Volume 11, Issue 70 - October 6, 2006 |
Hello Member,
 "What a great idea! WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT is enormously
educational and entertaining and should fit with anyone's lifestyle!"
—Robert Mondavi
I would like to thank authors Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page, authors of the
new book WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT: The Definitive Guide to Pairing
Food with Wine, Beer, Spirits, Coffee, Tea — Even Water — Based on Expert Advice
from America's Best Sommeliers, for sharing so much great advice on food and
beverage pairing with us this week.
You have probably gotten the sense that food and beverage pairing is a trend
that's here to stay. You can stay ahead of the curve by getting ahold of this
indispensable new book and putting it to work for you to impress your customers
and increase your check averages.
Be sure to pay the authors a visit some time at
www.becomingachef.com
for more great tips.
Have a great weekend...You deserve it!
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Tarte Tatin
Adapted from the recipe by
Chef Dieter Schorner, C.M.B., C.H.E.
The Culinary Institute of America
Hyde Park, New York
http://www.ciachef.edu
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups sugar
10 apples, peeled, cored and quartered (Rome or Golden Delicious)
1 tablespoon of butter, plus additional butter for buttering parchment paper
1 pie dough or puff pastry (enough for a 12-inch circle)
Preparation:
Melt sugar in a small-sized sauce pan, adding sugar slowly on a medium flame
until sugar is completely melted and looks honey brown in color.
Pour melted sugar into a 10-inch cake mold. Let cool.
Arrange apples in concentric circles, facing the same direction, covering the
caramel.
Add dabs of butter on top of the apples.
Cover cake mold with foil. Place on a sheet tray and bake about 1 hour at 375
degrees or until the apples float out of the mold. Remove the foil and let cool.
On a floured table, roll out puff pastry or pie dough 1/16 of an inch thick into
a 12-inch circle. Place the circle on a sheet tray, prick with a fork and let
rest for one hour in the refrigerator.
Bake crust in a 375-degree oven until golden brown on both sides (about 15 to 20
minutes).
From the crust, cut out a 10-inch circle and place on top of the apples. Place
fine mesh grill on top of the dough. Place a half sheet pan on top of the two
and turn over.
The juice from the apples should then be boiled in a small saucepan for a few
minutes.
To give the tart the original crunchy, caramelized taste, melt a few tablespoons
of sugar, cool for a few seconds and use a fork to make a lace pattern of
caramel on buttered parchment paper. Place the lacey caramel on each slice of
Tarte Tatin, or make a lacy pattern in caramel over the whole tarte.
Recommended Beverage Pairing:
Serve Tarte Tatin with Bonnezeaux, sweet cider, Madeira, or - for
an especially wonderful pairing - Muscat.
Adapted from CULINARY ARTISTRY by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page.
 We've loved spending the week with you, and would like to
thank everyone at Chef2Chef.net (and especially David Nelson) for making it
possible. And we'd like to leave you with a sweet "good-bye" by addressing the
subject of pairing beverages with desserts.
The most important tip to remember is that you always want the wine you serve
to be sweeter than the dessert it is accompanying.
So if you're serving a dark chocolate dessert, pair it with a chilled
glass of Banyuls, tawny port, or oloroso sherry to create a
peak experience no chocoholic will ever forget.
Champagne isn't just the perfect aperitif — a demi-sec (i.e. sweet)
Champagne is also a delightful accompaniment for a dessert soufflé.
And when in doubt, serve Moscato d'Asti, which is the #1 food-friendliest
dessert wine there is!
Mrs. D's Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from the recipe by
Marcel Desaulniers
The Trellis
Williamsburg, Virginia
www.thetrellis.com
Marcel Desaulniers writes of his mother's cookie recipe: "As a toddler, I
teethed on this cookie (along with her fudge). As time passed, it greeted me
after school and brought my family together around the kitchen table. When I
was in the service, this cookie brought me joy in Viet Nam and put a smile on
the faces of my Marine buddies desperate for a taste of home. With a cookie
like this from Mom, I don't know why anyone needs apple pie."
Makes 2 dozen 4-inch cookies
Ingredients:
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound unsalted butter, cut into 1-ounce pieces
2 cups tightly packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons dark rum
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
24 ounces chocolate chips
Preparation:
Heat the oven to 300 degrees. In a sifter, combine the flour, baking soda and
salt. Sift onto a large piece of wax paper and set aside until needed.
Place the butter and dark brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted
with a paddle. (If a table-model electric mixer is not available, this dough may
be mixed by hand using a stiff rubber spatula or a wooden spoon. Make sure the
butter is at room temperature.) Beat on medium for 4 minutes until soft.
Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the eggs,
dark rum and vanilla extract and beat on medium for 1 minute until combined.
Scrape down the bowl.
Operate the mixer on low while gradually adding the sifted dry ingredients until
incorporated, about 1 minute.
Add the chocolate chips and mix on low for 30 seconds. Remove the bowl from the
mixer and use a rubber spatula to finish mixing the dough until thoroughly
combined.
Using 2 large heaping tablespoons of dough for each cookie (just shy of 3
ounces), portion 6 cookies, evenly spaced, onto each of 4 non-stick baking
sheets.
Place the baking sheets on the top and center racks of the oven and bake for 28
to 30 minutes until dry to the touch. Rotate the cookies from top to center
about halfway through the baking time (at this time, also turn each sheet 180
degrees).
Remove the cookies from the oven and allow to cool at room temperature on the
baking sheets for 30 minutes. Store the cookies in a tightly-sealed plastic
container until ready to serve.
Note: Mrs. D and her family love crisp cookies. If your preference is for a
softer cookie, bake them for 20 minutes at 325 degrees. These cookies will keep
forever, or close to it, when held at room temperature in a tightly sealed
plastic container. For long-term storage, up to several weeks, the cookies may
be frozen. Freeze in a tightly sealed plastic container to prevent dehydration
and freezer odor.
Beverage Pairing Recommendation:
Serve chocolate chip cookies with a chilled glass of Madeira or orange
Muscat. Or, consider just a small glass of ice-cold milk. After all,
sometimes there's nothing more pleasurable than a childhood classic!
Adapted from
BECOMING A CHEF (2003 edition) by Andrew Dornenburg and
Karen Page
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