Sunday, December 5, 2010

Crostata


Here begins my second Daring Kitchen challenge, and my first official Daring Bakers challenge. Crostata!  Also, I’m posting late… My bad.

The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Simona of briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi’s Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well.

Personally and honestly, I was not real thrilled to see this challenge. To me, it was just a pie crust with jam on top. Boring. So I decided to jazz it up a little. After a ton of internet research, and a roommate’s request for something with made with pears, I settled on a combo of the recipe for pasta frolla and a recipe for a pear-almond tart. I was excited. I never eat pears, and I almost never eat almonds, but I thought the combination would have good flavor. I was surprisingly correct. It has a very sophisticated flavor; something I could serve to the in-laws (someday).

The following is the recipe for pasta frolla (the crust) as taken from the DB challenge. Additionally, I have provided an approximation of the recipe I used to make the filling, based on a recipe by Dorie G. that I found on another blog. My comments and opinions are differentiated in blue. 

It's important to note that traditional crostatas are baked in a tart pan, and I don't have one. I meant to use a pie plate, but I accidentally left mine at home over Thanksgiving. So I shaped mine like a galette, and I've seen some crostata made in this form as well.

Pasta Frolla
¾ C powdered sugar
1 ¾ C all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1 stick butter (unsalted, duh)
½ tsp vanilla
1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk

Mix all the dry ingredients; cut in butter to small pieces (basically, make a pie crust). Beat the whole egg, yolk, and vanilla together. Combine with the dry ingredients and butter; mix until a ball forms (mine didn’t form a ball because it seemed that the dry: wet ratio was off, so I added some cold water. This caused the powdered sugar to dissolve and get sticky so after that I had to work quickly). Shape into a flat disk and wrap in plastic with direct contact. Refrigerate overnight, or for a few days if you’re lazy like I am.

Ground Almond Filling

1 medium packet of sliced almonds
6 TB butter, melted
½ C granulated sugar
1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk

Grind almonds in a food processor until they’re as fine as they’re going to get. Pour in butter, and grind more until they’re as fine and close to smooth as possible. Stir in remaining ingredients.
I think next time I’ll use an almond paste or marzipan, about 2/3 to ¾ C. I would have liked if the almond filling was smoother and creamier, which was basically impossible to achieve with my little food processor.

Put it all together

4 ripe pears, cored and sliced thin (I used Bartletts, and I have no idea what a ripe pear looks like so that was less of a concern for me)

Roll out pasta frolla on a flour-dusted surface (I rolled mine into a circle, but the shape matters very little). Move to flat baking sheet. Spread the almond filling onto the frolla dough, leaving about a 2 inch border. Arrange pear slices on top of filling (I did mine in a rose pattern). Fold the edge of the dough back over the pears (this is why the shape doesn't really matter). Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 45-60 minutes (I was on the phone, and I have no idea how long mine was in there).

That’s it! I did it, and it was fun.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Souffle!

Dave and Linda from Monkeyshines in the Kitchen chose Soufflés as our November 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge! Dave and Linda provided two of their own delicious recipes plus a sinfully decadent chocolate soufflé recipe adapted from Gordon Ramsay’s recipe found at the BBC Good Food website.

This was my first Daring Kitchen Challenge ever! Before this event, I had never made a soufflé nor had even eaten one.  This inexperience left me apprehensive at best, but still excited to try something new. 

I halved a recipe I found on AllRecipes.com and made one chocolate soufflé in a coffee mug, adjusting the recipe to suit my ingredients and convenience. In the end, I'm not sure if the result was how a proper soufflé was supposed to taste. Admittedly, I HATE when people change everything about a recipe and then declare the recipe to be at fault when their result is piss-poor. That being said, for what I created, the flavor was decent. However, the texture was maybe not something I would pursue in the future...  Some sort of weirdo chocolate-flavored kitchen sponge.  Dense and light at the same time, a big WTF for the senses. Maybe some day I'll actually follow a souffle recipe to a T or order it in a restau, and then I'll know for sure if it's for me. All in all, I was definitely glad to have completed the challenge. The Daring Kitchen will certainly help to expand my culinary horizons, and I look forward to the many challenges to come.

Below is the recipe as written, as found on AllRecipes.com, provided by The Tattooed Chef. My comments and adjustments are denoted in blue.

Chocolate Liqueur Souffles
(I let the website half the recipe for me) 

1 tablespoon butter, for ramekins  (I didn’t measure this, I just went for it)
white sugar for dusting  (The contrast of crunchy sugar and soft souffle was my favorite part of the whole dish, so I definitely would not skip or substitute this)

2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder  (This didn’t seem like enough for a strong chocolate flavor, so I added slightly more)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup white sugar, divided
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons bread flour
3/4 cup milk
4 egg yolks
4 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup chocolate liqueur (I didn’t have any, so I just added a little bit more milk to get the right consistency)
2 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips, melted (optional)  (I didn’t melt them, I just tossed them into the bottom of the mug)
1/2 cup fresh raspberries for garnish (optional)  (Also didn’t do it)
 (I added a pinch of salt in with the egg whites, because chocolate always needs salt IMO)
  1. Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Thoroughly grease the bottom and sides of four ramekins with the tablespoon of butter. Coat with sugar, tipping out any excess. If desired, place a raspberry and a drizzle of chocolate as a "surprise" at the bottom of each cup.
  2. Combine the cocoa powder, cornstarch, and a tablespoon of the sugar; set aside. Mix the butter and flour to form a paste. Lightly whisk one egg yolk in a heatproof bowl.
  3. Heat the milk to the boiling point in a heavy saucepan; whisk in the flour-butter mixture until it melts. Gradually pour the hot milk into the egg yolk in a steady stream, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the saucepan and bring the custard to a simmer over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or spatula.
  4. Cook and stir the custard until it thickens, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat, stirring occasionally to keep it smooth. Combine the three remaining egg yolks with the vanilla, liqueur, and the sugar-cocoa-cornstarch mixture. Whisk in the warm custard, cover, and set aside. (The custard can be made ahead of time up to this point and refrigerated for a day before proceeding with the recipe.)
(Okay, so I didn’t follow this part at all.  Instead, I used the starches and the fats to make a roux. Then I stirred in the milk, cocoa, and sugar. It made a sort of thick chocolate pudding. Before folding in the egg whites, I stirred in the egg yolks and vanilla.)
  1. About 35 minutes before serving, whip the egg whites until they are thick and foamy and have quadrupled in volume. Gradually mix in the remaining 3 tablespoons of the sugar, whipping until the egg whites are stiff but not dry. Fold 1/3 of the meringue into the custard to lighten it, using a whisk or rubber spatula. Fold in the remaining meringue.
  2. Immediately transfer the souffle batter into the prepared ramekins, making a smooth mound slightly above the rim of each ramekin. (If you have a piping bag, you may pipe the mixture into the ramekins.) Bake at once in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the souffles have risen and the edges are set. Serve hot, with raspberry sauce and fresh raspberries to garnish, if desired.
 Soooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuffffffffffffffffflllllllllllllllllllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeee.