Sables - sand cookies

there's quite a bit of mango curd leftover from the barquettes yesterday, so i decided to make sables (sand cookies) to use up all the curd. this is the keylime sables recipe adopted from Martha Stewart's desert book. i used mango curd instead of key lime, obviously. and for the extract, i used bergamot since i don't have mango extract. bergamot is in the citrus family and i had some lemon in the curd, so it's the logical choice considering what i have available.

for the sables:
200gr flour, plus more for rolling
50gr powder sugar, plus more for dusting
25gr sugar
170gr butter, cut into 1/4" cubes, chilled
1/2 teaspoon of coarse salt
1-1/2 teaspoon of bergamot (or mango) extract

for the mango curd, same recipe as mango barquettes from yesterday.

in the food processor bowl, pulse flour, powder sugar, sugar, salt for a couple seconds to mix the dry ingredients. add butter pulse for about 10 seconds to get to corm meal texture. add extract, pulse for about 5 seconds more to get to crumbly texture. turn the crumbs on to a work surface, gather them into a ball, wrap in plastic and chill for at least 2hrs.

preheat oven at 325F

roll out the dough to 1/8" thick, use 2" round (Martha used square) flute cutter to cut out cookies. . place cookies on parchment lined sheet, cut half of the cookies with 1/2" - 3/4" round cutter in the center. bake for 15 minutes until the bottom edge of the cookies turn golden. transfer to rack and let cool completely

dust the cut out sables with powder sugar. spread about 1 teaspoon of curd on top of each whole sable, place the cut out sables on top of the whole sables to make sandwiches. chill sables for about 20 minutes for everything to set before serving.

Mango Meringue tart

i saved all the dough scraps from last week berry tart, there was quite a bit of scraps and i couldn't bring myself to throw them away. so i decided to make mini tarts again. I reworked the dough a bit more for the scraps to become one big piece. the shell turned out ok, not as flaky as last week but it's kind of expected. i adapted the mango curd recipe i found on line from epicurious and the meringue recipe from Martha Stewart.

for the shell, left over pate brisee from last week berry tart.

for the meringue (more than enough for 20 mini boat tarts, 3-1/4" size)
75gr egg white (about 2 large egg whites)
40gr sugar
pinch of salt

for the mango curd (enough for 60 mini boat tarts, 3-1/4" size)
240 gr mango cut in 1" pieces.
85gr sugar
30gr lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
60gr butter, cut into 6 slices, chilled
70gr egg yolk, about 4 yolks.
pinch of salt

puree all ingredients except the egg yolks, i used hand blender for this task. add yolks to mixture and blend well. strain mixture through a sieve.
whisk curd mixture over simmering water until curd temperature registers 170F, this took me about 20-25 minutes. remove from simmering water, whisk in the chilled butter 1 slice at a time. when the last slice of butter is incorporated, the curd should be cool to the touch. cover and let it rest in refrigerator for 3 hrs or overnight.


roll out tart dough, fit dough into mini boat pans. prick the dough a few time with a fork, line with foil and add pie weight. i just stacked another boat pan on top and add pie weight since it was kind of challenging to line a tiny tart shell with foil. chilled for 30 minutes. bake for about 12-15 minutes at 375F. since the tart shells are smaller, they were baked faster this time.

let the tart shell cool down completely. fill tart shells with curd, let them rest in refrigerator while making meringue.

whisk egg whites with salt over simmering water until frothy, add sugar and whisk until sugar disolves and the meringue is warm to the touch. remove from simmering water and beat util stiff peak. pile it on top of tarts and set it under broiler at 500F for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. watch it carefully since meringue get burnt real fast. i set the tarts on the bottom rack so the meringue would brown slower.

i've never made meringue before, the meringue was kind of sliding allover the place when i piled it on the first couple tarts and the meringue texture was kind of like dried foam. i decided to deflate the meringue by stirring vigorously with a flexible spatula. the meringue then seemed more agreeable to work with.

Berry tart with white chocolate mascarpone

Sunday, my baking day. i got some new mini tart pans - in boat shape and rectangle - so for this week, tart it is. i decided to fill the tart with mascarpone and white chocolate - a recipe adapted from Nigela Lawson's book - Domestic Goddess. i like this filling instead of traditional custard. it tastes less sugary, lighter (i'm not sure if it is actually lighter??), cleaner, and so simple to make. For the shell, i used another domestic goddess - Martha Stewart - pate brisee recipe since i like all butter crust (not 1/2 butter and 1/2 shortenning like most recipes).
Tart shells:
325 gr flour
230 gr butter cut in small cubes, chilled
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
50 gr ice water
mix flour, salt, sugar in food processor for 2 seconds. add chilled butter, pulse until the texture gets to cornmeal texture, about 20 seconds. add ice water through the food processor tube and continue to pusle until the dough come together and still dry. turn the dough on to a work surface, form into 2 discs, wrap with plastic and chill in refridgerator for at least 1 hr.
pre heat oven at 375F. roll out dough, fit dough into mini tart pans. prick tart shells with a fork in a few places, line tart shells with foil and add pie weight. chill tart shells in refridgerator for at least 30 minutes. bake for about 20 minutes, remove foil and pie weight, bake for 4-5 more minutes. let tart shells cool down to room temp.
Filling:
60gr dark chocolate, chopped - optional (i used callebaut brand)
60gr white chocolate, chopped (i used el rey brand)
60gr heavy whipping cream
250 gr mascarpone ( i used ciresa brand)
fruit for topping, i used blueberries and raspberries.
glaze, i used 50 gr blueberry jam + 2 table spoon water for blueberries only, i left the raspberries unglazed.
melt dark chocolate over simmering water, coat inside the tart shells with chocolate using a brush, this step is optional. i do like a thin layer of dark chocolate to add more texture and flavor.
melt white chocolate over simmering water, let it cool for a couple minutes. beat mascarpone and cream at low speed until well incorporated, about 20 seconds. add white chocolate, beat at low speed for 10-20 seconds. fill piping bag, use any round or star decorating tip for piping. fill the shells with mascarpone cream, top with fruits.
if using glaze, bring jam and water to a boil, let it cool down and brush the fruits with glaze.

Delica rf-1

saturday, i had to go to work... yike! i got out at 3 in the afternoon and decided to swing by the ferry building to get some japanese food for dinner. i used to come to the ferry building for lunch all the time back when our office was still downtown. now it's a real treat to come here, i do miss the japanese delicatessen in the ferry building. the food here has very delicate taste which i love, everything here tastes just right to me. i ordered the shrimp, gobo (burdock root), edamame (soy bean)tempura and 1/2 lb of the gobo/lotus root salad, yummy. the salad has shaved celery, onion, shreded carrot, konnyaku (japanese mountain potato) and mizuna (japanese green). tasty as always, what a refreshing treat after the heavy birthday dindin last night.
http://www.delicarf1.com/

Jeanty at Jacks

Friday night, a small group of friends (3) and i gathered at Jeanty at Jacks - a classic french restaurant in the financial district to celebrate our little friend's birthday.
starting out with the extensive wine list, we decided to get a bottle of french red from bordeaux since we were in a french restaurant... but of course!
the starters were yummy! we ordered the salmon carpacio, the pork belly and lentil stew, the pike dumplings in lobster sauce and... the lobster bisque with dungeness crab. YUM! we shared all the appetizers, i didn't try the salmon and the bisque since salmon is not my favorite and i just feel weird about sharing soup... i don't know.... but the pork belly was ummmm... good! it was well caramelized and stewed with lentil, very tender and sweet... the pike dumpling was delish, i wished i ordered one more of that for the entree.
then came the entrees, oh my... the portion was large, enough for 2 hungry hogs... i ordered the rib eye with bernaise sauce and fries and i got (i think) a pound of meat! i need to go on a diet after this. i completely forgot what my friends ordered, i remember the giant pork chop... and that's it. anyway i finished my steak with the wine, i only had a few fries so i didn't feel too guilty. if i dine here next time, i'd just order 2 starters or 1 starter and spit the entree.
and we weren't done yet, oh no. no birthday dinner is complete without desert. i think we were all in a food coma at that point so we decided to order the lemon sorbet and the creme caramel to share. what a delightful surprise, i love the sorbet - so light and fresh that it took me out of my rib eye coma. the creme caramel came with a thin palmier and i think i ate most of it...


http://www.jeantyatjacks.com/

still deciphering the macarons

i found some black currant jam yesterday at wholefood and decided to fill the macarons with black currant jam.
i used the same regular meringue recipe as last week and the result was kind of mixed. the first tray was good but the remaining trays got a bit deflated outside the oven. they all have good tops and beautiful feet in the oven - as in picture. when i took the tray out of the oven some of the tops got deflated and almost wrinkled but not quite yet. i wonder why??? last week, the last tray also got deflated a bit but not as bad as this week.
the jam, even though sugar free (it was made with grape juice and fruit pectin) is still too sweet when added to the macarons. i think i'll fill with macarons with buttercream base from now on. And the black currant extract was too artificial, the macarons smelled like jolly rancher!
i'll revisit and experiment with the recipe some more. But next week, i am going to take a break from the macarons and bake something new.

Lunar New Year dindin at Umami

New Year day, we still had to work late! i was looking forward to the dindin and a chance to escape work at 7pm. Umami is on Webster at Unnion, all this time i've been up and down Union street and did not notice?? the menu offers Pan Asian dishes and a seperate menu for sushi. the drink menu was interesting... i couldn't remember what was in my drink but the liquor was cachacca some sort of sugarcane brazillian rum, it was interesting. others ordered some kind of champagne with elderberry and the "faded crane"??? - some sort of cocktail with satsuma citrus. i tried all the drinks and my favorite was the champagne with elderberry. my friends all got seconds but i decided to have a pinot blanc from Alsace with my meal, buzzzzz....
the meal portion was bigger than i thought. since the menu did not indicate appetizers or entrees, i assumed that everything was tapas size. we ordered 3 appetizers to share and 3 dishes for entrees. the appetizers were yumyum! the edamame humus was good with fresh cumin leaves, much milder flavor than dried cumin powder. the popcorn rockshrimps was tasty, the rockshrimp texture has more bite with the thin/ light crunchy tempura batter and the pop of tobiko... all that texture was perfectly seasoned with soy aioli. i ate that with the shiso garnish, i think they should serve this dish with more shiso... and the last appertizer was the chicken gyoza or potstickers, tasty! i had the scallops for entree, it was very good but i think i always prefer snacky appetizers...
the desert was too much for me, we ordered pineapple crumb tapioca pudding with vanilla ice cream and caramel topping... delicious and alot of it!!! way to start the new year.
http://www.umamisf.com/