Mango Pineapple Tart

I went to a wonderful dinner party last night. The host was serving Wahoo (tropical fish) and lobster and asked me to bring dessert. It's Michigan and January and we're eating a tropical feast!

I also discovered this really great tart crust and a quick and easy way to make custard! The whole vanilla bean is key! 

Mango Pineapple Tart

modified from Bon Appetit, June 2003

serves 12

Crust

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup toasted almonds

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon (or more) water

1/2 teaspoon almond extract*

Filling

2 cups whole milk

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

6 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

3 1/2 teaspoons rum*

Assembly

1/4 pineapple, halved lengthwise, cored, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices

1 mango, peeled, halved, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices

1/4 cup fruit preserves, melted*

Make the filling:
Heat milk in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Bring to simmer.

Whisk yolks, sugar, and cornstarch in large bowl to blend.

Gradually whisk hot milk mixture into yolk mixture; return to saucepan and whisk over medium heat until thick and beginning to bubble, about 8 minutes. Transfer to medium bowl. Cool slightly; mix in rum. Press plastic wrap onto surface of custard. Chill until cold. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.)

Make the crust:

Chop nuts in a processor until they are finely ground. Add flour, sugar, and salt and mix until well blended. Using on/off turns, cut in butter until pea-size pieces form. Add yolk, 1 teaspoon water, and extract; using on/off turns, blend just until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic and chill.

*Roll out dough between 2 lightly floured sheets of waxed paper to 1/4-inch thickness. Peel off top sheet of paper. Invert crust into 11-inch round tart pan with removable bottom. Peel off paper; press dough into pan. Trim edges. Refrigerate 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Bake crust until golden, about 25 minutes. Cool. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Wrap and store at room temperature.)

Assemble the tart:
Remove vanilla bean from filling. Whisk filling just until smooth; spread in crust. Arrange pineapple and mango slices in concentric circles atop filling. Brush fruit with preserves. (Tart can be assembled 3 hours ahead. Refrigerate.)

***Notes:
1. The original recipe called for macadamia nuts, but lots of the reviewers on epicurious complained that your couldn't taste the macadamia nuts over the almond extract. I didn't have any macadamia nuts on hand anyways, so I used almonds. The almond extract taste is pretty strong and I think we'll try the crust next time without it.

2. The original recipe called for dark run, but all I had was the clear stuff, so I used that and it worked out just fine.

3. The original recipe called for apricot preserves. I used strawberry and it tasted great. I imagine you could use whatever preserves you have on hand.

4. Alternatively, you could just press the dough into your tart pan. I did it this way and my only complaint is that the corners of the crust were too thick. But the crust is really good, so the thick crust isn't a deal breaker.

Pecan Stickiest Buns

I have been wanting to make these for a least a year, but the time commitment for the double rise always scared me away. I finally tried it from brunch last weekend and I will never be afraid again! These are awesome!

Pecan Stickiest Buns
modified from The Modern Baker
makes 15 buns
(but honestly it would be ok to split one bun between 2 people!)

Sweet Yeast Dough:
2/3 cup milk
5 teaspoons active dry yeast*
8 Tablespoons butter (1 stick), softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
4 cups flour

Heat milk in a small saucepan until it is just luke warm (about 110F). Pour the milk into a small bowl and whisk in the yeast. Set aside.

Combine butter, sugar, salt, spices, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer. With paddle attachment, beat until well combined, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs and yolks one at a time, beating smooth after each addition.

Decrease the speed to low and add 2 cups of flour. Stop and use a rubber spatula to scrape down the bowl and beater. Still on low, add the yeast mixture. After the liquid has been absorbed, beat in the remaining flour. Scrape down bowl and beater again, then beat the dough for 2 minutes. Stop and let the dough rest for 15 minutes.

Beat the dough on low to medium until it is smooth and fairly elastic, about 2 additional minutes. Scrape the dough into a buttered bowl and turn it over so the top is buttered too. Cover the bowl with a towel and let dough rise until doubled in bulk, 1 to 2 hours or more depending on the temperature of the room*.

Filling:
8 Tablespoons (1 stick) butter, very soft
1 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup pecans or walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped*

Sticky Bun Mixture:
8 Tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup dark corn syrup
2 cups pecans or walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped*

Make the filling: With a small rubber spatula, stir together butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.

Make the sticky bun mixture: Melt the butter in a small pan. With a small rubber spatula, mix together all ingredients. Keep the mixture in the pan and leave the pan on the stove, so the mixture doesn't harden too quickly, while you are assembling the buns.

Prepare your pan: Butter the bottom and sides of a 9 x 13 x 2 inch glass baking pan. Line the pan with foil and then butter the bottom and sides of the foil.

Flour a work surface and press the dough into a rough rectangle. Even up the sides and corners with your hands and lightly flour the dough. Gently roll it into a 12 x 20 inch rectangle.

Scrape the butter filling onto the dough and gently spread evenly, with a small rubber spatula.  Scatter the chopped pecans or walnuts over the butter mixture.

Roll up the dough, jelly-roll style from on of the 12 inch ends without stretching it. Pinch the end in place to seal it. Use a sharp knife to cut the roll into 3 equal pieces. Then cut each into 5 equal pieces. You should have 15 equal pieces in the end.

Spread the sticky bun mixture evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Arrange the buns, cut side down on top of the mixture, making 3 rows of 5 buns. Keeping them about 1/2 inch apart all around.*

Cover the pan with a towel and let the buns rise until doubled in bulk.

Bake at 375 degrees fro 25 to 30 minutes, until they are firm and golden and the sugar mixture in the bottom of the pan is bubbling gently.*

Place the pan on a rack and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Place a cutting board on the pan and invert. Lift off the pan. Carefully peel away the foil. If some of the pecans/walnuts stick to the foil, just pry them off with a fork and replace them on the buns.

***Notes:
1. The quantity of yeast in this recipe seems like overkill. I buy bulk yeast and only had about 3 teaspoons left, so I only used 3 teaspoons and everything rose just fine.

2. I made this for a Sunday brunch, so I made the dough on Saturday morning and let it rise all day (my house is really cold). Then I made the filling and sticky bun mixture on Saturday night and assembled everything and stuck the pan in the fridge overnight. In the morning, I pulled the pan out of the fridge, let  the buns rise for about an hour and then baked them.

3. The original recipe (and tradition!) calls for pecans, but I love walnuts and was out of pecans. And I always toast nuts when baking with them, so I used toasted walnuts and the sticky buns were delicious.

4. I found it impossible to fit 15 buns in a 9 x 13 pan without the buns touching, much less to give them a 1/2 inch space between them. Mine were touching, even crowing each other and they turned out just fine.

5. Place a baking sheet in the rack under the sticky buns to catch the overflowing sugar mixture.

6. And since the majority of my family is "counting points" (myself included), these sticky buns point out at about 11 points each. Yikes!

Tuesday Flan

Rob and I are getting a gallon of farm fresh milk every week and don't drink it all during the winter. So, every Tuesday (which is milk delivery day) I have been making flan. This is a Rick Bayless recipe with very few modifications.

Vanilla-Flavored Caramel Custard
modified from Rick Bayless' Authentic Mexican
makes one large flan (10 servings)

2 quarts milk
1 2/3 cups sugar
1/2 vanilla bean (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
1/3 cup water
6 eggs
6 eggs yolks

Split the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape the seeds into the milk. Add the whole bean to the milk too. Bring the milk, vanilla bean (if you are using vanilla extract, wait to add it with the eggs) and 1 cup of sugar to a boil in a large saucepan. Regulate the heat so the mixture simmers briskly without boiling over; stirring regularly, let reduce to 1 quart, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Measure the remaining sugar into a small heavy saucepan and dribble the water in, first around the sides then over the sugar, and stir several times. Bring to a boil, wash down the sides of the pan with a brush dipped in water then simmer over medium heat, without stirring, until the syrup begins to color. Swirl the pan continuously over the burner until the syrup is an even deep amber. Immediately pour the caramel into the 2 1/2 quart souffle dish. Tilt the dish to distribute the caramel over the bottom and sides.

Set the souffle dish in a baking pan deep enough to hold 2 inches of water. Put a teakettle of water on to heat and preheat the oven to 350F.

When the milk is reduced to one quart, remove the vanilla bean and strain milk through a fine mesh sieve to remove and membranes or milk "skins." Beat the eggs and yolks in a large bowl until liquidy. Slowly beat in the hot reduced milk, then pour mixture into the mold.

Fill the outside baking pan with 2 inches of water. Cover both pans lightly with foil and bake until the custard has just set, about 40 to 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool in the water bath. The custard will set completely as it cools.

For best results, let the custard cool completely. Run a non-serrated knife around the edge to loosen. Twist the dish back and forth to ensure the custard is free from the mold. Invert a deep serving plate over the top, flip the two pans over and listen for the flan to drop. If there is still caramel in the bottom of the mold, either scrape it out with a spatula onto the flan.

Notes:

If you want to make ahead or travel with this dish you have a couple of options:

1. I have made the flan up to 2 days ahead of time, waiting to flip it on to a serving dish until you are ready to serve it.

2. You can make the milk reduction and caramel and wait to combine and bake until you have reached your destination. Then add the eggs and bake.

Linzertorte

According to the Joy of Cooking, this is a German "company" pie. For us it is just another way to eat our fruit in the winter months. I made it this morning with some strawberry jam Rob canned this past summer.....

Linzertorte
from Joy of Cooking
makes a 9 inch pie, which should serve about 12

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind*
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups flour*
1 cup almonds, ground in a nut grinder or food processor, etc.
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pint jam or preserves*

Preheat oven to 325F and have all ingredients at 70F.

Beat butter until soft. Add sugar gradually and blend until very light and creamy. Add lemon rind. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in gradually the flour, almonds, cinnamon, cloves, cocoa powder, and salt. Joy of cooking says, "the old recipe reads, 'Stir for one hour,' but of course no high-geared American has time for that. With the Kitchen Aid, I leave it running on medium while I put the ingredients away and tidy up the kitchen. This probably takes about 10 minutes and makes my husband happy.

If the dough is very soft, chill it. Reserve 1 to 1 1/2 cups of dough for your lattice, set aside. Pat the rest into an ovenproof dish. You want a thickness of about 1/8 inch. Mound the sides up slightly so you have room for the jam. Rechill until firm.

Cover the cake with the jam or preserves.


Place remaining dough into a pastry tube*. Forcing the dough through the bag, form a good edge and lattice. Bake the cake about 50 minutes or until the dough starts to brown.

Before serving, fill any hollows with additional preserves. You may also dust the top with confectioners sugar.

Notes:
* I didn't have any fresh lemons this morning, so I used 1 teaspoon lemon juice and it worked just fine.
* I generally use 3/4 cup white flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour to try and make the dessert a little more healthy.
* I used strawberry jam today, but have also had good results with raspberry.
* I also had a heck of a time with my pastry bag; I couldn't find the right tip and so my lattice is all squiggly. I finally had decent luck with a regular old ziplock baggie. I fill the bag with dough, squeezing down into one corner, get the air out and zip the bag closed. Then I cut the tip off the corner. The only real trick is not too cut too big of a piece off the corner, so I start small and make it bigger if necessary. Hopefully next time I'll have a little better presentation!

Grapefruit with Wine Syrup

adapted from Bon Appetit, December 2001
serves 4

4 red grapefruit
1 1/2 cups dry red wine, such as Zinfandel or Cabernet Sauvignon
3/4 cup honey

Working over bowl, cut between membranes to release segments of 2 grapefruit. Save any juice from this step. Save the halves to use as serving cups. Cover and chill segments at least 30 minutes and up to 1 day.

Cut remaining 2 grapefruit in half. Using juicer, juice grapefruit. Pour 1 1/2 cups juice into heavy medium saucepan. Add wine and honey to juice in saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Simmer until reduced to a think syrup, about 20 minutes. The syrup is thick enough when it will coat a spoon. Cool wine syrup to room temperature. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover grapefruit halves and wine syrup separately and refrigerate. Bring wine syrup to room temperature before using.)

Arrange grapefruit cups on large platter. Divide segments among cups. Drizzle each grapefruit cup with wine syrup and serve.

New Years Brunch

Happy New Year! Yesterday morning we hosted brunch and managed to have a relaxing morning (we were playing cribbage and drinking coffee by the fire when the first guests arrived!), great food, and we all made it to the one one run (a fun run on New Years Day at 1pm) on time! I think that defines a successful brunch!

The only thing we prepped ahead was the potatoes. We sliced them the night before and covered them in lightly salted water to prevent them from turning brown. Rob got a mandoline for Christmas and this was a great recipe to try it out on. Paper thin potatoes crisped up very nicely, so if you have the option, I would put that mechanical advantage to use.

Everything else was easy enough to make in about 2 to 2.5 hours.

Cinnamon Walnut Scones

These are my all-time favorite weekend morning scones and I have no idea where the recipe originally came from, but this recipe makes approximately 6 scones.

1/4 cup whole milk, plus a couple of tablespoons for brushing
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
3 Tablespoons sugar, plus a little more for dusting
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 Tablespoons butter
1/3 cup walnuts, toasted

Toast walnuts until slightly browned. Preheat over to 400F.

Whisk together egg, milk, and vanilla in a small bowl.

In a second, medium bowl, stir together sugar, salt, flour, powder, soda, and cinnamon. Chop the butter into small pieces and add to the flour mixture. Stir until mixture resembles course cornmeal. Stir in walnuts. The stand mixer will break the walnuts into smaller pieces, but if you'd like them very fine or are not using a stand mixer, break them into smaller pieces by hand before adding them here.

Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Knead the dough by hand gently for about 30 seconds, until it holds together nicely.

Pat the dough into a 3/4 inch thick round and cut into 6 wedges. Brush them with milk and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake on a lightly greased baking sheet for 15 to 18 minutes, or until the tops are just beginning to brown.
 

Crispy Roasted Potatoes
adapted from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food, December 2009
serves 8
total time: 2 1/2 hours (about 2 hours of this is baking time)

3 Tablespoons butter, melted
3 Tablespoons olive oil
4 pounds yukon gold potatoes
4 shallots, thickly sliced lengthwise
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
8 sprigs thyme

Preheat oven to 375F.

In a small bowl combine melted butter and olive oil. Brush the bottom of a 9-inch round baking dish with some of this butter mixture.

With a sharp knife or mandoline, slice potatoes very thin, crosswise. Arrange potato slices vertically in a dish. Wedge shallots throughout. Sprinkle with salt and red pepper flakes (if using); brush with remaining butter mixture. Bake 1 1/4 hours. Add thyme and bake until potatoes are cooked through with a crisp top, about 35 minutes more.

Notes:
*If you want crispier potatoes, slice them as thin as possible (we used the 1/16th of an inch setting on the mandoline) and don't pack them into the dish to tightly.
*If you were trying to make this dish healthier, you could probably get away with less of the butter/olive oil mixture. There was a bunch left in the pan. Next time I will try using half the butter and oil.


Baked Eggs and Mushrooms in Ham Crisps
adapted from Gourmet, February 2002
serves 12 crisps (assume 1 or 2 crisps per person)

3/4 lb mushrooms*, finely chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped shallot
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons crème fraîche or sour cream
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
12 slices deli ham
12 eggs

*We used chicken-of-the-woods mushrooms but any wild or flavorful mushroom would work great.

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Cook mushrooms and shallot in butter with salt and pepper in a large heavy skillet over moderately high heat, stirring, until mushrooms are tender and liquid they give off is evaporated, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in crème fraîche and thyme.

Fit 1 slice of ham into each of 12 lightly oiled muffin cups (ends will stick up and hang over edges of cups). Divide mushrooms among cups and crack 1 egg into each. Bake in middle of oven until whites are cooked but yolks are still runny, 10 to 15 minutes. Season eggs with salt and pepper and remove (with ham) from muffin cups carefully, using 2 spoons or small spatulas.

Left over ham bones

One of my favorite parts of Christmas is the ham bone. All of the women fighting over it, with dreams of soup bouncing around their heads. I managed to score two ham bones this year thanks to many wonderful coincidences; 1.) an office potluck; 2.) the fact the my aunt made both a turkey and a ham for Christmas dinner and had her heart set on turkey soup; and 3.) my mom is heading out of town for a few days and didn't fight me for the family ham bone. So I got to make two soups today!

The first is my old stand-by ham and lentil soup and the second is a new-comer.

Ham and Lentil Soup 
modified from Gourmet, October 2001
serves 4 to 6

1 lb lentils (any color will do, I usually use red and/or yellow), picked over
2 qt water
1 meaty ham bone
2 lb onions (5 medium), finely chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon sage
salt and pepper to taste

Rinse lentils and combine in a 6- to 8-quart heavy pot with water, ham bone, and half of onions. Bring to a boil, skimming froth, then reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until lentils are tender but not falling apart, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. This can also be done in a crock pot on low heat for 6-8 hours if you are looking for make ahead options.

Cook remaining onions in butter in a large heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, about 10 minutes. Add to soup along with thyme and sage and continue to simmer, partially covered, until lentils are falling apart and soup is thickened, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Remove ham bone (if you want the soup smooth, blend the lentils now) then shred meat and return it to soup.

And the second soup.....we decided it wasn't really worth making again.

Guacamole and Potatoes

This is a dish served at my family's favorite mexican restaurant and is affectionately known at GP. We had a mexican party last night in honor of my Aunt Kathy's birthday and I attempted to replicate the GP. It was a pretty good first attempt....we'll see if we can't improve it over the years.

We made the following potatoes for brunch and then reheated them for dinner, so they can certainly be made ahead if you are hosting a big dinner. We probably only used 1/4 of the potato recipe as listed below for GP for 11 people.

Crispy Roasted Potatoes

adapted from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food, December 2009

serves 8

total time: 2 1/2 hours (about 2 hours of this is baking time)

3 Tablespoons butter, melted

3 Tablespoons olive oil

4 pounds yukon gold potatoes

4 shallots, thickly sliced lengthwise

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

8 sprigs thyme

Preheat oven to 375F.

In a small bowl combine melted butter and olive oil. Brush the bottom of a 9-inch round baking dish with some of this butter mixture.

With a sharp knife or mandoline, slice potatoes very thin, crosswise. Arrange potato slices vertically in a dish. Wedge shallots throughout. Sprinkle with salt and red pepper flakes (if using); brush with remaining butter mixture. Bake 1 1/4 hours. Add thyme and bake until potatoes are cooked through with a crisp top, about 35 minutes more.

Notes:

*If you want crispier potatoes, slice them as thin as possible (we used the 1/16th of an inch setting on the mandoline) and don't pack them into the dish to tightly.

*If you were trying to make this dish healthier, you could probably get away with less of the butter/olive oil mixture. There was a bunch left in the pan. Next time I will try using half the butter and oil.

To use these potatoes for GP. We let them cool and them spread them out in a single-ish layer on a flat baking sheet or jelly roll pan. It was a bit difficult to get them in a single layer because the potatoes wanted to stick together, so some of the slices had 2 or 3 layers of potatoes. We baked them at 300F for about 10 minutes, really just to warm them up.

Guacamole

I don't really have a recipe for guacamole, but here are the general proportions used last night. This served 11 people.

6 avocados

1/2 large onion, finely chopped

1 medium tomato, finely chopped

6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

juice of 3/4 of a lime

salt to taste

Taste with tortilla chips and adjust as necessary. The only risk in guacamole, in my opinion, is using too much onion. So I always start small with the onion, tomato, and garlic and keep adding, a little at a time until it tastes good.