Pi(e) Day Revisited, w/Apricots

Dried Apricot Pie

Flaky Pie Crust
2/3 cup sweet rice flour
2/3 cup tapioca starch
2/3 cup potato starch
6 tbsp corn starch
4 tsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
3 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup unsalted butter
2 eggs
2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1. Mix all dry ingredients together.
2. Cut cold butter in to pieces, cut into dry ingredients until the largest pieces of butter are about the size of peas.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and vinegar.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into butter mixture. Mix together.
5. Divide the dough in half and wrap in plastic or place in zip-top bag and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.







Filling
2 cups dried apricots
1 1/2 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp corn starch

1. Put apricots and water in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil, lower and simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Remove the apricots and water and place in a covered bowl to steam.
3. In the sauce pan, place 1/4 cup water and 1/3 cup sugar. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer. Cook until reduced by half.
4. Allow the mixture to cool and mix in the corn starch, whisking well to remove any lumps.

Assembly
1. Roll out the dough between layers of parchment - dust the parchment with extra tapioca starch to prevent sticking.
2. Layer the apricots in the bottom crust and cover with cornstarch, water and sugar mixture.
3. Place top crust on and cut a few holes in to vent steam.
4. Bake at 400F for 15 minutes.
5. Lower to 325F and bake until golden brown, approximately another 45 minutes.





Its as sour and flaky as the pie I remembered my parents' friend made when I was growing up.

St. Patrick's Day - Step 1

Corning the Beef (a stronger adaptation of Alton Brown's brine)
1 cup kosher salt
2 tbsp saltpetre
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp yellow mustard seeds
1 tsp brown mustard seeds
1 tsp black pepper corns
8 cloves
13 allspice berries
4 bay leaves
1 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground mace
1/2 cup brown sugar
8 cups of water
3 handfuls of ice
4-5 lbs of brisket

1. Bring all ingredients to a boil.
2. Simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Cool brine then add ice.
4. Add the brisket to the pot or place brisket in a plastic bag and pour in brine.
5. Make sure the brisket is fully submerged and turn at least once a day for 1-2 weeks.

Happy Pi Day

3.141... never looked so tasty!

A neighbor growing up used to make dried apricot pie. The flaky crust gave way to a sour and sweet, make-your-mouth-pucker filling. I found this recipe online and decided it as time to recreate this childhood memory.

But I got side-tracked and made the crust and filling, but didn't get a chance to put it together and bake it... yet.

FDA Wants Your Imput on Gluten Free Labeling - MAY 9th DEADLINE

I have to thank Gluten-Free NYC for this link and analysis to the FDA's call for input on a possible Gluten-Free Labeling Study.

Being able to decipher packaging labels is one of the greatest hurdles to being able to being and maintain a gluten-free lifestyle and an FDA sponsored study could help bring many of these issues to light.

The call for public comment is an opportunity to comment on their four information points, but its also an opportunity to say "YES, please conduct a survey about gluten-free labeling in the U.S."

To do so, you must visit the the FDA's web page about this proposal is: Docket No. FDA-2009-N-0083

(I will type up and share my comments soon.)

Corned Beef - It starts with a brine

Last year I modified Alton Brown's recipe and corned my own beef for St. Patrick's Day.

Homemade Corned Beef
2 quarts of water
1 cup kosher salt
2 tbsp salt petre
2 tbsp sugar
1tsp molasses (I didn't have any brown sugar, so I fudged it here)
1 tsp mustard seeds
1tsp black pepper corns
5 cloves garlic
2 slices fresh ginger
3 bay leaves
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 piece of mace
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp whole cloves
1/2 tsp dill weed
1 quart ice
brisket

Bring all ingredients to a boil (except the ice and brisket).
Lower to a simmer and stir until salt is dissolved.
Remove from heat, allow to cool.
Add ice.

Place brisket into a zip-top bag, and pour in cooled liquid.
Store in refrigerator for at least a week, flipping meat at least once a day.

1.5 weeks later... it made a delicious dinner, by:

Corned Beef & Cabbage
Removed the brisket from the brine, washed it thoroughly.

Place in a pot, covered with cold water.
Brought to a boil, then backed down to a simmer with 2 bay leaves, some pepper corns and a few ribs of celery.

1.5 hours latter, added the vegetables:
1 head cabbage, cut into wedges
1 lb carrots, cut in chunks
1/2lb+ boiling onions, peeled
potatoes, quartered



It turned out very well, not salty at all.

My dinner guest thought we should dress up mr. beef for his photo shoot. (Eyes are clementines, heirloom carrots around the edge and I believe the nose is a prune)


The meal was delicious, as was the hash I made the next day.

I am a little late to the game this year, but hopefully I can start the pickle tonight!

Eggplant & Chick Peas

I am not really sure what to call this concoction other than "lunch" because its not really a curry or a traditional recipe of sorts. Its more of a this-is-what-I-have-in-the-house-that-will-feed-me-for-days-and-cheaply.
I had a lone eggplant that I bought last week with the greatest intentions of turning it into baba ganoush. I have really been in the mood for chick peas, so I thought that I would use up the extra stock I had in the fridge and came up with the following:

Eggplant & Chick Peas
2 tbps oil
1 small onion diced
1 carrot diced
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tbsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground allspice
4 cardamom pods
1 eggplant diced
1 can of whole, peeled tomatoes & the juice
4 cloves sliced garlic
1 potato diced
2-3 cups of stock or broth (I used chicken, but veg would be fine here as well)
1 can of whole chick peas, drained and rinsed
Salt to taste

1. In a large sauce pan or stock pot heat the oil an onions over medium high heat until brown.
2. Add the carrots and spice, stir to coat.
3. Add and brown the eggplant. (If it sticks you can add more oil or jump to #4)
4. Add the tomatoes, garlic, potato and enough stock or broth to cover the veggies.
5. Bring to a boil then simmer till the potato is fork tender.
6. Add in the chick peas and salt.
7. Serve over rice.
Or...
Take the leftover to work as soup:

This turned out really well, but I would add some coriander next time.

Caramel Chocolate Truffles

When I was making my coconut milk truffles a few weeks ago, I got the notion to try to make a caramel truffle too. I was toying between a caramel center, enrobed in dark chocolate, or a caramel infused chocolate. With some help from a good friend and lover of chocolate himself, we created this recipe:

Caramel Chocolate Truffles
1 lb. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (I used Callebaut 60%)
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp water
1/8 tsp kosher salt
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
seeds & pulp of one vanilla bean (very optional)
toasted pecans for coating

1. Chop the chocolate as evenly as possible. Place in a glass bowl and set aside.


2. In a heavy bottom sauce pan, place the sugar, salt and water. Heat over medium-high heat until the sugar is completely dissolved and bubbles start forming. (You can use a pastry brush dipped in a bit of water to go around the inside edge of the pan to help prevent crystals from forming.)


The sugar is beginning to darken around the edges.

When its almost as dark as you want it - and you want it pretty dark here - remove it from the heat.

See that smoke coming off the burning sugar?!
PSA - Turn the vent or hood on BEFORE starting this process or else the smoke detector is going to start blaring.

3. Add the cream to the caramelized sugar and stir to combine.
You can see I used a much larger pot than necessary. This is because hot sugar + room temp or cold cream = splatters. Be very careful.


4. Pour the hot caramel over the chocolate and stir until the chocolate is smooth.


5. Add in the butter, vanilla and vanilla pulp and continue to stir until well incorporated.

6. Cover the chocolate mixture (now a ganache) with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. If you go overnight, take the bowl out 1 hour before attempting to roll truffles, so it can warm up a bit.
7. Set up three stations. One for forming the truffles (you will need a melon baller or round spoon, something to help start the shape). A bowl or plate for coating the truffles in nuts. And a dish or plate for the finished product.




8. Scoop the ganache with the spoon/baller. Try to keep them as uniform as you can, but its up to you what size. (I used a teaspoon, but was generous with the portioning)

9. Roll the portions between your hands - you might want to don food-safe, powder free gloves for this part.

10. Place the formed truffle into the nut mixture and roll it around to coat.

11. Place truffle on plate/tray.

12. When you are done, store them flat in a cool, dry place - like a tupperware. (If its warm out, storing them in the fridge is great, just be wary of what else is in your fridge... like onions.)

13. It is important to set some aside for the cook, or else they will disappear without you having the proper chance to taste test them.


Overall, I thought these were good, but could be even better. The caramel flavor is subtle; if I didn't know it was in there I am not sure I would be able to pick it out. The ganache itself was much firmer than the coconut truffle batch, so I think there is a lot of room to work this recipe to include even more caramel next time.

I will probably omit the vanilla bean pulp, there is no need, and with the ganache this stiff it would be easy to add another teaspoon of vanilla extract instead. No gluten, but definitely more testing required.

Glutenous Minimus

I heard a rumor that Porter Square Books is now carrying Glutenous Minimus products now. I headed over today to check it out. They had two options: a peanut butter chocolate chip cookies & carrot cake muffins, both offerings individually wrapped - a nice bit of added insurance against cross contamination.

The carrot cake muffin was devoid of the usual nuts and raisins, and was lacking something. The texture was ok - but being wrapped in cellophane might have been part of the problem.
The peanut butter chocolate chip cookie however, was amazing. I am going to go out on a limb here and say that it was hands-down the best gluten free cookie I have had.

The cafe staff said that they get other flavors in, sometimes double chocolate and a molasses chew. The bookstore is right around the corner from Zings Pizza - that offers a gluten free crust, made by Gluentous Minimus, so I will definitely be back.

Catfish & Asparagus

I know its a bit early in the season, but asparagus were on sale for $1.99 a pound and I could not resist. I had some left over greens from last night, so I was thinking salad. Doing laps around the store I finally settled on some decent looking catfish and thought about the preserved lemons sitting in the back of the fridge.

Charred Asparagus
1 lb. asparagus
salt

1. Snap each asparagus at the base.
2. In a heavy bottom skillet, sear the asparagus over high heat. (Doing this in 2 or 3 batches will prevent over-crowding of the pan - which leads to steaming, rather than charring.)
3. Remove from pan and sprinkle with salt.







Baked Catfish with Preserved Lemons

2 tsp oil
1/2 peel of a preserved lemon, rinsed & chopped/torn
3/4-1 lb. catfish, cleaned
Old Bay seasoning
cumin
salt

Preheat oven at 350F
1. Spread oil and lemon peel on bottom of pan.
2. Put the fish atop the peel.
3. Sprinkle Old Bay, cumin and a little salt on top.
4. Bake at 350F till the fish is cooked through. (This is going to vary depending on the thickness of your fillets.)




Salad w/Lemon Vinaigrette
washed & dried salad greens
juice of one lemon (1 part)
salt
white pepper
olive oil (3 parts)

1. In a large bowl - bigger than you think you need, the bigger the easier it is for tossing - put the lemon juice, salt and white pepper. Mix until the salt is dissolved.
2. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking or mixing vigorously.
This is going to produce a "broken" dressing, one where the acid (lemon juice) and fat (olive oil) are separate, don't worry if its not one homogenized mix, its not suppose to be.
Add about 3x as much olive oil as lemon juice.
3. Place the greens in the bowl and gently toss to lightly coat the greens.



Put it all together and you get dinner!

Spanish Tortilla

Dinner was partly inspired by photos from my friend's trip to Argentina. It was also my first day back to the gym since breaking my toe in December (and then re-breaking it in January), so I was craving something substantial, but healthy.

Spanish tortilla (torta espanola) is not quite and omelet, not quite a fritata - many recipes call for flour and milk, but I omitted both.

Spanish Tortilla
1-2 tbsp oil
1 small onion sliced very thinly
1 potato sliced very thinly
salt
3 eggs, scrambled

-Preheat oven to 375F-
1. In an oven-safe skillet, heat the oil and onions over medium high heat till they begin to become translucent.
2. Move the onions to the outer sides of the pan and place in the potato slices. Sprinkle with salt.
3. Cook the potatoes until they are soft all the way through and begining to take on color.
4. Turn the heat down to low, pour in the eggs.
5. Move the entire skillet into the oven and cook until only the center jiggles slightly when pan is pushed back and forth.
6. Remove skillet from oven, and flip the torta out onto a cutting board.

Salad
1-2 tsp mustard
1-2 tsp honey
salt
cracked black pepper
red wine vinegar
olive oil
greens

1. In a large bowl, mix the mustard, honey, salt, pepper and vinegar in a bowl until well combined.
2. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, while stirring quickly.
(The average is a ratio of 1 part vinegar to 3 parts olive oil - but for this I like 1:2)
3. Add in the washed and dried greens. Gently toss to coat.


Some of the onions burned a bit. I would probably add them after the potatoes next time.