eggs en cocotte

   New Year's Eve breakfast with Claire!  Baked eggs with toasted buttery french bread, perfect for dipping in the yolks.

Eggs En Cocotte

4 Tbs. heavy cream, divided
4 Tbs. shredded prosciutto
4 eggs
4 Tbs. goat cheese
Ground black pepper
1/4 C. chopped fresh tomato
1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme

   Heat the oven to 375 degrees.  Arrange four 4-ounce ramekins in a baking dish.  Bring a small saucepan or kettle of water to a boil.  Pour 1/2 Tbs. of cream into the bottom of each ramekin.  Sprinkle 1 Tbs. of the shredded prosciutto into each, then top with and egg.  Top each egg with 1 Tbs. of the goat cheese and another 1/2 Tbs. of the cream.  Sprinkle each lightly with pepper.  Pour enough boiling water into the baking dish around the ramekins to come halfway up the sides of the dishes, being careful not to get any in the ramekins.  Carefully move the baking dish to the oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until the whites are just set.  Remove the ramekins from the baking dish and top each with 1 Tbs. of tomato and a sprinkle of thyme.  Serve immediately.            4 servings

As Always, ENJOY!

Holiday Pies

Modern Mince Pie

Pear and Cranberry Streusel Top Pie

Malted Walnut Pie

Texas Pecan Pie

Custard Top Pumpkin Pie

Salted Caramel Apple Pie

Well as they say, better late than never.  These are my Thanksgiving pies, but they would be just as delicious served at Christmas. All the recipes are from Bon Appetit and Saveur magazine, November issues, but some very old.
The first pie is a long standing favorite in the family, especially to my mother.  It is called Modern Mince.  It  is a combination of apples, dried fruits and spices, cooked to a thick compote, and then added to the crust.
The second pie was new for us this year, it is called Pear and Cranberry Struesel Top Pie.
The Third pie is becoming one of my new personal favorites. It is called Malted Walnut Pie. It has a graham cracker crust, coated with white chocolate and then filled with toasted walnuts and a thick malty syrup.
The fourth pie is one of my brother's favorites, it is always part of the pie selections.  It is called Texas Pecan.  Bitter sweet chocolate lines the crust before you add your pecan filling.
The fifth pie was also new this year. It is called Custard Top Pumpkin Pie.  The pumpkin filling is cooked for about 20-25 min. before gently pouring over the custard topping and completing the cooking tiime.
The sixth pie is called Salted Caramel Apple Pie.  I made it for the first time last year, but wanted a second testing to see if I could get the caramel sauce filling just right.  I think the key is to drain the apples very well, even patting them with paper towels.  That way their juices when cooking do not thin the caramel sauce, Otherwise you have a runny pie.
I hope this gives all of you some holiday inspiration!
As always, ENJOY!

Wild Robiola Pizza

This pizza is my version of the Wild Robiola Pizza served at Tony's Pizzerria, 1570 Stockton St.,
San Francisco, CA.  If you have a Trader Joe's near your house, you are in luck, since all of my ingredients come from there but one.

1 package refrigerated pizza dough
quatro formaggio shredded cheese
diced pancetta
1 package shitake mushrooms
1/2 package crimini mushrooms
truffle oil (this is the item you must purchase elsewhere)
1 package wild rocket arugula
wedge of asiago cheese

Roll out dough into a large rectangle. Put on greased cookie sheet.  Sprinkle dough with half the package of quatro formaggio cheese.  Slice mushrooms and spread over cheese.  Sprinkle half the package of diced pancetta on top of the mushrooms.  Drizzle with truffle oil. Put in preheated 500 degree oven for 6-8 minutes or until edges of crust and cheese are beginning to brown.
When pizza has slightly cooled, put 3/4 of the bag of arugula on pizza, shave asiago cheese onto arugula, and cut into squares. I cut mine into 12 squares.
To serve, fold one square onto the other and eat like a sandwich.  None of your toppings will fall off that way. Of course a cold beer is wonderful with the pizza.

As always, ENOY!

Basque Cake

This is definitely not a cake for beginners to attempt, but it was well worth all the effort. The simple vanilla bean flavor, enhanced by the buttery richness, left you wanting another slice.  The crust is simply amazing (for those who are crust lovers). The thick cake batter is piped into the springform pan, followed with pastry cream and them a top layer of cake batter.  I baked this cake for 90 minutes, which helps to form the thick rich crust. Perfect with a hot cup of coffee or tea!
As always, Enjoy!

Amanda Rockman’s Basque Cake

Yield: 1 8-inch cake, serves 8-10

• 16 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature (60-65°F)
• 16 ounces granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla paste
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 13 ounces cake flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt (yes, tablespoon)
• Pastry Cream (see recipe below)

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Butter an 8-inch springform pan (it should be at least 2.5-3 inches tall), line the bottom with parchment and then butter the parchment. Flour the pan and set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl thoroughly every minute or so. Add the vanilla paste and mix to incorporate. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl and beating well after each addition. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the mixer and beat on low speed until just until combined.

Building the Cake:

Using a pastry/piping bag (or a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off) pipe an inch-thick disc of batter at the bottom of your cake pan. Then, pipe a ring of batter on top of that layer, along the inside perimeter of the pan. You are creating a small trough to hold the pastry cream. Pipe pastry cream into the space you’ve created (use as much pastry cream as you need to fill hole, it seemed like 1-1.5 cups), keeping it level with the ring of batter (see photo for illustration of this step). Pipe another disk of batter on top the whole thing, sealing the pastry cream into the cake (you might not use all of the batter, just use what you need for your pan). Use damp hands to gently smooth down the top of the batter.

Bake the cake until it is a deep golden brown and thoroughly set. This will probably take around an hour, though mine stayed in for 75 minutes or so. If the top is getting too dark, you can cover it loosely with a piece of aluminum foil. There is so much fat in this recipe, that you do not need to worry about it drying out, err on the side of a longer cooking time.

Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature.

Pastry Cream

• 4 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar, divided
• kosher salt
• 1/4 cup (60g) cornstarch
• 9 large egg yolks
• 2 oz (56g) butter- cubed
• 3 tablespoons vanilla paste

Set up a medium bowl in an ice bath, set aside. In a medium saucepan, heat the milk, 1/4 cup (50 g) of granulated sugar, and a pinch of kosher salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and remaining 1/4 cup of granulated sugar. Once the milk has come to a boil, reduce heat to low. Add the egg yolks to the sugar/cornstarch mixture and whisk thoroughly to combine. Slowly whisk some of the hot milk mixture into the egg yolks to temper them. Whisking constantly, pour the the tempered egg yolks into the hot milk mixture and cook over low heat until thickened. Remove from heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla paste. Transfer the pastry cream to ice bath and immediately press a piece of plastic wrap touching the top of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming. Allow to cool for a bit in the ice bath before transferring pastry cream to the refrigerator. You can make this in advance. This recipe makes more pastry cream than you need for the cake, you can cut the recipe in half or use the rest as you like.