Friday, December 17, 2010

Salted Butter (Caramel) Tart

I made this salted butter tart for my birthday at the beginning of this month.  The finished product was very good, but I messed up the caramel the first time around, and had to throw it out.  The recipe calls for a "rich, dark caramel color", so I kept cooking it, and then I smelled that awful burnt sugar smell, and sure enough, the caramel tasted burnt and terrible as well.  :(  I was quite sad, and was about to give up, when my husband came in and helped me start over on the caramel.  The second time around, I did not cook it very dark.  When you add the cream, it doesn't really lighten the color at all, so the mixture will be as dark as it is before the cream is added.

The crust was ok.... if you have a fave tart crust, I'd go ahead and just use that.  The recipe calls for making two crusts, basically, and saving the other one for later, but I didn't want to have two crusts and use extra ingredients, (um, like my buttah!) so I cut that recipe in half.  In doing so, I had to cut an egg in half, and whenever I have to do that in baking, I always go with the yolk.  Because I had to cut the recipe in half, my measurments are in both (or either/or) grams and cups... sorry!  I had to use my scale for this one.

In the end, this tasted so good that it was worth the hardship of me messing up the caramel.  :)  I LOVE caramel, so this was pefect for my birthday.  It was very sweet though, so a little sliver goes a long way. 

Salted Butter Tart

Pastry:
1 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch of fine sea salt
2.5 ounces cold unsalted butter, diced
1 egg yolk
1 ounce superfine (caster) sugar

Tart:
1 1/4 cups (9 ounces) superfine (caster) sugar
1/2 cup (4 ounces) salted butter, diced
1 cup whipping cream
Lightly whipped cream, for serving

Make the pastry:

1. Combine the flour and salt in a food processor and pulse to mix. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles very coarse bread crumbs. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.

2. In another bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and sugar. Pour the egg mixture over the flour-butter mixture and mix with a fork. Squeeze a bit of the mixture between your fingers. If it holds together, transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface; if not, add a couple of teaspoons of ice water and test again. Knead gently and form into a ball, divide the pastry in half, and flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before using.

Make the tart

1. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface and line a 9-inch or 9 1/2-inch (23-cm or 24-cm) tart pan. Prick the base of the tart with a fork and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

2. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).

3. Place the tart shell on a baking sheet. Line the tart with parchment paper and fill it with dried beans. Bake until the pastry is just set, about 15 minutes. Remove the paper and beans and continue to cook until the pastry is a dark golden color, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer the tart to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

4. Combine the sugar and butter in a deep, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir to mix and cook, stirring occasionally, until the butter and sugar caramelize, 10 to 15 minutes. The sugar and butter will go through several stages. First it will look like a flour-butter roux, then it will appear curdled, and then the butter will leak out of the sugar mixture. Don’t worry: It will all come together in the end.

5. While the caramel is cooking, pour the cream into a small saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Remove from the heat and set aside.

6. Keep stirring the butter-sugar mixture, watching carefully as it begins to caramelize and remembering that the heat in the pan will continue to cook the caramel once it is removed from the burner. You want a rich, dark caramel color, but you don’t want to burn the mixture, which will give it a bitter taste. (Don't let it get too dark!!!)  When the caramel reaches the right color, remove the pan from the heat and slowly and carefully pour in the cream; the mixture will bubble and spit. When the caramel stops bubbling, return it to low heat and cook for 5 minutes, stirring to dissolve the caramel in the cream. Remove the pan from the heat and let the caramel cool for 10 minutes. Slowly pour the cooled caramel into the baked pastry shell and chill the tart for at least 2 hours.

7. This tart is easier to cut when it is chilled. Remove the tart from the pan and, using a wet knife, cut it into wedges. Serve the tart at room temperature, however, for maximum flavor, with a dollop of whipped cream.
**This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com/ **

Friday, December 10, 2010

Finnish Pulla

Finnish Pulla is a sweet, yeast-raised bread from Finland.  It is distinctive because it contains the spice cardamom.  It's really yummy fresh out of the oven (with butter!) or toasted (with butter!) or made into french toast the next day or two (with butter, again!).  I made this sometime last week, but I took so many photos of it, that I put off going through them forever because it was overwhelming.  Lol! 

This is the second time I've made this- the first time was a few years ago, and it totally made me feel confident about bread-making and using yeast.  I cut the recipe into thirds to make only one loaf this time around- the original recipe (and the one I will post below) makes 3 loaves.  To make only one loaf, go to the Allrecipes recipe and enter "12" in the "number of servings" box and then hit "calculate".  (I used about 1 teaspoon of yeast for the one loaf).  I increase the cardamom in this recipe!  I also use coarse sugar to sprinkle on top- I bought some Turbinado sugar just for this recipe.  :)


Finnish Pulla
makes 3 braided loaves

2 cups milk
1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2-3 teaspoons ground cardamom
4 eggs, beaten
9 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons white sugar (coarse grind)

1.Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Let cool until lukewarm.

2.Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Stir in the lukewarm milk, sugar, salt, cardamom, 4 eggs, and enough flour to make a batter (approximately 2 cups). Beat until the dough is smooth and elastic. Add about 3 cups of the flour and beat well; the dough should be smooth and glossy in appearance. Add the melted butter or margarine, and stir well. Beat again until the dough looks glossy. Stir in the remaining flour until the dough is stiff.

3.Turn out of bowl onto a floured surface, cover with an inverted mixing bowl, and let rest for 15 minutes. Knead the dough until smooth and satiny. Place in a lightly greased mixing bowl, and turn the dough to grease the top. Cover with a clean dishtowel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Punch down, and let rise again until almost doubled.

4.Turn out again on to a floured surface, and divide into 3 parts. Divide each third into 3 again. Roll each piece into a 12 to 16 inch strip. Braid 3 strips into a loaf. You should get 3 large braided loaves. Lift the braids onto greased baking sheets (I just braid right on the greased baking sheets for ease). Let rise for 20 minutes.

5.Brush each loaf with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.

6.Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes. Check occasionally because the bottom burns easily.
**This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com/ **

Friday, December 3, 2010

Panellets- Spanish Almond Treats

This delish cookie recipe comes from Catalonia, Spain.  I don't remember seeing these when I lived in Spain, but I lived in Southern Spain, and I don't remember any pastry shops in my neighborhoods.  In Spain, these cookies are made for All Saints Day on November 1st.  I bought two Spanish cookbooks a few years ago, and have only made one or two recipes from each one.  A little while ago I decided that was almost a crime, and bookmarked a few recipes that looked yummy, had easily-attainable ingredients, and did not look too difficult. 
The description of this recipe stated that these had a marzipan-like taste, and I love marzipan.  The recipe includes a sweet potato and ground almonds.  The sweet potato flavor was not very pronounced at all, to my surprise.  I buy almonds pre-ground here (below), which makes this recipe very easy.  The flavor of these is very good, and the texture is wonderful- slightly harder on the outside, but with a wonderfully chewy middle.  And they do taste like marzipan!  The recipe I used indicated to flatten the dough balls a little, but in photos I've looked up online in the past few days, Panellets look very round.  I'm sure both ways are good.  The recipe includes both US and metric measurments- you'll need your kitchen scale to measure the sweet potato.  These kind of resemble those Italian Pignoli cookies- I love those! 

Panellets
from Spanish, by Pepita Aris

115g/4oz sweet potato, peeled*
butter, for greasing
1 large egg, separated
225 g/8 oz/2 cups ground almonds (almond flour/meal)
200 g/7 oz/1 cup granulated or caster (superfine) sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
finely grated rind of 1 small lemon
7.5ml/ 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract**
1/2 tsp almond extract
60ml/4 Tablespoons pine nuts
60 ml/4 Tablespoons pistachio nuts

1.  Dice the sweet potato, and cook in a pan of boiling water for 8-15 minutes, or until slightly soft.  Drain and leave to cool.

2.  Preheate the oven to 200°C/400°F.  Line one or two baking sheets with foil and grease well with butter.  Or you can use parchment; no need for greasing.

3.  Put the cooled sweet potato in a food processor and process to make a smooth puree, then work in the egg yolk, ground almonds, sugar, lemon rind and vanilla extract to make a soft dough.  Transfer the dough to a bowl and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. 

4.  Spoon walnut-sized balls (I used my cookie scoop) of dough onto the foil or parchment, spacing them about 2.5cm/1 inch apart, then flatten them out slightly.

5.  Lightly beat the egg white and brush over the cookies.  Sprinkle half the cookies with pine nuts, and half with the pistachios.  Sprinkle lightly with sugar and bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. 

6.  Cool slightly on the foil, then carefully lift off with a metal spatula.  (Don't let them cool too long on the foil or they will stick). 

*You can use one 4 oz. jar of baby food sweet potatoes; works very well, tastes the same, and is so easy!! 
**I like to use 1 tsp. vanilla extract; 1/2 teaspoon almond extract for more almond flavor.  :)
**This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com/ **

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Tomato-Blue Cheese Soup

I loved this tomato soup.  I might have even liked it better than my old favorite, Tomato & Basil Soup.  Sheesh!!  I cut down on the blue cheese in this recipe, since my fam hates it.  I used about 2 tablespoons instead of the 1/4 cup.  The family did not know the blue cheese was in there.  I altered the recipe in other ways too, and the result was just wonderful- the soup was rich, thick and creamy.  The blue cheese flavor was not very noticeable, but it added a little kick, and I put a bunch of extra blue cheese in my bowl.  :)  Add a garnish of fresh basil and you have a red, white and green soup for the Christmas season.  :)

The soup is originally Tomato-Gorgonzola, but sadly, good ol' Gorg. is not available here.  Too bad, because I love it.  I think I like it even more than regular blue cheese.  Any blue cheese variety will work here.  We had this for dinner with grilled cheese- made with sourdough and sharp cheddar.  Everyone was in heaven!

Tomato-Blue Cheese Soup
heavily adapted from Allrecipes

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 large red or yellow onion, diced
1/2 cup roasted red bell peppers
2 cloves cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup Blue or Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup low-fat milk
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (14.5 ounce) can tomato sauce
2 cups chicken stock (I used leftover homemade turkey stock)
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon white sugar
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1.Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, peppers, and garlic; cook and stir 4 to 5 minutes or until vegetables are soft.

2.Add the cheeses and milk; heat mixture until cheeses melt and the mixture is simmering.

3.Stir in the tomatoes (including their liquid), tomato sauce, broth or stock, basil, sugar, and pepper. Using an immersion blender (if possible), puree soup right in the pot.  Return to heat, and continue to lightly simmer mixture for 10-15 minutes while stirring constantly. Do not boil. 
**This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com/ **

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Traditional Chex Mix

Chex Mix is always good and easy.  I made some the other day for my daughter's class, and didn't have bagel chips.  I also couldn't include nuts because of allergies, so I just used Goldfish and CheezIt crackers.  Oh, I didn't have any pretzels either.  Yeah.  And I used just Rice Chex.  But it was still good!  Make this in the oven- it's better that way!  Although I've never tried it in the microwave. 

Traditional Chex Mix

3 cups Corn Chex® cereal
3 cups Rice Chex® cereal
3 cups Wheat Chex® cereal (or just use 9 cups of one of these)
1 cup mixed nuts (optional)
1 cup bite-size pretzels (Or CheezIts!)
1 cup garlic-flavor bite-size bagel chips or regular-size bagel chips, broken into 1-inch pieces (or Goldfish crackers!)
6 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder

Oven Directions Heat oven to 250°F.  In large bowl, mix cereals, nuts, pretzels and bagel chips; set aside. In ungreased large roasting pan, melt butter in oven.  Stir in seasonings.  Gradually stir in cereal mixture until evenly coated.  Bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.  Cool.  Store in airtight container.

**This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com/ **