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Monday, June 14, 2010

Trout Pâté

Looks fancy, tastes great and is really easy to make.
Source
The Daring Cook’s June 2010 challenge, hosted by Evelyne of Cheap Ethnic Eatz, and Valerie of a The Chocolate Bunny
Taste 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty 1 (out of 5)
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb / 8 oz / 240g trout filet, skinned and cut into thick chunks (355 cal)
- 1/4 lb / 4 oz / 110g raw shrimp, deveined, shelled and tailed (150 cal)
- 1/2 cup / 120ml heavy cream (415 cal)
- salt and black pepper to taste
- chives for garnish
Total 920 cal, 6 servings, 155 cal / serving
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375ºF (190ºC).
2. Put the trout and the raw shrimp in a food processor and pulse. Gradually pour in the cream and keep pulsing until you obtain a smooth mixture that is easy to spread, but not too liquid (you may not need to use all the cream). Season with salt and pepper.
3. Butter a 6x3 inch (15x7,5 cm) loaf pan or three 3/4-cup ramekins. Spoon in the trout mixture and spread it evenly. 
4. Prepare a water bath: place the loaf pan in a larger, deep ovenproof dish (such as a brownie pan or a baking dish). Bring some water to a simmer and carefully pour it in the larger dish. The water should reach approximately halfway up the loaf pan.
5. Put the water bath and terrine in the oven, and bake for 35 minutes. The pâté should be cooked through and firm in the center.
6. Remove the pan from the water bath and let cool. Carefully unmold onto a serving platter. Decorate with chopped chives. Cut into thick slices and serve at room temperature, with crusty bread.
Afterhtoughts
- This was my first pate, so I followed the pâté recipe from the Daring Kitchen very closely. The primary change was omitting whole shrimps. It turned out much much easier than I thought, and very tasty. Thanks a lot to Evelyne and Valerie for this challenge :-)
- For the bread I made a baguette from my absolute favorite Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day master recipe
- I was really pleasantly surprised to see how easy it was to unmold this pâté - leaves a lot of room for experimenting with pans of different shapes.
- If you have leftover heavy cream, place it in a food processor and beat on High speed until it firms. It becomes something like the British double clotted cream. A great addition to your baguette and pâté ;-)
Blog-checking lines: Our hostesses this month, Evelyne of Cheap Ethnic Eatz, and Valerie of a The Chocolate Bunny, chose delicious pate with freshly baked bread as their June Daring Cook’s challenge! They’ve provided us with 4 different pate recipes to choose from and are allowing us to go wild with our homemade bread choice.

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Thursday, June 10, 2010

Strawberry Rhubarb Tart

A fresh summer treat. 
Source
Taste 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty 2 (out of 5)

Ingredients
For the dough
- 100 g margarine (725 cal)
- 1 cup all purpose flour (455 cal)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed (415 cal)
For the filling
- 750 g strawberries (240 cal)
- 1 stalk rhubarb (35 cal)
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp agave nectar (190 cal)
- 2 tbsp cornstarch (115 cal)
Total 2175 cal, 12 servings, 180 cal/serving


Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 325. Lightly butter a 9-inch tart pan or 4 individual tart pans.
2. Place all the ingredients for the dough in a bowl and mix with pastry cutter. You can add 1-2 tbsp of ice water in the end if the doug is too dry. Form a ball with your hands, wrap with a plastic wrap and let rest in the refrigerator for an hour. 
3. In the meantime, combine strawberries, rhubarb and agave nectar in a sieve, and let ret. 
4. After an hour press the dough out into the prepared tart pan using your fingers. Use a fork to dock the dough (poke holes in it — this will help keep the crust thin by preventing steam from making it bubble up as it cooks). Bake for 20 minutes.
5. Drain the strawberry rhubarb mixture of any liquid (otherwise your tart will be soggy). Add cornstarch and mix well again. Pour the filling into the partially baked crust, making sure to spread it out evenly. Return to the oven and bake for another 30 minutes, or until the crust is baked.
6. Remove and let cool before serving.
Afterthoughts
I love this tart - fresh, yummy, pretty and easy to make.

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