It’s always lonely to be by yourself at home and when my mother left for Paris with my grandmother, that left my father doing just that- being home alone! Remedy: have him over for dinner! (NOT Silence of the Lambs kind of “have you over for dinner”, though…) I figured that my father would perhaps be a bit unsettled by some of my more experimental foods… and his standards are quite exceptionally high, as the gifted chefs in the family are all on his side (minus my mother, of course), so… traditional-ish it was!

I decided to do something very familiar and comforting: confit some tomatoes in the oven, bake some chicken so that it’s juicy and tender, and toss it in some whole wheat pasta shells and housemade pesto, with some shaved parmiggiano on top. What can go wrong there?

It was really quite delicious, and the leftovers were super convenient for bringing in to work the next week. This is a great keep-in-the-fridge-for-a-few-days dish, and a rather simple one as well. The sweetness of the tomato cuts into the nuttiness of the pesto, while the cheese on top adds some hints of earthiness that makes the whole thing come together quite nicely.

Whole Wheat Chicken ‘n Pesto Shells with Tomates Confites

Ingredients:

• 1 lb (1 box) whole wheat pasta shells
• 1 box (usually 8-12 oz) cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 generous cup house-made pesto
• 3-4 medium-sized chicken breasts
• extra-virgin olive oil, kosher salt, freshly-cracked black pepper
• parmiggiano reggiano (or reggianito) to shave

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and place a Silpat or other silicone mat on a baking sheet (large enough to fit all your chicken on)
2. Set a pot of water to boil for pasta; salt generously and drop in 1-2 tsp olive oil into the water
3. Measure out pesto and leave on the counter so it can warm while you prepare the rest of the dish
4. Lightly coat a second baking sheet with olive oil (just brush on a very thin coat)
5. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half (whichever way you like) and arrange (fairly haphazardly, really) on the baking sheet. Salt lightly and sprinkle with herbs or spices if desired (my mother uses Herbes de Provence; I’m a fan of a pinch of paprika/cumin/coriander). Drizzle with more olive oil on top.
6. Clean the chicken breasts and arrange on the baking sheet. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Flip and repeat so that both sides are coated and seasoned.
7. Once the oven is sufficiently hot, place the tomatoes on the bottom rack and the chicken on the top rack (if you have two racks, that is) of the oven
8. Once the water is boiling, place pasta in water and cook as directed; I like mine just a bit al dente (it’s what the Italians do)
9. Bake the chicken for about 10 minutes, then flip the oven using kitchen tongs, a glove, and patience/care. Don’t burn yourself with that oven door open! You can always take the sheet out, flip, and return to the oven if you’re not too lethargic. While you’re at it, rotate the tomato pan.
10. After another 10 minutes, take your tongs and press upon the chicken. If there’s a lot of give, leave it in for another few minutes- you’re looking for the outside to be golden brown and for the inside to have only a bit of give. The squishier it is, the less cooked- and unfortunately, sashimi chicken isn’t a good dish to try :)
11. Once the tomatoes are drying out a bit and are blistering, you can remove them from the oven. The amount of time they spend in there is totally up to you- if you have the time, roasting them at a lower temp (360 or so) for longer yields even better results; this is the ‘quick version’
12. Remove the tomatoes and chicken from the oven and let cook for a moment.
13. Once pasta is cooked, drain (but not excessively, a little water in this is fine) and place in a large mixing bowl. Using kitchen tongs, cut the chicken into large, wide (but fairly thin) strips. Add to bowl. Scrape tomatoes as-is into bowl as well. Scoop in the pesto, and mix. Add salt and pepper to taste, and drizzle in a bit of olive oil. Shave the cheese on top and…. voila!

It’s one of those go-to standbys for me because I don’t need to consult a recipe and it has infinite variations. Sometimes I also confit some bell peppers (red/yellow/orange)… sometimes with herbs, sometimes with spices… carrots work nicely, too, when baked with cheese. You get the idea- pick the brightly-coloured vegetable(s) of your choice! And then dig in :)

If you’re looking for a pretty bit of pastry to make a new friend, look no further than raspberries, strawberries, and almonds- this tarte is something that will enchant you and your guests. A flaky layer of pastry follows an oozing layer of fruit puree, topped with a mousse-y, creamy, thick almond layer. What’s not to like? This sophisticated dessert will impress your friends, is relatively simple, and chock-full of vitamin C (did you know strawberries are superhigh in their vitamin C content? excellent excuse)

Raspberry-Strawberry & Almond Tarte

Adapted from The Complete Step-by-Step Family Cookbook’s Raspberry & Almond Tart

Ingredients:

The pastry:

• 1.5 cups organic AP flour
• 1/2 cup organic ground almond meal
• 1 tblspn crushed slivered almonds
• 1/8 tsp kosher salt
• 1 stick organic soy butter, very cold, cut into cubes
• 1/4 heaping cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg yolk (organic, brown, cage-free)
• 2 tsp Mexican vanilla extract

The filling:

• 4 tblspn organic soy butter
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup crushed slivered almonds (toasted lightly)
• 3 eggs (organic, brown, cage-free)
• 1.5 cups frozen strawberries, in chunks
• 1 heaping cup fresh raspberries

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2. Blend together the dry pastry ingredients (flour, sugar, almond meal, salt) in a food processor for a few short pulses. Then add the butter cubes and pulse repeatedly until the mixture becomes crumbly.
3. Mix the egg yolk with 2 tablespoons of ice-cold water and pour it through the feed tube of the processor while continually pulsing. Pour the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, continually adding more flour in small batches until the dough is no longer super-sticky to handle. Wrap in clingwrap and chill in fridge for 20-30 minutes.
4. While the dough is chilling, prepare the filling: blend together the raspberries and strawberries; set aside in a container and chill in the fridge. Then blend together the butter, sugar, ground almonds, and eggs until it becomes a smooth, mousse-y mixture, and place in the fridge as well.
5. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll out (on a lightly floured surface, with a lightly floured rolling pin) onto a 9-inch tart pan (fluted edges preferable). Roll your pin around the sides to remove the excess and dock the dough firmly on the sides. I used the extra to line the bottom a second time- you can make a second, smaller tart (or galette, which I also did this time) if you wish!
6. Poke holes along the bottom and sides, and bake the tart empty for 12 minutes. Then, remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Once cooled, pour the fruit puree evenly onto the tart dough. Then spoon on the almond mixture, until it evenly coats the top of the fruit puree.
7. Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes, until the tart crust looks golden brown and the almond mousse/mixture is golden brown as well. Allow to cool for a few minutes and enjoy warm with ice cream, or cool overnight and have cool the next day with hot tea.

It’s seriously delicious, and rather versatile- you could switch out the fruits and nuts and make this a totally new tart! I like tha layered filling idea, and am tempted to try a variety of combinations here. I liked it hot, but far prefered it cool and chilled the next day as a tea cake. You may like it either way- try it and find out! :)

You may see this recipe and think it’s a clafoutis. I, too, would have thought this prior to my recent research. As it turns out, French becomes more loveable than ever when referencing food terms. I’ve often tried explaining to friends how wonderful it is that French is very specific- for example, the word ‘tartiner’ refers to the spreading of a fairly thick substance (oft used to describe butter, jam, preserves, pesto, tapenade, etc) onto a bread-like substance. English has no such word, sadly, but French wins yet again in the culinary specificity department with flaugnarde.

Clafoutis, apparently, refers ONLY to when this dessert is made with black cherries- and purists will argue that the cherries must have their pits in for it to be traditional. For any other fruit, it must be a flaugnarde. There’s always something to learn about food :)

I had some lovely large, ripe (yes, there is such a thing as a ripe apple, oddly enough) pink lady apples from my mother and some organic heavy cream I had gotten on sale. I decided on flaugnarde- well, clafoutis, before I knew that to be the incorrect term- and searched for a recipe. I found Ina’s, adapted it, and was very happy with the results. As I had leftover batter, I made a few different sizes and shapes, and each was different! My favourite, I think, was the large tart-shaped one, but each was interesting. The souffle dish ones suffered from overbeaten eggs in the batter, resulting in a souffle-like consistency on bottom and a more flan-like consistency on top. If nothing else, it was an interesting study in texture!

Apple Flaugnarde

Adapted from Ina Garten’s Pear Clafouti

Ingredients:

• 2 large Pink Lady apples
• 2 tsp 2x extra strength vailla extract
• 7 tablespoons organic AP flour
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature (cage-free!)
• 1 1/2 cups organic heavy cream (I used Horizon)
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F; butter dishes with room-temperature soy butter (I did two batches of batter- see below for ‘second attempt recipe’ and buttered 1 10-inch fluted tart pan, 2 souffle ramekins, and 1 4-inch rectangle ramekin); sprinkle 1 tablespoon (more or less) of the sugar around the sides of the dish(es)
2. Place the eggs and remaining sugar in a food processor (or, preferably, stand mixer) and beat together for 1-2 minutes until frothy and mouse-y on top and light in colour.
3. Add in the flour, cream, vanilla extract, and salt; mix together and set aside as you prepare the apples.
4. Peel, quarter, core, and slice the apples, having approximately 4-5 slices per apple fourth. Fan the slices lightly onto the dishes in whatever fashion you choose, so long as it’s aesthetically pleasing; then pour the batter on top and make sure the apples are well coated (it’s okay if they’re sticking out a bit- see the pictures below).
5. Bake your flaugnarde(s) until the top is golden brown and the custard is firm- this will take approximately 32-35 minutes for the large tart; 45-50 minutes for the deeper rectangular ramekin; 25-30 minutes for the souffle dishes. It all depends on the size!

For my second variant, I tried the following (the rectangular dish- which I really quite enjoyed- had this mix): 1/4 cup organic heavy cream; 2 large cage-free eggs; 4 heaping tablespoons organic AP flour; 2 large Pink Lady apples; 1.5 tablespoons 2x extra strength vanilla extract. The rest of the ingredients were the same. I also mixed this one far less- less overbeating and air meant a denser, thicker texture, which I prefered.

The texture reminded me a bit of the tarte au flan my father had at Sarafina’s on St. Maarten… gorgeous. Though, of course, theirs was larger and thicker. But this dessert is very simple, when made with the food processor, and very very very good. I’ll definitely be making this one again. I made the large tart and large ramekin to bring in to work for an intern event- bringing food makes for more attentive audiences, I’ve found- and they seemed to enjoy it… and the sister really liked it… so I’m counting it as a success! :)

Oh, goodness, this was a yummy one. H and I were searching through potential victims for our weekly cooking date and I had happened upon this one on David Lebovitz (he’s one of my culinary idols, for his post on the boiled tart crust, if nothing else) earlier that week and was in love. (sorry, boyfriend, but no worries, I’m not leaving you for tomato and goat cheese!) Plus, this was a fabulous opportunity to break out three birthday presents- the food processor from the boyfried (!!!), the silpat from H; and the lovely ceramic tart dish from my parents. :) Opportunities to use exciting new gifts? Yes, please!

We followed it really quite precisely according to the recipe, and it was delicious. We had leftover ingredients and thus used the silpat to line the bottom of a sheet pan with the leftover dough made free-galette style, basil-less because the sister tends to not be too crazy about fresh basil and I didn’t want her missing out on the tart. Because, really, no one should miss out on this sort of thing. Mmmmh.

Tomato & Goat Cheese Tart

Following David Lebovitz’s French Tomato Tart, adapted from A Culinary Journey in Gascony

Ingredients (because ours differed slightly):

• 1 1/2 cups organic AP flour
• 9 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled, cut into cubes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg, cage-free, brown
• 3 tablespoons cold water
• 1 1/2 cups (210 g) flour
• 1.5-2 tablespoons Dijon mustard (we used Grey Poupon)
• 8 large roma tomatoes, ripe (quantity will vary based on tomato size and your tomato preferences
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• a large amount of fresh basil (we chopped it, came out to probably around 4 tablespoons)
• 8 ounces fresh goat cheese, sliced into rounds about 3/4-inch thick (we used Montchevre)
• 2 tablespoons clover honey for drizzling
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Process:

Visit David! (Recipe at the very bottom- we followed the same process, save for using the food processor to mix the tart dough; adding basil in stead of other herbs (both below and on top of the goat cheese- see pictures below for process); etc.

We glazed both tarts- the galette and the traditional one- with clover honey prior to baking. We also greatly abused the large one with fresh basil, throwing on gobs of it (I adore basil, and definitely got this from my mother. Best herb ever, hands-down) so feel free to switch it up (David used thyme and a few other herbs in its stead). The sister keeps asking for a repeat performance of this one and the boyfriend didn’t get to taste since he wasn’t hanging out with us that night, which means this one is very likely to happen again in the near-future (as in today or tomorrow… which means I’ll be 7 behind for here, I think…. aye.)

In other news, I’ve discovered that there’s a large, bountiful rosemary plant right outside my building, on the corner. I have plans to go down sneakily around midnight, clad fully in black, and secretly snip a sprig or two to use in my next night of culinary inspiration…or to use for making rosemary skewers… just don’t tell anyone, please. Shhhhhhh.

It’s true- it’s possible to make crème brûlée low-fat, surprisingly! I wouldn’t have thought so, but even this famous custard dessert can be edited into an equally delicious but far healthier version. None of those I served this to had guessed at its lower fat, and all deemed it authentic. It’s simple, but the almond taste kicks in towards the end and adds a nice flavour. I tried all three types of sugars (powdered, granulated, brown) and found powdered to be by far the best (as goes its reputation). The brown sugar burned too easily; the granulated sugar became too wet; the powdered, however, was just right.

Low-Fat Almond Crème Brûlée

Ingredients (makes 8 small, flat custards):

• 1 tblspn almond extract
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup organic skim milk
• 1 & 1/4 cup organic half-and-half 
• 1 egg (yolk + white)
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 tblspn granulated sugar
• 8 tsp powdered sugar
• 8 raspberries + sprigs of mint (for garnish)

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Scald the milk and cream by placing in a small, tall pot and boiling. Add vanilla extract, remove from heat as soon as it begins to bubble, and set aside.
3. Beat together the other ingredients (almond extract, sugar, eggs) until well mixed together.
4. Add a bit of the milk mixture to the egg mixture and slowly stir together; then add the rest of the milk in small batches, slowly whisking the mixture together. If there are any pieces of yolk/sugar, strain through a wire strainer.
5. Place the ramekins in a large pyrex dish or baking dish, not touching the sides.
6. Pour the mixture slowly and evenly into the ramekins (8, flat, or 4-6 souffle ramekins), being very careful not to spill
7. Pour water into the pyrex dish, making a bain-marie, and carefully place in the oven. Bake the custards for 30 minutes if flat, 35-40 minutes if taller- try wiggling them to see if they’re ready (if wiggling like jello, then they’re set!)
8. Remove from bain-marie water onto a heat-safe surface. To eat these in the ‘traditional’ way, sprinkle powdered sugar onto the tops and torch until the top is caramelized but not burnt. As an alternative, once cool enough to handle, chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour in the fridge, then sprinkle on sugar and torch.
9. To garnish, top with fresh raspberry and a sprig of mint, or other fresh fruit.

I’ve been told that if you haven’t a torch, you can use the broiler setting in the oven and place it directly under the heat, but mine was unsuccessful with this. That said, the lovely torch my friend B gifted me for my birthday worked out perfectly :) These were delicious, and tasted rich despite the lack of rich ingredients. Success! A low-fat alternative that’s well-hidden within great, full flavour.

My parents brought us two boxes of delicious and delectable campari tomatoes the other week which clearly called for a self-attempted challenge. Added to this, my wonderful friend from work, B, gave me the lovely gift of the most enormous bag I’ve ever seen (honestly) of kitchen supplies- cake tins, baking sheets, cake molds big and small, and… an electric mixer. Cue angelic singing- this was the most exciting development my kitchen tool collection had seen in quite some time :). The thought of beating egg whites within two minutes by myself rather than within an hour of combined work of three strong boys. Thus I was definitely going to make a souffle.

So then began the challenge: can a fresh tomato souffle be done? All my online research pointed to the contrary: “It’s too watery!”, “Even removing the pulp won’t do it” “Sun-dried works better”- which, of course, begged for me to try it out and see if it was true. And I’m glad to say that I’ve found that it IS possible. It won’t rise quite as much, and it falls perhaps a bit more quickly, but in texture, mechanics, taste, and smell, it is a souffle. What else matters? :)

Fresh Tomato and Cheese Souffle

Adapted from Julia Child’s Classic French Cheese Souffle adaption at Epicurious

Ingredients (Makes 7 souffles):

• 1/2 cup grated San Pietro cheese (can be substituted for Parmesan or similar cheese)
• 2 tablespoons grated French Gruyere cheese
• 1 cup organic fat-free skim milk
• 1/3 cup double-concentrated tomato paste (I used Amore)
• 1 cup carved/hulled campari or cherry tomatoes, cut into 3/4 inch chunks
• 2 1/2 tablespoons organic soy butter spread
• 3 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 4 large organic cage-free egg yolks
• 5 large organic cage-free egg whites

Process:

1. Position rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 400 degrees F
2. Butter 7 soufflé ramekins (or maybe butter 6 and have a 7th on hand ready)
3. Sprinkle some of the grated San Pietro onto the buttered ramekin and coat the sides
4. Warm milk in heavy small saucepan over medium-low heat until steaming
5. While warm is heating, melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat
6. Add flour once butter is melted and whisk until mixture begins to foam and loses raw taste, about 3 minutes (do not allow mixture to brown)
7. Remove saucepan from heat; let stand 1 minute
8. Pour in warm milk and 1/2 of the tomato paste, whisking until smooth
9. Return to heat and cook, whisking constantly until very thick, 2 to 3 minutes
10. Remove from heat; whisk in remaining tomato paste, paprika, salt, and nutmeg
11. Add egg yolks 1 at a time, whisking to blend after each addition
12. Scrape soufflé base into large bowl and cool to lukewarm
13. Carve out pulp of tomatoes (see picture below) and cut into chunks. Then, take a paper towel and blot out as much moisture as possible. Use a second paper towel if the tomatoes are still at all shining (this indicated water content) and toss the tomatoes, then blot again, until fully dry
14. Once dried, toss half of the tomato chunks into souffle base mixture
15. Sprinkle some salt into a large mixing bowl, then, using electric mixer, beat egg whites until stiff but not dry (should take approx. 2 minutes- I suggest starting on the lowest setting and slowly working your way up, working in small circles that get wider and wider)
16. Fold 1/4 of whites into lukewarm or room temperature soufflé base to lighten
17. Fold in remaining whites in 2 additions while gradually sprinkling in the remaining Gruyère and San Pietro cheese
18. Transfer batter to your prepared ramekins- and be prepared to need an extra one or two depending on the size of your ramekins (or les, if your ramekins are on the larger side)
19. Place the remaining half of the tomato chunks in the middle of the ramekins, evenly distributing between the ramekins
20. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and then place sheet in the oven and immediately reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F
21. Bake until soufflé is puffed and golden brown on top and center moves only slightly when dish is shaken gently, about 25 minutes (do not open oven door during first 20 minutes). This can take up to 30 minutes depending on oven heating
22. Serve immediately for best results- can be stored outdoors for the first day and should be refrigerated afterwards

It’s delicious, and really best when hot out of the oven and steaming. They’ll sadly begin falling as soon as they come out, so if you wanted to snap a photo of them when puffy, be quick! The cheese taste overpowers the tomato a bit, but this can be combatted by a) using more or a stronger tomato paste, or b) using less (or a less strong) cheese. Tomato souffle is a popular choice, but it’s rare to find it with fresh tomato rather than sun-dried; just remember to dry the tomatoes out as much as possible prior to mixing in to the batter!

Whole wheat pasta. Baked carrots and tomatoes. Herbs. Cheese. Sound familiar? It should.  It’s simply a slightly different variation of one of my pasta standby recipes. Whole wheat pasta- fussili this time, to switch things up a bit- 3/4 of a pound of sweet baby carrots, copious amounts of cheese, herbs, and olive oil, some tomato chunks, and we’re in business. Procedures- see recipe linked above for more detail:

Herbs de Provence Baked Carrot & Tomato Pasta

Ingredients:

1. Half-box of fussili whole grain pasta (or your choice of whole grain pasta)
2. 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
3. 3/4 pound to 1 pound sweet baby carrots, sliced in half lengthwise (hot-dog style, if you will)
4. handfull of cherry or roma tomatoes, diced into large chunks
5. 1 cup shredded mozarella, gruyere, etc- pick a good Italian or French cheese
6. 1/2 – 3.4 cup extra virgin olive oil
7. 1/3 cup herbs de Provence
8. 1 cup tomato-basil/oregano pasta sauce (make your own or get a store-bought) (or use pesto)
9. heavy sprinkling of seat salt & freshly-cracked pepper

Process:

• Preheat oven to 365 degrees F.
• Place carrots (cut) in tight rows on a baking sheet. The closer they are, the better- you don’t want to waste oil, cheese, or herbs that get lost between carrots.
• Sprinkle the herbs over all the carrots, making sure they’re well covered. You can go heavier or lighter on the herbs as desired, and don’t have to go with the Provence mix of herbs, either: any combination of the following works great: oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme, fines herbes, parsley, etc… just makes sure they’re dried, and try to crush them as you sprinkle them onto the carrots. This will release even more flavour. Fresh herbs would burn and dry out!
• Sprinkle on the cheese in the same manner, making sure it’s evenly coating the carrots. Feel free to take my family’s approach of over-cheesing :)
• Sprinkle on the salt, pepper- and any additional spices, should you want to add some
• Once you’re happy with all your other ingredients, add the olive oil last- this will stop the cheese from burning on top and will keep the carrots moist as they bake!
• Place the baking sheet in the top rack of the oven for about 10-15 minutes, until the cheese begins to brown/golden on top
• Then move the baking sheet to the bottom or middle rack and drop the temperature to 350 degrees, allowing the carrots to cook fully through but without applying as much heat to the cheese (so as to not burn and dry out)
• Once the carrots are cooked through (after another 10-15 minutes in the bottom rack), take the baking sheet out of the oven and set it aside for some cooling.
• While the carrots/tomato chunks are baking, prepare your fussili or other pasta (just a half box will give you 4-5 servings!) as designated on your pasta box. I’d suggest sprinkling in sea salt and a small dollop of olive oil into the water.
• Once the pasta is cooked to just being slightly al dente, drain out the water- but save a 1/2 cup of the pasta water and set aside for using later. Place the pasta into a large mixing bowl and add the parmesan and a quick sprinkle of salt and pepper. Toss thoroughly.
• Once the cheese is thoroughly tossed into the pasta, mix in the tomato sauce. If you revese this order, the pasta won’t stick to the cheese very well, and will be stuck within the sauce more than the pasta itself.
• Using a spatula or similar tool, break apart the carrots/tomato chunks- they will have stuck together- and then pour the pile of them into the pasta. Toss thoroughly again, and pour in a bit of the pasta water if things seem too sticky.

And you’re set! This is a healthy, hearty vegetarian dish that will turn any carrot-naysayer into a carrot-lover… guaranteed to work! Serve it warm for best results, but it’s nicely effective as a cold pasta salad as well for picnics and the like. My only warning there is to watch out for stains- the pasta sauce I used (O Organics) is quite hard to wash out, so if on a picnic, you may prefer to forgo the sauce. I do fairly often, and it’s very yummy, sauce or no- if you do forgo it, add a drizzle of olive oil at the end to give it a bit more moisture. Or, go more Italian and add in some pesto instead!

I think the most amusing part of this one is that the recipe I started with is labeled “Eggplant Dumplings in Cherry Tomato Sauce” in my Antipasti recipebook. Sadly, this recipe didn’t quite completely work out- hence it being labeled in the accident category. But it was an educational experience, and one I was able to turn around… mostly… in the end.

My mistakes began with the eggplant filling. I made far too many changes here, wanting to be adventurous. Here’s what went into the filling:

• 3 zucchini squashes (I misread the recipe and didn’t realize it called for eggplant…)
• 1 stem of green onion
• 2/3 cup chopped cilantro
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 tablespoon organic low-fat vanilla yogurt (not cooked- added right before blending into puree)
• salt and pepper

I took the lot, covered the pot, and let it simmer on medium heat for quite some time (perhaps about 20 minutes?) until the zucchini was fairly creamy. I then transferred the mixture to a bowl and put it in the freezer for about 20 minutes- then the fridge for another 15- then out on the counter for another 5 (it picked up a number of frequent flyer miles what with all this travelling). Meanwhile, I chopped about 1.5 cups of carrots, a handful of cherry tomatoes, added a little dark brown sugar, closed the pot again (after having scrubbed it thoroughly, o’course) and let it simmer. Unfortunately, I decided it was safe to sit with the boyfriend and sister to eat the strudels at this point… and thus the mixture had burned and caramelized to tar (I have issues with tar! Just like the failed tarte tatin…) and I had to throw the thing out. This meant no carrot-tomato sauce to put the bundles in- which, in the end, was for the best, as my crepes were too thick to bundle!

To make the crepes, I followed the suggestions in the book, but halved the recipe: Mix a cup of milk (I used skim), 3/4 of a cup of AP flour, and an egg. Whisk, then let sit for 15 minutes. Then lightly coat a sautee pan with olive oil, ladle a bit of the batter on, and cook each side for about 3 minutes or until browned until you’re happy. For a more tortilla-looking crepe, add more oil- for a more burnt crepe, keep the pan as dry as possible.

Unfortunately, the zucchini puree turned out not yummy at all. It’s not unpalatable, but the boyfriend and I agreed the taste was off. Why do you think this was? Does anyone know? Which ingredient do you think is the main culprit? Is zucchini just not meant to be pureed? 

Clearly there was only one thing to do here: take picture with the puree, then take it out and replace it with a far better alternative. Out came the jar of pralinutta (yes, I know, it’s not nutella- I was curious to try the domestic alternative, and it’s quite nice)- just spread it on, roll up your crepe, and yum! Much better- though no longer an appetizer and now a dessert, at least it was partially saved.

…By the way, if anyone wants the puree, it’s sitting in the fridge, waiting for someone to show it some love (and that shan’t be me!) And if someone has suggestions on how to better make that puree in the future, I’m all ears!

Time for yet another try at the apple tarte! This time, I decided to go experimental (next time, I’m definitely trying out the recipe in my new English cookbook). This tarte takes an Italian influence with a rather heavy citrus taste (lemon juice, zest, and orange juice), but keeps traditional elements (apples, cinnamon, nutmeg) to make a crumbly confectionary pleasure once settled within a gooey almond oil-flavoured whole wheat crust. Here’s the step-by-step surgical procedures:

• The filling is quite simple: zest a lemon rather vigorously, then add in its juice (roll it first to release the juices); add a tablespoon of orange juice. Sprinkle in a 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/3 tablespoon cinnamon (I went, as per usual, a bit overboard on the cinnamon- so 1/3 – 1/2 tablespoon is much safer than the whole one I put in!), 1 teaspoon nutmeg, and 3/4 tablespoon honey. Sprinkle in between 1/3 – 1/2 cup large black raisins (or sultanas, if you prefer… we were out at the time). Very thinly slice apples (I used 1 large braeburn and 3 smaller granny smith) and add to the mix. Cook on medium until the mixture becomes soft and a bit creamy- there should be a slight bite of crisp left to the apples.
• Make a crust- I followed David’s french tarte dough recipe again for the basics but this time made some changes: I used 1 cup organic whole wheat pastry flour and the “rounding” of the cup as white whole wheat flour. I also used all soy-butter natural spread, and put in 5 tablespoons of it instead of 6. I also added a teaspoon of vanilla extract and 2 teaspoons of almond extract.
• I cooked the crust for 6 minutes unfilled, then removed it from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes.
• Fill the crust with the apple filling, making sure to add it evenly and spread it so that the top is completely flat (or as flat as can be made)- then while that is sitting (and settling), thinly slice one more apple (or two, if needed) and arrange in the shape of a flower on top of the filled tarte.
• Brush the apple slices with a bit of melted soy-butter spread with a pastry brush, sprinkle on a tiny bit of sugar, and put back into the oven for 10 minutes (still on 410 degrees).
• Remove tarte from oven and brush on apricot jam/jelly evenly with a pastry brush. Put tarte back into oven at approximately 200 degrees for another 30-40 minutes (until crust edges are golden-brown and fully cooked (lift edges of tarte pan slightly to check- the filling will make this process take quite a long time)). It’s important to reduce the temperature so as to not char the apples on top.

This was an unnecessarily complicated way to do this, but I was experimenting with filling times based on different degrees of crust bakedness. To make this easier, you can fill the tarte when the crust is almost completely cooked (after being in the oven for 12-14 minutes) and either a) not add apple slices on top, or b) pre-cook them and then add them on top.

It was melting and coming apart last night when it was hot (the boyfriend took seconds despite the crumbliness) and had a number of distinct flavours. Some bites had a strong lemon flavour from the zest (I zested it roughly, so there are some large zest pieces in the filling) while others had a strong, biting almond taste from the crust. After a day of refrigeration, the flavours have melded together much more. It’s enjoyable either way, but makes an interesting study in the effects of time and cooling upon the flavours’ relationships… something worth looking into!

In any case, it’s a rather yummy tarte, and fun to make. Try it out with your own variants and see what works best for you! As Melissa on Food Network would say, the possibilities are endless! :)

Lastly, if you do follow this recipe as I did- using the soy-butter spread- this becomes a vegan-friendly dessert! No animal products or by-products. Cheers!

I saw these for the first time in the window of a bakery in Cannes when I was about 8 years old, and I was hooked. The cute little tarte shells filled with rich, yellow pastry cream and succulent strawberries brushed with jam… and I knew that one day, I would try to recreate them. Strawberries were on sale for $4 for 2 lbs this week at Randalls- a ridiculously good deal- and were red, gorgeous, and juicy… it was like a sign! I knew that strawberry tartelettes would be next on the list.

I searched about for the perfect recipe- I wanted to make sure I was staying true to the French version of the tarte and not the Italian one (which often has no cream and added pistachios) and found a close match at Food & Wine (I have one of their annual books and keep meaning to try some things out of it.) I also used the same pastry dough recipe as for the banana tarte rather than that suggested in the F&W recipe (I made about 1.3x the recipe for the crust to allow for all 6 mini tartelettes).

Interesting tidbits from making these:

• I used some strawberry jam I got from the Austin Farmer’s Market to brush the strawberries (and keep them from drying out!). If you don’t have strawberry, any berry should be nice… and if you don’t have berry, then apricot is always an excellent go-to, although I think this is one of those rare cases where a berry jam would be best.
• I made 1.3x the tarte crust recipe to cover my 6 tartellete pans (rough 3inch size pans) and my sister and I agree that the slightly-overtly-thick crust is this tarte’s one fault. I’d suggest making the original amount, or juuuust slightly over.
• The recipe’s suggestion that you keep a bit of the tarte dough uncooked for fixing fault lines and cracks is a brilliant one. I perhaps kept a bit too much this time (as last time I kept too little!) but knowing that these would be heavy little things, I wanted to make sure their castle walls were well-reinforced. I’d say keeping a square centimeter per tarte seems fair.
• I ended up baking the shells for about 12 minutes, checking after 8, 10, 11, 12. At 8 minutes in, I noticed they were puffing up in the center, despite my having made fork-holes. To solve this, I opened the oven, and using a fork made deeper holes (tiny slits in the truly persistent ones) and pressed them back down. I’m sure there are more official ways of preventing this (pie weights or dried beans, etc) but this method is simple.
• I used all soy spread for this one in lieu of normal butter (Randall’s came out with their own whipped spread equivalent to earth balance, so I opted to try) and though the crust is slightly more crumbly and slightly more dry than last the, the added health benefits are totally worth the slight, slight difference. I highly recommend forgoing normal, actual butter for this when you honestly can barely tell the difference.
• I tried making strawberry slices and arranging them in a flower and it just looked awkward. Trust the recipe when it says to arrange them whole, in peaks… it’s true, it’ll look better. Also, if you’re like me and cut a hole (rather than just straight across) to conserve the most strawberry-meat possible, you may need to cut it straight after to ensure that the strawberry holds still!
• I used about 1/3 white whole wheat flour and 2/3 parts AP flour… I was afraid that using all WW flour would give the crust a grainy texture, but plan to work on this proportion in the future
• I also used organic cage-free (+ extra folic acid!) eggs and highly suggest that as well… they crack so much more nicely, are more fresh, and made for a delicious cream!
• I used organic skim milk in lieu of whole milk for the cream
• Rather than use heavy cream in the pastry cream, I substituted this for 2 tablespoons of organic low-fat vanilla yogurt and a tablespoon of potato starch to thicken… and you can’t tell the difference at all!
• I refrigerated the cream for the suggested 2 hours before filling, then refrigerated the filled shells for about 30 minutes, then added the strawberries and brushed them with the jam, and then refrigerated overnight. The first one was eaten after a good 8 hours of fridge time after they were completely put together. This really does allow the cream sufficient time to thicken and hold, and allows the jam to infuse the strawberries with its protective (and yummy) layer!

If anything, these just look adorable. The fact that they’re delicious is a very nice side benefit. :)

Part two of the souffle extravaganza was dessert: pear souffle! Fruit souffle is as popular as savoury souffle- really, so many things can be souffle’d- and pear’s a nice choice. As it’s incredibly thick when churned, it creates a coarse paste that lends itself well to souffle. It’s also amoung the starchier fruits, so you don’t need flour when making this one (as opposed to a lighter fruit, ie: berries, where some flour would probably be needed to add volume to the mixture).

We chose epicurious again as our recipe (ah, that was another great show to watch! why are all the good ones cancelled?) and followed it rather precisely. We didn’t make the chocolate sauce as making two souffles was a hefty enough task for one evening. We also had stations of sorts: A manned the pears while the cooked, Saloni and I pureed the pears and whisked in the yolks to the mixed puree. And we had the cheese souffle going simultaneously for extra fun.

There’s not much else to say on this one… it’s a fairly simple recipe if you follow it closely, but it is time-consuming. Oddly, this one yielded much more souffle than the cheese recipe, so there was enough left over to snack on the next day for dessert. And mmh, it was a yummy snack. My only regret is that we were out of vanilla ice cream at the time to accompany it…

So based on the last poll’s results, it looks like I have an excuse to go get a torch for that banana creme brulee. It shall be forthcoming! Moving onto today’s entry:

Gruyere + parmesan = mmh! Sunday night was another fun night of baking with Saloni, this time with the added bonus of her boyfriend (G) and the ever-knowledgeable friend A, along with the boyfriend. This had me learn a very important lesson: I don’t deal quite as well with a crowded kitchen, even if all hands are helping out :). I’ve also come to the conclusion that I’m a bit of a control freak when it comes to kitchen maintenance/cleaning/upkeep and general culinary methodology. It’s interesting cooking with a variety of people and seeing how our styles mingle and fuse and shift to adjust and adapt.

We had discussed a number of souffles to try and settled on two: a classic cheese recipe adapted from Julia Child as well as a dessert one (pear). When I asked Saloni which cheeses she’d like for it, she picked an excellent combo: gruyere and parmesan (coincidentally the two listed on this recipe). The nuttiness, saltiness, and stickyness lent themselves fabulously to this souffle. This is the first time I’ve attempted one of my favourite childhood foods (my mother makes a killer cheese souffle!) and actually succeeded in achieving the same flavour and texture. Hence, this was a very special day for me :)

Some recipe adjustments and lessons learned:

• We used organic skim milk in lieu of the whole milk and this thing was a meaty souffle… I’m actually frightened to know what would have happened had we used the intended fatty milk
• In addition to the cup of gruyere, I added a 1/4 cup of grated parm
• Freshly-cracked black pepper in lieu of paprika, which I lacked
• A tells me that using a cold (frozen for a few minutes) metal bowl aids the egg white beating process
• Using a manual egg beater takes an incredible amount of time and force. Hire mafia goons or athletic types for this one, you’ll need quite a bit of strength
• If using a manual egg beater, throw in an extra egg white or two. Our lack of force resulted in less frothy mix to fold into the batter, resulting in a smaller load of souffles being made. We barely made 4 ramekins, despite buttering for 6. Sadness.

These things aside, they were a definite success. Take a look at the inside to see the gooey texture- airy yet dense, just as it should be. Having watched Julie & Julia the day before with my family, I found this recipe choice to be particularly appropriate.