Cranberries... Beyond the sauce

It is the mad baking rush for those of us traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday. At some point I will get around to posting the Gingerbread cookie and House madness I have been going through the last couple of days. But for now, a Thanksgiving tradition.. Well at least since 2000.

Carameled Cranberry Pecan Tart 

6 oz Pecans, chopped
3/4 cup sugar - Divided
3/4 cup light corn syrup
2 TB unsalted butter
3 large eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
6 oz fresh cranberries, chopped
1 baked (10-inch) Tart Shell - I use 1/2 batch of Pate Brisee but a Pilsbury ready-made will work too.

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Toast pecans in a shallow baking pan in middle of oven for 5 minutes.
Leave oven on.
In a 2-quart saucepan melt 1/2 cup sugar over low heat until it begins to melt.
Continue cooking, stirring occasionally with a fork, to assure even melting, until sugar is melted into a deep golden caramel.
Tilt pan and add corn syrup; please do this carefully as it will bubble and steam - The caramel will harden but don't worry, it melts again.
Cook over moderately low heat, stirring, until caramel is dissolved.
Remove caramel from flame and add butter, stirring until melted.
Let caramel sit to cool until it stops bubbling.
In a heat proof bowl, whisk eggs with salt, vanilla, and remaining 1/4 cup sugar.
Add caramel in a stream, whisking constantly.
Spread pecans and cranberries evenly in tart shell and pour caramel over them, tapping pecans and cranberries down to coat thoroughly with caramel-y goodness.
Bake tart until filling is set, about 30 minutes.
Cool completely in pan on a rack before removing rim of pan.


Mangia!!
~~

Food Forward - Seared Prosciutto Wrapped Endive

I have suddenly noticed a trend in my food preparation... each consecutive night finds 1 ingredient from the previous night. Sort of a leftover carryover. It all started with the Fennel and Apple Salad. I had a part of a fennel bulb left over, so the next night, as posted in "Finocchio Reduex" I mixed that with Parmagiano-Reggiano and Pecans, then stuffed Belgian Endive leaves. Now I had Endive left over, which brings me to this evenings dinner of Seared Endive.

Now, I have to admit that I would love to sooth my conscience by stating that this is just another salad, but, lets call a spade a spade. After all, I stuffed Gorgonzola between the leaves and wrapped it into a nice tidy package with Prosciutto... I am thinking this is more of an appetizer than a salad, regardless of the fact that it is based on endive. I chose to pair this with a nice Muscat Canelli as I like the way the apple and pear flavors play against gorgonzola.

Now I must apologize, because I was so hungry while I was doing this, that I did not stop to take pictures during the process as I have on my other recipes.

Never the less, just as before.... The players:


2 Small Belgian Endive
2 oz Gorgonzola Cheese
2 TB Walnuts
8 Slices of Prosciutto
Olive oil for rubbing

Quarter the Endive lengthwise.
Dice Gorgonzola and place in a small bowl.
Mince walnuts and to the Gorgonzola; toss together.
Lift half the leaves of an endive quarter and stuff with a small amount of the walnut gorg mixture.
Press leaves back together.
Wrap each endive quarter with a slice of prosciutto.
Place a skillet over medium flame.
Brush with olive oil, or even better, with garlic infused or lemon infused olive oil.
Sear all three sides, about 1 to 2 minutes on each side, just until the prosciutto starts to become crispy.


Serve hot as an appetizer for 4, with a nice well chilled Muscat Canelli.

Finocchio (fennel) Redeux

Fennel Fascination continued.........
Summer heat combined with the fact that my apartment is on the second floor causes the ambient temperature of my abode to rise rather quickly when the "fire god of the kitchen", AKA: my gas range, is engaged in transforming raw food with the power of flame. Thus, during the summer months I tend to be more of an uncooked food eater. This puts salads at the top of the list of consumables. I was lucky enough, when I picked up my fennel bulb, to find some Belgian endive (on-deeve) as well. So I decided to stuff it with a chopped mixture, and while it makes a hearty salad for one, it also makes a great appetizer for many.

Enter the participants.

1 small Garlic Clove
1/2 tsp Sel Gris
1/2 TB Crème Fraîche
1 TB Lemon Juice
1 TB Extra Virgin Olive oil
1 1/2 oz Parmigiano-Reggiano; diced (About 1/3 cup)
1/3 cup Fennel bulb; finely diced
1/2 cup Pecans; lightly toasted and chopped
2 TB Flat Leaf Parsley; finely chopped
1 Belgian Endive; leaves separated

Toast pecans until fragrant. I usually do this in a pan on the stove, as it just seems easier to shake a pan on the stove over low heat than to heat up the oven to 350 and have to keep opening it to smell them. Set aside to cool slightly before chopping.

Place the salt and garlic clove in a mortar and grind into a paste with the pestle.
Add garlic paste, olive oil, lemon juice, and Crème Fraîche to a small bowl and whisk until well combined.

Dice Fennel and add to the dressing; toss to coat.

Dice Parmigiano-Reggiano and Parsley and add to the bowl; toss again.

Separate Endive leaves, then add the pecans to the salad and toss to combine.
Stuff about 1 1/2 TB into each leaf and place on a plate.
Serve as an appetizer or do what I do and grab a glass of chilled Frascati, a light white composed of malvasia and trebbiano grapes, and dig in.

Mangia!!
~~