The Missing Ingredient In Desserts……Salt!

November 9, 2015 Tangie Holifield

From: Plated-The Dish
September 2015

It’s a stealth ingredient pastry chefs swear by: a smattering of salt in a dessert. The seasoning can do quiet work in the background, balancing the intense sweetness of a caramel, or the soft crunch of fleur de sel can take center stage. Bring salt out for the dessert course, and you’ll find the main course workhorse performs as it did at dinner—rounding out flavors, finishing a dish, and making tastes pop.

Salt + Chocolate
Take a classic, crowd-pleasing dessert, add sea salt, and a brownie goes from after-school snack to dinner party star. Our Walnut Sea Salt Brownie, shipping this month, is dusted with delicate pyramid-shaped flakes, and they add a light, crunchy texture that shines against the backdrop of intense chocolate. The same principle works in chocolate chip cookies.
(Image: Plated)

Salt + Caramel
An idea cooked up by the French some 400 years ago, salt in caramel is divine all on its own. But this recipe for salted pumpkin caramels is both elegant and earthy. Crisp, nutty pepitas add texture, canned pumpkin adds depth, and the entire affair manages to encompass everything we love about fall in one sweet-salty bite. If you want to take the fall vibe in a different direction, try salted caramel apples.
(Image: Food52)

Salt + Ice Cream
When you want sweet, salty and creamy all in one bite—but have a bare cupboard and no ice cream maker—whip up this three-ingredient sea salt ice cream, inspired by a charming shop on the coast of Ireland. When you’ve some more time and more ingredients on hand, salty ice cream bon bons are calling your name.

Salt + Honey
Just as honey and spice work so well together, so too do honey and salt. Here, in a salty honey pie made famous by Brooklyn’s beloved Four and Twenty Blackbirds pie shop, what could be a treacly-sweet honey custard filling gets a hit of salt…and then everything’s fine.
(Image: Hummingbird High)

Lobster and Artichoke Pizza

October 19, 2015 Tangie Holifield

This pizza was inspired by the Old Port Lobster Flatbread appetizer served at the Hancock Gourmet Lobster Company in Topsham, Maine. Instead using a standard pizza dough to make the crust, I opted for a puff pastry. Pepperidge Farm’s Puff Pasty is the one I like to use, but you can use any standard commerically made products that can be found in your local supermarkets. This decadent treat It is perfect for a Sunday afternoon lunch.

Ingredients:

For the Lemon Butter Herb Marinade:
Makes About 1 Cup

1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 Tablespoon fresh minced rosemary
1/2 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/4 Tablespoon lemon peel
1/4 cup melted butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper or to taste

Directions:
Combine the olive oil, lemon juice, salt cayenne pepper in a nonreactive (glass, ceramic, or stainless steel) bowl and whisk until the salt crystals are dissolved. Add the rosemary, parsley, garlic and lemon zest. Stir or whisk in the butter to combine. The virtue of this marinade is its freshness: Use it within 1 to 2 hours of making. Stir again before using.

For the toppings:
Ingredients:
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup Asiago Cheese
1/4 cup Fontina Cheese
1/2 pound lobster meat (click here for the resource)
1/2 cup Suns of Italy Marinated Artichoke Hearts, chopped (click here for the resource)
2 Tablespoons Italian parsley, chopped
Crush red pepper flakes, to taste
Pepperidge Farms Puff Pastry (click here for the site)

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 430 degrees F.

Make the marinade. Add about 1/2 cup of the marinade to a small non reactive bowl. Add the lobster meat and cover with plastic wrap and set in the refrigerator to marinade for about 20 minutes.

Roll out the puff pastry and place on a foil-covered pizza pan. Blind bake the pastry

In a small bowl, combine olive oil and minced garlic and using a pastry brush, brush onto the dough.

Sprinkle about 1/3 cup of the cheeses on top.

Remove the lobster meat from the marinade and drain. And a layer of the lobster and artichokes on top of the pastry. Sprinkle on the parsley, the red pepper flakes, and the rest of the remaining cheeses.

Bake at 430 degrees for about 18-22 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and crisped, to your liking.

Pickled Beet Deviled Eggs

February 6, 2015 Tangie Holifield

Let these deviled eggs take center stage at your next party. They will have your guests wanting more!

Ingredients:
6 eggs

For the Brine:
One 16 oz can beets with liquid
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt

For the Yolk Filling:
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 Tablespoon mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 Tablespoon white vinegar
3 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon light cream
Salt, to taste
White pepper, to taste
Fresh chopped chives, for garnish

Directions:
Hard boil your eggs and remove the shells.For perfect hard boiled eggs, see this link for the method: http://wp.me/p43Rn7-oY

Set the eggs aside.

To prepare the brine, pour the entire can of beets into a large mason jar or bowl. Add cider vinegar, sugar, peppercorns and salt. Stir mixture. Because beet juice will stain, carefully lower the hard boiled eggs into the brine, cover and let sit for at least 12 hours, up to two or three days. The longer the eggs stay submerged in the brine, the more sour and dark maroon they will become. If just the rim of magenta color of the egg white and a slightly pickled flavor is desired, let the eggs sit for about 13 to 16 hours.

When brining time has completed, using sharp knife dipped in hot water, cut each egg in half and carefully scoop out the yolks using a small teaspoon. Place yolks in a medium-sized bowl, along with the mustard, mayonnaise, curry, vinegar, and olive oil. Mix/mash until smooth. You can always add a little bit of light cream to the yolk filling, if it is too stiff. Add the salt and pepper to taste.

Using small teaspoon, or a pastry bag or a plastic bag with the corner cut off, spoon or pipe the yolk filling back into the magenta colored eggs. Sprinkle with chopped chives and arrange on a platter for serving. If the eggs are not to be served immediately, cover the dish with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until ready to be served.