Blueberry Ricotta Tart

At long last, here’s the recipe for my entry for the Brooklyn Beer Experiment.

When I decided to enter, I came up with a shortlist of things to make. My first thought was Beeramisu using a coffee porter (specifically, Sixpoint’s Gorilla Warfare, which is SO GOOD) instead of Marsala + espresso, but, unfortunately, I was too late, as the organizers of the event informed me that someone else had already entered it. (And Johnny Iuzzini, who is one of my favorite pastry chefs, deemed it the best dessert. Note to self: stop procrastinating.) I am, however, undeterred, and plan on making this at some point in the future using the original tiramisu recipe, which, as I mentioned last fall, was created in Baltimore.

My next thought was a pineapple-tripel beer sorbet, but I was afraid that it would 1) melt on the way over, and 2) probably melt while at the event because 4 hours on ice isn’t going to keep sorbet icy enough. I’m still planning on making this at some point this summer, so keep your eyes peeled for it.

I finally settled on something inspired by my blueberry-loving fiancé: the aforementioned ultra blueberry ricotta tarts.

• Lemon and wheat beer pastry crust (Sixpoint Eight Days O’ Wheat)
• Baked blueberries
• Blueberry honey-sweetened fresh ricotta
• Glaze of blueberry honey and blonde ale wort (Sixpoint Sweet Action)
• Shard of blueberry paper

Since most people don’t have access to wort, I’m leaving out the recipe for the glaze. And I’ll get to the blueberry paper recipe another day. The tart is still wonderful without these two additions.

---------------

Blueberry Ricotta Tart
(makes one 11” tart)

For the crust
1 ¼ sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter
¼ cup wheat beer
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon turbinado sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

For the filling
1 ½ cups fresh ricotta (I used homemade for the trial run but for the larger batch for the beer cook-off, I used a 50-50 mix of whole milk and part skim ricotta made by the wonderful New Haven company Calabro)
3 tablespoons blueberry honey (or any other honey)
2 eggs, separated
3 drops lemon juice
Pinch of salt
1 pint blueberries

***************

Make the crust

Cut the butter into small cubes and freeze for 10 minutes. At the same time, put the beer in a small bowl and into the freezer.

In the meantime, add the flour, sugar, and salt to a large bowl and whisk to combine.

After the butter is chilled, add it to the flour mixture. Cut the butter into the flour using either a pastry blender or your cold fingertips (dip your hands into ice water to keep them cold). Stop when the mixture resembles coarse crumbs but there are still some pea-sized chunks of butter remaining.

Add 3 tablespoons of beer and toss the mixture with a fork until it just comes together. Pick up a small handful and press it together into a clump – if it stays in a clump, you’re all set, but if it’s crumbly, add a teaspoon of beer at a time until the dough just holds together.

Divide the dough into 4 portions. For each one, place it on a lightly floured counter and smear the dough forward with the palm of your hand. Bring all four portions together and form into a disk. Wrap the disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Before rolling out the dough, let it sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes. Heat oven to 375 and set a rack in the middle of the oven.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 13-14” circle. Transfer to an 11” tart pan with a removable bottom. (My method for doing so: lightly flour the surface of the rolled-out dough. Fold the dough in half, lightly flour the top surface, and fold in half again. Pick this up, transfer it to the pan so that the point is in the center, then gently unfold the dough.) Lift the edges of the dough and let it fall into the edges of the pan, then gently press into the edges and onto the sides. Do not stretch the dough – it will shrink when you bake it. Place the crust in the freezer for at least 15 minutes.

After removing the crust from the freezer, place a large piece of foil on top of the dough and press it up the sides (make sure there is enough for an overhand). Fill the foil with rice, beans, or pie weights (I use rice and reuse it for the same purpose until it starts to get seriously burnt – I find that it holds down the crust better than larger items such as beans or pie weights and it’s pretty cheap).

Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the crust from the oven and set on a rack. Carefully remove the foil + weights. Return the crust to the oven and bake until pale golden, about 12 minutes. Let the crust cool fully before filling.


Make the filling

In a large bowl, whisk together the ricotta, honey, egg yolks, and salt. Set aside.

Add the egg whites and lemon juice to another bowl and whip until the whites hold medium peaks. Fold ½ cup of the ricotta mixture into the egg whites, then add all of the egg white mixture to the ricotta mixture and gently fold to combine.

Assemble the tart

Wash and dry the berries. Evenly distribute the berries in the crust. Pour the ricotta filling on top and evenly distribute and smooth the top with a spatula.

Bake at 375 until the top is just barely golden, 25-30 minutes.

Let the tart cool on a rack at room temperature for at least 1 hour before serving.
Continue reading "Blueberry Ricotta Tart"

tweet!

Upon the suggestion of my publicist (aka the fiance), raspberry eggplant is now on Twitter.

Click here for my twitter page - follow and you'll be updated on new blog posts, where I'm eating, what I'm cooking, and very likely some (oh who am I kidding - LOTS) of my random musings.

Continue reading "tweet!"

The Brooklyn Beer Experiment

The First Annual Brooklyn Beer Experiment, which was organized by cook-off masters Nick and Theo, was held this past Sunday at the gorgeous Bell House in, of course, Brooklyn. And, of course, I was one of the participants.


There were two contests, home brewing and a cook-off. Since I know absolutely nothing about brewing beer (I’m only good at drinking it), I decided to conjure up a sweet treat infused with beer. Before I delve into that, let me give you my little recap. (Theo’s recap is here, followed by a list of those on other blogs.)

With sore arms (from rolling out an absurd amount of pastry dough the day before), my friend N and I trekked over to The Bell House via the trusty F train carrying 400+ mini tarts and everything I needed to make my station look fab. Keep in mind I was wearing a silk dress and it was over 80 degrees outside and you will quickly realize that this was a bad idea. Thankfully we (and the tarts) made it there in one piece, albeit a few minutes late.

When we got there, almost all the competitors were there, and there were 27 of us in total. That’s not including the home brew entries, of which I believe there were 10, but don’t quote me on that..

Shortly after we got our station set up, the crowds poured in. There was already a line of people outside when I arrived at 12:15, so I can’t even imagine how much longer it was at 1 pm. Unfortunately, the throngs of people meant that I wasn’t able to leave my station, so I didn’t get to sample anyone else’s creations or beers (although I did steal a cherry beer tart from my friend Juliana, who also spent her weekend in the kitchen rolling out pastry dough – perhaps this is one of the reasons we’re friends – we like to torture ourselves). Since I didn’t sample anything, you’ll have to check out one of the other blogs for the scoop on what other people made.

So what was my entry? I had a few ideas (which I’ll get into in my next post), but I finally settled on something that was inspired by my blueberry-loving fiancé: ultra blueberry ricotta tarts. How are they ultra? Check out the components:

• Lemon and wheat beer pastry crust (Sixpoint Eight Days O’ Wheat)
• Baked blueberries
• Blueberry honey-sweetened fresh ricotta
• Glaze of blueberry honey and blonde ale wort (Sixpoint Sweet Action)
• Shard of blueberry paper

That’s a whole lotta blueberry going on there. Blueberry honey, by the way, has no blueberries in it, but is rather the honey from bees that have fed exclusively on the pollen of blueberry bushes. And wort, for those of you who are not beer aficionados, is the liquid to which the yeast is added to make beer. So it’s basically a tea of barley, malt, and hops. It was provided to me by the awesome and very kind Shane of Sixpoint Craft Ales.

Around 1:45, I saw a familiar face walking by. OK, not really familiar, more like a famous face. It was Johnny Iuzzini, the badass pastry chef at Jean-Georges. So of course I proceeded to hyperventilate. I mean, this is one of my favorite pastry chefs, so therefore I spazzed out.. Johnny Iuzzini was going to eat my measly tartlet? Breathe, Roopa, breathe. I served him a tart, and his comment (after some thoughtful chewing, during which I was freaking out internally), was “Great. Tasty.” Better than no comment, or, worse, “That sucks” so I was happy with it. He came back to all the dessert tables for seconds, at which point he inquired about the blueberry paper; I told him what it was and that, unfortunately, it had gotten soggy because it was sitting on the tart for too long. He gave me a look that said “You shouldn’t have put it on so long ago, dumbass” and I felt like just that – a dumbass. And then he walked away. Way to go, me!

Shortly thereafter, I presented my tarts to the judges, who seemed to like them, which made me feel better after the whole JI debacle (really not a debacle, I just inflated in my head to be one).

Many hours later, the votes were tallied and the contestants were called on stage. No prizes for me, either from the judges or the voting public, but none of the desserts won, so that made us all feel better, I think. (Why are people dessert haters?)

But who needs a prize? I had a ton of fun. Would I want to bake 400 mini tarts again? Probably not, but, knowing me, I totally will for the next cook-off that Nick and Theo dream up.
Continue reading "The Brooklyn Beer Experiment"

I'm Back (Sort Of) and a Market Meal

Shame on me for having been gone for so long. Life has been pretty busy, what with planning the upcoming wedding (which is exactly 100 days away - I better get cracking on the rest of my DIY projects), searching for a house, giving up on that and deciding to modify the search for an apartment to rent, embarking upon said search, and finally moving a few weekends ago (I'm back in Carroll Gardens, my favorite neighborhood in Brooklyn). Of course these are all just excuses, as my friend Meghan had a baby a month ago and is already back to blogging.

I was back in Baltimore for the long weekend and, of course, had to go to the farmer's market with Matt. We decided to go to the Hamilton Market on Saturday (instead of the JFX Market on Sunday despite the fact that I prefer the latter) and I did something which I haven't done probably since last summer, which was put together a menu based on what was at the market. My creativity was definitely stunted because it took me about 4 passes through the market to come up with a menu. I can't believe it took me so long, and I was lucky enough to nab the last of the strawberries. Had I waited any longer I would have had to go home berry-less.


I ended up saving my market purchases for Sunday, when my brother came up from DC for lunch (and also because Matt and I got home late after having made a major purchase at Best Buy...more on that in a later post).

If my camera charger weren't missing as a result of the recent move, I totally would have taken photos of Sunday's creations, but, alas, I have had no luck in finding it (which means I'm going to have to shell out money for a new one...annoying).

We started with a simple salad of spring greens and a lemon vinaigrette (which apparently was too lemony...this is what happens when you are rushing and forget to taste your vinaigrette before plating), which was boring but tasty nonetheless.

The second course was better, but maybe not, because I burned half of it. I decided to make a grilled pizza topped with grilled asparagus, caramelized Vidalia onions, and goat cheese. Here's the recipe:

Grilled Asparagus, Caramelized Onion, and Goat Cheese Pizza
makes a 16" pizza

Pizza dough (I used this recipe, which, contrary to the name, is totally NOT the best pizza dough - this is way better, but when you need your dough ready in two hours, there's really no way around it)
1 lb asparagus
1 tbls olive oil
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 medium Vidalia onions
1 tbls canola oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 oz goat cheese
2 tbls extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt
Freshly cracked black pepper

Trim the asparagus and toss with the olive oil and salt. Grill over medium heat until tender - I checked every minute or two and I think it took about 8 minutes total. (Remember: I cannot grill to save my life so grill these as you see fit).

In the meantime, add the canola oil to a large pan set over medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook until soft and golden, about 20 minutes.

OK now here is where my fear of the grill becomes very apparent: I was too scared the put the pizza dough directly on the grill so I put it on a perforated pizza pan that Matt had. This may have been my downfall but maybe not. Who knows (I certainly don't). Anyway, after you stretch out your pizza dough, top it with the remaining 2 tbls olive oil, a sprinkle of sea salt and pepper, the onions, asparagus, and chunks of goat cheese. Now you can either be intrepid and put this right on the grill, or you can be a grilling pansy like me and put it on a pan on top of the grill. I have no idea what temperature the grill was it (uh, oops?) but it should probably be very hot so that you cook the crust quickly. Alternatively you can just cook this in a very hot oven, preferably on a stone, thereby preventing excessive burning, I mean charring.


The combination of toppings was excellent - I grilled the asparagus and slowly caramelized the sliced onions over a low flame before putting them onto the pizza dough along with the goat cheese. Had I made the pizza in the oven, it would have come out wonderfully, but I am no grilling expert (I was raised vegetarian - what do I know about grilling!), so half of the pizza ended up pretty burned (or charred if you will). The other half was fine, though, so I, of course, served those to my brother and Matt and I dealt with the well done pieces, which, surprisingly, weren't all that bad. Apparently the non-burnt pieces were very good, or so I was told, but that just might be because the two people eating it were either related to me or going to be related to me within a few months' time.

The final course was a strawberry-rhubarb galette. I had actually wanted to make some sort of upside-down cake like thing, but I needed to make something without eggs, and Matt doesn't have a pie plate, so a galette it was. Besides, my brother loves fruit tarts and pies, so this was the right choice. I used my recipe for the crust and scaled it up by 50%. For the fruit filling, I sliced up a pint of strawberries and a pound of rhubarb, tossed both with about 1/3 cup of sugar (which is less than half of what most recipes call for - there is just no need for so much sugar when you're working with in-season berries, and, besides, you want some of the rhubarb's tartness to come through) and let the mixture stand for a few minutes, then tossed that with a heaping tablespoon of cornstarch. All of that went on top of the rolled-out pastry dough, the sides were folded up, and it was baked for a half hour at 400 and another half hour at 375. Brother proclaimed it "very good." I'll believe him on that one.

So, no pictures for this meal, but at least I'm back in the kitchen and attempting to be creative once again. Unfortunately wedding planning is probably going to get the best of me these next few months but I am really going to try my best to post once a week between now and then. I have some interesting and/or slightly insane baking projects lined up for the summer and I hope to be able to share those with the 5 of you who still read this blog.
Continue reading "I'm Back (Sort Of) and a Market Meal"

Mojito Cake

Here’s another one from the archives.

I made this for a co-worker’s going away party…which was before Labor Day… Anyhow, I wanted to try something new, and had seen a few recipes for mojito cakes but liked none of them. I concocted this recipe and figured that even if it didn’t come out right, there was enough mint, lime, rum, and frosting going on in this cake to conceal any minor problems.

Luckily, it came out remarkably good. I have to say that this cake is a little dense, which is not my preferred texture, but it’s still good, and everyone seemed to really like it (or so I think). I thought it could stand to use a little more mint, but I was afraid of the cake turning out tasting like mouthwash, so I erred on the side of caution. I actually only added 1/3 cup when I made the cake, so I think ½ cup, as listed in the recipe, should do the trick. The rum flavor is very subtle, but there’s enough of it in the frosting to give it a good flavor but not taste too boozy. (On a slightly related note, one of my co-workers had a rum cake at her wedding, and she brought in slices of it for us afterwards – there was so much rum in that cake that I seriously felt buzzed after eating a slice of it, and I’m no lightweight.) Overall, you can definitely taste all the flavors and it kind of is like eating a mojito. I’m not really sure how I feel about the overall concept of a cocktail-flavored cake, but if that’s your thing, then this is your cake.

And although I made this cake at the end of the summer (and meant to post it then…oops), I think it’s actually even more appropriate now – the tropical cocktail flavors can help you pretend like it’s summer (so long as you ignore the piles of dirty snow on the ground).

---------------

Mojito Cake
(makes one three-layer 9” cake)

For the cake
2 ¾ cups flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup low-fat yogurt
¼ cup dark rum
Juice of 1 lime
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
5 eggs
Zest of 2 limes
½ cup packed mint leaves, finely chopped

For the frosting
6 egg whites
1 cup sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
3 tablespoons dark rum

For assembly
1 lime, sliced into thin rounds
8-12 mint leaves
2 teaspoons turbinado sugar

***************

Make the cake
Heat oven to 350 F. Put racks in the upper and middle thirds of the oven.

Lightly butter three 9” round pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter again and dust with flour, making sure to tap out any excess flour.

In a large bowl sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk and yogurt until no lumps remain. Whisk in the rum, lime juice, and vanilla and set aside.

In a large bowl (or standing mixer), cream together the butter and two sugars until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the lime zest and mint leaves and mix until combined.

Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix on low speed until just combined. Add ½ of the milk mixture and mix until just combined. Repeat, ending with the last 1/3 of the flour mixture.

Evenly distribute the batter between the three pans. Bake until the cakes are lightly golden and a toothpick comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Make sure to rotate the pans halfway through baking to ensure that they bake evenly.

Let the cakes cool completely on a wire rack.

Make the frosting
Make a swiss meringue buttercream frosting using this method.

After all the butter is added, mix in the rum. Add 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Assemble the cake
Invert the pans, then turn the cakes right side up. Level the top of each cake using a serrated knife, then brush off any loose crumbs.

Place one layer cut side down onto a cardboard round. Spread 1 cup of frosting evenly over the surface. Place a second layer cut side down onto the frosting. Spread 1 cup of frosting over the surface. Place the third layer cut side down onto the frosting. Spread 1 cup of frosting over the top and sides of the cake, then place into the refrigerator to harden for at least 30 minutes. Spread the remaining frosting evenly onto the top and sides of cake.

Decorate the cake by arranging the lime slices and mint on top of the cake, then finish by sprinkling the sugar on top.

Continue reading "Mojito Cake"

Baked Figs with Honeyed Goat Cheese and Walnuts

Here’s another one from Thanksgiving – I know I’m totally behind, no need to remind me.

Since I’m feeling lazy (which is not really news, I’m generally fairly lazy, I don’t quite understand how I can be both lazy and hyperactive, but I am), there’s no story on this. It just sounded like a good idea at the time, and it worked out really well (phew).

---------------

Baked Figs with Honeyed Goat Cheese and Walnuts
(makes 48 pieces)

24 Black Mission figs
3 tablespoons honey, divided
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 ounces goat cheese, room temperature
4 ounces mascarpone cheese, room temperature
48 walnut halves
1 ½ teaspoons fleur de sel or coarse sea salt

***************

Place a rack in the top third of the oven and heat oven to 450. Line a baking sheet with foil and set aside.

Wash and dry the figs, then cut them in half lengthwise.

In a small bowl, whisk together 1 tablespoon of the honey with the olive oil. Brush the figs with the oil mixture, then place them cut side up on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until tender, but not too soft, about 7 minutes.

In the meantime, mix together the goat cheese, mascarpone cheese, and remaining 2 tablespoons honey.

Transfer the baked figs to a serving dish. Top each fig half with a teaspoon of the cheese mixture and a walnut half. After all the figs have been assembled, and immediately before serving, sprinkle them with the salt. Continue reading "Baked Figs with Honeyed Goat Cheese and Walnuts"