Raspberry Almond Truffle Tart
Ingredients & Directions 1/3 c (1 1/2 ounces) blanched Slivered almonds 1/4 c Sugar 1/4 ts Vanilla 1/8 ts Almond extract 1 c Less 2 tablespoons All-purpose flour Scant 1/4 teaspoon salt 6 1/2 tb Cold unsalted butter 2 1/2 ts Water Filling and Finish: 1 1/2 c Red current jelly 2 ts Sugar 2/3 c Heavy cream 6 oz Good quality bittersweet or Semisweet chocolate, Chopped 2 tb Unsalted butter 2 ct Fresh red raspberries Bittersweet chocolate Shavings Powdered sugar for dusting Special equipment: Food Processor 9 Inch fluted tart pan with Removable bottom Prepare the crust: In processor bowl, combine almonds, sugar, vanilla and almond extracts. Proceed until very fine. Add the flour and salt; pulse unit well mixed. Cut butter into 10 to 12 pieces and distribute over flour mixture. Process until mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle in water and pulse until mixture starts to form a dough. Turn out onto a sheet of plastic wrap and push together into a flat patty. Refrigerate 30 minutes or until firm enough to roll. Roll dough, between two pieces of plastic wrap, into a circle about 11 inches in diameter and 1/8-inch thick. Peel off top sheet of plastic. Use bottom sheet to lift pastry and invert it into tart pan. Line pan as much as possible using the plastic still attached to pastry, as an aid, easing dough into corners without stretching. Peel plastic from dough. If dough is too soft and plastic won’t peel, place in freezer of refrigerator for a few minutes before peeling. Pinch dough off at upper rim of pan. Patch the dough as needed with pinched off bits of dough. Reinforce sides, strengthen corners and neaten up rim of crust, making everything as even as possible. Chill at least one hour. Position rack in lower third of oven; preheat to 400 degrees. Prick bottom of pastry shell all over with a fork. Bake 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown Check after 6 to 8 minutes; if bottom has puffed up, prick again with a fork or skewer to deflate. While still hot, press the bottom of the pan gently just enough to release the edges of the crust from the pan. Leave crust in pan. Cool on a rack. Cool completely before filling. Make the filling: Simmer jelly with sugar 2 to 3 minutes until thickened. Brush bottom of cooled pastry shell with just enough hot jelly to coat thinly, reserving the rest. In a small saucepan, bring cream to a simmer. Place chopped chocolate and butter, cut into small pieces, in a medium sized bowl. Pour hot cream over chocolate. Let stand one minute. Stir gently without whisking or beating until chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Do not reheat; if chocolate is not completely melted, set the mixture aside for a few minutes then stir again. Pour mixture into tart shell. Refrigerate until firm. Arrange berries over chocolate, starting around the edge and working toward the center, leaving a tiny bit of space between each berry so that some chocolate is visible. Reheat the red currant jelly and dab each berry lightly to give it a little shine–do not overdo–no need to use up all of the jelly. Remove tart rim and place tart on serving dish. Decorate the edge or center of the tart with chocolate shavings. Refrigerate tart until 30-60 minutes before serving. To serve, us a very fine sieve or tea strainer to dust powdered sugar over berries and shavings, like a very light snowfall. To make chocolate shavings: Scrape a sharp knife blade across the flat side of a bar of bittersweet chocolate. The shavings will be very fine and very fragile; do not touch them with your fingers or they will melt! Transfer shavings on the knife blade. CHEF DU JOUR ALICE MEDRICH SHOW #DJ9153 Crust: Yields 4 servings
Highlander Jaffa Cookies
Ingredients & Directions 250 g Butter; softened 1/2 c Sugar 1/4 c HIGHLANDER Sweetened -Condensed Milk 2 ts Finely grated orange rind 1 3/4 c Flour 1/4 c NESTLE Baking Cocoa 1/2 ts Cinnamon 1 ts Baking powder Preheat the oven to 190 C. Cream the butter in a medium bowl. Gradually beat in the sugar, condensed milk and orange rind. Continue to beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Sift the flour, cocoa, cinnamon and baking powder together and stir into the creamed mixture. Mix thoroughly. Roll into balls 3-4 cm in diameter and place on a lightly greased oven tray. Press the cookies down with a fork. Bake in the preheated oven for 14-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of one cookie comes out clean. Yields 1 servings
Elizabethan Orange Tart
Ingredients & Directions 1 10″ shortcrust pastry case* 2 Thin-skinned oranges Honey and sugar Stick cinnamon Ground cinnamon Allspice 1/4 pt Double cream 1/4 lb Fromage blanc (or see note) 2 tb Ground almonds *Note: Shortcrust pastry case should be thoroughly blind-baked. Low-fat soft cheese may be substituted for fromage blanc. Measure 2 tablespoons sugar into a bowl and stir in 4 tablespoons boiling water. Add a cinnamon stick and 1/4 pint cold water. Scrub the oranges, flute the peel lightly with a citrus zester and slice the fruit thinly, discarding the ends. Remove pips (seeds), put the orange slices into the sweetened water and leave to soak overnight. Next day, turn the oranges and their liquid into a saucepan. Cover and cook very gently for about 30 minutes. Carefully turn the slices once they cook. Lift the cooked orange slices from the pan one at a time, shaking to let the syrup drip back into the pan, and put them on a rack to drain and become cold. Remove the cinnamon stick, then boil the syrup until reduced to a few sticky spoonfuls. Cool slightly then stir in the 1 tablespoon honey. Assemble the tart just before serving. First sprinkle the ground almonds over the base of the cold pastry shell. Sweeten and flavour the soft cheese by stirring into it 1 teaspoon or so of honey and a little each of ground cinnamon and allspice. Whip the cream, fold in the sweetened and flavoured cheese, then spoon this mixture into the pastry shell. Arrange the orange slices on top, overlapping them slightly in decorative circles, and glaze with the gently re-warmed syrup. From Yields 8 Servings
King Arthur Flour's Hearth Bread
Ingredients & Directions 1 tb Yeast; (1 packet) 1 tb Sugar 1 tb Salt 2 c Warm water; (not over 110?f) 5 1/2 c King arthur unbleached -all-purpose flour; up to 6 Cornmeal Boiling water Mix It Mix together the first four ingredients. Let this stand until the yeast, sugar and salt are dissolved. Gradually add the flour to the liquid and mix thoroughly until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface to knead. (This may be a little messy, but don’t give up!) Knead It Fold the far edge of the dough back over on itself towards you. Press into the dough with the heels of your hands and push away. After each push, rotate the dough 90?. Repeat this process in a rhythmic, rocking motion for 5 minutes sprinkling only enough flour on your kneading surface to prevent sticking. Let the dough rest while you scrape out and grease the mixing bowl. Knead the dough again for 2 to 3 minutes. (Until the original mess is bouncy and smooth!) Let It Rise Return the dough to the bowl and turn it over once to grease the top. Cover with a damp towel and keep warm until the dough doubles in bulk, about 1 to 2 hours. Shape It Punch down the dough with your fist and briefly knead out any air bubbles. Cut the dough in half and shape into two Italian or French style loaves. Place the loaves on a cookie sheet generously sprinkled with cornmeal. Let the loaves rest for 5 minutes. Bake It Lightly slash the tops of the loaves 3 or more times diagonally and brush them with cold water. Place on rack in a cold oven with a roasting pan full of boiling water on the oven bottom. Bake at 400?F for 35 to 45 minutes until the crust is golden brown and sounds hollow to the touch. For a lighter, crustier bread, let your shaped loaves rise for 45 minutes. Preheat the oven and roasting pan with water to 500?F for 15 minutes. Brush the loaves with cold water, place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Lower the temperature to 400?F and bake for 10 more minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool and devour! For a heartier, more nutritious bread, substitute 2 cups of King Arthur Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour for 2 cups of King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour NOTE: This recipe, also known as “The Easiest Loaf of Bread You’ll Ever Bake”, appears on the back of some of the King Arthur Flour bags. MC formatted by Martha Hicks using Buster 3/98 Yields 1 Servings
Old-world Fruit Cake
Ingredients & Directions –CAKE– 1 c Flour, all-purpose 1/2 ts Salt 1/4 ts Baking soda 1/4 ts Baking powder 1/2 ts Allspice 1/2 ts Cinnamon 1/2 ts Cloves 1/2 ts Mace 1/2 ts Nutmeg 1/2 c Butter, melted 2 Eggs 3/4 c Coffee (black), cold 1/2 c Brown sugar 1 c Raisins 1 c Fruit, mixed 1 c Dates 1/4 c Rum or brandy -GLAZE- 4 tb Butter 1/2 c Rum or brandy 1/2 c Sugar Mix the melted butter, eggs, rum and coffee together. Add brown sugar and mix well. Add rest of dry ingredients and place in a buttered loaf pan. Bake at 300 degrees F. for 2 hours or until done (it will separate from the sides of the pan). Make glaze when almost completely baked: Melt (do not boil) butter. Add rum and sugar. Stir by hand. Remove the cake from the oven and pour half of the glaze over it. Let it cool 25 minutes, then turn it over and pour the remaining glaze on the other side. NOTES: * A traditional European-style fruit cake — Although fruitcakes have a bad reputation, this one is *excellent*. My mother has been making it for years. She originally got the recipe from a friend, but has since adapted it to suit her fans. (She gets requests for it all year long.) * Don’t use glass pans. This freezes well, if you make more than you can eat; just be sure to wrap it carefully so it doesn’t get freezer burn. Warm frozen cake in the oven, not the microwave. : Difficulty: easy to moderate. : Time: 15 minutes preparation, 2 hours baking, 30 minutes finishing. : Precision: measure the ingredients. : Seema Chandnani : University of Chicago Computation Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA : snix@sphinx.uchicago.edu : Yields 1 Cake
Apple-raisin Cookies
Ingredients & Directions 1/2 c Butter Or Margarine;Softened 1 c Brown Sugar; Packed 2 Eggs; Large 1/4 c Milk 2 c Flour; Unbleached 1 ts Baking Powder 1 ts Cinnamon; Ground 1/2 ts Salt 1/2 ts Nutmeg; Ground 1/4 ts Cloves; Ground 2 Apples; Medium * 1 c Raisins 1/2 c Walnuts; Chopped * Apples should be cored, peeled and chopped. There should be 1 1/2 Cups. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and milk; beat well. Stir together flour and next 5 ingredients; stir into creamed mixture. Stir in apples, rasins, and nuts. Drop form tablespoon on well greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degress F. for 12 to 14 minutes. Immediately remove cookies to rack. Makes 4 1/2 dozen. From Better Homes & Garden’s Homemade Cookies Cookbook, via The Home BBS. File ftp://ftp.idiscover.co.uk/pub/food/mealmaster/recipes/travel.zip Yields 8 Servings
Poori (deep-fried, Puffy Bread)
Ingredients & Directions 1 c Sifted whole-wheat flour -(sift to take out some of -the larger bran bits) 1 c All-purpose flour 1/2 ts Salt 2 tb Vegetable oil + more for -deep-frying 1/2 c Water Put the 2 flours and salt in a bowl. Drizzle the 2 tablespoons oil over the top. Rub the oil in with your fingers so the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Slowly add the water to form a stiff ball of dough. Empty the ball on to a clean work surface. Knead it for 10-12 minutes or until it is smooth. Form a ball. Rub about 1/4 teaspoon oil on the ball and slip it into a plastic bag. Set it aside for 30 minutes. Knead the dough again, and divide it into 12 equal balls. Keep 11 of them covered while you work with the twelfth. Flatten this ball and roll it out into a 5-5 1/2″ round. If you have the space, roll out all the porris and keep them in a single layer, covered with plastic wrap. Over a medium flame, set about 1″ of oil to heat in a small, deep frying pan (I used my wok). Let it get very, very hot. Meanwhile, line a platter with paper towels. Lift up one poori and lay it carefully over the surface of the hot oil. It might sink to the bottom but it should rise in seconds and begin to sizzle. Using the back of a slotted spoon, push the poori gently into the oil with tiny, swift strokes. Within seconds, the poori will puff up. Turn it over and cook the second side for about 10 seconds. Remove it with a slotted spoon and put it on the platter. Make all the pooris this way. The first layer on the platter may be covered with a layer of paper towls. More pooris can then be spread over the top. Serve the pooris hot (immediately). NOTES : From Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cooking Yields 12 Servings
