Day: October 7, 2014
Brenda’s pecan pie
With Canadian Thanksgiving fast approaching, my Canadian host cooked for me my first ever Pecan Pie. The filling is similar to the butter tarts I have already posted, but that is by the by. This is without question the best recipe I have tasted on my travels thus far. A buttery flaky crust, sweet gooey insides and firm nutty pecans. Whether American or Canadian, is up for debate. But there’s no time for that, you need to make this pie now.
So below in all its unadulterated glory is the recipe for Brenda’s Pecan Pie.
Level: medium
Methods: pie crust, creaming
Skills: baking
Time: 1 1/2 hours
Makes: 8 hearty slices
Ingredients
For the pie crust:
150g plain flour
1/4tsp salt
30g lard or white vegetable fat
30g butter
4tbsp cold water
For the filling:
3 eggs, slightly beaten
300g golden syrup
130g dark soft brown sugar
75g butter, melted
1tsp vanilla extract
125g pecan halves
Method
1. Stir together flour and salt in a large mixing bowl.
2. Using a knife cut in the fat until the pieces are pea-size (do not rub in, we want a flaky north American pie crust.)
3. Sprinkle the water over the mix, one tablespoon at a time, gently tossing together with a fork. Repeat this until the dough can be brought together into one ball.
4. Chill in the fridge until needed.
5. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
6. For the filling, simply combine the eggs, syrup, sugar, butter, and vanilla in a bowl. An electric whisk can be used at this point.
7. Stir in the pecan halves.
8. On a lightly floured surface, use your hands to slightly flatten the pie crust dough.
Roll the dough from the center to the edge, into a circle about 12 inches in diameter.
9. Line a 9-inch pie plate with the pastry. Crimp or trim the edge as desired.
10. Place the pastry-lined pie plate onto the oven rack. Carefully pour the filling into the pastry shell. To prevent overbrowning, you can cover the edge of the pie with foil.
11. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for a further 20 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
12. Cool completely on a wire rack, the filling is like molten lava, so be careful.
Butter Tarts
The Butter Tart is a quintessentially Canadian recipe, and is irrefutably Canadian in origin. This recipe has been modified and altered over the generations to the point where this simple tart can taste vastly different depending where you are in the country. Opinions too, vary over what other ingredients are added, the type of pastry used and indeed even the desired consistency of the filling. My preferred variant of the tart includes plump raisins (traditional), uses European shortcrust pastry (not traditional) and should be firm but oozing (a matter of preference.)
Some butter tarts are made with dark corn syrup, while others use light. For a Brit hoping to emulate the recipe, light corn syrup is easier to substitute as it is nearly identical to golden syrup, so that’s what I’ve gone with in this recipe. However in an effort to lend a more treacly tone to the tart I have added a small amount of dark soft brown sugar. The recipe is hugely forgiving and can be made even more fragrant and “Canadian” with a dash of maple syrup.
This little treat is unashamedly sweet and so is best prepared in individual “tartlets” using a 12 hole muffin tin.
Level: medium
Methods: rubbing-in, creaming
Skills: baking
Time: 1 hour
Makes: around 12 tarts
Ingredients
150g plain flour
75g butter, chilled and cubed
1tbsp icing sugar
1 egg yolk
1-3tsp water
75g raisins
60g soft butter
150g golden syrup
50g soft dark brown sugar
2tsp maple syrup (optional)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2tsp vanilla extract
Method
1. Place the raisins into a small bowl and cover with hot water from the tap. Leave to stand until needed so they can plump up.
2. Next, place the flour and icing sugar into a mixing bowl.
3. Add the cubed butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mix resembles fine breadcrumbs.
4. Add the egg yolk and stir lightly. You need a firm ball of dough, so you will more than likely need to add a dash of water. Bring together into a ball and rest briefly in the fridge.
5. In a large mixing bowl, combine the soft butter, syrup and sugar with a wooden spoon. Stir until creamy and the sugar has dissolved.
6. Add the egg and vanilla. Mix well.
7. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
8. Drain the raisins.
9. Now, prepare the muffin tins by rolling out the pastry and cutting into 4-inch (approx) circles with a pastry cutter.
10. Fit dough circles into muffin the cups, taking care not to stretch the pastry as this can cause shrinkage later; set aside in fridge until ready to fill.
11. Divide the raisins equally into all of the tart cases, then top each evenly with the butter mixture.
12. Bake for 20 minutes; the filling will be lightly browned but still bubbling.
13. Let the cooked butter tarts cool in the tin for 10 minutes after removing from oven; then remove and place on racks until completely cool.
Destination #2 / Parry Sound, Canada
Plokkfiskur Pasties (Icelandic mashed haddock and potato)
On the same day I attempted to eat shark, I also tasted a dish named Plokkfiskur. Now, the English translation of Plokkfiskur is simply mashed fish, but I found that description more than a little off-putting, considering how delicious this classic dish is. Plokkfiskur is a true peasants meal and was traditionally used as a way to liven up leftover poached haddock.
The dish itself is composed of few ingredients and has a smooth, almost gummy texture that is reminiscent of the best cheese and onion pasty fillings (think Ginsters!) In fact it is this very notion that gave birth to my anglicised recipe variant, a Plokkfiskur pasty. For those who aren’t keen on this idea, you can instead take a more authentic path and choose to gratinate the mashed mixture with rye-breadcrumbs and grated Gouda.
Ingredients
For the Potato Pastry:
190g cold mashed potato (no butter or milk added)
210g plain flour
100g butter, chilled and cubed
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
cold water
For the Plokkfiskur:
560g haddock (cooked and cooled)
560g potatoes (peeled, diced and boiled)
1 onion (chopped finely)
350ml whole milk
55g butter
3tsp plain flour
salt and pepper
1-2tsp snipped chives
Method
1. First make your pastry. Combine the flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl.
2. Add the fat and rub in with your fingertips until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
3. Mix in the mashed potato until a ball of dough forms that leaves the sides of the bowl clean. It is at this point that you may need to add a little water.
4. Rap the dough in cling film and chill for at least 30 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, skin the cooked haddock fillets (check for bones as you go) and break up the fish into flakes.
6. Finely chop the onion and add to a saucepan with the butter.
7. Warm over a medium heat until the onion starts to soften.
8. When cooked, spoon over the flour and stir to make a roux. Stir well for 1-2 minutes.
9. Gradually add the milk, stirring continuously. Allow to simmer for 3-4 minutes, stirring often.
10. Remove from the heat and add the potato and flaked fish. Stir roughly so that some of the pieces are broken up and others remain whole.
11. Finally add the chives and a generous amount of seasoning, then set aside to cool.
12. Preheat oven to 200°C.
13. Next, remove the pastry from the fridge and roll out on a floured work surface, until approximately 45 by 30cm. I sometimes roll the pastry between two sheets of clingfilm as it can get quite sticky.
14. Cut the pastry into six equal 15×15 squares.
15. One at a time spread a generous portion of Plokkfiskur onto one half of each square. Fold over like a book and seal with a fork and some egg wash. Brush the tops with more egg and prick with a few holes to allow the steam to escape.
16. When completed, transfer your pasties to a baking tray and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.
Interlude – Strange Things I Have Eaten – #1 Hákarl
One dish I won’t be recreating is Hákarl (pictured bottom right) or decomposed shark. Whilst I won’t be recommending anyone try this dish at home, you might be pleased to know that I tried it on your behalf. Served in innocuous, small, fleshy cubes, even my waiter grimaced when I ordered this local “delicacy”.
For those wondering, it isn’t the taste that gets you; it is the aroma. As soon as you pop the innocent looking morsel into your mouth, your olfactory senses are assaulted with the eye-watering scent of ammonia. This is because Hákarl is traditionally prepared by gutting and beheading a shark and placing it in a shallow hole dug in gravelly sand. The shark is then covered with sand and gravel, and stones are placed on top of the sand in order to press the shark. In this way the fluids are pressed out of the body. The shark ferments in this fashion for 6–12 weeks.
The smell is a devilish combination of sour milk, nail polish remover and cat urine. So obnoxious is the smell that it made me pull this face:
then this one
Whilst we’re at it the Hardfiskur (middle back) was equally challenging, for you see, Hardfiskur is dried cod fillets spread with lashings of butter. My same bemused waiter informed me that this was one of his favourite snacks. He told me that it is consumed by Icelanders of all ages, whether it be in a childs lunchbox, whilst watching sport or at the cinema. His story seemed to be authenticated when I saw this fishy snack food on sale at the local corner store nestled between the chocolate and the crisps. When I told the aforementioned waiter that I had found the food hard to stomach on account of its strong fish flavour and tough, chewy texture, he told me that I should perhaps think of it as “fishy chewing gum.” But somehow that didn’t help…
Hjónabandssaela (Blissful Marriage Cake)
This delightful recipe proved to be my first taste of true Icelandic cooking, as I first enjoyed it on my flight from Heathrow.
As I begun to investigate the recipe further I was really struck by the name – Hjónabandssaela, which literally translates as Blissful Marriage Cake. Now my students will know that I am a fan of etymology (the study of the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history.) But interestingly there seems to be no consensus on how this simple bake acquired such a unique name, but there are two realistic theories.
1. The simple, store cupboard ingredients are an ideal “marriage” of flavours.
2. This cake is so easy to make, that even the most domestically challenged housewives can throw this together, in order to satisfy her husband and make their marriage blissful.
What is known however, is that the cake has never been a part of Icelandic wedding ceremonies, so it is up to us to choose the theory we most prefer.
This recipe has a lot in common with the more refined Linzer Torte of Austrian origins. The addition of oats and brown sugar makes this decidedly more rustic and in my opinion, all the more enjoyable for it. All of the ingredients used here are plentiful in Iceland, and for that matter in the UK. Rhubarb in particular, is a hardy stem, that flourishes in the harsh Icelandic climate, meaning it appears frequently in their cuisine. For this reason I have decided to make my own rhubarb jam in order to make the recipe more challenging.
Level: high
Methods: rubbing-in, jam making
Skills: stewing, baking
Time: 2 hours (reduced to an hour if you use shop bought jam)
Makes: 8-10 slices
Ingredients
For the jam:
500g rhubarb, weighed after trimming, cut into 3cm chunks
500g jam sugar
1 vanilla pod, halved lengthways
juice 1/2 lemon
For the base and topping:
250g white spelt flour (plain will suffice if it’s all you can find)
200g rolled oats
1/2tsp baking powder
25g caster sugar
100g muscovado sugar
75g butter, diced
1-2tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
Method
1. Put a small plate in the freezer.
2. Put the rhubarb into a large saucepan with the sugar and halved vanilla pod.
3. Heat gently, stirring, until all the sugar has dissolved, then squeeze in the lemon juice and increase the heat.
4. Boil for about 10 mins, skimming off the scum as you go (the fruit should be soft).
5. Test for setting point by spooning a little onto your chilled plate. After 1-2 mins, push your finger through the jam – if the surface wrinkles it is ready, if not, keep cooking for 2-min intervals, testing in between. (Or if you have a sugar thermometer it should reach 105°C)
6. Once the jam is ready, let it cool for about 45 before use. This will make more jam than you need, so you can place the excess in sterilised jars (it will keep for 6 months).
7. Next make the crust. Cut the butter into small cubes.
8. Preheat oven to 200°C. Grease and flour a cake tin.
This recipe can be made in a 8-inch cake tin, a pie dish or a small tray bake pan. You can also reduce the amount of jam used to produce a portable snack bar.
9. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking powder, and sugars.
10. Add the cubed butter. Then combine the ingredients using your fingertips, rubbing together until the mix resembles sandy breadcrumbs.
11. Add the egg and vanilla extract, then stir to make a loose dough. Bring together with your hands and then knead for about a minute or until the dough is cohesive and malleable.
12. Place 2/3 of the dough into the base of your chosen cooking tin. Press firmly into the tin and push up the sides to create a 1cm high crust.
13. Cover your dough with the rhubarb jam.
14. Crumble the remaining dough on top of the other layers.
15. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the the crust is golden and the jam is beginning to darken at the edges. Do not allow the jam to burn.
16. Allow to cool fully before serving.
Mastication / Destination 