Tagged: honey
Fresh Fig and Ricotta Tart, Roasted Pine Nuts
Absolutely love the combination! I first lay my eyes on this conjunction of ingredients while browsing through one of Jamie Oliver’s books. His recipe would make a brilliant dessert at any rate, but difficult to serve to a 14 element family. The figs are cut crosswise, filled with fresh ricotta, drizzled with honey and sprinkled with roasted pine nuts. I decided to adventure myself and make a version of my own, and turn this plated dessert into a tart.
This is a good dessert for dieters, and for those who do not appreciate overly sweetened dishes. Feel free to make changes of your own, specially with the nuts. Pistachios make a beautifully coloured plate, swirled with the honey and the wine tinted figs. The tart shell is a cream cheese dough, which I have been postponing to make for quite a while. The recipe belongs to Karen DeMasco and is featured in “The Craft of Baking”.
Salmon in Grapefruit, Honey and Mustard Seed Marinade
Sitting in the living room, listening to John Cage‘s prepared piano pieces… in a hot Summer evening after a nice shower (and unmistakably thinking about food).
What to do with abandoned fruit in your basket? If citrus is the case, squeeze all the juice and give your fish a nice immersion bath. This could work with various types of fish. My intention is to serve it in a dinner party, so Salmon was my choice (it’s nice to have a rich fish, like Salmon, Tuna, or Stone Bass for example).
This is quite similar to a Teryiaki Marinade if you think about it. Substitute the salt for soy sauce and there you go. Why not experiment with different citrus fruits though? Grapefruit is extremely active in taste, as well as in flavour. If yours is too tangy, it’s best to have a contrast ingredient, like honey (what I used) or brown sugar. There you go, Teryiaki again!
This marinade is brilliant for having friends or family over. If you’re reading..give it a chance (no joke).
Holy Challah!
This traditional jewish bread is just a wonder for accompanying a family meal. Since I came back to Portugal, I never laid my eyes on Challah again, and I just missed it too much not to give it a go.
This dough is very similar to a french Brioche, or even the portuguese Pão de Leite, with the exception of its final step of preparation (that would be the braid). I found this recipe at www.foodgawker.com, one of my favorite recipe finders. There are tons of recipes, but the base method is the same for all of them. I actually thought that my Challah could’ve been slightly more eggy and sweet, just the way I remember it from Mamma’s house. But for the first time making this bread, it turned out quite smooth! Yummie!
Simply Delicious Tea Treats
What I love most about Pâtisserie, is the fact that it’s never necessary to make difficult recipes with complicated names (although that’s fun too) and that the classics rarely bore me out. Here are two little tea treats that will always be delicious and just plain simple to make! Take an evening off and try this out with your family/friends/cat/dog/parrot and make a pleasant 5 o´clock tea party.
Müesli Crackers with Brie, Honey and Turkey Ham
I belive this to be the first time that I have made a salty cookie. It’s true origin comes from a left-over pastry dough, that I actually used to make a Spinach, Tomato and Ricotta in pastry crust. I had the oven waiting while I had my bagels leavening, and I had to figure out something to do in the meanwhile. Lately I’ve been trying to open my horizons to different tastes and textures of pastry. It doesn’t all have to be sweet, and I love cheese, so why not make it something to complement? You can add anything you like and even make it simple or fancy according to your taste!
It’s best if you use unsweetened müesli. If you don’t have it, it’s just fine with uncooked oatmeal or any other cereal, or even seeds (like sesame, poppy and sunflower).
Müesli Crackers
Left-over Flan Pastry (at least a ball that can fill your hand)
handful of unsweetened müesli
whole-wheat flour for rolling
sea salt and ground pepper
Method:
Flour your working surface with whole-wheat flour. Roll out your pastry over it, until it’s as thin as you can manage (use your common sense though, you don’t want it to rip). Brush a little bit of water over it and sprinkle with the müesli. Preheat your oven to 200ºC (about 400ºF)
Roll the pastry into a tight pin wheel, and wrap it in cling film (it will form a sausage). Leave it in the fridge for about 20 minutes.
Flour your surface again with the whole-wheat flour and roll out your pastry. Spread it well. The müesli will incorporate with the dough. Sprinkle your salt and pepper over it. Grab a biscuit cutter and cut out your crackers. Place them in the oven over a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes (more or less) or until golden brown.
Enjoy!
Little Princess Spongecake with Lemon-Ginger and Poppy Seed Glacé
I think spongecakes are so cool. You probably think it’s the most boring cake on earth, but in my opinion, it can be quite fun. I like to do it simple most of the times, adding just a little edge so it doesn’t make it as plain and simple. And yes, I have to admit, it can be slightly tasteless. This is a type of cake made without shortening and baking powder, so it grows by the air held within the well-beaten eggs. And that’s where you can turn your situation around. You can soak them, layer them, fill, glaze, add chocolate, vanilla, citrus fruits, and even make semi-freddos (that’s how the traditional portuguese pastry makes them. Not at all similar to the italian). The English make something really interesting out of this, the Shortcake. It’s made with left-over Spongecake and filled with cream and any fruit you desire, although the classic is strawberries.
