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.

Anisbroetli

3 cups of flour

2/3 cup of corn flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 tablespoon ground anise seeds
1 tablespoon of anise flavoring
4 large egg whites
2 cups of sugar

Sift the AP flour, corn flour and baking powder in a bowl. Now add in the ground anise seeds and set aside.

In a double broiler add some water and bring it to a light simmer. Place the sugar and eggs in the top of the double broiler and bring to 105 degrees. Remove from heat and place in a mixer. Mix until the mixture is cool. Now add the rest of
the ingredient.

Roll out the dough on  lightly floured surface to a scant 1/4 inch. Now place a mold over the dough an press in. Cut the cookies out and place on a baking sheet. You will now let the cookies set for three hours before baking.

When the three hours are up bake the cookies in a 300 degree oven for 20 minutes. Do not let the cookies take on any color. They will become very white.


This will be fun for all you google fans. On the side of my web page is a translate icon. You can find out what this says by the click of a button.

Anisbrötli

Springerle (in der Schweiz Anisbrötli oder Springerli genannt) ist ein traditionelles Festtagsgebäck aus einem Anis-Eierschaumteig. Es wurde sowohl an kirchlichen Feiertagen (Ostern, Pfingsten und Weihnachten) als auch zu familiären Festen (Hochzeit, Taufe) mit jeweils passenden Motiven gebacken. Sie gehören wie Spekulatius zum Bildgebäck. Springerle sind in Süddeutschland, Teilen von Österreich, der Schweiz, im Elsass und Ungarn bekannt. (In lothringischen Rezepten für sogenanntes "Pain d'anice" finden sich dieselben Zutaten- und Zubereitungsangaben, jedoch werden dabei keine Model Diminutiv von Springer, kommt entweder von einem beliebten Motiv, einem Reiter (Springer) oder, was sehr viel wahrscheinlicher ist, vom Aufspringen (Aufgehen) beim Backen. Beim Backen wächst der Teig auf die doppelte Höhe, dabei bildet sich am unteren Rand ein „Fuß“.

mehr verwendet.) Der Name, der süddeutsche

Dies ist ein Auszug aus dem Artikel Anisbrötli der freien Enzyklopädie Wikipedia. In der Wikipedia ist eine Liste der Autoren verfügbar.

Punjabi Garam Masala

Over the years, I have made huge quantities of this spice blend. It is great for meat, chicken, seafood and so many other preparations. It is much better to make your own then to buy the spice blend in an Indian market. The quality of the spices and the toasting will make a classic blend that any East Indian would appreciate.

This makes a large amount, you can half or even quarter the recipe if you like.

40 black cardamom pods, seeds removed and shells tossed
6 sticks of whole cinnamon crushed with a rolling pin
2 tablespoons of whole cloves
1/2 cup of black peppercorns
1 cup of cumin seeds
1 cup of coriander seeds

I roast the spices in a large frying pan over medium high heat. You do not add any oil to the pan the spices are dry roasted. You must stir and shake the pan all the time to get a even roasting. Do not walk away from the pan or the spices will burn. The spices will begin to smoke and release a wonderful warm fragrance in the cool fall weather. This will take about 7 to 8 minutes depending on how hot your stove runs. The important thing is that the spices are dark brown and smoking. You do not want them to burn. Remove from the heat and place in another pan to cool.

Then simply grind the cooled spices with a spice grinder until they are a fine powder. Store in a air tight container and in a cool dark place.

 

Pan Asian Green Beans

This dish can be made in minutes and is really healthy, if you substitute the traditional pork, for ground turkey. Do use ground thigh meat for your ground turkey. The later is to lean for the dish.

The green beans in winter are not, as sweet as they are in the summer, so do add the sugar to the recipe. I love Ichimi Togarashi which is a red pepper mix from Japan, but you can substitute red pepper flakes for the Togarashi.

Amber colored, aromatic, and pleasantly rich tasting, ShaoHsing rice cooking wine is the most important ingredient in many recipes for Chinese cooking. Use it in any marinade, soup or sauce.

Living in my neighborhood you get the opportunity to visit all the lovely ethnic grocery stores. They will help you find the Togarashi and Shaohsng Huadiao wine.

1 tablespoon Shaohsng Huadiao wine or a dry sherry
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of corn starch
1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil with a high smoking point
1 pound ground turkey thigh meat                                                                                        
1 pound of green beans tops removed and left whole
3 garlic cloves mined
1 tablespoon of minced ginger
3 green onions cut for garnish
2 tablespoons of water
2 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil

In a bowl mix up the sauce that includes the sugar, soy sauce, corn starch, black pepper, Shaohsng Huadiao wine, sugar, water and togarashi. Set aside.

Heat a wok or very large frying pan until the oil is smoking. Add the green beans and cook until they have brown spots all over them and are wilted a little. Now turn down the heat a little and add the ground turkey. Crush the turkey meat and cook until all the pink has been remove. Now add the garlic and ginger and cook until they are no longer raw. Now add your sauce and cook until the mixture is well incorporated. Serve this dish with steamed basmati rice. You are going to have the best home take out.

Rissotto

This is a classic risotto from the northern part of Italy where everything can be used in making risotto. Just remember that a good stock is one of the keys to a successful risotto. Another is to have the stock be very hot when you add it to the rice. I like to eat risotto on a plate. This is a "peccato mortale". Italians will always serve risotto in a bowl. Whups !

4 cups of brown chicken stock
1/8 cup olive oil
1/8 cup butter
1 small onion diced
1/4 cup dice celery
1/3 cup diced carrot
1 clove garlic minced
1 cup Parmigiano Reggiano shaved
3/4 cup dry white wine
4 mushrooms diced
1 slice of 1/4 inch thick deli ham diced
1 tablespoon minced parsley
Freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cup of Carnaroli rice

Heat the stock over low heat and keep it warm next to a sauce pan you will use for the rice. Now, in the sauce pan for the rice, heat the oil and butter over medium high heat. When sizzling add your diced onion, carrot and celery. Saute until the vegetables are about to turn brown. Add the garlic and stir for a minute or two.

 Now add the rice and cook stirring constantly until it turns translucent. You will now add the wine to the sauce pan.












Cook until all the wine has been cooked into the rice. Now add your mushrooms and 1/3 of the warm stock to your sauce pan. Stir until all the stock has been absorbed. Now repeat this step two more times.


Now your rice will be fully cooked and you will add the cheese, ham and parsley. Season with freshly ground pepper and minced parsley.