Valentine’s Cookies

Chocolate, Cookies, Holiday February 15, 2013 Leave a comment

So how did the cast and crew of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” celebrate Valentine’s Day?   With a tin of chocolate heart cookies baked by James, of course!

vday cookies

There’s really not much else to do here but offer up the recipe which is so very simple and divine.

Please to enjoy . . .

Ingredients:

1 cup butter softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
1 cup vanilla chips
2 Tablespoons shortening
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Method:

1.            Cream butter and sugar, beat in vanilla.  Combine flour and cocoa in a separate bowl and gradually add to creamed mixture.

2.            On lightly floured surface roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with heart cookie cutter. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.

3.            For icing, melt vanilla chips and 1 tablespoon of shortening.  (I do this in the microwave in short, 10 second bursts, stirring between each zap.)  Dip both end of cookies into melted mixture. Heat semi-sweet chips and remaining shortening and drizzle over dipped cookies.  (I find the best way to drizzle is to scrape the slightly cooled, melted chocolate into a zip top bag, seal it, snip off a tiny corner and squeeze.)

Salted Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Chocolate, Cookies February 6, 2013 Leave a comment

Last week’s Wine and Unwind cookies came to be because of a challenge. Last year, James was working at The Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, DC (winner of the 2012 Tony Award for Regional Theater!) stage managing a production of Two Gentlemen of Verona.  Across the street from the loading dock in the back is a wonderful tea emporium and restaurant called Teaism.  Serving a variety of teas as well as bento boxes, udon noodles and an amazing salted chocolate oatmeal cookie, it was a favorite lunch stop for the cast and crew.   The actress Natalie Mitchell, who played Silvia, challenged James to make his own version of the cookie.  It took a couple of tries, but James thinks this recipe is closest to theirs.

Salted Oatmeal Cookies

Salted Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup margarine
2 oz bittersweet chocolate
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1/4 cup  cocoa powder (in the 1/4 cup I like to include 1 Tablespoon of Black Cocoa to intensify the chocolate. It can be found at baking shops or online at King Arthur flour but it is optional)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
2 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup  flaked coconut toasted LIGHTLY.
3/4 cup chopped semi-sweet chocolate.

Method:
1.            Boil water in a pot, and in a stainless steel bowl combine butter and bittersweet chocolate. When water boils, turn off the heat and rest bowl on the pot of boiling water. It will calmly melt the chocolate and butter together. Add sugars and combine. When cool enough, add in both eggs and vanilla.

2.            Meanwhile, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a  large bowl — add to the wet ingredients and mix to combine. Add the rolled oats and coconut and mix, then finally add the chopped chocolate. Chill dough for at least a half hour — while oven preheats to 375 degrees F.

3.            Place golf-ball sized chunks of dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and flatten slightly (dough balls should still be quite thick). Sprinkle tops with more kosher salt or if you have, flaked sea salt. Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes. Make sure that they do not brown too much or they will become dry and tough. Let stand on cookie sheet 2 minutes and then remove them to cooling racks.

2009 Cotes du Ventoux

The wine being served was a 2009 Cotes Du Ventoux. It is a very good wine under $12.00. James first served this wine at a Wine and Unwind during a production of KING LEAR at The Public Theatre. It soon became Sam Waterston’s favorite.

Natalie Mitchell says:

“These cookies are divine! I made them this year and brought them to my husband’s family’s house in Costa Rica.   Since there was oatmeal in them, they thought they would taste healthy but they loved them!! In fact they said I can cook healthy whenever I want. It’s the perfect cookie for a health conscious person or just for someone who loves chocolate! I sometimes eat them for breakfast because there’s oatmeal in them! Yum …”

Nana Helen’s Poppy Seed Bread

Bread, Holiday February 3, 2013 Comments: 6

This recipe comes straight from old time Broadway, via the Gershwin Theatre’s Mark Illo.  A third generation Broadway stagehand, Mark is currently the house prop man for the hit show Wicked.

Nana Helen's makowiec bread

He would never say this, but Mark is one of the most respected stagehands working today. A quiet, hard worker, Mark began his career at the age of 16 shopping props for Saturday Night Live:“I started working for my Dad in December of 1978.  One of his close friends was the prop man at SNL and as a favor to my Dad so I could make some Christmas money, he put me on to do some outside prop shopping.  I remember, I had to go to Gristede’s or something to get white powdered donuts.  There I was, a 16 year old kid walking up the street with about $100 in petty cash to buy props.  And one of the props I bought were Entenmen’s white donuts.  If you do a Google search, you’ll find a skit with John Belushi, and he’s talking and supposed to be high on cocaine, he’s got white all around his nose, and at the end he eats a white donut.  And I was the one who bought those donuts for him.”

Mark’s Broadway legacy stretches back to the early 1900s when his grandfather Frank Illo came to New York City and got his Local 1 card.  Mark’s Gershwin office is covered in old photos and programs.

IMG_7890

The program above, from Clifford Fischer’s Folies Bergere offers this delightful bio:  “Born in New York City, Frank has been literally behind the Broadway scenes for more years than he will confess.  He introduced much of the modern stage lighting effects for the late David Belasco and, if you ask him, he will tell you that he was the first man to advise baby spotlights for the late John Drew.  He is the Technical Director for the International Casino and the law backstage.  He built the entire production.”

Frank met Mark’s Nana Helen on 20th Century Maids, a burlesque show that played the now-demolished Columbia Theater on Broadway and 47th Street.  Featuring Ed. Lee Wrothe, a popular musical comedian of the era, it advertised two shows a day at 2:15 and 8:15. According to a review at the time: “The show is elaborately costumed and amply provided with brilliant and scenic effects, and the chorus is sprightly and comely.”

Helen Illo, NYC

Nana Helen was a chorus girl and Frank was the electrician for the show.  They married in 1919 and Helen retired from the stage to raise their two sons, Frank, Jr. and John.

Mark remembers his grandmother’s baking fondly.  The recipe below was one of his favorites.  He calls this simply Poppy Seed Bread, but it’s very similar to a Polish sweet bread called makowiec (pronounced “ma-kov-yets.”)  Nana Helen originally came from Poland, so who knows?

Nana Helen’s Poppy Seed Bread

Ingredients:

½ cup milk
¾ cup butter or margarine
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 envelope active dry yeast
¼ cup very warm water
4 eggs
4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 can poppy seed filling

Method:

1.            Scald milk in a small saucepan;  cool to lukewarm

2.            In a large bowl, cream butter or margarine until fluffy.  Beat in sugar and salt.

3.            Sprinkle yeast into very warm water (“Very warm” water should feel comfortably warm when dropped on wrist.)  Stir until yeast dissolves then beat, a little at a time, into butter mixture.  Beat in milk until well-blended.

4.            Beat eggs until cream thick in a small bowl, reserving 2 tablespoons in a cup; cover and chill for brushing loaf in Step 9.  Beat remaining eggs into butter misture until well-blended.

5.            Beat in flour 1 cup at a time, then continue beating for 10 minutes.  (Dough will be heavy and sticky.)  Cover with a clean towel and let rise in a warm place, away from draft, 2 hours or until doubled in bulk.

6.            Stir dough down; cover again; chill overnight.

7.            Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

8.            On a floured board, roll out into a loose rectangle, about 10” x 12”.  Spread poppy seed filling on dough, leaving about 1 ½” border.  Roll up, jelly roll style and place on ungreased cookie sheet with seam side down.  Brush with saved egg mixture and bake for approximately 50 minutes.  Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

* Caroline’s note:  The lazy girl’s method – I made this in my bread machine and skipped six of the seven steps above.  Just heat the milk and water in the microwave for about 45 seconds, mix in the yeast and put that in the pan first.  Beat the eggs, then throw them and the rest of the ingredients in the pan and set it to “Dough”.  I even skipped the overnight chilling step.  Pick up the recipe at Step 7 and no one will be the wiser.  Mark says mine tasted just like Nana made!

Chocolate Chip Blondies with Praline Topping

Bars, Chocolate, Wine and Unwind January 29, 2013 1 Comment

Last Sunday was hair supervisor Monica Costea’s last day at Virginia Woolf and she aptly requested “Blondies.”  Monica’s moving next door to the Shubert to work on the new musical Matilda  (previews start on March 4.)  But she’ll still be able to stop over and enjoy WINE AND UNWIND on Sundays.

Monica not only styled the women’s hair for Woolf, she also cut the male actor’s hair and has been a Broadway fixture for almost three decades.   Her first show was Alfred Uhry’s The Last Night at Ballyhoo, and she’s worked steadily ever since, doing hair on Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, Lion King, Wicked, The Music Man, A Class Act, Ghost, Sister Act and Hair, to name just a few.

Since she is a Southern girl, James decided to top the Blondies with a praline topping.  (He would usually use pecans but Monica wanted walnuts, so he substituted.)

blondies

Chocolate Chip Blondies with Walnut Praline Topping:

Ingredients

nonstick cooking spray
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Topping:
3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Method

1.  Heat oven to 350° F. Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with the cooking spray. Line the pan with 2 crisscrossed pieces of parchment, leaving an overhang on all sides; spray the parchment with the cooking spray.

2.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Then, in a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Remove from heat and mix in the brown sugar and vanilla. One at a time, mix in the eggs; mix in the flour mixture until just combined (do not over mix). Add the pecans or walnuts and chocolate chips.

3. Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it, 25 to 28 minutes. Cool completely in the pan.

4.  Make the praline topping: In a small saucepan, heat the brown sugar and butter over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until bubbling, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla, 1 tablespoon of water, and confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Spread over the cooled blondies and sprinkle with the nuts. Let the topping set, 10 to 15 minutes.

5.Holding both sides of the paper overhang, lift the cake out of the pan, transfer to a cutting board, and cut into 16 squares. Store the blondies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Triple Layer Double Decadence Death by Chocolate No. 17

Cakes, Chocolate January 25, 2013 1 Comment

Mmmm . . . What better way to celebrate a birthday than the chocolatiest most decadent cake imaginable??

Yesterday was Carrie Coon’s birthday, “Honey” in Broadway’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.   I imagine she just signed up for a chocolate cake on James’ “Birthday Information Form” that first day of rehearsal, never expecting that she would get treated to this:

Death by Chocolate No. 17

BTW, James tells me that the reason behind the name of the cake is that he experimented with 16 varieties of Chocolate Layer Cake before finally settling on this one as the ne plus ultra.  How lucky are we to know someone who would experiment with chocolate cakes that thoroughly.

Happy birthday, Honey!!

Happy Birthday, Honey!

Triple Layer Double Decadence Death By Chocolate No. 17

 Ingredients:

1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1.4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups hot coffee or espresso
3 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups cocoa powder (not dutch process). James likes to use 1/4 cup of black cocoa as part of that 1/2 cups
2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp salt
3 large eggs
3/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups buttermilk. If you don’t have buttermilk, use 1 1/2 cups whole milk (minus 2 Tablespoons) mixed with 1 1/2 Tablespoons of vinegar.
1 tsp vanilla

Ganache Icing
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp light corn syrup
1/4 cup butter

Method:
1.  Preheat oven to 300. Spray three 9” round cake pans with cooking spray. Line bottoms with parchment and spray again.

2.  Combine chips and hot coffee. Let it stand and whisk occasionally until chocolate is melted. In a large bowl whisk together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking power, baking soda and salt. In another large bowl  beat eggs until thick and yellow (3-5 minutes), slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla and chocolate mixture to the eggs beating until well combined. Add dry ingredients and beat on medium until JUST combined.

3.  Divide batter between pans and bake in the middle of the oven until a toothpick comes out clean- 40-50 minutes.

For ganache icing
1.  In saucepan whisk together cream, sugar and corn syrup. Bring to boil over medium heat whisking until sugar is dissolved. Remove pan from heat and add chocolate chips, whisking until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Cut butter into 3 pieces. Add to mixture, whisking after each addition until smooth.

2.  Chill for 45- 60 minutes until spreadable. If it is in the refrigerator too long, just bring back to room temperature before frosting.

3.  Keep cake covered and chilled. Bring to room temperature before serving. Amazing!!!!

James’ note: “I use a cake comb on the sides of the cake when frosting to give it linear texture.”

Of course you do James, of course you do!

Hoska, a Latus Family Recipe

Bread, Holiday January 24, 2013 Comments: 3

So, what to do with all those egg yolks you were left with after making the meringues from our last post?  Well, one thing James likes to do is make a traditional eastern European Christmas/Easter bread called hoska.  A fancy-looking braided bread, James learned to make this with his mother in their Milwaukee kitchen.   He first shared it backstage with his colleagues at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, DC at an Easter potluck during a run of The Beggar’s Opera.  “We also did an Easter Egg hunt on the Derek McClain-designed set.  There were lots of piles of rubble and debris which gave us perfect places to hides the eggs.”  I have to wonder if one or two weren’t found until sometime during the show that night!

For all you theater folks out there, you know how the holidays go – generally we have MORE shows.  And especially in regional and Off-Broadway shows with limited runs, you often find yourself eating a potluck holiday meal backstage between shows.  James recalls this Easter potluck being one of many held during the run.  “I usually brought dessert, which is how the cheesecake bake-off began (more on that in a later post.)  But for Easter, of course I brought hoska.”

I give you James’ family recipe with all its charming, old country instructions (to make the dough rise, it recommends putting a piece of buttered waxed paper over the bowl, placing a tea towel over the waxed paper and then placing the covered bowl under a feather pillow.  Really James?  Really??)  But I’ll also tell you that I’ve halved the recipe and made this dough very successfully in my bread machine.

Hoska (Braid) Bread

Makes two braided loaves

Ingredients:

2 cups milk
½ cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1 cake yeast
1 cup butter
2 teaspoons salt
8 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
5 egg yolks
1 whole egg
¼ teaspoon mace
¼ teaspoon lemon rind

Method:

1.  Place 1/2 cup lukewarm milk in a small bowl and mix in yeast cake with 1 teaspoon sugar.  Let bubble for about 30 minutes.
2.  Heat  1 1/2 cups of milk and add 1 cup butter, 2 teaspoons salt, and ½ cup sugar to hot milk.  Mix thoroughly with a spoon until butter is completely melted.
3.  In a large mixing bowl put in 4 cups sifted flour.  Make a well in the center of the flour in bowl,  add 4 egg yolks, plus 1 whole egg, 1/4 tsp. mace and 1/4 tsp. lemon rind. Add yeast mixture and milk mixture to flour & eggs. Mix well with mixer. Then add 4 more cups flour. Knead by hand until flour is well blended or use your Mixmaster hooks to knead the dough. Let the dough rise for about 1-2 hours until doubled in size. (Tip for making the dough rise. Put a piece of buttered waxed paper over the bowl and place a tea towel over the waxed paper. Place the covered bowl under a feather pillow.)
4.  After dough rises, divide dough into two portions.  Each portion will make one loaf  (FYI, each hoska consists of two braids.)  Working with one portion of dough, divide it into two parts, one part a little bigger than the other. Cut the bigger portion into 3 pieces. Roll each piece about 10 to 12″ long then form into a braid. With the smaller piece of dough, also divide that into 3 pieces but take a walnut size ball off first and reserve than. This time roll each piece only about 8″ long before making into a braid. Place the smaller braid on top of the larger. Take the walnut sized ball and roll that out into a long piece a few inches longer than the hoska. Lay this rope-like piece of dough on top of the other two and tuck the ends under the ends of the bread. You now have one hoska made. Do the same with the other portion of dough.  Remember, this makes two braided loaves.
5. Let rise about 1/2 hour. Brush the hoska with 1 egg yolk and 2 tablespoons of cold water for a golden brown finish just before baking.
6. Bake at 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

**Caroline’s note:  I’ve halved this recipe, warmed the milk and melted the butter separately, then put all the ingredients in my bread machine at once.  Then, I set it on the ‘Dough’ setting for about two hours and proceed with step #4 above. 

 

 

Meringue, meringue!!

Candy, Cookies, Gluten-free, Meringues January 18, 2013 1 Comment

The Skriker, March 1996

The first show James and I worked on together was a crazy complicated piece by Caryl Churchill called “The Skriker.”  To this day I’m not really sure if it was a play or a musical or even what it was all about.   But it was memorably dramatic and edgy and out there. It started with the unforgettable entrance of Jayne Atkinson (the Skriker) breaking through the stage floor, encased in a rubber cocoon and sitting on an armchair covered in real live grass.  She sat on top of the 12’ scissor lift and recited a 4 ½ page monologue that started with:  “Heard her boast beef a roast beef eater, daughter could spin span spick and spun the lowest form of wheat straw into gold, raw into roar, golden lion and lyonesse under the sea, her in dungeonesse under the castle, spindling swindling dwindling Gwendolyn wheedling.”   WTF??

Directed by the intrepid Mark Wing-Davey, and presented in the Public Theater’s Newman Theater, it was a wild and woolly evening of theater.  Nothing was out of bounds. Mark set the tone immediately and our rehearsals began with a leisurely game of koosh ball and ended up including field trips to the Bronx Zoo and Bellevue.  James’ rehearsal reports (which for some reason I still have) are full of delightful little oddities:

 “Does anyone have a newborn baby we could use in rehearsal for a few hours?  We’ll take good care of it, but the child shouldn’t be sensitive to being called a slitty-eyed changeling.”

and

“In the bar scene, the Skriker wants a scotch and soda (don’t we all.)  We’ll need an appropriate glass, ice and spoon.”

and

“The Fair Fairy will only vomit vegetable soup.  (Actor is vegetarian.)”

As I recall, there was a lot of food (and mud and water and slime!) used throughout the show.  One rehearsal report noted that: “For the Glamour Banquet Scene, Mark wants to use brains (from British cows, of course!), eyeballs (real or fake – you decide), edible ladyfingers and edible meringues.”

Oh that Glamour Banquet!  I remember it vividly.  The banquet table was laid directly on a large section of the stage deck that lowered so we could quickly we dress it in the trap with the above-mentioned brains, etc., and then raise it up to table height.    The number itself was deafening, full of subwoofer and strobe, and the lyrics went something like this:

Meringue meringue!  
Meringue meringue!  
Meringue utang!  
Welcome homesick
drink drank drunk
avocado and prawn cockfight cockup cocksuck
red wine or white wash
champagne the pain is a sham pain the pain is a sham
fillet steak fill it up stakes in your heart
meringue  utang
black coffee fe fi fo fum

Again, not to sound like a complete Philistine, but WTF does any of this mean??  I still haven’t a clue.

But, I think you can see where this is going – a recipe for meringues!  Meringues were, in fact, my first introduction to the Backstage Baker.  James made them all the time for the Skriker cast and crew, and took the mystery out of meringue for me.  He taught me that meringues are not scary at all, and actually quite simple to make.  Just make sure your beaters are scrupulously clean and don’t try to make these on a humid rainy day.

The recipe below got a lot of use over the recent Christmas holidays.   But you can easily enjoy these year round.   Sometimes I’ll switch out the candy canes and substitute mini-chocolate chips.  But these are also perfectly good without any additions at all.   Even better, they’re eminently suitable for the gluten-free!  (Soon we’ll post a recipe that uses all those egg yolks you’ll be left with.)

Peppermint Meringues

Ingredients:

2 egg whites
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 peppermint candy canes, crushed

Method:

1.    Preheat oven to 225 degrees F.  Line 2 cookie sheets with foil or parchment paper. In a large glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar to soft peaks. Gradually add sugar, continuing to beat until whites form stiff peaks. Drop by spoonfuls 1 inch apart on the prepared cookie sheets.  (I like to use a pastry bag or just a zip-top bag with a corner cut out to squeeze the mixture through.)  Sprinkle crushed peppermint candy (if using) over the cookies.  If using mini-chocolate chips, gently fold them into the mixture before spooning onto cookie sheet.
2.    Bake for 1 1/2 hours in preheated oven. Meringues should be completely dry on the inside.   (You’ll just have to eat one to test this.)  Do not allow them to brown. When they seem done, turn off oven. Keeping oven door ajar, let meringues sit in the oven until completely cool. Loosen from foil with metal spatula. Store loosely covered in cool dry place for up to 2 months.

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Bittersweet Chocolate Glaze

Cakes, Chocolate, Gluten-free, Wine and Unwind January 15, 2013 Comments: 3

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Bittersweet Chocolate Glaze

On Sunday morning, James posted the following to his Facebook page:  “With complaints that the sweets at WINE AND UNWIND were causing distress to waistlines, I respond with a new version of a flourless chocolate cake. I pray I will not be serving a giant hockey puck.”

Well, James outdid himself for this past Sunday’s “Wine and Unwind”.  No hockey puck here (although, it would be a cool thing to serve at a hockey-themed birthday party.  Just sayin’.)  Not only is this recipe super easy to make (the cake itself only has six ingredients) but it’s also gluten-free!

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Bittersweet Chocolate Glaze

Ingredients:

4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Glaze:

2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon corn syrup
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
1 tablespoon butter

Method:

1.   Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Grease an 8 inch round cake pan, and dust with cocoa powder.
2.   In the top of a double boiler over lightly simmering water, melt chocolate and butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, cocoa powder, eggs, and vanilla. Pour into prepared pan.
3.   Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

For the Glaze:

1.   In a small saucepan, combine 2 tablespoons sugar, the corn syrup and 1/4 cup water. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Add 4 ounces chopped chocolate, swirl pan to mix, do not mix, and allow to stand until melted, about 3 minutes.
2.  Whisk 1 tablespoon butter into icing until melted and the chocolate is shiny and smooth.. Put wax paper under the cooling rack then pour glaze evenly over cake. Use a spatula to ease icing out to edges of cake and down the sides. Sprinkle the ground almonds around the top edge of the cake. Allow icing to cool and set before slicing.

Rustic Apple, Walnut and Gorgonzola Tart

Brunch, Tarts January 11, 2013 Leave a comment

Lest you think that this entire blog will only feature sweet things, allow me to disabuse you of that notion immediately.  James’ last show was Broadway’s Pulitzer Prize winning “Clybourne Park” and he helped host many pre-show Sunday brunches.

It was the day after opening, you see, and George Fullum, the house carpenter was anxious to know if the company would be having a potluck brunch backstage before the Sunday matinee.  It’s a bit of a Broadway tradition – many theaters have a bagel or brunchy spread backstage on Sundays.   That’s generally the last day of the week for theater folks, and brunch is a nice way to start the day off.

“Absolutely!” said James.  “I’ll put a sign-up sheet on the board.”  And “Clybourne Park” joined the Broadway brunch tradition.

No sooner had James taped the sheet to the wall than George signed up to bring bagels. (“Clybourne Park” didn’t have a traditional cork callboard but taped all information directly to a stairwell wall.)  The whole cast and crew filled the sheet up before the end of the night, and the brunch menu was varied and opulent.

CB Brunch signup

James made a Rustic Apple, Walnut and Gorgonzola Tart:

Rustic Apple Tart

Ingredients:

1 Pâte Brisée (tart dough) for a 10-inch tart (see all butter crust recipe) or 1 packaged, flat pie crust
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/4 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese (or blue cheese)
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped, or 1/2 teaspoon dried
2 Tbsp maple syrup
2 large granny smith apples (or other good cooking apples such as jonagold or fuji), peeled, cored, chopped
1 teaspoon of lemon juice (optional)

Method:
1.            Toss the walnuts, gorgonzola, thyme, chopped apples, and maple syrup together in a medium size bowl. As you are working with the apples (chopping them, mixing them in with the other ingredients), if you want, you can squeeze a little lemon juice on them to help keep them from discoloring. Cover the mixture with plastic wrap while you prepare the crust.

2.            Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll out pastry dough to 13-inches, at an 1/8 of an inch thickness. Place pastry dough on a rimmed baking sheet. (Rimmed because the pastry will leak butter during the cooking process.) Mound the filling in the middle of the rolled out dough, and spread out evenly to 1 1/2 inches to 2 inches from the edge of the dough. Pleat the edges of the dough over the filling.
3.            Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, until crust is nicely browned. If at any time it looks like the walnuts are getting a little burnt, you can lightly tent a piece of aluminum foil over the center.
Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before serving. A pizza wheel works great for slicing up the tart.

All Butter Crust For Sweet and Savory Pies (Pâte Brisée) Recipe

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar (increase to 1 1/2 teaspoons if for a sweet recipe)
8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3 to 4 Tbsp ice water, very cold

1.            If you are planning to make a pie crust, cut up a stick of butter into smallish (about 1/2-inch) cubes, and put it into the freezer. The colder the butter the better luck you’ll have with creating a flaky crust. Freeze the butter at least 15 minutes, better an hour, best overnight. Keep some cubed butter in the freezer ready to go for making pie crusts.

2.            Place the flour, salt, and sugar into a food processor and pulse until well combined. Add half of the butter cubes and pulse 6 to 8 times. Then add the other half of the butter cubes and pulse 6 to 8 more times. You should have a mixture that resembles a coarse meal, with many butter pieces the size of peas.

3.            Add a couple of tablespoons of ice cold water (without the ice!) to the food processor bowl and pulse a couple of times. Then add more ice water, slowly, about a tablespoon at a time, pulsing after each addition, until the mixture just barely begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it’s ready, if not, add a little more water and pulse again. Try to keep the water to a minimum. Too much water will make your crust tough.

4.            Remove the crumbly mixture from the food processor and place on a very clean, smooth surface. If you want an extra flaky crust, you can press the heel of your palm into the crumbly mixture, pressing down and shmooshing the mixture into the table top. This is a French technique, called “fraisage”. Do this a few times, maybe 4 to 6 times, and it will help your crust be extra flaky. Then, use your hands to press the crumbly dough together and shape into a disc. Work the dough only enough to just bring the dough together. Do not over-knead or your crust will end up tough. You should be able to see little bits of butter, speckling the dough. When these bits of butter melt as the crust cooks, the butter will help separate the dough into flaky layers. So, visible pieces of butter are a good thing, what you are aiming for, in the dough. Sprinkle the disc with a little flour on all sides. Wrap the disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour. (At this point you can freeze the dough disk for several months until ready to use. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator before proceeding.)

5.            When you are ready to roll out the dough, remove the disk from the refrigerator and place on a clean, smooth, lightly floured surface. Let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes to take just enough of a chill off of it so that it becomes easier to roll out. Sprinkle some flour on top of the disk. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough.

Okay, wait, this was another sweet recipe.  Check back soon for the quiche and deviled eggs recipes!

Peanut Butter Fudge Sandwich Cookies

Chocolate, Cookies January 10, 2013 Leave a comment

One of James’ delightful traditions is a Sunday night “Wine and Unwind” gathering in the stage manager’s office.  He’ll bake some decadent treat and pair it with a sturdy red wine to send everyone into the day off.  He’s currently working on “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” — on a show as fraught with drama as that one (onstage, not off!) everyone definitely needs a way to unwind.

Last week’s invitation went something like this:

Image

Here’s the recipe for the Peanut Butter Fudge Sandwich Cookies (oh, my teeth hurt just reading through it1):

Peanut Butter Fudge Sandwich Cookies

 1 1/2 cups Creamy Peanut Butter
1/2 cup softened butter*
1/2 cup softened margarine*
2 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup milk
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

*Backstage Baker’s note:
For cookies that are softer use 1 cup of shortening instead of the butter and margarine.

Filling:
1 (14 ounce) can  Sweetened Condensed Milk
3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
For Cookies: Beat peanut butter, butter, margarine, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs. Beat just until blended.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Add to creamed mixture and mix with wooden spoon until blended. Drop by level tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets. Press down with bottom of a glass or the traditional way of making a cross hatch with a fork.

Bake 6 to 7 minutes or until set and just beginning to brown. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet. Remove to wire rack to cool completely.

For Filling: Microwave sweetened condensed milk and chocolate chips in medium microwave-safe bowl on high for 1 1/2 minutes or until melted and smooth when stirred. Stir in vanilla. Let cool 15 minutes. Spread generously on flat side of half the cookies. Top with remaining cookies, flat side down, to form sandwich cookies.

(Pictures for the above are on the home page of this blog!)

The wine was a La Pilar Malbec courtesy of an anonymous fan who insisted on giving Amy Morton (who plays Martha) $40 to buy drinks for the company.  I hope she reads this and knows that her contribution was thoroughly enjoyed.