Boozing Up My Cranberry Sauce and Tart

I'm thankful I didn't have to cook an entire Thanksgiving dinner today and am looking forward to sharing the evening with friends and family. I made the Bourbon-Caramel Pumpkin Tart featured on the cover of Fine Cooking, Cranberry Sauce with Red Wine & Figs suggested by David Lebovitz, and will be making Yorkshire Pudding (from my man, Tyler) with the drippings from the prime rib. Of course, there will also be turkey, stuffing, sides, desserts and wine!

The cranberry sauce tastes great, but you'll need to wait for my take on the tart. After reading the online reviews, I'm a bit skeptical about the texture of the crust and consistency of the caramel. I sprinkled a little fleur de sel on top but now regret messing up the glossy finish of the caramel.

Happy Thanksgiving to you!

Cheers,

Denise & Trapper

Espresso Cinnamon Toast Shortbread Cookies

The December 2011/January 2012 issue of Fine Cooking has some tempting recipes to try for the holidays: Seared Scallops with Warm Radicchio and Pancetta; Braised Fennel with Orange; Short Rib and Dried Porcini Lasagne; Butternut Squash Lasagna with Goat Cheese, Sage, and Breadcrumbs; Sweet Potato Oven Fries; an updated version of German Chocolate Cake; and Shortbread Cookies, Your Way.

My Way:  Espresso-Cinnamon Toast Shortbread

Vanilla Shortbread Cookie dough provides the canvas for various add-ins to suit your taste, such as cardamom, double ginger, cinnamon toast, lemon and espresso-chip. Even in my adult life, I make cinnamon toast on occasion. There's just something addicting about that crunchy layer of caramelized cinnamon-sugar, with buttery, soft, warm bread underneath, with my morning cup of coffee.

With mom still in rehab after hip surgery, I had a little added incentive to make these shortbread cookies last night...some for her, and most for me ;-)

I didn't stop with adding a touch of cinnamon to the dough and a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar over the top before baking. I also dissolved a teaspoon of instant espresso powder in the vanilla extract before mixing the vanilla into the dough. With a basic recipe like this, there are many creative variations.

Fine Cooking's step-by-step and flavor options can be found in the most recent issue, and in the article, How to Make Shortbread Cookies. Be sure to add these to your Christmas Cookies list this year!

PASTA POST! Playing with a New Kitchen Treasure

Last October, I started a feature on the blog called PASTA POST, and had every intention of sharing some of the many pastas I've bookmarked in various food magazines and Italian cookbooks.

Since that first post, I've fallen flat on my face. It seems we've become lazy, especially during the work week, tending to gravitate to the bar at Il Fornaio for a plate of Chef Marco's pasta. When we do make pasta at home, John routinely requests his beloved Ultimate Spaghetti Carbonara.

I rarely make homemade pasta, despite owning all the pasta attachments for our Kitchen Aid. There's really no excuse, especially now, since I have fallen in love with a beautiful artisanal pasta tool.



My quest for one of these tools began when I saw Fine Cooking's video series on handmade pastas (Fine Cooking Culinary School:  Handmade Pastas). One of the videos demonstrated how to make Corzetti pasta, with Pine Nut-Butter Sauce.

Corzetti are coin-shaped pasta dating back to the days of the Genovese Republic, when they were embossed with the family crest and served at festive meals.  I intently watched the Fine Cooking couple roll out the pasta and use a small round cookie cutter to stamp out the coins, about the size of silver dollars. In Liguria, they explained, there are special stamps used to imprint elaborate designs into the coins, but it is hard to find them in the states.

Plain, cookie-cutter pasta didn't excite me; I wanted one of those corzetti stamps so I could make the real thing. In less than five minutes on the internet, I was on Terry Mirri's web site, Fatto in America - Artisanal Pasta Tools.

Terry's vision is to "provide and encourage home chefs to explore food preparation with his unique line of handcrafted tools, rarely seen by the American consumer." Keeping with the Italian tradition of individuality, Terry started with the Corzetti Stamp, and has now expanded into polenta boards, cavarola boards, and garganelli-gnocchi boards.

I contacted Terry, told him about There's a Newf in My Soup, and asked if he would send me a Corzetti Stamp to try and feature on my blog. Terry graciously allowed me to chose from three design sets: Classic, Piccolini, or Michelangelo. I was also able to personalize my stamp with my choice of wood and imprint designs.

Just in time for Christmas, a package arrived in the mail with my gorgeous Michelangelo Corzetti Stamp, made of walnut, with the grape cluster design on one side and olive branch on the other.

Thrilled with my new treasure, I e-mailed Terry for sauce recommendations once I mastered the art of corzetti pasta-making. I asked him about Fine Cooking's brown butter and pine nut sauce. He agreed it was close to the classic, but encouraged me to try something different.

Terry shared his preference for making the dough with a ratio of one cup buckwheat flour to three cups all-purpose flour, with eggs and olive oil. He said "those buckwheat coins are big and beautiful, and you must find a sauce equal to its status." For the sauce, he "ruthlessly" sautes shredded cabbage, mushrooms, onions, garlic, and sage in olive oil and butter. He likes to add anchovies and capers to most of his sauces, but "not so much that you can taste either."  And black pepper, "with a large crack, big and plentiful." Terry apologized for his lack of specificity..."I was raised in a very Italian house and a piece of paper with instructions was Benedict Arnold territory. You could never be part of the kitchen intelligentsia with little pages flipping all over."

I tried the buckwheat pasta first, but rolled it too thin and was unable to achieve a clear imprint of the design. That's okay, it was a good test run. I tried again, this time making a basic egg pasta dough.

After making the dough, and allowing it to rest, I divided it into pieces and rolled each piece through the pasta roller, until I reached the next to last thinnest setting. I then cut the coins using the other side of the wheat design piece, and then pressed each coin between the two imprinted sides of the tool. A pound of pasta dough yielded approximately 50 coins.

For this batch of corzetti, I strayed just a little from Fine Cooking's recipe and made a brown butter and red walnut sauce with fried sage leaves, finished with some cracked pepper and a healthy grating of Parmigiano-Reggiano. The beautiful red walnuts are offered by Terra Bella Ranch, and available for the next few months from Little Italy's Farmers' Market.

Now that I've got this down, I'm ready to take another crack at the buckwheat pasta with Terry's sauce. Please take the time to visit two other blogs featuring Terry's cavarola board and corzetti stamp.

***

Terry Mirri lives in Sonoma, California where he creates his hand crafted artisanal pasta tools. This interest stems from his Italian heritage as well as his longstanding love of Italian cooking and entertaining friends with multi course dining extravaganzas.

Although Terry grew up in an Italian American household, his travels to Italy further exposed him to techniques and tools of making a wide variety of hand made pastas. It is this craft he has personally mastered and hopes to share with others.  His passion for his parent’s food centric culture and the hospitality and warmth it engenders led him to this pursuit.

Although Terry has been retired for several years, he developed an interest in woodworking. After learning and practicing this craft, he tried his hand at reproducing and creating antique style pasta tools. His natural talent as a craftsman is reflected in the beauty and art of the wooden tools he produces.  Fatto in America - Artisanal Pasta Tools.

***

John's Pork Medallions in Mustard Sauce

This dish is one of John's specialties, one of his go-to recipes, and one of our favorite repeats since I've started blogging (with so many recipes to try and blog about, we seldom do repeats).

I'll never forget the first time we enjoyed this dish, during our first night at a rustic, remote cabin in Silver Gate, MT. We got off the plane in Billings, stocked up at a nearby grocery store for the week, and headed out through a terrible snow storm in a very small rental car. Hours later, safely in the cabin, with a fire roaring in the massive rock fireplace, and wine flowing freely, we made this together. Last night, my wonderful man-chef prepared it for me in the comfort of our home.

Pork Medallions with Mustard Sauce

Slightly adapted from Fine Cooking
Serves 4

2 pork tenderloins (silverskin trimmed)
1 cup flour
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus an additional 2 tablespoons
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 can low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup stone-ground mustard
3 tablespoons capers
Juice of half a lemon

Cut the pork tenderloins into one-inch thick medallions. Season the medallions with salt and pepper and dredge in flour, shaking off the excess.

Melt the butter and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a 12-inch skillet, over medium-high heat, and allow the pan to heat up well. Add 6-8 pork medallions, but do not overcrowd the skillet (it will be necessary to sear the medallions in two or three batches). Sear the medallions, turning once, until golden brown on both sides and just cooked through, about 4-6 minutes total. Transfer the medallions to a plate and tent with foil. Repeat with remaining medallions, adding another tablespoon of oil to the pan between batches if necessary.

Add the wine, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Allow the wine to reduce by half, and then add the whipping cream, chicken broth, and mustard. Continue simmering until reduced to a sauce consistency, about 5-10 minutes. Add the capers and squeeze of lemon, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Reduce heat to low, return the pork medallions and any juices to the pan, turn to coat with the sauce, and allow to warm up in the sauce for a few minutes. Transfer the medallions to a serving platter and spoon the sauce over the top. As you can see, we enjoyed ours with mashed potatoes and sauteed asparagus.

Simple, comforting, and oh so good...and we didn't have to drive through this again!

Autumn Vegetable Soup

San Diego has been the recipient of a healthy dose of rain this week. Combine that with a convertible top that leaks, idiot drivers on the freeway, and a two-foot high stack of depositions to review at work, and I was ready to come home to a glass of wine and comforting bowl of soup!

Fine Cooking flashed this Autumn Vegetable Soup on their web site recently, and I immediately printed it out to try. I encourage you to do the same ;-)

Autumn Vegetable Soup
Courtesy of Ellie Krieger, Fine Cooking

Ellie says, "Besides their clear health benefits, vegetable soups are the perfect canvas for what's in season. This time of year, there's nothing better than hearty, warming soups loaded up with a variety of gorgeous fall vegetables. The foundation of onion and carrots is enhanced with chunks of butternut squash and ribbons of kale in a broth infused with herbs and spices. In two words: satisfaction guaranteed."

Serves 6 to 8 as a starter; 4 as a main course
Yields about 8 cups

2 Tbs. olive oil
3 medium carrots, cut into medium dice
1 large yellow onion, cut into medium dice
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
2 cups 1/2-inch-cubed peeled butternut squash (about half a 2-lb. squash)
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
Pinch cayenne pepper; more to taste
Kosher salt
1 quart lower-salt chicken broth
1 14.5-oz. can no-salt-added diced tomatoes
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 cups lightly packed, coarsely chopped kale
1 cup lower-salt canned chickpeas

Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the carrots and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Add the squash, allspice, cayenne, and 1 tsp. salt and stir to combine. Add the broth, tomatoes with their juice, and thyme. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the kale and the chickpeas and cook uncovered until the squash is tender and the kale has wilted, about 10 minutes more. Discard the thyme springs before serving. Season to taste with more salt and cayenne.

You can refrigerate this soup for 3 days or freeze for 2 months. 

Newf Notes:  I made a few adaptations, mainly because we had beautiful Roma tomatoes from the garden that needed to be used.  I roasted the butternut squash cubes on one side of a baking sheet, and the halved and seeded Romas on the other side, both drizzled with a little olive oil, pinch of salt and grind of the pepper mill, for about 40 minutes, at 425 degrees F. I used Cannellini beans instead of chickpeas and used about a teaspoon of crushed red pepper in place of the cayenne. I also roasted a small portion of the kale for about 10 minutes to use as garnish, and grated some fresh Parmesan cheese into the soup instead of adding extra salt. I served our soup with warm Garlic Naan bread. After a couple glasses of Chianti and bowl of soup, I can now cruise through tomorrow and into the weekend.

Mark Miller's Tacos Al Pastor with Roasted Pineapple-Habanero Chile Salsa, and David Leite's Pine Nut & Orange Cookies

There are times when a woman needs her alone-time, and this weekend happened to provide several precious hours while John spent overdue father-son time with Alex, who is visiting from Texas. The boys went off to play airsoft on Sunday, leaving me to play in the kitchen with Mark Miller's Tacos Al Pastor recipe. I got lost in Keith Urban, and sipped wine, all the while stemming and seeding 80 dried chiles. Yes, 80! I'll revisit that number, shortly.

I've been eyeing this recipe, featured on the cover of Tacos, since falling in love with El Agave's version.  I love to escape to El Agave for lunch, typically on a one o'clock Friday (i.e., when I've had enough of the law for the week and am ready to start my weekend early). El Agave is known for its tequila collection and moles. For the longest time, I ordered enchiladas with mole verde, but lately I've been all over their Tacos al Pastor.

I've tried a few of the premium tequilas, which are so smooth and meant to be sipped like fine wine, but I prefer my tequila mixed in the bartender's very special Cadillac Margaritas.

With Tacos as our theme for this past week's Concert in the Park, it was the perfect opportunity to try the cover recipe of Tacos.  In the process, I stumbled upon Gonzalez Northgate Market, a wonderful Mexican market about 10 minutes away, where I was able to find everything I needed, including three varieties of dried chiles, and fresh, warm, corn tortillas from the tortilleria.  I bought blue corn for homemade chips and small 5 1/2 inch white corn for the tacos.

Tacos Al Pastor
Adapted from Mark Miller's Tacos
(Makes 24 tacos**)

**Note:  This recipe makes approximately 12 cups of marinade, really enough to marinate pork for about 100 tacos.  I strongly felt 3 cups was plenty to marinade the 4 pounds of pork cubes and just couldn't see wasting all that extra chile goodness. The pork would have been absolutely drowning in the marinade, which is then drained off before cooking. Therefore, I used 3 cups for the 4 lbs. of pork, and froze three containers, with 3 cups in each container, for future tacos. Don't try to reduce the other ingredients to make a smaller portion; the labor of this recipe is so worth having leftovers in the freezer.

Ingredients:

40 dried guajillo chiles
20 dried ancho chiles
20 dried pasilla negro chiles

2 1/2 cups fresh orange juice
Grated zest of 1 orange
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
9 cloves garlic
1 1/2 tablespoons cumin seed, toasted and ground
1 1/2 tablespoons dried Mexican oregano, toasted and ground
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons distilled vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
6 ounces cola
8 ounces Mexican beer
4 pounds pork shoulder, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
24 (5 1/2 inch) soft white corn tortillas, for serving

***

Stem, seed, and rehydrate the dried chiles. To rehydrate, I simply steamed the chiles for about 25 minutes. Drain and set aside, reserving the steaming liquid.

In a small saucepan, simmer the orange juice over medium-low heat until reduced by half; set aside. In the jar of a blender, puree the rehydrated chiles until smooth, adding some of the steaming water, to achieve a smooth consistency.

In a large bowl, add the reduced orange juice, pureed chiles, orange zest, brown sugar, garlic, cumin, oregano, salt, black pepper, vinegar, lime juice, cola, and beer and stir to mix well. Add 3 cups of the chile sauce to the pork, cover, and marinate in the refrigerator overnight. Again, I froze the remaining 9 cups of sauce for future use.

When ready to cook, remove the pork from the marinade and drain well (my chile marinade was fairly thick, so it didn't really "drain well.")  If cooking the pork on the stove-top:  In a large, heavy skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Saute the pork pieces until meat is cooked through, about 7 minutes. Remove from heat and serve right away, or keep warm in the pan until ready to serve (I grilled the pork at the park, on the cast iron reversible griddle insert for our grill.  The aroma of chiles drifted across the crowd, luring a few curious onlookers who always inquire if our food is for sale).

To serve, lay the tortillas side by side, open face and overlapping on a platter. Divide the filling equally between the tortillas and top with pineapple-habanero salsa. Grab, fold, and eat right away. Or build your own taco; lay a tortilla, open face, in one hand. Spoon on some filling, top with salsa, fold, and eat right away.

Mark Miller suggests his Roasted Pineapple-Habanero Chile Salsa as an accompaniment to these tacos. Don't question the man, just do it. The heat level of the chiles in the Tacos Al Pastor is fairly mild, 3-4 on a scale of 1-10, but this salsa will kick it up to an 8-9, thank you to just ONE of these dry-roasted babies.

Roasted Pineapple-Habanero Chile Salsa
Also from Mark Miller's Tacos

1 pineapple (about 3 1/2 pounds), peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4-inch thick rings
1 orange or red habanero, roasted, seeded and minced
1 sweet red bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut into 1/8-inch dice
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

In a large, heavy nonstick dry skillet, cook the pineapple slices (in batches, if necessary) over low heat until caramelized, 6 to 7 minutes per side. (It is important to cook the pineapple on low heat so the sugars in the fruit develop deep flavor, without any burning.) Remove from the heat and cut the pineapple into 1/8-inch dice.

In a large bowl, mix the diced pineapple with the chile, bell pepper, cilantro, and lime juice. Serve immediately for the freshest flavor, but you can make this salsa 1 to 3 hours ahead.

See the Taco Update at the end of this post for the leftovers!

***

For dessert, from the latest issue of Fine Cooking, I baked Pine Nut and Orange Cookies, from David Leite's New Portuguese Table.  I highly recommend these cookies, and they worked wonderfully with the southwest-inspired menu!

Pine Nut and Orange Cookies
Slightly adapted from David Leite's The New Portuguese Table: Exciting Flavors from Europe's Western Coast
Makes 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup pine nuts
6-3/4 oz. (1-1/2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar; more for rolling
3 Tbs. finely grated orange zest (from 2 medium oranges)
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large egg, beaten
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier liqueur

Directions:

Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and heat the oven to 375°F.

Toast the pine nuts in a pan over medium heat, or on a rimmed baking sheet, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl to cool.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, zest, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and pine nuts.

In a small bowl, whisk the oil, egg and Grand Marnier, and add to the dry ingredients.

Mix with your hands until the dough is evenly moist and holds together when squeezed, 1 to 2 minutes.

Fill a small bowl with about 1/2 cup sugar. Pinch off 1 rounded teaspoonful of dough (about 1/2 oz.). Shape it into a ball, coat it in the sugar, and set it in on a light-colored nonstick cookie sheet. Dip the bottom of a drinking glass in the sugar and flatten the cookie to slightly less than 1/4 inch thick. Repeat to make 11 more cookies.

Bake until the tops are golden and the edges are golden brown, 9 to 13 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the sheet for several minutes, then transfer them to a rack to cool completely (the tops don't get brown, just a little around the edges, but the bottom is golden brown).

While the first batch of cookies bakes, shape the remaining dough into cookies and arrange on a second cookie sheet. When the first batch is done, bake the second batch. The cookies will keep in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Our Concert group was light this week due to the lucky ones who are traveling. However, we never fail to go hungry, and this week was no exception. After our Tacos Al Pastor, we stuffed our faces with nibbled on my Pine Nut and Orange Cookies and Carmen's dessert tacos, filled with exotic fruit, custard sauce, warm chocolate sauce, and whipped cream.

For the next concert, by the Lamb's Players Theatre, we decided on dishes inspired by Broadway plays and musicals....please, no cats.

TACO UPDATE:  We didn't cook all of the marinated pork at the park, so we were lucky enough to have Taco Tuesday!  This time, I cut the pork in a little smaller pieces and cooked it in a skillet on the stove.  I rewarmed a few tortillas, served the leftover Pineapple Habanero salsa on the side, and fell in love all over again!

Featured in Fine Cooking's What We're Cooking Now! Grilled Peach, Watermelon and Blackberry Salad

I was honored when one of the editors of Fine Cooking contacted me a few months ago and asked if I would contribute to What We're Cooking Now, for the July/August issue.

Fine Cooking requested a simple seasonal specialty featuring fresh peaches, blueberries or summer squash.  Grilled peaches instantly came to mind, and I recalled a fruit salad with grilled peaches, mascarpone-honey dressing, and toasted almonds. Grilling the peaches until they are caramelized brings out the natural sugar, and peaches pair so beautifully with almonds, blueberries, blackberries, mascarpone, and lemon.  Unfortunately, due to keeping my contribution around 25 words, I was unable to share the complete recipe. 

For your next picnic, barbecue, or pool party, forget that plastic platter, with unripe and/or overripe fruit, assembled and packaged by your local grocery store, and take a few extra minutes to prepare this simple, bright and impressive fruit salad.

Grilled Peach, Watermelon and Blackberry Salad with Mascarpone Honey Dressing, Toasted Almonds and Mint
Adapted from Bobby Flay's Boy Meets Grill: With More Than 125 Bold New Recipes
Serves 8

For the Dressing:

1 cup mascarpone cheese (or vanilla yogurt, drained)

2 tablespoons honey, plus 2 tablespoons for drizzling

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Combine mascarpone, 2 tablespoons honey and lemon juice in a small bowl and mix until smooth.

For the Salad:

4 peaches, halved and pitted (yellow peaches make the salad more colorful)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
8 wedges seedless Watermelon
1 pint blackberries or blueberries
1/2 cup toasted sliced or slivered almonds
1/4 cup Mint, chiffonade, plus a few sprigs for garnish
Zest of one lemon

Preheat a gas or charcoal grill (or heat a grill pan on your stove). Brush the peach halves on both sides with oil and grill cut-side down until golden brown and caramelized, 3-4 minutes. Turn over and grill 1-2 minutes more. Arrange all the fruit on a large platter, or in a large bowl. Spoon small portions of mascarpone honey dressing evenly around the fruit. Drizzle top of fruit with honey, and sprinkle with toasted almonds and mint chiffonade. Garnish with lemon zest and a few mint sprigs.

Our Turkish Table, Yet Another Coronado Concerts in the Park Culinary Challenge

When we decided on Turkish Cuisine for our last Concert in the Park Culinary Challenge, I had a difficult time deciding what to try. I went to the bookstore at lunch one day, browsed through three cookbooks, and came home with Turkish Cooking: Classic traditions, Fresh ingredients, Authentic flavours, Aromatic recipes. That same day, the new issue of Fine Cooking hit the stands and I got excited about a few more recipes.

The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefslists the following under Turkish Cuisine: beef, chicken, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, dill, eggplant, fish, garlic, goat/sheep cheese, honey, lamb, lemon, mint, nutmeg, olive oil, onions, paprika, parsley, pepper, phyllo dough, rice, sesame seeds, spinach, tomatoes, walnuts and yogurt.

Fine Cooking's Rustic Fig and Raspberry Mini Crostatas called out to me, especially with figs in season. Although probably more Italian-inspired than Turkish, the recipe does contain honey and cinnamon. So, let's start with dessert!

Rustic Fig and Raspberry Mini Crostatas

Slightly adapted from Fine Cooking #106

(Yields 8)

Dough

1 2/3 cup (7.5 oz.) unbleached all-purpose flour

3/4 cup (3/4 oz.) whole-wheat flour

1/4 cup plus 1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (9 oz.) cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Filling

3/4 pound small, fresh figs (8-10 figs), stems removed and quartered

2 cups fresh raspberries

1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus 2 tablespoons for sprinkling

3 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon fresh thyme, roughly chopped

2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest

8 tablespoons graham cracker crumbs 

2 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into 8 thin slices

2 tablespoons heavy cream

Combine the flours, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse in short pulses until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 3 tablespoons cold water and pulse. If mixture seems dry, add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse until mixture just begins to come together. Do not over mix.  Dump the dough out on clean work surface, gather it together and portion it into 8 rounds (about 2.5 oz. each). Flatten each round into a disk and wrap individually in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Assembly and Baking

When ready to bake, position racks in the bottom and top thirds of the oven. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats.

On a lightly floured surface, with a lightly floured rolling pin, roll each dough disk into a 6 inch round. Put 4 rounds on each baking sheet.

Prepare the filling in a medium bowl by combining the figs, raspberries, 1/3 cup sugar, honey, thyme, and orange zest. Fold very gently until combined.

Sprinkle each round of dough 1 tablespoon of graham cracker crumbs around the center portion of each dough round, leaving a 1/2 inch border. Mound the filling into the center of each dough round, trying to evenly distribute the fruit so you have about 4 fig quarters and 4 raspberries in each). Top each crostata with a butter slice.

Fold the edges of the dough over some of the fruit to create a 1 inch rim, leaving the center exposed. Work your way around, pleating the dough as you go. With a pastry brush, brush the crusts with cream and sprinkle the crusts and filling with the remaining sugar.

Bake until the crostatas are golden-brown, 30-35 minutes, swapping and rotating the baking sheets' positions half way through baking.   Transfer baking sheets to racks to cool for 5 minutes. Gently loosen crostatas with a spatula and then let cool completely on baking sheets. The crostatas are best served the day they are made.

Not too sweet, with a light flaky crust, and a rustic, beautiful result...

Next up, from my new Turkish Cooking cookbook, I chose Deep-Fried Mussels in Beer Batter with Garlic-Flavoured Walnut Sauce, using half mussels and half calamari. It was a bit challenging deep-frying at the park, but I wanted to recreate what is very much part of the street-food scene. This is also one of the popular hot meze dishes in fish restaurants.  And, I'm on a mussel kick lately!

Deep-Fried Mussels and Calamari in Beer Batter, with Garlic-Flavored Walnut Sauce

Adapted from Turkish Cooking: Classic traditions, Fresh ingredients, Authentic flavours, Aromatic recipes

Canola or Safflower oil for deep frying

*50 fresh mussels, cleaned, shelled and patted dry (steam the mussels open for 3-4 minutes and then remove the mussel meat from the shells)

*I used a combination of 2 pounds fresh mussels and about 1/2 pound calamari (bodies cut into rings) and tentacles 

Batter

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 egg yolks

1 cup beer or lager

Sift the flour, salt and baking soda into a bowl. Make a well in the middle and drop in the egg yolks. Using a wooden spoon, slowly beat in the beer and draw in the flour from the edges of the well until a smooth, thick batter is formed. Set aside for 30 minutes.

Walnut-Garlic Sauce

1/2 cup shelled walnuts

2 slices day old bread, crusts removed, sprinkled with water and left for a few minutes, then squeezed dry

2-3 garlic cloves

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

juice of 1 lemon

dash of white wine vinegar

salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Pound the walnuts to a paste using a mortar and pestle, or whiz them in a blender. Add the bread and garlic, and pound again to into a paste. Drizzle in the olive oil, stirring all the time, and beat in the lemon juice and vinegar. The sauce should be smooth, with the consistency of thick double cream. If it is too dry, stir in a little water. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside.  (Note: I was unable to get the right consistency, and ended up adding a little sour cream. I also added a pinch of cayenne and paprika).

Preparation

Heat enough oil for deep-frying in a wok or other deep-sided pan. Using your fingers, dip each mussel into the batter and drop into the hot oil. Fry in batches for a minute or two until golden brown. Lift out with a slotted spoon and drain on a couple paper towels. Serve hot, accompanied by the sauce.

***

Also, from Turkish Cooking, John made Potatoes Baked with Tomatoes, Olives, Feta and Oregano (second collage, bottom right). You can see from the photo collages below, we had quite a Turkish table featuring meze and salads, meat, fish, kabobs, pilaf, and desserts.  Chris, just back from vacation in Turkey, grilled beef and chicken kabobs to go with the pilaf.  Kai put together a huge meze platter of assorted Turkish nibbles, and Carmen made three dishes:  Lamb with Grape Leaves, Feta Cheese Bread, and a Quince and Nuts baked dessert.

We had a big crowd, and I'm so excited everyone is getting into these challenges with such gusto!

Next week, for the biggest concert of of summer, with Rockola, break out Thomas Keller's The French Laundry Cookbook, Ad Hoc at Home,  Bouchon or Under Pressure: Cooking Sous Vide.  And you better start cooking now!

***