Happy New Year one and all!!! I have had a spectacular little vacation the past week and a half, but am gearing up to return to the land of the living. It’s funny how taking some time off really changes your perspective for the better. Maybe it’s because I’m sleeping more or maybe it’s because I’ve done little else besides watch movies and eat baked goods…needless to say, my mood has been elevated along with my waist size.
We took a few “down days” after Christmas with me playing video games and Brian catching up on work, but I’m not one for sitting too long. The baking bug bit quite hard and I decided to try and find something to make for New Year’s Eve. I surrounded myself with cookbooks and began to scour. The search wasn’t particularly fruitful because I wasn’t sure what sort of “food mood” I was in. The thought of making a fancy cake or some other dessert didn’t feel quite right. I wanted something clean and simple, something to symbolize the way I wanted to move into 2010.
I had originally considered doing a cake with black fondant to indicate mourning for the loss of 2009, but I didn’t feel particularly sad to see it go with all of it’s ups and downs. Welcoming 2010 with open arms seemed to be a better plan. After spending an hour or so and still coming up short I decided to use my old friend Google and look for some New Year’s recipe traditions. I’ve always heard you are supposed to eat black eyed peas for luck, and apparently collared greens (or any other kind of green) are good because the leafy green represents money. There are a slew of fruits and vegetables that represent money and financial growth…I guess it makes sense because Americans in particular equate happiness with financial growth. Cakes were also on the list…but as I said before I wasn’t interested in cake this time around.
The best place to look for inspiration usually comes back to what items are in season. Right now, that thing is citrus. Granted we get most of our fruits flown in from some tropical location, but if one were inclined to have a greenhouse, their fruit trees would be getting into the swing of production right now. I, sadly, do not have a greenhouse, but citrus was my answer. Then it hit…a lemon tart, simple, elegant and tasty. Lemon is my all-time favorite dessert flavor next to chocolate. In my review of years past, I have made more lemony cakes than any other dessert. Several times I’ve done a yellow cake with lemon curd and buttercream as my go-to fancy dessert. Pictured here is the aforementioned cake I had done for New Year’s Eve 3 years ago and topped with sugar cookie numbers. This was the year I really got into baking and took classes at the French Culinary Institute…ahhh, a glorious year.
For the finale of my classes, we had to create a specialty cake of some sort. I made this two tier yellow cake, again with lemon curd and buttercream (hiding under the fondant). It is one of my most special cakes to date and has a warm and fuzzy space in my heart. I particularly like the sugary daisies painted with luster dust.
Additionally, the birthday cake I made last year (with help from my friend Izabella) was this very same cake once more. I’m seeing a pattern here.
It was no surprise then that I chose to do the lemon tart for New Year’s. It just felt right. What was exciting about this recipe is it’s from Thomas Keller (Per Se, The French Laundry and Bouchon). Normally, most of his recipes are rather complex, but this one taken from the Bouchon cookbook is pretty straightforward and one most people could do without any difficulty. I think people always get caught up on the crust…mainly not wanting to make it because they think they are going to mess it up. This crust couldn’t be more fool proof. It relies on pine nuts as it’s base component, and isn’t overly sweet. All you need to do is put all the ingredients in a food processor, blend, and then divide the dough into three portions because it makes enough for 3 tart crusts. Most doughs you have to let rest and chill in the refrigerator before you work with it, but this one needs a mere 10 minutes of chill time and you are ready to push it into your tart pan and bake.
As for the filling, it is achieved through the sabayon method… which literally translates to standing and stirring until your arm wants to fall off. (Really) You place the sugar, eggs and lemon juice in a bowl over a pan of simmering water and stir until it just starts to make a thick, creamy filling…it took about 9 minutes of actual stir time. This would be a great time to practice being ambidextrous. Pour the filling into your cooled crust and magically you have a tart. You can put the tart under the broiler for a few seconds to get the pretty sugar caramelization on top. I added the powdered sugar numbers for graphic accents after the tart cooled. It’s sweet and super duper lemony, bright and cheerful, a proper dessert to take you into the New Year smiling.
The dessert went over well with our friends Lisa and Izabella who joined us for the evening of celebration and pigging out. Lisa spent the night with us since she lives in the city and trains stop running between Ossining and Manhattan between 2 and 5 am. We got up on the morning of the first and I made some cheddar sage biscuits to pair with scrambled eggs and Canadian bacon. There is nothing quite like biscuits made from scratch and hot out of the oven to get your day started. These were a snap to make and came out beautifully. Just like the tart crust, all the ingredients go in the food processor and with just a few pulses you have wonderfully tender biscuit dough, which should look shaggy when it’s done (not overly combined). Roll out the dough and get those biscuits in the oven!!!
(Pause: had another biscuit with sunny-side egg and bacon for this morning’s breakfast…still delicious after a couple of days stored in a Ziploc bag.)
Now that all the festivities are done, it’s time to get back to regular life, or at least semi-regular life. Brian is headed back to Florida for a week and a half, and I’m headed back to work, full steam ahead on a new project. The past couple of weeks have been such a nice change of pace, but one I’m not good at maintaining. I’m naturally a busy person and too much down time makes me a bit crazy. It’s time to think about the new year, new responsibilities and also a good time to get those pots of stew going on the stove and other slow-cooked numbers bubbling happily away, filling the house with delectable aromas.
(And as a side note: it’s also a good time to look through gardening catalogues and start planning spring and summer additions to the landscape. I always try to order summer bulbs and plants around the first of February to get the best pick. This site is one of my favorites: White Flower Farm)
Why think about this now? Well, the weather outside is frightful, windy, and cold and is going to stay that way for a while. It’s important to have things to look forward to. I’m looking forward to a snowy winter giving way to a spring full of new growth and some seasonal baked goods to go along with it. It’s just who I am.
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