Apple Phyllo Tarts

Apple fritters, apple dumplings, or a buttery apple-filled coffee cake would have been delicious, but I wanted to keep things a little less indulgent at least until Valentine’s Day. So, I found a great way to use the apples I’ve been getting from my CSA in Martha Stewart's Healthy Quick Cook. These are easy, little tarts to make with store-bought phyllo dough, and I even found whole wheat phyllo dough to make them that much more virtuous. The phyllo tart shells are baked empty to keep them very crisp, and the cooked apples with their syrup get spooned into the shells just before serving. The recipe was kept simple and low-calorie for a dessert by using minimal amounts of butter and sugar. I did complicate matters just slightly by adding two additional ingredients with rosemary and lemon zest.

Once the phyllo was thawed by leaving it in the refrigerator overnight, the sheets needed to be cut into squares. I doubled the recipe to make eight tart shells instead of four and used six sheets of phyllo which were stacked and cut into seven inch squares. I’m terrible at eye-balling a straight, even-sided square, so I used my trusty, kitchen ruler. Ordinarily, when using phyllo, each piece is brushed with melted butter before another layer is added, but here, the butter was only used on the second of three layers. A scant bit of sugar was sprinkled on each layer, and three squares were stacked for each tart. The stacked layers of dough were then gently fitted into ring molds that had been sprayed with oil. I used English muffins rings. Then, the tart shells were baked for about ten minutes until crisp and golden. Meanwhile, apples were chopped and combined with lemon juice and apple juice, and I left the peels on them. Butter was melted in a skillet, one tablespoon of sugar was added to caramelize, and a splash of cognac gave it another layer of flavor. Out of instinct, I added some sea salt to the caramel. Then, the apples and juices were added to the pan and were left to cook while the sauce reduced, and that’s when I added a sprig of rosemary. The cooked apples and sauce were spooned into the tart shells, and I garnished with chopped rosemary and some lemon zest.

If you don’t have ring molds or English muffin rings handy, you can also just make little stacks of crumpled phyllo sheets to be baked and then topped with the apples. On television years ago, I saw Michel Richard prepare a recipe involving just that with multiple layers of apples and phyllo pieces served with custard. But, if you have a way to form cup shapes with the layers of phyllo, they hold the filling perfectly. I loved how they shattered into flaky bits when cutting into them with a fork. And, the caramel sauce with lemon and subtle rosemary flavor made the apples special without being too rich.

Grilled Fingerling Potatoes

Last weekend, when it was about 75 degrees outside which is just the way I like it at the end of January, we stood outside around the grill and watched as these potatoes crisped over the open flame. If I were making these potatoes again today I’d opt for a grill pan inside on top of the stove since right now, it’s 50 degrees cooler than it was last weekend. The potatoes would still be great grilled inside, and the sour cream drizzle, chile powder, and chopped cilantro have a lot to do with their flavor. Although, if you do have the opportunity to place these on a charcoal grill, the added smokiness they'll attain will make them even better. I received a review copy of a new, little book from Sur la Table called Everyday Grilling. It includes 50 recipes covering everything from appetizers to salads, sandwiches, vegetables, main dishes, and desserts, and there are some great grilling tips too. An enticing photo sits next to each recipe, and I was immediately drawn to the grilled mozzarella and anchovies in chard leaves, the grilled cauliflower steaks with tahini sauce, and the grilled eggplant cannelloni with ricotta. There’s a stir-grilled chicken, mushroom, and baby bok choy dish prepared in a grill wok, and plank grilling recipes for salmon, shrimp, and papaya. There’s even a grilled banana split for dessert. The grilled fingerlings with their toppings looked like they’d be great as a side dish or as party food. The fingerling shape makes them naturally pick up-able, and the toppings are like those of a simplified stuffed baked potato.

I used French fingerlings but any oblong, little potato would work. They were par-boiled on the stove first. The goal of the initial cooking is to get the potatoes just tender but not completely cooked through. Then, they were drained, sliced in half, brushed with olive oil, seasoned with salt, and placed on a hot grill for about five minutes per side. Last, they were topped with sour cream that had been thinned with water to make it pourable. The chile powder sprinkle could be whichever kind you prefer, and I used a mix of ancho and chipotle powders. Last, chopped cilantro was added, and last weekend I had plenty of cilantro in my herb garden but I haven’t checked its status since the arctic blast arrived.

Pre-cooking the potatoes made them fluffy on the inside, and grilling made the cut surface crisp while lending flavor from the grill smoke. These were easier to prepare than potato skins or twice-baked potatoes, and the toppings were simple, fresh, and well-matched. It’s a fun, useful book, and I’ll be turning to it for grilling ideas year-round as long it’s warmer than 25 degrees outside.

Peanut Butter Clouds

You might not think there would be much to learn at a cooking class about cookies, but that really depends on who’s teaching the class. I signed up for a cookie class at Central Market Cooking School last December that was taught by Alice Medrich, and I walked away with a few pages of notes. She was demonstrating cookies from her new book Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies which combines some of her all-time, favorite recipes with updates for what everyone likes to cook today. I shared some photos from the class on my Facebook page as well. Throughout the class, little, eye-opening details, the kinds of things that don’t always get mentioned, were pointed out and explained. She talked about how a home cook needs to decode a recipe. When a cookie recipe states to whip or cream something “just until,” it’s important to pay close attention and not overdo it. There are times when the butter and sugar should not be creamed to a point where it’s too light and fluffy as that can add too much air to the dough. She continued to talk as she worked, and turned a square baking pan upside down, cut a piece of foil, and wrapped it over the bottom of the pan. Then, she flipped the pan over and placed the foil inside it. I’d never thought of doing that to get the foil to the right size and shape to line the inside of a pan for brownies. Then, she spoke of flavors and adding different spices to brownies or chocolate cookies. Rather than mixing the spice into the batter or dough, it can be sprinkled on top after baking. That way, you have a different flavor experience. You smell the spice as soon as you lift the item toward your mouth, and it’s more pronounced. Also, then you can flavor one batch several different ways. So, the evening progressed with several different cookie recipes being prepped and then tasted. Every cookie we were served was fantastic, but the one I couldn’t stop thinking about over a month later was the peanut butter cloud.

This is in Medrich’s new book, and it’s a simple meringue cookie with a swirl of peanut butter running through it. Ordinarily, a meringue serves as a vehicle for other flavors, but here, the added peanut butter was mixed into the sweet, crisp, light as air cookie and chopped salted peanuts were sprinkled on for added crunch. Egg whites were whisked in a mixer with cream of tartar and eventually, sugar was added. During the class, Medrich pointed out that if you add the sugar too early while whisking the egg whites, you’ll get a glossy but limp meringue. For firmer meringue, add the sugar, after the whites have become opaque, very slowly over a two minute period. Then, dot the top of the meringue with well-stirred, natural peanut butter, and just barely fold it into the egg whites. The peanut butter should be streaked throughout the meringue. I piped the meringue into small cookie-cloud shapes onto baking sheets and topped them with the chopped nuts. The cookies baked at 200 degrees F for one and a half hours, and then they remained in the oven after it was turned off until they were cool.

The crackly texture and the sweetness of the meringue mixed with peanut butter and salted chopped peanuts just worked so well together. Thankfully, my home-baked versions stood up to my memory of them from the class. And, now I need to finish reading through the book to get several new ideas for what to bake next.