Gateau de Crepes from "The Essential New York Times Cookbook"

They are all over the place.  Every time I turn around another one just grabs my attention.   They are almost impossible for me to ignore.  Burning holes in the back of my head, staring me down as I travel from store to store, aisle to aisle.  A good looking one will catch my eye and I’ll think about it and think about it until I can’t stand it anymore.  Then usually desire takes over and BOOM – I own another cookbook.  Well with this one, I stupidly held off working on the “I need another cookbook like a fish needs a bicycle” and “Christmas is coming” mottos.  And I got my wish – The Essential New York Times Cook Book by Amanda Hesser.  YES – it’s fabulous!  I’ve been reading it ever since Santa (okay, my son Luke) placed it under the tree.  I love her background stories with each recipe and I love the twists and updates on the classics.  I love her straight forward recipe writing approach - no nonsense - this is how you do it sort of way. 

The first recipe I tried was her Gateau de Crepe.  I can’t tell you how much I appreciate a recipe that works and does so perfectly.  The crepe recipe made exactly 20 crepes.  The pastry cream recipe made exactly enough for filling the 20 crepes.  The cake wobbled a bit but did not fall down (which was my fear when I thought about making this in the past) and was absolutely one of the most delicious desserts I have ever made.  So, thank you Amanda Hesser for a wonderful New Years Eve dessert and a new tradition.

For the crepe batter:

6 tablespoons butter

3 cups milk

6 eggs

1 1/2 cups flour

7 tablespoons sugar

Pinch salt

For the vanilla pastry cream:

2 cups milk

1 vanilla bean, halved and scraped

6 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup cornstarch, sifted

3 1/2 tablespoons butter

For the assembly:

Corn oil

2 cups heavy cream

1 tablespoon sugar or more

3 tablespoons Kirsch 
(I used Grand Marnier)

Confectioners' sugar.

1. The day before, make the crepe batter and the pastry cream. Batter: In a small pan, cook the butter until brown like hazelnuts. Set aside. In another small pan, heat the milk until steaming; allow to cool for 10 minutes. In a mixer on medium-low speed, beat together the eggs, flour, sugar and salt. Slowly add the hot milk and browned butter. Pour into a container with a spout, cover and refrigerate overnight.

2. Pastry cream: Bring the milk with the vanilla bean (and scrapings) to a boil, then set aside for 10 minutes; remove bean. Fill a large bowl with ice and set aside a small bowl that can hold the finished pastry cream and be placed in this ice bath.

3. In a medium heavy-bottomed pan, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch. Gradually whisk in the hot milk, then place pan over high heat and bring to a boil, whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes. Press the pastry cream through a fine-meshed sieve into the small bowl. Set the bowl in the ice bath and stir until the temperature reaches 140 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Stir in the butter. When completely cool, cover and refrigerate.

4. Assemble the cake the next day: Bring the batter to room temperature. Place a nonstick or seasoned 9-inch crepe pan over medium heat. Swab the surface with the oil, then add about 3 tablespoons batter and swirl to cover the surface. Cook until the bottom just begins to brown, about 1 minute, then carefully lift an edge and flip the crepe with your fingers. Cook on the other side for no longer than 5 seconds. Flip the crepe onto a baking sheet lined with parchment. Repeat until you have 20 perfect crepes.

5. Pass the pastry cream through a sieve once more. Whip the heavy cream with the tablespoon sugar and the Kirsch. It won't hold peaks. Fold it into the pastry cream.

6. Lay 1 crepe on a cake plate. Using an icing spatula, completely cover with a thin layer of pastry cream (about 1/4 cup). Cover with a crepe and repeat to make a stack of 20, with the best-looking crepe on top. Chill for at least 2 hours. Set out for 30 minutes before serving. If you have a blowtorch for creme brulee, sprinkle the top crepe with 2 tablespoons sugar and caramelize with the torch; otherwise, dust with confectioners' sugar. Slice like a cake.

Batter adapted from Joy of Cooking.  Pastry cream adapted from Desserts, by Pierre Herme and Dorie Greenspan. Serves 10.

It’s All Delicious Notes:  Recipe from The Essential New York Times Cook Book by Amanda Hesser

Creamy Lowcountry Shrimp Tarts - With a Hint of Curry

Our lowcountry shrimp are amazing! I know I bang on about this a lot, but the wild shrimp that trawl our waters are sweet and meaty yet tender. And these little babies were from our local Hilton Head waters, which makes me love them even more. There’s a hint of curry in these tartlets and they are dead easy to make. Great as an appetizer or paired with a salad (and glass of wine...of course) for a light lunch.

You definitely could make one large tart but if you did I would recommend roughly chopping the shrimp before spreading them over the bottom just to make cutting it in slices a little easier. Either way, you can’t go wrong with these classic flavors.

Serves 6 as an appetizer

Ingredients

30 shrimp, about 1-¼ lbs

1 small shallot, minced

2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

2/3 cups dry white wine

1-½ tablespoons curry powder

2/3-cup heavy cream

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

1 15oz package of pie crusts or make your own

Special equipment: 6 4-inch mini tart pans with removable bottoms

Clean, peel and devein the shrimp. Keep the tails on 6 of them for the tops of the tarts. Lightly poach shrimp for two minutes in boiling water, remove and plunge into an ice bath, drain and set aside.

Pour wine into a small saucepan, sprinkle curry powder over and whisk. Boil until reduced by half. Cool and set aside

Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll out pastry to ½ inch thickness. Cut out 6 circles from dough. The circles should be 2 inches larger than the tart pans. Line pans with dough, pressing into sides and bottom, prick shells all over. Chill for 20 minutes. Bake shells for 15 minutes, cool and set aside.

Whisk cream, egg, egg yolk, shallot, cilantro, and curry –flavored reduction together in a medium bowl.

Place 4 shrimp in each tart shell. Pour cream mixture over the shrimp, just to cover and then top each one with the remaining shrimp with the tails on. Bake for 20 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Cool and serve warm or at room temperature.

It’s All Delicious Notes: Don’t initially over poach the shrimp – 2 minutes tops. They will continue cooking in the oven and you do not want to make them tough and unbearably chewy.

Pavlova with Summer Berries

Here’s a summer dessert that knocks your socks off. Pavlova originated in Australia first made for Anna Pavlova, a Russian ballerina on tour in Kangaroo country yonks ago. I learned to make it in London, when I lived there. It was a summer staple at all the summer picnics (British for tail gait accept with linen, silver and china). What makes this different from your straight up meringue is that a Pavlova is squishy in the middle not rock hard. The squishy-ness mixed with the whipped cream filling and berry topping makes a pretty dessert for sure and definitely an incredibly delicious one...just maaavalis daahling, simply maaavalis! Just one little tricky note don’t make this on a humid day and make sure you must must whip the egg whites long enough or else the Pavlova will flatten out in the oven and look like a giant blob rather than rounded and peaky. So, give it a go as they say in the old country.

Ingredients

Serves about 8 people

For the Pavlova

5 egg whites

10 oz granulated sugar

1-¼ teaspoons corn starch

1 ¼ teaspoons vinegar

Pinch of salt

Canola oil

For the filling

1 pint each, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries

(Or any other combo of fruit you like)

1 ½ pints of whipping cream, whipped

Preheat oven to 250°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and oil lightly.

Beat the egg whites and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on high until stiff and standing in peaks. Lower the speed and add ½ of the sugar. Continue whisking on medium/high until glossy. Turn the mixer to low again and add the remaining sugar, cornstarch and vinegar. Whisk until incorporated, but do not let the egg whites deflate.

Drop mounds of meringue in the shape of a circle (about 10 inch diameter) using a metal spoon. Spread additional meringue in the middle and “hollow” out the center to create a “nest,” continue dropping more on top of the circle edges creating “walls.” The Pavlova will expand in the oven then deflate a bit when taken out of the oven. Bake for 1 hour turning ½ way through to ensure even browning. Carefully peel away parchment paper and let cool on a wire rack. Transfer to a large plate or platter

Wash and pick over berries, quarter the strawberries. Fill the center of the Pavlova with whipped cream and mound the berries in the center. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

This is such a pretty dessert!

Its All Delicious Notes: You can make your Pavlova smaller or larger just keep sugar egg white ratio 2-1. The color of your Pavlova will vary based on the type of vinegar you use, obviously the darker the vinegar the darker the Pavlova. Sorry, thought I should throw that in. Also...personally, I don’t add sugar to the berries or the whipped cream but there’s nothing stopping you if that’s what you prefer. I like the fresh tastes as is and there is a lot of sugar in the Pavlova anyway.