Black Hat Tea 2013: The Savory Course

It's fall again, time once more for the spouse to hold her Black Hat Society Tea. Last year, the signature fall flavor was apple. This year, we decided that pear should be the featured flavor would be pear. I think we had about twice as many people attending. I want to thank the two friends that helped me in the kitchen, one acting as my sous chef, and the other washing dishes and keeping tea pots flowing. Also, a huge thank you to Rebecca Freeburn of Freeburn inc. who came out and took great photos of the food.

For the savory course, we served three items. We had a number of people attending that were gluten free, so only served one tea sandwich, and added a soup and a salad.

We opened with a soup. This was a shooter of a cold spicy pecan soup, with a garnish of a little chipotle pepper. This soup is pecans simmered in vegetable stock, and flavored with chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, garlic, onion, and cilantro. It is then thickened with heavy cream. I rinsed the adobo sauce off some of the peppers, and then cut them into fine ribbons as a garnish.

I was very happy with this soup. I got just enough spice to notice, without it being overwhelming. It was very rich, and the cream gave it a luscious mouth feel.

I also made a vegan version, where I used almond milk instead of the cream. It was also very good. It was a bit sweeter, and did not have quite as silky a texture.

The next item was a tea sandwich of walnut onion bread with slices of pear and Gorgonzola cheese.

The bread is a yeast bread with onions and pieces of walnuts.  I alternated slices of red and Bartlett pears, leaving the skin on for the color. I added the Gorgonzola crumbles.

The flavor combinations were good. I think next time I will cut the bread a trifle thicker, and toast it. I might also work the Gorgonzola into some cream cheese and make a spread.

The last item was a three  bean salad with a vinaigrette of date vinegar and olive oil, flavored with basil mustard and herbs.

I used black, kidney, and garbanzo beans. There is some minced red onion mixed in.

The  dressing is a  vinaigrette using date vinegar and olive oil. I added some Trader Joe's Basil Mustard. I also added dried basil, oregano, rosemary, and thyme.

The salad was served in half of a miniature sweet pepper. I added a chiffonade of fresh basil as a garnish.

Recipes

Spicy Cold Pecan Soup

2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup minced onion
3 Tbsp. minced garlic
6 cups vegetable stock
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
3 cups pecan pieces
3 Tbsp. canned chipotle chilies in adobo sauce, minced
1 Tbsp. dried cilantro
2 cups heavy cream
salt to taste

In a stock pot over medium heat, add olive oil. Saute onion and garlic until tender. Add stock, juice, pecans, chilies, and cilantro. Simmer for two hours. Using an immersion blender, blend until smooth. Place pan in an ice bath to cool. Refrigerate soup until time for service. Stir in cream. Adjust salt as needed.

This soup can be made vegan by replacing the cream with the same amount of almond milk.

Onion Walnut Bread

1/2 cup  walnut oil
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 cups warm water (105°F. to 115°F.)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 envelopes dry yeast
2 teaspoons salt
5 cups (about) bread flour
3 oz. by wt. walnut pieces

In a skillet over medium to medium high heat, add walnut oil. Add onion, and saute until tender. Set aside to cool.

Combine water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand until foamy.

Sift flour. Place yeast mixture in the bowl of a food processor with onions, salt, and 1 cup of flour. Pulse to combine. Add flour 1 cup at a time, processing after each addition. Do this until dough forms a smooth ball. (My food processor was straining before I got that far. I kneaded the last cup or so in by hand.)

Transfer the dough to a well floured surface. Need until dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Add flour as necessary to keep dough from sticking.

Oil a bowl with walnut oil. Place dough in bowl, rotate to coat surface with oil. Cover, let rise until doubled in size.

Punch down dough, let rest for five minutes.

Transfer to a well floured surface. Roll out to about 1 inch thick. Spread walnuts evenly over surface. Knead dough to incorporate walnuts.

Coat the insides of two loaf pans with oil. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into an  oblong, place each oblong in a loaf pan. Cover, let rise until doubled in size.

Pre-heat oven to 400 F. Bake about twenty five minutes, until golden brown and it sound hollow when thumped. (I think next time, I will try it at 375 F, and bake it longer. I'd like to see if I can get the bottom a bit crisper.)

Remove from oven, place on wire racks to cool.

Three Bean Salad

1 large can each kidney, black, and garbanzo beans
1/2 large red onion, diced
4 oz. by vol. date vinegar
12 oz. by vol. olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsp. Basil Mustard
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried rosemary
salt and pepper to taste

Drain beans, and rinse thoroughly. Place in a bowl, stir in onion. In another bowl, whisk together vinegar, mustard, and herbs.  While whisking vigorously, slowly add oil, until dressing thickens. If necessary, a little water can be added to thin it out.

Pour dressing over beans. Mix. Refrigerate until service.

Happy eating!

Pastry Class: Pear - Almond Galette, and Pithivier

Last Monday in my pastry class, we made puff pastry. Since we had the mid-term last Wednesday, we didn't get to make anything with it until today. We got to make two things, a pear - almond galette, and a pithivier.

A galette is a flat tart, while a pithivier is a filled, domed pie. For both of these, we made a frangipane, a filling made from almond paste, butter, and eggs.

Before we started, we divided the dough in half, and rolled each half out to a 12 inch by 16 inch rectangle. Those were placed in the freezer to stiffen up.

For the galette, we first docked the rectangle of pastry. Docking just means poking a lot of little holes in a pastry. We used a roller docker, which looks kind of like a torture device. It is a cylinder with prongs, attached to a handle. Rather than buying one, you can just stab the dough repeatedly with a fork.

Once the dough is docked, cut into rounds. Pipe a little of the frangipane in the center, and spread it to about 3/4 inch from the edge. The sliced pear is arranged on top of the frangipane. The pear is then brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with vanilla sugar. When baked, the puff pastry puffs up around the pear, providing a little crust.  Once cool, the pears recieve a light coating of apricot glaze, and then the whole thing is dusted with confectioner's sugar, and some finely chopped almonds. The glaze helps prevent oxidation of the fruit.

Chef James wanted us to start thinking beyond the baking, and consider the whole dessert. So, he had us try our hand at plating. We made a caramel sauce, which we put on the plate in a decorative pattern, and then taught us how to make quenelles of whipped cream. I made a braided pattern in the caramel.

The caramel was fairly simple, just sugar, water, and corn syrup cooked until  it achieves a medium amber color. At that point the caramel is removed from the heat, and cream is added. When it calms down, butter and salt are added, and brought back to a boil, briefly.

The pithivier is really simple. It's a round of puff pastry, with a mound of frangipane, and covered with more puff pastry. We used an egg wash to seal the rounds together.

We cut the edges in a petal like shape. For decoration, we incised curved lines into the top pastry.

The pithivier is baked until golden, then pulled out of the oven. The top is then brushed with a light coat of corn syrup, and put back to produce a crisp, shiny coat.

I like this puff pastry. It was both crisper and flakier than any commercial puff pastry I have used.

Both the galette and the pithivier were great. They were rich, and just sweet enough. I don't like overly sweet pastries.

As always for the pastry class, all recipes are courtesy Chef James Foran.

Recipes

Frangipane

4 oz by wt. almond paste
4 oz by wt. butter
1 oz by wt. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 Tbsp. all purpose flour
pinch of salt

In the bowl of a stand mixer using a paddle, cream almond paste, butter, and sugar until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla, and again process until smooth. Finally, add flour and salt, and cream until smooth.

Caramel Sauce

5 1/4 oz by wt. sugar
1 Tbsp. corn syrup
2 oz by vol. water
4 oz by vol. cream
3/4 oz by wt. butter
1/4 tsp. salt

In a bowl, combine sugar, syrup, and water. Transfer to a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Brush down sides of pan with water two or three times to remove any stray sugar crystals. Cook until sugar solution is a medium dark amber color.

Remove from heat, at cream in three stages while whisking vigorously. Add butter and salt, return to heat until sauce just comes to a boil. Remove from heat and cool.

Pear - Almond Galettes

1/2 recipe of Classic Puff Pastry
1/2 recipe of frangipane
5 pears, peeled, cored, and sliced
4 Tbsp. melted butter
5 tsp. vanilla sugar

Dock pastry, then cut out ten five inch diameter circles. Arrange circles on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Pipe frangipane into centers of circles. Spread evenly to within 3/4 inch of the edge. Arrange pear slices on circle, being careful to keep pears at least 3/4 inch from the edge. Brush pears with melted butter, and sprinkle liberally with vanilla sugar.

Bake in a 375 F oven until golden brown. Cool completely, and brush pears with an apricot glaze.

Pithivier

1/2 recipe of Classic Puff Pastry
1/2 recipe of frangipane
1 egg, beaten
1 oz by vol. light corn syrup

Cut two 7 1/2 inch circles from pastry. Place one on a parchment lined baking sheet. Pipe on frangipane, and smooth into a dome, careful to keep the frangipane 1 inch from edge. Brush edge with beaten egg. Press to seal. Use a 5 1/2 bowl to press over pithivier to make a dome shaped middle. Scallop edges. Using a sharp knife, incise curving lines radiating out from the middle, careful to avoid cutting all the way through.

Bake in a 375 F oven until golden brown, approximately 45 minutes to an hour. Remove from oven, brush top with corn syrup. Turn oven to 425 F. Return pithivier to oven, bake until corn syrup creates a shiny, golden crust, about 3 - 5 minutes.

Happy Eating!

Spicy Pear Empanadas

In my wine class last week, we were covering the wines of Argentina and Chile. I always like to make something typical of the region, like the red cabbage for Germany. Looking around, I found pear empanadas were considered a typical dessert for Chile. My recipe is based off of this one I found on about.com. The cheesy, salty pastry contrasts nicely with the sweet, spicy filling. I made a double batch, getting twenty seven empanadas, so figure 12 to 14 from one batch. It went really well with the Chilean whites, especially a Carmenere and a Torrontes.

Spicy Pear Empanada

Pastry:
2 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/4 cup grated aged cotija cheese
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
12 tsp. butter, chilled, cut into small cubes
1 egg yolk
up to  1/3 cup ice water

Filling:
6 ripe Bartlett pears, peeled, cored, and diced
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 small lime, cut in half
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
4 whole cloves
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. kosher salt

Glaze:
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp. heavy cream

to make pastry:
In the bowl of a food processor, add flour, cheese, salt, and butter. Pulse several times, processing until flour mix resembles coarse meal. Add egg yolk and two teaspoons water. Pulse several times. Add water, one teaspoon at a time, pulsing several times bettweeen each, until dough just starts to come together. Remove from processor, form into two disks. Wrap disks in plastic wrap, refridgerate for at least one hour.

To make filling:
Place all ingredients except vanilla in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Simmer, stirring frequently, until most of the liquid has evaporated, and pears are tender. Remove from heat, remove lime halves and cloves, and stir in vanilla. Let cool.

To make empanadas:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk together egg yolk and cream to makre glaze.

Working with one disk of dough at a time, roll out dough to under 1/4 inch thickness. If dough is too crumbly to work, dampen and fold a few times. Cut into 3 inch rounds. Place 1 tsp. of filling on each round. dampen edges, fold and press to seal. Use a fork to press the edges.  Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet, and brush with glaze. Bake 15 - 20 minutes, until golden brown.