Caucasian Curry

Caucasian Curry
Monday, July 27, 2009

Dorie G's Tartest Lemon Tart

ahhh..yesssss..dorie's tartest lemon tart...

and it is tart, but so so right.








this was not the actual crust recipe given, but this crust was, might i say, perfect... and i can say that because i didn't make it...the crust master of the house, MOM, made it. it was fun...we both got our hands dirty on this one.










there was just the right amount of dough AND filling to throw together this little guy. almost too cute to cut.....almost.











visually, the whole tart turned out beautiful yet simple. taste-wise, this baby has nothing simple about it. it's tart with just the right sweetness.



i must admit...this is not the first try with this tart. my first try was from the lovely pages of smitten kitchen (love her stuff!) recipe found here. i followed it to a T or so i thought, and mine looked like hers...oh i was so excited about it. but i gotta tell ya...i was disappointed. it kinda reminded me of a cooked lemon marmalade. like a blended up lemon with a bunch of sugar and greasy butter...wait...that's what it is!...but hold on...all is not lost. i gave a few slices away and to my surprise i was told it was one of THE BEST things i have ever made !!! a good friend of mine, alice, who has traveled france quite a bit and pretty much knows her authentic tarts is the one that flipped over this one. so i thought i must be crazy..i had to try it again. i googled dorie's tartest lemon tart and low and behold found out that most all the other examples (from a TWD found at the host babette's blog) had a 1/2 c. of heavy cream.

well, back to the drawing board...and just in time for my pal alices 29th birthday. luckily my pastry chef had whipped up a few discs of that fabulous dough for another try. for this one i emplored her help through the whole process due to the fact there was no room for error. the tart had to be delivered on that saturday in time for alices birthday weekend. needless to say tart #2 came out much better in my opinion...but now i'm questioning my opinion..hmmm....anyway, i was told yummy and fabulous by the birthday girl and the mini tart we saved for ourselves was devoured down to the knuckle.

so, the point of this story is...that this is a damn good tart no matter what i think!!! if your looking to WOW your guests with something you'd only expect from a fabulous dinner out...try this one on for size...
You have read this article sweets n' treats / tarts with the title July 2009. You can bookmark this page URL http://caucasiancurry.blogspot.com/2009/07/dorie-g-tartest-lemon-tart.html. Thanks!
Monday, July 20, 2009

BLONDIE BISCOTTI...?



well, as promised in yesterday's post here's what i did with the gooey mess i had in the center of my "Nigella" white chocolate macadamia nut blondies...and i gotta tell ya, i could toot my own horn on this one...not that it's any BIG fabulous idea or anything, just that they came out unbelievably good and i was very proud of the save.
i turned them into mini blondie biscotti.
after i cut off the sides about 1 1/2 in. (photo of those yummy blondie squares in yesterday's post) i put the half baked middle back in the fridge to chill so it would be easy to cut. i saw that there was no possibility of cutting this into normal squares so i sliced it long, then cut that into smaller flat squares. as you can kinda see the top and bottom were already cooked. this is what gave it that biscotti feel. i popped them in the oven and watched them carefully. some of them oozed out the sides (those tasted the best, but weren't too pretty)...who am i kidding...they were eaten 1st before i could get a shot of them...
the result was this amazing chewy, soft, yet crunchy melt in your mouth cookie. to me, they kind of resembled a dense financier. these were a big hit around here. the bummer is that i don't know if i could do it again....hmmmm....maybe try to half-bake something on purpose? i might mess that up and end up with either a puddle of goo, or an over baked brick.
anyway...if anyone out there ever comes across this same snaff-foo please try this trick. it's not often a baking near disaster can be fixed, so you know i'm gonna milk this save and hope i can do it again sometime...

You have read this article bars / cookie / sweets n' treats with the title July 2009. You can bookmark this page URL http://caucasiancurry.blogspot.com/2009/07/blondie-biscotti.html. Thanks!
Sunday, July 19, 2009

WHITE CHOCOLATE MACADAMIA BLONDIES...very fudge-like?

well, let's just start by stating, "these are as good as they look"
and you know it's full of love a goodness because it's one of Nigella's recipes. i found the recipe through.....http://opistachio.blogspot.com/2009/06/white-chocolate-pecan-blondies.html ..... with many thanks to "opistachio" for bringing it to my table.
okay...now here comes the snaff-ooo...
i know i followed the recipe to the T. i loved the fact that the butter and white choc are melted together before adding to the batter. i'm already thinking i want to try this with regular chocolate, but back to these babies...and i loved all the pecans (i used macadamias), i think i even put in extra...no harm, no foul, right?...well, the recipe says bake for 35min or untill top is set, but center is still a little gooey...i watched like a hawk at the end because the top was browning, but the center seemed to be reeeeeally gooey, so i probably left mine in for an extra 10 maybe even 15mins...the recipe also says to let cool for 3-5 min then cut into small squares. i knew i should leave it to cool for longer so i didn't touch it for a few hours...it was quite warm for a while.
my first cut was down one of the sides and it looked great..la la la...very pleased...
but...then the next cut revealed total GOO through the center...baked on top and bottom, but goo in the middle..AND goo all the way through...all around about 1 1/2 in. from the sides was great....this is what you see in the photo above. i gotta say these bites are deeelicious. they resemble a cross between a dense brownie and fudge...or a little like a friand or financier, if you can wrap your head around that...
so i'm left with a half-baked treat...i cut all the sides into nice neat little squares, happy as a clam with those, but what do i do with all the rest. i can't see wasting all those good, kinda expensive ingredients so i came up with an idea...
a "half baked idea?"...punn intended
the results turned out amazing, quite possibly better than the original...i'll post photos and explaination next entry...
You have read this article bars / cookie / sweets n' treats with the title July 2009. You can bookmark this page URL http://caucasiancurry.blogspot.com/2009/07/white-chocolate-macadamia-blondiesvery.html. Thanks!
Saturday, July 18, 2009

SWEET SAVORY SPICY PECAN PANCETTA AND EGGS






i really don't know where i came up with this combo, but i gotta tell ya, it sure works for me. my 1st bite made me think i was at a 5 star hotel on a fabulous vacation somewhere just willing to try anything and everything different or out of the ordinary. but no, there i was in my own kitchen....darn...oh well...
anyway, lately i've been obsessed and facinated with the whole sweet savory thing. (spicy goes without saying because everything i eat has to have some heat to it). i was just falling asleep the other night and a thought came to me that i haven't ever seen anything with nuts and eggs together...i'm sure there are recipes out there, but i don't recall any. it's hard to come up with anything truely new anymore, ya know? someone's always done it before. but...i'm not lettin' the wind out of my sails yet...

i wish i could say that there's some big fancy recipe, but i like simple. put this with that and these and those...and if you don't have some of those then use whatever you think would be good and make it your own.

here's what i did........
fry pancetta(sliced like thick bacon) in a non stick pan. remove and place on paper towel
cook eggs to your liking in same pan(yes! in that yummy pancetta fat! duh...)
i scrambled mine with cheyenne, thyme, salt and fresh ground pepper
(the 1st time was a frittata, as seen above)
***sweet & spicy pecans from Trader Joes***
spicy pecans are a key factor (where ever you get them)

maybe a lil'extra cheyenne and thyme on top
maple syrup tableside
put these flavors together however you see fit and i think you'll be surprized. the variations on this are endless. my tastebuds are already rolling with more ideas for new combos and flavors.
let me know if you like this one and, for sure tell me your ideas...
You have read this article bacon / breakfast / eggs / sweet 'n savory with the title July 2009. You can bookmark this page URL http://caucasiancurry.blogspot.com/2009/07/sweet-savory-spicy-pecan-pancetta-and.html. Thanks!