God Bless Us, Everyone!

Just finished A Christmas Carol today. It was a bit of a frantic run, but enjoyable. I'm quite exhausted. I didn't have much of a part, but I DID have 6 costume changes and 4 make-up changes. Ugh. Enjoy some of the many faces of Emily:

Masquerade and Menu

It's been a bit since I've posted. Ah well. I've been terrifically busy lately, in ways that both fulfill and exhaust. Pictured at right is the costume that served as my masquerade gown and Halloween costume. Check out my mask, too! I had a grand old time at the masquerade ball, and even won best costume. Go, me! On Halloween, I wore my costume all day. The photo at right is at Modoc's where I was getting my daily mocha. Mmmmmm. Mocha.

That evening, I went out with my friend Candie and her friend Casey. We also met up with Sammy for part of the evening. Candie and Casey went as a cat and mouse, which was quite entertaining.

The next day was the Day of Healing. For the last few years, I have prepared a meal for the guest speaker and the heads of the committees that put the conference together. This year was no exception.

Here is the menu that I prepared, with recipes:

Appetizers
Cheese Tray (Double Gloucester with Stilton, Gruyere, Jarlsberg, Sharp Cheddar, Chevre, Smoked Fresh Mozzarella, and Feta)
Shrimp Cocktail
Bacon/Blue Cheese Flatbread

Salad
Mixed Savory Greens (Escarole, Spinach, Radish Greens) with Manchego Cheese, Fresh Pears, and Pumpkin Seeds (I used a light balsamic dressing)

Soup
Carrot Soup with Lemon and Ginger (Really tasty!)
2 medium yellow onions, sliced
1/4 c. butter
2 T. freshly grated ginger
2 T. freshly chopped garlic
2 lemons, juiced
3 lbs carrots (whole is fine, but feel free to chop if you want it to cook faster)
3 lbs chicken stock (one of the large cans)
1 c. heavy cream or half and half

In large pot, sautee onions in butter until carmelized. Add ginger, garlic, lemon juice. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add carrots and chicken stock. Put lid on, and cook on medium for roughly 45 minutes or until carrots are tender. (When I was cooking for the Day of Healing, I did all of this the night before, then let it sit in the fridge overnight. If you don't want to wait, just let it cool to room temperature.) Using either food processor or blender, puree the soup mixture till smooth. Bring back to just below boiling, then add your cream just before you serve. You can serve with creme fraiche and grated carrots if you're into showmanship.

Main Course
Pork Tenderloin with Cranberry Pomegranate Wine Sauce
Gorgonzola Bread Pudding
Asparagus with Fresh Parmesan Shavings and Bacon (I meant to use pancetta, but forgot to pick it up. People liked it with bacon just as well.)

For the pork tenderloin, I used a countertop oven, which is really excellent for keeping in the moisture. I rinsed the loin, patted it down with rosemary and sea salt, then poured a bottle of red wine over it. I turned the heat up to 400 and let it cook for 3 hours. If you are using a traditional oven, I'd consider using foil to keep the moisture in.

Cranberry Pomegranate Wine Sauce
8 shallots or 1 large red onion, chopped
3 T. olive oil
2 T. garlic
1 T. rosemary
30 oz. fresh cranberries
1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
2 pomegranates, seeded
1/2 bottle red cooking wine
1 can pomegranate-cranberry juice concentrate (from the freezer section)
1 cup sugar

In large saucepan, sautee shallots (or onions) with garlic and rosemary. Once they are well cooked, add cranberries, sugar, and vinegar. Let cook until the cranberries pop, stirring occasionally. Add juice concentrate and red wine. Cook until the mixture has thickened. Just before serving, add pomegranate seeds.

Gorgonzola Bread Pudding
3 c. half and half
8 oz crumbled gorgonzola cheese
3 T. fresh, chopped thyme and rosemary
2 T. fresh, chopped garlic
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
9 whole eggs lightly beaten
1 loaf (approx. 1 pound size) day-old French bread or Italian bread cut into 1-inch cubes

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Heat half and half in a stainless steel pot to a simmer. Add cheese, herbs, garlic, oil, seasoning and stir until cheese is melted. Slowly add liquid mixture to beaten eggs. Tear up bread by hand and fill a buttered baking dish or you can do individual muffin cups (That's what I did! Be sure to grease the muffin tins well, or you'll never get them out!) Pour egg/cheese mixture over bread and let stand for 15 minutes, until most of the liquid is absorbed. Bake for 40 minutes, or until puffed up and golden brown.

Dessert
Pear Camembert Tarts
Brown Sugar Pumpkin Crème Brûlée

Pear Camembert Tarts
I have no idea of the quantities I used in this recipe, but here's what I did:
Using the crust recipe below, I rolled out 1/2 of the dough amount at a time. I then cut the rolled-out dough into 8 equal pieces. (It doesn't matter if the edges are ragged, these are rustic tarts, and you'll be pinching it into the shape you want.) I put roughly 6 thin/medium slices of pear in the middle of each piece. I then sprinkled cinnamon on top and put a thin line of honey over the pears (maybe 2 t.) I put a medium slice of Camembert (or Brie) on top of the pears and pinched the corners up until it looked like a football. Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes. Sorry I can't be more precise on this. I don't like using recipes very much. These were quite phenomenal, however, especially if you like cheese and fruit together.

Crust Recipe
Makes one double-crusted 9-10 inch pie.
2 1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp. sugar
13 tbsp. cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1 in pieces and stored in the fridge
7 tbsp. leaf lard (or more butter, if you must, but I really recommend the lard it made the best pie crust I have EVER made!)
6-7 tbsp. ice water

Mix flour, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Using a pastry blender or your fingers cut in the lard until no large pieces remain. Add the butter, and cut into flour until the largest pieces of butter are the size of large peas.
Sprinkle ice water over flour in increments of one tablespoon, toss with fork after each addition. (Try not to add too much extra water, but I usually end up going over the recommended amount.) When dough clumps together when squeezed in your palm, gather dough together into two discs. At this point, you can refrigerate over night, or use immediately. You can also make the dough in double or triple batches and save the divided discs in the freezer. It doesn't take long to thaw, and WHAM, instant pie without the mess of making the crust each time.

Pumpkin and Brown Sugar Crème Brûlée (I got this recipe from Bon Appetit)

Ingredients
1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
5 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups heavy whipping cream
8 tablespoons raw sugar or golden brown sugar

Preparation
Preheat oven to 325°F. Whisk pumpkin, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1/2 cup brown sugar in large bowl. Whisk in egg yolks and vanilla, then spices and salt. Bring cream just to boil in medium saucepan. Gradually whisk hot cream into pumpkin mixture.

Divide mixture among eight 5x1-inch ramekins. Divide ramekins between 2 large roasting pans. Add enough hot water to pans to come halfway up sides of ramekins. Bake until custards are just set in center, about 35 minutes. Chill custards until cold, about 6 hours. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and keep chilled.

Sprinkle 1 tablespoon raw sugar over pumpkin custard in each ramekin. Using kitchen torch, melt sugar until deep amber. (Alternatively, use broiler. Place ramekins on rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle tops with brown sugar [not raw sugar] and melt directly under broiler until deep amber.) Refrigerate 15 minutes to allow sugar to harden. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 hour ahead. Keep chilled.

The pumpkin crème brûlée was tasty, but honestly, tasted like pumpkin pie. If I were going to do it again, I would make an actual pumpkin pie and torch sugar over the entire pie. Using ramekins and water baths is a bit much for essentially, pumpkin pie. I probably will go back to regular crème brûlée from now on.