I come from a culinary arts background, but have since left that industry. I am now working on my writing, and enjoying cooking for family and friends.
This joyous holiday celebrates the birthday of Guru Nanak Jayanti, the first Guru, and creator of Sikhism. He was from what is now Pakistan. Sikhism is a monotheistic religion with it's roots in both Hinduism and Sufism, though it is entirely its own religion. It was created in the late 1400's.
Sikhs are known for being very peaceful people, yet oftentimes they are mistaken for terrorists by people who don't know any better. Because Sikhs wear head coverings, and many Muslims do as well, some people don't know the difference and also think all Muslims are terrorists, jump to the wrong conclusion. If you have any Sikhs in your life, make sure to wish them a happy celebration on Monday!
The Food: Lassi and Badam Halwa
This holiday is actually known for a traditional food, Karah Prasad, a sweet made with semolina flour, but I completely forgot this in my researching for recipes and came up with the other two recipes instead.(This week has been rough, and my mind has been a bit distracted. It's sort of a miracle I managed anything all today, actually.) Oh well, maybe next year I'll remember! I made sure the recipes I did choose were sweet, because that is what this holiday is known for most. At least I got that right!
The first recipe is Lassi, or a beverage made from yogurt. I happened to have all the ingredients on hand, which is always nice! This is ridiculously easy to make. I will provide the link to the recipe here, but describe the process.
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, and use a hand-held blender to combine it all. Be careful with the rose water, it is very strong. I didn't measure the sugar, but I think it ended up being about a tablespoon or so. When you blend it, taste it and adjust the sugar and rose water to taste. That's really all it took to make this. Probably three minutes tops!
The next recipe, the Badam Halwa, is a little more complicated and took a bit more time. Here is the recipe. Badam Halwa is an almond pudding that tastes a little like marzipan.
You start by soaking almonds in water for two hours. I stirred them around a couple times while they soaked.
After they've finished soaking, you drain the almonds and remove the skins. I placed them in a towel, rolled it up, and rubbed it on the outside, which is what you do to remove the skins on toasted nuts. Alas, this does not work on soaked nuts. I had to come up with a different way. That way ended up being, actually squeezing the skin off of each individual nut. It took about 20 minutes to do, but as you can see, it worked pretty well. I should note, that these were raw almonds, not toasted.
The almonds are placed in the food processor, with the milk, and ground up as finely as you possibly can get it. I needed a spatula to scrape down the sides several times before it was as fine as it would get. During this time, I was also melting the butter for the ghee, and making the simple syrup. Because I tend to not read recipe instructions well, I missed that you were supposed to put all the sugar in the water for the syrup, and only put 1/4 cup sugar into an equal part of water. I found this to be plenty sweet, so keep that in mind if you make this. You do not need the full amount of sugar the recipe calls for.
This is what it looks like after you mix the almonds into the simple syrup, add the saffron(which I didn't have, and used a pinch of turmeric instead. Turmeric is also known as "poor man's saffron," so I thought it would be an acceptable replacement.) I also added 2 drops of yellow food coloring.
This is the finished product for both items. You can see how frothy the lassi gets. Almost an inch of foam on the top. The flavor is very unique. The tang of yogurt, floral note of the rose water, sweetness of the sugar, and the inexplicable flavor of cardamom blend into something I can't really describe. It feels like a substantial drink that you could drink instead of a smoothie. I'm not sure I would drink this a lot, but it's worth trying once, at least.
The badam halwa is really sweet and almondy. It is very much like a soft marzipan. I found a little went a long way. I was sweeted out after a few bites. I'm not sure why mine didn't seem as gummy-looking as the picture in the recipe looks, but as I look over the recipe again, I see that I was supposed to do all the stirring and mixing over heat...I didn't do this...That probably explains why mine didn't get as tightened up as the recipe version. I really do need to actually read these instructions before I cook! It still turned out good, though.
I am not very familiar with Indian food, either eating or making, so this was a good way to introduce myself to it. I believe I have at least one more Indian holiday scheduled in this project, so there should be more chances for me to try it out in greater depth. Maybe try something in the savory realm too. I did research savory recipes, but didn't have an opportunity to track down some of the more hard-to-find ingredients.
Well, as I said, it's been a rough week for all of us, hasn't it? After the election, I wasn't sure if I would be able to do a blog post today, or if I should even continue this project. Did anything matter now? Wasn't a project like this too trite for the world we now live in? But after a day or so, I developed that old theatre adage: The show must go on. Our lives will go on, and in times like these, levity, joy, and celebrations are more important than ever. So, I will continue this project, to give myself and others a brief moment of enjoyment, and also to show that I am not going to let anybody have that power over me. Nobody gets to take away what I love to do and what make me happy. If I let somebody have that power over me, then they have won over me, and I will now allow that to happen. So, I hope to see you all next week, and I hope we all get out there and continue to look out for each other. Let's reconvene next weekend to relax for a moment, and enjoy the next holiday soiree.
Holiday Soiree: The Holiday: Halloween
Halloween is a strange holiday to me. I've never been a huge Halloween person, though I enjoy watching spooky movies at this time of year, and occasionally dressing up in a costume. Halloween's meaning has changed a lot over the years, as have the rituals involved with it. From carving turnips to carving pumpkins, from soaping windows and throwing flour at people to trick-or-treating. Originally, Halloween, or All Hallow's Eve, was a pagan holiday in Ireland known as Samhain. It was sort of a harvest celebration and a celebration to honor the dead. It was thought of the one day a year when the link between our world and the world of the dead was the weakest, and would allow for the dead to leak through back into our world. When the Catholic church came to Ireland, they assigned their own meaning to the rituals, though the rituals continued. It became a sort of hybrid holiday of two cultures. When Irish immigrants came to America, they brought the holiday with them, and Halloween eventually became Americanized. Trick-or-treating, jack o'lanterns, bobbing for apples. All of those had specific meanings at one point, but now they're mostly thought of as fun, autumnal traditions. Scaring yourself, embracing your dark side for one day a year, I suppose it's good for balance! Assigning a meaning for a holiday for yourself is one of the most important parts of a holiday. It's what allows it to live and grow and evolve over the years. It's what allows it to survive. So, whatever Halloween means to you, that's what it means! Enjoy it in the way that makes the most sense to you.
The Food: Halloween Candy
Halloween and trick-or-treating would be nothing without candy. Instead of finding harvest-related savory dishes, or something to represent the pagans of ancient Ireland, I thought I'd embrace the American tradition of candy. Candy-making is something I have very little, to no, experience with. Cooking with sugar can be intimidating, especially when it comes to making it very hot. It's been known to burn people, after all. You have to know what you're doing, and I don't even own a candy thermometer! I sifted through my recipes and found two that I thought I could handle. It took a lot of work and was surprisingly a lot of time, but it was so worth it. Both succeeded, I am happy to say!
Buttery Almond Crunch:
1 Tbsp. plus 1/2 cup butter, softened, divided
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup (This isn't the high fructose kind, and no it's not healthy for you, but this is candy. Get over it!)
1 cup sliced almonds
Line an 8" square pan with foil; butter the foil with 1/2 Tbsp. butter. Set aside. Spread the sides of a heavy saucepan with 1/2 Tbsp. butter. Add the butter, sugar, and corn syrup. Bring to a boil over medium-height heat, stirring constantly. Cook and stir until mixture is golden brown, about 3 minutes.
(Note the difference in texture and color as it cooks. I should have let it brown a little bit more but it was smelling so caramelized that I was worried about it burning. PS-the action shots are courtesy of my sister. I couldn't hold the pan, stir, and take pictures at the same time, but I wanted to show how the texture of the sugar changes as it cooks.)
Stir in almonds. Quickly pour into prepared pan. Chill until firm. Invert pan and remove foil. Break candy into pieces.
Yield: 10 oz.
Recipe courtesy of Taste of Home magazine
This is seriously one of the best things I have ever made. I thought it would be like peanut brittle, but with almonds, but it was completely different. It tastes just like, and has a very similar texture to an Almond Roca, but without the chocolate. It would be easy enough to melt chocolate and drizzle it over, or dip it in, if you were so inclined. This is also very addictive, so make sure you share it with others, or you will probably sit and eat the entire thing and make yourself sick.
This was not very difficult to make and the result is so luxurious and delicious that you might wonder why you ever spent money on the store-bought version of this candy. And I'm not making any promises, but there is a strong chance that those who spend Christmas Eve with me, might get to try out this recipe because this is too good not to try again!
Almond-and-Pistachio Candy:
4 tsp. ghee(the oil part of melted butter, without the milky solids), divided
1qt. milk
1 cup sugar
1 cup ground almonds
1 cup unsalted pistachios, ground (I could not find shelled pistachios in bulk, so I had to buy the expensive bag of shelled pistachios. They were salted, but I tasted them and decided they weren't too salty so I didn't rinse them off.)
1/2 tsp. almond extract
With a pastry brush, spread 1 tsp. of the ghee on a 7 1/2" pie tin.
In a heavy 3-4 qt. saucepan, bring the milk to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to moderate and, stirring frequently, cook for about 35 minutes, or until the milk thickens to the consistency of heavy cream.
Add the sugar and stir for 10 minutes. Then add the ground almonds and pistachios and continue stirring 10 minutes longer.
(Note the towel wrapped around my hand. This stage of the candy-making process is precarious. The mixture bubbles and spits and is scalding hot, so a towel helps. Please also note, that the mixture will tighten up during this stage and actually become difficult to stir. Your arm will be sore by the end of this process.)
Still stirring, add 3 tsp. ghee and cook for another 5 or 10 minutes, until the mixture is thick enough to draw away from the sides of the pan in a solid mass.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the almond extract. Pour the candy into the pie tin, spreading and smoothing it with a spatula. Let the candy cool for 30 minutes or so, then cut it into about 24 small squares or diamonds. It will harden to the consistency of fudge as it cools further.
Makes 24 squares
This is a lot of work, but it was worth it. Keep this one refrigerated. This morning I tried out an idea I had for them. I had some leftover ground almonds and I took some of the pieces, rolled them into balls, and rolled those in the ground almonds. They looked like truffles, kind of elegant.
Here is a picture of both styles. They each have their strengths. I think I actually like both of them and would probably do half and half. My coworkers tomorrow will have a chance to try them out and let me know which version they prefer.
I have made candy a couple times in my life before last night, but not as successfully as these were. I am really impressed with the recipes. They aren't that complex, and are worth the time and effort. Just note that the nuts can be a little expensive, so keep that in mind when working on your meal budget!
The region Mankato is part of was once home to different groups of Native Americans, and over time, when the East Coast began to be populated with more European Americans, the Native Americans were displaced and many ended up relocating in the Mankato area. European Americans also followed suit and began settling in the area in February of 1852.
Mankato as a city, was formed on May 11, 1858, by a man named Henry Jackson. Legend has it that the town was intended to be called Mahkato, the Dakota word for Greenish Blue Earth, but there was a clerical error, and it was entered as Mankato. The railroad came to Mankato in 1868, connecting it to the greater world and making it much easier to travel to and from.
"Fun" Fact: Mankato was the location of the largest mass execution in United States history. On December 26, 1862, the US Army executed 38 members of the Dakota tribe for their role in an uprising known as the Dakota War in 1862. 303 Native Americans had actually been sentenced to death, but President Lincoln pardoned all but 38.
You may be asking why I chose Mankato, out of all the cities in the state of Minnesota, why such a random, obscure town? Well, the answer is simple: Little House on the Prairie. Not the books, the tv series. Mankato was sort of the go-to town that the people on the show traveled to for trading and other business. And one of my rules in life is, if you can connect something to Little House on the Prairie, you do, no questions asked! And so, here we are!
The Food: Scandinavian Christmas
So, I have had a bad cold and was unable to do this blog project for two whole weeks. This set of food was actually scheduled for last week and I was going to take the food to a family gathering to share, but I was too sick to cook and too sick to attend the gathering. I was very sad to miss out, especially since one of the items was tied to a date. In the end though, I decided to do it this week instead and freeze the results to bring for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Lussekatter-Lucia Buns
December 13th is St. Lucia Day, and though St. Lucia is a Catholic saint, she is highly celebrated in the mostly-Lutheran Scandinavian countries. If you have ever seen drawings or pictures of blonde girls with wreaths and lit candles in their hair, this is it. Traditionally, the eldest daughter in the family dons the wreath and candles and serves her family Lucia Buns, which are a saffron-flavored and -colored sweet roll.
I have had this recipe for Lussekatter for years. Every year around Halloween, I pull out my holiday recipes and decide what I'm going to make for the year, for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Every year I pull out the recipe and I say, "I'm gonna make these finally!" and every year, I don't, and then I put it back till next year, where the ritual is repeated. When I started this blog project, I thought this would be a great opportunity to finally make these. And in keeping with the tradition, it fought me every step of the way. First off was getting sick when I was supposed to make them. I wondered if I should forget it, yet again, and put the recipe away for another year. But then I decided that I am neither Scandinavian, Lutheran, nor Catholic, so what the heck did it matter if I did it on the proper day or not? So, I did it, a week late, but I did it! And then there was preparing to make it. When you bake, one of the most important things to do is get your mis en place, this is a French term that basically means "getting your sh-- together". You make sure you have all the stuff you need before you get too far into the process and find out something's missing and your project is ruined. I had just gotten back from the store with ingredients for my other recipe, yet did not look at the ingredients for this one. Of course, it turned out I didn't have enough yeast, so back to the store I went and bought yeast. Then I was able to get started!
Traditionally, these buns have saffron in them, but if you can't find it or afford it, you can use turmeric instead. This particular recipe does not have either in in, but as a nod to it, I added a pinch of turmeric to the egg wash I put on the tops before baking to turn it a bit yellowish. If I had thought of it ahead of time, I would have added it to the milk and let it color the entire dough itself, which is how it's supposed to be done.
Here is the recipe:
3/4 cup milk
2 pkg. dry yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water
2/3 cup sugar
5 cups flour, sifted(I did not notice this part, I would definitely sift it)
1/2 cup softened butter
2 eggs
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cardamom
1/4 cup seedless raisins(You need two per roll, so a total of 64)
1 egg white, beaten slightly with 1 Tbsp. cold water(I used the whole egg after realizing it should be a yellow dough, I added a pinch of turmeric too. It worked pretty well, I think.)
Scald milk and cool to lukewarm. Add yeast to lukewarm water and mix until yeast is dissolved. Add milk, sugar; mix well.
Add two cups flour and beat until smooth. Add butter, egg, salt, and cardamom. Beat to well mixed. Gradually add in the remaining three cups of flour until well-incorporated. Turn out on a floured board. Knead to smooth and elastic. Place in bowl. Let rise until double in bulk. Punch down and repeat.(Note, I did not repeat, I went directly to the next step. I have never heard of a bread dough where you let it rise and punch it down two times before moving on to the formation and final rise step. You can try it and see what happens, but I can't vouch for it...)
Divide dough into 32 pieces. Roll each piece until about 16" long. Cut in half. Place two side-by-side and curl up ends. (As usual, I didn't actually really read the recipe as I went along and didn't do this. I rolled each piece out as much as I could and then rolled it up into a sort of S shape, making 32 rolls. This is possibly why they came out a bit on the dry side, because they were too small.) Place raisins in curl.
Cover-let rise until double. Brush with egg white and bake at 350 degrees for 11-12 minutes.
The cardamom flavor in these rolls is amazing! I really love the flavor of cardamom, it's a nice change from cinnamon. It's a prominent flavoring in Scandinavian cooking and baking. I like to think about the history of food and these buns are a good example. How do cardamom and saffron, spices from Asia or the Middle East, make their way to the northernmost parts of Europe? Why, the spice trade of course! You can see the geography and history sitting right there in the roll, and you can taste it as you eat it. Portable, edible history is always the best kind, I think.
The next recipe is a Christmas cookie recipe I have also had for a very long time but never tried. I decided it fit in very well with the buns and the theme of the blog meal. There is an icing for these cookies, but I did not make it yet. Since I froze the cookies to take to Christmas Eve and Day, I will make the icing fresh and put it on the thawed cookies. They were pretty awesome even without it, though!
Scandinavian Almond Bars-Source: Taste of Home Magazine
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1/2 tsp. almond extract(I have to thank the tall man at the grocery store for reaching to the very back of the top shelf for the almost extract, or I would have been stuck with the imitation stuff!)
1 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. milk
1/2 cup sliced almonds, chopped(These are so thin you can actually crush them in your hand and not need a knife and cutting board to chop these up)
Icing:
1 cup powered sugar
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1-2 Tbsp. milk
In a mixing bowl, cream sugar and butter; beat in egg and extract. Combine dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture and mix well. (The recipe does not call for chilling the dough, but I do think this type of dough would benefit well from it. If I was to make this recipe again, I would chill the dough.)
Divide the dough into fourths; form into 12"x3" rectangles. Place 5" apart on greased baking sheets. Brush with milk; sprinkle with almonds.
Bake at 325 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until firm to the touch and edges are lightly browned. (I found 18 was too much and the first batch was a bit overdone. I did 15 minutes for the second batch and it turned out better. 14 would probably have been best.) Cool on pans for 5 minutes, then cut diagonally into 1" slices. (I found mine stuck to the pan, use a spatula and carefully remove each rectangle to a cutting board ASAP.) Remove to wire racks to cool completely. Combine icing ingredients; drizzle over bars.
Makes: About 4 dozen
These have a texture akin to biscotti, and I thought it could have stood to have a bit more almond flavor. Next time I would double the amount of extract I used to help bring that flavor out a bit more. I am also curious to see what the icing will do to the flavor. I am not generally an icing person, but it will add more almond flavor, so I'll try it out.
Though neither of these recipes turned out perfectly, I really had fun making them, and that's all that really matters. I would make them both again, with the small changes that I think would make them even better. If you are of Scandinavian descent or just enjoy the cuisine, I highly recommend both of these! You can have St. Lucia buns next December 13th!
The city was named for the 19th century Paiute chief who lived in the region with his tribe. The name loosely translates to "one moccasin". The chief's daughter, Sarah Winnemucca, learned English and acted as a go-between for the US Army and her people. She was an advocate for fair treatment and education rights of her people. During the Bannock War of 1878, she was a messenger and scout for the United States.
The Bannock War was fought between the United States army and the Paiute and Bannock tribes. The war ended badly for the Native Americans, and those not killed in battle were forced to move to the Yakama Indian Reservation in what is now Washington state. Approximately 543 people were forced to live there from 1878 to 1886 before being granted permission to return to Nevada.
Sarah Winnemucca wrote an autobiography in 1883. It was the first autobiography written by a Native American woman. Many people see her as a traitor to her people, but I see her as somebody trying desperately to smooth things over for her people. Even if it meant playing to both sides, she always had her own people's best interests in mind, even if it didn't always work out that way.
In 1868, the Central Pacific Railroad came to Winnemucca. And on September 19, 1900 Butch Cassidy's gang robbed a bank in the city. They would take $32,640 from the First National Bank of Winnemucca. Over the years, Basque and Chinese immigrants would also call Winnemucca home.
Today, Winnemucca partakes in Nevada's gambling culture, as well as having its fair share of brothels.
The Food: Pine Nuts
During my researching for foods native to Nevada, I ran across pine nuts, and thought that was interesting. I'd only ever really used pine nuts in pesto sauce before, and that's Italian. How would such vastly different cultures in very different places, both use the ingredient in their own way? And have you ever wondered why pine nuts cost so much when you buy them? I have, and it turns out that pine nuts are an incredibly labor-intensive ingredient.
This video is very interesting and education. It shows the importance of the pine nut to the Paiute people, which is why I decided to focus on this food for this week's blog. Pine nuts, it turns out, are not native to just the United States. It's why you see it show up in dishes from other cultures, like pesto sauce from Italy. Each culture has its own way of harvesting the pine nuts, and today there is most likely a modernized version of harvesting, but it still takes several steps to get a pine nut from a pine cone on a tree, to your dinner plate. It makes sense to me now why they would cost that much.
This video shows another way of harvesting and preparing pine nuts. This is how the Navajo people of Arizona do it. You can see that they have different traditions and different ways of thinking about the pine nut. It's a good example of how ideas differ between tribes and that Native Americans cannot be thought of as all the same or having an interchangeable culture.
The Dishes: Spinach and Pine Nut Quesadilla and Pine Nut Tart
Try as I might, I was unable to find recipes specific to the Paiute or other Native American tribes to try out for this blog. I did, however, find a couple of my own recipe cards that heavily feature pine nuts, and used them instead. I looked around for the best priced pine nuts I could find and got mine from Trader Joe's. An 8 oz. bag cost $7.99. It was enough for both of these recipes with about 1/3 cup leftover to use another time. I highly recommend going to Trader Joe's for your pine nut needs.
Spinach and Pine Nut Quesadilla:
4 (6") flour tortillas
1 cup cheddar cheese(I used a reduced-fat cheddar-jack mix and it was just fine)
1 cup spinach, cleaned
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
Salt and Pepper, to taste(I actually didn't notice this and didn't do it, but thought the flavors were just fine anyway)
Blanch spinach. In boiling water, add spinach; cook till a bright green color, about one minute. Squeeze water out from spinach and set aside. Salt optional. (I did salt the water and I think it worked well.)
Place 2 tortillas in a large frying pan over medium heat. Sprinkle half of the cheese over the 2 tortillas. Add all the spinach(this is all bunched up after squeezing the water out of it. I took the time to unfold all the spinach but you could also chop it up and sprinkle it evenly over the cheese.) and pine nuts. Take the last 2 tortillas and sprinkle the remaining cheese. When cheese has melted, place over the first 2 tortillas. Cut quesadillas into 4 pieces. Makes 2 servings
I didn't make this exactly like the recipe calls for. I did it for one quesadilla, to begin with, and prepared it this way: tortilla, half the cheese, all the spinach and pine nuts, then rest of cheese over top. Top with next tortilla and pan-fry until golden on one side. Place a large plate over the quesadilla and keeping your hand on it, lift up the pan and flip it over, allowing the quesadilla to fall onto the plate. Then gently slide the quesadilla back into the pan so the uncooked side can heat through. When it's toasted on both sides and the cheese is melted, slide it out of the pan and back onto the plate to serve. Use a pizza cutter to cut it into quarters. I served this with salsa and some tortilla chips. It was really good. The spinach is slightly bitter and the pine nuts have a unique flavor I can't actually describe in words. It blends well with the cheese and spinach. I highly recommend this one. It's super easy.
Pine Nut Tart:
1 1/2 cups flour
2 Tbsp. + 2/3 cup sugar(I used 1/3 cup sugar and 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce)
3/4 tsp. salt, divided
1/4 cup shortening(Note, even the updated version of shortening still has trans fat in it. I opted to use lard instead of shortening. Even though lard is all saturated fat, I believe it's still more natural and less damaging than trans fat. But you can use whatever you're most comfortable with.)
10 Tbsp. butter, divided
3/4 cup slivered blanched almonds
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1 cup pine nuts, toasted
1.) In medium bowl, with fork, stir flour, 2 Tbsp. sugar, and 1/4 tsp. salt. With pastry blender, cut in shortening and 4 Tbsp. butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle about 4 Tbsp., 1 Tbsp. at a time, into flour mixture, mixing lightly with fork after each addition until dough is just moist enough to hold together. (I found I needed closer to 5 Tbsp.) Shape dough into a disk; wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes or until firm enough to roll.
2.) Preheat oven to 425 degrees. On lightly greased surface, with rolling pin, roll dough into 14" round. Press dough onto bottom and up sides of 11"x1" round tart pan with removable bottom. Fold overhang in and press against side of tart pan to form a rim 1/8" above edge of pan.(I found mine made way too much dough so I cut off the excess and baked that separately with butter, sugar and cinnamon as a separate treat, rather than just throw it away.) With fork, prick dough in 1" intervals to prevent puffing and shrinking during baking.
3.) Line tart shell with foil and fill with dried beans or uncooked rice. Bake shell 20 minutes; remove foil with weights and bake 10 minutes longer or until golden. If crust puffs up during baking, press it to pan with back of spoon. Turn oven down to 375 degrees.(Note, I didn't notice this step, because the recipe card is really small writing. I just did the initial 20 minute baking with the weights and then removed them from the shell and filled it with the filling. It turned out just fine, but you should probably do this step just in case it would make it even better.)
4.) In food processor, pulse almonds, cornstarch, baking powder, and 1/4 tsp. salt until almonds are very finely ground.
5.) In large bowl, with mixer on low speed, beat almond mixture, 2/3 cup sugar, and 6 Tbsp. butter until crumbly. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until well combined, about 3 minutes. Constantly scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Add eggs, 1 at a time, vanilla and almond extract; beat until smooth.
6.) Pour filling into warm tart shell. Arrange pine nuts evenly over filling. Bake tart 20 minutes or until golden and filling is firm. Cool tart in pan on wire rack. When cool, carefully remove side from pan.
Makes 12 servings.
I tried this when it was still warm and it was pretty good. Because of the eggs in the filling, I refrigerated it overnight and tasted it it cold the next morning. I think the flavors work better when it's chilled.
I think this would be good with ice cream or whipped cream if you're into that sort of thing. The texture was pretty much the same with the half applesauce, half sugar blend I went with, though I think the flavor wasn't almond-ey enough. The extract I had was older, so maybe it wasn't as strong as it could have been. The pine nuts add the distinct pine nut flavor and blends well with the almonds. The crust was on point. It was crispy and delicious. It looks like a lot of steps, and it does require a lot of equipment to make, but this was a fun baking project. If you like baking and have confidence, I recommend this one. It's a bit much for a beginner, but if you have a some baking under your belt, do try it out. I think you'll like it! Definitely not for somebody with a nut allergy, though...both are tree nuts, after all.
Whenever you make something with pine nuts in it, and grumble about how much money you shelled out for them, take a minute to remember the work that goes into preparing a pine nut from something inside a pine cone, on a tree, to your pot or pan. It takes many steps and many people to get it from there to here. Depending on where you're from, there is a long and illustrious history with pine nuts, and they should be respected. Do try them out in something other than pesto, too, you won't regret it!
