Today I didn't actually cook (well, meatballs - see later) since I was going out. However, I have listed a number of recently cooked dishes which haven't had accompanying recipes. So here's the chocolate tart recipe (sorry all the sweet things so far have been chocolate based).
I used some leftover commercial shortcrust pastry for this *frugal!, but if I was doing it from scratch I would either do flaky pastry or pate brisee or sucree - either would be good. So, line a 20cm flan tin or similar with pastry. Then bake it blind. I find using the dedicated ceramic beans is the best way to do this, line the pastry snugly with foil, put the beans in and make sure the foil covers the rim of the pastry, otherwise it tends to cook first. Cook in a medium 4/5 oven for 15 mins, remove hot foil and beans and give it another 5 mins to crisp the bottom.
For the filling, melt 200g dark chocolate in a bowl in a saucepan of water,don't let the water get to it. Towards the end, add 50 g butter (unsalted pref). Meanwhile take 300ml double cream and add 2 tbsps caster sugar and whisk together, add the slightly cooled melted chocolate and beat together until shiny (this didn't take long), then add a couple of tbsps of milk to loosen it a little, amalgamate fully then fill pie crust with the mixture. Chill for 2 hrs before eating.
Alternatively: This is not my recipe - I got it online, it's Jamie Oliver's, based on generations of French precursors no doubt. Next time I do it I'll probably add orange zest and maybe some cointreau to losen it, or brandy instead of milk, or amaretto and add some crushed toasted almonds, or a layer of crushed amaretti on the crust before adding the chocolate... you could serve this with some very delicious baked/poached pears, possibly mocha/vanilla versions might be tried - whatever else goes with chocolate. The chocolate is fairly firm, so you could almost make this is a tray bake and serve in slivers, perhaps with some luxurious florentine style topping - yes, I might try that next time - or praline or just a drizzle of white choc and gold dust to improve its appearance. Oh, sorry, how could I have forgotten sea salt! Or caramels?
What I ate
Oatcakes with cheese, lunch was leftover pork and bean stew, a leaf or two of overcooked artichoke; later a couple of meatballs I was cooking for the men, then a really dreary cheese and bacon panino at the Gulbenkian... I wanted fresh... they only had dull. A spritzer - to compensate for the food!
For the filling, melt 200g dark chocolate in a bowl in a saucepan of water,don't let the water get to it. Towards the end, add 50 g butter (unsalted pref). Meanwhile take 300ml double cream and add 2 tbsps caster sugar and whisk together, add the slightly cooled melted chocolate and beat together until shiny (this didn't take long), then add a couple of tbsps of milk to loosen it a little, amalgamate fully then fill pie crust with the mixture. Chill for 2 hrs before eating.
Alternatively: This is not my recipe - I got it online, it's Jamie Oliver's, based on generations of French precursors no doubt. Next time I do it I'll probably add orange zest and maybe some cointreau to losen it, or brandy instead of milk, or amaretto and add some crushed toasted almonds, or a layer of crushed amaretti on the crust before adding the chocolate... you could serve this with some very delicious baked/poached pears, possibly mocha/vanilla versions might be tried - whatever else goes with chocolate. The chocolate is fairly firm, so you could almost make this is a tray bake and serve in slivers, perhaps with some luxurious florentine style topping - yes, I might try that next time - or praline or just a drizzle of white choc and gold dust to improve its appearance. Oh, sorry, how could I have forgotten sea salt! Or caramels?
What I ate
Oatcakes with cheese, lunch was leftover pork and bean stew, a leaf or two of overcooked artichoke; later a couple of meatballs I was cooking for the men, then a really dreary cheese and bacon panino at the Gulbenkian... I wanted fresh... they only had dull. A spritzer - to compensate for the food!
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