “pick up the correct bread, serve it the correct way”. Well, at least I thought that.

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This really is a simple recipe – sauteed mushrooms and shallot, finished with a bit of cream, served over toasted brioche or challah along with a poached egg.

There are only a couple of decisions to make with this. Namely, how to poach those eggs. I almost make Dorie’s ruffled eggs because they are so cute – but when I reached into the cabinet to pull out an appropriate bowl or cup to support putting them together, I saw my egg “poachers”. Now Martha (or Julia) would probably tell you that they aren’t then actually poached. But then again neither are they if they are cooked inside a little sack made of plastic wrap.

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Doing it this way meant that my eggs and mushrooms would be ready about the same time. Of course, I wasn’t quite so organized, but that’s ok.

The mushrooms get a quick saute with the shallots in a mixture of a little butter and olive oil. They also get seasoned with salt and pepper. In this instance, I thought I’d go ahead and use my truffle salt (love, love) to just add that much more yummy!

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This all comes together quickly, since the cream only needs a minute or two to thicken slightly. I used chives to finish the mushrooms off – the suggested rosemary would be great (as would thyme). I’ll be interested to see how others fared with the addition of mint per the recipe.

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I think this dish is delicious and easy. Very easily company-worthy. It would be a perfect meal with a salad and a glass of wine. And it takes maybe 20 minutes even if you’re not completely organized. It’s also great with some softly scrambled eggs (the French way, where they turn out creamy!), which makes it even quicker.

If you’d like to see how others prepared this dish, here’s the link!

ffwd – fresh orange pork tenderloin

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We’ve been on a bit of a roll lately with our FFWD choices. This is one of those recipes that kind of sounds good in theory.  Think I actually made this before. But I couldn’t remember. That should have told me something. But I’ve been behind on this project, always seemingly playing catch-up, so despite a trip late in the week, I wanted to make this recipe.

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The main flavorings are orange and cardamom. I had some fabulous local oranges that a friend gave me, so I wanted to use a couple (in my scaled down version), though again, I thought about saving them. Tiny but delicious.

I prepped everything – the orange segments, the juice, zest, a bit of onion and cardamom. To start with, I kept my tenderloin in one piece. I try not to actually look at other’s posts and comments, so that I actually learn something on my own, but this time, I did. The pork is browned, the onions added, then the cardamom, juice and zest. This is all covered for about 10 minutes, then the segments or supremes are added, then simmered for a bit more. Mine needed a bit more cooking, but not too much longer. I was pleased that the juice didn’t evaporate, and made for a nice bit of sauce

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That said, this was really uninteresting for me. The pork was juicy and tender, but there wasn’t enough cardamom to really notice, and I think it could have been more, well, savory and flavorful. I served mine with Dorie’s broccoli with garlic buttered breadcrumbs, which was a nice dish to go with. While generally, this is a good preparation method, I’m not sure that I would make it again as it was written. I’m looking forward to seeing what others came up with – I’m sure they had some great ideas. You can look for them too – here.

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ffwd – brown-sugar squash and brussels sprouts (en papillote)

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I really intended to make this the way I was “supposed” to, but once I had my vegetables prepped, I couldn’t bring myself to it. At least this time I moved forward. Last week’s French Friday with Dorie challenge expected us to make an Asian stir-fry with 2 cups (!) of tomato sauce (!) – I couldn’t even get started with that.

100_2241I have to confess, I’m not on board the brussels sprouts train. I’m trying to like them, and they are ok, sometimes even pretty tasty. But we never had them when I was growing up because my folks didn’t like them. So while I’m trying to catch up (at about the time they are going back out of fashion), I have a limited appetite for them. At least they are pretty!

Often I will make roasted butternut squash with apples – simply seasoned with good salt and tellicherry black pepper (and yes, it’s worth getting that variety). So it seemed reasonable to add the sprouts to them, particularly when I’ve been encouraged by friends to roast them until caramelized. I knew that these vegetables would be better roasted, rather than steamed in packets. So that’s what I did. I did use a bit of sage, and the brown sugar called for (though I wouldn’t describe 1 tsp of brown sugar as the main element). I tossed the vegetables about half-way through, so that they would cook and caramelize evenly.

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So here’s what I thought: these were tasty, and enjoyable. Unfortunately, the sprouts don’t hold well, their flavor overpowered the other ingredients when re-heated, which is a shame. I think I might even separate them out if I did this again, just so that the squash and apples could be served again – don’t know about the sprouts. It’s great to have leftover roasted butternut squash – soups, galletes, pizza… But this was fun to at least attempt.

ffwd – chicken liver gateaux with pickled onions

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Chicken livers always make me think of the early ’70s when my folks and their friends had cocktail parties where they served fancy Rumaki and chicken liver pate. At the time, it all seemed so sophisticated (especially for a small town in the midwest). I couldn’t tell you the last time I had Rumaki, though I like it (and what isn’t good wrapped in crispy bacon?).

So I was looking forward to this recipe, because I thought it would be fun, and Dorie’s dish looked so delicious. I didn’t think it would be a huge stretch. That was before I actually read the description and recipe. Really? It’s supposed to be served warm? Um, ok. And then when I read how this was to be prepared, all I could think of were my fellow Doristas – many of whom I thought might be a bit (!) put off by whirling raw chicken livers in the blender.

But – I was committed, and since I’d often proposed and/or voted for the recipe, I felt honor bound to complete it, even if my week was getting away from me.

The ingredients are actually easy to get, many of them readily on hand. I didn’t have fresh herbs, unfortunately, but since it was a small amount, I hoped it wouldn’t matter. I liked the idea of being able to un-mold these, so wanted to try using some of my fancy molds. I hedged my bets, however, by using some other standard ones. I might share these, but it wasn’t going to be at a dinner party, since I was late in getting to this, so I thought I’d play around a bit. I love these vintage molds, and don’t get to use them often. I have some others as well – so I was hoping this would be a new favorite dish. They get prepped, and sit in a paper towel-lined baking pan.

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The ingredients for the gateaux all get whirled together in the blender – chicken livers, eggs, egg yoks, half & half and seasonings. It gets blended to a (sickly?) pink liquid, that is then poured into the molds. Hot water gets added to the pan, and then it all goes into the oven for about 30 minutes. The thing I found about the fancy metal molds is that they floated, so I had to be careful with them, but didn’t have any mishaps. Mental note: less water next time.

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The pickled onions are the other component of this recipe. And even if the gateaux doesn’t get made again, these certainly will! I used red onions, because I thought they would be so much prettier, and they are typical for Latin recipes, so I thought I’d at least go off in that direction.

The brine ingredients get combined and simmered. The onions sliced into rings. And then they are added to the brine for a 10-minute simmer of their own. The aroma is heavenly, and I’m so, so very glad that we made these!

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The onions cool (they can be made ahead), the gateaux comes out of the oven and cools just a bit too. Since it was so unfamiliar to me, I wanted to try the gateaux when it was warm, so I plated one and added the onions. My spices drifted to the bottom, and so didn’t look quite so pretty. At least it retained the prettier pink, rather than the sort-of unattractive brown-ish color that was the top of the cake while still in the mold.

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I was pleased that this unmolded nicely and I think it looked kind of pretty. Of course, the greens would have looked nice too – but was a bit of a stretch with the warm gateaux (for me).

I’m still not sure whether I like this or not. The texture was so unusual, particularly when it was warm. And the flavorings reminded me of more of an old-world sausage with the sage. I did try a bit more cold the next day – and I’ll be sharing a couple later on today and will find out what others think. I’m not sure of the final verdict, though it was very fun to try!!

So, the container of chicken livers I picked up was 1 lb. I decided (since it had reminded me of all of those parties from long ago) that I would use the other 1/2 to make the chicken liver pate that I remember from back then. This is the recipe from our back-door neighbor Lucille Roehrs. My recipe card is in my little kid handwriting (we moved when I was 13, so I couldn’t have been too old!), and I have so many fond memories of Lou, that it may be why I like this so much. But anyway…

8 oz of chicken livers are sauteed in 1 T butter until no longer pink.

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Then they are whirled in a food processor or blender. Once cooled slightly, 2 T mayonnaise, 2 T butter, 1 T lemon juice, 2 t finely chopped onion, 4-5 drops of Tabasco, 1/2 t salt, 1/4 t dry mustard and a dash of pepper are added. You can blend it all until smooth, or leave it a bit chunkier. This time – smooth it was! This makes about 3/4c.

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Once this is chilled, it takes on a really nice spreading consistency. I didn’t bother, but you might be able to mold this one too. I’m sure it would be nice updated with some other flavors as well, or garnished with other things (like those pickled onions!).

So it was a fun time making something new, and something old too! I’m interested in seeing how everyone else did with this recipe. If you are too, you can check on them here.