Pissaladiere - Take Tarts While Tarts Are Passing

I grew up lucky enough to have two wonderful grandmothers with me all the way through to adulthood. One was a really wonderful cook, who passed her handwritten cookbook on to me, and I feel a very strong link with her in my kitchen. The other grandmother was an appalling cook (possibly deliberately), who left me with a lot of colourful sayings that still float through my mind in all sorts of situations. Among her collected sayings and wisdom was:

- mad as a ha'penny watch (a watch that sold for half a penny was obviously not going to be anything other than silly)

- miserable as a bandicoot (bandicoots are native Australian animals. I am unaware of whether or not they are miserable)

- you catch more flies with honey than vinegar (ie be nice)

and my favourite

- take tarts while tarts are passing (or grab whatever life sends your way because you may never get another chance)

I cannot make a tart (or more particularly serve a tart) without instructing everyone to "take tarts while tarts are passing". And this tart is definitely worth taking. A traditional French tart from Nice, the pissaladiere uses minimal ingredients and effort (thanks to sheets of pre-rolled puff pastry). The only requirement is a fair bit of time to allow the onions to caramelize and become a bit jammy. I love it as a Sunday night dinner with a green salad. So if you are the sort of person who starts wondering at three or four in the afternoon what you will make for dinner, pop some onions on to start caramelizing. The rest of the tart takes minimal time to assemble, and then 20 mins in the oven to bake, leaving lots of lazy sunday afternoon time to do other things. This recipe comes from the incredible Stephanie Alexander cookbook, which is constantly referred to in my kitchen for her insights on what to do with every ingredient under the sun.

And I will leave you with a little wisdom from my other grandmother - "never let anyone be as wise as yourself". If you have some grandmotherly wisdom to pass on, I'd love to hear it, just leave me a comment.

Pissaladiere

adapted from Stephanie Alexander in the Cook's Companion

3-4 brown onions thickly sliced

olive oil

1 sheet puff pastry

16 anchovy fillets halved lengthwise (or 32 anchovies if you would rather have them thicker)

12 black olives

Slowly cook onion in 2 tbls olive oil until it is very soft and caramelized (if it seems to be getting a bit too browned and not jammy enough, add a tbl of water and cover the pan with a sheet of foil, pressed onto the onions to help it get to the right texture). Preheat oven to 220C. Lay pastry sheet on a baking tray. Leaving a 1cm border untouched, prick the pastry all over with a fork, then spread the onion in a thick layer on it. Arrange the anchovies in crisscross rows to form large diamonds. Sit an olive in each diamond and drizzle with a little olive oil. Bake for 20 mins until pastry is brown and crisp. Serve warm.

Better Than A Snickers Bar Pie

The more I write this blog, the more I want to push myself and my cooking into new areas. After all, no one, myself included, is interested in hearing about something that was bland or boring in both conception and execution. Everyone wants to know about the more interesting stuff - the successes, the failures (when I am not too humiliated to write about them...) and the 'extreme sport' end of cooking. And for me, I am a little embarrassed to admit, this pie sat at the extreme sport end of the cooking spectrum. Now before you raise your eyebrows in disgust at my lack of experience in what is clearly a fairly popular and commonplace dessert, let me confess a few things which made this a bit trickier for me:

1. Pies at my house are usually savoury, not sweet

2. I usually use pre-rolled pastry

3. When I make pies they usually have only one filling, not what felt like eleventy (OK three)

4. Making anything where peanuts are a major ingredient feels like you are tearing up the harbour on the trapeze of a skiff (where I live the allergy issues associated with peanuts are fairly extreme)

5. I had never cooked anything like this before and was making it for a dinner for old friends we hadn't seen in months and months and I had no Plan B for dessert.

So I was feeling the pressure, but eventually wound up with a pie that was pretty amazing. Reminiscent of a snickers bar but better. So good that I am showing you two photos of it. I think desserts are probably the only area where you shine with pride when someone says "it looks as if you bought it in a shop." But, if you are thinking about making it, keep in mind that it is very, very rich - a sliver as shown in the picture is plenty. The recipe came from Bon Appetit magazine (January 09), and is the first thing I have made since I got a subscription for my birthday (thanks Dave and Weeza!). And incidentally, if you are using a Bon Appetit recipe, I have just noticed that they have a "ask the test kitchen" button at the bottom of their recipes, in case you have any problems. Nifty.

Peanut Butter Honey Tart With Ganache Glaze from Bon Appetit

1. Crust
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 1/4 cups plain flour
5 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
125g chilled unsalted butter, diced
1 large egg, separated
2 (or more) teaspoons ice water
2. Filling
125g unsalted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup pouring cream
1/3 cup honey
1 cup lightly salted dry-roasted peanuts
1 cup icing sugar
1/3 cup creamy (smooth) natural peanut butter (made with only peanuts and salt)*
2 tablespoons plus 1 to 2 teaspoons milk
3. Ganache Glaze
180g bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons lightly salted dry-roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Preparation
crust
Spray 27cm square or 30cm diameter tart pan with removable bottom with nonstick spray. Blend flour, sugar, and salt in processor 5 seconds. Add butter and blend until coarse crumbs form. Add egg yolk and 2 teaspoons ice water. Blend until moist clumps form, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into square or disk (depending on shape of pan). Wrap and chill 1 hour (you can do this up to 1 day ahead).

Roll out dough to 27-30cm square or round. Transfer dough to prepared pan. Cut off all but 1.5 cm of overhang. Fold overhang in, creating double-thick sides. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake crust until pale golden, checking every 5 minutes and pressing bottom if bubbling and pressing sides up with back of fork if slipping, about 28 minutes.
Beat egg white in small bowl until foamy. Brush some white over hot crust to coat inside. Bake 1 minute longer. Cool on rack. Increase oven temperature to 375°F.

filling
Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in brown sugar and salt, then cream and honey. Bring to rolling boil, swirling pan occasionally. Boil 1 minute. Whisk in 1 cup peanuts. Pour filling into crust. Bake tart until filling is bubbling thickly, about 15 minutes. Cool on rack until firm, about 2 hours; freeze 15 minutes.

Beat icing sugar and peanut butter in medium bowl until blended. Gradually beat in 2 tablespoons milk, then more by teaspoonfuls to thin slightly; spread evenly over peanut filling. Refrigerate tart while preparing glaze.

ganache glaze
Place chocolate in medium bowl. Bring cream to simmer in small saucepan; pour over chocolate. Whisk until smooth. Spread glaze over tart. Sprinkle chopped peanuts around edge. Chill tart until glaze sets, at least 1 hour.

Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving. Using tip of small knife, gently loosen crust from pan. Push up pan bottom, releasing tart. Cut square tart in half and cut each half crosswise into 7 or 8 slices or cut round tart into wedges.

Vegetable Pot Pie - For A Quiet Night At Home

Pot pie is one of those home-y recipes, that speaks to me of nurturing and goodness. It is warm and forgiving and flexible. A yummy mixture of whatever vegetables you want to use, bound together in a lovely sauce and capped with a pastry crust. What could be better? And an unexpected cold snap this week, meant it was even more perfect. This recipe from Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, is lovely, and a great way to spend an hour or so, pottering around the kitchen. I halved the butter and skipped the pernod (had none) and baby onions (no frozen baby onions here), and halved the quantities, to get two very lovely pies, which I shared with the darling daughters. In fact the vegetable mixture was so delicious, I couldn't help but nibble at it while waiting for the pastry. If you were in a rush, or felt a little intimidated by making pastry, simply use pre-rolled shortcrust and continue with the baking.

I made the vegetable pot pie for this week's Barefoot Blogger challenge, chosen by Debinhawaii from Kahakai Kitchen. For me it really was a challenge. I have rarely ever made pastry from scratch and I have certainly never made it with shortening. In fact, the only thing I make here with shortening is chocolate crackles. So I have some questions for my friends in the blogosphere unanswered by the recipe:

1. Do I melt the shortening before using? If so, do I then need it cool it to room temperature?

2. Do I simply chop shortening? This is what I did, but I wound up with two funny melty patches on my pastry, where I did not chop the pieces small enough. Or should I grate the shortening to get even smaller pieces?

Any advice from the Barefoot Blogging troupe would be most welcome!!

Regardless of a couple of odd patches in my pastry, this was a great recipe. Thanks Deb for the choice. You can see the beautiful pastry created by the others here.

Vegetable Pot Pie

adapted from "The Barefoot Contessa Parties"

12 tbls unsalted butter
2 cups sliced yellow onions (2 onions)
1 fennel bulb, top and core removed, thinly sliced crosswise
1/2 cup plain flour

2 1/2 cups good chicken stock
1 tablespoon Pernod
Pinch saffron threads
1 1/2 tsps salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 1/2 cups large-diced potatoes

1 1/2 cups asparagus tips
1 1/2 cups peeled, 3/4-inch-diced carrots (4 carrots)
1 1/2 cups peeled, 3/4-inch-diced butternut squash
1 1/2 cups frozen small whole onions (1/2 pound)
1/2 cup minced flat-leaf parsley

For the pastry:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 to 2/3 cup ice water
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
Flaked sea salt and cracked black pepper

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and fennel and saute until translucent, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the flour, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 3 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Slowly add the stock, Pernod, saffron, salt, and pepper, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the heavy cream and season to taste. The sauce should be highly seasoned.

Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for 10 minutes. Lift out with a sieve. Add the asparagus, carrots, and squash to the pot and cook in the boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain well. Add the potatoes, mixed vegetables, onions, and parsley to the sauce and mix well.

For the pastry, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the shortening and butter and mix quickly with your fingers until each piece is coated with flour. Pulse 10 times, or until the fat is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water; process only enough to moisten the dough and have it just come together. Dump the dough out onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Divide the filling equally among 4 ovenproof bowls. Divide the dough into quarters and roll each piece into an 8-inch circle. Brush the outside edges of each bowl with the egg wash, then place the dough on top. Trim the circle to 1/2-inch larger than the top of the bowl. Crimp the dough to fold over the sides, pressing it to make it stick. Brush the dough with egg wash and make 3 slits in the top. Sprinkle with sea salt and cracked pepper. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, or until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling hot.

Indulgent Breakfast Danishes with Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese

I have a sneaking suspicion that somewhere in the world, danishes are much more delicious than the ones we get here (Denmark perhaps?). When I think of danishes, I think of early morning meetings, powerpoint presentations and large trays of soggy pastries, featuring apple and/or apricot danishes baked with a bit of custard. Not good at all. So when I saw that this week's Barefoot Blogger Challenge was to make cheese danishes, I felt that the challenge was laid down to come up with something better. Something that wouldn't remind me of a breakfast meeting.

The original recipe from The Barefoot Contessa features a cream cheese mixture baked in puff pastry. Since my personal tastes tend more to the savoury than the sweet, I decided to steal the traditional combination of smoked salmon and cream cheese, but dispense with the bagel and bake it in puff pastry. The original recipe was easily modified. I left out the sugar and vanilla, and added lemon juice as well as the zest. This was delicious and indulgent and would be terrific for a weekend brunch. If you want to cut your early morning cooking time, make the cream cheese mixture the night before, but make sure you assemble and bake them fresh. Definitely worth getting up for.

I halved the recipe below to make four generous danishes. Thanks to Val from More Than Burnt Toast for this choice - she has also posted the original recipe, so if you prefer sweet danishes, go check out her blog. You can see what the other Barefoot Bloggers came up with here.

Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Danish
adapted from "Barefoot Contessa at Home" by Ina Garten

250g cream cheese at room temperature
2 extra large egg yolks, at room temperature
2 tbls ricotta cheese
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp grated lemon zest

1 tbl lemon juice

2 sheets frozen puff pastry, defrosted

8 large (16 small) slices smoked salmon
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Poppy seeds to decorate

Preheat oven to 200C. Line a sheet pan with baking paper.
Place the cream cheese in bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment and cream on low speed until smooth. With the mixer still on low, add the egg yolks, ricotta, salt, lemon juice and lemon zest and mix until just combined. Don’t whip!

Place one sheet of pastry onto a lightly floured board. Cut the sheet into quarters. Lay a slice of smoked salmon (2 if they are small) on each square. Place a heaping tablespoon of cream cheese filling into the middle of each of the squares. Brush the border of each pastry with egg wash and fold two opposite corners to the center, brushing and overlapping the corners of each pastry so they firmly stick together. Brush the top of the pastries with egg wash, and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Place the pastries on the prepared sheet pan. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry and refrigerate the filled Danish for 15 minutes to firm them up a bit.

Bake the puff pastries for about 20 minutes, until puffed and brown. Serve warm.