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leftover curd

One thing about making your own lemon curd is the leftovers. Fortunately, I was going to a New Year's Eve party, so I made these teeny meringue sandwiches.

lemon meringue sandwich cookies
These were amazing when I first put them together, but due to the general humidity that evening, they were pretty sticky by the time people got to them. Any tips on how to prevent meringue cookie stickiness?.
[egg white, sugar, lemon curd]

lemony

This is a horrible photo, but the tart was good.

Olive oil lemon curd tart
Using olive oil instead of butter gave this tart a slightly fruitier flavor. The curd came out nice and creamy and the tart crust crumbled in your mouth, giving the whole thing a nice combination of flavors and textures.

INGREDIENTS
For tart shell:
- 2 tablespoons almonds with skins, toasted and cooled
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
- Pinch of fine sea salt
- 1/2 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 1 large egg yolk
- 3 1/2 tablespoons fruity olive oil (preferably French)

For lemon curd:
- 3 large lemons
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 whole large eggs plus 2 large yolks
- 1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons fruity olive oil (preferably French)

Equipment:
a 9-inch round tart pan with removable side; a small offset spatula

Make tart shell:
1. Preheat oven to 425°F with rack in middle.
2. Pulse almonds with flour, sugar, and sea salt to a fine powder in a food processor. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with some small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps.
3. Add yolk and oil and pulse until just incorporated and a very soft dough has formed.
4. Spread dough evenly over bottom and up side of pan with offset spatula. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
5. Bake shell until golden brown all over, about 13 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Make curd:
1. Grate enough zest from lemons to measure 1 tablespoon, then squeeze 3/4 cup juice from lemons.
2. Whisk together lemon zest and juice, sugar, cornstarch, whole eggs, and yolks in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly. Boil, whisking, 2 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and whisk in butter and oil until smooth.

Assemble tart:
1. Pour lemon curd into cooled shell and chill until set, at least 2 hours.
[from Epicurious]

pot pie-ish

Ever since I received my copy of Cover & Bake, I've wanted to try this recipe.

sweet potato and pork tinga
I really like mashed sweet potatoes and I love pot pies/shepherd's pies, so this really seemed like a great recipe. Unfortunately, it makes a ridiculous amount of food, so we ate it for almost every meal for a week. (Should have invited folks over.) I think the base could have been a little less soupy, but overall it was a nice combination of flavors. .
[pork, onions, garlic, chipotles en adobo, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, salt, pepper, brown sugar]

beef butter

I'd always heard about how awesome bone marrow is, and they were on sale at the market, so I picked some up to see what the hype was about.

roasted marrow bones with cilantro salad
Very rich, very beefy, and almost too much for us. It was nice to try once, but I don't think we'll be having them anytime soon again. Parsley is the more traditional accompaniment, but we both prefer cilantro to parsley, so I made a cilantro, lemon, garlic salad to go with it. That is probably what makes the dish - the freshness of the herb and lemon really counteracts the unctuousness of the marrow..
[beef marrow bones, salt, pepper, cilantro, garlic, lemon]

thanksgiving pies

The gorgeous pies in the foreground are from Cake Monkey. I made the humbler apple pie in the background.

braised pumpkin tarts with marshmallow topping and apple crumb pie
The pumpkin tart is really an amazing dessert. It's incredibly rich, and that marshmallow topping is super-yummy. My apple pie isn't bad either. I used three types of apples - this time it was Granny Smith, Jonagold and Macintosh.
[pumpkin tarts: secret recipe; apple pie: basic pie crust (flour, butter, sugar, salt, water), apples, cinnamon, oatmeal, brown sugar, butter, pecans]

pumpkin pie

This is one of my first attempts to a meringue topping. It didn't go so well, but it was worth an effort.

pumpkin pie with meringue topping
So, I think I overbeat the meringue, or didn't add the sugar properly. I was really trying to go for a nice, creamy Italian meringue, but the sugar crystallized and I think that just messed up everything. Good thing my coworkers aren't too picky about the quality of the homemade baked goods I bring in..
[pumpkin, cream, half and half, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, butter, flour, water, egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar, salt]

Chipotle adventures

I overbought some dried chipotles for making my spice rub, so I decided to make some chipotles en adobo. That resulted in a braised chipotle chicken meal.

chipotle chicken
Braising always makes meat tender, and the long cooking time allows for flavors to come together as well. This was a chipotles en adobo, some canned tomatoes, and diced onions and garlic. I think I may have thrown in a little of my spice rub as well.
[chicken, chipotles en adobo, canned tomatoes, onions, garlic, spice rub]

Eggplant

I love eggplant and find it odd that it's one of the more "controversial" vegetables. I've found people either love it or hate it.

roasted eggplant salad
Roasting a whole eggplant makes it creamy and soft without the added oil. I usually just pop the whole thing into a 400°F oven for 20-40 minutes, depending on the size of the eggplant. It's done when it's kind of collapsed on itself. The skin peels off easily and you can dice it and toss it with whatever vinaigrette/dressing you like. This variation is tossed with sesame oil, soy sauce, a litle sugar/mirin and finished off with sesame seeds, toasted of course.
[eggplant, sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar, sesame seeds, mixed greens]