This is What Happened to the Other Half of the Pie Dough

It was rolled out and filled with a pint of fresh blueberries. They were mixed with just the right amounts of sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon. The dough was folded up and around, covering some berries, while leaving others exposed to be dotted with small pieces of butter. A light sprinkling of sugar rained down, and in the oven it went. After being baked golden, in a 33 cent pie tin, it was served with vanilla ice cream and my family. It was almost transferred to a pretty plate to be photographed, but that just didn’t seem right. Enjoy!

Pauline’s Key Lime Pie – Pre-op Pastry with my first Guest Star Chef

As I mentioned yesterday, today’s clip features my Mom making a light and delicious Key Lime Pie. I joked in the post that it’s an old family tradition to make pie before going to the hospital for surgery, well, to be honest it’s not really an old tradition, she just wanted to make pie. Besides it beats sitting around worrying about getting a new shoulder! This is a longer clip than I normally do, and I may eventually split the demo into 2 recipes; one for her flaky pie crust, and another for the filling and finished pie. But for now you get the complete Director's Cut.

I’ve gotten many emails about how to make a nice pie or tart crust and I’ve always answered them with “sorry, that not really my thing.” Well, you are all in luck. My Mother, and Aunt Angela, are known around these parts for their great pies, and make an incredibly flaky, and easy, pie dough. Many Chefs will tell you to let the dough rest in the fridge so that the flour can hydrate, and the crust will be even flakier. When I asked my mother if she was going to let hers rest, she said “No, I learned this dough recipe a long time ago and I’m not going to change it.” So that was that.

If you don’t want to add food coloring to give yours that lovely lime color, then don’t. But, these days food colorings are made from vegetable dyes and are completely harmless. You decide, but I don’t want a yellow Key Lime Pie. And while we’re faking things, regular limes are fine if you can’t get Key limes. Enjoy!



Crust: (enough for 2 pies, or one with bottom and top crust)
1 tsp salt
2 cups flour
3/4 cup shortening
5-6 tbl ice water

Filling:
3 large eggs
3 large juicy limes (1/2 cup of juice)
1 can (14oz) Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 drop green food coloring
lime zest for garnish
whipped cream to top

Mascarpone Brulee with Fresh Berries – How did he do that?

What is the ultimate experience for a foodie? Making something that your other foodie friends can’t figure out how you did! They won’t be able to figure out how you “browned” the mini Mascarpone cheesecakes, without it melting into a puddle on the shortcake. I’ll explain further during the clip. This simple summer dessert is inspired by three of my favorite desserts…Crème Brulee, Cheesecake, and Strawberry Shortcake. It’s also the perfect excuse to go out and finally get one of those cool culinary blow-torches!

Since the weather is warming up, two things come to mind; what am I going to make with all those sweet berries, and how can I avoid turning on my oven. This dessert is so fast and easy, and looks “cooked” since we are going to “Brulee,” or caramelize, some sugar on top of the Mascarpone. I’m not a big dessert person, but this is my idea of the perfect finish to that early summer dinner. If you can’t find fresh berries, those mixed frozen berries will fill in nicely. Enjoy!

Important Note: one tip I forgot to mention in the clip. It will help if you refrigerate the Mascarpone-topped shortbreads for 15-30 minutes before you burn the sugar on the top. If the cheese is too soft, it may begin to melt as you Brulee the sugar.



Ingredients:
1 pint strawberries
1/2 pint blackberry (or any fresh berry)
1/3 cup sugar
juice of half orange
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8 oz Mascarpone (Italian cream cheese) or regular cream cheese
1 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp sugar
few drops of vanilla
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2 shortcakes or plain scones, halved
sugar to Brulee top

Savory Chocolate Crustini with Maldon Sea Salt Crystals

This short and simple clip may seem a bit strange. The thought of topping a warm, olive oil soaked Crustini with chocolate and sea salt does take an open mind to contemplate. The first time I came across this combo, I too was understandable skeptical, but one bite and I was convinced. It worked. Not only did it work, it rocked!

The blending of the fruity/peppery olive oil, bittersweet dark chocolate, the warm crispy-edged bread, and the tiny crunch of briny sea salt crystals is quite the epicurean experience.

Most good cooks know that a pinch of salt in a dessert recipe is a must to bring out the sweetness of whatever you’re making. So topping the chocolate with flakes of the Maldon sea salt is really not that crazy. I guess it’s the fact that it’s served on top of warm Crustini that makes it seem so unusual.

To me this is a savory recipe, not a dessert. I think these are perfect with a nice glass of red wine or port. It would make for a very unique passed Hors D’ouvre. This is not a sweet bite if you use the bittersweet chocolate I suggest. You could use semi-sweet, but then I think you just crossed the savory-sweet border and now definitely have a dessert item. Anyway, it’s the season of faith, so have some, and give this a try!

By the way, this was NOT inspired by a certain animated TV Chef from South Park, Colorado! If it was, I would have called it, “Chef’s Salty Chocolate Crustini.” I almost provided a link to the song, but discretion prevailed (and hey, you can always google it). Apologies to all of you that are not South Park fans and have no idea what I’m talking about.





Ingredients:
Sliced baguette
bittersweet chocolate
olive oil
Maldon sea salt crystals, or other flaky type sea salt

Chocolate Lava Cake – Is this the World’s most delicious mistake?

Legend has it that this dessert was the result of a major catering disaster. The dessert for this particular event was to be individual chocolate cakes, but someone took them out of the ovens to soon and the centers where not cooked enough and still liquefied. Well, there was no time to take them off the plates and cook them more, so the Chef simply had his wait staff introduce the dessert as Chocolate “Lava” Cake! Brilliant! Now, whether this is true or not, I don’t know for sure, but it totally sounds like something a Chef would do. If you have a better story email it to me and I’ll start using it.

Regardless of how it was born, it sure is good. I used very dark chocolate, but you can use semi-sweet or milk chocolate if you prefer. If you’ve watch my clips regularly you know I’m not big on measuring ingredients, BUT when you’re doing baked desserts you really do need to be accurate. So measure carefully. By the way, this was a view request and the photo he sent me (pictured above with the fruit) had no copyright info with it. I did use it in the clip and hopefully no one gets too upset. If you did happen to take this photo, and are upset I’m using it without permission, please email me and I will credit you. Enjoy!

Ingredients
2 extra large eggs
1 extra large egg yolk
5 tbl butter
3 tbl sugar
3.5 oz. dark chocolate (this is one standard chocolate bar)
3 tbl flour
2 tsp cocoa powder
*Bake at 425 F, in water bath for 15 mins.

Pumpkin Brulee

This is a great seasonal twist on the restaurant classic, and also a really great reason to use a blow torch! We recently had a request for a pumpkin flan. While we love to satisfy our viewers every culinary whim, sometimes we just can’t do it. The problem with a pumpkin flan is that the starchy, slightly grainy texture of the pumpkin puree would ruin the smooth, silky mouth-feel which is what makes a flan, a flan. You would basically be left with a crust-less pumpkin pie.

So, I decided to show this delicious Pumpkin Brulee whichs makes for a great winter dessert. The texture is actually closer to a pudding than a classic crème Brulee, and of course, the star of the dish is the crisp, “Brulee,” sugar top. This is great for your busy holiday schedule since you can make them the day before and then finish the sugar torching before you serve.

Crème Brulee blow torches are very easy to find in any kitchen store or online. You also should have a set of oven-proof ramekins . I use mine for many recipes, both hot and cold.

Ingredients:
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 egg yolks
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cinnamon
white sugar
pinch salt