French Fridays with Dorie: Blood Orange Financiers - Last Stop on the Sweet Train

I've been riding the Sweet Train these past few weeks and I think it's time to get off...

I recall boarding the train when Holli gifted me with a few treats from Miette, San Francisco's 'most charming pastry shop.' Holli graciously allows me to live vicariously through her travels with edible delicacies like aged balsamic vinegar from her Italy trip and these Lavender Shortbread Cookies and Rosettes (rose geranium meringues) from her recent jaunt to SF. Take note FFwD people - if you have any rose syrup left after making your Ispahan Loaf Cake, and I KNOW you do, why not try making these little meringue kisses? They smell and taste heavenly.

Lavender Shortbread Cookies and Rosettes

Next stop was my kitchen on Easter Sunday. My chocolate craving kicked in and I was all over Michel Rostang's Double Chocolate Mousse Cake. I don't know how I missed this one back in January 2011, but it's done and gone now.

Michel Rostang's Double Chocolate Mousse Cake

I continued on my sweet journey last Friday when I decided to prepare a very decadent dessert for Hillari's Saturday night birthday party - Nancy Silverton's Butterscotch Budino with Salted Caramel Sauce and Whipped Creme Fraiche served with Rosemary-Pine Nut Cookies. Sip Wine Bar tempted me with this luscious Italian pudding late last year, and I made it over the holidays, but never got around to blogging the recipe. My review of the wine bar didn't make it to Wine & Dine San Diego either, after the restaurant and wine bar closed its doors in the dark of night. I guess that's life in the restaurant business.

Butterscotch Budino at Sip Wine Bar, Del Mar

The recipe isn't complicated, but it does take time, and every bowl and pan in your kitchen. I prefer to make the budino the day before and the caramel sauce and whipped creme fraiche a few hours before serving. It helps when a pastry chef shows up at your door just as you start whipping the cream and offers to take over. Say yes.

Master Pastry Chef at work

Rosemary Pine Nut Cookies

The dessert was a hit (don't ask about the few that perished under the sprinklers) and the party was a blast, especially the photo shoot in the designated photo bed studio off the kitchen. Yes, the wine flowed freely at the party house on Ocean and I came home with over 200 fun photos ;-)

A pile of friends

The following day, the train stopped for a bittersweet Celebration of Life. About 25 years ago, Linda introduced me to the wonderful world of Newfoundlands with my first puppy, Ashley. Sadly, Linda lost her courageous battle to cancer in January and her family, friends, and fellow Newfoundland Club members gathered to share tears, stories and memories. We love and miss you, Linda. Please give my Ashley, Diver and Dooley big hugs and tell them Trapper is taking good care of me.

For the dessert buffet, I baked mini Ad Hoc at Home Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Ad Hoc Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Although I have tears streaming down my face again, for Linda, for her husband Steve, and for the three Newfs who once shared my life, I must get to my last sweet - this week's French Fridays with Dorie Financiers. I just so happened to have six egg whites left over from the budino and they happily found a home in these cute almond and beurre noisette (brown butter) tea cakes. Read all about them, and some creative variations, in this New York Times article, The Pastry Chef's Rich Little Secret...

"It's a simple almond cake, leavened by egg whites, moistened with browned butter and baked into a small mold. But such simplicity is deceiving: the classic French pastry called the financier is exquisitely refined. It is springy, sweet and nutty with an exterior that's as crisp as an eggshell."

Blood Orange Financiers

The article talks about texture and says if you use almond flour, the cake will be finer but denser. If you grind your almonds, it will be coarser and rustic. I used Bob's Red Mill Almond Meal/Flour which is fairly course and gave the cakes that rustic texture. Dorie offers bonne idees for fruit or chocolate versions. Placing raspberries in the center is common, but I choose to use blood orange triangles and supremes. I also used a mini muffin tin since I don't own the traditional rectangular financier molds.

These didn't knock my socks off, but at least I'm finally off the Sweet Train...

Best served freshly baked and warm

Sweet dreams,

     -Denise & Trapper

***

French Fridays with Dorie is an online cooking group, dedicated to Dorie Greenspan‘s Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours. As members of the group, we have purchased the cookbook and cook along as much as we can. There is a new recipe each week, and we post about that recipe on Friday. We are asked to refrain from posting the actual recipes on our blog. The book is filled with stunning photography, and personal stories about each recipe, which makes it that much more intriguing. I highly recommend adding it to your cookbook collection if you haven't already!

Coronado Concert in the Park: Bean Me Up!

This week's Concert in the Park culinary theme started out as Navy beans, because the Navy Band Southwest Wind Ensemble was providing the music for the evening, but was broadened to legumes at John's request so he could incorporate a peanut sauce in his Curry and Lobster Deviled Eggs.

Peanuts, unlike other nuts, are in the legume family. Some of the more commonly recognized legumes include beans, peas, and lentils. Interestingly, licorice root, from the leafy, perennial plant, and jicama, the crispy, sweet, edible root from a native Mexican vine, are also considered legumes.

I decided on Thomas Keller's Green Bean and Potato Salad for my main course, but just had to try incorporating licorice root into a dessert. The colorful salad features haricots verts, fingerling potatoes, toasted walnuts, fresh mission figs, radishes, Iberico ham or prosciutto, shallots, and chives, lightly tossed in sherry vinaigrette. I used some purple potatoes and our favorite red walnuts from Terra Bella Ranch.

Green Bean and Potato Salad with mission figs and prosciutto

John's 'deviled eggs of the week' were perched on a bed of rice studded with peanuts. He used the method to make Chinese marbled tea eggs, infusing the whites with basil. Unfortunately, the basil color and flavor didn't steep into the whites as much as he would have liked. He flavored the yolks with curry, coconut milk, honey, and cayenne, and then topped the filled eggs with lobster, micro basil, Thai chili rings and peanut sauce. That tiny piece of Thai chili packed quite a punch!

John's Curry and Lobster Deviled Eggs with Peanut Sauce

Patrick and John

Carmen found a recipe that took her back to her days in Italy. She remembers the Italians going to the beach with a big pot, small stove, and all the ingredients to make pasta and beans, and they added clams and mussels harvested from the beach. 

Carmen preparing Pasta e fagioli con le cozze

"When the stars make you drool, just-a like pasta fazool, that's amore"

Kellee's Marinated Three Bean Salad

For dessert, Carmen adapted this recipe for White Bean Cupcakes, using her own raw vegan icing that tasted like a cross between sorbet and frosting.

Pot de crème is so simple to make, yet it is such an elegant dessert. I love making mini pots de crème in espresso cups, which also makes transport to the park a breeze. Tyler Florence's Mocha Pot de Crème is made with heavy cream, egg yolks, vanilla, coffee beans, espresso, and semi sweet chocolate. I adapted his recipe slightly and infused the cream with licorice root instead of coffee, omitted the espresso, and used milk chocolate rather than semi sweet. However, as with John's attempt to infuse his egg whites with basil, my attempt to infuse the custard with licorice was only mildly successful (licorice root tea has many health benefits, so I can only hope my dessert retained some of those). I boosted the licorice flavor of the dessert by adding a splash of Ouzo, an anise-flavored aperitif, to the whipped cream. 

Pots de crème are baked in a shallow water bath at low heat

Milk Chocolate Pots de Creme with Ouzo Whipped Cream

Rich, silky milk chocolate custard

US Navy Band Southwest performing Michael Bublé's "Home"

***

Green Bean and Potato Salad with mission figs and prosciutto
Slightly adapted from Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds thin green beans (haricots verts), stem ends trimmed
1 pound fingerling potatoes
1 sachet (1 bay leaf, 3 thyme sprigs, 10 black peppercorns, 1 smashed garlic clove, wrapped in cheesecloth)
Kosher salt
1 cup walnuts
Fleur de sel or fine sea salt
3 radishes
1/4 cup minced shallots
1 cup Sherry Vinaigrette (2 tablespoons sherry wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil)
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons minced chives
4 black mission figs, halved
Splash of fresh lemon juice
16 very thin slices of Iberico ham or prosciutto
Extra virgin olive oil

Preparation:

Blanch the green beans in a large pot of boiling, salted water until crisp tender, about 2-3 minutes, using Keller's big pot blanching method, plunge into an ice bath, and drain on rack lined with paper towels.

Cut the potatoes into 1/4-inch slices and discard the end slices. Put the potatoes, sachet, and 2 teaspoons salt in a large saucepan and add enough cold water to cover the potatoes. Bring to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are just tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and spread on a tray to cool. Discard the sachet.

Toast the walnuts on a baking sheet in a 375 F oven for 10 minutes, rotating the pan half way through. Remove from oven, transfer to a plate, and sprinkle with fleur de sel.

Fill a small bowl with ice water. Trim the ends from the radishes and slice the radishes very thin using a mandoline. Transfer the slices to the ice water to keep crisp. Drain and dry before adding to the salad.

To assemble the salad, transfer beans to a large bowl and add the potatoes, shallots and walnuts. Whisk the dressing and spoon it over the salad. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with half the chives, and toss well. Arrange about half the salad on a platter. Place half the figs over the salad. Toss the radishes with the remaining salad, and arrange over the first layer of salad. Add the remaining figs, and sprinkle with the remaining chives and a few drops of lemon juice.

Arrange the ham or prosciutto on a small plate and drizzle with olive oil. Serve alongside the salad.

***

We only have two concerts left in the season. The good news is that the kids have gone back to school and most of the zonies (J & M and S & S excluded) have returned to Arizona. This is what Trapper thinks of Arizona Iced Tea.

Our theme for Sunday is bourbon, which makes me think of the Kentucky Derby, so I hope we can also make it out to our local Del Mar track before the racing season ends.

Once we're through Concert in the Park picnics, I hope to start planning a special dinner party courtesy of Saveur and Plugrá butter. In case you missed the Facebook announcement, the editors of Saveur magazine chose There's a Newf in My Soup as the Plugrá Gourmet Club the month and will be sending us $500 and a special prize pack to help with the party! You gotta love that ;-)

The winning "dinner party" was our first Concert in the Park of this summer season, An Evening in Corsica.

Silk and Lace: Meyer Lemon and Basil Crème Fraiche Panna Cotta with Blackberry Puree and Italian Florentine Lace Cookies

The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.

Panna cotta ("cooked cream") is a silken, eggless, Italian custard, made by simmering cream, milk and sugar, mixing with gelatin, and then allowing the custard to chill until set. It is an easy-to-make dessert, often complemented by perfectly ripe berries. Some versions incorporate yogurt, creme fraiche, mascarpone cheese, spices, or other infused flavors into the custard. You can make the panna cotta in individual ramekins and unmold them just before serving, in individual decorative dishes and serve in those, or in a large gratin dish and spoon it out at the table family-style.

Meyer Lemon and Basil Crème Fraiche Panna Cotta
with Blackberry Puree

As I typically do with the Daring Bakers' and Daring Cooks' challenges, I reviewed the challenge recipe provided, and then spent far too much time reading every other similar recipe I could find, from my cookbook collection and online, before proceeding with the challenge. However, it's very educational and I enjoy reading about the history of the dish and variations that have developed. I often reach for The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs when I want to be a little more daring and experimental with flavor combinations.

I've made a few different versions of panna cotta in the past. The recipe I chose to adapt for this Daring Bakers' challenge is very similar to the recommended recipe by Giada De Laurentiis, but it also incorporates crème fraiche to balance the sweetness of the fresh fruit with some tang. I also wanted to use a few of the beautiful Meyer lemons sitting on my counter, so I added lemon zest to the custard. I went a bit further by infusing fresh basil into the custard. Finally, I prepared a fresh blackberry puree, with a squeeze of lemon juice, to spoon over the top of the chilled dessert. The flavors meld beautifully together, especially the hint of basil, and this was a refreshing dessert after my French Fridays with Dorie Red Wine and Port Braised Short Ribs.

Meyer Lemon and Basil Crème Fraiche Panna Cotta with Blackberry Puree

Adapted from Crème Fraiche Panna Cotta with Strawberries, Susan Goin's 

Sunday Suppers at Lucques: Seasonal Recipes from Market to Table

Ingredients

1/2 cup cold whole milk

Two 1/4-ounce packages unflavored powdered gelatin

3 cups heavy whipping cream

5 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 cup loosely packed basil leaves, coarsely chopped, plus a few whole basil leaves for garnish

Zest of one Meyer lemon, plus additional zest for garnish if desired

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons crème fraiche

Vegetable oil, if using molds

For blackberry puree

2 pints fresh blackberries, with 1/2 pint whole berries reserved for garnish

1/4 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 tablespoon to toss with reserved fresh berries

1/4 cup water

1 tablespoon Meyer lemon juice

Preparation

Place the milk in a large bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin over it and stir to combine. Let stand while you prepare the remaining ingredients.

If you plan on pouring the panna cotta into molds and inverting onto a plate once chilled, lightly oil your ramekins or molds with vegetable oil.

Pour whipping cream, sugar, and chopped basil into a heavy medium saucepan and stir over medium heat just until the cream starts to boil. Turn off the heat and allow to cool for about 5 minutes. Pour mixture into blender and carefully blend to help infuse the basil. You can also use a hand-held immersion blender and blend right in the saucepan.

Slowly whisk the infused cream into the gelatin, and then whisk in the crème fraiche.  

Strain the mixture, stir the lemon zest, and pour it into prepared ramekins, molds, or glasses.

Chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours, and up to two days if well-covered and chilled.

To prepare the blackberry puree: Put the 1-1/2 pints blackberries in a small saucepan with the sugar, water, and lemon juice. Bring to a simmer over low heat and continue simmering, stirring occasionally, for about 5-10 minutes. Puree blackberries in the blender and strain through a fine mesh sieve.

Cover and set aside if using within a few hours, or refrigerate. Use at room temperature.

Serving Panna Cotta:

About 10 minutes before serving, toss the whole berries in a little sugar, to taste.

If using molds, smear or puddle some of the blackberry puree on the plate, invert the panna cotta onto the puree, and garnish with fresh berries, lemon zest, and a few fresh basil leaves. If serving in a ramekin or glass, spoon some puree over the top of the panna cotta and garnish with fresh berries, basil and zest.

****

After reviewing and comparing several Florentine Cookie recipes to the Nestle recipe, I preferred those that used ground almonds instead of quick-cooking oats.

Italian Florentine Lace Cookies

Italian Florentine Lace Cookies

Adapted from Food Network Kitchens and One Perfect Bite

1/2 cup ground almonds (about 2 ounces)

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup firmly-packed light Muscovado sugar (India Tree Light Muscovado Sugar, 1 Pound (Pack of 4)), or substitute light brown sugar

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

Pinch salt

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3-4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Position two oven racks in the middle and upper third of oven. Line three baking sheets with silpats or parchment paper.

In a medium saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and corn syrup. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat to medium-high and continue stirring until the mixture just starts to boil. Immediately remove pan from the heat, and add flour, salt, ground almonds and vanilla extract. Stir batter until all ingredients are incorporated.

Using a teaspoon, drop batter by rounded teaspoons onto prepared baking sheets, spacing cookies 3 inches apart  (6 cookies per sheet). It's important to drop the batter onto the baking sheets while it is still warm, so it doesn't harden too much. It will be sticky. The cookies do spread quite a bit (about 4 inches in diameter), so it's important to leave enough space between the cookies. I only used two baking sheets and some of my cookies baked into each other.

Bake cookies 8 to 10 minutes (rotating sheets half way through) until cookies have spread, and are thin and golden brown.

While cookies are baking, prepare wire cooling racks by covering with a sheet of plastic wrap. When cookies are done baking, remove baking sheets from oven and allow cookies to remain on baking sheets for a few minutes until they are firm enough to transfer. Gently transfer cookies with a rubber or offset spatula to plastic wrap covered cooling racks and allow to cool completely.

Put the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with about an inch of water to a very low simmer; set the bowl over, but not touching, the water. Stir the chocolate occasionally until melted and smooth. Drizzle over cooled cookies and set aside at room temperature until chocolate is set.

Immediately store cookies, carefully, separated by squares of parchment paper or waxed paper, in an air-tight container for up to 3 days.

Thank you, Mallory, for your Creamy, Dreamy, Crunchy, Sweet February Challenge!  The Panna Cotta was a classic challenge, allowing the Daring Bakers to showcase their creativity with amazing flavor variations and plating. Although I was vaguely familiar with Florentine cookies, I welcomed the opportunity to make them for the first time, and absolutely adored the elegant and lacy look, light and crispy texture, and lovely taste.

For the complete challenge recipes, please visit The Daring Kitchen Recipe Archive, and take a browse-through the Daring Bakers' Blogroll to see what some of the other members created this month.

The Crown Jewel Affair Dessert: Dark Chocolate Pavlovas with Pomegranate Frozen Custard

This is the final post in The Crown Jewel Affair, a POM Wonderful, pomegranate-inspired, dinner party!  If you haven't been following along, you may wish to go back to the Introductory Post, here, and then you can mingle your way through the welcome cocktail, appetizer, soup, salad, two main courses with a palate cleanser in between, and then back here, for dessert and an after-dinner mint.  It's a long and delectable journey!

Choosing a dessert for our Crown Jewel Affair was no easy task. My first thought was Fine Cooking's Chocolate-Pomegranate Torte. The torte is topped with a layer of pomegranate jelly, covered with a bittersweet chocolate glaze, and garnished with fresh pomegranate seeds. I made this a few years ago for our annual Halloween Party and it is truly decadent.

However, after learning of the Daring Cooks' November challenge, Rise and Shine! Soufflé!, and sharing a chocolate souffle when we went to a recent dinner concert at Anthology, I started contemplating individual dark chocolate souffles, served with a scoop of pomegranate ice cream, drizzled with a pomegranate-port reduction, and garnished with pomegranate seeds.

It's a woman's prerogative, so I switched gears one final time, after deciding I really did not want to bake souffles during the party, and chose another awesome dessert we could prepare in advance: Individual Dark Chocolate Pavlovas and homemade Pomegranate Frozen Custard. Pavlova was the June Daring Bakers' challenge this past summer, and I tried a few different versions for our New Zealand themed Concert in the Park. This was John's first choice for our party.

We adapted Thomas Keller's Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Ad Hoc at Home. For the pomegranate flavoring, I used two cups freshly squeezed pomegranate juice and one cup pomegranate liqueur, and reduced it down to one cup of heavenly goodness. We also add mascarpone cheese to our ice creams, for a boost of creamy richness.

John's Pomegranate Port Syrup evolved into a Pomegranate Port Pink Peppercorn Syrup at the last minute, when he spotted a new jar of pink peppercorns sitting on the counter.  He really is brilliant when it comes to experimenting with sauces and flavors.

Dark Chocolate Pavlova / Pomegranate Frozen Custard / Pomegranate Pink Peppercorn Syrup

Individual Dark Chocolate Pavlovas
Adapted from Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova
(Makes 10-12)

6 large egg whites
2 cups superfine sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
2 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and position the racks so you can bake the two baking sheets of meringues at the same time. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Pour the egg whites into the bowl of an electric mixer and, using the whisk attachment, beat until satiny peaks form. Add in the sugar, a spoonful at a time, while continuing to beat the whites, until the meringue is stiff and shiny. Turn off the mixer, remove the bowl, and add the cocoa powder, balsamic vinegar, and chopped chocolate. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in until fully incorporated.

Secure the parchment to the baking sheet with a dab of meringue under each corner. With a large spoon, mound the meringue onto the parchment paper, forming individual pavlovas about 4 inches in diameter, and gently make a shallow well in the top of each meringue to later cradle a scoop of ice cream or other filling (imagine serving a scoop of mashed potatoes onto a plate and making a little well for the gravy). You should be able to fit 5-6 meringues per baking sheet. You can also use a pastry bag with a large plain tip to form the meringues, but I like the rustic, free-form look.

Place the meringues in the oven, and immediately reduce the temperature to 300 degrees F. Bake for about 45 minutes, gently rotating the baking sheets halfway through. After 45 minutes, turn the oven off, open the oven door slightly, and let the meringues cool completely while inside the oven. Once cool, gently remove the meringues from the parchment and store then in an airtight container until ready to serve. These can be baked and stored for 2-3 days.

Pomegranate Frozen Custard
Adapted from Thomas Keller's Vanilla Ice Cream, Ad Hoc at Home
(Makes a generous 1 quart)

1 cup milk
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup mascarpone cheese
1 cup pomegranate-port reduction (see above)
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, or 1 tablespoon vanilla paste
10 large egg yolks
Pinch of kosher salt
Pomegranate Pink Peppercorn Syrup, for drizzling (recipe below)
Pomegranate arils, for garnish

Pour the milk and cream into a large saucepan, and add 1/2 cup of the sugar. With a paring knife, scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean, if using, and add them to the liquid, along with the pod (or stir in the vanilla paste). Bring to just below a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove the pan from the heat and let steep, uncovered, for 20 minutes.

Remove the vanilla bean from the pan, if you used it. Return the pan to the heat and heat until the cream is just below a simmer.

Meanwhile, whisk the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and the yolks in a bowl until slightly thickened. Slowly, while whisking, add about 1/2 cup of the hot milk mixture to the yolks, and then gradually whisk in the remaining milk mixture. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a clean saucepan and strain the liquid into the pan.

Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl and set a medium bowl in the ice bath; have a strainer ready.

mascarpone, and stir until incorporated. Strain into the bowl, add the salt, and let cool, stirring occasionally. Refrigerate overnight.

Pour the custard into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's directions. When the texture is "soft serve," transfer to a storage container and freeze to harden.

Pomegranate Pink Peppercorn Syrup

2 cups POM Wonderful Pomegranate Juice
1 cup Ruby Port
1/4 cup pink peppercorns, partially cracked with a mortar and pestle

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until reduced to 3/4 to 1 cup, 30-45 minutes. Strain through fine mesh sieve and allow to cool.

To Serve:  Place a Chocolate Pavlova on dessert plate, top with a scoop of Pomegranate Frozen Custard, drizzle Pomegranate Pink Peppercorn Syrup over the top, and scatter some pomegranate arils over the top and around the plate.

After Dinner "Mints"  Pomegranate Arils marinated in brandy

I hope you've enjoyed our series of posts highlighting The Crown Jewel Affair, a POM Wonderful Dinner Party. Hosting a dinner party is challenging and stressful, and ours would not have been such a huge success without our commendable family and friends who willingly helped with planning, preparation, menu development, cooking, serving, dishwashing, bartending, printing, decorating, photography, and videography. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for a rewarding and memorable evening.

A very special thank you to POM Wonderful for choosing There's a Newf in My Soup! as one of 100 POM Wonderful Dinner Party hosts. In accepting the challenge, I hope we've made you proud. Fresh or bottled POM Wonderful pomegranate juice starred in a jelly, vinaigrette, braising liquid, sauce, reduction, ice cream flavoring, and syrup, and fresh pomegranate arils were found floating in cocktails, and adorning every course, providing an elegant and festive touch, pop of brilliant color, burst of sweet, tart flavor and surprise crunch.

We truly broadened our pomegranate horizons and look forward to incorporating pomegranates in many more culinary creations!

The Crown Jewel Affair POM Dinner Party from There's a Newf in My Soup! on Vimeo.

***

King Cake Bread Pudding with Brandy Crème Anglaise

Here's the King Cake Bread Pudding recipe for the King Cake featured in my last post, Second Annual Coronado Jubilee, a Southern-Style Seafood Boil. That post was getting a little lengthy, but I wanted to share this recipe.

A king cake is a type of cake associated with the festival of Epiphany in the Christmas season in a number of countries, and in other places with Mardi Gras and Carnival. The king cake of the New Orleans Mardi Gras tradition comes in a number of styles. The most simple, said to be the most traditional, is a ring of bread, similar to that used in brioche, and topped with icing or sugar, usually colored purple, green, and gold (the traditional Carnival colors). There are many variants, some with a filling, the most common being cream cheese and praline. The cakes have a small trinket (often a small plastic baby) inserted inside. It has become customary in the New Orleans culture that whoever finds the trinket in their serving of cake must provide the next king cake.

Since we weren't celebrating Mardi Gras, and don't have readily available King Cakes in our Southern California markets at any time of year, I made my own from a recipe by Emeril Lagasse. I omitted the icing and colored sugar sprinkles since it was being used for bread pudding.

King Cake Bread Pudding
From Robert St. John's Dispatches from My South, Reflections and Recipes from a Southern Food Scribe
(8-10 servings)

2 cups milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream
¾ cup sugar, divided
4 egg yolks
8 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 8-10 inch round cream cheese-filled King Cake (I used Emeril’s recipe, below)

Put the milk, cream, and half of the sugar in a small saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring this mixture to a simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent the sugar from burning. While the milk mixture is heating, place the remaining sugar, egg yolks, whole eggs, vanilla and salt into a stainless steel mixing bowl. Using a wire whisk beat the egg mixture until it becomes light yellow in color. Slowly begin adding the hot milk to the beaten eggs, whisking constantly to prevent the eggs from cooking.

Cut the King Cake into 2-inch-thick slices. Pour half the custard into a 2-quart round baking dish (9-inch diameter). Submerge the King Cake slices in the custard. Pour the remaining custard over the top, cover the baking dish, and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Remove the covering from the refrigerated bread pudding and gently press down the King Cake so that the custard completely covers the surface. Over the bread pudding with a piece of parchment paper, and then cover the paper with a piece of aluminum foil.

Place the baking dish in a roasting pan, and fill the roasting pan with hot water, until the water reaches halfway up the side of the baking dish. Bake the bread pudding for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and parchment paper and bake for 15 additional minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow the pudding to rest for 1 hour before serving. Serve with Brandy Crème Anglaise.

I had a few extra King Cake slices and enough custard, after filling the 2-quart round baking dish, to make a few individual Bread Puddings in small ramekins.

***

Brandy Crème Anglaise
From Robert St. John's Dispatches from My South, Reflections and Recipes from a Southern Food Scribe

1 cup cream
½ cup half-and-half
¼ cup brandy
¾ cup sugar, divided
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a medium stainless steel saucepan, bring the cream, half-and-half, brandy, half of the sugar and vanilla to a simmer. While it is heating, combine the yolks and remaining sugar in a medium mixing bowl and whip until pale yellow in color.

Slowly begin adding the hot cream mixture into the yolks, stirring constantly until all the cream mixture has been added. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and cook over low heat, whisking constantly. Cook until the mixture becomes thick enough to coat a spoon.

Remove from the heat and cool down in an ice bath. This sauce may be made 2-3 days in advance.

***

King Cake with Cream Cheese
Adapted from Emeril Lagasse

2 envelopes active dry yeast
½ cup granulated sugar
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup warm milk (about 110?F)
5 large egg yolks, at room temperature
4 ½ cups bleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup Confectioners’ sugar
½ cup flour for working surface, and kneading into dough if needed

Combine the yeast and granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the melted butter and warm milk. Beat at low speed for 1 minute. With the mixer running, add the egg yolks, and beat for 1 minute at medium-low speed. Add the flour, salt, nutmeg, and lemon zest and beat until everything is incorporated. Increase the speed to high and beat until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, forms a ball, and starts to climb up the dough hook.

Remove the dough from the bowl. Using your hands, knead the dough into a smooth ball, using a little extra flour if necessary. Lightly oil a bowl with the vegetable oil. Place the dough in the bowl and turn it to oil all sides. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

Meanwhile, make the filling. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese and 1 cup of the confectioners’ sugar. Blend by hand or with an electric mixer on low speed. Set aside.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Using your fingers, pat it out into a rectangle about 30 inches long and 6 inches wide.

Spread the filling lengthwise over the bottom half of the dough, and then flip the top half of the dough over the filling. Seal the edges, pinching the dough together. Shape the dough into a cylinder and place it on the prepared baking sheet seam side down. Shape the dough into a ring and pinch the ends together so there isn’t a seam.

Cover the ring with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and place in a warm, draft-free place. Let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 F.

Brush the top of the risen cake with 2 tablespoons of the milk. Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.

***

Rather than a small plastic baby as the trinket, I used a small plastic Newfoundland dog, of course!

Our Portuguese Dessert Table

While sitting cross-legged on the floor at Borders, in the middle of the cookbook stacks, I came across David Leite's The New Portuguese Table: Exciting Flavors from Europe's Western Coast, winner of the 2010 International Association of Culinary Professionals’ First Book, Julia Child Award. It's been on my to-buy list and, as promised, "takes you on a gastronomic journey through the country's eleven historical provinces plus the islands of Madeira and the Azores, sharing the details of their local foods as wells as the extraordinary diverse terrain in stunning photographs throughout."

I was first introduced to one of David's recipes, Pine Nut and Orange Cookies, in the latest issue of Fine Cooking. After making those cookies for our Concert in the Park Challenge Tacos, I received a surprise comment from David on my post.  I was so thrilled he took the time to visit There's a Newf in My Soup!  If you haven't already, drop by his amazing web site, Leite's Culinaria.

Hopefully, David will be pleased to know he was the inspiration for our latest Concert in the Park Culinary Challenge - Portuguese Cuisine. However, it was impossible to choose just one recipe from his cookbook. There are so many I can't wait to try. I knew I wanted the Grilled Shrimp with Piri-Piri Sauce for the park, but then I couldn't pass up the Baked Custard Tarts.  John chose Duck Risotto with Ham and Sausage for his park dish, but we also made the Sausage Tortilla for our Saturday night dinner. Tomorrow, I plan on making one of the salads. Can you tell I love my new cookbook??

At the Concert in the Park, we enjoyed three Portuguese desserts. This post is dedicated to the dessert table, and a second post will follow featuring some of our other Portuguese dishes.

Here are the Baked Custard Tarts. David says these are "the reigning monarch of desserts in Lisbon and, frankly, in all of Portugal." They're typically made in individual 1/3-cup forms, which gives them their characteristic size and shape, but mini muffin tins worked well for me.

At first reading, this recipe seems somewhat involved, with an interesting method of forming the tart shells. However, they turned out to be quite a breeze. My only problem was that I didn't blind bake the tart shells long enough, and ended up putting them back in the oven after removing the dried beans. The recipe says to put the muffin pan on a baking sheet in the oven, and maybe that prevented the heat from circulating under the pan. All turned out well in the end, and these babies disappeared like hot cakes!

Baked Custard Tarts (Pasteis de nata)
Makes 24 pastries
Slightly adapted from David Leite's The New Portuguese Table: Exciting Flavors from Europe's Western Coast

Ingredients:

One 17 ¼ ounce package Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry, thawed
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
Grated zest of ½ lemon
1 ¾ cup heavy cream
1 large egg
8 large egg yolks
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Confectioners’ sugar, for sprinkling
Ground cinnamon, for sprinkling

Preparation:

Place one still-folded sheet of pastry on a lightly floured work surface so that a short end is facing you and the thicker fold is to your left. Open the two panels of dough, lightly brush the right panel on both sides with water, and then fold it back into position. Cover with the left panel and press down to seal. Lightly brush the top of the pastry with water, then curl up the short edge and tightly roll up the pastry away from you, as if making a jelly roll. You should have a 3-inch-wide log. Roll it back and forth on the work surface to extend it to 3 ½ inches. Repeat with the second sheet of pastry. Wrap each roll in plastic and place in the refrigerator.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt, lemon zest, and ½ cup of the cream until all the lumps are dissolved. Set aside.

In another bowl, whisk the egg and yolks together, and set aside.

In a small saucepan, bring the sugar and 2/3 cup of water to a boil over high heat. Do not stir. Let it bubble until a candy thermometer registers 230 degrees F.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, heat the remaining 1 ¼ cups of cream over medium high heat, until it steams slightly and bubbles appear around the edges, about 5 minutes.

Whisk the hot cream into the flour mixture until smooth, and then pour in the hot sugar syrup. Slowly add the egg mixture, whisking continuously, then pour the custard back into the medium saucepan and cook over low heat, whisking slowly, until the mixture lightly coats the back of a spoon and registers 170 degrees F on the thermometer, about 4 minutes. Pour into a bowl, add the vanilla, and let cool completely.

About 15 minutes before you are ready to prepare the dough for the muffin tins, transfer the wrapped dough logs to the freezer (the cut will be easier to cut into slices).

Have a mini muffin pan (24 capacity) nearby.  Using a serrated knife, trim off the uneven ends of one dough log, and discard. Cut twelve ¼-inch slices from the log, and place on a lightly floured baking sheet. Repeat with the second log. Place the baking sheet with the dough slices in the refrigerator.

Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. (NOTE: The recipe says to put a baking sheet in the oven also, and then put the muffin pan on top of the baking sheet when blind baking the tart shells. However, as stated above, I found that my pastry shells did not cook enough on the sides and bottoms. Next time, I might try omitting the baking sheet from this step and just using it when the filled custard tarts are returned to the oven for the final baking).

Fill the tart shells to the top with rice or dried beans. Bake the tart shells until the edges are puffed and golden brown, about 16 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool, leaving the oven on.

Carefully remove each tart shell, one at a time, and dump out the rice or beans. Some will stick, and gently remove with the tip of a knife. Place the tart shells back in the muffin tin. Fill each tart shell three-quarters full with the cooled custard (a pastry bag, with a large round tip, works well for this task). Bake until the custards barely jiggle in the middle, about 12 minutes.

Transfer the muffin tin to the rack and let cool for a few minutes. Gently remove the pastries (I used a small offset spatula to lift them out) and let cool until warm. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and cinnamon. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Orange Cake (Bolo de Laranja) is another Portuguese dessert featured in David's cookbook. Mom prepared a similar version, Orange-Scented Olive Oil Cake, from Saveur (recipe here). The cake is dense, but moist, and has a light orange glaze and sprinkling of sea salt on the top. This would also taste wonderful with morning tea or coffee.

Geoff and Mary made a surprise appearance, making amends for their Chocolate and Red Wine Cake tragedy, with these Dried Figs Stuffed with Almonds and Chocolate (Figos Recheados). You can find the recipe here. Fabulous flavor combination!

Stay tuned for a second post of sensational Portuguese cuisine!

Espresso Pots de Creme with Pistachio Biscotti

For those of you following our Coronado Concert in the Park Culinary Challenges, yesterday’s Challenge was “Nuts & Balls”…food containing nuts and/or shaped like balls. I didn't come up with this one, but there were many options. However, with my recent Gyoza "reveal" for The Daring Cooks' June Challenge, I decided to take it easy this week with a fairly simple, but delectable dessert headlining pistachios.

The June gloom burned off by noon, the weather was absolutely beautiful, and Breez’n played a great mix of music. The Nuts & Balls offering included: Two varieties of Cheese Balls rolled in nuts; Chicken Meatballs sprinkled with almonds; Grilled Chicken, Sausage and Vegetable Salad with pinenuts; Floating Melon Balls in vodka aka Ballaritas, Apple and Blueberry Crumble with pecan and granola topping; and...

My Espresso Pots de Crème with Pistachio Biscotti

Espresso Pots de Crème

Egg yolks and strained coffee cream and vanilla before tempering the egg yolks and sugar mixture

I have a set of 12 of these little cups, from Crate & Barrel Outlet, and they are perfect for miniature desserts. I drizzled a little more strong coffee over the tops before baking. They look like baby lattes!

After baking, they look like this - sort of Crème brûlée-ish

Pistachio Biscotti

Make the dough and stir in the pistachios

Divide the dough and form into two logs

Bake the logs, slice diagonally into 1" pieces and bake again briefly on both sides. Here they are plated at the Park

Espresso Pots de Crème with Pistachio Biscotti
Slightly modified from Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen

Espresso Pots de Crème

3 cups heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup whole black coffee beans
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons brewed espresso coffee, cold

(Notes: I didn't feel there was enough espresso flavor, so I added a tablespoon of instant espresso powder to the saucepan as the cream, vanilla and coffee beans simmered. Crushing the coffee beans slightly would also help enhance the flavor)

Pistachio Biscotti

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup pistachios, toasted

Directions

Combine cream, vanilla, coffee beans [and espresso powder if using] into a saucepan and bring to a brief simmer over medium-low heat. Do not let it boil. Remove from heat and strain into medium bowl to remove coffee beans.

In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar until egg yolk is light yellow, about 3 minutes. Temper the yolks by gradually adding and whisking the cream mixture into the egg yolks and sugar mixture. Whisk in the the brewed coffee.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Transfer the custard into a glass measuring cup and pour the custard into ramekins (my custard filled 11 small ramekins). Carefully place the ramekins in a large, shallow baking pan and fill with 1/2 inch of hot water (to prevent the ramekins from sliding around, put a thin dish towel on the bottom of the baking pan). Bake about 35 minutes. The center should jiggle slightly. Remove from oven and let cool, with the ramekins still sitting in the water, for 10 minutes. Take the ramekins out of the water and transfer to another holding container and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

For the biscotti, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. With an electric mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy. With the mixer running, gradually add the eggs, sugar, and vanilla, and mix until creamed. Gradually add the dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Using a wooden spoon, mix in the pistachios.

Put dough on lightly floured surface and cut in half. Roll each half into a log, about 12 inches long and 1 inch high. Place logs on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 35 minutes. Let the logs cool for 5 minutes, transfer carefully to a cutting board, and slice each log diagonally into approximately 12, 1 inch-thick pieces. Put the cookies back on the baking sheet and bake again for 5 minutes; turn the cookies over, and bake for another 5 minutes.

Serve the Espresso Pots de Creme with the Pistachio Biscotti on the side for dipping.

This dessert is so luxurious, light, silky and creamy, and relatively guilt-free in small portions. It also reminds me of another dessert favorite, Thomas Keller's Coffee & Doughnuts!