Nut Tart

I love any kind of nuts. I think this tart will grace our Thanksgiving table this year.
One of my favorite tarts is a Torta di Riso that I make during the Holidays. I'm adding this one to our menu.
I'll re post the other one at the end of this post.


Crust:
1C Flour
2 TBS Cornstarch
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 C (1/2 stick) Butter, room temperature, cut into 1/2" cubes.
1/4 C Granulated Sugar
2 TBS Confectioner's Sugar
1 Egg


Filling:
1/2 C unsalted Pistachios, chopped
1/2 C toasted Hazelnuts, chopped
1/4 C Pine Nuts, whole
1/4 C (1/2 stick) Butter
1 C Dark Brown Sugar
1 C Light Corn Syrup
1 tsp Sea Salt
1 tsp Vanilla
3 Eggs
Confectioner's Sugar for dusting


Crust preparation:
In a mixing bowl:
Flour
Cornstarch
Salt
Baking Powder
Whisk well.

In a separate bowl, with an electric mixer:
Butter
Sugar
Confectioner's Sugar
Beat until pale yellow. (3 minutes).
Add Egg, mix well, scraping bowl if needed.
Add Dry ingredients in 3 batches, beating between each addition.
Form dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Roll dough onto a floured surface into a 12" round.
Transfer to a tart pan.
Press into the bottom and up the sides of the pan.
Trim the dough flush with the top of the pan using a rolling pin.
Prick the entire surface with the tines of a fork.
Put in the freezer for at least 10 minutes.

Remove from the freezer and cover the dough with parchment paper, including a 1" overhang.
Fill the pan with pie weights.
Bake for 35 - 40 minutes.
Remove the weights.
Return to the oven and bake an additional 25 - 20 minutes.
Remove from oven to a cooling rack and cool completely.
Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.

Place the tart pan on a sheet pan and prepare the nuts.
Spread the nuts in a single layer on 3 separate small sheet pans.
Place them all in the oven and roast:
Pistachios for 5 minutes.
Pine Nuts for 10 minutes.
Hazelnuts for 20 minutes.
Remove the pans and cool completely.

In a saucepan on medium heat:
Butter
Heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Create a golden brown butter.
Remove and set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl:
Brown Sugar
Corn Syrup
Salt
Vanilla
Whisk well.
Add egg and whisk.
Add Brown Butter and whisk again.
Fold in all of the Nuts.
Pour into the Tart Pan.

Bake for 1 hour, rotate the pan after 30 minutes.
If the crust begins to darken, cover loosely with a loose foil tent.
Remove from the oven to a cooling rack and cool completely.
Dust with Confectioner's Sugar just before serving.
Garnish with Whipped Cream.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!



Torta di Riso:
I hope you take the time to make this amazing Torte.
This doesn't sound like a Hippy in the Kitchen kind of recipe, but I was a privileged hippy! Or so my parents thought ........

Anyway, this is a Best of the Best from my personal collection of recipes. (1984)
Serve this and your guests will think you're  a really fancy cook!

Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees.

1 quart of milk (4 cups)
1/2 C Italian Arborio Rice
1 C sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 C raw whole almonds ( here's where the hippy part is)
1 TBS sugar & a few drops of water
6 eggs
3 TBS almond liqueur
1 tsp almond extract
Additional Almond Liqueur

Bring milk to a boil in a heavy saucepan.
Stir in the rice, mix well.
Blend in sugar and vanilla.
Reduce heat and simmer slowly, uncovered, stirring occasionally about 20 minutes.
Allow to cool.

Pre heat broiler.
Arrange Almonds in a single layer on a cookie sheet.
Sprinkle with 1 TBS sugar and a few drops of water.
Broil until they begin to caramelize.
Transfer to a food processor and coarsely chop.

Generously butter a 10" quiche pan ( this recipe fits perfectly)

Beat eggs together with 3 TBS Almond Liqueur and Almond Extract, in a large bowl.
Add Almonds and rice mixture and blend well.

Place the mixture in the quiche pan
Bake until the top is chestnut brown, about 1 hour.
Remove immediately. poke holes in the top with a toothpick and sprinkle generously with additional liqueur.
Cut into wedges and cool before serving.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Roasted Sweet Potato, Spinach and Peppered Pecan Salad with Dried Cranberries.

This is the perfect Fall salad and it would be great for a Thanksgiving menu. We will definite;y make this for the Holidays this year.
It's never too early to start preparing your Holiday menu.
I saw this salad on an episode of P. Allen Smith.
I've adapted it a bit without changing the integrity of the original recipe.

Let's start with the Vinaigrette ingredients:

1 Shallot, peeled
3 TBS of Creole or French Grainy Mustard
1 TBS Apple Cider Vinegar
2 TBS Lemon Juice
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
2 TBS Brown Sugar
3/4 C Olive Oil

Peppered Pecans ingredients:

Vegetable Cooking Spray
2 TBS Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
1 TBS Brown Sugar
1 tsp Sea Salt
2 Egg Whites
2 TBS Worcestershire Sauce ( I use a vegetarian version)
1 Pound of Pecan Halves

Roasted Sweet Potatoes:

3 Medium Sweet Potatoes, peeled and cubed into 1" pieces.
2 TBS Olive Oil

Spinach and Cranberries:

8 C Baby Spinach Leaves
1 C Dried Cranberries


Prepare the Pecans:
Spray a roasting pan or sheet pan with a vegetable cooking spray and set aside.
In a small bowl:
Black Pepper
Salt
Sugar
Whisk well.

In a large mixing bowl:
Whisk Egg Whites well.
Add Worcestershire Sauce.
Mix well.
Add Pecans and fold by hand to coat well.
Pour this mixture into a colander to remove some of the excess Egg White.
Return to the bowl and add the Pepper mixture.
Fold well to coat the Pecans.
Spread in a single layer on the sheet pan and roast at 375 degrees for 5 minutes.
Stir them and return to roast an additional 5 minutes.
Remove them from the oven and increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees.
Cool slightly.

In a large mixing bowl:
Toss the Sweet Potatoes with a some Sea Salt and Fresh Ground Black Pepper.
Roast for 25 minutes.

Prepare the Vinaigrette: in a Blender:
Shallot and pulse to chop.
Add:
Mustard
Vinegar
Lemon Juice
Salt
Sugar.
Blend on medium speed, scraping if necessary.
Slowly drizzle in the Oil.
Transfer to a small bowl.
Set aside.

In a large Serving Bowl:
Spinach
Sweet Potatoes
Pecans
Cranberries
Fold in the Vinaigrette.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

S'mores Brownies

We have small grandchildren who love S'mores. Actually, all of us love S'mores. We recently spent some time at a beach house in California that had a backyard fire pit. We made S'mores almost every night. Our 6 year old granddaughter was with us. She loved making them.
We have a family event this weekend and I found this recipe from Mom's Pantry Kitchen. I decided that this has to be the dessert we'll take. Our kids and our grandchildren all love S'mores, so this was not a difficult decision for the dessert!
I decided to simply copy the link so you can all try this recipe.

http://www.momspantrykitchen.com/smores-brownies.html

Enjoy!
S'mores!

It doesn't get much easier than this !

I only use Ghirardelli brownie mix, it has chocolate chips in it!

Into the oven!

Out of the oven!

Atlantic Beach Pie

Of course there's a story with a pie titled Atlantic Beach.
It comes from Crook's Corner Restaurant in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Many people claim that it's the best pie they've ever eaten. Every Seafood Restaurant in the South served this pie.
It has a filling similar to Lemon Meringue or Key Lime Pie, but it's the crust that makes this a special pie. The crust is dense, thick and salty which balances the sweet / tartness of the filling.

Crust:

1 1/2 sleeves of Saltine Crackers
9 TBS  Butter, softened
3 TBS Granulated Sugar

Filling:

1 (14oz) can of Sweetened Condensed Milk
4 Egg Yolks
1/2 C of Lemon Juice ( Lime Juice can be used too).
Whipped Cream and Sea Salt for garnish.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
1 - 8" Pie Pan

Crush the crackers with a rolling pin or place them in a large zip lock bag and crush with your hands. Crush them finely but not to "dust".

In a mixing bowl:
Cracker Crumbs
Butter
Sugar
Mix until it resembles a dough like texture.
Press evenly into the Pie Pan.
Chill the Pan for 15 minutes.
Bake the crust for 18 minutes. It will be golden brown.
Remove to a cooling rack for 30 minutes.
Prepare the filling.

In a mixing bowl:
Sweetened Condensed Milk
Egg Yolks
Whisk well.
Whisk in Lemon Juice.
Whisk well.
Pour filling into the crust.
Bake at 350 for 16 minutes.
Remove from the oven and cool for 30 minutes on a cooling rack.
Top the pie with Whipped Cream and sprinkle with Sea Salt.
Refrigerate and serve cold.


Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Back from Vacation!

We traveled 4 weeks, through 7 States and over 5,000 miles. What a great vacation. I posted a few recipes, but I'm looking forward to getting back to the Blog.
It's getting close to contest time for me. I enter a Hatch Chile Contest and the Dallas Morning News Holiday Cookie baking contest every year. I've been a finalist in both contests.
I look forward to creating new recipes. I have many to choose from this year and as soon as I enter them, I will post the recipes on the Blog.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Food Blog Poem!

Food:

Food is what I talk about most.
I guess I have to as a Food Blogging host.
I like corn and squash and desserts galore.
I can always find a topic and talk about more.

I'm passionate about the things I cook.
You can check out my blog and take a look.
Search a food category or a spice you prefer ,
A vegetable, a fruit or a casserole you can stir.

Read a recipe and print it,
and make it with care.
Return to the blog to find something to share.
Always remember if you can't make a decision,
You can always rely on A Hippy in the kitchen!

And don't forget the motto I'm pitchin',
You will find happiness when you
Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

terry!

Grilled Spinach, Goat Cheese and Artichoke Tartine and a story about Le Pain Quotidien in England and California

We were in London and ate at a great little French Bistro and Bakery. We ate there several times on our trip. We also ate at a great restaurant in Birmingham, England. The restaurant had a cookbook in the window and I made a note of it and told my wife we should return and buy the book.
A year later we were on vacation in Manhattan Beach in California and we went for breakfast in a great French Bakery . While we were eating breakfast my wife noticed the logo on the coffee cup and she realized that it was the same restaurant in London and Birmingham. I guess we didn't pay attention to the names of the restaurants in 3 different cities on two different continents. It's Le Pain Quotidian. We just returned from another visit to California and we ate at the restaurant again. It truly is one of our favorite places to eat in many cities. We're returning to Europe next summer and we'll certainly seek out Le Pain Quotidien!
I bought the cookbook.
They're known for their amazing pastries, desserts and incredible Tartines. This recipe is not from the cookbook but it's a great Tartine.
I'll post some of their recipes later.
This recipe makes 4 servings.

4 Whole Wheat flatbread  (Naan)
3 TBS Olive Oil
6 C Fresh Spinach Leaves
6 oz. of any Herb Flavored Goat Cheese, crumbled
2-6oz. jars of marinated Artichoke Hearts, drain and chop
1 medium Tomato, chopped
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
1/4 tsp Fresh Ground Black Pepper



Brush both sides of the flat breads with some of the oil.
Place them on a gas or charcoal grill and grill for about 2 minutes, only on one side.
Remove to a serving platter.
Top the grilled side of each piece with Spinach, Cheese, Artichoke and Tomato.
Sprinkle with Salt and Pepper.
Return to the heat and grill about 2 minutes more, until the bottoms are golden brown and the tops are heated through.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!


Here are some examples of Tartines and photographs from Le Pain Quotidien. It's our favorite restaurant when we're traveling.

Every restaurant has a communal table like this

One of our Tartines in London

London, Raspberry Tart and Coffee

London, Treacle Tart with Whipped Cream.
This was my favorite!