Can't have enough lemons

I love lemons the same way others love strawberries.
I have been playing around in the kitchen today, looking at my kitchen gadgets, my pans, my tools, thinking about what I could come up for a catering job I am hoping to get. The bowl of lemons was calling my name, and I had one last sheet of pie crust in the fridge.
The tiny tarts were tart that's for sure! I might add a dollop of whipped cream next time, but since you only 2 or 3 it's not that bad.

The lemon curd was taken from Alice Medrich's Chocolate and The Art of Low Fat Desserts:
You will need:
- zest of 1/2 lemon
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 5 Tb. sugar
-1 egg
-1/2 tsp. vanilla (which I did not use)

In a medium saucepan, bring the lemon juice, zest and sugar to a simmer. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg until yolk and white are well combined. Slowly pour some of the hot lemon juice over the egg and whisk to temper, return the egg/juice mixture to the saucepan and stir constantly over low heat for 5 minutes or until thickened. Let cool and cover with plastic wrap before refrigerating.

As easy as 1-2-3 and it was enough to fill about 12 mini tarts.

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Storm Food

I know, everybody's idea of stormy weather food is different. Some stock up on canned items, others cook up everything in the fridge in case they lose power and others like me stare at their pantry long enough to come up with only one thing: chocolate brownies.
I knew Alberto was only going to bring us bad rain and some wind, but it gave some members of my gym an excuse to postpone a workout and when they do that, our gym traffic slows down and for some unknown reason it makes me crave comforting foods like baked potatoes and brownies. See! It's their fault if I am now seated and blogging munching away on those delicious bites from Martha Stewart. Guess I'll do some extra cardio tomorrow...

I did the recipe as it was written except I added 1/4 Kahlua just for some extra flavor.

Chocolate Brownies, adapted from Martha Stewart:
MAKES 8

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 ounces semisweet chocolate
1/4 cup best-quality unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
( 1/4 cup Kahlua or strong coffee)
Vegetable oil cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line an 8-inch square baking dish with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on 2 sides. Coat with cooking spray; set aside.
2. Melt together butter, chocolate, and cocoa in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Remove from heat. Stir until smooth; let cool slightly.
3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside. Put eggs, sugar, and vanilla into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat until pale, about 4 minutes. Beat in chocolate mixture. Add kahlua or coffee if using. Add flour mixture; beat until just combined, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
4. Transfer batter to prepared pan, and smooth top with an offset spatula. Bake until a cake tester inserted into brownie between edge and center comes out with a few crumbs, 30 to 35 minutes. (Do not overbake.) Let cool 15 minutes; lift out of pan, and transfer to a wire rack. Let cool completely. Cut into 8 rectangles. Brownies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

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In Time for Lime

Lime Tart and Pineapple Sorbet

Well, limes and pineapples were on sale at the store this morning so here we are, another citrus creation. The lime mixture is quite tart so eating a piece of pie with a cool spoon of pineapple sorbet mellows the whole thing and brings in a tropical flair.

For the lime pie recipe I got inspired by two favorite bloggers of mine, Cream Puffs in Venice and Cindy's Kitchen. I cheated though I did not feel like making a crust so I used store bought and pre baked it.

For the pineapple sorbet: dissolve 200 grammes of sugar in 150 ml. of water on medium high heat. Cool the syrup a bit and puree 800 grammes of pineapple along with the cooled down syrup. Put in a ice cream maker and then the freezer.

Here is my adaptation of their Lemon Tart for a Lime Tart:

Ingredients:

- your favorite tart crust, rolled and pre baked at 350 for 10 minutes

-3 eggs and 3 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 cup lime juice
- 2 tsp. lime zest
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup heavy cream.

Mix the eggs and sugar until pale. Add lime juice and zest, then the creams. Pour into pie shell and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

Testing to be held tonight.

Update: Mr.B said the tart was really puckery and he loved the sorbet to mellow it.

Note on a different topic: we headed down to Hilton Head for the day yesterday and did the Rachel Ray $4o a day thing, by having drinks at the Old Fort Pub overlooking the water. Romantic to the end...!

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WDB

Tippy, our collie mix, on a sugar crash...
My first participation to Weekend Dog Blogging over at Sweetnicks.

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Not too late for Pound Cake

OK... so I completely missed SGHF, but this is still enough summer looking to be added early June, even if it is a pound cake...triple ginger nonetheless.
Recipe coming this evening.

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The First Nectarines

Nectarine Tarte Tatin...

I get excited when I see the first stone fruits of the season: yellow and white peaches, apricots, plums, nectarines. I am always eyeing those plump juicy Georgia peaches at the market. My mom always has a big fruit bowl around for dessert and the selection is always so great, winter or summer but I especially miss the big juicy melons, "brugnons", apricots and tiny gren/yellow plums.
The other night at the store I found a bin relocated to a dark corner of the produce section full of tiny bright red and incredibly fragrant nectarines, it put a big smile on my face, made my step lighter, my mood giddy and my husband happy...he knew ther would be pie on the menu...
Everybody seemed to go for the big and daring fruits and these were completely left alone. What a shame, they were so juicy and tasty, just about the size of small plums, I claimed about 20 and ran home!

I love to eat and to make Tarte Tatin, but I rarely do it the original way, with apples. I love mango, pear, banana, plum tarte Tatin. I was perousing the latest Cooking Light that evening when I came across the recipe for Nectarine Tarte Tatin, talk about fate!
Here is the recipe, with my variation in italics.

Nectarine Tarte Tatin adapted from Cooking Light
7 medium nectarines
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons butter
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 (15-ounce) package refrigerated pie dough (such as Pillsbury) I used the other half of the Pate Sucree used the day before.

Preheat oven to 425°. I set mine for 350
Cut 1 nectarine in half. Quarter one nectarine half and the remaining 6 nectarines.
Combine sugar, water, and juice in a 12-inch stainless-steel skillet. Cook for 2 minutes or until sugar is golden (do not stir). Remove from heat; stir in butter and vanilla. Let stand 3 minutes.

Place nectarine half, cut side down, in center of sugar mixture; arrange nectarine quarters, cut side down, around center.

Return pan to medium heat. Cook for 10 minutes or until sugar mixture is bubbly (do not stir). Remove from heat; let stand 3 minutes.

Roll pie dough into a 12-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Place dough over nectarine mixture, fitting dough between nectarines and skillet. I used a nine inch cast iron skillet.

Bake at 425° for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven, and cool for 10 minutes. Carefully invert tart onto a serving plate. Cut into wedges.
I baked mine at 350 for 30 minutes.

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