An Unpretentious Chocolate Tart

While I was flipping through a pile of pages ripped out from various cooking magazines over the years, I stumbled upon a recipe for chocolate tart. I was drawn to it because first and foremost, chocolate was involved, and second, it contained only four ingredients. Instead of a whole pie, I made four individual tarts. I used 70 percent dark chocolate but you could easily substitute semi-sweet. I wouldn't recommend anything over 70 percent though. My husband even commented that he thought the filling had a slightly bitter taste - and that's from a lover of the darkest chocolate bars. I enjoyed the strong flavor but agreed that it could have benefited from a tad more sweetness. To achieve that, use sweeter chocolate, add a little sugar or your sweetener of choice, or leave it as is and apply a sweet topping. I'm thinking whipped cream infused with maple syrup or an ice cream flavor such as caramel praline or toffee crunch, etc.

Silky Chocolate Tart

From the September 2006 issue of Sunset Magazine

1c heavy whipping cream

7 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 egg yolk

1 prebaked pastry shell (9") or your favorite homemade pie dough

1. Preheat oven to 325F. In a small saucepan, bring cream to a simmer [but don't boil]. Remove from heat and add chocolate. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Let sit 5 minutes. Stir in egg yolk until thoroughly combined.

2. Pour into pastry shell and bake until center of tart is just starting to firm up, about 25 minutes. Let cool to room temperature before serving.

My notes: I made my own pie dough, used individual tart pans, and baked about 20 minutes.

Danish Brownies and Marzipan Apple Tart

Last month we were invited to participate in our neighborhood clean-up and the evening's BBQ to celebrate everyone's hard work. Well, we conveniently missed the clean-up (trimming trees, removing debris, and laying gravel...in the POURING rain) but found our way to the dinner. Naturally! And because there are only eight houses in the sub-division, it was very obvious who helped and who didn't. Even though we tried blaming it on being the only people in the neighborhood with kids, our neighbors still gave us a bad time. It was all in fun though and I can't blame them. It was pretty lame that we were wimps about not wanting to get wet. Nevertheless the dinner was our opportunity to get to know our Danish neighbors better, and we're happy we went.

The BBQ was held at Kurt and Eve's house. Everyone brought a dish and it was mandatory to bring along one's own plate, utensils, and drinking glass. They provided the steaks and drinks. We sat inside their long garage at an even longer table (all 17 of us) and enjoyed wonderful food, drinks, and good conversation. Some of it was in Danish but we mostly spoke to our table mates in English. Anatole was the only child and he was basking in all the attention. Kurt and Eve encouraged him to play in the huge cardboard "house" they constructed for their granddaughter. Kurt even got inside it with Anatole and showed him some other fun stuff in their garage. It continues to amaze me just how friendly and welcoming Danes are with children.


I thought it would be fun to take along a batch of brownies and, even better, to stick some mini-Danish flags on top. If you don't know it, Danes are crazy about their flag and routinely bring out large and small versions to celebrate birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, and more. These brownies are rich, decadent and best when cut in small, one or two bite-sized pieces. That way people don't feel guilty about going back for more. I kept passing the tray around the table until it was empty.



Brownies

From How to Be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson

1 2/3c soft, unsalted butter

13oz. best bittersweet chocolate

6 large eggs

1T vanilla extract

1 2/3c sugar

1 1/2c all-purpose flour

1t salt

1 1/3c chopped walnuts

13 x 9" pan

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line your pan--sides and all--with foil or parchment.

2. Melt the butter and chocolate together in a large heavy-based pan. In a bowl, beat the eggs with the vanilla and sugar. Measure the flour in another bowl and add the salt.

3. When the chocolate mixture has melted, let it cool a bit before beating in the eggs and sugar, and then the nuts and flour. Beat to combine smoothly and then scrape into the lined pan.

4. Bake for about 25 minutes. When it's ready, the top should be dried to a paler brown speckle, but the middle still dark and dense and gooey. And even with such a big batch you do need to keep alert, keep checking: the difference between gungy brownies and dry brownies is only a few minutes; remember that they will continue to cook as they cool.

My notes: I followed Nigella's instructions for baking time but wish I would have baked another 3-5 minutes. They were indeed "gungy" but perhaps a little too much. I think a few more minutes in the oven would have made them perfect. But I suppose everyone has a different type of oven that cooks slightly differently, too.

The apple tart is something I saw on a web version of the Today Show. It was a segment about recipes for Labor Day. I saw this woman chef (can't say as I remember who she was) prepare the easiest tart that included a twist. It was comprised of three main components: dough, marzipan, and apples. Since marzipan is huge in Denmark (not sure why except that it tastes good!) I thought "I have to make this." I didn't follow the exact recipe from the show, just borrowed the concept. The end result was lovely and tasted really great. My father-in-law was visiting at the time and having tried it both at room temperature and warm, he said it nearly wasn't worth eating unless it was served warm. I thought that was a semi-strong reaction, but I suppose the heated version brought out all the flavors.

Marzipan Apple Tart

Adapted from the Today Show

1 recipe of your favorite homemade pie dough (or store-bought if that's easier)

4-5 medium-large baking apples (Granny Smith is a good choice. You want a tart apple).

1.5t cinnamon

1/2t ground nutmeg

1/4c sugar (more or less depending on how sweet you like your apples...but remember that the marzipan will add sweetness.)

1 egg yolk

1/4c sliced, slivered almonds

Baking sheet

1. With a rolling pin, roll out pie dough into a 12" to 14" circle. Set aside.

2. Use rolling pin to roll out marzipan making it flat and slightly smaller than the size of your pie dough circle. Remove it from your work surface and lay on top of the pie dough.

3. Core, peel and slice apples. Mix with spices and sugar and set aside.

4. Apply apples in a concentric circle (or messy, like mine) on top of the marzipan-lined pie dough, leaving a 1.5" border of pie dough all around.

5. Fold in the edges of dough to cover the outer edge of the apples so that the entire tart has a folded up crust around it.

6. Brush the edges of the tart with a beaten egg yolk and sprinkle on nuts.

7. Bake at 350F for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown.

Making Bread in an Huge, Old Oven

Okay, a flash back to summer. The day after we arrived in Les Gandy, the villagers were having a fête de village. Part of the celebration included loaves of hand-crafted bread baked in the village's own oven. Doesn't everyone's village have an oven? Well, this one does and any resident is allowed to use it. But it's not like turning on the oven in your kitchen. No, what we're talking about here is a massive receptacle made of stone and powered by wood fire. The first photo below shows an oven big enough to have its own house.

While the bread baked, the men in the village stood around drinking white wine (wine at 9:00 a.m.? Bien sûr...and why not?), chatting, and anticipating the day's impending feast.

Preparing baked potatoes for 40 is no problem when you have an oven this big.

This tree (pictured below) was loaded with the most beautiful ripe, red cherries. I particularly admired the ladder with which these men accessed the fruit.

Cute Kids, Royal Copenhagen, and Cake

I can't think of a reason not to start a post with photos of two adorable kids. At the top is Agnete and below her is big brother Frederik, the children of our friends Søren and Mette. When we visited for lunch a few weeks ago we had no idea we were in for such an amazing feast. Søren grilled a delicious pork roast, and Mette prepared a colorful root vegetable mash and the most wonderful cinnamon cake. I brought along a simple salad of mixed greens, crumbled Gorgonzola, walnuts, and dried cranberries. We sipped some amazing white and red wines while we talked and laughed and kept an eye on the kids. It was an heavenly afternoon.

Mette shared her recipe for the cinnamon cake, and I urge you to try it. It's simple to throw together, makes a lovely presentation, and tastes good. What more can you ask for? Mette decorated her cake with purple candied violets, which she said showed up much better before the icing set. But the sky's the limit in what you choose to sprinkle on top--or not.

Cinnamon Cake

Cake

125g melted butter

400g sugar

400g flour

4t cinnamon

2t baking soda

1/2 liter buttermilk

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl, pour into an 8- or 9" spring form pan, and bake at 200 C for 30 minutes.

Icing

50g melted butter

250g powdered sugar

2t vanilla sugar (or vanilla extract)

1T cocoa powder

4T hot coffee

1. Mix all ingredients together and stick in the fridge for 15-20 minutes. Spread over cooled cake.

For dessert and tea Mette brought out her Royal Copenhagen china. The Danish serving ware dates back to 1775 and is hand-made, hand-painted, and always porcelain in blue and white.

September Daring Bakers Challenge

The challenge was vol-au-vent. We could create any shape of puff pastry that we fancied and fill it with either sweet or savory, but here's the catch: We had to make the puff pastry. From scratch. I was scared to death but ended up with a finished product that brought a smile to my face. That's because it looked pretty and tasted good. It's always a lovely surprise when you get both.

For the filling, I created a twist on apple pie by sautéing chopped apples (apples from a nearby tree, I'll have you know) in butter and sprinkling with a little brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and fresh, grated ginger. After the mix had cooked down, I removed it from the heat, let it cool a bit and then stuffed some inside my vol-au-vent. I served it along side three mini scoops of vanilla bean ice cream.

September challenge verdict: success!

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of a Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vol-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

To see more vol-au-vents creations, please check out the Daring Kitchen website.

Savory Pies

I'm jealous of my neighbor who gets to look at this every day.

I am not a fan of corn. But still I give it a chance. That's because of it's beautiful shape and color, the fact that it's a summer staple, and--decobbed--my son will eat cups of the stuff. I'd been seeing a recipe for Tomato and Corn Pie pop up on several of my favorite food blogs, here and here. At first I was turned off by it because of the corn, but I continued to think it over and soon couldn't get it out of my mind. I had to try it. Maybe it was the biscuit crust or the fact that it's a one "pot" meal, something for which I'm a sucker. What's more, I like the notion of making this dish earlier in the day and then simply pulling it out of the fridge and baking it at dinner time. Same goes for the Spaghetti Pie. It takes the stress out of dinner time when you don't have to toil and fuss in the kitchen. I suppose you could even assemble these dishes the night before and stash them in the fridge to bake the next evening.

I conservatively adapted the recipe from Everybody Likes Sandwiches (second link above), who in turn adapted it from the Gourmet magazine version. I included fine ground cornmeal in my biscuit dough, a perfect complement to the corn kernels inside the pie.

While I can't take credit for the actual idea, the Spaghetti Pie is my own creation and can be modified in numerous ways. It's great for using up leftover spaghetti and I imagine virtually any other type of leftover pasta (though the large tubular shape of, say, penne could make it tough to get flat in your pie plate or spring form pan). After all, the goal here is to shape the pasta to the bottom and sides of your pan so you can add filling in the middle. I didn't have too many pizza or pasta-type ingredients on hand but found an unopened package of Canadian bacon slices in the back of my fridge along with a box of fresh mushrooms. I also went to the freezer and removed a bag of chopped, frozen spinach to add some greenness to the dish.

Spaghetti Pie is not the best meal you'll ever have but it's enjoyable to make, easy to prepare in advance, and fun to eat.

Spaghetti Pie

1 pie plate or 9" or 10" spring form pan

3-4 cups leftover (or cooked and cooled) spaghetti - eyeball how much will fit in your pan

1.5 T melted butter

2 eggs, beaten

1/2c grated Parmesan

1c cottage cheese (you could try substituting ricotta if you prefer)

1/4c sliced mushrooms

6-8 slices of Canadian bacon

1/2c chopped, frozen spinach (or 1c fresh baby spinach)

2T fresh basil, chopped (optional)

1-2c spaghetti sauce (depending on how dry or saucy you like your pie)

3/4c mozzarella

1. Mix spaghetti with butter, eggs, and Parmesan.

2. Form into pan pushing pasta up the sides; make a well in the center.

3. Add cottage cheese and layer on the toppings: mushrooms, Canadian bacon, spinach.

4. Pour over spaghetti sauce and top with mozzarella and basil. (Alternatively, mix the basil with the pasta before molding in the pan).

5. Bake at 350F for 25-35 minutes.

Note: I also thought this dish could benefit from some sauteed onions or garlic. Incorporate them where you see fit.

Ris a l'amande and buttermilk cake with friends

We had something to look forward to after we returned from summer vacation: our friends Kira and Kevin and their kids Anton and Freya visited us for dinner and a sleepover. Kira and I share a love of food, cooking, and cookbooks. She brought along two amazing treats.

The first was an apple tart made from apples picked in her garden. The second was uniquely Danish and wonderfully good. It's called Ris a l'amande and is a rice pudding of sorts traditionally served after Christmas dinner in Denmark. I loved the light sweetness, crunchy almonds, and texture of the creamy rice. Served with a spoon of warm cherry sauce, this is a must have dessert.

Ris a l'amande

1 liter milk

50 g sugar

125 g rice (short grain/arborio)

50g chopped unsalted almonds

1/2 liter heavy cream

1tsp vanilla or inside bits of one vanilla bean

1tsp salt

1. Mix rice, milk, and sugar and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir continuously until the mixture becomes thick.

2. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and set aside.

3. Once cool, fold in heavy cream and almonds.

4. Serve with warm kirsebærsauce. Or, if you live outside of Scandinavia, use cherry compote, cherry preserves, or a can of pie cherries. The dessert tastes best if the rice porridge is coolish and the cherry topping warm.

Notes: Kira used toasted almonds. Dry roasted would be really nice, too. Thanks to Google images for letting me borrow a photo. I was too busy eating to think of taking one. To my U.S. measurement friends, my apologies for using metric. But don't you like how I threw in a teaspoon of salt and vanilla at the bottom?

I prepared a burger recipe from Every Day with Rachel Ray that was good but not magical. The pasta salad I made was adapted from a recipe in the same issue of the magazine and again, I wasn't overly impressed. For breakfast I baked a buttermilk cake that was inspired by the recipe for Salt-Kissed Buttermilk Cake on 101 Cookbooks, with sliced nectarines and blueberries on top. Though tasty, I was unpleasantly surprised that the buttermilk did not deliver a more moist crumb. A tad too dry for my taste, but luckily the fruit compensated for that.