Torta Della Nonna Con Pignoli

Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year !

This is a traditional cake made by grandma's.

 It is a wonderfully delicate pie.

For the dough place in a food processor:

1 cup of butter
3 1/2 cups of AP flour
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
4 teaspoons of almond flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1 teaspoon of Meyer lemon zest.

Then you will just pulse until incorporated. Then press the dough into a 12 inch tart pan. You will have more dough then you need to bake as cookies or you can freeze for another tart. Now set aside.

For the filling place 6 egg yolks, 1/2 cup of sugar, 3 teaspoons of vanilla and five teaspoons of AP flour into a small bowl. Mix well with a whisk. Now heat up 2 cups of whole milk in a sauce pan. Just heat until scalding. Gradually add it to the egg mixture whisking all the time. Now place the mixture back into the sauce pan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Now place a piece of plastic over  the mixture and refrigerate till very cold.
The pastry shell needs to be refrigerated too.
Now preheat the oven to 350 degrees and pour the chilled mixture into the pie shell. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of Pine Nuts and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.


Cool and then dust with a little powder sugar.

A toast to all with a little Vin Santo or Moscadello di Montalicino.

Sables De Noel

I recently purchase Jacquy Pfeiffer book The Art of French Pastry. Jacquy began with an apprenticeship in Strasboug, Alsace at the famous Jean Clauss Patisserie. I have attached a link of some of their work.

http://www.bing.com/images/searchq=jean+clauss+patisserie&qpvt=jean+clauss+patisserie&FORM=IGRE.

He is one of the top ten pastry chefs in America. An now teaches  at the French Pastry School.



But, he can remember a time when the Sables De Noel were tied up with a ribbon to the family Christmas tree for decoration. The tree was actually lite by small candles that were held to branches with a clip base. On Christmas eve, their family would light the candles, taking care not to set the house on fire.

His mother during the war had nine brothers and sisters. She talks about the piece of heaven in those cookies, a mandarin orange and a piece of chocolate. I hope this recipe will create some of those same memories. It is such a simple recipe for children. Make up the dough ahead of time. It can be place in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.

2 1/3 cups of flour (1/2 AP & 1/2 cake flour)
1 cup almond flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
7 ounces of butter
2 teaspoons of vanilla
3/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons of sugar
3/8 teaspoon of sea salt
1 extra large egg beaten and then (4 teaspoons of the mixture removed as egg wash)

You must swift the flour, almond flour, salt and cinnamon. Now in a mixer beat the butter, vanilla and sugar together. Add the egg and mix. Now add in the flour mixture. Just mix until it becomes a dough. Now divide the dough in half and roll out into 1/2 inch thick circles.

When you are ready to make the cookies preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Roll out the dough to 3/16 of a inch. Cut out the cookies into assorted cookie cutter shapes. Brush the tops of the cookies with the egg wash. You now must let the cookies rest for 10 minutes. Then you will apply a second coat of egg wash. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Watch your oven temperature. Side with a lower temperature if they are cooking to fast. The low oven temperature will allow all the water to evaporate and the cookies will be very flaky. The cookies last for about one month. Jean suggest you use a chop stick to make a whole to hang on the tree.

 

 

Cream of Cauliflower Soup

I was meeting up with my daughter in Seattle.

She was running late in traffic and we were to
meet at a local restaurant. While I was waiting, one of the waiters suggested I try their soup. It was so wonderful that it got me excited to try my own version. The following  is my attempt to replicate.

Heat six tablespoons of butter in a sauce pan. Add in two chopped leeks, 1 head of cauliflower that has been flowered, 1 cup of diced celery and fry for a few minutes. Now add in 2 bay leaves, 1/8 teaspoon celery seeds, 4 cups of brown chicken stock, a pinch of white pepper and smoked paprika. Bring down to a simmer and simmer for 15 minutes. The vegetables should be soft. Now add 5 tablespoons of basmati rice and two cups of water and simmer for another 15 minutes. Now add 1/2 cup of heavy cream and 1/4 cups of minced chives. You will now puree the soup in a blender and pass through a fine sieve.

For the garnish you will heat two tablespoon of butter in a small frying pan. It is your choice for garnishes. You can saute shrimp, shitake mushrooms, crab... I added shitake mushrooms and chipotle chile pepper to top the soup. It is really delicious.