Dueling Desserts

My daughter, Emily had been begging for apple tart tatin, but those last peaches of the season were asking for inclusion in something. It was such a good peach season in Maryland that I kept eating and not baking them. This was my last chance before the Triple Crown season of apple/pear/pumpkin desserts began.

Tarte tatin can do no wrong in my world – apples too mushy -- who cares? Apples stuck to the pan and the tart patched back together –I’ll eat it anyway. Armed with confidence, I made the tart, center ring of pear, then alternating granny smiths and peaches with blackberries scattered around any holes I found in the pan.

It even looked like I had imagined in my head. The blackberries performed the task of paintbrush and lightly tinted all the fruit with a red pomegranate color. I loved the taste, but Tom and Padma, I mean Sam and Emily, said that they didn’t like tasting just one fruit in each bite, they would prefer a bite of apple, pear, berry and peach each time they cut a piece. So there was born round two of the tatin battle. The second method was a little soupy and messier to turn out of the pan. But the pool of syrup on the counter was easily removed with fingers and licked. The taste was precisely what the critics were after and the blackberries more uniformly colored and glazed the dessert in red. I will give you both options so you can decide.


Rainbow Tart Tatin                                           8 to 12 servings

Storage: Store covered with plastic in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

1 sheet parve frozen puff pastry (from a 17.3-ounce box)

8 tablespoons parve margarine

3 Granny Smith apples

3 small pears

3 unripe peaches

6 ounces blackberries

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Thaw the puff pastry at room temperature for 45 minutes.  You will need a deep, ovenproof skillet about 11 to 13 inches wide. Make sure the handle is ovenproof as well. Take a piece of parchment about 16 inches long and sprinkle some flour on it. Roll out the puff pastry sheet until it is 1 inch larger than your pan. Place the pan on top of the rolled pastry and use a sharp knife to cut a circle in the pastry the size of the pan. Remove excess dough and set the dough circle aside.

Place the margarine and sugar in the skillet and set over medium-low heat. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Meanwhile, peel and core the apples and cut into quarters. Peel the pears, halve and remove cores. Peel the peaches, halve and remove the pit. Add the pears to the center of the pan, cored side facing up with the stem end facing the center, so it looks like a flower. For the next ring outside the pears, alternate apple and peach halves, core and pit sides facing up to fill up the pan. Sprinkle the blackberries around and place in any gaps between the other fruit. Cook for 15 minutes uncovered without moving any fruit.

Place the skillet in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven.  Take your pastry circle and, using your hand under the parchment, lift up and flip the pastry over on top of the fruit. Be careful, the skillet is hot! Peel off the parchment and use a sharp knife to cut a few holes in the pastry. Return skillet to the oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until the pastry is golden.

Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes. Use a silicone spatula to gently push any fruit poking out of the pastry back under the pastry. Put on oven mitts.  Place a large serving plate or platter over the pan and then flip the tart over onto the plate or platter. If any of the fruit get stuck in the pan, use a spatula to scoop them out and place where they belong on the tart. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Option #2

Preheat oven, thaw, roll and then cut the puff pastry as instructed above.  Cut the apples, pears and peaches into 1-inch pieces.  Place into a bowl, add the blackberries and toss gently. Heat the margarine and sugar in the pan, as instructed above.  After the margarine and sugar have melted, dump all the fruit into the pan and use a spatula to spread to cover the pan. Cook for 10 minutes without stirring. Place pan in the oven for 10 minutes.

Remove and then place the pastry on top, following the instructions above. Place back in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the pastry is golden.

Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes. Use a silicone spatula to  push any fruit poking out of the pastry back under the pastry. Place a large serving plate or platter (one with a rim works best) over the pan and then flip the tart over onto the plate or platter. If any of the fruit get stuck in the pan, use a spatula to scoop them out and place where they belong on the tart. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Thyme Flies

Hurricane Earl was a total bust in Westhampton Beach, New York. I came up here to do several cooking demonstrations to launch The Kosher Baker and stay for Labor Day weekend. Earl simply left us with beautiful breezes. So we opened all the windows and everything went flying, especially the fresh thyme leaves that were destined for the Dijon vinaigrette for my fresh tuna salad nicoise. At my dear friend Elena Lefkowitz’s exquisite home, all weekends are full of good friends, relaxing hours and most importantly, fabulous meals. Thyme usually moves very slowly.

Our unofficial weekend food theme was the final tastes of summer. I know that we are being rocket launched into brisket in two days, but for now, this weekend is all about grilled vegetables, colorful salads, fresh fish and barbeque. Lunch on Shabbat was tuna nicoise salad and quinoa with roasted sweet potatoes, dried cranberries and green onions.

To make the tuna, marinate it for 5 minutes in some olive oil, lemon juice and dried thyme. I seared it in a hot pan for less than 2 minutes per side so the center would be rare. I steamed asparagus and red bliss potatoes and found several varieties of olives in the fridge and cut fresh herbs from pots right outside the kitchen.

Place your favorite mixed greens on each plate, some asparagus, potatoes, olives, a few slices of tuna, sliced against the grain, and then the mustard vinaigrette. For a side dish, I made the quinoa salad that I taught at the cooking demos here in Long Island as a healthy Rosh Hashana side dish. Call this salad a bridge between bikinis and brisket.

Dijon Vinaigrette makes ½ cup dressing
¼ cup olive oil
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano leaves
Salt and fresh-ground pepper to taste

Whish together the oil, vinegar, mustard and honey.  Add the juice, water and whisk vigorously.  Add the thyme and oregano and sale and pepper to taste.

Quinoa with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Dried Cranberries serves 8
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 medium sweet potato, cut into ½ inch cubes
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted, optional
3 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons honey
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup dried cranberries
3 scallions, sliced thin

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Place the quinoa into a small saucepan and add 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 15 minutes, covered, or until the water is evaporated. Turn off the heat and let quinoa sit covered for at least one hour, up to 8 hours.  While the quinoa is sitting, place the sweet potato cubes into a roasting pan and toss with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Bake for 25 minutes, stirring once or twice, or until you can just pierce the cubes with a fork. Set aside.

Place the pine nuts into a small pan over medium heat and cook until lightly toasted, stirring often. Watch carefully so they do not burn. Set aside.  In a small bowl, place the remaining two tablespoons olive oil, vinegar, honey, salt, pepper, cumin and cinnamon. Whisk well.

When the quinoa is dry, use a whisk to break apart the grains. Add the vinaigrette and mix with the whisk. Add the sweet potatoes, pine nuts, cranberries and scallions and mix gently. Serve at room temperature.

 

The Tart Spangled Banner

This summer, my husband Andy had to travel to Geneva, Brussels, and London for work and invited me to tag along as all the kids were away. Who was I to say no as I imagined myself eating me way through each city. That turned out to be pretty close to the reality.


Within one hour of landing in Geneva, our friends and hosts, Scott and Clarisse, took us to the Divonne market just over the border in France, one of the few places to buy food on a Sunday. Remember blue laws? I went from stall to stall, tasting olives, seeing raspberries the size of walnuts, eggplants and tomatoes of every color, and witnessing the summer bounty of French farms.

The highlight was when the vendor of sun dried tomatoes, trying to get me to taste one, called out “mademoiselle”. I love France.

I volunteered to bake dessert for our July 4th dinner, I was so excited to bake with the glorious fruit I found at the market.  I decided on my summer fruit galette, an open-faced tart that is super easy. I chose white nectarines, the nuclear raspberries, peaches and fraise des bois. Fraise des bois are those wild strawberries they love in Europe. Although I think I see the same kind growing in the woods in Rock Creek Park near my house, they seemed safer to eat if some French guy was selling them.

As there was no need to make them dairy-free, I substituted lovely French butter for the dairy-free margarine I usually use. The dough was a little drier than with margarine, but still worked. I made the mistake of doubling the recipe in the food processor. This recipe ALWAYS comes out better if I make one batch at a time – it avoids overmixing.

Clarisse could not find her rolling pin. As I have done time and time again, a wine bottle is a GREAT substitute.  I followed one my “Ten Commandments of Kosher Baking” and shaved off some baking time to prevent burning. I actually took off about ten minutes. European ovens are tiny – think four shoeboxes – and I even had to lower the temperature towards the end because the heat in that small oven was very concentrated. As always, you have to keep an eye on your baked goods as they bake!

We sat down on the terrace to eat with a view of the alps, with a group of Americans and one Australian and discussed the translations of national anthems around the world. Some are pretty violent actually.  We ate a delicious dinner of cod gremolata which I invented on the spot using lemon zest, garlic, and huge Italian parsley leaves, rubbed on the fish and then grilled on foil on the grill, pan sautéed potatoes, grilled vegetables and of course, coleslaw.

The highlight was the tarts, which were served with vanilla ice cream – a real treat for a kosher girl. As we fell asleep that night, happy, full and listening to the frogs from the organic pool, I thought about my tarts and the joy of celebrating the 4th among friends outside the U.S.

We used to live in Geneva and it is always a little unsettling seeing a glimpse of the life that might have been. We are happy with our choice to live in the U.S. For one, you cannot beat the Jewish life in America. Though I always love the slowness of life in Europe, the emphasis on family and free time rather than work, I find I am naturally more comfortable around that American frontier mentality, the belief that you should always move forward, improve yourself, learn something new, and work towards a goal. Life seems to stand still in Geneva. I always have shpilkes (Yiddish for ants in the pants).

Summer Fruit Galette


serves 8
Store covered in plastic in the refrigerator for up to four days.

Dough
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter or cold parve margarine, frozen for at least 30 minutes
and cut into 6 pieces
1 large egg, separated
3 tablespoons ice water, divided

Filling
3 cups fresh fruit: fraise des bois, berries, or nectarines, plums, peaches or apricots cut into ½-inch pieces
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon sugar, to sprinkle on top of galette

To make the dough: Place the flour, salt, and butter or margarine into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse 10 times or cut the butter or margarine into the flour and salt by hand using two knives or a pastry cutter.  Add the egg yolk (reserve the white) and 1 tablespoon of the ice water. Pulse
5 times or mix gently by hand. Add another tablespoon of the ice water and pulse another 5 times or mix again. Add the last tablespoon of water, a little at a time, pulsing or lightly mixing the dough for 10 to 15 seconds until it looks like clumps of couscous; the dough does not have to come completely together. Gather the dough into a ball.

Take a large piece of plastic wrap and sprinkle some flour on top. Place the dough on the floured plastic, wrap the plastic around it, and then flatten. Place the dough in the freezer for 20 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 425ºF and place a rack on the lowest shelf of your oven.

Take a large piece of parchment and sprinkle it with some flour. Remove the dough from the plastic wrap and place it on top of the parchment. Sprinkle some flour on the dough and then place a second piece of parchment on top. Roll out the dough until it is about 12 to 13 inches wide, trying your best to keep the shape round. Peel back the top parchment and sprinkle some more flour once or twice while you are rolling.

To make the filling: Place the fruit in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the sugar and cornstarch. Sprinkle on top of the fruit and mix gently. 
Place the fruit in the center of the dough circle and spread it outward, leaving a 2 to 3-inch border on the outside. Take one small section of the dough border, about 2 inches, and fold it over the fruit, leaving the fruit-filled center open. Pick up another 2-inch section of the border and repeat, pressing one section into the next to seal it, so you end up with dough pleats.

 
 
 
Beat the reserved egg white and brush all over the dough. Sprinkle with the teaspoon of sugar. Bake for 30 minutes. Move the galette to a middle rack in the oven and bake another 10 minutes. Let cool for 20 minutes.

Raising the Bar

I was craving my raspberry bars. Maybe it was looking at the book photo or remembering how I couldn’t stop eating them the day of the photo shoot. My fabulous photographer and friend, Michael Bennett Kress, preferred the pecan bars during the shoot, but both of us started at the trimmed off edges of each pan and slowly worked our way in.

So there I was making raspberry bars one Friday this spring and when the bottom crust was baked, it just seemed too pedestrian to spread jarred jam when I had a fridge full of luscious, seasonal berries. I got out the rasps and blues and squished them with my hands, added sugar and some flour and spread that over the bottom crust and grated the remaining dough on top. You can serve it warm or cold, though I like the chilled bars better.

After several Shabbat meals and snacks, we still had half the pan left on Sunday. I may have also made chocolate mousse that weekend. Berries can never compete with chocolate. Sunday afternoon, three hours into the seven total of my daughter’s regret over having donated 8 inches of her hair, I needed a pick-me-up. I told my son Sam, who LOVES fruit desserts, to get us two soup spoons. He asked if we needed plates and I responded, “Why?” We sat down and inhaled the remainder of the pan. Somewhere into the final corner of the pan, things were looking up. Sam and I licked our spoons. I took Emily to get her hair layered and her friends on skype pronounced the new style gorgeous. This dessert made my stressful afternoon ever so much sweeter.

Berry Bars

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) parve margarine, frozen for 15 minutes, plus extra for
greasing pan and parchment
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg yolk
2 cups fresh blueberries
2 cups fresh raspberries
¼ cup sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350ºf. Grease a 9 x 13-inch pan with some margarine. Place a piece of parchment in the pan that is large enough to go up the sides and hang over a few inches. Grease the top and sides of the parchment.

To make the crust: Place the flour and sugar into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Process for 10 seconds. Cut the margarine into pieces and add to the bowl. Process or use your hands to mix for another 10 seconds. Add the vanilla and egg yolk and then process or mix until the dough just comes together.

Divide the dough in half, making one piece a little bigger. Wrap both pieces in

plastic; flatten and place the smaller one in the freezer. Take the larger piece and break it into pieces and scatter over the parchment. Press the pieces into the pan as evenly as you can. Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes. 
Meanwhile place the raspberries and blueberries into a large bowl and squeeze with your hands to break up the raspberries.

Add the sugar and flour and squeeze together. This part is fun, but you may still want to use plastic gloves as I did.  Remove the other dough piece from the freezer and, using the large holes of a box grater, grate the remaining dough over the filling. 

Bake for 50 minutes, or until the top starts to look golden brown. Let cool. Trim off about ¼ inch of the sides, if desired, and eat them immediately, and then cut into squares or long bars. Serve warm or cold.

Pledge 25 Jewish Baking Class

Ohr Kodesh Congregation in Chevy Chase is celebrating the 25 years of Rabbi Lyle Fishman. To commemorate this milestone the synangogue launched "Pledge 25" asking each member the pledge 25 of Jewish learning or activity during the next year. I was asked to do a Jewish baking class and we did two classes. During the first class, we had about 16 people and baked challah and babka. Everyone made their own mini babkas to take home. I enjoyed watching several people 80 plus rolling out their babkas!

Yesterday we made rugelach and doughnuts for chanukah. I presented them with what I call the rugelach filling buffet: several jams, nuts, dried fruit, coconut, etc. with which to fill their rugelach rolls. The doughnuts were way too good. During the class I demonstrated how to make the dough that I cooked after everyone left. We ended up with about 30 doughnuts sitting around the kitchen that had to be eaten within 24 hours, or they get stale, PLUS I knew I had to make a fresh batch Friday for Chanukah. I keep hoping to get tired of eating them but that hasn't happened yet. Happy Chanukah!

Friendship Circle

The Chabad Lubavitch organization has a national program called "Friendship Circle" that matches up teens to special needs kids and does different projects with them. I ran two cooking programs for the group during November as part of their Cooking Circle program. On the first day, we made chicken matzoh ball soup, a chopped salad with creamy dijon dressing and an easy fruit tart. The second day we made cheese borekas, pizzas and the kids assembled and decorated their own layer cakes. I learned from working with special needs kids at Camp Ramah last summer that this group LOVES cake decorating. I gave them stacks of vanilla cake slices, bowls of icing and pastry bags with several icing colors and let them do what they want. Many adults are afraid of pastry bags, but not these kids. Although the result was more icing than cake, the kids had fun designing their cakes and squeezing the icing out of the bags. The helpers, including my daughter Emily, had a great time too.

I have just returned from a succesful week of cooking events before over 100 people in South Florida. I was hired by three different Chabad Lubavitch groups to do a cooking demonstration and tasting of a full meal. It was hard work, but I had an army of helpers and the food turned out great, which is often a challenge in other people's kitchens. The crowd ranged in age from 13-85. I met interesting people including a teenager who asked me to sign her Kosher by Design Kids in the Kitchen book that I edited and a woman who asked to test my parve flan for my upcoming book.

My mom, who had never seen me do a cooking demo before a large group, was able to watch me and kvell. I didn't share my usual story about the fact that the only home baked cakes I ever got growing up were the cake mixes mom made on Passover. I did like those brownies . . .

For two of the events, in Parkland and Downtown Miami, I prepared the following menu:

Caramelized Onion and Sweet Potato Soup

Whole Chicken with Dried Fruit Stuffing

Crunchy Quinoa

Pear and Almond Tart

For the event in Palm Beach Gardens, I substituted my Brisket Osso Buco for the Chicken.

Some comments:

"The demo was informative and entertaining and your food absolutely amazing. I keep getting great feedback from the women that were there.. they absolutely loved you!"

"I just wanted to thank you again for the amazing event last night. The ladies really loved it and had a great time."

Here is the sweet potato soup recipe. You may think this recipe calls for a crazy amount of onions. Trust me, they cook down. Start cooking on high heat, and once they onions brown, turn the heat down a little every few minutes. When you think the onions are brown enough, cook another 5 minutes. You will want to use an immersion blender to puree the soup and keep the blender on for at least 3 minutes straight. If the soup is very thick, which can happen because your sweet potatoes could be bigger than mine, add a little hot water and puree again.

Caramelized Onion & Sweet Potato Soup serves 10 people

1/4 cup canola oil 4 lbs onions, sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
8 cups water, vegetable or chicken stock
3 large sweet potatoes cut in chunks

Heat oil in a large pot. Add onions and cook on medium to high heat, mixing often until onions are golden brown. This takes about 30 minutes.

Add garlic, salt, pepper and cook 5 minutes more. Add the sweet potatoes and water/stock. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 40 minutes until the potatoes are soft. Cool slightly.
Purée using an immersion blender or in batches in a blender or food processor until the soup is completely smooth. Taste for seasonings and add salt or white pepper as needed.

Florida Kosher food tip

Eat at the Gelato Cafe in Boca -- they have delicious soups, salads and sandwiches and absolutely fabulous gelato. The owner let me try a few flavors, including mojito flavored sorbet. Yum.