Saturday, July 28, 2012

The Humble Flowers of Blueberry Hill

My house is right next to a blueberry barren and when the weather is good I wander up there and see the whole of the top of Penobscot Bay laid out before me, including Blue Hill across the bay. Commercially blueberries only fruit every second year and this is the off year so there are few blueberries to be seen but lately I've been paying attention to the tiny, quiet humble little flowers up there and today I photographed some of them as seen below - aren't they pretty - I don't even know the names of most of them - do you?

A snowflake in July? The lovely bobbing Queen Anne's Lace are here in full force - wafting  around like spinning plates by the side of the roads and highways - they have a lovely old fashioned fragrance that reminds me of Mimosa.

Is this Purple Vetch?


A glowing Black Eyed Susan

A teeny tiny daisy that grows about 3.5 feet tall and smells so deliciously of light lemon

A type of Spirea perhaps?

What are these little bell like flowers?

Good old Black Eyed Susan's against the faraway hills.

Queen Anne's lace in the making - each 'bud' has one large leaf to the side.

A real close up of the Queen Anne's Lace - again very wintery I think

I don't know which kind of flower this used to be but the basket weave  in the centre there is near perfect

And my fave - the lovely little clover - awww!!
On the way back down I did espy a few blueberries nestling in the leaves -  I think the fox, coyote, turkey and deer may get to enjoy them.
August is nearly here - what delight should I make for my next recipe - it should be something with blueberries methinks!!

Saturday, July 14, 2012

St. Leonard's Custard Pudding


Here is the first recipe from my newly acquired book “The Etiquette of English Puddings” published by Copper Beech Publishing and gifted to me by my dear friend Tabby (aka talented photographer Marcie Jan Bronstein) - St Leonard’s Custard Pudding – but isn’t it really a pie or tart – here we go again with the definition of pudding! My partner James is so confused at this point – he’s always asking "…and is THAT a pudding?” Simpler to say yes Dear it’s a pudding and anything you have for dessert in the UK is also a pudding. Ah – the vagaries of pudding…


THE RECIPE
This recipe made two pies in oval dishes 6" x 4" with a little filling to spare.
          
First make the Easy Peasy crust from Let Them Eat Cake Bakers in Belfast, Maine:

EASY PEASY SWEET TART CRUST: I made 10 miniature tarts from the recipe here:
1 1/2 cups/6ozs of unbleached white flour
1/2 cup/2ozs confectioners/icing sugar
1 stick + 1 tablespoon/ 4 1/2ozs butter VERY COLD
1 large egg yolk
a tad of milk or cream if your dough doesn't stick together
1. Sift dry ingredients together into a medium sized bowl.
2. Grate the butter into the dry ingredients and rub in until like breadcrumbs.
3. Add egg yolk and blend carefully until the dough sticks together
4. Mine didn't stick together with just the egg yolk so I added baby drop by baby drop some cream until it did start to come together...be careful once it does start to come together it does so quite quickly...don't let it get sticky!!
5. Tear off pieces of the dough and push into the pie dishes until you have somewhat evenly covered them, then bob in the fridge until you are ready to use them - always keep pie crust as cold as you can and your pie crust and your taste buds will thank you most heartily!

Turn on your oven to 325F.

For the custard:
1 rounded tablespoon of white flour
2 oz unsalted butter
10 fluid ounces whole milk
2 oz sugar
Grated zest of one lemon or a good grating of nutmeg – I like nutmeg in my custard – it’s very traditional and reminds me of the custard tarts I had with a good cuppa for elevenses (eleven o’clock break)  at art school.
3 egg yolks whisked together

For the meringue: 
3 egg whites at room temperature - it's amazing the difference in the volume and texture between eggs right out of the 'fridge and room temp eggs - on really hot days though don't leave them out too long to spoil:))
2 tablespoons icing/confectioner’s sugar.

Melt the butter in a wide pan on the stove, when it is sizzling add the flour and whisk like a madman to make sure there are no lumps then turn the heat to low – gradually add the milk and whisk constantly to get a nice smooth sauce, add the sugar and continue to cook until it thickens well then take off the stove and whisk or stir until almost completely cool. When cooler stir in the egg yolks. Set aside for a few minutes while you get the pastry cases ready.

Put a nice rounded teaspoon of jam – your choice – raspberry tends to be a big fave in England – in each pastry shell and smooth evenly over the bottom.
Now fill your cases with the lovely custard – you can go almost to the brim as this mixture does not rise in the baking.
My recipe said simply bake for one hour – with no indication of temperature so I choose 325F as I didn’t want the custard to bake too fast and get rubbery.

After about 35 minutes whisk the egg whites until somewhat stiff – then add the sugar in two goes and whisk in between until stiff. After 50 minutes check to see if the custard is setting – wobble a bit and if the middle is still a bit wobbly it’s good to now add the meringue.
Remove from the oven and dollop goodly amounts of meringue on the top – as you can see somehow my meringue was not quite right because somewhere lurking either in my bowl or on my whisk was the tiniest amount of fat and that not only stops the whites from gaining their highest volume but also makes them look curdley and not perfect – to avoid this wash all our equipment in very hot water and suds and then to go the extra mile rinse your equipment with white vinegar too. Naughty me didn’t heed my own advise BUT the meringue was still tasty if a little flat and unattractive.
Return pies to oven and allow to brown nicely – should be another 10 minutes or so.
Remove from oven and allow to cool and then if you like your custard cold like me bob them in the fridge.
These ‘puddings’ were very good and I will make them again. I don’t know why they are called St. Leonard’s Puddings – the only reference I could find mentioned the town of St. Leonard in Hasting’s Sussex but thy didn’t mention why the pudding is associated with the town.

We have had a simply gorgeous stretch of weather here in Maine - dry, hot and very Mediterranean - yesterday these lilies bloomed, aren't they lovely?


And of course today is Bastille Day in France - a country where the art of pastry making is truly an ART and celebrated as such. Vive La France!

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Happy July 4th 2012!

Hooray for the RED, WHITE and BLUE - sorry I couldn't do the white in white or you wouldn't have seen it!!

We are having lovely mild weather in Maine - cool, a bit breezy and overcast - really quite delightful. Here's hoping everyone has a fun and delicious day - what will you be eating, making or baking for your July 4th pudding??

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Silly Simple Strawberry Tarts for July 4th

Oh my goodness - these tarts are SO VERY GOOD and so ridiculously easy - to be honest one could happily forget the tart part and just eat the white chocolate cream filling with strawberries. If you go ahead and make this recipe you will think I am the bees knees for finding it in the June issue of British Country Living - the best magazine IN THE WORLD!!!

YOU DO NEED TO START THIS RECIPE THE DAY BEFORE YOU WANT TO EAT IT - because the cream needs that much time to set up and achieve it's delightfully luxurious and divine consistency - you can bake the tarts cases the day before too and keep them in an air tight container overnight!!

For the tart crust - I made baby tarts as you can see - if you want to make one tart this recipe is for a deep 8"/20cm radius tart pan - other wise this makes about 10 mini tarts - of course that depends on the size of your minis! I made mine with Pate Brisee from Martha but I made it too thick and I think the following recipe would be so much better as it is easier to make thinner and also doesn't shrink - which is important if you're using the mini cases!! It is from my friend Lindsey at Let Them Eat Cake Bakers in Belfast.

Pre-heat your oven to 325F...thank you!!

EASY PEASY SWEET TART CRUST: I made 10 miniature tarts from the recipe here:
1 1/2 cups/6ozs of unbleached white flour
1/2 cup/2ozs confectioners/icing sugar
1 stick + 1 tablespoon/ 4 1/2ozs butter VERY COLD
1 large egg yolk
a tad of milk or cream if your dough doesn't stick together

1. Sift dry ingredients together into a medium sized bowl.
2. Grate the butter into the dry ingredients and rub in until like breadcrumbs.
3. Add egg yolk and blend carefully until the dough sticks together
4. Mine didn't stick together with just the egg yolk so I added baby drop by baby drop some cream until it did start to come together...be careful once it does start to come together it does so quite quickly...don't let it get sticky!!
5.My mini tart cases are about 1 1/2" round so I rolled a ball of dough about the size of a large walnut and popped one into each case.
 This is too thick - do try to make it thinner than this, you'll thank me for it :)
Allow the tart cases to cool completely then melt some white chocolate - about 2oz - melt in a glass bowl over a pan of simmering water and be careful not to get any water in the chocolate or it will seize and that's no fun!!! Then coat the pastry cases with a nice slather of white chocolate.
With their coating of white chocolate
Now for the best part WHITE CHOCOLATE CREAM - so easy!!!

9 oz neufchatel cheese (I used this) OR cream cheese would work as well - the original recipe called for marscapone but I couldn't bring myself to spend nearly $7 on a container of it!! but if you want something really special then use the marscapone!

7oz white chocolate - luckily I can buy Callebaut callets (little dots) at the Belfast Coop for a very good price - use the best you can afford or find.

4 tablespoons heavy/double cream - you need this for the neufchatel or cream cheese but not if you use marscapone.
Also -  6 fluid ounces heavy/double cream - I really like Organic Valley Heavy Whipping Cream - really thick and delicious and whips so well - so whip it up and set aside.

Here's the hard part - put the cheese, white chocolate and small amount of cream if you are NOT using marscapone - in the top of a double boiler or in a glass bowl set over a pan of simmering water - wait until the chocolate seems completely melted - take off the heat and stir until well blended - allow to cool some and then put in the fridge covered overnight to set up perfectly!!
NOTE: If the chocolate is not completely melted before you stir - and this did happen to me - when you stir it it may get lumpy - not completely smooth - if this happens you need to let it cool quite a bit and then put in a blender and blend until completely smooth.

Day of devourment: A couple of hours before you are ready to assemble your tarts slice up the best strawberries you can avail yourself and macerate in a bowl with a few tablespoons of sugar  and set aside until needed.

Beautiful local strawberries - ahhhhh
Take your faboo white chocolate cream out of the fridge - STOP yourself from eating all of it now - dollop as much of this sublime nectar into either your mini tarts or your full size tart, smooth and cover with as many strawberries and strawberry juice as you feel necessary!!
EAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Happy July 4th everyone!!!

This post is part of the Tea Time Treats challenge hosted by Lavender and Lovage
in collaboration with What Kate Baked

Lavender and Lovage
 http://wp.me/p287Dn-566