Fare for the family table
I had never heard of posset before until my friend and co-worker Annie Petito developed this recipe last year for Cook’s Illustrated. It’s dead simple to make, and quickly became one of my all-time favorite recipes from the test kitchen. You can enjoy it anytime, but I find it particularly welcome this time of year as it’s light, lemony essence just seems to shout SPRINGTIME!
This little creation of mine was published in the January-February Cook’s Illustrated Magazine, and marks the first “sweet” dish that I’ve developed since working there.
I first encountered Gateau Breton (Brittany Cake) years ago when living in France, and was smitten from my first bite. It’s a simple yet pretty cake, rich in butter, and with a texture that lies somewhere between shortbread and a poundcake. As the name implies, it hails from the Brittany region of France, which occupies the far western edge of the country abutting the Atlantic Ocean. It is here, along the Guérande Peninsula, that Bretons produce the famed sea salt, Sel de Guérande.
As much as I love a good pumpkin pie, when my wife requested a “pumpkin dessert” to serve at a dinner party we had last weekend, I found myself fishing about for something that was a twist on the traditional. I found this deeply flavorful and quite beautiful tart in Bon Appetit’s November 2015 issue, and just from the picture in the magazine knew we were in for a treat. The secret to this little number is the caramel you make as part of the filling. It adds such a great depth and complexity to the confection, that I’m quite certain my next slice of standard issue pumpkin pie will taste meh by comparison. As always when making caramel, taking care to let it cook until its the color of an Irish Setter dog and is just whisping smoke, will be the difference between a good and GREAT result. Pulling the caramel from the heat while still too pale will produce a filling with much less depth of flavor. Trust me on this. Take it a little further than feels totally comfortable, and you’ll be amply rewarded with a richly flavored result.
I’ve had a lot of time to catch up on food magazine reading over the past few weeks as the Northeast has been pounded with FOUR significant snowstorms that have kept us all locked up and out of harm’s way. As luck would have it I had all of the ingredients for this special treat on-hand during the first of these big snow events, which was a blizzard that dropped 31″ of snow on us, and required that we stay put for 3 days until a plow could finally reach us and clear the drive.
Now that most people’s New Year’s resolutions about eating healthier and shelling out for a gym membership have been summarily dismissed, how about we get back to some fun, sugar and fat fueled cooking. I made this little number as a dessert over the holidays – just about mid-binge – and it was a solid hit with everyone at the table. The meal we had just enjoyed was similarly rich (in good holiday form) so I was a little concerned that talk of dessert would be met with moans and pleading from the table that no one could stand to eat another bite.
This past week I committed the cardinal sin of food shopping, the very thing I urge all of my "Cooking Matters" students to avoid.
I went shopping while hungry. Starving actually, if I'm to be totally honest with you all.
While racing from point A to point B last Thursday, I zipped into my farmer's market (with my stomach at full growl) to grab some fresh produce to tide me over for a few days. A sample of a fresh from the tree local peach sent me into full craving mode and rather than buy a single 3 pound box for eating fresh, I decided to pick up two. Like I said, NEVER shop hungry!
These little darlings were inspired by a post I saw on Deb Perelman's awesome blog, Smitten Kitchen. The technique I employed is basically the same as hers, but I added a few extra steps by making my own ice cream, then not able to leave well enough alone, a batch of pressure cooker dulce de leche to kick these babies into the stratosphere.
Please don't click past this recipe because of it's less than appealing name….you'll be VERY sorry if you do, I can promise you that. These delightful little nuggets are from the Bantam Bread Bakery in Bantam, CT and come to us courtesy of the R.S.V.P. feature in the May 2014 issue of Bon Appetit magazine. R.S.V.P is where reader's write in to request that the magazine ferret out the recipes from their favorite restaurant meals.
I can't believe I'm about to say this, but there is just too much good food in the world.
Every day I seem to add to my list of recipes to try – some pulled from magazines, others clipped from favorite websites. There are some recipes that I've had in my "to cook" queue for years now and I am starting to wonder "will I ever get to them?"
Desserts don't get much easier or more rewarding than this one. With hardly any work at all and just a few ingredients you can have this restaurant quality treat on your table tonight. Hands-on time to craft this dynamite pudding is no more than 15-20 minutes, though you do need to plan for cooling-in-the-fridge time to set the panna cotta before serving. Two hours is probably enough.