Last Bite of Summer Plum Tart

So much to do so little time to do it all in. Where has the summer gone? Without getting too heavy I can honestly say that this has not been such a great summer. Oh, don't get me wrong there were some really super days always connected to family and good friends being together but as far as weather and vacation goes , nope the summer was a bust. Thank goodness we went to Florida in March for some sun and relaxation, because the summer so far has been full of rain and home- improvements that are at this very moment still on going.
Last week in the mail I received from RANDOM HOUSE CANADA (http://www.randomhouse.ca)a/ great book to View and Review for a very important Blog that I belong to called BloggerAid Chaning the Face of Famine,
but to be truthful other than just quickly flipping through the book ( how could I not resist doing that!) I haven't as yet, had the time to actually sit and give it the time it deserves. As a matter of fact a few family members have done exactly the same thing. Ron , the hubby,lingered at the pizza recipes and after reading the recipe said, "That's different I'd like to give that a try." Well that comment was a good sign because he is our resident pizza dough/pie maker so I pretty much suspected that this book has something new and different to add to everybody's traditional tried and true recipes. Ryan, The boy, was positively drooling over the White Truffle Risotto With Cauliflower recipe . Have I piqued your interest yet? Well let me share with you a last bite of summer.I still had some some lovely Ontario plums left and thought what a great way to end the summer and give you guys and gals a little peek at a recipe from the book with their Plum Tart. This one came from the book that I will be reviewing by Jeff Crump and Bettina Shorman called EARTH TO TABLE, Seasonal Recipes from Earth to Table.(http://www.earthtotable.ca/)
Stay tuned for more recipes and a review on this book.


PLUM TART
8 plums cut into wedges
2/3 c. sugar divided
1T. ground cinnamon
all purpose flour
1 recipe pate sucree
1/2 c. frangipane made with almonds
2 large egs lightly beaten
In a Bowl toss together plums, 1/2 c of the sugar and cinnamon; set aside.
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
Lightly sprinkle with flour and set aside.
On a lightly floured surface, divide pate sucree into equal portions. Using a floured rolling pin roll out into 7 inch rough circles.Transfer to prepared baking sheet.
Spoon 1 T. of frangipane in the center of each dough circle ad spread out evenly leaving a 2 inch border.
Place a scant 1cup of plum wedges in the center of each circle lift border of pastry up over filling, letting pastry fall naturally into folds.
Brush sides with egg and sprinkle with remaining sugar.
Refrigerate for 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 F. with rack placed in the bottom third bake tarts till filling is bubbling and crust is golden brown about 45 minutes.
Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

PATE SUCREE
2 1/2 C. flour
3 T. sugar
2 tsp. salt
1 C. cold unsalted butter
2 large organic egg yolks
1/4- 1/2 cup ice water
In a bowl combine flour, sugar, and salt.
Using a box grater, grate butter into flour mixture.
Toss together like a salad using your fingers.
In another bowl whisk together yolks and water.
Add to flour mixture a few teaspoons at a time kneading dough until it comes together. Shape dough into a disk .
Wrap in plastic and chill for about 1 hour.

FRAGIPANE
1 C. unsalted butter softened
1/2 C. ground almonds
1/4 C. icing sugar
1/4 C. flour
2 organic eggs
Using an electric mixer mix butter , nuts,icing sugar flour and eggs until smooth

MINT-CHOCOLATE CHIP ICE CREAM

OK here it is my first attempt at making ice cream. Why not ? I consider it an important food group, if you are like me can't you eat ice cream any time??

Do you really need an excuse or reason?

I sure don't.

A while back I mentioned my new ice-cream attachment. Everybody here immediately put in an order for their favorite. Ron ( who was still here and actually made the first batch made a custard base Coffee Ice Cream from David Lebovitz's book ,The Perfect Scoop. Ryan wanted Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream ( That is not made with any chocolate chip) from the Willams-Sonoma book called, Ice Cream, Rob wants the White Ice Cream , His will be the next batch made.
When I first foraged into ice cream making I was doing a Pioneer Unit with my grade 4 Class. We went to the Outdoor Ed. Center where we spent 2 days "Roughing " , it like in the "Old Days". While the kids were divided into groups, Dinner prep, dinner cooking, dessert, slop cleanup, the group that got Dessert, were quickly groaning when they realized that ice-cream would be cranked and churned by hand! But the results. oh my were delicious!
That was years ago, too many to say in this blog, but the good news is that I never forgot the taste of homemade ice cream and now that I have my machine ,it is something I plan on making quite often. Beware , it is not a quick process, requiring at least 2-3 days from beginning to end. There are short cuts one can take, but if you are going to go to this length to make home-made ice cream why cut corners now.

Mint Chocolate-Chip Ice Cream
1 1/2 C whole milk
1 1/2 C double cream
1 C packed fresh mint leaves
1/2 C plus 2 T. sugar
4 large egg yolks
pinch of salt
1 -2 drops green food coloring (optional)
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate finely chopped
2 T. canola oil
In a saucepan combine milk, 1 C. of the cream and mint leaves. Cook over medium heat until bubbles form around the edges, remove from heat and let stand for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile combine the egg yolk, sugar, salt and remaining 1/2 C cream in a bowl. Whisk until smooth. Gradually whisk about 1/2 cup of the warm milk mixture into the egg mixture, until smooth. Pour this mixture back into the milk pan and cook over med heat stirring constantly with a wooden spoon and keeping the custard at a low simmer until it thickens. Do Not let the custard boil.
Strain through a sieve pressing on the mint with the back of a spoon.
Place the bowl into a larger bowl partially filled with ice cubes and cold water. Stir occasionally until cool. Cover with plastic wrap pressing it directly over the surface of the custard , chill at least 3 hours or overnight.

About an hour before freezing the ice cream melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Stir the chocolate until it is melted, then stir in the oil Transfer to a small pitcher. Let cool to room temp.

Pour the custard into the ice-cream maker and follow the manufacturer's instructions. When nearly frozen and the consistency of thick whipped cream, add the chocolate while the machine is churning. Transfer to a freezer safe container. Cover and freeze until firm. at least 3 hours. Makes about 1 quart,1 L.

Espresso Panna Cotta

Tuesday night of this week was our Pot Luck dinner at Janet's house. We are a bunch of retired and almost retired teachers that love to get together over good food,and just catch up on news. In this case how our summer was spent. Unfortunately a valued friend was missing from our group..not feeling well and in much need of a deserved rest. Get well Jan we missed you and hope to see you soon.


Another, unfortunate incident was that I didn't bring my camera, as Janet had made this wonderful chicken and pineapple casserole and not only did it look good but more importantly it tasted great!(Should have taken pictures and included it in this blog.) I said that I would bring the dessert but it had turned into one of those days when everything that could go wrong ...did!!! I made the panna cotta in the afternoon thinking I would have enough time for it to set firmly before adding the espresso layer, the bottom line was that I should have started things earlier or just added a fruit layer, that didn't need to set. In hindsight, a fruit layer would have been a better idea, as most of us don't like to drink coffee late in the evening. What can I say we are getting older!


To make a long story short, the panna cotta did eventually set, not as firmly as I would have liked, but six desserts carefully went into a shoebox, so that I could put them on the floor of the car and not worry about them as I was driving to Janet's house. WRONG... as I turned the corner at the end of the road , one panna cotta toppled over hit the next one which in turn fell over and then the next 2 just followed domino style. Two did survive, and the 4 of us truly enjoyed eating them. Thank goodness for the bakery section at the grocery store, I did stop and buy a cake, but it turned out to be unnecessary and was taken to Chelsea Elementary for the staff to enjoy. ( Everybody deserves a sweet treat).



May I suggest that you prepare them early in the morning if you are planning to serve them in the evening. They truly are a simple preparation and they make a light delicious dessert that can be eaten any time of the day.

ESPRESSO PANNA COTTA

1 C heavy cream

1 C whole milk

1/4 C sugar

1/2 envelope powdered gelatin

1 tsp vanilla

ESPRESSO JELLO

4 tsp. instant espresso powder

1/2 envelope powdered gelatin

10 oz water

2 oz. brown sugar

For the panna cotta. sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup of milk in a pan until dissolved. Add sugar and remaining milk until all is dissolved, but do not boil. Remove from heat and stir in the cream and vanilla. Pour into glasses and let set in refrigerator.

For the espresso jello,Heat water to a boil. Remove from heat and sprinkle gelatin over water. Stir until dissolved. Add espresso and brown sugar. Stir until dissolved and let cool. Pour over SET panna cotta and refrigerate until jello layer is set.

( recipe from jenyu.net)

CREME CARAMEL

Ron on occassion

likes to putter around the kitchen, which is fine by me because he usually likes to make a dessert.His most recent contribution, besides doing all the outdoor grilling lately was this simple but delicious creme caramel. Sometimes the best desserts are the ones that have been around forever. This one got rave reviews! Recipe courtesy, The Cookworks 2003.



Creme Caramel


2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup water

1 cup milk

1 cup heavy creme

4 egg yolks

1/2 cup caster or fine sugar


1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


Special equipment a pastry brush, 6(4-ounce) ramekins.


Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F



Place the sugar and water in a heavy-bottomed saucepot over low heat. Let the sugar dissolve. Carefully brush the walls of the pot with a little water to prevent the sugar from crystallizing on the sides. Increase the heat to medium-high and boil until the syrup turns golden brown. Remove from the heat promptly and carefully divide the hot caramel among the 6 ramekins. Let cool for at least 2 minutes

In a medium saucepan, bring the milk and cream to just below a boil over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, mix together the egg yolks, caster sugar, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Place the mixing bowl on top of a towel to keep it from wobbling while whisking the hot liquid. Gently whisk 2 tablespoons of the hot mixture into the egg mixture. Slowly whisk the remaining hot milk 1/3 at a time, trying to prevent excess bubbles. Strain through a sieve.


Place 6 ramekins evenly in a paper towel=lined baking dish to prevent the ramekins from sliding. Pour mixture evenly into the caramel -coated ramekins. Place on the extended middle rack of the oven. Carefully pout boiling water into the baking dish until 2/3 of the way up the sides of the ramekins. (be careful not to get any water on the custard mixture.) Cover the baking dish with foil and very gently slide it towards the center of the rack. Bake for about 35 mins. or until the custard is almost fully set. Remove from the oven. Use tongs to remove the ramekins from the hot water bath. Let stand at room temperature for 5 minutes then refrigerate until well chilled.


To serve, dip the ramekin in very hot water for 15-20 secs. Run a sharp knife around the sides of the ramekin. Invert the custard onto serving plates. The caramel will pool around the inverted custards. Serve immediately.