OlyveOyl

Raspberry tart with a hazelnut sweet pastry crust. This is a 7.5” tart that I baked in a glass tart mold instead of my usual loose bottom aluminum mold. It will probably be a bit of a challenge getting a slice out of the mold, a little sour cream or ice cream will be on the side.

Last night we had Korean rice cakes, Swiss chard, petit peas in a Gochujang lamb meat sauce. The usual suspects included onion, garlic and ginger, topped off with sesame seeds, sesame oil and cilantro. I’ve made this with pork and beef previously and served it over rice or noodles. Recipe adapted from foodgal and several other sources.

Agreed, we are all “fishing”!

Quail, fried potatoes and cauliflower was dinner last night. Quail was marinated in buttermilk and seasonings, dried well, then broiled. While they broiled, the cooked potatoes were fried, popped into the hot oven , followed by the cauliflower. Quail was tender, very meaty and had slightly pale pink flesh in the breast. A brown supper but delicious nonetheless!

Ficelle mold?

Silky steamed stovetop custard flavored with lemon and orange peel, small piece of stick cinnamon and a small section of star anise. The flavorings steeped in the warmed milk for about a half hour, then combined with the egg and strained into the ramekins. As these are shallow, they steamed for a short period of time. With thanks to Kerry Beal for her demonstration of removing bubbles with a massager, I “borrowed” my husbands and applied it to the side of the Pyrex cup which worked very well to eliminate bubbles prior to steaming. I’ve also used it for chocolate pots de crème successfully.

Sicilian baby clams on pasta with sautéed garlic, shallot, hot pepper flakes, lemon and preserved lemon purée, white wine and a little of the clam juice.

I agree that it is nice to taste the pears and not be overwhelmed with strong flavorings. We did enjoy it as it was but always nice to experiment with new flavorings.

There was a little ginger and nutmeg in the custard, cardamom would have been nice but I didn’t think of it! Next time…I have more pears ripening. I failed to mention that there was a layer of finely crushed amaretti cookies along with some hazelnuts under the pears.

Pear custard tart, two small pears, lightly poached and then sliced, were added to the unbaked tart crust. After ten minutes or so, I poured over half beaten egg, 5/6T milk and a little sugar. A sprinkling of crushed toasted hazelnuts was also added. Baked for another 15 minutes, served with a scoop of sour cream.

Linguine with Sicilian baby clams, shallot, garlic, lemon, hot pepper flakes and white wine. Finished with parsley and a sprinkling of toasted bread crumbs.

I make frangipane fairly frequently and I’ve found toasting before grinding the nuts is a definite plus taste wise. This is a ( toasted) hazelnut, pear mini cake that definitely benefits by toasting the nuts. I agree that in most cookies, sufficient toasting is achieved while baking.

Thanks Heidi for the additional information. I see that Kenji says to equal the taste of oven roasted nuts to add a little oil. I’ve been roasting/ toasting nuts in the microwave since before Kenji was born! 😂 For my baking purposes, I find toasting is sufficient without the oil, I would imagine for eating out of hand, the oil would enhance the taste. The article was informative,thank you again!

Would you consider “toasting” them in the microwave? I use a Pyrex container, heating in one minute intervals, stirring each time. When the oil in the nuts starts to rise to the surface, it usually doesn’t take very long after that point , I taste as it progresses.

Expecting to be snowed in today, I decided to make our corned beef for lunch. Mashed potatoes, cabbage and scallions was our side for the CB. The corned beef was from Aldi and it did not disappoint, it was very moist and tender. Cooked in the Instant pot, for about 22 minutes per pound, finished temperature was just over 200*. Looking forward to sandwiches tomorrow.

Lunch today was a farro/barley pilaf with mushrooms and finely diced veggies. We also had duck legs with the pilaf which was a tasty accompaniment.

Lunch today was a Great Northern bean salad, Italian tuna, fennel, shallots, capers and black olives. A spritz of lemon, lemon zest plus a vinaigrette were the dressings. Ciabatta on the side was a welcome addition.

Red cabbage, walnuts and apples are a favorite combination in this household. The dressing is sherry vinegar, walnut oil and a wee bit of lingonberry jam. I vary the nuts with hazelnuts and use hazelnut oil or pistachios and pistachio oil.

Three layers of berries with crème patisserie. This is an Alice Medrich recipe for the pastry cream. It uses rice flour and so is gluten free. The recipe is from her book “Flavor Flours” pg. 342. It only makes a cup, so just perfect for two (generous) servings. I’ve also used this successfully for fruit tarts. The eggs are added with the other ingredients and all are cooked simultaneously. The rice flour makes for a very silky pastry cream.

Plum tart, because I couldn’t resist the large bag at Costco by way of South Africa. This is a six inch tart which took about thirty minutes to bake, the juices had bubbled up nicely when I removed it from the oven. In addition, I made some plum sorbet with the remaining plums, a small sample prior to freezing tasted pretty darn good. The plums are reasonably tasty as long as you are cooking them with a little sugar. Will tide me over until July/August when local plums become available.

I remember the end cap as well. There was a wide variety of cookies, anise toasts being one of them. There were probably a dozen different cookies.

I clearly remember that they had a cult following. My memories of them are more sensory. My grandparents lived about ten minutes north of the plant. There was a viaduct that you exited nearby and the aromas of the cookies wafted over the entire area. I always knew that we were almost there even with the car windows closed! ETA… I understand they no longer taste the same 😄

The cookies, Stella D’ Oro are no longer made. At one time they were made in The Bronx, N.Y. They were popular with the Italian American community and also the Jewish community as they were considered Pareve, and therefore, they could be eaten after most meals.

I think it implies that it’s a favorite food at a diner but probably not eaten at home.

Sneaking this into the small batch desserts although not baking. This was adapted from Jody Adams, Boston restaurateur. This is her mother’s recipe for retro Pots de Crème made in a blender. I found the blender to be unnecessary if using finely chopped chocolate. When I switched from TJ’s 72% chocolate to an 85% thin bar, just broken by hand was sufficient. To six oz. room temperature chocolate, along with (room temperature) one beaten egg, slowly pour over 8oz. scalded milk. I usually dissolve the 2T. sugar in the hot milk first. Mix gently to melt the chocolate and add 1 t. of vanilla. This makes six servings, although I generally reduce the quantities and make four using just the yolk. This is rich and dense, I have upped the quantity of the milk a bit to make it a little less intense. Nice with cream or raspberries , a raspberry placed halfway into the crème is also very pleasing. (If you like, you can add the beaten egg following the hot milk, which is easier to incorporate.)