i like these so much i can't countenance giving them away

it's the dead of the winter, and the gray skies have the happy consequence of making lemon taste like sunshine. there's nothing like eating something that you know is definitely out of season, you know? and i don't know about you, but i don't feel guilty at all.

what i do feel guilty about is that while i usually am happy to give away scads of baked goods, these hit the spot so well that i am thinking about keeping them all for myself. how big a pan of them did i make, you ask? oh, a paltry jelly roll pan's worth. and while i am actually using some of them in an experiment to see how they would fare frozen and thawed again (thus making it possible to eat them over a period of time...), there is no way that i really need to eat this many lemon bars. i just really, really want to.

the thing that is lovely about these lemon bars is that they have a thick enough shortbread crust that the bottom of it stays nicely crisp, while the middle gets imbued with moisture from the lemon custard. you get a nice gradient of soft to slightly soft to crisp, and it all tastes sharp, but not too sharp, because the mixture has a healthy dose of milk in it. the milk does double duty - it makes the custard creamier, and cuts the acidity of the lemons a bit, but not too much. also, these bars don't have too much crust or too much filling, and the result is a very lemon-y, custardy, crispy confection that tastes divine out of the fridge.

this is adapted from cook's illustrated - i accidentally put in twice as much milk, so then i compensated by adding a couple of eggs. i also subbed in flour for cornstarch - the recipe says it makes the crust more tender, but i'm not convinced by the idea of a tender shortbread. shortbread is crispy and tastes like caramelized butter, people! anyway, i have scaled it back down to a 9x13" pan, but this doubles well (though it takes about twice as long to bake - don't worry, the custard won't curdle or get hard). you could also make it as a tart, if you like, and serve it with...i dunno, meringue, whipped cream, things like that. btw, i don't dust lemon bars with powdered sugar because i hate inhaling sugar before eating something, but go ahead if you like.

lemon bars

crust

2c flour

2/3c sugar

1t salt

1 1/2 sticks butter

filling

5 eggs

1 1/3c sugar

3T flour

zest of 2 lemons

2/3c lemon juice from 3-4 lemons

2/3c whole milk

1/4t salt

1. to make the crust: lightly butter a 13x9" baking pan and line with parchment paper or foil (i used foil, it sticks better). lightly grease that layer, then apply one more layer crosswise over it. preheat the oven to 350F.

2. pulse flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. add the butter in chunks and process to blend, 8 to 10 seconds, then pulse a few times until mixture is pale yellow and resembles coarse meal. you can also do this by hand - mix in the butter with your fingers or a pastry blender. sprinkle the mixture into the prepared pan and press into the pan, 1/2" up the sides with a thickness of about 1/4". chill for 30 minutes in the fridge, then bake until golden brown, 20-30 minutes (by "golden brown," i mean the butter should have started browning the crust a little, but don't toast it to death since it will go back in the oven to acquire more color and caramel flavor).

3. while the crust is baking, make the filling: in a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar and flour to blend. add the eggs and beat until mixed well. add the milk, lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt, and whisk until completely incorporated.

4. take the crust out when it's done, and leave the oven door open; reduce heat to 325F. immediately, while the crust is still hot, pour the filling into it. return the pan to the oven and bake until the filling is just completely set, 20-25 minutes (closer to 40 if you have doubled the recipe). let cool to room temp (at least 30 minutes, more if you've doubled the recipe), then cut into 2" squares with a knife, pizza cutter, or dough scraper.

[makes 20-25 bars]

note: i'm seeing how well these freeze and will edit this recipe when i have results!

edited 02-13: so, they freeze flawlessly. the single caveat is that these are really best for the first four days after you've baked them, as the crust retains some modicum of crispness. when they've sat for a week or been in the freezer, the crust absorbs moisture and the bars have a slightly "fudgier" mouthfeel, which i feel is not as desirable in lemon bars. but if you get cravings for lemon, freeze away! i know i will.

when a pie is not a pie

for the past several months, i've been taking friday evenings off - it's the end of the week, and i'm really feeling the sleep deprivation for that particular week. plus, i work the weekends, so essentially friday nights are my weekend. usually i find myself making dinner with mary, though at this point we're fairly notorious for not actually eating until 10pm or later. by the time mary gets out of work and to central, it's 7:30, and then we invariably go food shopping; we start cooking around 8:30 or 9...you get the point.

i've had a craving for pumpkin pie ever since fall really arrived - there's just something so festive and seasonal about it. we never really ate pie growing up - cheesecake was our MO - and so now i love all kinds of pies: pumpkin, pecan, chocolate, custard, cream. and of course the best kind of pie is leftover pie - leftover pie for breakfast the next day.

anyway, i didn't have the energy to make a regular pie crust by hand, so we did a cookie crust with my favorite gingersnaps. i often find that cookie crumb crusts are too insubstantial, and lack structure, falling apart at the mere proximity of a fork; instead, i made the pie in a tart pan, which had the unintended consequence of making this pie technically a tart. and in doing so, it unintentionally made it into a faux upscale sort of thing - a yuppie move if i ever saw one. it seems odd that a pie can become something totally different just by changing its shape a little bit - the difference was highlighted all the more by the strong associations i have between the nostalgia of pumpkin pie and its tradtional shape. it really begs the question of whether this pie is still a pie, even though it's in a slightly different shape. i would say that there are fundamental differences between pies and tarts - pies are often more robust and homey, whereas tarts are more delicate and finessed. pies are all about functionality as a flavor delivery system, whereas tarts are more about presentation and display. i guess a pie topped with meringue has quite a bit of drama to it, especially when it's slightly bruleed on its exterior with a butane torch, but there's nothing like a tart for an OCD person to obsess over the arrangement of pieces of fruit. my verdict is probably that even though this pie is shaped like a tart, its filling doesn't really change from one shape to the other, so really it's still a pie.

despite the yuppie factor, this pie/tart is pretty excellent. out of sheer laziness i made the recipe on the back of the can - usually i use a cream-and-egg-based recipe from saveur - and upped the spices and ginger in particular. this pie is a bit on the sweet side, so a glass of cold milk or unsweetened whipped cream would be great accompaniments.

gingered pumpkin tart

for the crust

3 boxes of anna's gingersnaps

1 to 1 1/4 sticks butter

1 egg white (optional)

for the filling

1 can pumpkin

scant 1c sugar

1 1/2t ground ginger

1/2t freshly ground nutmeg

1 1/2 to 2t cinnamon

2T crystallized ginger, minced fine

pinch kosher salt

2 eggs

1 12-oz can evaporated milk

1. preheat the oven to 350F. place the gingersnaps in the bowl of a food processor, coarsely breaking them up with your fingers as you take them out of the box. pulse until the cookies are completely ground up. (alternatively, put them in a large, heavy-duty ziploc bag and crush the cookies with a rolling pin or other heavy/solid implement - a wine bottle would be good, a drinking glass less so.) add the butter and pulse until the crumbs are saturated and slightly wet looking.

2. press the mixture into an 11-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and bake for 20 minutes or so, until the crust has browned a little bit. you may want to use pie weights to keep the crust in place, as it may slip down the tart pan a little bit. if it does, though, you can also just press the crust back into place when you take it out of the oven (which i did, and recommend doing, anyway). let the crust cool while you make the filling. if you want the crust to stay crispier when you bake the filling into it, you can beat the egg white until foamy and brush the foam onto the crust right after you take the crust out (but after you reform it if necessary), while it's still hot. the egg white will dry as the crust cools and seal it against the filling.

3. in a medium bowl, whisk together the pumpkin and sugar. add the spices, salt, and crystallized ginger and whisk to combine. whisk in the eggs one at a time, then slowly whisk in the evaporated milk. pour the filling into the crust and bake until the center is just set, about 45 minutes. you may have too much filling - just put the extra into a ramekin and bake alongside the tart. let the tart cool fully - you can eat it while it's hot if you're desperate for pie (just wait 15 minutes), but i think it's better when it has cooled and set.

[serves about 10]

best cheesecake ever

just a quick one here...i made this a while ago to eat while watching guys and dolls. i made two cheesecakes, one a classic cheesecake and one a dulce de leche cheesecake from epicurious. my cheesecake wisdom to you: (1) the best crust is a gingersnap crust. (2) if you want a caramel cheesecake, make it with real caramel instead of dulce de leche to get a sharper, more caramel-y flavor. (3) milk products added to the cream cheese always makes your cheesecake more tender. (4) if you don't prebake the crust, it will be softer because it soaks up moisture from the batter. (5) the water bath is key. do not skip the water bath. (6) cheesecake is all about the details - the ingredients being at room temp, the amount of mise en place before you can put the ingredients together, the cooling of the cheesecake with the oven off but propped open....do not skip over the details. (6) making your own dulce de leche is pretty fun.

the classic cheesecake was the best ever: tangy from the greek yogurt i used in place of sour cream, medium light, creamy but not too creamy, perfectly accompanied by the gingersnap crust. this cheesecake will never fail you. the dulce de leche cheesecake was also good, but the layer of ganache i used was too thick, and the flavor was a little muted and muddled. eat your dulce de leche on toast instead of in a cheesecake, or at the very least, use a gingersnap crust to contrast more with the caramel filling.

dulce de leche
1 can sweetened condensed milk (containing only milk, sugar, glucose and sodium bicarbonate)
1 large stockpot (the can should fit inside with lots of room to spare in terms of inches of water above the top of the can)
water

1. place can in pot.

2. fill pot with water. cover top of can with at least 1 inch of water.

3. heat pot until water is boiling. keep at a boil; boil three hours.

4. most important step: as water boils off, keep adding more water so that the can is always covered with at least one inch of water. if you do not do this, the can will explode. do not let the can explode.

5. let cool at least 1 hour before opening and using.

[makes about 1 1/4 cups]


best cheesecake ever!!!
crust
2 packages ginger thins (i used anna's brand from the local supermarket)
4-5T butter, softened

filling
2 lbs cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/4c sugar
4 eggs, room temperature
1c greek yogurt
1/2c whipping cream

10" springform pan, plus a large roasting pan into which the springform pan will fit

1. to prepare the pan, wrap the bottom in tinfoil and then lock it into the ring. place the pan on a large piece of tinfoil and wrap the sides in it, in order to prevent water from touching the pan. place the pan in the large roasting pan. preheat the oven to 325F.

2. for the crust: grind up the gingersnaps in a bowl by hand, or in a cuisinart. it should be finely ground - as fine as it can get, essentially. mix in the butter either by hand or in a cuisinart, and pulse until the mixture looks damp. if it's not looking damp, add a little more butter. press into the pan with your fingers, then compact it with a measuring cup or the bottom of a glass.

3. for the filling: using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese in a large bowl until smooth. beat in sugar, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. beat in sour cream and whipping cream. meanwhile, boil enough water to fill the roasting pan to come 1 inch up the sides of the springform pan.

4. to assemble: pour filling into crust. pour boiling water into the roasting pan (in all honesty, i did not boil the water and it was ok). bake until filling is set and golden brown on top, about 1 hour 25 minutes. turn off oven and prop open oven door very slightly with a wooden spoon. let cake stand in oven 1 hour.

5. remove pan from water bath. remove foil (but do not remove cake from the pan yet), cover, and refrigerate to cool completely. to serve, slide a knife around the edge of the cheesecake to make sure it won't stick to the sides of the pan, then remove the sides. transfer to a plate.

note: can be prepared up to 4 days in advance, or frozen up to 2 months. if you freeze it, defrost it overnight in the refrigerator.

[serves 10-12]

another foray into the world of pork

as you know, i like pork. last week carrien and josh had gone to market basket to procure beef to grind it at home for burgers, and they picked up some pork ribs as well. ...unfortunately, by the time that i actually had the time to cook it, it had gone slightly green and iridescent, a good sign for something, i'm sure, but not meat. luckily, i had bought extra pork ribs at star to augment the ones in the fridge, and not that many people came to dinner, so it was fine.

i've been a little scattered with respect to cooking, having not been in the mood to do anything all that adventurous. accordingly, i'm afraid i was a little bit neglectful of what i made on friday evening: barbecued pork ribs, cornbread with corn, corn on the cob, onions, and ham in it, peas with thyme and onions, and apple "strudel" (really, apple turnovers). most of the neglect came from not really planning it out with respect to timing - oops. luckily, it all worked out anyway. i would say that if i did it over again, i would pay more attention to the ribs. i had picked out a recipe i used some time ago (maybe last fall?) but i couldn't remember exactly how much of the recipe i had used until after i made them the second time... it turns out that while i stuck more to the recipe this time - basically, you steam the ribs en papillote with pineapple juice for an hour, then baste them with the glaze on a grill for a short period of time - as opposed to the last time, when i had no pineapple juice and not much honey, so i just roasted them in the oven and kept basting them. luckily, it takes rather a lot to ruin pork, so i would say that the disappointment i felt was really from the fact that my expectation of the final product was not what i actually got. but in fact, both versions were good: the original version i made was crispier on the outside and benefited flavor-wise by the basting, while the second version was more punchy with the flavor and was really tender from its steaming in the foil packets. i would say that you would want to use a medium-fat pork rib if you're going to steam them, otherwise the fat doesn't have enough time to completely render out of the pork and they end up a little greasy. i would say that the consistency of the glaze was also a bit gloppier than i wanted because they were in the oven and not on a grill; also, i had added the pineapple puree to the glaze after i strained out the juice to steam the ribs in, which i think made the glaze slower to cook and crisp.

luckily the evening was not without a culinary hit - the strudel was really quite good. i didn't have a recipe except for the basics: apples for the inside and phyllo for the outside. making real strudel dough is fun, but really only if you have many people or it gets old quite fast. as a rule, i don't like adding spices to apples, which generally make them taste less like apples and more like canned apple pie filling, so all i did to the apples was really toss them with sugar and lemon zest, and saute them in a bit of butter until they were browned. then i wrapped small handfuls of the apples in phyllo, two sheets to each handful. a sprinkling of sugar, then they went in the oven for about 20 to 25 minutes - and presto! some really apple-y turnovers.

apple strudel
1/2 package of phyllo
6-8 large apples
~1/2c sugar - enough to coat the apples
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 stick plus 1 1/2T butter

1. peel, core, and slice the apples (the slices should be on the thick side). place in a bowl and toss with the lemon zest and juice. toss the apples with the sugar.

2. melt half of the 1 1/2T butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat; when it foams, add half of the apples and saute until golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 10-15 minutes. let the apples get good and golden brown - they'll taste better. repeat with remaining apples and butter. let apples cool to room temperature.

3. preheat the oven to 350. melt and cool the stick of butter. unroll the phyllo and mound some of the apples on the top sheet. brush with butter and roll/fold up, making sure that all layers of phyllo are stuck together with butter. try to work relatively quickly so the phyllo doesn't dry out, or rip from the moisture in the apples. use two to three sheets of phyllo per apple packet. when done wrapping, brush the packet with butter on all sides, and place on a baking sheet. sprinkle the top with sugar. repeat with remaining apples.

4. when done making packets, bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes, until they are golden brown. eat immediately. let any leftovers cool completely, then pack into an airtight container. to reheat, toast in a toaster oven - strudel can get soggy.

[makes 10-12 individual strudels]

preoccupations : the meat pie

looks like a muffin, but really it's a nicely flaky crust shaped like a muffin that contains a mixture of pork, beef, onions, carrots, peas, and other sundry things. and baked together for close to an hour, it definitely hits the spot. if we consider the shape of the pie, i find it a bit lacking - i think what is really needed is a muffin top pan (or, no pan at all) so that the pie is shallower.

but let me start from the beginning. what i was aiming for was basically comfort food - but luscious, stick-to-your-ribs, mind-blowing, "this is just a meat pie??!" comfort food.

i especially love things that you eat with your hands, and that is what a meat pie is (yes, i realize the photograph has a fork in it). we eat with forks and knives so often that it's surprising and completely sinful to eat something with your hands, which hide the food object while you consume it furtively. a meat pie is different from buns, muffins, cookies, rolls, all of those other things that we eat with our hands. you can cradle it in your hands, and there is something about
a completely sealed pastry enclosure that makes you think it must hold something wonderful inside. because it's handheld, you can be completely selfish and keep it all for yourself, unless you're a generous soul, and this makes it all the more sinful because you don't want to share it with anyone. and this is what a meat pie should be.

i would say the pastry lived up to what the pastry should be: buttery, flaky, slightly thick so it was crispy on the outside, soft on the inside where the juices cooked into it. and the meat pie is one of the cases in which i will use an egg wash (fruit pies get the whole milk and sugar treatment). mmm. i used the pastry recipe from richard sax's home desserts, which is to say, i got the ingredient amounts from it; i always make the pastry the same way. and i'll tell you - i thought that it was going to be tough and rubbery this time because the dough was a little stretchy, but i think it was just that i didn't chill the dough sufficiently (it was on the top level of the fridge for an hour). unfortunately, the pastry was a little ugly shapewise, because i didn't cut the pastry into identical shapes and kind of patched them together, but i think i could work out a good system in the future.

the filling wasn't as good as the pastry, but i thought it did the job pretty well - it just didn't reach the heights that the filling is supposed to reach. once you've committed to doing the work to bite into the thing, whatever is inside better be good. i originally was going to leave the house and get some potatoes, so i could blend the mashed potatoes with the ground beef/pork mix that i had, but i decided not to because i was lazy (and poor). so i did some onions in bacon fat and thyme, with a bit of a sherry reduction as the onions browned. then i did the beef, adding some of the leftover pizza sauce (reduced crushed tomatoes, basil, and onions) i'd made for new year's and some sour cream to keep it from getting too tough. i did a bit of peas and carrots (frozen, sorry...) and mixed all of it together with a couple of eggs and breadcrumbs mixed with sour cream and the meat juices, and a couple tablespoons of maple syrup for good measure. fold that up into the pastry and pop it in the oven for an hour until the pastry is browned, and you've got your meat pies.

so let's talk about this filling. flavorwise, i thought it was great - the seasoning was right, and the meat to veggie ratio was good (i think it could have used a bit more veggies). i was particularly pleased that there was about the right amount of liquid in the meat pie - which is to say that there wasn't too much at all, so you don't bite into it and spill it all over yourself. but i think it was the wrong decision to use the ground meat - there's something about a meat pie that wants you to really be able to bite into it, and the ground meat just isn't quite assertive enough. so maybe little bars of steak with a little more chew would have been appropriate in this case. let me differentiate here between two different kinds of meat pies: the type i made today are handheld, but there is also the type that's large and that you eat slices of. the larger ones, i think, are best made with ground meat because it will slice more easily; however, for a handheld little beauty, i think it would be better to use more discrete pieces of meat.

and there you have it: my first try at meat pies. i think the most disappointing thing was the shape of the pie, and in the future i'll make them by hand without a mold, instead of using a muffin pan.

since the meat pie was such a hodge podge of stuff, i'm including just the recipe for the pastry here:

go-to pie and pastry crust
2 1/2c flour
1/4t baking powder
2T sugar
1/2t salt
2 sticks butter
5-8T cold water

1. mix all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl. cut half the butter into small pieces and toss in the dry ingredients. mix together the butter and dry ingredients with your hands, two knives, or a pastry blender (i prefer my hands) until it resembles coarse meal. it will turn slightly yellow. if you use your hands, then the motion you want is basically rubbing the flour and butter together between your fingers to moosh them together.

2. cut the other half of the butter into small pieces and toss into butter-flour mixture. rub into the flour mixture with your hands or a pastry blender until the butter is in pieces the size of small peas - the mixture will turn slightly more yellow.

3. add 5 tablespoons of cold water one tablespoon at a time, sprinkling the water into the mixture and turning it over so the water is somewhat evenly distributed. toss dough together until it comes together, adding more water by the tablespoon if you need more. the dough shouldn't feel overly wet - just very slightly damp.

4. divide mixture in half and press into a ball. flatten the ball into a disc on top of a large (18" long) piece of plastic wrap, then wrap tightly. make sure the edges aren't cracked - push the edges of the crack together. chill at least an hour. when you roll it out, put another piece of plastic wrap on top of the disc so you don't need to use flour (cheap trick, yes, but it does work wonderfully well).

[makes enough for a 9" pie - top and bottom crusts]

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]

rhubarb addendum : recipes

rhubarb streusel pie
1 pie crust

for the filling:
1c sugar
3T quick-cooking tapioca
1/2t vanilla
5c 1/2-inch chunks fresh rhubarb (slightly over a pound)
2T butter, cut into bits

for the streusel:
1/2c brown sugar
1 1/2c flour
4T butter
1/2t cinnamon

[1] roll out the dough to 1/8" thickness and place in a 9" pie pan. Line with foil and weight with rice, and bake in a preheated oven at 425 for 10 minutes. Remove foil and rice and bake 3-5 minutes more, until pale golden.

[2] stir together all of the filling ingredients in a large bowl; let stand 15 minutes.

[3] mix together dry ingredients for streusel in a bowl. add butter and rub into dry ingredients until it resembles coarse meal and the mixture clumps.

[4] sprinkle streusel on top of filling. bake at 450 for 15 minutes, then 350 for 50-60 minutes, until rhubarb is tender.



strawberry-rhubarb courting cake
cake:
2 sticks butter
1c + 2T sugar
4 eggs
2t vanilla
2 3/4c flour
4t baking powder
1t ground nutmeg
1t salt
1/4c milk

whipped cream:
1 1/2c chilled whipping cream
6T sugar
1t nutmeg
1t vanilla

compote:
4c 1/2-inch thick slices rhubarb (slightly over a pound)
1/2c sugar
2T water
1 pint strawberries, sliced
1/2t vanilla
1/2t nutmeg

[1] make cake: preheat oven to 350F. Butter 2 9" cake pans and line with parchment paper. Cream together butter and sugar. Add vanilla extract, then eggs 1 at a time. Mix together dry ingredients in another bowl and fold into butter mixture. Fold in milk. Divide batter between pans and bake, ~25 minutes.

[2] cool cakes 10 minutes, then release from pans and split each cake in half horizontally (to create 4 layers). Let cool completely.

[3] make compote: mix together rhubarb, sugar, and water in a large saucepan. cook over medium heat until the mixture boils, then reduce the heat to medium low. cover and cook until rhubarb reduces and liquefies. remove from heat and add remaining compote ingredients.

[4] make whipped cream: whip cream to soft peaks. add nutmeg, vanilla. add sugar gradually and whip to stiff peaks.

[5] assemble cake: put bottom layer of one cake on cake plate. spread with 3/4c compote, then 1c whipped cream. repeat with 2 more layers, then top with bottom layer of second cake. dust with powdered sugar and serve, or chill several hours.