summertime, and the eating is easy

Alright, I said I would move on to marshmallowy goodness next but I just had to post this recipe quickly.

Mission: create a dinner that feels like summer. This is what Torren asked me to concoct as a theme for his birthday dinner. I have been processing this for about a month now (it was too busy to make the dinner on the actual day so the poor dude has been waiting for a little while) and I am pretty happy with what I came up with. Of course, there are lots of tastes of summer and many that I had been considering are going to be on display for Tessellation's graduation party next weekend so I decided to move on from the watermelon mint salad, mozzarella spinach pasta salad and grilled hunk of meat that I had been thinking of. Instead, I opted for an spinach salad with carrot orange and sesame that is featured in next month's Cook's Illustrated, a potato salad with dill from Kraft and a tomato tart from Relish. I am pairing all of this with beer, Torren's latest hobby and passion. Well, it's actually been ongoing considering the investments we have made in various brewing paraphernalia a the special fridge for his personal keg. It could be worse, we could still be trying to breed corn snakes...

Back to the beer. I was lured in to some great summer flavors at Julio's, considered the best beer selection in MA and maybe even New England with over a thousand options. Summer beers are often citrus and fruit-flavored which is probably why I love them so. Contrastingly, I can always have a deep stout or caramel porter, too. So I honed in on the Dogfish Head Festina Peche (peaches and nectarines being a weak spot for me), the Dogfish Head Black & Blue, made with blackberries and blueberries and lastly, a MA microbrew and personal fave of mine Pretty Things Baby Tree. Now you know why I like it. A brewery called Pretty Things?! A beer called BABY TREE?!! The label features hand-drawn little lambs frolicking under a tree. All of their labels are rendered with whimsy, I'm such a sucker for things like that. Anyway, the beer is made with dried plums (better known as PRUNES but that probably doesn't sound as appealing. Whatever, it tastes glorious).

Of course, what would a dinner be without dessert? Torren loves these Key Lime Tartlets I had included in this year's Christmas cookie tray so I decided to make them again but with an Oreo crust rather than the traditional graham cracker. It was his dinner, after all. The one thing I must stress with these is that you have to thoroughly grease your mini cupcake/tart pan inside and on the edges. Or, use mini muffin papers. I did not do either and thus the edges are a little ragged. Impatience is a bit of a problem of mine.

I had to show a picture of my snazzy pea pod tray from the parentals.  This thing is fantastical; it can freeze and bake and just look pretty on my kitchen shelf.

Key Lime Tartlets

Yield: 24

INGREDIENTS
crust
2 C Oreo crumbs (1 bag of mini Oreos, crushed) or 2 C graham cracker crumbs (18 graham cracker sheets -> 2 packages, crushed)
1/2 C unsalted butter, melted knock some of the calories off by using light butter
1/4 C + 1 T all-purpose flour

key lime filling
1 can sweetened condensed milk I use fat free
2/3 C fresh lime juice 5 limes worth if using the real thing
1/4-1/2 t grated lime zest
1 t pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Heavily grease or line mini tart pan/ mini cupcake pan.
crust
1. In a medium bowl, mix melted butter, Oreo crumbs and flour thoroughly until a dough is formed, pulling away from the sides.
2. Separate dough into 24 balls and distribute into tarlet pan. Using a tart tamper (random tool my Grandma Patty gave me, it works well for these situations!), spoon or your fingers, press dough up sides of each tart space.
3. Bake crust for 8-10 min.

filling
1. After the crusts have baked, increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, whisk together sweetened condensed milk, lime juice, lime zest, vanilla and egg.
2. Pour filling into the crusts. There may be a little left over depending on how full you want your tarlets to be.
3. Bake for 15 minutes or until just set. Let cool for at least 45 minutes before serving and removing from pan. Garnish with white chocolate or coconut if you desire. Refrigerate or freeze.

Nutrition: 125 cal, 4.5g fat, 120mg sod, 20g carb, 15g sugar, .5g fiber, 2.5g protein

last call for deep, dark chocolate

We are not quite in the season where it is too warm to stomach rich desserts and all you want to do is grab that blue freeze pop from a nearby child's hand and suck it down for yourself.  There is still room for dense shortbread, caramel, chocolate and playing nice with toddlers.  When my Aunt Potty (please don't question the nicknames in this family) put in a request for "something chocolate" way back at Easter I knew I needed something that would satisfy after the already filling dinner but not loom overwhelmingly large like a cake.  I was tired of cute and had already distributed my Cottontails anyway.  I went to my unassuming and refined baking pan: the tart.

Chocolate Caramel Tart

from Saveur
Yield: 8-12 servings (depending on your appetite, this thing is rich!)

INGREDIENTS
crust
1 1⁄2 C all-purpose flour
1⁄4 C plus 1 T dutch-process unsweetened
cocoa powder (if you don't live near the beloved Wegmans, Whole Foods or a cute little one-off market like we have, I would suggest Ghirardelli Unsweetened Cocoa)
1⁄4 tsp kosher salt
10 T unsalted butter, cubed and softened
1⁄2 C plus 2 T confectioners' sugar
2 egg yolks, preferably at room temperature
1⁄2 tsp vanilla extract

caramel
1 1⁄2 C sugar
3 T light corn syrup
1⁄4 tsp kosher salt
6 T water
6 T unsalted butter
6 T heavy cream
1 T crème fraîche (oh my lord, same as the cocoa, just use sour cream, it will be FINE)

ganache
1⁄2 C heavy cream
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
Gray sea salt for garnish (or in my case, chocolate-covered strawberries, the kids I know aren't really into grey sea salt, wonder why?)

DIRECTIONS
crust 
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. Combine flour, cocoa powder, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
2. Using a handheld mixer, cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl until mixture is pale and fluffy; mix in yolks and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients.
3. Transfer dough to a 9" fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and press dough evenly into bottom and sides of pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Prick the tart shell all over with a fork and bake until cooked through, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool.

caramel
1. In a 1-qt. saucepan, whisk together sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 6 T water and bring to a boil.
2. Cook, gently swirling the pan occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and start to turn color. Increase the heat to high and boil until the syrup turns a deep amber color, 4 to 5 minutes. Watch carefully, as it can burn quickly.
3. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and while wearing oven mitts CAREFULLY whisk in butter, cream, and crème fraîche (the mixture will bubble up) until smooth.  Remove pan from heat a Pour caramel into cooled tart shell and let cool slightly; refrigerate until firm, 4–5 hours.

ganache
1. Bring cream to a boil in a 1-qt. saucepan over medium heat.
2. Put chocolate into a medium bowl and pour in hot cream; let sit for 1 minute, then stir slowly with a rubber spatula until smooth.
3. Pour ganache evenly over tart and refrigerate until set, 4–5 hours. Sprinkle tart with sea salt (or dip those delish strawberries in some extra ganache!), slice, and serve chilled.

SERVES 8-12

Nutrition (based on 1/12 of tart): 426cal, 26g fat, 136mg sod, 51g carb, 35g sugar, 1g fiber, 3g protein