On the Second Day of Christmas...

As of last post, the temperature has dropped a good 25 degrees, my father has put the lights up on the house, I've eaten fruitcake ice cream at Bent Spoon, and I've bought my first official Christmas present, so its starting to feel a tad more like the holidays than before.  However, I'm still not fully in that holiday mode yet.  I'm no hum-bug, I'm just taking my time, is all.

Oh, I forgot to mention (but hoped you noticed) that I'm going to attempt to have my 12 Days of Christmas Recipes correspond with the song, i.e. last week I made a pear-centric dish in honor of the partridge in his tree.  This may seem like a simple feat, but for a non-meat-eater, the six bird related verses serve as a bit of an obstacle (...not to mention the Lords-a-Leaping, but I'll worry about those guys later).  I mulled over the Turtle Doves for a while.  Mock turtle soup was a front runner until I actually looked up what mock turtle soup was and found out its made with calf head, feet, and brains.  I know, doesn't just scream holiday cheer, does it?  With the soup off the table, I turned to the only other food-related turtle I could think of - the pecan, caramel, chocolate candy.  However, I didn't want to just do a straightforward chocolate.  I mean, the whole point of this project was to create unique and original recipes.  So, I decided to take those three ingredients and put my own dread&butter-y twist on them.  And thus the Turtle Dove Tart was born - pecan crust, chocolate filling, salted caramel drizzle, with the addition of a layer of tart cranberries.  I thought the cranberries added a nice pop of color and balanced the sweetness of the chocolate and caramel.  It turned out differently than I had in my head, but I have to say, it might become a new Christmas dessert tradition.

And now, off to watch White Christmas and brainstorm for next week...

Turtle Dove Tart

Pecan Crust
1 large egg, separated
¼ tsp vanilla
½ cup pecans
½ powdered sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
5 tbs cold butter, cut into ½ inch cubes
pinch of salt

+ Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
+ Place pecans on a baking sheet, toast for about 5 minutes, or until fragrant and just beginning to brown.  Once toasted, grind pecans in a food processor until fine, but not powdery.
+ In two small bowls, beat the egg yolk and white separately.  Measure out 1 tbs of egg white and add to yolk.  Add the vanilla and mix well.
+ In a medium bowl, combine flour, pecans, sugar, and salt.  Cut butter into the flour mixture until it as a crumbly texture.
+ Add the egg mixture to the flour, combine with hands until evenly moistened.  Add a small bit water if needed.
+ Press the crust into a pie pan.  Put in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.  
+ Place a piece of aluminum foil over the crust.  Poke a few holes in the foil, then place pie weights on top.  Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the weights and foil and bake for another 10 minutes, or until golden brown.  Let cool completely.

Tart Cranberry Jam
1 bag of fresh cranberries
2 tbs honey

+ Put cranberries and honey in a small sauce pan.  Cook over medium-high heat until the berries begin to pop.  Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the berries have all popped and a thick consistency is reached.  

Chocolate Filling1 bag dark chocolate chips
⅓ cup coffee liqueur
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 package silken tofu, drained
1 tbs honey

+ Bring a medium pot of water to a simmer over medium heat.  Place the chocolate chips, liqueur, and vanilla in a medium metal bowl set over the simmering water.  Stir often to prevent the chocolate from burning.
+ Once the chocolate is completely melted, place the chocolate, tofu and honey in the food processor.  Blend until smooth. 

Salted Caramel Drizzle 
(from smittenkitchen)
¼ cup sugar
2 tbs butter
¼ tsp sea salt
2 tbs heavy cream

+ In a small saucepan, melt sugar over medium-high heat.  Cook for about 3 minutes, or until its a golden brown color. 
+ Take the pan off the heat, then add the butter and salt, stirring until the butter is completely melted.  Turn the heat down and put the sugar mixture back on the stove.  Add the heavy cream, stirring constantly, cook until it thickens and becomes a dark caramel color.

To Assemble the Tart
+ Spread an even layer of the tart cranberry jam over the bottom of the pecan crust.  Top with chocolate filling (you'll probably have a little extra).  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours until the chocolate has firmed up.  Then drizzle a healthy layer of salted caramel over the top of the tart.  It can be served while the caramel is warm, but I suggest putting it back in the fridge for another hour (or better yet, overnight).

Berries (Blue + Black + Straw) = Pi

My attempt at making a pi symbol in the crust.

It's the day again.  The day that we eagerly await all year, the excitement building as it gets closer, writing and re-writing our letters to Euclid hoping that he'll leave presents in the pie tins we leave sitting out on our kitchen tables.  Yes, today is Pi Day, March 14th, in honor of the irrational constant that represents the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter - 3.1419526, oh, you know the rest.

To celebrate this momentous day, I have broken out my Pi Day t-shirt made in 8th grade for Mrs. Conway's Algebra class.  Alright, can I just say this, to get it out of the way?  I love Algebra.  I know, I just graduated with a degree in English Creative Writing, which means that I should have a natural aversion to mathematics and science, but I love Algebra and Physics and Chemistry.  Finding x, God, I could spend all day finding x.  Whew!  I feel so much better now that that's off my chest.  I actually just got finished helping my brother with his factoring homework, and I felt momentarily fulfilled by the simple multiplication.  I think its the simplicity.  And the idea that there's an definite answer.  You are able to come to a conclusion, to finish, to accomplish something with a bit of easy and simple logic.  Sigh, if only life were as simple as foiling.

It being Pi Day and all, what to make for dinner was a no brainer - just like the square root of 65,536 - I made not one, but two pies.  I mean, for God's sake, it's Pi Day!  It only comes once a year, and what better way to celebrate than with sweet and savory pies.  To be honest, I think that pie may be the perfect food.  Yeah, I said it, the perfect food.  There's a pie for every season, occasion, meal, taste, temperature.  Fruit pies, custard pies, pot pies, quiche, spanakopita, meat pies.  There are so many variations, that you really could just live on pies for the rest of your life if you wanted to - and let's be real, who wouldn't?

When I was little, I used to hate the crusts and would just scrape out the sweet gooey filling, leaving a shelled-out carcass of dough. As I grew and my horizons were broadened, I embraced the flaky, buttery, crunchy texture that crusts add to the pie.  However, my focus still remains on the filling, so I usually make a one crust pie (either a bottom or top crust).

Speaking of crusts, a doughy crust is the worst.  I don't think I've mentioned my bitter hatred for soggy things - wow, you're learning a whole lot about me today.  Cereal that's been sitting too long, cookies dunked in milk, socks wet from the rain, and especially soggy pie dough.  That's why I tend toward a top crust, which insures maximum golden brown flakiness.  However, when baking ridiculously over-stuffed pies - like the berry one I made tonight - two crust are sometimes necessary.  And don't scoff at the store-bought crusts.  If you have the time and energy to make a crust from scratch, awesome.  But the frozen ones are quick and easy, especially the roll out kind, because you can mold them into whatever size or shape you need.  Plus, always having a couple crusts in the freezer is perfect for spontaneous pie making.

Seafood Pot Pie
2 tbs olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
3 stalks celery, roughly chopped
1 cup carrots, roughly chopped 
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and chopped into bite sized pieces
1 20 oz container of cut, uncooked butternut squash
1 tbs rosemary leaves
1 tbs thyme
2 tbs fresh basil, cut into strips
4 cups vegetable broth
½ cup frozen peas
½ cup frozen corn
1 bag frozen seafood medley (a la Trader Joe's)
2 tbs cold butter, cut into cubes
3 tbs all-purpose flour
1 sheet frozen pie crust
salt and pepper to taste

Golden-crusted Seafood Pie

+ Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
+ In a large pot or sauce pan, saute onion, celery, carrot, and garlic in olive oil over low-medium heat.
+ Once the veggies become translucent, add the sweet potato and butternut squash.  Then add the rosemary, thyme, basil, and salt and pepper.  Saute for a few minutes, or until the onion, celery, and carrot just begin to brown.
+ Add the vegetable broth, cover, and turn the heat to medium-high.  Cook until the potato and squash are fork tender.  If the broth begins to boil, turn heat down so that it maintains a simmer.
+ Stir in the peas, corn, and seafood.  Turn the heat up slightly.  Taste and season accordingly.
+ In a measuring cup, fork together the butter and flour, until it gets a crumbly texture.  Spoon in a few tablespoons of broth from the pot.  Mix together until a thick rue begins to form, add more broth or more flour if needed (it should look like pancake batter).
+ Slowly pour the rue into the pot, stirring constantly, until desired thickness is reached.  If too thin, just mix a bit of flour and broth in the measuring cup.  If too thick, add a bit of water.
+ On a lightly floured surface, roll out the crust so that it's large enough to cover a 9x13 baking dish.
+ Pour the filling into the baking dish.  Cover with crust, poking a few holes in the top.
+ Bake for an hour, or until the crust is golden brown.

Triple Berry Orange Ginger Pie
1 pint blueberries
1 pint blackberries
1 pint strawberries, quartered
1 tbs fresh ginger, grated
¼  cup honey
¼  cup all-purpose flour
½ orange, juice and zest
2 sheets pie crust


+ Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
+ Put all the berries in a large bowl.  Gently fold in the ginger, honey, flour, juice, and zest.  Cover and refrigerate while completing next steps.
+ Unroll one pie crust into a pie pan.  Fill with pie weights or beans, and bake for 7-10 minutes, just before the crust begins to brown.
+ On a lightly floured surface, roll out the second crust so that its about two inches wider than the pan.
+ Fill cooked crust with berries, then place the rolled out crust on top.  Cut any excess dough from the edges, and secure the crust tightly around the edges.
+ Bake for an hour, or until the crust is golden brown.  Serve with vanilla ice cream, fresh whipped cream, or a tall flute of bubbly.