Recipe: Atayef - Syrian Ricotta-Filled Dessert Pancakes

Atayef - Syrian Ricotta-Filled Dessert Pancakes

I took one look at the picture of these atayef in Poopa Dweck's spectacular cookbook, Aromas of Aleppo, The Legendary Cuisine of Syrian Jews and knew imediately that I had to make them. I served them at a recent Men Cook event for dessert, after a meal that also included her red lentil soup (shurbat addes) and spiced yogurt cheese (labneh).

If the picture of the atayef didn't get me, the description surely would have. First you make a thin pancake batter, and cook off small, crepe-thin circles, but only on one side. Then you fill the undercooked pancakes with ricotta cheese, seal them up, and deep fry them. Then you drench them in rose water-scented simple syrup, and dip the end in finely chopped pistachios. Over the top? I'd say.

The results were just as terrific as the description, and in spite of all the steps they aren't really difficult to do. Allowing for a few that burst or otherwise turn out ugly, the recipe will make about 40 two-bite desserts, and the average person will probably want three of them, so you can easily serve 12. If you don't need this many all at once, you might as well still make them and then freeze the rest before the deep frying step.

The syrup sub-recipe will also yield more than you need but will keep well in the fridge. You could use it to make interesting cocktails!

Shira (Rose Water Scented Syrup)
Vegetarian and vegan
Yields 2 cups (keeps well; could also use in cocktails)

• 3 c. white sugar
• 1 c. water
• 1 t. lemon juice
• 1/2 t. rose water or orange blossom water

1. Boil the sugar, water and lemon juice for about 15 minutes. To tell if it is thick enough, grab out a teaspoon (carefully!) and let it cool a bit, then see if it is close to the consistency of honey.
2. Allow to cool, then add the rose water or orange blossom water, and refrigerate. (The book has you add the rose water during the boiling, but I think it is better after).

Atayef - Syrian Ricotta-Filled Dessert Pancakes
Vegetarian
To make vegan substitute egg replacer in the pancake and silken tofu fin the filling, or do a filling of chopped walnuts and apples)
Yields about 40, enough for at least 12 people

• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1 T. sugar
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 c. fresh ricotta (I prefer Colabro brand)
• 1 c. cold shira syrup (above)
• 1 c. shelled pistachios, chopped fine in a food processor

1. Mix together the dry ingredients. Stir in the egg, then add water until you have a thin pancake batter, about like a crepe batter.
2. Heat a griddle or large frying pan to medium and grease lightly.
3. To make the pancakes, spread on 1 T. of batter and use the back of a spoon to quickly form it into a 3" circle. Cook until bubbles just appear on one side. Do not flip, just remove it from the heat and place in a single layer on a baking sheet or work surface. Your goal is only to make the crepe firm enough to be filled, you don't need it to be fully cooked. Do as many at a time as you can handle without overcooking. For me that was only about 4 at a time but they go quick.
4. Fill each pancake with 1 teaspoon of ricotta. Do not overfill! Fold in half and seal with your fingertips. You can freeze them in a single layer at this point until you are ready to use them.
5. For the final cooking, heat about 3/4 inch of oil in a smallish saucepan. Fry the atayef in small batches until deep golden brown, about 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon, douse with the shira syrup, and dip the tip in the pistachios. The shira should be very cold to prevent it from ruining the crispiness of the pancakes.
6. Serve immediately, while still hot, and experience joy!

Recipe: Valentine's Day Crepes with Chocolate Ganache And Raspberry Compote

Valentine's Day Crepes with Chocolate Ganache And Raspberry Compote

This is the first of several posts of the dishes I did for the men's cooking group of Kavana, a cooperative Jewish organization that we have been involved with recently. Eric L., the creator of CellarTracker.com normally leads the group, but he's down with a shoulder injury. So he and his family hosted at their beautiful house and provided amazing wine, and I led the cooking with a  group of 13 enthusiastic sous chefs. It was great fun!

Normally I'd post the recipes in order starting with appetizers, but with Valentine's Day right around the corner, we better begin with a dessert to knock your sweetie's socks off. (Or other items of clothing). Although there are a few steps, it really isn't much harder than making pancakes.  Add a chocolate ganache, quick raspberry compote, and whipped cream and I dare you not to be happy. Eric paired this with a Heitz ruby port which I think was ideal.

The batter recipe is classic Julia Child. You can make it a day ahead if you like. If you have Mastering the Art of French Cooking, she goes in to her characteristic fine detail for perfecting your crepe technique. Page 190 in my well-worn old hardback copy that I inherited from my Mom. Definitely worth a look.

Valentine's Day Crepes with Chocolate Ganache And Raspberry Compote
Serves 4-5

• 4 T. melted butter
• 1 c. cold water
• 1 c. whole milk
• 4 eggs
• 2 c. sifted all-purpose flour
• 1/2 t. kosher salt
• vegetable oil for the pan
• 8 oz. good bittersweet or semi-sweet (Scharffen-Berger or Callebaut are fine choices)
• 1 pint heavy cream (for ganache and whipped cream)
• 3 T. powdered sugar
• one small bag frozen raspberries
• sugar as needed

1. Combine the melted butter, cold water, milk, eggs, flour and kosher salt in the blender and whir for a minute. Refrigerate the batter until ready to use. Better if it chills for an hour, but not mandatory. The consistency should be like a quite thin pancake batter. Stir in a bit more cold milk if necessary.
2. Roughly chop the chocolate, add 1/2 c. of the heavy cream, and melt in the microwave or double boiler, whisking occasionally until smooth. Add more cream if needed to make a fluffy ganache. Do not refrigerate. (To do this in the microwave, heat at full power for 30 seconds at a time in a microwaveable bowl, stirring in between, until melted and smooth).
3. In a small pot, melt the raspberries, and whisk occasionally until they turn into a sauce. Add sugar, and a pinch of salt to taste. Continue to simmer until slightly thickened. A little lemon juice or zest is nice here too.
4. Whip the cream with the powdered sugar.
5. To cook the crepes, heat one or two crepe pans or 8" non-stick skillets over a medium flame. Wipe with a bit of vegetable oil. Pour in 1/4 c. of batter, and quickly swirl to coat. Let cook until just slightly brown but not crisp, about 60 seconds, then flip and cook for another 30 seconds.
6. To serve, put a spoonfull of the ganache in the center of each crepe and roll or fold. Place on plate with a spoonful of the raspberry compote, drizzle with more ganache, and add dollop of the whip cream. Two crepes makes a good serving.

Recipe: Pie Dough and Ganache Cookie Towers

Let's consider the problem:

1. I have a bit of leftover flaky pie crust dough
2. I really want something chocolatey, but quick
3. I'm obsessed with circle cutters

Solution:

The cookies above. Recipe: Cut out pie dough with a successive series of cutters, starting at maybe 2.5 inches down to the smallest size you have. Bake til golden brown. Heat up a small amount of cream, pour it over finely chopped chocolate, wait a minute, whisk, spread on the bottom of all of the circles except the largest, stack 'em up, watch Get Smart reruns while unstacking and experiencing mild glee.

Extra credit:

Use a squeeze bottle to decorate a plate with any extra ganache.

Recipe: Reconstructed Tarte Tatin

Reconstructed Tarte Tatin with Spun Sugar

This quick tarte tatin-style dessert is based partially on a method by Dieter Schoemer that I read about in Culinary Artistry, which I'll be reviewing soon. I made it as a full size dessert that would serve 4 with ice cream, but you could also do it as individual portions, which I think would be quite striking. The main idea is to cook the crust separately from the apples and caramel so it remains crunchy. I added the easy but cool looking spun sugar topping. You could do this with a normal flaky pie crust instead of puff pastry too.

Reconstructed Tarte Tatin
Serves 4

• 3 baking apples, peeled, cored, and sliced medium
• 1 c. sugar
• 2 T. quince or apricot jam, warmed to a spreadable consistency
• 2 T. butter
• 1/4 t. cinnamon
• 1/8 t. nutmeg (preferably fresh ground)
• 1 pinch sea salt
• 1 sheet all-butter puff pastry, defrosted

1. Preheat oven to 400 degress.
2. In an ovenproof skillet, heat 2/3 c. of the sugar over medium heat, stirring occasionally until it turns into a light caramel. Be careful! Caramel will burn you very easily. Add the apples, toss, dot with butter, and put in oven.
3. Cut a 10 inch circle out of the puff pastry and put on a cookie sheet in the oven.
4. Bake the apples until tender and the puff pastry until golden brown (which will be at different times) and remove both from the oven.
5. In a clean skillet, melt the remaining sugar into a medium caramel and let start to cool in a ramekin.
6. Using a paring knife, cut a rim around the puff pastry, about 3/4" in from the edge to create a "dish" into which to place the apples. You aren't removing any pastry, just letting the center drop.
7. Lay the apples in concentric rings, tucking them under the edge. Glaze with the jam, warming it slightly in the microwave if needed. Pour over the leftover apple cooking juice and caramel, reducing a bit if needed. If you want to add some Calvados, don't let me stop you. Sprinkle with the cinammon, nutmeg, and sea salt.
8. To make the spun sugar, take the tines of a fork, dip them in the caramel and pull vertically. If it is as the right temperature, it will form a thin strand. Carefully use your fingers to stretch it. Lay the strand over the tart and repeat until it looks cool. (There are more technical ways to do this that include adding water, corn syrup, cream of tartar and so on. But I didn't have any problem with this technique.)
9. Serve with vanilla ice cream!

Chocolate Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Filling And Chocolate Gelato

We have officially entered the Snacky Pants birthday celebration period, which extends approximately 30 days on either side of the actual anniversary of her entrance to this world. We've kicked in to high gear a bit earlier than usual owing to our rapidly approaching trip which will separate her from many of her usual admirers during this important holiday. Brother and CatWoman feted her with gifts, and I was directed to produce both chocolate cupcakes with a cream cheese filling and a chocolate ice cream. Normally I would have wanted to go to vanilla or some sort of caramel ice cream, but one does not argue with the birthday girl.

Simply Desserts, in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood is famous for their chocolate cream cheese cupcakes, and in fact I'd just eaten some at a going away party that my office crue held before my leave of absence started. So the flavor was fresh in my mind when I started searching, and I settled on this recipe at recipezaar.com. The only change I made was to use chopped Guittard bittersweet chocolate instead of the chips. I was slightly skeptical of the vinegar, and could taste it faintly when they were warm, but no-one seemed to mind, though I'm not sure why the recipe wouldn't just call for baking powder instead of or in addition to baking soda. These cupcakes were super moist and tasted even better after a day in the refrigerator.

For the ice cream, I once again turned to Fanny over at Foodbeam.com and followed her recipe for Willy Wonka's Everlasting Chocolate Gelato. Wise call. This time I used Scharffen-Berger unsweetened bar chocolate and Lake Champlain cocoa powder, and pressed brother into service  separating eggs and whisking and manning ice water baths while I began removing the general sheen of chocolate from the whole kitchen. The result was astonishingly rich. If you have a chocolate itch that this doesn't scratch, you may need to be hospitalized for your own safety.  As my friend Stu says, "dzaing main"! The only problem we had was that it really needs some freezer time to harden up, and since we started cooking late in the evening, we ended up eating it in semi-souplike form, even after a brief attempt to quick freeze on a baking sheet. Anyhow this only made it quicker to deliver the chocolate punch straight to our arteries. The picture above was taken the next day, at the "proper" texture. Yes, I re-lit the candle for verisimilitude. Clearly I need one of those ice cream freezers like they have on Iron Chef that can go from custard to ready to serve in 20 minutes.

Snacky Pants and all of the other revelers reported full satisfaction and an inability to sleep due to chocolate overload. Mission accomplished.

Dragonfruit, Dragon Fruit, Is That A Pitaya In Your Pocket?

... or are you just glad to see me? I'm glad to have made the acquaintance of this tropical fruit, known also as a Strawberry Pear, Nanettikafruit, Thanh Long, as well as the more common names of Dragonfruit (or Dragon Fruit), and Pitaya. Apparently it comes in several varieties and can be grown in many tropical parts of the world, but the organic one I spied today (costing a double-take-inducing $12/pound!) at Madison Market had red skin and and stunning neon-magenta flesh dotted with small black seeds.

The flavor and texture immediately reminded me of a giant kiwi fruit, although they are apparently not relatives. The dragonfruit grows on a cactus, while kiwi is from a vine. Nonetheless, the slightly grainy, watery flesh and seeds were very reminiscent. The flavor is mildly sweet and tangy, not particularly intense.

While tasty enough to eat out of hand, at that price I don't think many of us will be slicing pitaya up for an everyday breakfast. It would definitely be attention grabbing in a fruit salad or as a garnish. After puzzling about what I wanted to do with it, I landed on a quick sorbet that I served with a crepe filled with chocolate ganache. To make the the sorbet I just pureed the flesh with quite a bit of honey and a few grains of sea salt, and pushed it through a fine meshed sieve. You could put it in an ice cream maker, but I was in a hurry, so I poured it out on a baking sheet, set it level in the freezer, and agitated it with a fork every few minutes while I prepared the crepes, until it firmed up nicely. The sorbet developed a slightly gelatinous texture, which I liked but some (Snacky Pants, are you with me?) might find unappealing. That must be due to some chemical property of the fruit, but I don't know the technical explanation. I think it would also make a great ice cream, though of course the color would become pastel. If I made it again I think I would use agave nectar instead of honey for the milder flavor and the nice symmetry of using two cactus-based ingredients. Shot of tequila anyone?

Fig Brulee with Balsamic Vinegar

I have to make this every year when fresh figs appear. If you have a blowtorch, it takes all of 30 seconds, looks really cool, and tastes great. Snacky Pants' Mom says it would be good over a little vanilla ice cream.

Fig Brulee with Balsamic Vinegar
Serves 1 (multiply as needed)
Vegetarian, Vegan, and Gluten free

2 ripe fresh figs
2 t. white sugar
1 t. fine aged balsamic vinegar

Cut the figs in half lengthwise. Lay them skin-side down on a flameproof surface, such as a cookie sheet. Find a safe place to use your torch. Put a good mound of sugar on the cut surface of each fig, completely covering it. Use more than you think you would need because the blowtorch will blow some of it off. Turn on your torch and, working quickly, move back and forth over each fig turning the sugar into a melting dark brown syrup which will rapidly turn to "glass" when you remove the torch. You will want to experiment a bit to find the optimal distance to hold the flame. Remember that hot caramel will give you a nasty burn, so transfer them carefully to serving plates, and drizzle on some excellent balsamic vinegar.

Variations:

Serve on top of a scoop of vanilla ice cream
Serve with a few thin slices of a blue cheese or a triple-cream soft cheese