Inauguration Pie

"What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task."
~President Barack Obama, January 20, 2009


The carrying on of a legacy, the ushering in of a new era....

No matter which side of the political fence you stand on, whether you agree or disagree with the proposed policies and reforms of the party now entering our capitol, whether you are excited for or disappointed in the choice of our new president, yesterday was a moment to pause and reflect, to recognize that this nation is about to embark upon a new page in history, for good or for ill. And each and every one of us can and will take part in etching the blank slate that lays before us.

How can you live as a true, loyal American citizen linking our invaluable heritage with our emerging future, preserving what is good, eradicating what is deficient?


This momentous day in history deserved a special, commemorative meal. And, although, we did not eat on fine China like those feasting at the Capitol (in fact, Styrofoam as our dishwasher was uncooperative in washing the dishes all day), our meal contained all the pomp and circumstance worthy of such an historic day.


We feasted on baked brie wrapped in phyllo and topped with cranberry sauce, a dish of maple chicken with sweet potatoes and onions, Caesar salad, and sourdough bread.


But the highlight of the evening was the star-studded Inauguration Pie. The recipe comes from the annals of Pilgrim history, straight from the cookbooks of the original citizens of this great country. It was an apple-cranberry pie with cornmeal crust.


The crust from this recipe was the best I have ever tasted in a pie. The cornmeal gave it a slightly more earthy flavor than your basic pie crust, and a delightful texture. I've been brainstorming other fillings I could use with this crust and perhaps a sable-type cookie, capitalizing on some of the flavors captured in the crust. I'll keep you updated... :-)

Apples and cranberries were a winning combination for this pie. Truly, they perform a perfect duet for any autumn or winter pie. I used American Cameos. It was my first experience with the Cameo. They were a perfect choice for pie apples. They reminded me of Galas.

Inauguration Pie
adapted from Colonial Times Apple-Cranberry Pie with Cornmeal Crust on epicurious.com

Crust:
2 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. yellow cornmeal
5 T. sugar
1 1/4 t. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 t. salt
3/4 c. plus 2 T. butter, cold
(recipe called for room-temperature shortening but I prefer real butter in my crusts)

6 T. buttermilk (roughly, I used a little more)

Mix dry ingredients together. If using butter, cut in diced butter and mix with your fingers. Add buttermilk by the tablespoonful slowly, mixing with your hands until the dough comes together. Divide dough into two discs and wrap in plastic wrap. Place in fridge for about an hour. (Can be made a day ahead.)

Filling:
1 c. fresh cranberries
2/3 c. brown sugar
2 t. pumpkin pie spice
3 - 3 1/2 lbs. apples, peeled, cored and sliced (I used American Cameos)
1/2 c. dried cranberries (or currants)
5 T. all-purpose flour

buttermilk for brushing on top of pie


Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Coarsely chop cranberries with sugar and pumpkin pie spice in a food processor. Place in large mixing bowl with apples, dried cranberries, and flour, and toss well.

Roll out one dough disc between two pieces of plastic wrap and place in the bottom of a deep pie dish. Fold extra dough under edge and crimp down. Roll out second dough disc and cut out with a 3-inch or so cookie cutter of your choice, such as a leaf, heart, or animal. I used a star cutter to keep with my patriotic theme.

Place the cut-outs around the edge and over the top, overlapping the pieces together. Brush the pastry with the buttermilk. (I wanted to place a bit of blue food coloring in some of the buttermilk to achieve a red, white and blue pie, but, alas, couldn't find any in the pantry... :-( )

Bake the pie 45 minutes. Then, cover the pie with foil and continue baking until juices are bubbling, about 35 minutes. (I missed this step as I went out for a walk which singed my crust a bit on the top... It was only in the oven a total of 65 minutes.) Cool for at least an hour.

Adorn with a scoop of ice cream when serving. (The original recipe called for rum raisin ice cream. I managed to find some by Haagen Daaz but it wasn't very popular with the family. French vanilla was the flavor of preference.)

Absence

I apologize for my long absence from the food blog-o-sphere. A horrible virus invaded my body a few weeks ago and will not surrender. I have hardly been able to stomach food, let alone create, think or write about any concoctions. I will return when my spirits and appetite have revivified....

Violent Gingerbread Men

What happens when you let little boys (and not-so-little guys) decorate the gingerbread men...

It was a bloody mess...

People were losing limbs left and right...


This, apparently, is the family afflicted by the ravages of war...


I like to keep my gingerbread men neat and tidy. :-)


Although, I have to admit...the one in the first pic losing his leg was mine. :-p

Bûche-Do-Not-Eat : Daring Bakers' Challenge

This month's challenge is brought to us by the adventurous Hilda from Saffron and Blueberry and Marion from Il en Faut Peu Pour Ettre Heureux. They have chosen a French Yule Log by Flore from Florilege Gourmand.

Intimidation hardly suffices to describe how I felt upon first glance at the recipe for my first Daring Bakers’ Challenge. Forget the fact there were six separate pieces to create -- not one of the six elements had components I ever attempted before in my life. Yes, I was intimidated; indeed, I was downright frightened by the prospect of concocting this gourmet French dessert. And having spent a bit of time in France, I knew the taste of true French entremets. Was it possible for me to truly replicate the depth of flavor of a delicious, gourmet Bûche du Noël?

I felt like a couch potato about to commence a decathlon.

The Bûche du Noël is a rich, layered frozen cake composed from bottom to top of dacquoise, ganache, crème brulée, and crisp with a mousse layered in between these elements, and, finally, adorned with a glossy icing. I chose the almond dacquoise, the dark chocolate ganache, vanilla crème brulée, the coconut/white chocolate crisp, dark chocolate mousse and dark chocolate icing to create my bûche. (Perhaps I overdid it in the dark chocolate department but I tend to prefer it to the milk and white chocolates…)

The dark chocolate mousse nearly had me pulling my hair out. I had never used gelatin in a recipe before. I had no comprehension of how this stuff works. The recipe said to soften the gelatin in a bit of water as one mixed the other ingredients together. I placed the gelatin in, I think, about 2 tablespoons of water. It turned into a harden mass of gel like those globs people put in their shoes for support. Not quite the right consistency for mixing with liquid ingredients.

The mousse also called for a pate a bombe—whipped egg yolks. The recipe said to whip them until they were nearly white, but I was extremely concerned with just how white was ‘nearly white.’ Knowing that the texture of whipped egg whites for a meringue can make or break the recipe, I was nervous that I was about to ruin my mousse with this pate a bombe I was about to drop into the mixture. Just the name of it sounds like a method of destruction; without control, the results could be disastrous.

Turns out my pate a bombe went off without a hitch. It was that finicky gelatin that was giving me all the trouble. I softened another couple packets of it in about a cup of water this time, allowing it to sit for only about 10 minutes. It easily mixed into the mousse this time around. I thought I was in the clear. But after I placed it in the fridge for a few hours while I worked on other pieces, the gelatin hardened the mousse so much it was nearly impossible to work with to fill the bûche. Grr.

The almond dacquoise nearly didn’t happen when the first store I went to offered a one pound bag of almond meal for nearly 10 dollars. No way was I going to spend that much on ground almonds! By golly, I would ground them myself rather than pay that much! Luckily, though, I found some at Trader Joe’s for only $4. That price agreed a bit more with my pocketbook. I had some trouble with my egg whites for this element and had to throw out the first batch I attempted to whip, but otherwise it wasn’t too horribly troublesome to make. My difficulty came when I attempted to remove it from the wax paper. It was very fond of adhering to it. A little nudging finally got it unstuck. It is very important to let this cool completely before trying to remove it. I believe my hastiness to pull it off was a major source of my frustration.

For the crème brulee, the recipe insisted on the necessity of a water bath for cooking the custard. But after not cooking for over an hour in the oven, I removed the water and completed the process after another hour. One of two things was the problem: the temperature of the oven called for was incorrect or the water bath hindered the cooking process, at least at that temperature.

The crisp layer called for crushed gavottes, a type of light French cookie. I was supposed to thinly spread the batter on the bottom of the pan. Again, ‘thin’ is a relative term, and I’m not sure that it was thin enough. I felt the pieces of cookie were rather thick and did not break well into pieces small enough for the crisp. It was kind of chunky and did not stick together well with the white chocolate and coconut when I tried to remove it from the wax paper to place it into the bûche. I ended up breaking pieces into the mousse instead of having a nice, single layer.

The easiest of the six elements was the dark chocolate ganache (no photo, it happened so quickly!). Unfortunately, it was the second to last element I made so I was already burned out from the other four and hesitant to finish the task. I nearly gave up on the bûche at this point but something (or someone ;-)) helped push me through to the end.

The icing was another gelatin nightmare—it hardened before I was able to spread it over the cake. I’m not sure I will ever attempt to make something with gelatin again. It does not agree with me in the least.

Overall, this project was probably the least enjoyable of all my baking experiences thus far. It was very difficult going into the project without knowledge of many of the elements involved. It certainly seemed it was going to be a Bûche-Do-Not-Eat, as Ryan so lovingly referred to it. But, I may just have to try this again some time so that I can apply all those invaluable lessons I learned from my mistakes.

The taste of the buche was overwhelming rich. It should be enjoyed in small doses, not the large American-size we are all so accustomed to. It will leave you with a tummy ache, otherwise. Give it a try...if you dare.

Pita Pizzas

Want a quick, easy, healthy way to eat pizza? Throw together a pita pizza!

My brother and I made these for dinner tonight. We used pesto sauce, a little mozarella, sundried tomatoes, fresh basil, artichoke hearts, and chopped chicken sausage. (I also added a little goat cheese to mine for an extra zing of flavor!)
All this meal takes is a package of pitas and whatever toppings your heart so desires. (I'm thinking of trying my hand at a dessert one a little later.)
This is the perfect way to serve up individualized portions to the picky eaters in your household.

Each one can be as unique as a snowflake....