Jerry's Thoughts, Musings, and Rants!

Butter Tarts

Today was my last day at work for four weeks. I soon suspected by the way people's faces were glazing over when I said this that my countdown had gone on far too long. What can I say . . . I am an excited guy!

I thought that I would make a treat for my colleagues on my last day so I whipped up a batch of butter tarts. For the uninformed butter tarts are a unique Canadian treat - a wee bit like the Canadian version of pecan pie (without pecans or Karo syrup). There are theories about whether they were adapted from southern pecan pie, old-fashioned sugar pies, or maple syrup, backwoods or vinegar pies. Squabbles arise whether or not the tarts should be runny or not, and just how runny. Opinions differ about the use of syrup or sugar only, eggs beaten or not, currants or raisins, and how the tart pans should be filled.

Butter tarts are serious business for we Canadians.

I had told my friend Nancy that I made great butter tarts. She argued that her mom's would be better.

This is what she wrote after she tried one of these tarts:

The tart is AMAZING!!!! I need the recipe. I do believe it may even surpass my mom’s and my sister’s – and I don’t say that lightly!

Ha!

She then went on to eat three tarts.

This recipe is unique because it uses maple syrup. It is from an old cookbook of mine - The Mennonite Relief Sale Cookbook - originally published in 1973 (making this cookbook older than Paul!)

I do NOT make my own pastry - I find it far easier to buy prepared tart shells in the frozen food aisle.

This recipe makes about 2 dozen tarts.

Butter Tarts

2 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup REAL maple syrup
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

Arrange lined tart shells on a baking sheet (or in tart tins if you are making your own pastry)

Mix all ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Beat until the thickness of cream.

Fill each shell 2/3 full.

Bake until the pastry is golden brown and the filling bubbling - about 30 minutes.

Note - nuts or raisins may be added. I HAVE to have raisins in my butter tarts but some twisted folk prefer them without. I made about 10 tarts without raisins and then added about 2/3 cup raisins to the remaining filling and filled the rest.

Pecan Pie

Last Friday Paul and I were invited to our friend Kathy's house for dinner. I volunteered to bring dessert and then struggled to decide upon something appropriate. Finally I took my inspiration in our upcoming trip to Savannah (we leave in 2 days - woo hoo). In my mind there are few desserts as southern as the classic Pecan pie.

Pecan pie is a sweet custard pie made primarily of corn syrup and pecans. It is popularly served at holiday meals and is also considered a specialty of Southern U.S. cuisine. Most pecan pie recipes include salt and vanilla as flavorings. Other ingredients such as chocolate and bourbon whiskey are popular additions to the recipe. Some recipes even use an amount of maple syrup instead of corn syrup for flavoring. Pecan pie is often served with whipped cream.

Legend has it that the French developed pecan pie after settling in Louisiana and introducing the tree to the natives. However, the Southern pecan pie will forever be inextricably linked to the introduction of Karo syrup in 1902. More importantly, in the early 1930s, a wife of a Karo executive made a pecan pie with the almost sickly-sweet corn syrup and the company publicized it. In many parts of the pecan-growing South, such as Georgia, people just say they made a “Karo pie” and everyone knows it’s a pecan pie made with Karo syrup.

So pecan pie it was to be! This recipe is from the Silver Palate cookbook - an old standby. I've made it before and prefer it because the finished pie isn't as sickly sweet as other pecan pies I've tasted.

Pecan Pie

4 eggs
1 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup melted sweet butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cup shelled pecans, chopped
9-inch pie crust
1/3 cup shelled pecan halves

Preheat oven to 400?F. Line a 9-inch pie pan with the pastry.

Beat eggs well in a large bowl. Add brown sugar, corn syrup, salt, melted butter and vanilla to the eggs and mix thoroughly.

Sprinkle chopped pecans in pastry-lined pan. Pour egg mixture over pecans. Arrange pecan halves around edge of filling next to crust for decoration.

Set on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 325?F. and bake for 25 to 30 minutes longer, or until set.

Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature before serving. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream if desired.

Two-layer Key Lime Pie

This pie was featured in the March 2004 issue of Bon Appetit magazine. It has become one of our favourites.It is almost a traditional key lime pie with a layer of refrigerator cheesecake on top. This all rests on an amazing graham cracker made extra delicious with the addition of granola.

Two-layer Key Lime Pie

3/4 cup granola cereal (without raisins or other dried fruit)

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

3 tablespoons sugar

1(14ounce)can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup fresh lime juice

3 large egg yolks

1(8ounce)package cream cheese, softened to room temperature

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350.

Using on/off turns, blend granola in a food processor until coarsely ground.

Transfer granola into a mixing bowl.

Add cracker crumbs, melted butter, and sugar.

Press the mixture into a 9-inch diameter deep dish glass pie plate.

Bake for 8 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Turn the oven down to 300.

Meanwhile, whisk condensed milk, lime juice and egg yolks in a bowl to blend.

Pour into the pie crust.

Bake about 25 minutes, or until the mixture is set.

Cool to room temperature.

With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, condensed milk, lime juice, sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.

Pour over the cooled baked layer.

With a butter knife, spread evenly and smooth out the top.

Cover and refrigerate until firm, at least 4 hours.

Dutch Apple Pie

Recently I had a surprise when I logged on to facebook - an old friend, whom I had not heard from in years, had contacted me. This was a blast from the past that I was thrilled to get from (as compared to bell bottoms and brown - go back to the 70's  . . . NOW). Back when I was in university Laurie and her family became my family away from home. It was because of them that I became keenly interested in food (some might say obsessed).

As my budding obsession enjoyment of food began I started to explore farmer's markets. Laurie and I would go to a market not far from where we lived. This market was frequented by Mennonites who always had the most amazing baked goods to sell. One of my favourites was a Dutch Apple Pie made with simple ingredients but which packed a superb flavour.

One weekend Laurie and her mother showed me how to make this pie. It was made from apples, sugar, flour, and cinnamon. On top you spread some sour cream or a mixture of sour cream and lemon juice. It sounds like it wouldn't work . . . that would be an error! This pie is quick, simple, and elegant.

The weird thing was that had I dug out an old cookbook the Mennonite Relief Sale Cookbook, and made this pie the just the day before Laurie contacted me. It was a food related deja vu moment.

Dutch Apple Pie

1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 - 5 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into wedges
2/3 cup sour cream

Pre-heat over to 450 degrees.

Mix the sugar, cinnamon, and flour together in a bowl to form 'crumbs'.

Spread 1/3 of the 'crumbs' on the bottom of a prepared pie shell (I used one that was made by the Mennonites in St Jacobs. I always have some in the freezer because I'm far too lazy to make my own pastry!).

Cover the crumbs with the wedges of apples.

Cover the apples wedges with the remaining 'crumbs'.

Spoon the sour cream over top.

Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. Turn the temperature down to 375 degrees and continue baking for another 40 minutes.

A wedge of this pie is excellent served warm with some vanilla bean ice cream.

Chicken Pot Pies

Potpies are an excellent way to use up leftover roast chicken. This recipe was modified from one I found in the Williams Sonoma cookbook Chicken which I received for Christmas. Here, the potpies come together quickly because the recipe calls for store-bought pastry. Be sure to choose a good-quality brand.

With the crazy weather we have been having lately this was a well-deserved bit of comfort food!

4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 cup low-fat milk
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup chopped yellow onions
1/2 cup corn
1/2 cup peeled and chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped white button mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped red-skinned potatoes
1 cup chopped cooked chicken
1/2 cup cooked fresh or frozen peas
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
prepared pie pastry
1 egg, beaten with 1 tsp. water

Preheat an oven to 375ºF.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture smells fragrant and nutty, 1 to 2 minutes.

Slowly add the stock, wine, and milk, whisking until smooth, and bring to a boil.

Add the thyme, bay leaf, onions, celery, carrots and mushrooms and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.

Add the potatoes, chicken, corn, peas, salt and pepper and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 5 minutes.

Remove from the heat and let cool for 5 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf and discard.

Divide the filling among 4 ovenproof bowls and place on a baking sheet.

Brush the rims of the bowls with water.

Place 1 pastry square on top of each bowl, pressing lightly on the edges.

Brush the pastry with the egg mixture. You moticed int eh picture above that I gently pressed a leaf of flat-leaf parsley onto the egg brushed pastry.

Bake until the pastry is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving. Serves 4.

Apple Crumb Pie

a shameless self-promotion . . .

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Remember a 10 is good!

Feel free to e-mail the link to friends and loved ones!

*smile*

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You may recall that Paul and I went apple picking a few weeks ago. Of there 30 pounds of apples that we picked there are about 5 pounds left. Before I went away I came to the sudden realization that we were soon to be out of apples and I had yet to bake a single apple pie!

GASP

This could not be allowed to continue.

I found this recipe at the wonderful blog Cream Puffs in Venice. Ivonne, the blogger extraordinaire, is an amazing baker and churns out incredible things; if she recommended it I knew that all would be wonderful. I wasn't sure about the combination of orange flavour with the apples but I just thought - trust Ivonne. I did and it was amazing!

For the filling:

6 or 7 apples, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch slices
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tbsp. finely grated orange zest
2 tbsp. Grand Marnier
1/4 cup butter, cut into small pieces

Combine all the filling ingredients (except the butter) in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide in half. Put half in the refrigerator for another pie.

Flour a work surface and gently roll the dough into an 11-inch round (it should be about 1/8th to a 1/4-inch thick). Use a light touch with the dough as you don’t want to overwork it.

Transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie plate or pie tin. Trim the excess dough and crimp the edges decoratively or simply roll them under so that you have an even edge.

Take the prepared filling and pack it into crust. Dot the filling with the butter and then put the pie in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

For the crumb topping:

1 cup flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup butter, cut into small pieces

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

While the pie is in the refrigerator, mix all of the topping ingredients together, rubbing the butter into the flour/sugar mixture until you have a very crumbly topping.

Once the pie has chilled, sprinkle the topping evenly over the pie.

Bake the pie in the centre of the oven on a baking sheet to avoid any spills. The pie usually takes about an hour and ten minutes to an hour and fifteen minutes. It’s done when the crust and topping are golden and the apple filling begins to bubble through the topping.

Easy Summer Dessert - Blueberry Peach Galette

You may have noticed that I like to cook.

Really, I do.

I confess though that I am not much of a dessert maker. Our friend Rosanne makes the most amazing pies (sadly we missed our annual pie when we didn't go away on our annual camping trip last weekend but I digress - as usual) she has a talent. Me? Well, if I have to I will whip something up. Given the choice I would far rather pop into a bakery and buy something.

Most of my favourite dessert recipes are quick, easy, and designed to fool those who eat them into thinking I spent hours in the kitchen. I have made this recipe a few times because it is easy, quick, and tastes good. Like any great dessert recipe the results look far more impressive than the amount of time it takes you to whip it together.

The recipe makes two galettes, so guests can have a piece for dessert and one to take home. If you use fresh peaches, a lot of juice will ooze out, but it won't ruin your crust.

1 (15-ounce) package refrigerated pie dough (such as Pillsbury) - I use pastry made by Mennonite's that I purchase at the St Jacob's Farmers Market
6 cups fresh or frozen peeled and sliced peaches, thawed
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons apricot preserves, melted and divided
1 tablespoon turbinado or granulated sugar

Yield: 2 galettes, 16 servings (serving size: 1 wedge)

Preheat oven to 425°.

Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Roll 1 dough portion into a 12-inch circle; place on foil. Combine peaches, blueberries, and 1/4 cup sugar. Arrange half of peach mixture in center of dough, leaving a 3-inch border. Fold edges of dough toward center, pressing gently to seal (dough will only partially cover peach mixture). Brush half of melted preserves over peach mixture and edges of dough.

Bake at 425° for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350° (do not remove galette from oven); bake an additional 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Repeat procedure with remaining dough, peach mixture, and preserves. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of sugar. Serve warm or at room temperature. Cut each galette into 8 wedges.

CALORIES 232 (29% from fat); FAT 7.6g (sat 1.9g,mono 3.3g,poly 2g); PROTEIN 2.1g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 6mg; SODIUM 124mg; FIBER 2.8g; IRON 1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 40.6g

Cooking Light, SEPTEMBER 2001

I modified the recipe a bit this time. I think I added extra blueberries. Because my blueberries were frozen I added a small amount of flour to help thicken the juices. I also added 1/2 tsp of Vietnamese cinnamon to the fruit.

A Gift Inspires Dinner

Paul and I both celebrated birthdays this month. Our good friends Dave and Rosanne gave us each two months in the wine and cheese of the month club - a truly inspired gift! Each month we receive a red wine selected by two of Canada's top wine experts and a artisinal cheese selected by a renowned artisanal cheese expert Kathy Guidi.

Last week I had a note on the front door indicating that Canada Post had attempted to drop off a package. I had forgotten about our gift and we racked our tiny brains trying to figure out what it could be! Finally I put 2 and 2 together and figured it out - I dashed to the post office!

The wine selection was a 2004 Cabernet from a new winery in Prince Edward County - one of Ontario's new wine regions. As with many new wine regions, the wines in the County tend to be rough and unpolished, so I wasn't sure what this one would be like (although I assured myself that they wouldn't include swill in this club!) The cheese was an organic blue cheese from Quebec.

I put the cheese in the refrigerator and the wine in the cellar. After reading the tasting notes which came with the wine and cheese we talked about what to have to fully enjoy them. The gift inspired dinner last night. Because one of our favourite things to have with blue cheese is fresh figs we planned a 'fig themed' dinner.

We started off with figs stuffed with Gorgonzola, wrapped with prosciutto and grilled. I drizzled them with some 10 y/o balsamic vinegar prior to serving. This recipe was one I found in an Williams Sonoma BBQ cookbook. I have made it a number of times to rave reviews.

Look at the way the Gorgonzola is oozing out of the fig. The flavour combinations are amazing: the salty prosciutto, sweet figs, tangy cheese, brought together by the sweet but tangy aged balsamic.

Next up was a salad Paul whipped together: Fig, Bleu Cheese, and Arugula Salad. It was originally from Cooking Light. We used the last of our olive oil from Paso Robles and of course the wonderful bleu cheese we received in the shipment. The salad was wonderful with the peppery arugula nicely off setting the sweet figs and pungent cheese.

The main course was pork tenderloin stuffed with figs and red onions, and wrapped with pancetta. It was served with grilled vegetables and grilled potatoes made using the technique Judy taught us in Florence last year. I did the whole thing on the BBQ. The wine notes said that the wine would pair nicely with flavourful meats and it did!

For dessert we enjoyed a fig tarte made using a recipe shared with me by my friend Palma.It was a great finish to the meal!

Palma’s Fig Tarte

Preheat oven to 350.

Crust:
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (softened and sliced)

Combine in a food processor until the mixture becomes a ball. Press into a 10-12" tart pan, pressing into fluted edges. Prick with a fork.

Bake 10-12 minutes until lightly golden. Set aside to cool.

Filling:
8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
1/2 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla

Beat these three ingredients until smooth. Spread into cooled crust.

Slice figs and place in overlapping circles around tart.

Glaze:

6 oz frozen limeade concentrate (thawed)
1 T. cornstarch
1/4 c. sugar
1 T. lime juice

Combine four ingredients and cook over medium heat until thick and clear (2 min.). Let cool. Using a pastry brush, glaze the tart with the cooled glaze (you will not use all of the glaze).

It was easy to make and tasted even better!

We finished off with the cheese and the last of the wine. Luckily there is a wee bit of cheese left to enjoy.

Now we have a wine of the month dinner to look forward to each month!

Cheese notes:

Le Rassenbleu. Les Fromagiers de la Table Ronde, Quebec. While most blue cheese are semi-soft and creamy, Rassenbleu (made using organic milk from a single herd, aged 120 days) is firm in body with a woodsy aroma and flavour from organic raw milk. The blue notes are subtle and lingering. perfect for the person new to blue, yet a rare treat for the aficionado of blue.

Wine notes:

Grange of Prince Edward Vineyards and Estates Winery. 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a well structured wine that has good grip and well integrated tannins.  Drink now or cellar for 5-7 years.  Will pair well with game meats or beef.  Winemaker's tasting notes include soft blackberry fruit and delicate vanilla notes coming from its 12 month aging in new older French oak barrels.