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pomegranate

Pistachio – Cumin Crusted Rack of Lamb & A Roasted Cauliflower – Hazelnut Salad

Cauliflower Salad

I have had the images for this post up and ready for words for about a week now. It’s not that I can’t find the words to go along. It’s just that I am ever near long enough the computer to sit down and write.

We had such a great time at the beach with my parents, my brother and his family that diving right back into work mode was a blessing and a curse at the same time. It’s been busy around here but having my parents stay with me here in Birmingham for a couple of weeks shifted the rhythm even further.

It’s good. It’s all good. It’s actually awesome to have them around and see the new house, the new job, the new town. They really get a handle on my new situation and all the questions they had are being answered. My photo schedule, the way we do things, the people I work with, the places I like to go to for dinner, a drink or to shop. Things are about as new to them as they are to me and we share discoveries and new finds everyday.

Radish Sprouts

It’s really nice to come home after a long day and start cooking with my mom. Chopping, dicing, searing, etc… while sipping a glass of wine and watching the end of an old movie or listening to the radio. We have more quiet time for serious talks, or to simply catch up on news about the family at large.

It’s been raining lots lately and we have been enjoying a few comforting and hearty meals. The kind to make you feel instantly better and warm inside after being caught by a heavy rain.

Stews, fish soups, long cooked dishes, and roasted veggie soups have permeated the air around for days now, filling me with a bit of nostalgia. The flavors and spices of my grandmother's stews and roasts come into to our conversation almost at every meal. Her cooking while being so intricately French provincial was so influenced by her life in Northern Africa and encounters with other army wives.

Roasted Garlic

It might be for this reason that I have absolutely loved every page turned in the new cookbook by Ottolenghi, Jerusalem, co-authored with Sami Tamimi. I hear my stomach growl at just about every recipe and my eyes pop out from every stunning picture. I find my family’s cooking in so many of the recipes in the book.

I don’t know if we are atypical or just reflect an era (military, moves, oversea travels, wars, etc…) but some of my most vivid food memories are as much of harissa, Berber couscous and papaya with lime juice as they are of cassoulet and Bouillabaisse.

In that regard, the book completely appeals to me. The way Ottolenghi and Tamimi look at culinary traditions and influences. Understanding that one dish may have the same root but different interpretations in neighboring cultures, civilizations or countries. They understood that cooking is honoring ones traditions as well as sharing common flavors, differences in interpretations. Food travels. It is not one to be of only one people and one culture. It is alive. It reflects peoples, generations and history. It is humanity.

Pecan Crusted Rack Of Lamb

I get that. Especially when sitting down at the dinner table around a plate of Pistachio Crusted Lamb and a side or Roasted Cauliflower & Hazelnut Salad. (recipes after the jump). I get the sharing, the cultural influences, and the roots. The history that brought this plate and the chatter about it, in front of me. I happily grab my fork and ask my mother for one more story about my grandmother. About her own childhood. About mine with her.

Only a few more days and they will be heading back to France. A few more days to revel in the memories and the times we are living in the present. I am grateful for the love and time they give me these few short weeks. It’s been quite nice, indeed…

I hope you all have a wonderful week too!

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Nectarine And Pomegranate Tarte

Nectarine & Pomegranate Tarte


Back from Seattle after an amazing workshop and visit with dear friends. I love that the city is becoming like a second home away from home where I can visit and enjoy a great support system of friends and fellow photographers. There is always work associated with a trip to Seattle but it downright feels like a vacay-workathon for me. Yes, it’s work chilling and sipping wine too you know…!

Nectarines


I have yet to go through all my pics from the workshop and our visit there. So much done and so much left to see! It was Bill’s first time in Seattle and he absolutely loved it. The weather was a wonderful reprieve from our scorching hot days. A light breeze and 80F days felt like Spring and absolutely delicious.

We love hanging out with friends who love their city as much as we love ours. It was a treat to spend some time with Jeanne again. She gives the best hugs. Seriously. We were honored to have dinner at Sitka and Spruce with Anita and her husband who flew from San Francisco for the weekend. They never miss an opportunity to visit their old stomping grounds and I was thrilled to finally introduce them to Bill after all these years.

Nectarine & Pomegranate Tarte


Once again… lots of good times, good wines, good sun, good talks and sunshine. I love how each workshop teaches me "more and better" as I like to say. More about myself so I can always work toward being a better person. Every trip, anywhere, I try not to sweat the small stuff and focus on the bigger picture. Sometimes it is just me and my work, others and the moment, sometimes it is our couple.

A constant work on improving. With taking stance and remaining silent. Much like this tart I want to share with you today. Everytime, with time and experience, it turns out a little bit better. A little bit stronger and definitely a keeper. Until the ext one…

Pomegranate


Nectarines in South Carolina right now are as good as the best natural candy you can imagine. Juicy, fragrant. Wonderfully soft and simply at their best. I usually cut up about a pound worth and store it in the fridge so we can have a refreshing treat anytime we get a whiff of that hot humid air.

I got a bigger appetite than the number of days we would be home so I decided to use some of the nectarines I had (over) bought in a tart and take it to my in-laws who were dog(s) sitting for us. As well as watching over the fish. Always seem to forget mentioning Elliot.

Nectarine & Pomegranate Tarte


I made a regular pie crust (not gluten free) but the mix I usually use (my friend Jeanne’s) works perfectly well with this. I must tell you soon about this Brazil nut crust I tried on Clare and Becky last week though. I want to tweak it one more time first… Bear with me!

In the meantime, I am leaving you with this super simple, yet delicious Nectarine and Pomegranate Tarte. Yes. I know. Pomegranate are not in season in the US at the moment. See, I love pomegranate so much, that once Winter rolls around, I freeze enough pomegranate seeds to last us through Springs and Summer. We use them all the time in refreshing salads, as sprinkles on desserts and so forth. Here, they were in perfect tandem with the sweet ripe nectarines.

Nectarine & Pomegranate Tarte



Nectarines and Pomegranate Tarte:

Makes one 9 to 10-inch tart:

Ingredients:
For the crust:

2 tablespoons (20gr) slivered almonds
1/2 (60gr) cup powdered sugar, unsifted, divided
1/2 stick (57gr) unsalted butter, at room temperature
pinch of salt
3/4 cup (90gr) all purpose flour or Jeanne’s gluten free all-purpose flour mix

For the filling:
4 to 6 just ripe nectarines, peeled, halved, pitted and sliced thin
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon chopped almonds
2 to 3 tablespoons pomegranate seeds (fresh or frozen)

Directions:
Place almonds and 1 tablespoon powdered sugar in a food processor. Pulse until the nuts are finely ground. In bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter, ground nuts and salt on medium speed until well-combined. Slowly add remaining powdered sugar and flour and mix well. Add a couple of tablespoons of cold water to help the dough come together if necessary. Shape dough into a ball and flatten into a disc. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for two hours or overnight.
Place the dough in between two sheets of plastic wrap or parchment paper and roll it out to about 1/4-inch thick round.
Place in a 9-inch tart pan, trim the edges. Prick the dough with a fork and refrigerate 30 minutes up to 2 hours. (you can even freeze the dough in the tart pan at this point and let thaw in the fridge overnight when you are ready).

Once the dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 350F and position a rack in the middle shelf.
Layer the nectarines in the shell, overlapping each other until the whole tarte area is covered. Drizzle with the honey and almonds.
Bake for about 35 to 45 minutes until the tarte is golden.
Remove from the heat and right before serving, sprinkle the top with the pomegranate seeds.

Homemade Gravlax & Prawn Crackers Appetizer

Smoked Salmon on Prawn Crackers


Sometimes I get this crazy notions that I have a lot of time on my hand to do whatever. I know. Crazy right?! I mean, as the years go by I realize that "it will only take five minutes" will never be an accurate statement. It takes Bailey a mere 30 seconds to hide my shoe and I end up spending the next hour looking for it (what do you mean you have more than one pair of shoes?!!). However I relish recipes that allow me to marinate, brine or cure. Recipes that let time do its thing. Not in five minutes and surely not in thirty seconds.

There is virtue in meals quickly put together. My better half is eating a lot of leftovers with a poached egg on top as I work my way through several book projects at once. That really takes ten minutes and it’s just fine most nights. There are however days when I want to take more time with food. So I make ravioli and enjoy rolling dough to relieve stress and I release a few expletives in the process. I let my pan of ratatouille go on for hours until perfectly caramelized. I relish in the long simmering process of onion soup.

Smoked Salmon on Prawn Crackers


And then entered gravlax…The last time I had made gravlax was over 10 years ago. On a whim. After watching The Galloping Gourmet on T.V. I remember it distinctly because France had not been exposed to many cooking shows before and something about the concept was brilliant. The experience was so easy that I really can’t figure out why I waited this long to make it again.

It is so simple and you can literally put the cure together in less than 10 minutes and two days later have the most delicious gravlax. Bill loves it on his bagels in the morning and could not stop asking me "ready yet?" "are you sure it’s not ready yet?" I kept repeating like a stubborn mule "Thirty six hours dear. Be patient". Patience is key. The gravlax is buttery, sweet and salty and fragrant of dill and juniper berries all at the same time.

Light & Healthy


Some of us belonging to the Martha Stewart Circle were gifted with quite many pounds of fresh Norwegian Salmon as part of a campaign they were running. I love salmon but living on the waters of South Carolina, it is not a fish I buy often since it does not fish in the waters around here and I try to support local fishermen as much as possible. If I get salmon, I get Pacific wild salmon but I was intrigued by the claims of sustainability and ethically ocean-farmed raised salmon.

I got in touch with my favorite source on everything seafood, Becky from Chef Reinvented whose first cookbook, aptly entitled Good Fish is coming out in the Spring. What came out of our exchange, and without knowing lots of specifics about this company, is that not all ocean farmed salmon is equal and that some Norwegian farms are better than other farms, do not use antibiotics and monitor the growth and feeding of the salmon carefully. We both agree that even though it could be raised in better conditions than other farms in the world, it still does not compared to wild caught salmon. We also determined that it would be a waste of darn good fish not to cook with the one I had received!

Smoked Salmon on Prawn Crackers


I started with making Thai Coconut Salmon Soup actually and posted a preview on Flickr a couple of weeks ago but did not get around to post yet. The second one was this appetizer made with homemade gravlax and I could not help but make a quiche. No fear, everything will be up on the site at some point! Nothing could be easier than this appetizer. Well once the gravlax is done of course… I pan fried some dried prawn crackers (also named chips depending on the brand) and topped each with a slice of radish, some gravlax, a dollop of creme fraiche and sprinkled everything with chopped chives and pomegranate seeds. The combination of sea, sweet and salty was pure joy on the tastebuds.

Oh dear… we ate the entire thing that evening with some bubbly and shared it all with good friends.

Homemade Gravlax And Prawn Crackers Appetizer:

Serves 12

For the gravlax, adapted from The Minimalist.

Time: 10 minutes, plus 24 to 36 hours' refrigeration

1 cup salt
2 cups sugar
1 bunch dill, stems and all, chopped
2 tablespoons cracked juniper berries
1 2- to 3-pound fillet of salmon, pin bones removed.

Mix together the salt, sugar, dill and juniper berries. Place the salmon, skin side down, on a large sheet of plastic wrap. Cover the flesh side of the salmon with the salt mixture, making sure to coat it completely. (There will be lots of salt mix; just pile it on.)
Wrap the fish well. If the temperature is below 70 degrees, and it is not too inconvenient, let it rest outside the refrigerator for about 6 hours, then refrigerate for 18 to 24 hours more. Otherwise, refrigerate immediately for about 36 hours.
Unwrap the salmon, and rinse off the cure. Dry, then slice on the bias (see illustration). Serve plain or with lemon wedges, creme fraiche, sour cream or a light vinaigrette.

For the rest of the ingredients:
freshly fried prawn crackers/chips or already made ones – just make sure they are fresh! (available at most Asian grocery store)
12 thin slices of radish
1/3 cup creme fraiche or sour cream mixed in with some salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons chopped chives
1/4 cup pomegranate seeds

Make the gravlax according to the recipe directions. Fry the prawn chips according to package instructions or use already fried ones (available at Asian grocery stores) Layer slices of radishes, slices of salmon, top with dollops of sour cream, some chives and pomegranate seeds.

Use as little or as much as you want…just be prepared. The combination is seriously addicting!!

Lunch Break: Radish and Watercress Salad

Mixed Up


The cray-zee schedule has officially started! Well, I kicked it off a week ealier than previously planned and I am quite glad I did. We all know that it’s not because you have one important thing on the agenda that everything else takes a backseat. Every bits and pieces of life that you are trying to juggle all want a spot on the passenger seat while you are trying to drive without knocking other people over. One thing that helps me keep focused is good nutrition. Sweet or savory. Salads especially.

I always try to take time out to fix myself a proper lunch and eat by the window without any incoming noise. It helps recharge my internal batteries and ensures that I don’t forget all the other things and people around me. When my friend Tara mentioned this salad from The Breakaway Cook I instantly started craving daikon radishes. I never think about adding them to my shopping list but I have done so three times in the past week. This salad? I made a version of it just about as many times. The one pictured here is probably my favorite.

Fueling Up


It’s loaded with good stuff, it’s refreshing, it’s tasty and it’ll bring you good juju for the day. Ok, I am making this last bit up but I felt energized and ready for another 12 hour shift right after eating it. The beauty of salads is their endless possibilities for adaptations. Eric makes his with daikon radishes, pomegranate seeds, avocado, edamame, orange pepper. Mine included daikon and red radishes, avocado, watercress, carrot and pomegranate seeds. It’s the end of the season here for those but I needed them for work and had leftovers.

I decided to start working on the photography for Carrie’s book a bit earlier than planned, mostly to find a rythm and properly organize my time. The experience has been nothing short of amazing so far. It’s a lot of work to cook, style, shoot, edit that many savory and sweet recipes but loving my job makes it easy to invest every bit of myself in it. Everything I have made so far has been refreshing, succulent, different, easy to prepare. You could say I am biased since I have a stake in it but trust me, even if I had zip involved, I’d still couldn’t wait to get her book pronto.

Mixed Up


And then there are all the other things in between like more gigs, friends, house, dogs, invoices bills and taxes (grrr….). You know what I am talking about. Some of you even have children to juggle into the mix. We only have a couple of very active and very snuggly creatures! I can’t promise lenghty blog posts and towering piles of groovy macarons in the next couple of weeks but I can promise there will always be something good to eat, savory or sweet.

I think I’m getting a hunkering for a tart. It’s been a while. Can’t live off salad alone, although this one is on repeat on my plate this week.

Refreshing Daikon Radish and Watercress Salad:

Serves 2 to 4 depending on your appetite.

1/2 daikon radish (8-inch piece)
1 bunch red radishes (about 8)
2 carrots
1 small bunch watercress
1 small ripe avocado
1/2 pomegranate
vinaigrette of your choice

Wash and slice thin both kinds of radish and the carrots. You can use a mandolin if you want. I don’t have one so I just used a very sharp knife. No matter what you use, watch out for your fingers!
Wash and pat dry the watercress.
Cut avocado into small dices and seed the pomegranate.
Arrange everything in a large or individual bowls and drizzle with the vinaigrette.

————————————————————————————-

Le P’tit Coin Francais.

Salade Composee De Radis et Cresson:

1 morceau de radis chinois (20cm environ)
1 botte de radis traditionels (environ 8)
2 carottes
1 petite botte de cresson
1 avocat
1/2 grenade
vinaigrette de votre choix

Coupez les radis et carottes en tranches fines a l’aide d’une mandoline ou d’un couteau. Lavez et essorez le cresson. Coupez l’avocat on petit des et recuperez les graines de la grenade.
Disposez le tout dans un grand ou plusieurs saladier et assaisonez avec la vinaigrette.

Grapefruit And Pomegranate In White Tea Jelly

Grapefruit-Pomegranate in White Tea Jelly


I hope that those of you celebrating Thanksgiving last week got to spend some quality time with their family and friends. Maybe there were a few odd moments and uncomfortable silence but heck, that’s family dynamic right?! Our holiday was kind of bittersweet. A house full of close friends, kids, games and laughter interrupted by the news of B’s uncle passing away the day before Thanksgiving. Lots of time spent on the road visiting relatives and work/gigs that would not take a vacation (except for Thursday of course).

When calm finally found a momentary reprieve on Friday, I looked around at the little bodies running about the house, verrines of Grapefruit And Pomegranate in Tea Jelly being lined up on the table, friends sitting down together and decided to keep the sweet part of bitter closer to my heart.

Grapefruit-Pomegranate White Tea Jelly


I’ve had this recipe and post in my draft box since Friday but have not had much chance to sit down with my thoughts and write something coherent. The first thing I did that morning was to rush out of bed and drink about a gallon of grapefruit juice. My body was obviously gearing up for detox mode. I pretty much spent the rest of the day noshing on grapefruits, oranges, kumquats (citrus season is just around the corner here in the South) and drinking copious mugs of tea. When I get into this mode, I make sure to never run out of anything tart, sour, juicy and fresh (hmm sounds like I could be describing B’s sense of humor!).

It’s not that we ate a lot, we just ate at odd hours and foods prepared by salt-shaker happy relatives. I know I am not the only one who drank a pond came Friday morning but I always wonder: what type of foods do you crave after a few extras?

Grapefruit Pomegranate White Tea Jelly


It hit me at three in the afternoon that I should turn all these lovely, clean and fresh ingredients into a dessert that we could all enjoy. One of our friends loves those little fruit and jello cups sold at the grocery store and I know from a sure source (his wife) that it’s about the only instance he’ll be seen with a fruit. I like the concept (I’m French, anything "aspic" related is part of our food DNA) but I don’t like the idea of additives, extra sugars and what not. I also like fruit over gelled mass a lot more. Plenty of reasons to make these at home and play a good game of Scrabble while they set.

I packed glasses and other ramekins with a combination of white and red grapefruits, sprinkled a small handful of pomegranate seeds over each of them and poured just enough white tea jelly to seal the deal. After a couple of hours in the fridge, we had the healthiest and most flavorful fruit dessert of the week. Suddenly my feet starting tapping on the floor, I began to giggle and fidget in my seat. My energy was back! So was my brain and the ability to come up with endless possibilities for these! We made a couple of other batches, one with pomegranate juice and one with Grand Marnier for a more festive and grown up version.

Grapefruit Pomegranate White Tea Jelly


Can hardly wait to make these with Spring berries paired with some green or bergamot tea, or Summer stone fruit with some ginger beer or Champagne…

Grapefruit And Pomegranate In White Tea Jelly

Makes 4

Notes:
For a clean presentation, I like to spend some time making sure I properly segment the citrus, removing as much of the white membrane as much as possible. Click here for a good explanation on how to do it.
On the same vibe, pomegranate can make a royal stained mess and if more cleaning is not on your list that day, click here for an illustrated step-by-step.

2 teaspoons powdered gelatin
2 tablespoons cold water
1 bag white tea or 1 tablespoon loose white tea leaves
1 cup boiling water
2 tablespoons sugar (more if you like a sweeter tea)
2 red grapefruits, peeled and segmented
2 white grapefruits, peeled and segmented
1 pomegranate, seeded

In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water. Reserve.
Steep the tea into the boiling water for 2-3 minutes or to the strength you prefer. Add the sugar and reserved gelatin mixture until both are completely dissolved. Let cool a few minutes.
Divide the grapefruit sections and pomegranate seeds evenly among four glasses or ramekins and pour just enough tea jelly to reach the top.
Refrigerate until set, about 2 to 3 hours.

Asian Pear Frozen Yogurt

Asian Pear Frozen Yogurt


Before I tell you about this Asian Pear Frozen Yogurt, I want to thank everyone who stopped by to enter Ree’s cookbook giveaway. The woman is well loved, that’s for sure! My random number generator this time was my friend Tami with whom I went to the National Gingerbread House Competition™ and to be fair, I didn’t take into account the entries coming in past the deadline. Congratulations to Patricia in Texas, a., and Jelli Bean. Email me your snail mail addresses at mytartelette[at]gmail[dot]com and I’ll pass the info on to Ree.

I have been back from Asheville for a couple of days yet and I am not done processing pictures from the weekend. We did a lot, ate a lot and well, drank a lot too! Instead of throwing down a few comments and a few photos here and there, I want to make the competition, competitors and judges justice (Ha!) so that will be in an upcoming post. I was part of an amazing group of people who tackled each house one by one and evaluated every square each of every display, no tasting though. I think I behaved…

Fall

Fall-iage in Asheville, NC.

That part lasted from 9.30am until 4.30pm. Yep. Tami who was not on jury duty booked a nice and lengthy massage at the spa, (another kind of heaven!) and there was a brief moment I wished I was there with her but I had a serious task at hand. Gingerbread houses at The Grove Park Inn is serious business folks! As in every competition, some of my chosen picks did not win Grand Prize or first place in some categories but that’s ok, it’s part of the maths behind it all.

Driving the 250 miles to Asheville gave me my fix of gorgeous Fall colors and foliage. I did stop a couple of times along the way to take it all in. I called B. and yapped about the reds and the golds I was seeing while he was racking brown dried leaves in the yard under a hot sun and no wind. He asked if there was some Asian Pear Frozen Yogurt he could have afterwards and lucky for him, I had not completely eaten the batch I had made from Jaden’s cookbook!

Asian Pear Frozen Yogurt


Trust me, I am not kidding when I say I almost ate the entire batch. That frozen yogurt is seriously addicting. I was hoping B. would focus on all the other dishes I had prepared in anticipation of my weekend away but no, he had to ask about the frozen yogurt! My fro-yo, how dare he?! Eh, that’s alright, I was feeling bad he was stuck at home with work while I was gallivanting working hard with Tami in the mountains of North Carolina.

I discovered Asian peasr for the first time when I moved to the US where almost every week I would be faced with a new item, either typically Southern or completely exotic as was the case with these pears (as well as prickly pears, dragon fruit, jicama, okra, etc…). I was intrigued. It was juicy, firm, sweet but the flavor was completely unique. You can easily find your share of bland ones, but if you pick the small ones, they will be packed with flavor and juice.

Asian Pear Frozen Yogurt


Jaden’s frozen yogurt recipe couldn’t be any simpler: pears, sugar, ginger, sugar and Greek yogurt. Chop, process, churn. And eat. She tops hers with some crushed pink peppercorns for a little sweet kick but I was out and particularly pressed for time to get more. Instead I topped ours with pomegranate seeds which gave the frozen yogurt a nice tart note.

Asian Pear Frozen Yogurt, adapted from and with permission of Jaden Hair:

Makes 1 1/2 pints

2 large Asian Pears
1/4 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (I used lime)
1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
1 1/2 cups (375gr) Greek yogurt
1/2 cup (100gr) sugar
generous pinch of fine sea salt
1 tablespoons pink peppercorns (crushed) (I used pomegranate seeds)

Peel and chop the pears into small 1/2-inch chunks. Toass them with the lemon juice to prevent oxidizing. In a blender, combine the pears and ginger and puree until smooth. Use 1-2 tablespoons of water if this is difficult to puree.
In a large bowl, combine the pear puree with the yogurt, sugar and salt. Refrigerate for an hour.
Note: I skipped this step by refrigerating the pears for a couple of hours before.
Churn the mixture in your ice cream amker according to manufacturer’s directions.
Once churned, freeze until firm. Serve topped with the pink peppercorns.

Pomegranate and Caramelized Pear Panna Cotta

Pomegranate Panna Cotta


I appreciate this time of year when night falls so much earlier. It makes me want to rush home and cozy up with loved ones, a book or a good project. Unlike summer when things are so bright up in my face, I love that Fall and Winter are seasons of shadows and angles with night and day playing cat and mouse so well. So many holidays around the corner. So many friends dropping by, parties hosted and kitchens in full roar. Time to connect and reconnect with people and things. Time to lose half your brain too if you don’t pay attention!

When things get plenty busy, it’s always good to have a few staples in your kitchen repertoire that are not only show stoppers but easy to prepare and make ahead, almost ensuring your guests will ask for more. My holiday staples almost always include cremes brulees, pots de creme, and panna cottas. Among the variations I like on this traditional Italian favorite, these Pomegranate and Caramelized Pear Panna Cottas have come to rank high on the list.

Pomegranate


Panna Cotta is said to have originated in the northern region of Italy where dairy is one of the main agricultural productions but spread out to the entire nation and the rest of the world throughout the years. Variations of panna cotta exist in almost every country as it is a very convenient way to use up extra dairy like cream, milk and yogurt. I grew up on Blanc Manger for example which is a close cousin to the creamy silky no-bake Italian custard.

There are many, many reasons to start putting panna cottas on your list of "reliable-good-things-to-make-for-people-I-love." For starters, what is really fun about panna cotta (beside listening to an Italian saying it outloud) is that you can add flavors and ingredients inside, outside, above and below. You can also mix up the choice of dairy to be used as long as you make sure to balance the acidity and fats of each appropriately. You can prepare them up to 48 hours in advance and keep them snuggled up in the refrigerator until ready to eat. You can top them with whatever strikes your fancy that day or what is available during the season. And…they are gluten free!

Pears


November is synonymous with pears and pomegranate to me. Where my mother-in-law tries to find the biggest Comice and Bosc pears for cooking, I tend to favor Seckel and Forelles, my absolute smaller favorites. Where she feels like she hit the jackpot with the biggest pomegranate on the shelf, I always dig for the tinier ones. Yes, I like small and tiny anything but for a reason. Almost everything here is bigger than where I am from. Bigger roads, bigger houses, bigger stores and bigger produce which unfortunately doesn’t always mean bigger on taste. I often find that smaller fruits and veggies pack so much more flavor and I’d rather have a small anything full of aroma any day like small servings of creamy and silky Panna Cotta.

Can I say out loud how much I love caramel? If you know me a tiny bit, you know that the mere idea of caramelizing anything gets me moving. When I made these panna cottas for a catered event earlier this week, I kept the base relatively simple with just a touch of vanilla bean and focused more on the toppings. I caramelized some seasonal Forelle pears with just a touch of butter and brown sugar and kept them at room temperature until the guests were ready for dessert. However, when it comes to pomegranate, nothing beats eating them straight out in their natural form. I just love the tart pop that comes with biting into pomegranate seeds. They were just the perfect texture and color contrast to the richness of the panna cottas.

Caramelized Pear Panna Cotta


One thing that you can play with and never reach the end of your playtime when it comes to Panna Cottas (beside the flavors) is the combination of dairy you use. Most recipes give you a combination of heavy cream and milk, some add buttermilk or/and yogurt to the mix. All are good, all work…in the proper ratios. If you use more acidic dairy like buttermilk and yogurt (even full fat) make sure to keep twice the amount of heavy cream in the mix. The more acidity is mixed in, the greater risk you run of the base separating into one part cream, one part whey. Nothing to do at this point but to start from scratch. Live and learn. If I can save you a major "Oh no!" and an extra trip to the store, then I’ve done my job!

If you are vegetarian or vegan, panna cottas can still be well within your dessert favorites. You can substitute any of the dairy for their vegetarian or vegan equivalent such as soy, almond, oat, hemp milks or vegetarian cream as long as they are the full fat kind. Panna cottas rely on the addition of gelatin which is a no-no if you are not a carnivore but kosher gelatin is often vegetarian and agar agar and carrageen are often used as substitutes. I am not proficient with any of these but you can find more information in this article on their nature and preparation.

Panna Cotta


Panna Cottas are pretty much a bottomless well for your tastebuds and imagination.

Panna Cotta


Pomegranate and Caramelized Pear Panna Cottas:

Notes: I make my own yogurt and used a freshly made batch in this recipe but you can substitute with store bought plain full fat yogurt, just don’t use light, pretty please.
If you are not used to working with gelatin, in all its various forms, I recommend this article written by David Lebovitz. Gelatin won’t be a mystery anymore!

Serves 8

For the panna cottas:
2 tablespoons cold water (more if using sheet gelatin)
2 teaspoons (5gr) unflavored powdered gelatin (1.5 sheets to 2 sheets gelatin)
2 cups (500ml) heavy cream
1/3 cup (70gr) sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split lenghtwise and seeded
1 cup (250ml) plain whole milk yogurt

For the caramelized pear topping:
1 tablespoon (15gr) unsalted butter at room temperature
2 tablespoons (30gr) light brown sugar, packed
2 Forelle or Seckel pears or one Bosc pear, peeled, cored and cut in small dices

One pomegranate, seeded

Prepare the panna cottas:
Place the water in small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Reserve.
In a large heavy bottomed saucepan placed over medium heat, bring the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla bean seeds to a simmer. When the cream is hot, remove from the heat and whisk in the reserved gelatin until it is completely dissolved. Add the yogurt and whisk until well blended.
Divide the mixture among 8 glasses or ramekins. Let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes and then refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving to let the cream set properly.

Prepare the caramelized pears:
In a heavy sautee pan set over medium heat, melt the butter and sugar together. When the mixture starts to sizzle, add the pear dices and sautee them until they start to become translucid and a little soft to the touch, about 2 minutes. If you cook them too long, you will end up with pear compote which is good too, but does not have the same biting contrast as barely sauteed pears.
Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

To serve:
Top the panna cottas with some caramelized pears or pomegranate seeds as desired.

Pomegranate Hibiscus Tea & Honey Ginger Yogurt Verrines – A Virtual Hug

Pomegranate Hibiscus Tea & Ginger Yogurt Verrine


I play well with food. We get along nicely.
I can twirl it around, bake it, cut it, stretch it, play it up, play it down.
We spend many hours together everyday. Swishing sounds of the whisk play with the silence of my thoughts.
We do get along well. Sometimes though I wish I weren’t alone in the kitchen.
Peeling fruit, brewing tea. Impatiently waiting for that drop of honey to fall from the spoon. Sometimes I wish I had Barbara with me in the kitchen.
I know she would sit on the vintage stool by the counter. For about 5 minutes before heading in there with me.
I know she would pour us a glass of wine while helping me pick the buttercream from my cheek
Like she virtually wiped the tears from my heart last year when I lost someone I had never met but already loved.
She would remind me to dance even if only in my head.
In fact I believe she’d turn the radio louder and we’d dance right in the middle of spun sugar and flour clouds.
Then we would fall loudly on the sofa and laugh…and hug.

Barbara needs and deserves all the hugs she can get right now as she is undergoing yet another round of chemo and being the Lady that she is, she remains quiet and private about it. However Bron and Ilva started thinking that it was about time we got vocal about this wonderful woman and tell her how much we care, love and want to be there, right next to her fighthing that nasty disease. A secret email for a special person and you know me….when there is some cancer butt kicking…I am there!

I don’t have to touch to know. I don’t have to see to understand. Barbara is around. She has worked her magic in so many of us. Time to say "thank you" and "we love you"…..

Pomegranate Jewelry


You can imagine that if I am calling her attention here while she is on chemo, it would be difficult to stomach seeing buttercream ladden cakes (nothing wrong with that usually) or sticky sweet creations (nothing wrong with that usually either). Keeping that in mind I decided to concentrate "good for you" flavors in a glass, also called verrine and have a little fun with the presentation. Since recreating Pierre Herme’s Sensation Satine last year, I admit that I have a fondness of geometrically challenged mousses or jelly set in glass. Seriously, doesn’t that look like fun?

I know that Barbara loves pink and has a fondness for travels and exotic locales so I wanted to make her travel a bit without much effort right now. I made some hibiscus tea that B. had brought back from Egypt and mixed it with some pomegranate juice, turned the mixture into a jelly and once set I topped it off with some Greek yogurt flavored with some honey and ginger. The yogurt mixture is turned into a jelly also for the sole purpose of consistency continuity. I tried it just spooned on top of the jelly and also as made here and it worked much better as a jelly for spooning and eating with the tea part but feel free to experiment to your own liking.

Did you see those macarons sneaking up next to that dessert? Couldn’t help it! The pomegranate seeds look like little jewel gems to me and I couldn’t help pairing them with macaron (eye) candy so I when I was making some to take as a hostess gift, I also colored some of the batter and filled them with buttercream and added a seed in the middle and a seed on top. Macarons are indeed perfect little hugs of sweetness.

Love you Barbara!

Tea Jelly Verrines & Macarons


Pomegranate Hibiscus Tea and Honey Ginger Yogurt Verrines:

Makes 6 servings

For the tea jelly:
1 1/2 cups brewed hibiscus tea
1/2 cup pomegranate juice
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon powdered gelatin
1/4 cup cold water
1 tablespoon lemon zest

Pour the water into a small container, sprinkle the gelatin over it and set aside. In small saucepan set over medium high, heat together the tea and juice, and the sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Add the lemon zest and remove from the stove Add the gelatin and stir until it is completely melted. Let cool to room temperature. Divide evenly among glasses and position them at an angle in an empty egg carton. Let set a couple of hours in the fridge.

Honey Ginger Yogurt Gelee:
1 1/2 tsp gelatin
2 Tb water
2 cups Greek yogurt
1/4 cup honey
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger

Pour the water into a small container, sprinkle the gelatin over it and set aside. In a small bowl, heat half the yogurt in the microwave for one minute. Microwave the gelatin for 12 seconds. Quickly mix the two together, add the rest of the yogurt, ginger and the honey. No need to let it cool, layer it on top of the tea layer and position it at the opposite angle in the egg carton. Refrigerate for a couple of hours.