Ham and arugula quiche and something good that won't last long

As I move towards the last episodes of The Killing, I keep thinking of how unfair it is for such a fantastic TV show to be cancelled at such an early stage (the show’s been cancelled twice, actually, which is even more shocking). I’ve read that Netflix has ordered a fourth season consisting of six episodes to conclude the series – thank you, Netflix – but it is still hard for me to understand how something so good can last so little – the über boring Frasier had eleven seasons, for crying out loud.

Quiches are something I never eat unless I make them (or my grandmother – she makes mean quiches) – the soggy pastry usually tastes like nothing and the filling is tough and equally flavorless. :S When I eat quiche I want the pastry to be buttery and flaky and the filling to be silky, with a little wobble. The recipe I bring today is slightly different: the base is made with puff pastry – which was perfect for me since I was short on time that day – and the parmesan sprinkled on top of the filling creates a golden and crisp topping. Yum – thank you, Donna.

I guess that good food made properly is like good TV series: we don’t get them often, so when we do we should enjoy them to the fullest.

Ham and arugula quiche
from the always delicious Donna Hay magazine

1 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter
1 onion, finely chopped
8 eggs
1 cup (240ml) single cream
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 sheets store-bought puff pastry, thawed
250g sliced ham, torn
2 cups baby arugula leaves
½ cup finely ground parmesan

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F and place a large baking sheet inside to heat up. Heat a frying pan over high heat, add the butter and onion and cook for 1-2 minutes or until golden. Transfer to a large bowl and cool. Add the eggs, cream, salt and pepper and whisk to combine. Line two 18cm loose-bottomed lightly buttered fluted tart pans with the pastry and trim the edges. Prick the cakes with a fork. Refrigerate for 10 minutes. Divide the ham and arugula between the tart shells and carefully pour over the egg mixture. Sprinkle with the parmesan and transfer to the oven (onto the baking sheet). Bake for about 30 minutes or until tops are puffed and golden.
Cool slightly and serve.

serves 8 - I made three 10cm (4in) tartlets eyeballing the amounts of rocket and ham and using 1 300g-sheet of puff pastry, 3 eggs, 1/3 cup cream, pinch of freshly ground nutmeg, ½ onion, 1 tablespoon butter and 3 tablespoons parmesan

Roast onion tart and giveaway winners

Hello, everyone!

A new year has begun and to kick things off in a great way I have the list of the giveaway winners! The comments were drawn using Random.com. Please send me an email (patricia [dot] scarpin [at] gmail.com) with your first and last names and your magazine of choice until January, 10th, 2013:

- Silvana
- KJB
- Kyrsten
- Laura (Tutti Dolci)
- Isla Bonita

Congratulations!

***

I don’t know about you, but year beginnings are pretty busy to me – therefore, I’ll leave you with an easy and delicious tart, a recipe I’ve made twice already.

Roast onion tart
from the always yummy and beautiful Australian Gourmet Traveller

¼ cup (60ml) extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
finely grated rind of 1 lemon
2 red onions, thinly sliced horizontally
2 onions, thinly sliced horizontally
350g puff pastry sheet
1 egg, lightly beaten with a fork, for brushing
85g creamy goat’s cheese*

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Line a large baking sheet with baking paper.
Combine oil, vinegar, thyme and lemon zest in a small bowl and season to taste. Place onion slices in a single layer on prepared sheet, keeping slices intact (don't separate into rings). Drizzle over half the oil mixture and roast until very tender and lightly browned (20-25 minutes), cool to room temperature.
Turn oven temperature to 200°C/400°C.
Trim pastry to a 20x25cm (8x10in) rectangle and place on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Score a 1cm border partway through pastry, prick inside border with a fork, brush edges with the beaten egg. Spread goat's cheese within border, arrange roast onions on top, bake until pastry is risen, golden and cooked through (about 20 minutes). Drizzle over remaining oil mixture, serve hot with a leaf salad.

* I’ve made this tart twice, and once I used homemade ricotta seasoned with salt, freshly ground black pepper and lemon juice – it worked out fine

Serves 4

Apple and cinnamon tarte fines

I’m not a very huge fan of animated movies but I do have a few favorites: “Finding Nemo”, “Mulan”, “Spirited Away” and “Kung Fu Panda” – the hubby loves the latter, too, and last night we watched "Kung Fu Panda 2" together. I have to say that choosing Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman as the voices of Po and Shifu was a really bright idea – they’re perfect for the roles. And my favorite actor is so complete and talented that he kicks ass even as a cartoon. :D
Even thought the hubby and I thought the first movie was better, we both enjoyed “Kung Fu Panda 2” a lot, and at the end of the movie Joao looked at me and smiled: I was crying like a baby. :D

***
This tart, though simple and with 5 ingredients only, was a huge success with my sisters-in-law: they loved it. This is more an assembling job than a recipe, but due to the nice comments I got for it I decided to share it with you.

Apple and cinnamon tarte fines
from the always delicious and gorgeous Australian Gourmet Traveller

350g puff pastry sheet
2 small Granny Smith apples, unpeeled
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 220°C/428°F and place a baking sheet in the oven while it’s heating.
Trim pastry to a 23x25cm (9x10in) rectangle, place on a piece of baking paper (I used foil) and prick all over with a fork.
Thinly slice apples on a mandolin to 2mm thick and arrange over pastry, overlapping slices and leaving a 5mm border. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a bowl, scatter half over apples. Dot apples with half the butter, then transfer pastry and baking paper to heated oven tray and bake on top shelf of oven until pastry begins to brown, 8-10 minutes. Scatter with remaining cinnamon sugar, dot with remaining butter and bake until apples are tender and browned on edges and pastry is dark golden and crisp, 10-15 minutes.
Cool slightly on the sheet over a wire rack for 5 minutes, then transfer the paper with the tart to the rack. Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Serves 6

Asparagus and ricotta tarts

Joao bought a bunch of asparagus a while ago and, for some reason I can’t remember now we did not eat them right away – I ended up freezing the asparagus but wasn’t sure if that would work.

I decided to make tartlets to check if the asparagus were still good and they turned out delicious – I place the asparagus still frozen on top of the ricotta filling and baked according to the recipe.

No asparagus around? Don’t fret – I think these tartlets would be great with other veggies, such as broccolini and zucchini.

Asparagus and ricotta tarts
adapted from Donna Hay magazine

1 sheet ready-prepared butter puff pastry, thawed
¾ cup (150g) fresh ricotta
1 cup finely grated parmesan
¼ cup parsley leaves, chopped
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon olive oil – I used garlic infused
salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 asparagus spears, trimmed
olive oil extra, for brushing

Preheat the oven to 200°C/390°F. Line a large baking sheet with foil.
Cut out four 12x6cm rectangles from the pastry sheet and place on the prepared sheet. Score a 1cm border on each rectangle.
Place the ricotta, parmesan, lemon zest, parsley, salt and pepper in a bowl and stir to combine. Spoon the ricotta mixture onto the pastry and top with the asparagus. Brush the pastry borders with the oil. Bake for 12–15 minutes or until the pastry is puffed and golden. Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Strawberry tarte tatins

I’ve been watching some episodes of “Brothers and Sisters” and have to say I feel like I could become addicted to it – actually, the idea of getting all the DVDs to watch the show from the start has crossed my mind once or twice already. :)
Even though I’ve been enjoying the show, it makes me quite emotional – so thank you, “Brothers and Sisters”, for making me almost cry every time I listen to “Never say never”, including when I’m driving to work. :S

There’s someone else I’d like to thank today: Donna Hay, for introducing me to strawberry tarte tatins – what a delicious dessert. And now I’m not being ironic. :)

Strawberry tarte tatins
from Donna Hay magazine

2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter
¼ cup (50g) caster sugar
1 ½ tablespoons water
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
butter, for greasing
500g strawberries, hulled and sliced in half if too large
300g all butter puff pastry, thawed*
whipped cream, to serve

Preheat oven to 200°C/390°F. Place the butter, sugar, water and vanilla (seeds and bean) in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Stop stirring, bring to the boil and cook for 5 minutes, remove from the heat and discard the vanilla bean.
Lightly grease four 10cm round pie dishes with the butter. Place the strawberries in the dishes and pour over the caramel.
Place the pastry on a lightly floured surface and roll out to 5mm thick. Cut four 11cm rounds from the pastry and place on top of the strawberries. Place the dishes on a baking tray and bake the tarts for 25-30 minutes or until the pastry is puffed and golden. Turn the tarts out onto plates and top with whipped cream to serve – be careful not to get burned by the piping hot juices when unmolding the tarts.

* inspired by my friend Ana Elisa, I made her take on Flo Braker’s Pretty Darn Quick Puff Pastry (from this book) and it worked wonderfully; half her recipe is enough for the four tarte tatins

Serves 4

Puff pastry cheese twists

Do you know anyone who doesn’t like puff pastry? I don’t – it is so good that even my picky hubby loves it. :D

He had some cheese twists in Ottolenghi and absolutely loved them. I’ve been making these for him ever since, but usually at night – no good light for taking pictures. Luckily this time there were some twists left, but they were devoured right after I turned off my camera. :D

Puff pastry cheese twists
from a Brazilian magazine

1 pre rolled sheet frozen puff pastry (300g/10oz)
1 egg yolk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
½ cup (50g) finely ground parmesan
1 teaspoon fleur de sel – less if using table salt
freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF; line one large baking sheet with baking paper and brush it lightly with oil.

Thaw puff pastry according to the package instructions; open it, forming a rectangle – keep the plastic wrap under it. In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk and butter together and brush the entire pastry with the mixture (there will be some left). Sprinkle with the parmesan, the fleur de sel and pepper. Fold the pastry in half and lightly press it to seal the filling. Using a very sharp knife or pizza wheel, cut the pastry vertically in 1.5cm (a little over ½ in) strips, then cut the strips in half (horizontally). Twist each strip pressing the ends together again to enclose the filling. Place the twists onto the prepared pan ½-in apart.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden.

Makes 18-20

Roasted tomato and goat's cheese tart with fresh oregano

Apparently, it’s still winter here – after a week of 33ºC (91.4ºF) days, we’ve been having much colder ones.

I know that tomatoes are much tastier in the summer, but I would never be able to wait that long to make Pille’s wonderful tart. Would you? :)
The only change I made was to use fresh oregano instead of thyme - just because I happen to grow it.

I used to have a hard time digesting garlic but is all in the past now: my friend Clarice told me to remove the central root off the garlic cloves before using them and it has worked like a charm.

Oh, and a little side note: remember my sake panna cotta? It was the most voted recipe on the event I made it for! Yay! :D

Roasted tomato and goat's cheese tart with fresh oregano

500g puff pastry, rolled
150g soft and creamy goat cheese*
4 teaspoons fresh oregano leaves
2 fresh garlic cloves, minced
500g ripe plum tomatoes
extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt

Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF.

Roll out the puff pastry to 30x40 cm rectangle and place on a slightly oiled baking sheet. Carefully score a line about 1 cm from the edge along the pastry, but do not cut through! This will help the filling to stay inside the pastry and the edges to puff up nicely.

Mix the goat cheese, minced garlic, oregano leaves, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Spread the mixture evenly on the puff pastry sheet (remaining inside the scored line).
Cut the tomatoes into 3-5mm slices and place nicely next to each other on top of the goat cheese. Sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper and drizzle some olive oil on top.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, until the pasty is golden and tomatoes have dried up a little.
Before serving, scatter some more oregano leaves on top. Cut into squares and serve.

* my cheese was a bit crumbly, so I added a bit of olive oil and mixed it all with a fork

Serves 6-8

Broccolini, cheese and rosemary tart

I love puff pastry. I have to admit it. I know it’s not light or healthy and not good at all for my waistline, but the thing is delicious.
I never buy puff pastry exactly because I’m not that kind of moderate lady who knows when to stop eating something unless I’m at a party or having lunch with my bosses – that’s when I pretend to be that kind of lady.

There was some puff pastry left because of this recipe and since I’m not into wasting food – even when it’s fattening as hell - I used it to make a quick lunch. It was great because I needed to be back in the kitchen to finish the gateau.

I got the idea from this book – it was a potato, goat’s cheese and rosemary tart. My tart was made with the cheese and the broccolini left from our Saturday night pizza.



I liked it so much that I decided to use it as my entry for this Weekend Herb Blogging, this time hosted by Kalyn, the great mind behind this great event.

Broccolini, cheese and rosemary tart
adapted from Modern Classics Book 1

1 cup grated yellow mozzarella
½ cup grated parmesan
2 heaping cups broccolini florets
1 tablespoon rosemary leaves
puff pastry
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 205ºC/400ºF.
Cut the broccolini florets into bite-sized portions and quickly steam or blanch them – I prefer to steam because they remain firmer and greener. Set aside to cool.
Mix the two types of cheese in a small bowl.
Cut a 25x20cm rectangle on your puff pastry and place it on a lined baking sheet. Spread the broccolini florets on top, leaving the borders without filling (2.5cm should work).
Season with salt and pepper.
Spread the cheese over the broccolini and then top with the rosemary leaves.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden and puffed.
Serve with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

I think it can serve 2 with something on the side – I had ¾ of the tart and nothing else. João didn’t want tart but when he saw me eating it he kept asking for bites (he was having spaghetti, for crying out loud).

Gateau Saint Honore

I'm having a slice of the cake while I type this. It is good, but I can’t say it’s my cup of tea…
I love puff pastry and even used the amount I had left to make lunch today. The Saint Honore cream is so delicious that I was afraid there was not going to be enough to assemble the cake – I kept reaching for spoons in my drawer and dipping them into the smooth mixture, promising that it would be the last time I was going to do that. Caramel is caramel – the word itself makes my mouth water. Cream puffs are a classic – everybody likes them, even my-not--into-sweets husband. So, what’s wrong?

In my humble opinion, all these incredibly delicious things just don’t go well together – I know it sounds insane since this cake is such a big staple in patisserie and all, but for me it wasn’t all that.

I’m glad I could try making cream puffs for the first time – actually, João is way happier with it than me. :)
I still have a lot to learn and improve and I thank the two ladies behind this for making the opportunity I needed to start trying my hand on that.

I’m sure the other Daring Bakers have some interesting cakes and points of view to share – you can find their links on the sidebar.

Since I used store-bought puff pastry I’m not going to post the recipe for that – only for the rest of the cake.

Oh, and let's forget the fact that my caramel decorations suck.

Gateau Saint Honore

Pate a Choux – Cream Puffs Dough:
135g (4 ¾ oz) all purpose flour
240ml (1 cup) water
58g (2 oz) unsalted butter
¼ teaspoon salt
240ml (1 cup) eggs

Sift the flour and set aside.Heat the water, butter and salt to a full rolling boil, so that the fat is not just floating on the top but is dispersed throughout the liquid.Stir the flour into the liquid with a heavy wooden spoon, adding it as fast as it can be absorbed. Avoid adding it all at once or it will form clumps.
Cook, stirring constantly and breaking up the lumps if necessary, by pressing them against the side of the pan with the back of the spoon until the mixture comes away from the sides of the pan, about 2-3 minutes.Transfer the dough to a mixer bowl. Let the paste cool slightly so that the eggs will not cook when they are added. You can add and stir the eggs by hand but it requires some serious elbow grease.
Mix in the eggs, one at a time, using the paddle attachment on low or medium speed. Do not add all the eggs at once. Check after a few, the dough should have the consistency of thick mayonnaise – I ended up using only 4 out of 5 eggs.
Transfer the dough to a piping bag and use as desired.

Saint Honore Cream (Rapid Chiboust or Diplomat Cream):
7g (1 envelope) unflavored gelatin
60ml (¼ cup) cold water
130g (½ cup + 2 tablespoons) sugar
70g (½ cup) all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
5 egg yolks
480ml (2 cups) whole milk
1 tablespoon rum – I used vanilla extract
60ml (¼ cup) whipping cream
3 egg whites
dash of salt
100g (½ cup sugar)

Soak the gelatin in the ¼ cup of cold water.
Put the sugar, flour, and salt into a saucepan and stir together with a whisk. Add the yolks and enough milk to make a paste. Whisk in the remainder of the milk.Place over low heat and stirring constantly, cook until thick. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and the gelatin. Stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved.Stir in the whipping cream. Set the mixing bowl in cold water and stir until the cream is cool. Place the egg whites in a clean bowl and using clean beaters, whip them with the dash of salt. As soon as the whites begin to stiffen, gradually add the ½ cup of sugar and beat until they are very stiff.
Fold the egg whites into the cooled cream.

Caramel:
240g (8 oz) sugar

Decoration:
240ml (1 cup) heavy cream
1 teaspoon sugar - I used 1 tablespoon

Assembly the cake:
Roll the puff pastry out to 3mm (1/8 in) thick, 30xm (12 in) square. Place on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate covered at least 20 minutes.While the puff pastry is resting, make the pate a choux and place it in a pastry bag with a #4 (8mm) plain tip. Reserve.Leaving the puff pastry on the sheet pan, cut a 27.5cm (11 in) circle from the dough and remove the scraps. (An easy way to cut it is to use an 11in tart pan as a “cookie cutter”). Prick the circle lightly with a fork.Pipe 4 concentric rings of pate a choux on the pastry circle – as I made a smaller cake, I piped only 2 circles. Pipe out 12 cream puffs the size of Bing cherries onto the paper around the cake – I used only 8 cream puffs.Bake the puff pastry circle and the cream puffs at 205ºC (400ºF) until the pate a choux has puffed, about 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 190ºC (375ºF) and bake until everything is dry enough to hold its shape, about 35 minutes longer for the cake and 8 minutes longer for the cream puffs (just pick them up and take them out as they are done).
Place about 114g (4 oz) of the Saint Honore Cream in a pastry bag with a #2 (4mm) plain tip. Use the pastry bag tip or the tip of a paring knife to make a small hole in the bottom of each cream puff. Pipe the cream into the cream puffs to fill them. Refrigerate.Spread the remaining cream filling on the cake. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours to set the cream. Caramelize the 240g (8 oz) of sugar. Fill a bowl that is large enough to hold the pan used for cooking the sugar with enough cold water to reach halfway up the sides of the pan. Set the bowl aside. Place the sugar in a heavy bottomed pan and cook until the sugar until it has caramelized to just a shade lighter than the desired color.Remove from the heat and immediately place the bottom of the pan in the bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process. Dip the cream puffs into the hot caramel, using 2 forks or tongues to avoid burning your fingers. Place them on a sheet pan. The caramel must be hot enough to go on in a thin layer. Reheat if necessary as you are dipping, stirring constantly to avoid darkening the caramel any more than necessary. Also, avoid any Saint Honore cream to leak out of the puffs and get mixed in with the caramel while dipping as the cream can cause the sugar to recrystallize.
Whip the one cup of heavy cream and teaspoon of sugar to stiff peaks. Place the whipped cream in pastry bag fitted with a #5 (10mm) star tip. Pipe a border of whipped cream around the top of the cake. Arrange the cream puffs, evenly spaced, on top of the filling, next to the cream – I decided to secure them using caramel.

Option: Before filling the cake, take care of the cream puffs, dip them in more caramel, hook them up to the base. Fill with the cream filling and fill the holes with the whipped cream.