Progressive Dinner for Aug 8

Sounds like a wonderful main dish indeed Anne, it makes a side dish choice a snap...anything goes with meatballs 

OK...and my side dish is now carved in stone...two out of five recipes ready to be prepared. I'm what the other three will consist of? I'm not giving my side dish away...you'll all have to wait until later in the week for that

Maybe cuz I just got out of bed, and my mind isn't firing 100%, but....what, please, are chockos?

While Anne hasn’t finalized her main course, we know enough to get started. Only right, I guess, for me to start with the appy. So, for this first week, I offer and appetizer of Caramelized Onion Tarts with Poppy Seeds, Bacon, and Dates.

As many of you know, I despise the term “fusion.” On one hand, it too often translates as taking a poor dish and adding Asian flavors to it. Which results in an even worse dish.

On the other hand, most cuisines are, by the very nature of how they came about, fusions. Various influences---ranging from growing conditions to foreign invasion---determine the hall marks of any particular cuisine; the ingredients used, the techniques employed, etc.

Sometimes, however, there’s no other way of describing the combination of influences that produce a dish. So it is with this one; Ana Sortun’s fusion of the Alsatian Flammekuchen with her beloved Turkish flavors.

I’ve modified her recipe slightly, so this is how I make

Caramelized Onion Tarts with Poppy Seeds, Bacon, and Dates

6 slices bacon or equivalent slab bacon cut in lardoons
2 tbls butter
1 tbls olive oil
2 medium onions, thinly sliced (I prefer red onions for this dish)
2 tbls white wine
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp poppy seeds
2-3 sprigs thyme, leaves removed and chopped fine
½ recipe Crick-Crack dough (see below) or tart dough of choice
Flour for dusting
1 cup crème fraiche, divided use
3 pitted dates cut in slivers
Watercress sprigs for garnish

Makes six appetizer tarts.

Render the bacon in a large skillet over medium-low heat until crisp. Drain the bacon on paper towels and set aside. Discard the fat.

Wipe the skillet, leaving some bacon fat behind. Heat the butter and oil until butter begins to brown. Add the onions and increase the heat to high. Cook, shaking the pan from time to time, for about 7 minutes, until the onions become limp and translucent. Reduce heat to medium and continue cooking, while stirring, for about 15 minutes until they are soft and just beginning to brown.

Stir in the wine and continue cooking for a few more minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the poppy seeds, half the crème fraiche and thyme. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Roll out the Crick-Crack dough, dusting with plenty of flour on both sides. Keep rolling and dusting with just enough flour so the dough doesn’t stick to the board or the pin, until the dough is 1/8 to ¼ inch thick. Using a small glass bowl or round cutter with 4-5 inch diameter, cut out six rounds.

Top each round with a heaping tablespoon of the onion mixture, leaving a one-inch border all around. Divide the lardoons and date slivers equally among the six rounds.

Fold the edges of the pastry up over the onions in a free form overlapping fashion. Each tart should be open in the center and 1/3 covered with the overlapping dough. Transfer to a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm, topped with a dollop of crème fraiche and garnished with watercress.

Crick-Crack Dough

Crick Cracks are a Turkish style cracker. The dough is rolled very thin (1/16 inch), docked with a fork, and cut into three-inch squares before baking. Rolled thicker, it’s an ideal dough for savory tarts.

1 ½ cups flour plus ½-3/4 cups for rolling out the dough
½ cup cornmeal
1 tbls sugar
½ tsp salt
10 tbls cold, unsalted butter, cut in ½-inch cubes
¾ cup buttermilk

Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, and butter in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl. Using the paddle attachment or an electric mixer, mix the ingredients on low speed until the butter breaks down into pea sized pieces. Pour in the buttermilk and mix again until it is just combined. The dough will come together quickly and will be a little wet.

Wrap the dough in plastic film, pressing it flat until about an inch thick. Chill the dough for at least three hours or overnight.

Use half the recipe to make the tarts.

To make crackers, divide the second half into two pieces. Roll each out, using lots of flour for dusting, to form rectangles roughly 12 x 15 inches, about 1/16 inch thick. Transfer the pastry sheets to parchment-lined baking trays. Cover with additional parchment paper and chill at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Dock the pastry sheets with a fork to prevent them from rising and bubbling. Using a ruler and pizza cutter, divide the pastry sheets into 3-inch squares.

In a bowl combine ½ tablespoon sesame seeds, 1 teaspoon poppy seeds, 1 teaspoon nigella seeds, and ½ tsp salt.

Using a pastry brush, moisten each sheet of cut crackers lightly with water and then sprinkle each evenly with the seed mixture.

Place the trays in the oven and reduce temperature to 325F. Bake them for 8 minutes and rotate the pans. Continue baking for another 10-15 minutes until lightly browned.

Cool the crick-cracks completely before serving. They can be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Ana Sortun recommends a Riesling, preferably an Alsatian Riesling to go with these tarts. While that works well, I find a pale ale also makes a good pairing.

Oh and running with Brook's idea  - Tiger Ale.

PART TWO of THREE

Wow! Just wow! You're good!

I've been hankering for a bowl of pho for a while now. Seeing as the nearest bowl of pho is 50+ miles away I've been re-researching the process of making my own. Your meatball instructions are very helpful in that regard. I tried to make that pho broth in the past with less than stellar results.

Great effort!

Anne, Brook and Dave - Looking great so far, and I am impressed with everything!  I'm really liking the idea of this "virtual dinner party," and am hoping that it takes off into an FotW tradition!

Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Strawberry Mash



 panna cotta
2 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, halved and scraped
2 teaspoons powdered gelatin
4 teaspoons cold water

 strawberry mash
  strawberries
  sugar
(added when plating; some blueberries, Chinese gooseberry (for Effigy) and fresh mint)
 
instructions...

•   ready 8 - 10 ramekins
•   Combine Buttermilk, Cream, Sugar and Vanilla Bean (with contents) into saucepan.  Heat to boil then remove
•   Combine water and gelatin in separate dish
•   When the saucepan comes to a boil, stir in the gelatin, then strain.
•   Ladle equal amounts into ramekins and refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.
•   To make mash cut the strawberries and add sugar to it in a bowl.  Stir occasionally.
•   To plate; add any additional fruit or herbs needed.