Behind the scenes with Joanne Weir

It may come as a surprise, but the best thing about being a food writer isn't the food, it's the people you meet. And Joanne Weir is certainly one of them. I met her years ago and we quickly became friends. I've given her advice on blogging and social media and she has always been there when I needed career counseling and the inside scoop on folks in our industry. She's a genuinely nice and generous person full of enthusiasm and desire to help others learn to cook and have fun. Which brings me to her new show-Joanne Weir's Cooking Confidence. It's a natural progression from her most recent shows where she takes individual students into the kitchen and in no time gets them cooking.


'You stayed longer than anyone!' said Joanne as I was leaving. Despite the cramped space, I had a hard time tearing myself away. I wanted to see her at work and to share some tidbits about her new show. First of all it's shot in her home kitchen which gets transformed into a television studio for filming. As executive producer this time around, Joanne has assembled a crack team including director Paul Swenson who has worked with Lidia Bastianich, Eric Ripert and Christopher Kimball, culinary producer Chris Styler who has worked with Julia Child, Jacques Pepin and Jamie Oliver and a cameraman she has worked with since day one, eleven years ago. The result is a smooth quality to the process where everyone seems to know exactly what they are doing and anticipate each other's needs.



So what's different about the new show and what can you look forward to?

* A wider range of recipes
While Joanne is known for Mediterranean cuisine this time you'll get her take on all kinds of food including Indian, Asian and North African. Everyone on set was raving about her Moroccan chicken and sweet potato salad with pumpkin seeds. The day I was there she made an ahi burger with wasabi mayo and a crunchy slaw with grapefruit spiked with ginger and also an Italian pasta with tomato and cream and a salad made with ribbons of zucchini, summer squash and daikon radish. Look for ways to use more unusual ingredients too like farro and fregola.

*Great tips
I always learn something when I watch Joanne's shows. From little things like how to peel ginger with a spoon to making mayonnaise with nothing but mustard, an egg yolk and oil. I've always wondered what the heck to do with red pepper jelly and in this series she make corn muffins stuffed with a spoonful of it. And did you know if a label on produce begins with a '9' it means it's organic?

* Video app
This series will not only have an accompanying cookbook but also an app that has 20+ recipes and exclusive content. Look for it this Fall on iTunes.

* Confidence
You'll see it in the students and you'll see it in Joanne who literally seems more 'at home' than ever before. I talked to her director about it and he said 'She's evolved, you're seeing more of the real Joanne.' Without missing a beat, she balances responding to student's questions with making sure every cooking step is explained. On the day I was there everything was being shot in real time, there was no swapping out of dishes. She's the quintessential cooking teacher on PBS and really what more could you ask for?

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Apple Blackberry Galettes

I've made these pastries several times over the last month, trying different shapes, fillings, etc.  For pickups, turnovers work great, but for desserts that get plated, these galettes contain twice as much fruihen and are terrific when people are sitting, and forks are available.  Directions for the turnovers follow. I've used Pink Lady apples here, because you need an apple that won't give off too much liquid.  The apples stay firm and the sweetness nicely complements the blackberries (if unavailable, try Pinatas or Jazz apples).  If seedy blackberries aren't to your liking, try them with blueberries.  The pastry dough is also wonderful in this galette.  It seems like a puff pastry, yet it's simple to make and has a complexity to the taste that goes great with the simple taste of the berries.

Makes 16 3-1/2-inch galettes or turnovers


Pastry

2-1/2  cups (11.4 ounces)  unbleached all-purpose flour, fluffed, scooped and leveled

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

14 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1/4 inch chunks

8 ounces cream cheese, cold

1/3 cup heavy cream, cold

Filling

4 cups Pink Lady Apples, (about 4) peeled and cored

1 medium lemon

9 ounces blackberries, washed and patted dry

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Glaze

2 tablespoons heavy cream

2 tablespoons coarse sugar

Directions

For the Pastry: Place the flour, sugar and salt in a processor, and process for 10 seconds to mix ingredients.   Add the butter, and the cream cheese by tablespoonfuls to the processor.  Pulse-process for 8-10 pulses until the fats are cut into lentil-sized pieces.  Add the cream, and process for 8-10 seconds until the dough starts to gather.  Turn the dough out onto a work surface. Smear bits of the dough down against the surface with the heel of the hand, to incorporate the fat into the dough (this is called Fraisage). Gather the dough together, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least two hours and preferably overnight.  

For the Filling: Dice the apples into 1/4-1/2-inch pieces, place in a large bowl,  and sprinkle them with lemon juice.  Stir in the sugar and all but 3 tablespoons of blackberries.  Let the mixture macerate while you prepare the pastry.

Assembly and Baking: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. with a rack in the middle of the oven. Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Cut the dough in half, wrap and return 1/2 to the refrigerator, and roll the remaining piece out on a lightly floured board, into a rectangle, about 1/2-inch thick (size isn't  all that important).  Fold the dough into thirds, like a letter, and then roll the dough again to about 1/16-inch thick

Because you are going to cut the dough into large rounds, and because it is thin, the circles tend to change shape if you try and lift them from the board onto the parchment paper.  Therefore, I like to transfer the entire rolled dough sheet to the parchment lined cookie sheet, and cut out the final shapes right on the sheet.  Once the rounds are cut, the excess dough can be removed.  For a nice serving size, I use a 6-inch cutter (the top of my cookie-cutter box is the perfect size).  Once the edges get turned up, the finished pastry will be about 3-1/2 inches round.  

If you have more than about 1/4 cup of juices in the fruit bowl, drain the fruit, reserving the excess juice.  Stir the cornstarch into the fruit.

Doing 1 pastry at a time, spoon a heaping teaspoonful of filling into the center of a round, leaving about 1-inch all around with no filling on it.  Fold the  inch of dough up, all around the perimeter of the pastry.  The dough will naturally make pleats.  

When all the edges are up, press lightly downward on the pastry top to seal together the pleats and to make it so that when the pastry  bakes it won't open up too much.  

Brush the edges with a little cream, and sprinkle generously with the coarse sugar.  

Place the cookie sheet in the refrigerator while you prepare the second sheet of pastry (if you don't have a refrigerator large enough to accommodate a cookie sheet, this step can be skipped.  The pastries won't be quite as crisp, but no one will complain!). Chill the pastries for about 10 minutes, or until the dough has just firmed up.  Spoon about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of juice (not the reserved juice, but the juice with the cornstarch in it) into the center of each pastry, and set them into the oven.  Bake for about 20-27 minutes, until well browned and bubbly.   

Repeat with the second sheet of pastries.

While the pastries are cooking, you can either make a little glaze or extra fruit to add to the pastries.  Cut the remaining blackberries in half, and either stir in a little of the excess juice,  or some of the juice that has some cornstarch mixed into it.  If it has the starch, it should be heated for 10-15 seconds, or until the raw starch taste is gone and the mixture has thickened lightly.  This extra fruit can either be brushed over the hot fruit (not on the pastry) or a little bit can be spooned on to add texture and moisture to the baked pastries.  

To make turnovers, you need to cut all of the blackberries in half,  and let the fruit macerate with the sugar for at least 20 minutes.  Add the starch just before shaping, as with the galettes.  Roll the dough into a rectangle ( the dough should be a bit thicker - maybe a scant 1/8-inch). You want to cut the rectangles to be about 4x4, so roll the dough to a size that is workable for you, rolling it slightly larger than you need it in case it shrinks when you cut it.

Because your really can't have any juice in these, I like to sprinkle the rectangles with powdered sugar to compensate for the sugar that is left in the juice you can't really use.  After they are sprinkled, cradle 1 rectangle in your hand and spoon a heaping teaspoonful of drained filling into the center (use a slotted spoon because the fruit will continue to ooze juice as it sits).

Bring two opposite pointy sides and seal together, and then seal along the whole edge.

Now you need to make sure that the edge is well sealed.  I pinch it tightly closed and then roll the edge slightly upward, as if you were making a pie crust edge.  Hopefully this will prefent the turnover from splitting open when it bakes.  Set the turnover on a parchment lined sheet.  Cut a slit in the top of each turnover.  Brush the turnovers with either cream, or an egg yolk whisked with 1/2 teaspoon of water, and sprinkle with coarse sugar.  Bake at 400 degrees F. for 20-25 minutes until nicely browned.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/sBff/~3/llShd_jcQo4/crazy-basil-peach-black-pepper.html

This unusual basil, peach, black pepper, Parmesan cobbler recipe started out as an innocent experiment making individual-sized cobblers, but somehow spun out of control into weird and wonderful new directions.

I was thinking about a cheese Danish, so I grated some Parmigiano-Reggiano into the batter. I was thinking about Gougères, so I added some freshly ground black pepper as well. I was thinking about a peach and basil sorbet I had one time, and decided that some of the sweet aromatic herb seemed perfectly appropriate.

The result was one of the more interesting and delicious desserts I've eaten in a long time. The flavors are subtle, but identifiable. I love, love, loved it. It may sound a little savory, but it was plenty sweet enough, and would make a memorable end to any late summer meal. I hope you give it a try soon. Enjoy!

Note Regarding Self-Rising Flour: As we said in the regular peach cobbler post, it is recommended you go out and get some self-rising flour. You can make it yourself, by adding baking powder and salt to all-purpose flour, but for whatever reason, it just doesn't seem work as well.

Ingredients:

Two 10-oz ramekins with 2 tsp melted butter in each

For the batter:

1/2 cup sugar

2/3 cup self-rising flour

2/3 cup milk

1 tbsp finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

pinch of black pepper

For the peaches:

1 large peach, peeled, pitted, sliced into 10-12 slices

2 tbsp sugar

2-3 torn or sliced basil leaves

1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp water

Pecan Pie Bars

I like pecan bars that are gooey and caramelly, just like my pecan pie, so after much experimenting, I've decided just to go ahead and use my pecan pie recipe!!  It's simple as can be - the most important thing is to line the pan with foil, or you'll never get them out of the pan.  I also think it's important to use a shortbread base that doesn't have brown sugar in it because if you don't have some contrast between the filling and the crust, the bars taste too sweet and a bit boring.  

Shortbread Crust

2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour, measured by fluffing, scooping and levelling
¾ cup sugar
⅛ teaspoon salt
16 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut 1' thick


Filling

3 large eggs

1 cup sugar
1 cup dark corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups diced pecan pieces

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F., with rack in the middle of the oven. Line a 13 x 9-inch pan completely with a double-layer of aluminum foil. Leave a good amount of overhang, so you'll be able to remove the whole thing after the bars are baked.

For the crust: Place the flour, sugar and salt into a processor and pulse to combine.  Add butter and pulse-process to coarse crumbs.

Sprinkle the crumbs into the lined pan, and then press them down to cover the whole bottom of the pan.  ( I use my flat fingers to press everything down.  Your fingers will also let you know if any part is thicker than another).  It may seem that you have too much crust, but it won't be that thick once you get it tamped down really well, and you need a fairly thick otherwise the gooeyness will seep through.

Bake the dough until just starting to brown, about 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the filling:

In a large bowl, lightly whisk the eggs. Whisk in the sugar. Stir in the corn syrup, vanilla and nuts. Pour the filling over the hot, baked crust.

Bake for 5 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.  Bake for another 25-30 minutes, until the filling is just barely set (doesn't shake).  Cover the pan with foil after 20 minutes if the nuts are getting too brown.  

 

Set the pan on a cooling rack and cool completely. Refrigerate the bars for at least an hour, or longer.  Cold bars will be much easier to cut.   Lift the foil up to remove the dessert from the pan. You'll be able to remove the foil completely, as the dessert will be quite stiff.

Set on a cutting board.  Cut off 1/4-inch  from the edges all around, and then cut the dessert into bars the size of your choosing.  They are very rich, so keep that in mind when cutting them.

You can serve the bars cold, or at room temperature.  Cold they are on the chewy side, and warmer they are more oozy.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/sBff/~3/JwdZrIQDujg/next-up-breakfast-sausage-patties.html

Pecan Pie Bars

I like pecan bars that are gooey and caramelly, just like my pecan pie, so after much experimenting, I've decided just to go ahead and use my pecan pie recipe!!  It's simple as can be - the most important thing is to line the pan with foil, or you'll never get them out of the pan.  I also think it's important to use a shortbread base that doesn't have brown sugar in it because if you don't have some contrast between the filling and the crust, the bars taste too sweet and a bit boring.  

Shortbread Crust

2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour, measured by fluffing, scooping and levelling
¾ cup sugar
⅛ teaspoon salt
16 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut 1' thick


Filling

3 large eggs

1 cup sugar
1 cup dark corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups diced pecan pieces

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F., with rack in the middle of the oven. Line a 13 x 9-inch pan completely with a double-layer of aluminum foil. Leave a good amount of overhang, so you'll be able to remove the whole thing after the bars are baked.

For the crust: Place the flour, sugar and salt into a processor and pulse to combine.  Add butter and pulse-process to coarse crumbs.

Sprinkle the crumbs into the lined pan, and then press them down to cover the whole bottom of the pan.  ( I use my flat fingers to press everything down.  Your fingers will also let you know if any part is thicker than another).  It may seem that you have too much crust, but it won't be that thick once you get it tamped down really well, and you need a fairly thick otherwise the gooeyness will seep through.

Bake the dough until just starting to brown, about 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the filling:

In a large bowl, lightly whisk the eggs. Whisk in the sugar. Stir in the corn syrup, vanilla and nuts. Pour the filling over the hot, baked crust.

Bake for 5 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.  Bake for another 25-30 minutes, until the filling is just barely set (doesn't shake).  Cover the pan with foil after 20 minutes if the nuts are getting too brown.  

 

Set the pan on a cooling rack and cool completely. Refrigerate the bars for at least an hour, or longer.  Cold bars will be much easier to cut.   Lift the foil up to remove the dessert from the pan. You'll be able to remove the foil completely, as the dessert will be quite stiff.

Set on a cutting board.  Cut off 1/4-inch  from the edges all around, and then cut the dessert into bars the size of your choosing.  They are very rich, so keep that in mind when cutting them.

You can serve the bars cold, or at room temperature.  Cold they are on the chewy side, and warmer they are more oozy.