Persimmon Tart

If you can’t have your own garden the next best thing is knowing someone who does. Through the summer, we’ve been the lucky recipients of all kinds of interesting fruits and vegetables from the Chungs. Joanne will come into the house laden with the latest bounty, graciously explaining exactly what she is sharing. I’ve learned a lot about foods I never knew existed. Wax apples, for instance. Who knew such a strange looking fruit is part of the apple family? And then there’s the loofah (except I think it’s spelled differently) - I thought those were reserved for bathtub use but, thanks to Joanne, I now know they are born as big, green, kind of gently squashy gourds. I’m sure there are plenty of recipes on the internet but Joanne’s suggestion seemed the easiest: cut into pieces, salt them and then cook them in a bit of water.

Persimmons have also shown up regularly, thanks to my farmer friend. When Emily received a box of her own Chung crop in the mail, she promptly set about finding recipes that use those persimmons. Her internet research revealed that there are actually two different types of the fruit so recipes had to be reviewed to see if they would be suitable for the Fuyu persimmon we were gifted with.

Settling on a tart recipe, Emily cooked one up to perfection and then took it into her lab where it was promptly gobbled up. I’d been wavering between a persimmon bread or cookie but, based on Emily’s success, I decided to make the same tart recipe she graciously sent my way.

This was really easy to put together. Emily had written a word of caution about the butter falling off the tart pan and creating lots of smoke in the oven but I didn’t have that problem. I actually used the mandolin to cut my butter so it was in paper thin shavings and maybe that helped.

What does a persimmon taste like? Baked in the pie with seasoning and lots of butter it reminded me a cinnamon-y apple. In addition to the wonderful taste of the persimmons, this tart makes a pleasing autumn dessert because of the orangish color of the fruit after it’s been baked.

PS - Emily says it's no wonder I like the persimmon tart so much...it sounds a whole lot like Pearl Simmons, my much loved maternal grandmother.


Kaki no taruto (Persimmon tart)

Makes 6-8 servings
For dough:
1 stick (115 g) cold unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (155 g) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 to 4 tablespoons ice water

For filling:
3 persimmons, peeled, seeded and sliced 1/8-inch thick
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/2 stick (55 g) cold butter, sliced thin

Vanilla ice cream or sweetened whipped cream

Make dough: Blend together flour, butter, and salt in a bowl with your fingertips until most of mixture resembles coarse meal, with the biggest lumps about pea-sized. Drizzle 2 tablespoons ice water evenly over and gently stir with a fork until incorporated.

When you squeeze a small handful of the dough, it should hold together without crumbling. If it doesn't, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring after each addition until incorporated (keep testing). Don't overwork the mixture or add too much water, or your dough will be tough.

Form dough: Divide the dough into 4 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once across your work surface in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather dough together with a pastry scraper and form it into a disk. Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.

When you are ready to assemble the tart, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). On a lightly floured surface roll out dough into a 13-inch round and fit it into a 10-inch tart tin, trimming the excess. Arrange the persimmon slices decoratively on the pastry shell, overlapping them. Mix the nutmeg and ginger with the sugar and sprinkle on top of the fruit. Top with butter slices and bake for 45 minutes or until the crust is golden and the persimmon slices are lightly browned. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

Apple Pie Cookies

Forget everything I said in my pumpkin snickerdoodles post - if you make these cookies and they don't taste like the most delicious essence of fall, you clearly didn't follow instructions.

The minute I saw these clever cookies on the Smitten Kitchen site today, I knew I was going to be trying them. Having now completed a batch, I think I can categorically brag that today's cooking adventure was the quickest I've gone from reading a new recipe to following through on making it.

This is not a cookie to whip up if you're in a hurry. I made the dough this morning and let it chill all day. Assembling all the components for the cookie guts took a bit of time as did the process of cutting the apples, dipping them in the sugars, and crimping the cookies with a fork. I wish my version looked as picture perfect as Deb's but perhaps that's the reason why she's in the final stages of publishing a cookbook while I'm not.

The cookies are tedious to prepare but oh so worth the effort! Biting into one is truly like a mini-fall festival of smell and taste. Really, I'd have a hard time classifying them as "just" a cookie as they truly do come out more like a tiny bite size apple pie. A very excellent apple pie. I'd give you a taste comparison between eating them hot straight out of the oven and cooled down except that I've yet to let one sit long enough to be cool. When they're nice and warm from the oven they're to die for. Deb explains on the Smitten Kitchen site that these cookies are a lot about that flaky apple pie crust taste, though she did doctor up her standard crust recipe with more sugar to allow for the transformation to cookie status. I worried that a crusty cookie might be "disappointing" but found that the crust to filling ratio was perfect for this tiny pie/cookie format. You definitely have a feeling of eating a "real" pie crust but, the sweet apple inside complements the crust in a perfect blend of cookie perfection.


With temperatures hugging the 100 degree mark on OCTOBER 14, I definitely needed a taste of autumn here in seasonless San Diego. Thank you Deb for a lovely bite of the best of fall.


Apple Pie Cookies

Promise me that you won’t mess around with soft pie dough, here or anywhere. The single easiest way to master pie crusts is to decide at the outset that you won’t waste your energy on limp, stretchy dough. As soon as your dough softens, transfer whatever you’re doing to the freezer for two minutes to chill it again. Soft dough is hard to work with. It’s stretchy and doesn’t cut clean shapes, it gets sticky and you compensate by over-flouring it and that stickiness is those tiny bits of butter that will be your layers of flakes later disappearing, melting before they hit the oven and sealing into zillions of buttery pockets. It will also annoy you and make you think that you’re bad at working with pie dough but you’re not. You’re just warm-blooded and you need to put the pie dough back to chill for two minutes.

Yield: Yeah, so we started eating them before I counted but I’m going to say more than 24 and less than 30 2 1/2-inch cookies

Crust
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting surfaces, dipping fork
2 tablespoons granulated sugar (doubled from my standard pie dough to make this more cookie-like)
1 teaspoon table salt
2 sticks (8 ounces, 16 tablespoons or 1 cup) unsalted butter, very cold
1/2 cup water, very cold (I pour 1 cup and add ice while I work, then measure 1/2 cup from it when I need it)

Filling
3 medium apples, whatever you like to bake with
Squeeze of lemon juice (optional)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Few gratings fresh nutmeg
A pinch of any other spices you like in your apple pie

To finish
1 large egg
Coarse or granulated sugar for garnish

Additional stuff
A couple baking sheets covered with parchment paper
Rolling pin, pastry brush (for egg wash), fork (for crimping and dipping) and sharp knife (to make slits)
Two round cookie cutters of different sizes. I used 2 1/2-inch and 1 1/2 to 1 3/4-inch rounds. You’ll want to make sure there’s at least a 3/4-inch different in the sizes, as you’ll need the extra margin to crimp your dough.

Make your pie dough: Whisk together flour, sugar and salt in the bottom of a large, wide-ish bowl. Using a pastry blender, two forks or your fingertips, work the butter into the flour until the biggest pieces of butter are the size of small peas. (You’ll want to chop your butter into small bits first, unless you’re using a very strong pastry blender in which case you can throw the sticks in whole, as I did.) Gently stir in the ice water with a rubber spatula, mixing it until a craggy mass forms. Get your hands in the bowl and knead it just two or three times to form a ball. Divide dough in half. Wrap each half in plastic wrap and flatten a bit, like a disc. Chill in fridge for at least an hour or up to two days.

Meanwhile, get everything else together: Line up six small dishes. In the first one, pour some water. Leave the second one empty; you’ll use it for your apples in a bit. In the third one, mix the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and any other spices you like in your pie, such as a pinch of cloves. In the fourth one, place a little bit of flour to dust your surface and dip your fork for crimping. In the fifth one, whisk an egg with one teaspoon of water until smooth. In the last one, or in whatever container you keep it in, add some coarse or regular sugar for decorating the tops of the pies. You are very likely thinking I’ve lost my mind by now and you may not be terribly far off.

On a well-floured counter, roll out your pie dough pretty thin, a little shy of 1/8-inch thick. Lift and rotate your dough as you roll it, to ensure that it rolls out evenly and so you can be sure it’s not sticking in any place. Use the larger of your two cookie cutters [mine was 2 1/2-inch) to cut as many rounds as you can from the dough. Transfer them to parchment-lined baking sheets and keep them in the fridge until you need them. Once you’ve finished the first packet, repeat the process with the second packet of dough

Prepare your apples: Peel your apples. Cut thin (1/8-inch thick) slices from one side of whole apple, stopping when you hit the core. Repeat on opposite side. I got about 10 usable slices from each side of my small-medium-ish apples. Use the smaller of your two cookie cutters (mine was about 1 2/3 inches) to cut the apples into cute little discs that will fit inside your pie cookies. Place them in your second bowl, covering them with a few drops of lemon juice if you find that they’re browning quickly.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

And now, assemble away! Grab your first disc of chilled dough and lightly dampen it on one side with the water. This is to help it seal. Take your first disc of apple and toss it in the cinnamon spice sugar. Place it on the damp side of the bottom disk. Place a second disc of dough on top; I found it easiest to seal it by picking the whole thing up (this is when you’ll be glad that your dough is cold and semi-firm; if it’s soft and getting sticky, chill it until it’s easy to pick up) and press the tops and bottoms around the apple with your fingers. Back on the floured counter, cut decorative slits in your “pies”. Dip your fork in the flour and use it to create a decorative crimp on the sealed edges. Brush your cookie with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Replace on baking sheet and chill while you prepare the others. About now, you’ll curse your friendly food blogger for getting you into such an exacting cookie making process but I promise, the first couple are slow and the rest come together very quickly.

Bake your apple pie cookies for 25 minutes, or until puffed and bronzed and very pie-like. (If this is your first batch, peer in at them at 20 minutes, to make sure your oven doesn’t run hot.) Transfer to a cooling rack to cool before eating them. Or, better yet, start eating them right away!

Do ahead: These will keep for a few days at room temperature, though not in my apartment. You could also make a larger batch of these, doing everything but brushing them with egg and sprinkling them with sugar, and keep them frozen until needed. Bake them directly from the freezer, just adding a couple minutes to the baking time.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

It occurs to me that you can cheat when you write food/recipe blogs. I mean, who's to know if what you created turns out to taste like dog poo? Conceivably, you could post a decent picture, rave about the food no matter how awful it really tasted, and then simply blame it on the cook copying your recipe if they find out how bad the food you touted really tastes!

Are you wondering why I might have come up with that observation? I recently made Pumpkin Snickerdoodles, using a recipe from Annie's Eats. I think I followed all parts of the recipe...but my end result cookie was merely OK. It didn't have the true noticeable pumpkin taste I'd hoped for and, in fact, seemed to taste a bit doughy. I've made a million tasty regular snickerdoodles through the years so there's a bit of a puzzle over the less than satisfying results. The cookies weren't bad...they just weren't all that good either.

So, with that less than raving endorsement: here is a picture of my finished product.


Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Yield: about 3-4 dozen cookies
Ingredients:
For the cookies:
3¾ cups all-purpose flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
¾ cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the coating:
½ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground ginger
Dash of allspice

Directions:
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Whisk to blend and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Blend in the pumpkin puree. Beat in the egg and vanilla until incorporated. With the mixer on low speed add in the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Cover and chill the dough for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Combine the sugar and spices for the coating in a bowl and mix to blend. Scoop the dough (about 2½ tablespoons) and roll into a ball. Coat the dough ball in the sugar-spice mixture and place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough to fill the sheets, spacing the dough balls 2-3 inches apart. Dip the bottom of a flat, heavy-bottomed drinking glass in water, then in the sugar-spice mixture, and use the bottom to flatten the dough balls slightly. Recoat the bottom of the glass in the sugar-spice mixture as needed.

Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until just set and baked through. Let cool on the baking sheets about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough. Store in an airtight container.

Payday Here!

I know it's been awhile since I last posted, but this recipe is sooo gonna make up for my absence. Plus I have an excuse for the time away - I was traveling. Martin and I went on an east coast adventure that began in Cincinnati with Tim and Joy and ended up in New Haven with Emily. Just those two stops would've made the trip worthwhile but we also got time in West Virginia with my much loved Beckett relatives, as well as some dear friends who are pretty much the same as family.

West Virginia is where I got this delicious fall recipe. My cousin Becky made a batch for her mom and, because Becky is very good at presentation, she gave it to my aunt in a cute little glass pumpkin. Too bad that darned pumpkin made it so hard for me to dig my big hands in to grab heaping mounds of the yummy concoction contained inside. I finally learned the secret of Becky's refilling stash and would go straight to that bag instead of the glass torture pumpkin.

(Yes, I also put my batch in a glass pumpkin but my version was much bigger with a way wider opening.)

Ok, ready for the recipe?

Candy Corn Payday
1 bag of candy corn
1 can of salted peanuts
Pour the bag of candy corn into whatever container, (preferably one with a very large opening to enable easy access to giant handfuls of this yin and yang yummy treat.) Add the salted peanuts. Toss together. Eat.

Why are they called Candy Corn Payday, you might ask? Because when you eat the candy corn and peanuts together, it tastes just like a Payday candy bar! How easy is that? You're welcome.