Entries Tagged as 'Dairy'

Sweet Potato Tart with Pecans

12

05.2.13

Magazine Street really exploded into THE STRIP after the flood. Blocks and blocks of busy shops and restaurants appeared, while just five minutes away, the formerly bustling South Claiborne Avenue looked like a ghost town. Yes, the strip had its share of blinking traffic lights. The crazy drivers of New Orleans impressively learned to treat each intersection like a four-way stop sign. But besides damaged roofs, most of the buildings in the Strip bubble were unscathed.

We strolled the Strip “30 minutes each day, no excuses!” we shouted. Not to get all Confederacy of Dunces, but the daily sightings of neighborhood characters (henceforth referred to as “stripsters”) was comforting. There was an older man with a gray beard and long dreads who dutifully hobbled the Strip with his walking stick, greeting us cheerfully “Hey ladies, how y’all doing? God bless y’all!” There was the pixieish blond girl, always clothed in a vintage sheath dress. She disdainfully sighed at the clothes I dared to sell at her second hand clothing store. And there was also a small child of about ten years old, shilling miniature pies outside the neighborhood A&P. His life’s story was mapped out in my mind, that his mother had no choice but to bake delightful miniature pies to make ends meet. More likely, he was just annoying, so she sent him out to burn off his energy. “Pies! Do y’all want pies?” He yelled, “We got pecan, lemon chess, sweet potato…”

Sweet potato! It sounded so exotic to me. That particular pie has loomed large in my imagination ever since I was a middle schooler in Rhode Island listening to Domino sing his underreated 90′s rap classic “so break me off a piece of that sweet potato pie” (the innuendo was lost on me at the time). The sweet potato pie was everything I had dreamed it would be. An electric orange, slightly warm, cloying, and dense custard– pretty much the perfect dessert in my mind. It was not heavily flavored with spices, so the tuber’s natural earthy sweetness stole the show. Of course the smooth filling was cradled in a tender, homemade butter crust.

Do you think that little boy, who is probably in high school now, is still selling pies? Am I the real stripster in his mind? Do you think he remembers me at all? Probably not. Life keeps moving, and Magazine Street isn’t just a freeze frame from that dizzying, drunken time. Which means I have to make my own sweet potato desserts.

Here’s a treasonous secret I never revealed to the pie boy: I prefer French tart crusts to regular pie. That shortbread quality gets me every single time. This particular tart crust from David Lebovitz is the best. thing. ever. It’s a bizarre, yet foolproof technique that results in a slightly salty caramelized crust.

The key is to puree all of the ingredients in the food processor. It results in an extra-smooth and fluffy filling that plays off the textural contrast of the crunchy pecans and crisp butter crust. I throw a generous pinch of dried ginger into the filling, but vanilla bean is key. Those tiny black seeds dotting the orange custard leave behind a haunting floral note.

Please don’t add cinnamon and clove. Yes, pumpkin pie has its righteous yet rubbery place at the Thanksgiving table, but it has no place here. Get over it.

Sweet Potato Tart with Pecans

1 recipe French tart dough

90 g (3 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (I used canola)
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
150 g (5oz, or 1 slightly-rounded cup) flour

Sweet potato filling

1 medium sweet potato
1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
1/2 teaspoon dried ground ginger
2 tablespoons melted salted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 egg

Pecan topping

1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons salted butter, softened and cubed

Procedure

1. Poke holes in the sweet potato, and roast it in the oven at 410º F. In the meantime, gather your ingredients for the tart dough. You should be able to pierce it with a fork after 30 – 45 minutes. At this point, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool.

2. Leave the oven on and follow the ingredients to make the tart dough. Do not bake it– just set your dough lined tart pan aside.

3. Turn the heat down to 375º F. Using a fork, scrape the orange flesh of the sweet potato into the food processor, along with the seeds of the vanilla bean. Add the dried ginger, melted butter, sugar, milk, and cracked egg. Puree the sweet potato mixture for 30 seconds. Scrape the sides of the bowl, and then puree it again until completely smooth and the filling has formed a uniform texture.

4. In a small bowl, combine the pecans, butter, and sugar. Using your fingers, incorporate the ingredients so that the pecans are evenly coated with the crumbly sugar mixture.

5. Pour the sweet potato into the prepared tart shell and use a spatula to smooth the surface. Evenly scatter the pecans over the top. Bake at 375º F for 25 – 30 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature before serving.

Crawfish Pasta and Jazz Fest Emotions

2

12.5.12

It was Jazz Fest in New Orleans last weekend. I went once or twice a year when I lived there. My first experience involved hopping the VIP barricades to watch Bruce Springsteen up close. Then I rode home in the back of a pickup truck driven by some old hippies. Periodically they’d stop in the street and open all the doors so we could enjoy the Black-Eyed Peas blasting from the radio. I guess it was thoughtful of them.

A random drunk guy got a ride with them too. He rambled to me all about growing up in Gentilly. Being out in the Louisiana sun all day in May makes every drink twice as strong, so I can’t blame him.

Little did I know I’d see that man annually for the next four years. It became part of the Jazz Fest routine. We boarded the Jackson Avenue bus from our Garden District apartment and headed to the Fairgrounds. Like clockwork, a trio of middle-aged men boarded the bus from downtown. One of them was that guy, and sometimes he was forced to sit across from me. But we never acknowledged each other ever again. He was probably so drunk he didn’t remember or maybe just embarrassed. It was somewhat awkward.

I wonder if that guy boarded the Jackson Avenue bus again this past weekend? Some of my bffs still live in New Orleans, but they no longer partake in the bus routine. They’ve moved on.

Oh I was recently gifted some freshly peeled crawfish tails and made a dish similar to the quintessential Jazz Fest dish, Crawfish Monica. It’s pasta smothered in a spicy crawfish sauce. Kajun Kettle Foods only makes it for Jazz Fest, but now you can make it at home.

Crawfish Pasta

Ingredients

1 pound fusilli or penne
1 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
juice of half a lemon
1 pound crawfish tails
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta until it is al dente. Drain and reserve 1/2 a cup of the cooking liquid. Toss the pasta with the olive oil and cooking liquid and set aside.

2. Melt the butter and cook the onions over medium high heat until their soft, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add the salt and black pepper to taste along with garlic, paprika, cayenne pepper, onion powder, marjoram, and thyme and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes.

3. Pour in the white wine and cook over medium heat until almost evaporated. Stir in the cream and lemon and simmer until slightly reduced. Add the crawfish tails, green onions, and parsley, and cook until warmed.

4. Add the cooked pasta and toss to coat with the sauce. Taste for salt and black pepper and adjust as necessary.

5. Serve in crawfish pasta in bowls garnished with Parmesan cheese.

I’m Stuck Making Portuguese Custard Tarts

18

21.2.12

Did you hear? The winning $336 million Powerball jackpot ticket was sold in my hometown of Newport, Rhode Island. At MY grocery store. I was convinced my mom had won.

The gears in my brain started turning. What would I do with my cut? I would totally pay someone to redesign this blog. And obviously I would get Andi some physical therapy to regain use of her injured leg.

I would also fly back to the Northeast on a whim whenever I wanted some pastéis de nata, or Portuguese custard tarts, because they’re such a pain to make. They’re available in all the bakeries in nearby Fall River, Massachusetts, but no one here in Austin has heard of them.

Unfortunately my mom didn’t win— she bought her ticket at the other Stop & Shop. So I’m stuck making custard tarts from scratch when the craving strikes.

Pastéis de nata are buttery pastry cups filled with dense, eggy custard flavored with vanilla and cinnamon. They’re baked at a high temperature and get a little charred on top and around the edges. I figured Fall River native David Leite would have a reliable recipe, and I wasn’t disappointed.

I won’t post the lengthy recipe and directions, but here are some helpful tips:

1. You can use the dough blade of a food processor to mix the dough if you don’t have a standing mixer.

2. Don’t worry about making perfect pastry dough. David says that the secret to flaky pastry is evenly layered butter, as well as rolling the dough thinly and folding it neatly. I’m not patient enough and did none of these things. I rolled the dough out with a vodka bottle.

3. Remember you’ll need to refrigerate the pastry dough overnight or at least for a few hours before using it.

4. When pressing the dough into the muffin tins, don’t press it too thinly. Otherwise the custard will leak through the bottom, and the tart will fall apart.

5. I didn’t bother with a thermometer to gauge the temperature of the custard. I just waited until the syrup boiled for a few minutes before whisking it into the milk.

6. The tarts commonly found in Fall River are larger than those in this recipe, so I used a regular muffin tin. It yielded about 18 tarts.

I don’t think my shortcuts affected the final product, but a vavo might disagree. My friends gave them rave reviews, and they reminded me of the real thing.

Portuguese Custard Tarts from Leite’s Culinaria

Jeni’s Salty Caramel Ice Cream

6

07.2.12

It’s a fact. If there’s ice cream in the freezer, I’m going to eat it. I don’t ‘get’ people who can keep some on hand for surprise guests or whatever. Last summer I went through a phase making ice cream several times per week. It was fun experimenting with all sorts of flavors.

It was not okay when I stepped on the scale a few weeks later. Surely my daily serving of ice cream wasn’t to blame. Didn’t Michael Pollan say you can eat all the ice cream you want if you make it from scratch with locally sourced ingredients? That’s the message I took away from In Defense of Food.

I’ve eased back into ice cream making with a recipe that makes a perfect, irresistible, but satisfying ice cream. Something about the salty/sweet combo helps me put down the spoon and control myself. A recipe like this salty caramel ice cream would only come from Jeni Britton Bauer, owner of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams.

I have yet to visit one of her scoop shops in Ohio, but I’ve tried a few of her pints. They measure up to the hype— it really is the best ice cream ever. I ran out and bought her book as soon as it came out, and I was lucky enough to attend one of her ice cream classes at Central Market. She just glows with enthusiasm for her creative artisan ice creams.

I won’t rehash the recipe published in Bon Appetit, but the final product tasted just like the stuff I bought at the store. Jeni’s recipes are unique because they never include eggs. She uses cornstarch and cream cheese as emulsifiers, and she also boils the cream. Here are some tips:

1. Get all of your ingredients prepped before you start. Jeni uses a dry burn technique to make the caramel base, so you must watch the sugar and act quickly when it achieves the right color.

2. Back away when you add the cream as it will pop and sputter!

3. Strain the base through a sieve before refrigerating it. Don’t skip this step because you don’t want to compromise on the ice cream’s wonderfully smooth texture.

Salty caramel is Jeni’s signature flavor. Her eggless ice cream results in a bright flavor carried beautifully by the butterfat and not muddled by the egg yolks. It’s a perfectly balanced combination of salty and sweet.

Grapenut Pudding

1

18.1.12

My family and I took a drive out to Little Compton along the Sakonnet River while I was in Rhode Island for Christmas. Our destination was The Commons, a New Englandy lunch spot I’ve gone to all my life. I’d love to tell you I grew up on their lobster rolls, clam cakes, and chowder, but I was a picky kid who stuck to grilled cheese and the restaurant’s OUTSTANDING onion rings.

I’d also be lying if I said that I grew up eating Grapenut pudding, a traditional New England dessert. I actually tried it for the first time at The Commons. It’s a rich custard flavored mixed with Grapenuts and flavored with vanilla. The cereal gets soggy when it absorbs the milk, creating a simple dessert with a variety of layers and textures. It’s best served cold and topped with whipped cream.

I couldn’t wait to try making Grapenut pudding back in Austin. I got the recipe from trusty Yankee magazine. We always had copies of it laying around the house while I was growing up.

Grapenut Pudding

1 quart milk, scalded
1 cup Grape-Nuts cereal
4 large eggs
scant 1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter (approx.)
Whole nutmeg
Water

Heat oven to 350°. In a medium-size bowl, pour scalded milk over Grape-Nuts and let sit 5 minutes. In a second medium-size bowl, beat eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Add egg mixture to milk and Grape-Nuts and stir well. Pour into a buttered 2-quart casserole dish. Generously grate nutmeg over the top. Place the casserole into a deep roasting pan. Place in the oven and pour water into the roasting pan, enough to reach halfway up the side of the casserole. Bake 45 to 60 minutes, until almost set in the center (very slight jiggle).

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