Crostatas (2 versions)- Onion, Bacon & Mushrooms and a Red pear crostata *Daring Bakers*

Making my own pastry has always been a very satisfying process. Frozen puff pastry being that easily unavailable further adds to the process. Now why am I talking pastry doughs? It is because today is when the Daring bakers worldwide post this month's challenge. And this month, the hostess Simona from Briciole invited us to make Crostata, an italian dessert. A crostata is a baked tart. Usually, it is made by folding the edges of the dough over the sides and top of the filling or rather  free form  and not in a tart pan giving it a more rough look. In Simona's words,  The base of a crostata is pasta frolla (or pastafrolla), sweet short crust pastry (or sweet tart dough) made of flour, sugar, butter and eggs. Pasta frolla is versatile: it provides the base to make crostata with fruit preserves, pastry cream, fresh fruit, ricotta, and other ingredients, and, by itself, it makes very nice cookies.

I made two versions. One was using a tart pan and the other were the free form ones typical of a crostata. We were given 2 versions of the pasta frolla. The recipe that I have here is of the version I used + the recipe for the fillings. For the entir recipe, visit Simona's space.

What you see above is an Onion, Bacon and Mushroom Tart. And how I made it is:

For the Pasta Frolla (for a 9" pie plate, sufficient enough for a 5" pie plate and two free form crostatas)

2 T Powdered Sugar
1 + 3/4 C AP Flour
pinch of salt
8T Cold unsalted butter (cut into cubes)
Lemon Zest of 1/2 a lemon
1 egg+1 egg yolk (lightly beaten)

 I used a food processor. So pulse sugar, flour, salt and lemon zest a few times to mix. Add butter to make a coarse meal. Transfer to a flat surface and make a well in the center. Add the beaten eggs and knead lightly until it all comes together. Shape into a disk and cwrap with a cling film and refrigerate for 2 hours. WHile it rested there, I made my fillings, both the savoury and the sweet. 

For the filling

50 g Butter
3 Onions, chopped
100 g Bacon, rinded and chopped
100 ml Sour Cream
2 eggs (lightly beaten)
seasoning as per choice

Melt butter in a pan, and fry the bacons, onion snad the mushrooms until sfot but not browned. Remove and stir in the remaining filling ingredients.
meanwhile, remove the refrigerated dough and roll into the required size of the tart tine. Blind bake for 5 minutes . Remove, add the fillings and smoothen the top. Bake until golden brown in an oven at 180 degree C for 20 mins.

Verdict:
Baked to a lovely golden brown, this tart made a super yummy meal. Served hot, warm or cold, the taste isn't compromised either way. A perfect surprise for the hungry family members at tea.

Coming to the the authentic way of making a crostata ie free form, I used sweet fillings to further surprise the family for after dinner dessert. Surprised and hearty they were. 

What you need for the filling are:

1 large red pear, skinned and chopped into small pieces
1/2 C of vanilla sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
1 T of butter

Toss the above three in a bowl  and tarsnsfer to the dough. Fold the edges of the dough up along the sides and over the fillings and bake for 15 minutes.

Verdict:
Tastes best when served warm. Make superb desserts. Impresses anyone at the first bite. Until now, apples and cinnamon  and the treacle one had won me over but not now. For now, these stand as the most impressive in all aspects with the flavour, rustic look and all.


The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Simona of briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi’s Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well.

Beans and Carrot thoran

My fingers ache to publish a post as regular as it was a year ago. I want it to happen too but it still remains irregular.. very irregular at that. When comes to food I like, a lot of cuisines interest me, but I always find comfort in the food  the cuisine of Kerala. Guess the malayalee roots play a part here. Although Kerala cuisine is known for the important role spices and coconut oil play, what I have for you today is a simple stir fry that can me made in a very short time. Living all my life out of the specific region has given me a greater fascination for the food I guess. Anyway coming to the recipe, this stir fry or rather thoran as known in the local language, Malayalam, it comprises of green beans and carrots. There's coconut and more in it too. So read on for the recipe.

What you need are

Chopped carrot and beans- 500g 

Grated coconut-1 C

Green Chillies-2

Garlic-2cloves
Turmeric Powder-1/2t
Shallots-5 to 7 sliced thinly
Mustard Seeds-1/2t
Curry leaves-1 Sprig

Grind coconut, green chillies, garlic and turmeric powder to a coarse paste. In a pan, heat 1 T of oil, preferably coconut oil. Splutter the mustard seeds and add in the sliced shallots. When they turn soft, add in the beans, carrot and the coconut paste. Do not stir continously and do not add water. Cover and cook and stir occassionally. When done, add curry leaves and salt. 

Ideally, serve with rice and kachiya moru (buttermilk that is seasoned with spices).

A Cinnamon Pudding Cake *Cake Slice Bakers*

                                                                                                                                                                                                      A Cinnamon Pudding Cake is what the Cake Slice Bakers baked this month from the
Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman.

I have made  chocolate pudding cakes a number of times and loved it for all that gooey chocolatey goodness. So that was exactly what I expected from this cake too. The so called recipe calls for making a sauce on the stove and then pouring the sauce over the cake batter prior to baking.  On the private forum, there were a lot of issues of the cake being too dry or of not being able to get the cake off the tin despite a generous greasing. What I did was to line  my loaf tin with foil. It was easier to lift it off the tin. The sauce dissolves to the bottom when poured over the batter thereby giving it a nice glaze. Although visually the cake looked appealing, it was too sweet. The flavour of cinnamon was lost among all that sweetness. A tad dissapointed, but nonetheless this made a great trifle pudding.

(Recipe from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman)

Makes one 8 inch square pudding cake

For the Caramel Topping

1 cup plus 2 tbsp packed light brown sugar

¾ cup water

1 tbsp unsalted butter

½ tsp salt

For the Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

2½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp salt

2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup whole milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Method – Topping

Heat the oven to 350F. Spray the bottom and sides of an 8 inch square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

1) Combine the brown sugar, water,
butter and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, whisking
occasionally, then set aside to cool.

Method – Cake

1) Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a medium mixing bowl.

2)Combine the butter and granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl and

cream with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2

minutes.

3) With the mixer on medium-low speed, add a third of the flour mixture to the bowl. Add half of the

milk and the vanilla. Add another third of the flour, followed by the remaining milk and the rest of the flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds.

4) Scrape the batter onto the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Pour the topping over the batter (the pan will be very full). Carefully transfer the pan to the oven and bake until set, 45 to 50 minutes.

5) Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes, invert it onto a large rimmed serving platter and serve warm.

6) Let any leftover cake cool

completely before storing in an airtight container at room temperature

for 1 day or in the fridge for up to 3 days.