Monthly Cooking Thread - October 2020

[Liz]

Oh, my....a recipe with delicious everything.

PUMPKIN FRITTERS WITH MAPLE-ORANGE DRIZZLE

ING 1/3 cup ea pure maple syrup, Orange Marmalade Fruit Spread, Crisco®, cup flour, tbl baking powder
1/2 tsp ea salt, pumpkin pie spice (or cinnamon), large egg, cup canned pure pumpkin, 1/3 cup sugar, conf.

PREP-DRIZZLE Heat syrup on med to boiling. Offheat, add fruit spread, stir/melt carefully.

FRITTERS Stir/blend flour, b/powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice then stir into whisked egg.
Stir/blend pumpkin and sugar. Slowly stir in flour mixture just til blended.

COOK Drop tbl batter into 1 1/4" 350 deg oil. Cook on med, several at a time, til golden brown 2 min,
turning often. Liftout w/ slotted spoon to drain on p/towels. Cool 2 min. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

SERVE from basket with warmed Maple Orange drizzle.

[Jamestown1630]

I used to love those Maple Sugar Leaf candies - had a cousin who would send them every Christmas. It was like eating pure maple sugar.

I was wondering today if you can buy just maple sugar...or if what they were made of was regular granulated sugar flavored with maple (?)

[Liz]

Those are good-——I get them in a local country gourmet market.

I read that to make them, maple syrup is boiled to the crystallization stage.....but its tricky....gotta know what you’re doing.

[Jamestown1630]

Apparently, you can buy it. Sort of spendy, but with great reviews, and from a company “Family Owned and Operated Since 1912’:

http://www.amazon.com/Pure-Vermont-Maple-Sugar-Bulk/dp/B00T76KEZO/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=pure+vermont+maple+sugar&qid=1603243933&s=grocery&sr=1-4

[Jamestown1630]

I’ve been wanting to try a ‘tarte au soleil’ (lots of recipes out there for sweet ones, too):

https://entertainingwithbeth.com/tarte-au-soleil-two-ways/

[Trillian]

They’re so perfectly beautiful.

[garandgal]

Aldi has amazing frozen green beans...maybe you already know about them? They have several varieties..the ones I love are called "Extra Fine." They are long & very tiny in circumference...like Haricots verts.

My Mom, who grew up eating the vast variety of produce that my Grandmother grew, even commented on them last Christmas...."where did you get the wonderful green beans?"

I microwave or steam them until just tender, then saute them in a cast iron skillet with a bit of bacon fat & onion...adding in the cooked, crumbled bacon at the end, of course:)

[Liz]

This is about to become the next classic bread offering.
Looks complicated, but making it is surprisingly simple.

Garlic Bacon Cheddar Tarte Soleil

Ing 2 sheets puff pastry, thawed, tbl minced garlic in olive oil 16 slices precooked bacon
2 cups sharp cheddar shredded 1 egg, tsp dried onion 1/2 tsp sesame seeds Sliced scallions, chp parsley, garnishes.

METHOD Roll pastry 1/4-inch thick. Kitchen shears outer edges, creating two large rounds. Place one on parchmented pizza pan. Spread garlic across the top of the piece on the pizza pan. Sprinkle with cup cheddar cheese. Lay bacon strips around the pastry, with each connecting in the center to create “rays”. 5 Cover with second round of puffed pastry. 6 Place a 2-inch bowl upside down in the middle of the puffed pastry. Starting on the outside edge of tart, cut a line between each piece of bacon, until cut reaches edges of bowl. Repeat, cutting tart into 16-24 strips or “rays”.

Remove bowl. Gently place your finger at the top of one ray, press it down to hold it in place, then gently twist several times to the right. Repeat with adjacent ray, twisting it to the left. Pinch two pieces together to form several “petals”. Brush top w/ beaten egg, sprinkle with dried onion and sesame seeds.

Bake 375 deg 30 min, then top w/ rest cheese; cook 10 min (cheese is melted, pastry is golden brown).

SERVE Garnished with green onions and parsley.

[Liz]

This is about to become the next classic bread offering.
Looks complicated, but making it is surprisingly simple.

Garlic Bacon Cheddar Tarte Soleil

Ing 2 sheets puff pastry, thawed, tbl minced garlic in olive oil 16 slices precooked bacon
2 cups sharp cheddar shredded 1 egg, tsp dried onion 1/2 tsp sesame seeds Sliced scallions, chp parsley, garnishes.

METHOD Roll pastry 1/4-inch thick. Kitchen shears outer edges, creating two large rounds. Place one on parchmented pizza pan. Spread garlic across the top of the piece on the pizza pan. Sprinkle with cup cheddar cheese. Lay bacon strips around the pastry, with each connecting in the center to create “rays”. 5 Cover with second round of puffed pastry. 6 Place a 2-inch bowl upside down in the middle of the puffed pastry. Starting on the outside edge of tart, cut a line between each piece of bacon, until cut reaches edges of bowl. Repeat, cutting tart into 16-24 strips or “rays”.

Remove bowl. Gently place your finger at the top of one ray, press it down to hold it in place, then gently twist several times to the right. Repeat with adjacent ray, twisting it to the left. Pinch two pieces together to form several “petals”. Brush top w/ beaten egg, sprinkle with dried onion and sesame seeds.

Bake 375 deg 30 min, then top w/ rest cheese; cook 10 min (cheese is melted, pastry is golden brown).

SERVE Garnished with green onions and parsley.

[Jamestown1630]

I love Aldi; we try to go there every year at Christmas time, because they have so many nice little European treats for gifts. But the one near us is hell to park near, so we’ve been going to Lidl. They have lots of nice holiday stuff; I’m hoping that all the Covid stuff doesn’t change that this year; they haven’t seemed to have the variety or quantity that they did before March.

[Jamestown1630]

That’s very pretty, and looks Christmas-y.

[Liz]

Delicious at brunch w/ this version of "Toad in a Hole"
an egg cracked into eggplant slices, sauteed in olive oil.....
served sprinkled with fresh herbs.

[Liz]

This would be nice Christmas morning --- conf garnish looks like new-fallen snow.
My absolute fave sandwich---the elegant Monte Cristo transformed into a heavenly Tarte Soleil.
The classic beloved sandwich combo transformed into pull-apart puffed pastry perfection.

Monte Cristo Tarte Soleil / serves 6-8

ING 2 sheets thawed puff pastry, 3 tbl ea mayo, honey, 2 tbl mustard 8 very thin slices ham, 1-1/4 cup shredded Swiss,
beaten egg, 1/2 tsp poppy seeds, 1/4 cup conf, minced parsley shower garnish, strawberry jam, currant jelly/, h/cream.

METHOD Roll each pastry 1/4" thick. Kitchen shears outer edges to make two large rounds.

Place one round on parchment-lined 12" pizza pan. Spread top w/ combined mayo, honey and mustard, covering all but 1/2" of pastry.
Lay slices of ham across mayo mixture, top w/ cheese. Cover w/ 2nd pastry. Place 2" bowl upside down in middle of pastry.

Starting on the outside edge of tart, cut a straight line through all layers until line reaches edges of bowl. Repeat, cutting the tart into 24 strips or “rays”. Remove bowl. Gently place finger at the top of one ray, press it down to hold it in place, then gently twist several times. Repeat until all rays have been twisted.

FINAL Brush with beaten egg, then sprinkle with poppy seeds. Bake golden 375 deg 35-40 min.

SERVE Dusted with powdered sugar.....w/ warm strawberry jam for dipping.

NOTE For extra elegance serve my fave----currant jelly thinned w/ bit of h/ cream as a second dip.

[Liz]

Cake Flour Recipe

To make your own cake flour:

Spoon and level one cup all-purpose flour; remove 2 Tbsp.

Add 2 Tbsp cornstarch.

Repeat per the amount of cake flour you need, then sift 4 times (don't skip that step!).

After sifting, spoon and level to re-measure the amount of cake flour you need.

[Liz]

This is the divine ALMOND ROCA CAKE----a really big production number.

I'm posting the pic of the cake to show how easy it is to make those showy white chocolate garnishes.
You could make them smaller for elegant cupcake and cookie garnishes.

HOW TO: Cut 6 squares of acetate or parchment paper. Micro-melt white chocolate til smooth, then transfer to a ziplock.

Pipe criss-cross pattern onto prepared squares. Set a few min, then transfer the squares into tall glasses, shaping the chocolate into a scallop.

Allow the chocolate to set completely, then gently peel and place onto cake.