November party post 5: Miniature quiches (p. 90), Cream cheese dough (p. 666), Miniature tartlet shells or turnovers (p. 90), and Miniature turnovers with caramelized onions and blue cheese (p. 91)

I recommend starting with my November party post 1.  Essentially, I had a big party, cooked a ton of stuff, and need to get the posting on the party finished (especially considering it's nine months later!).

What's better for a party than Miniature quiches (p. 90) made with Miniature tartlet shells or turnovers (p. 90)?  The dough was really easy to make.  I prepared the Cream cheese dough (p. 666). First, I whisked together flour and salt and then added butter and cream cheese.  

It went from this:

To this:

I wrapped the dough in plastic wrap and left it overnight.  This is one of those recipes that you need to think about the night before since the dough takes a night to cure:

The next day I formed some of the dough into little balls (they look like cookies!):

I didn't have a mini muffin pan (I do now but I didn't back then) so these quiches had to be muffin sized (which is still pretty small).  I spread the dough into the cup, which was much more difficult than it seems like it would be:

I baked the shells (as you can see, they got a little overcooked):

I filled the shells with a mixture of eggs, heavy cream, Parmesan, shallot, salt, pepper, and ham.  My thinking was that ham is one of those things that almost everyone likes so it would be a good choice.  I think ham and broccoli would have been even better!

The quiches were popped in the oven:

These were absolutely delicious!  They were also surprisingly filling.  I think these would be a great item to make and eat for breakfast on the go.  Even so, with a lighter hand, these could be interesting and elegant and perfect for any appetizer meal.

I used that same dough to make Miniature turnovers with caramelized onions and blue cheese (p. 91). I love blue cheese but I hate caramelized onions so I thought this would good to make when I had other people to feed.  I sauteed onion, olive oil, and salt in a skillet, and added it to blue cheese, walnuts, and rosemary:

I rolled out the dough and cut it in to circles.  I filled each circle with some of the filling and folded them in half.

After they went through the oven, they looked like this:

These were a HUGE hit.  There is something very fancy about the combination of rosemary, caramelized onions, and blue cheese and the sweetness of the onions cut through the strength of the blue cheese.  These turnovers were actually really easy to make--I really recommend making them.

The dough was tasty, too!  The cream cheese gave the dough a little acidic kick that I really liked and the dough came together much easier than the dough made with only butter.  Has anyone else made both these doughs?  What did you think?

Peanut butter pie (p. 684) and Chocolate ganache glaze or frosting (p. 795)

My brother-in-law had requested a pecan pie for his college graduation party but I figured there are no events in which extra dessert was unwelcome, so I would make an extra pie. Mom only had a single pie crust left so I flipped through TJOC reading aloud to my mom and Josh all the single crust pie recipes. They were only interested in one--Peanut butter pie (p. 684)

Peanut butter pie may be one of the most fattening, sinful recipes I've ever seen.

I mixed cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl until smoothly blended:



In another bowl I whipped cold heavy cream until stiff peaks formed:



I folded half of the whipped cream in to the peanut butter mixture to "lighten it":



Eventually I worked the rest of the whipped cream in to the peanut butter (be prepared, this step seems to take forever):



I poured it into my prepared crust (which had been baked):



I pressed a sheet of plastic wrap over the top and refrigerated it for about four hours. In the meantime I made Chocolate ganache glaze or frosting (p. 795). I heated heavy cream in a small saucepan until it came to a boil:



I added finely chopped semisweet and bittersweet chocolate to the cream (it was a mixture of both since that's what I had on hand):



I stirred until most of the chocolate was melted and then covered the pot and let it stand for 10 minutes:



I brought the chocolate to a boil (again) and then allowed it to cool to lukewarm. I poured the glaze over the pie and sprinkled chopped salted peanuts over the top:



If your arteries don't feel quite clogged enough, TJOC recommends topping the whole thing with a dollop of whipped cream.

The inside:



This was an incredibly decadent cake. It was silky, smooth, and delicious. The slightly bitter chocolate cut through the sweetness of the peanut butter and the peanuts lent a nice crunchy bite to the creaminess of the cake. It was a hit with absolutely everyone at the party. It also seemed like an expensive cake, bought rather than homemade. This is a good choice for a party that isn't particularly formal but one at which you wish to impress people.

Random facts:

• Wikipedia says that the word "ganache" is from the French word for jowl. That seems extremely strange. On Food and Cooking's assertion that it is from the French word for cushion makes much more sense (p. 707).

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Pecan pie (p. 682)

I will share a small story so you all know how obsessive I am about TJOC. I have a giant Google document that includes every recipe I have yet to make. It includes which recipes have strange ingredients, which have strange equipment, and who (out of the friends and family I often cook with) would like to help me with each recipe. I am rather embarrassed about this because it seems over-the-top and share it sparingly (I think I've shown it to about 6 people). When Josh and I decided to go to his brother's graduation, I knew I wanted to make a dessert from TJOC. So I sent my BIL the document and let him pick what he was interested in.

He chose Pecan pie (p. 682), after slogging through about 600 desserts.

I blended together eggs, brown sugar, corn syrup, melted butter, vanilla, and salt.



I mixed in two cups of...pecans...(Mom didn't actually have two cups of pecans so my pecan pie became more of a pecan/walnut pie):



I poured the nut mixture in to a baked crust:



It was baked for about 40 minutes (make sure to cover your crust so that it doesn't burn--I have a new paper clip trick to try out and show you next time):



It was oozy when we cut in to it:



How was it? Good! Again, I think it was a bit too loose and the crust stuck to the bottom of the pan, which I didn't like. Overall, it had a great flavor (not too sweet and full of tasty nuts) and it was a winner with the crowd. It was certainly full of nuts, which I like in pecan pie--it seems like sometimes I buy a piece and it's all filler and not nearly enough nuts.

I always associate pecan pie with my Uncle Dale. Dale was an incredibly amazing and incredibly eccentric man. He was the type of man who told his friends that he would marry the next women who got on the bus (and he did--he was happily married to my Aunt Patsy until he passed away a few years ago). He owned a chimney sweep company, wore a top hat like Abe Lincoln, and even had a Madame Alexander doll modeled after him. He was an incredibly nice man (he would literally give you the shirt off his back), a super interesting person (he had gigantic collections of everything from Viewfinders to jukeboxes), and a great businessman (not a combination found in most people). And he made an amazing pecan pie. I don't think I ever spent any time with Dale which didn't, at some point, include pecan pie. So I reminisced about my late uncle while making the pie, making the experience bittersweet.

I have food memories about essentially all of my close relatives (my Aunt Charlotte makes the best gravy in the world and the best vinaigrette, I ate caviar and blini for the first time with my Aunts JeJe and Jen, I always associate vichyssoise and beef tartar with my Uncle Denny and my Aunt Ginni, and so on...) so when an association that I didn't remember until I was actually baking the item pops out of the woodwork, it's a nice surprise. Does everyone associate their family with food memories as strongly as I do?



(Photograph: The Augusta Chronicle)

Chicken or turkey pot pie (p. 103) , Poached chicken or turkey (p. 423), Creamed chicken or turkey I (p. 445),& Deluxe butter pie or pastry dough (665

I've been in a cooking rut lately and wanted to do something new. So I stole Carol Porter's idea and I let my readers pick what I should make out of three categories with five choices each. Chicken or turkey pot pie (p. 103) won the savory category. I'm rather glad because it allowed a lot of other recipes to be knocked out. I will admit right now that I'm no pot pie aficionado and most of my pot pie experience comes from the cheap frozen ones that cost a dollar.

I started by making Poached chicken or turkey (p. 423). I put my chicken parts (I cut up a whole chicken--much cheaper that way), carrots, celery, chicken stock, an onion, and bouquet garni into a stockpot and covered it with water. I simmered it all until the chicken was tender:



The chicken peeled right off the bone:



The poached chicken was deliciously tender. I poach chicken constantly when I make stock and it's great in recipes because it's tender and moist. The recipe was certainly easy and I used the broth for stock but I think I will stick with my chicken stock recipe which yields the same results.

I needed the poached chicken for Creamed chicken or turkey I (p. 445). I melted butter in a saucepan and then added flour, whisking until smooth.



I removed the pan from the heat and whisked in two cups of the cooking broth from the poached chicken:



When that was smooth, I added half-and-half and whisked some more:



I whisked and whisked. The cream mixture got thick:



I must have been tired of taking pictures at this point! I heated butter, added onion, carrots, and celery, and cooked. I then added peas and parsley, along with the cooked chicken.

I realized that TJOC wanted the pot pie to go in to a 9x13 pan. Wait a minute--a 9x13 pan???? I thought they went in pie dishes? That is going to make a TON of pot pie! I only have one 9x13 pan and it was still in use by the strata so I had to divide and conquer. The pies went in to two smaller pans:



I've actually never tried my hand at a pie crust before. This is particularly strange because I come from a family that is full of amazing pie bakers. I've watched crusts get made tons of times but I've never made a crust that had to be rolled out, likely due to my fear of recipes that require me to use a rolling pin. I decided to start with the Deluxe butter pie or pastry dough (pate brisee) (p. 665). I sifted together flour and salt:



I added butter and vegetable shortening:



I started working it over with my pastry blender:



I eventually incorporated ice water and kept pastry blending it.

But when I tried to roll it out, it did not work! The dough stuck to everything, it wouldn't stay in one piece, it was a disaster. I'm sure there is a simple explanation for this.



I tried Frankensteining my crust on the top of the pot pie. Isn't it the most pathetic thing?



I brushed an egg on the top:



And baked my pot pies:



Absolutely shockingly, my pot pie was delicious! The crust was flaky (although I'm sure it would have been flakier had I made it correctly) and the center was creamy and full of tender chicken and perfectly cooked vegetables. I loved it. Unfortunately, it made a massive, massive amount. The recipe says 6-8 servings. Are they kidding? For who? Growing teens? Yes, maybe it would feed 6-8 kids on their high school basketball team. We ended up having to throw quite a bit away because it was a neverending amount! I'm sure I will make this recipe again because I have to make another type of creamed chicken and I have no idea what to do with creamed chicken except make pot pie.

I always thought pot pies had a crust on each side. Is that not true?

Random facts:

• Because this crust doesn't include any leavening agents, it doesn't puff up.
• While reading Wikipedia, I figured out that I don't think I blended my crust enough, so my flour and fat didn't get properly incorporated. I will have to work on that.

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Chocolate cheesecake (p. 745) and Crumb crust (p. 667)

I read Josh a long list of cakes he could choose from for his birthday cake and he choose Chocolate cheesecake (p. 745). I wasn't particularly excited about this choice since I'm not a big chocolate fan, but it wasn't my birthday. I love cheesecake, though, and my previous TJOC cheesecake attempt had turned out perfectly.

TJOC says to make a Crumb crust (p. 667) using chocolate wafer cookies. I imagine that chocolate wafer cookies are like Nilla wafers but are chocolate instead of vanilla. I couldn't find those anywhere. I decided that instead of scouring Fort Collins for the correct cookies I would just make the crust using Nilla wafers.

I smashed the Nilla wafers in to crumbs using a rolling pin, which worked really well. It was actually rather fun to smash the wafers.



I write out a list of what I am making to keep myself on task when I have big cooking days. If you decide to lay your notebook on the stovetop, make sure you don't accidentally turn on the wrong burner, charring the notebook. Whoops! I'm lucky it didn't start on fire.



Finally, I had my cup and a half of cookie crumbs:



I mixed the cookie crumbs, sugar, and melted cooled butter.



The mixture was very crumbly and difficult to convince to stick in the pan. I also couldn't figure out if I was supposed to just line the bottom of the pan or the bottom and sides. I decided to line half the sides (an odd choice, I realize). I figured that would at least let us know which was correct.



I baked the crust for a few minutes:



So, crust finished, time for the cheesecake.

I beat a few packages of cream cheese until smooth:



I added sugar and vanilla to the cream cheese, beat until soft and creamy, and then added three eggs, beating after each addition. It's really important not to overbeat at any stage because beating causes air to be incorporated in to the batter, which can cause the finished cheesecake to crack.



Two cups of sour cream and some unsweetened cocoa powder were then mixed in to the cream cheese mixture:



I stirred semisweet chocolate (it seemed to me that bittersweet would make the cake way too bitter) with boiling water until the chocolate was melted and smooth. This took a surprisingly long time.



The chocolate was added to the cream cheese mixture and beat until blended. The whole concoction was poured into the crust:




The cake cooked for about 45 minutes. I let it sit in the oven with the door propped open (much easier if you have a gas stove than an electric stove) for another hour.



The cake was cooled on the counter and then refrigerated for a day:



The cake was truly beautiful. And it was chocolatey. In fact, it was CHOCOLATEY. If you love intense chocolate flavor, this is the cheesecake for you (meaning, it was not the cheesecake for me). I'm actually really glad I made the wrong crust because I think it would have been over the top with the correct chocolate one. It also had a strong sour cream bite to it, which I thought was odd. I think I would have liked more cream cheese and less sour cream in the cake. Even so, it's always rewarding to see such a beautiful cheesecake. And, no, I still don't know what I was supposed to do with the crust.

Random facts:

• Cheesecakes are considered a custard (On Food and Cooking, p. 97).

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