Crostata & Coffee

Sometime last winter I spied this lonely only slightly dented can of Apricot pastry and pie filling in the dent bin at my local grocery store. I bought it not knowing what I would use it for, but I cannot pass up a good deal or the opportunity to try something new. Therefore, that lonely can of pastry filling went from the dent bin to a distant corner on my pantry shelf that is until last Saturday.

The bf and I had plans to go over to a friend’s house for coffee late Saturday morning and I thought it would be great if I took something that would go great with coffee. Of course, I could have stopped off and bought something from my local patisserie shop, but you know me ever the baking fool I thought it would be best if I baked something.

I had decided that making something using that lonely can of Apricot pastry filling would be the best, so I decided on a crostata. I had made one a few years ago for Christmas Day dessert and for whatever reason my children were less than thrilled. I honestly do not think their taste buds have completely matured yet. Anyway, the crostata turned out to be just the thing our Saturday morning coffee needed.

In the bowl of your food processor with the dough blade already in, pulse together 1 ½ cups flour, 2 Tlb. sugar, grated zest from one lemon, ¼ tsp salt, 10 Tlb. butter chilled ( half salted, half unsalted) until small crumbs form. Then pulse in 3 Tlb. ice water ( I think I used 1 additional Tlb. of ice water). Pulse until you get the dough to come together in moist clumps.

Shape dough into a flat round disk and wrap in plastic and put in the fridge for 1 hour.

Place dough onto a large piece of parchment paper and sprinkle lightly with flour. Roll out dough to a 11 or 12 in circle.

Transfer to a baking sheet.

Spread the entire can of Apricot Pastry filling over the surface of the dough coming within 2 in. of the edge.

Next you fold over the edges of the crust forming an eight in. round pleating and pinching and getting rid of any cracks in the crust.

Bake in a preheated oven (400 degrees) for 40 min. Give or take a few min.

When it comes out of the oven dust it with some powdered sugar and sprinkle on some toasted almond slivers. Let it cool on a wire rack until it is just warmish.

This was the perfect treat to go with coffee. The crust was buttery and crisp and it had just the right amount of sweet and tart from the Apricot preserve. The best part is I had one slice and left the rest behind when I went home.

Busy Weekend

I was sooo busy last weekend I didn't have time to blog... I hope you can forgive me. We had a couple nice days and things just had to get done and bike rides had to happen. Plus I had a huge side job that I was on a mission to get at least half done...and I did.

Saturday I had decided Friday night that I needed to reduce the amount of containers in my freezer so I could reuse the containers for something else and so I could locate the North Pole (o.k. kidding). I had a few partially full, frozen quart containers of some interesting looking brown sauces (you know the mystery gravy that you are not sure when you had it, or one hundred percent sure of it's origin). So after thawing and really close inspection Saturday morning I determined, and that they were not some horrible lab experiment (kitchen mistake) gone wrong I decided they were beef in origin and most likely safe for human consumption. I made beef stew using the gravies as the base for the stew... It turned out amazing. Plus as a bonus I got to use my brand new shiny crock-pot. Thanks again sweetie! So I guess the moral of this portion is: Don't be afraid of things in the freezer that time has forgotten (unless moving or breathing)...experiment.

Sunday I did reuse my containers on Sunday morning. I made my homemade Spaghetti Sauce, but I made enough to last somewhere around 4 months. I simply make a quadruple batch of my sauce and cook it til it is almost done. Then I shut off the burner let the sauce cool. After the sauce has cooled completely I put equal amounts into clean plastic quart containers and put in my freezer for later use. This works perfectly on those weeknights when your mind draws a blank and the only thing your capable of is heating up food and boiling water (I know this isn't just me everyone goes through this). So pour the thawed sauce into a sauce pot and bring it to a simmer, add a 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes, maybe some more spices...whatever. Let it simmer for an hour to get the full flavor, boil some water for pasta and you have dinner. If you manage to have a green salad and some crusty bread well then you have a feast. Open a bottle of wine invite a friend over and they will think you spent all day on this.

Back to Saturday While my stew was blurbing (should be a word) away on the side counter I decided that I needed cake and not just any cake but a Toasted Coconut Pound Cake My daughter had suggested this pin to me so I took a look at the recipe a month back and honestly it has been haunting me ever since, so Saturday was the day to make this cake. I followed the directions to the letter except I added coconut flavoring instead of vanilla, and I used some salted butter. I think next time (and there will be a next time) it might be fun to add a little rum extract and some finely chopped and toasted almonds along with the toasted coconut. It was amazing. I had one piece and sent the rest away. Seriously I don't need those calories lingering around the next day when I am back on my calorie counting week...haha.

Saturday afternoon and evening I also put together some of my Artisan Bread (October 5th 2013 blog) for dinner on Sunday and some of my Cajun biscuits for the stew Saturday night (September 27th 2013 blog). So besides the baking, cooking, cleaning, shopping, side project and bike ride on Sunday I think I had a pretty full weekend. As usual the weekend was too short and on Tuesday I thought it was Wednesday...which means it has been a long week so far.

I hope one and all had great weekends last weekend and are looking forward to the weekend just around the corner. Me I plan on going to my favorite kitchen shop and using the coupon I just noticed in yesterday's mail...I see a shiny new cheese knife in my future along with maybe some cake decorating supplies. Carpe diem!