Cooking
A few weeks ago, Niki of Esurientes made a gorgeous tarte tatin, playing with the recipe to give it a distinctive Middle-eastern flair.
Normally, Matt won't touch pies, especially fruit pies. But, it turns out, he really likes apple pie. So I grabbed yet another recipe from Niki's site (thanks by the way), and finally made my own version this weekend.
I didn't have time to make the Danish pastry Niki also (and generously) provided, so I used the recommended puff pastry in it's place.
Two other, no-choice, changes I made: we were out of rosewater, so I used rose syrup, although much less of it. And because we were out of pistachios, I threw in a handful of sliced almonds instead.
Thankfully, we have an apple peeler, which made the job so much easier. I also stuck with Niki's suggestion of Pink Lady apples.
I used a very large cast iron skillet, and was amazed at how simple this recipe was. It came together very quickly, although lifting the skillet took some strength!
Matt really liked it. He definitely picked up the flavors, and felt they were true to their region. I think his words were something to the effect of 'it won't become my favorite, but this is really good'. He also suggested using a real pastry next time; the puff pastry just wasn't up to par, with the rest of the dish.
But considering how easy it was, it's sure to make an appearance now and then.
Thanks, Niki!
- Mondays With Maida - Florida Lemon Squares
Page 94 in the old book / page 137 in the new book OK, these are the cookies Niki made a month or so ago and my pastry mixture did turn out crumbly, so I stand by my theory that it has something to do with the temperature of the butter. After all, it...
- Niki's Jam & Memories Of Breakfast In Vermont
A few weeks back I received a tasty little package from Niki at Esurientes - The Comfort Zone: candy (yay - I finally got a taste of Violet Crumble!), crackers, the cutest little platypus pin, a bookmark featuring a picture of Wattle (Australia's...
- Another Bang For The Buck Appetizer
(guest photographer Tim Holmes) Another simple but very popular appetizer from our party a month back, which not coincidentally affords another chance to post one of Tim's pictures. For the filling: sauté some diced fennel and onions....
- Dining With The Bloggers - September 14th.
I've been wanting to try a recipe from Niki's in quite a while. She keeps up her fantastic blog, Esurientes - The Comfort Zone - from (from me) far, far away Melbourne, Australia. Only problem - if you can call it that - was that a lot of the...
- Shf # 5: Hundreds And Hundreds Of Layers - Puff Pastry, The 2nd Edition: Apple Galette
So I'm just like WAY ahead of ya'll! Like, I kinda did my entry last Friday, m'kay? Ahem. Or maybe I was just a dofuss and got the dates mixed up and everything, so I accidently posted my entry a week too early. And I could just have taken...
Cooking
Borrowing and adapting
A few weeks ago, Niki of Esurientes made a gorgeous tarte tatin, playing with the recipe to give it a distinctive Middle-eastern flair.
Normally, Matt won't touch pies, especially fruit pies. But, it turns out, he really likes apple pie. So I grabbed yet another recipe from Niki's site (thanks by the way), and finally made my own version this weekend.
I didn't have time to make the Danish pastry Niki also (and generously) provided, so I used the recommended puff pastry in it's place.
Two other, no-choice, changes I made: we were out of rosewater, so I used rose syrup, although much less of it. And because we were out of pistachios, I threw in a handful of sliced almonds instead.
Thankfully, we have an apple peeler, which made the job so much easier. I also stuck with Niki's suggestion of Pink Lady apples.
I used a very large cast iron skillet, and was amazed at how simple this recipe was. It came together very quickly, although lifting the skillet took some strength!
Matt really liked it. He definitely picked up the flavors, and felt they were true to their region. I think his words were something to the effect of 'it won't become my favorite, but this is really good'. He also suggested using a real pastry next time; the puff pastry just wasn't up to par, with the rest of the dish.
But considering how easy it was, it's sure to make an appearance now and then.
Thanks, Niki!
- Mondays With Maida - Florida Lemon Squares
Page 94 in the old book / page 137 in the new book OK, these are the cookies Niki made a month or so ago and my pastry mixture did turn out crumbly, so I stand by my theory that it has something to do with the temperature of the butter. After all, it...
- Niki's Jam & Memories Of Breakfast In Vermont
A few weeks back I received a tasty little package from Niki at Esurientes - The Comfort Zone: candy (yay - I finally got a taste of Violet Crumble!), crackers, the cutest little platypus pin, a bookmark featuring a picture of Wattle (Australia's...
- Another Bang For The Buck Appetizer
(guest photographer Tim Holmes) Another simple but very popular appetizer from our party a month back, which not coincidentally affords another chance to post one of Tim's pictures. For the filling: sauté some diced fennel and onions....
- Dining With The Bloggers - September 14th.
I've been wanting to try a recipe from Niki's in quite a while. She keeps up her fantastic blog, Esurientes - The Comfort Zone - from (from me) far, far away Melbourne, Australia. Only problem - if you can call it that - was that a lot of the...
- Shf # 5: Hundreds And Hundreds Of Layers - Puff Pastry, The 2nd Edition: Apple Galette
So I'm just like WAY ahead of ya'll! Like, I kinda did my entry last Friday, m'kay? Ahem. Or maybe I was just a dofuss and got the dates mixed up and everything, so I accidently posted my entry a week too early. And I could just have taken...