it's been a long time...

since i last posted. in fact, a few months. i thus have a long list of things to say, hopefully interesting things. unfortunately, i haven't been able to keep up with my tech column, though this blog is more interesting anyway.

food kudos for best menus/dishes:
- jessica's desserts - rote gruze (red berry pudding with vanilla pudding sauce) and iles flottantes (drizzled with caramel and served with creme anglaise)
- lauren: white chili and fresh apple cake
- alice: the american food menu - hamburgers and apple pie; lemon-tarragon dip for the alumni thing
- austin: beef manhattans
- waseem: chicken and chickpeas with toasted pita bits
- betsy: "australian chicken" and mushroom curry
- sadie: pasta with peas and ham
- carrie: chicken + barley, cider spice cake with bits of candied ginger and whipped cream

food non-kudos: i like ice cream too, just not three times a week!

my menus thus far this year:

september / donald farfrae's home cooking
tattie and leek soup + cheddar-chive scones
forfrar bridies (potato-leek and steak-potato-leek)
ecclefechan tart

october / an early thanksgiving
chicken pot pie + sausage-sage stuffing
veg: fasoldha (greek bean soup) + creamed corn gratin
cranberry sauce
pumpkin pie + miriam's chocolate-walnut pie

tentative menu for november /
chicken mirabella (with capers and olives)
sauteed eggplant with tomatoes and onions
fettuccine + pesto

i have to say that the second menu went much better than the first, which was not particularly well-done in regards to scheduling. the second was a much better example of my planning skills; in fact we had little to clean afterwards, which was nice, and the pace of cooking was much less frantic than the first time. of course, this was largely due to the fact that i made the six pies the night before, and did a lot of the prep work (chopping vegetables) for the soup and chicken pot pie. the menu went over quite well, though, and i think i have found a final recipe for chicken pot pie. i made it a few weeks before my menu as well, with a bell and evans bird, which i think lived up to its expectations in regards to tenderness, though i couldn't taste much of a difference in regards to taste. yes, i roasted a chicken, only to tear it apart for chicken pot pie. the chicken pot pie was marvelous, if a little heavy on the thyme (i roasted the chicken with thyme butter underneath the skin and then put more thyme in the gravy for the chicken pot pie). when not roasting a chicken for pot pie, poaching the chicken breasts in chicken broth and fresh thyme is the way to go. for that menu, i also tried a new pumpkin pie recipe, which uses cream instead of condensed milk. i had always used the typical condensed milk recipe, but i can see why you would turn to cream after having tasted this pie, which was nothing short of wonderful. the crust didn't turn out as well as i would have liked, as it was rather tough. it probably had too much water in it.

recent restaurant exploits: i have been spending more money on shopping lately, rather than food, since the term has been so busy. consequently, i have only been out to the same old restaurants: bartley's, mary chung, pour house, california pizza kitchen. i learned this past week that oliver, one of my mcp classmates, is as passionate about mary chung as keith. i have high hopes that my palate will develop into something more extraordinary as time goes on. i had fond memories of the pumpkin cheesecake from cpk, which i last had about 5 years ago while having lunch at the natick mall with jenn and her mom. we had it last night, and while good, it was definitely not as good as i remembered it - the gingersnap crust was rather sweet, though the cheesecake itself was quite good.

for our alumni event, i made one of the best desserts i have ever tasted (and also one of the most complicated to make). (incidentally, a note about the ecclefechan tart, which is like pecan pie and can be found on epicurious.com: the pastry dough for this tart is wonderful, all flaky and tender. it's easy to make, and uses powdered sugar and cream instead of regular sugar and an egg to bind it. ) i have now made a grand total of three things (that i can remember at this moment) from my stash of cook's illustrateds: the brownies (pretty good, but not as good as lisa yockelson's brownies), the eggplant parmesan, and the chocolate-caramel walnut tart. it's rather a production: you make the crust, then the caramel bit, then the chocolate bit, then it gets baked, then chilled, but it's well worth it. the crust is absolutely wonderful, and the entire thing blends together like nothing else. it's the sort of special thing that i'll be making for my sister's birthday - a slot previously reserved for my chocolate mousse cake.

the challenge for my next menu: choosing a dessert. i am tempted to make the tiramisu again, which i generally make once a term, but i would like to choose something new. that said, nothing else really comes to mind. maybe linzer cookies? or possibly chocolate mousse. i would theoretically like to make the chocolate mousse cake, but i assume i will be too busy to make it. perhaps a chocolate custard pie. hmm, or maybe crepes. well, another week to decide.

chocolate-caramel walnut tart (from cook's illustrated, nov/dec 04)
the nuts used in the crust, in the caramel filling, and as a garnish must all be toasted; the entire amount can be toasted together on a baking sheet in a 375-degree oven until fragrant and golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. for cutting clean slices, dip the blade of the knife in warm water and wipe with a kitchen towel before making each cut.

walnut crust
1 large egg, separated
1/4t vanilla
1/2c toasted walnuts (2 1/2 oz)
1/2c (2 oz) confectioners' sugar
1c (5 oz) flour
1/8t salt
5T cold butter, cut into 1/2" cubes

caramel-walnut filling and garnish
1/4c water
1c (7 oz) sugar
2/3c heavy cream
3T butter, cut into 3 pieces
1/2t vanilla
1/2t lemon juice
1/8t salt
16-18 toasted walnut halves, plus 1c (5 oz) toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped (* only the 1c walnuts are chopped)

chocolate filling
2 egg yolks
1T plus 1/3c heavy cream
1/3c whole milk
5 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped fine
2T butter, cut into 4 pieces

[1] for the crust: beat egg white in bowl with fork until frothy; remove 1T egg white to second bowl and whisk in yolk and vanilla. process nuts and sugar in food processor until finely ground, 8 to 10 seconds. add flour and salt and pulse to combine. scatter butter pieces over flour mixture; pulse to cut buter into flour until mixture resembles coarse meal, about fifteen 1-second pulses. with machine running, add egg yolk mixture and process until dough forms ball, about 20 seconds. transfer dough to large sheet plastic wrap and press into 6-inch disk; wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate until firm but malleable, about 30 minutes.

[2] roll out dough between 2 large sheets lightly floured plastic wrap to 13-inch round, about 1/8" thick (if at any point the dough becomes too soft and sticky to work with, slip dough onto a baking sheet and freeze or refrigerate until workable). place dough round on baking sheet and freeze until stiff and cold, about 15 minutes (or refrigerate about 30 minutes). meanwhile, evenly spray 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom with non-stick cooking spray.

[3] remove dough from freezer; discard top sheet plastic wrap but keep dough on baking sheet. following illustrations above, line tart pan with dough (invert tart pan on frozen dough. press down so tart pan cuts through dough. flip the entire affair over and let tart pan stand 5 minutes, until the dough has thawed and slipped down the side of the pan. roll excess dough into 3/4" ropes and press into pan along fluted side. sides should be 1/4" thick). freeze dough-lined tart until firm, about 30 minutes. (can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and frozen up to 1 month.)

[4] meanwhile, adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 375 degrees. set dough-lined tart pan on baking sheet. spray 12-inch square foil with nonstick cooking spray and press foil inside chilled tart shell; fill with pie weights. bake until light golden brown, about 30 minutes, rotating halfway through baking time. carefully remove foil and weights and continue to bake until golden brown, about 5 minutes longer. cool on baking sheet on wire rack about 5 minutes, then brush hot crust with reserved egg white. reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees.

[5] for caramel-walnut filling and garnish: while crust is cooling, pour water into medium heavy-bottomed saucepan; add sugar to center of pot to keep granules from adhering to sides of pot. bring to boil over medium-high heat, covered, swirling pan once or twice to dissolve sugar. uncover pot and continue to boil, without stirring, until sugar is deep amber, begins to smoke, and registers about 375 degrees on an instatn-read or candy thermometer, about 5 to 10 minutes. remove pan from heat. carefully add about half of cream; mixture will sputter and steam. add remaining cream and let bubbling subside. return pan to low heat and stir with heatproof rubber spatula until caramel is smooth. add butter and stir until melted. remove pan from heat; stir in vanilla, lemon juice, and salt.

[6] add walnut halves to caramel and stir to coat; let stand until caramel is slightly thickened, about 8 minutes. using slotted spoon and allowing excess caramel to drain back into saucepan, transfer walnuts to wire rack set over baking sheet; set aside. stir chopped walnuts into caramel, then pour mixture evenly into tart shell. refrigerate, uncovered, on baking sheet until caramel is firm and does not slip when pan is tilted, about 20 minutes.

[7] for chocolate filling: whisk yolks and 1T ream in a small bowl. bring milk and remaining 1/3c cream to simmer in small saucepan; off heat, add chocolate and butter. cover pan and let stand until chocolate is mostly melted, about 2 minutes. using spatula, stir mixture until smooth; stir in yolk mixture. (chocolate should be thin and pourable; if too thick to pour evenly, set saucepan over low heat to warm mixture.) pour filling into caramel-filled tart shell, tilting tart pan as necessary to evenly distribute chocolate to edges of tart. bake on baking sheet in 300-degree oven until tiny bubbles are visible on surface and chocolate layer is just set (if pan is gently shaken, filling will appear very wobbly because caramel layer is warm), about 25 minutes. set baking sheet with tart on wire rak; arrange caramel-coated walnut halves on surface of tart, around perimeter. cool tart until just warm, about 30 minutes, then refrigerate, uncovered, until chocolate is firm, at least 3 hours or up to 24 hours.

[makes one 9-inch tart, serving 12 to 16]