milk and blackberries: January 2009

January 19, 2009

Milk-Chocolate Tart with Pretzel Crust

The Harrison, Sarah

When Sarah posted on her blog a review of a dinner she had at the Harrison in New York City with this as dessert, I knew it was something I had to try. So I was delighted when recently she also posted a link to the recipe online, provided by Food & Wine. I made it this Saturday. The original recipe says to serve it with creme fraiche, but I don't think it needed it. The other thing I learned is that it truly does need its four hours or more to chill; we cut into ours after just three because that's when we were ready to eat it, and it was a bit of an oozy mess to get back in the refrigerator. But the next day, the consistency was much more stable. The crust was very crunchy; it took a bit of wiggling with your fork to break off a piece. But, the crust combined with the cool, silky-smooth chocolate made every bite perfectly salty-sweet.

Crust:
1 stick butter, softened
1 1/4 C coarsely crushed thin pretzels
3/4 C confectioner's sugar
1/2 C flour
1 large egg

2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted

Filling:
1 1/2 C heavy cream
3/4 lb. milk chocolate, chopped

sea salt and crushed pretzels for garnish

In a mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter with 3/4 C of pretzels and confectioner's sugar at low speed until creamy. Beat in flour and egg. Add remaining 1/2 C of pretzels, being sure to leave some pretzel pieces intact. Flatten dough between two sheets of plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, at least 30 minutes.

Roll out the dough between the sheets of plastic wrap to about a 12-in. round. Peel off the top sheet and invert the dough over a 10-in. fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Press dough into corners and patch any tears. Refrigerate the shell for 30 minutes or until firm.

Line shell with parchment paper and fill with pie weights (I set a cake pan on the parchment paper and it worked fine). Bake for about 30 minutes at 350, until nearly set. Remove parchment and weights and bake another 10 - 15 minutes, until tart shell is firm. Let shell cool completely. Then brush the melted bittersweet chocolate over the bottom and up the sides of the shell and refrigerate until firm, about 10 minutes.

In a medium saucepan, bring cream to a simmer. Remove from heat, add milk chocolate, and let stand for 5 minutes. Whisk until smooth. Transfer filling to a bowl and let cool to room temperature.

Pour filling into the shell and refrigerate until set, at least 4 hours. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and crushed pretzels. Cut into wedges, top with creme fraiche if desired, and serve.

Fettucine Alfredo

Brenna

Brenna made this dish to pair with a buttery chardonnay at our recent wine tasting. We both loved it; it was so silky and pure-tasting, and our tiny tasting-sized serving left us wanting more. So she told me how to make it and it was beautifully simple-- I was surprised to learn she didn't even start with a roux. I recreated it pretty well the other night. These are the proportions; we doubled these amounts.

2 T butter
3/4 C heavy cream
4 oz. grated parmesan (asiago)
fresh parsley
s & p

Melt butter. Cook butter and cream together for a few minutes until it starts to simmer. Add parmesan; stir. Bring to a boil, then turn down to simmer. Simmer for about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add a good handful of chopped parsley, season generously with salt and pepper, and serve over linguini.

January 14, 2009

Napa Trip 2008

It's in the single digits here this week, and I am fondly remembering our sunny food and wine-tasting trip we took back in April with Brenna and Cassidy. Great restaurants with fresh, interesting food, gourmet picnics, frequent visits to the charcuterie and cheese shop in town, tasting many, many different kinds of wine, a perfect rental house with a hot tub in the backyard...we will definitely be going back. These are some of our favorite food memories from the trip.

Wine cellar at Robert Mondavi

Picnicking at Opus One

We decided not to take out a loan in order to eat at this famous Thomas Keller landmark, but stopped for pictures out front anyway.

Mustards was really casual, fresh, and delicious

Bread at Mustard's

Tamales

Mongolian pork chop with braised red cabbage

Breakfast outdoors in downtown Napa

We knew we were in California

Taylor's Automatic Refresher-- a gourmet dairy bar with a fair-sized wine list

We had the refreshing espresso shake instead of wine

Dinner at Bouchon, a French bistro also owned by Thomas Keller-- everyone but me shared the oysters to start

Bouchon's heavy dessert menu

Our introduction to the Vinturi at Charles Krug-- a gadget that makes a gurgling noise while aerating wine instantly. You could truly smell and taste the difference between the two pours of the same wine-- one he used it with and one he didn't.

Kenwood had some of the least memorable wine of the trip, but we got a really cool behind-the-scenes tour with the winemaker, thanks to a connection with Bren and Cassidy's NECI wine instructor.

The door to the room where Kenwood keeps some of every wine they've ever made

The landscaping at Domaine Carneros was better than their wines

We met up with Kate and Tom for our last day of wine tasting and visited, among other places, Nicholson Ranch in Sonoma, where Gordie and I had stopped on our drive through the area a few years before

Loquats on a tree in Kate and Tom's yard. We had them on salad that night!

Sights at the Embarcadero Farmers' Market in San Francisco

This kid, standing on a milk crate, was an orange-chopping machine. He made me nervous at first, but he clearly knew what he was doing.

Fried asparagus for lunch

Gelato

Cassidy loves meat

Brine

Cassidy

The first year my family brined our Thanksgiving turkeys, per Cassidy's recommendation, we were very impressed with the difference it made. We have done it with whole birds (and turduckens as well) ever since. Cassidy says the following about why it works well: the salt brings the natural meat juices out and fills the cells with salt water, and the sugar pulls those cells back into the meat. The end result is that this osmosis makes the meat more moist and flavorful. Brining for any length of time is a good thing, but ideally, do it overnight. Brine penetrates about a 1/2 inch every 24 hours. In the case of a chicken, 24 hours is plenty because it is penatrating from the inside and outside, equaling about 1 inch total in 24 hours; a pork loin, for example, needs to go much longer.

1 gallon water
2 C salt
1 C sugar

These are the proportions; multiply as needed in a clean joint compound bucket or other very large container. Stir to dissolve. Put meat in brine and let sit overnight.

Season and cook meat as usual.

January 11, 2009

Braised Pork Ribs with Barbecue Sauce

Brenna

We had these for dinner when Sky and Sarah came to visit recently. The rib meat fell right off the bones, and Bren's slightly doctored barbecue sauce was very tasty.

Ribs:
baby back pork ribs
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 - 2 beers
1 onion

Barbecue Sauce:
1 bottle barbecue sauce (we used Sweet Baby Ray's)
3 T brown sugar
couple shakes hot sauce
2 T whiskey or bourbon
s & p

Preheat oven to 240. Generously salt and pepper both sides of ribs. Put ribs in a baking dish. Pour tomatoes and beer over the meat (liquid should come to about halfway up the meat). Rough dice onion and sprinkle over the top. Cover and cook for about 3 1/2 hours.

Meanwhile, combine ingredients for barbecue sauce.

Turn broiler on low. Remove ribs from baking dish and place on broiler pan. Smear with barbecue sauce. Put broiler pan in the oven toward the bottom and broil for a couple minutes then flip ribs over, smear other side, and broil for another couple minutes. Remove from oven. Slice ribs into servings. Serve with extra barbecue sauce on the side.