Monday, October 22, 2018

Tarte Normande de Fromages et Bourbon (Norman Apple Tart with Cheeses and Bourbon)




CRUST
300 g flour
160 g unsalted butter
90 g powdered sugar
1 egg

FILLING
3 apples (Granny Smith)
100 g heavy cream
4 eggs
100 g powdered sugar
2 g Cinnamon
2 oz softened cream cheese
1/4 c shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
3 T bourbon

INSTRUCTIONS
Butter a 12" tart pan with removable bottom
Preheat oven to 200℃/400℉ (tested at 375℉ - add 15 minutes)
Place flour, sugar, and butter into a food processor. Process to Blend. Add egg. Process to blend. If needed, drizzle ice water 1 T at a time and process into dough. Turn dough out onto plastic wrap. Form into a disc and wrap. Refrigerate for at least 60 minutes.
Unwrap dough onto the buttered pan. Press out evenly about 3/8 thick including up the sides of the pan.
Place buttered tart pan on a larger sheet pan in case some of the filling spills over.
Peel, core and slice apples into 1.5-2 cm/1/2" thick slices. Spread in one layer (overlapping) around the entire pan.
To a mixing bowl, mix eggs, cream, cream cheese, shredded cheese, bourbon, and cinnamon. Using the paddle, blend completely until the mixture is smooth and completely combined.
Pour mixture over apples - try to get some of the mixture on each apple.
Bake for about 45 minutes until the custard has set and is browned and puffy.
Cool completely. Gently remove from pan and place on serving plate. Sprinkle the top with powdered sugar. Cut and serve.
Prepare an extra oven safe dish - butter it well. Put extra apple chunks and pure in any left over filling liquid. Bake on a sheet pan with the tart.

(And yes, I got out my electronic scale to measure the quantities shown here by mass and not volume!)

Monday, October 1, 2018

Cheesecake Bars with Shortbread Crust
























Shortbread Crust
3⁄4 cup unsalted butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
1⁄2 cup brown sugar, packed
1⁄2 teaspoon salt

Filling
2 8oz packages of cream cheese, room temperature
2 cups sugar
the juice & zest from 1 medium lemon
3 tablespoons heavy cream (or sub milk)
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pint fresh washed or frozen blueberries

Crust Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°. Cut butter into 1/2 inch cubes. In a food processor, add cubed butter, flour, brown sugar, and salt.
Process until mixture forms small lumps.
Sprinkle into a greased 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan, pressing down with spatula to form crust.
Bake in the middle of oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
Allow to cool while making the filling.

Filling
In the bowl of stand mixer, combine the cream cheese with the sugar. Beat in the lemon zest, lemon juice, heavy cream (or milk), eggs, & vanilla extract until creamy. Spread the mixture over the pre-baked shortbread crust. Sprinkle the blueberries evenly on top.
Bake for 32-37 minutes or until the edges begin to lightly brown and middle appears to be set.
Cool completely before slicing. Store in refrigerator.

Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Pulled Pork Barbecue
















Rub
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 t onion powder
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t cumin
pinch cayenne pepper
sprinkle smoked paprika

Barbecue Sauce
1/2 c cider vinegar
1/2 c ketchup
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c sorghum molasses
sprinkle smoked paprika
2 t chili powder
2 t onion powder
1 t garlic powder
pinch cayenne pepper
pinch cumin
1 sm can tomato paste
1 1/2c chicken broth

Pulled Pork
4 lb pork loin, fat cap removed (NOT TENDERLOIN - they are too small)
2 T olive oil
1 c chicken broth

Instructions
Rub
Put all ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.

Barbecue Sauce
Put all ingredients except chicken stock in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Whisk well until blended and simmering. Remove 1 cup for basting over the pork in the Instant Pot. Add the chicken stock to the remaining barbecue sauce and continue to whisk and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and allow to cool. When cool, store in the refrigerator for serving.

Pulled Pork
Set Instant Pot on Saute (high heat) and wait for "Hot" to be displayed. Meanwhile, remove the fat cap from the pork loin and coat all sides with the Rub mixture. Place the loin in the Instant Pot and sear both sides for 5 minutes.
Cancel the Saute function, add chicken broth. Pour reserved 1 cup of barbecue sauce over the top of the loin. Close the lid, set the release value to closed and set the Instant Pot to Pressure Cook for 60 minutes, high pressure. Allow the Instant Pot to release it's pressure naturally (total duration is about 1 1/2 hours). Remove the loin to a plate and pull the pork. If necessary cut the loin into chunks to ease the pulling process. Return the pulled pork to the Instant Pot. You can hold the pork until service using the Keep Warm setting.

Serve with or without rolls with the Barbecue sauce and optionally topped with Cole Slaw

Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Cornbread & Mexican Refried Bean Casserole













Bottom Layer Ingredients
1 T olive oil
1 lg bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and diced
1 lg Sweet Onion, peeled and diced
1 can vegetarian refried beans
1 t dry cilantro
1 t garlic powder
1 t ground cumin
1 c shredded cheddar cheese

Top Cornbread Ingredients
3/4 c corn flour
1 1/4 c milk

1 c flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/3 c sugar
1 egg
1/4 c vegetable oil

Instructions
Preheat oven to 375°
Grease/oil coat a 9x13 casserole dish

Heat a skillet on medium heat.
Add olive oi and coat the bottom of the skillet.
Saute the onions & peppers until the onions are translucent.
Add spices and mix well.
Add can of refried beans and blend.
Spoon hot mixture into the bottom of the 9x13 casserole and us a spoon or spatula to spread into an even layer.
Coat with an even layer of shredded cheddar.













In a small mixing bowl, add corn flour and milk. Mix well and let sit for at least 5 minutes.

In a separate larger mixing bowl, add flour, baking powder, salt and sugar and blend. Add egg and oil. Mix well. Add the corn flour & milk mixture. Mix well.

Pour batter on top of the beans and cheese in the 9x13 casserole dish. Spread the batter evenly.











Bake for 35-45 minutes until cornbread batter has set and browned a bit on top.

Serve with salsa.