The Chef Within

Last week I had the chance to help a friend with a reception.  For the event I was making several cream pies and while working on them thought of a few things as it relates to cream pies and/or puddings. 

I’m not sure how many people have made a cream pie filling (custard) from scratch but it truly is simple and practically foolproof.  It is not as easy as the box of instant filling but it beats the flavor tenfold. 

There is also the box of cook and serve pudding which is quite simple but once again not as good as the real thing.  The differences are notable. 

The scratch ingredients for the filling are sugar, cornstarch (the thickener) and eggs and milk.  That’s basically it. 

If you were making a chocolate cream pie then you would include cocoa or chocolate in some form.

There are many recipes to choose from and you can go on line and see all that are available.  But when I make a nine inch pie I ususally use a base of:

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

3 large egg yolks

2 1/2 cups whole milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 - 2 tablespoons butter

1/2 - 1 teaspoon flavoring

All the ingredients (minus the butter and flavoring) are placed in a saucepan and stirred with a whisk .

A whisk is essential to getting the sauce creamy and smooth.  The custard will need to be stirred semi-frequently initially and then as the mixture comes to a boil it has to be stirred more vigorously and constantly.  It needs to cook for a minute or two or until the starchy taste dissipates.  You then remove from the heat and stir in the flavoring and butter.

The filling is poured into a prebaked, cooled crust - no need to cool the filling unless it is going over bananas.  Notice that the crust has been docked (poked with the tines of a fork) before baking which helps minimize shrinkage.

Once the filling is in the pie plate immediately cover it with plastic film. 

Smooth the top with your fingers and then take to the fridge to cool. 

The plastic film prevents the top of the filling from forming a “skin” and keeps it moist and creamy.  (This is the chocolate filling after the plastic has been removed and is ready for whipped cream).

The cream filling should be completed a day ahead or at least early in the day so it has plenty of time to set and chill. 

If you do have to rush things you can help your filling cool by placing it in an ice water bath and stirring it frequently to help cool it more quickly. 

A few hours before serving whip your cream (usually one cup per nine inch pie) and sweeten it with one or two tablespoons of powdered sugar and flavoring, if you are using some. 

The great thing about this custard base is that it can be adapted to several flavors. 

For coconut cream: add 3/4 cup flaked coconut to the filling after it is cooked and if you want to add coconut extract to the filling you can do that as well.  Top it with cream and then garnish with toasted coconut.

For chocolate cream:  include a heaping 1/3 cup of cocoa  with the sugar and vanilla OR you can use 2/3 cup of real semisweet chocolate chips (the equivalent of 3 ounces)  OR you can substitute some of the chips for an unsweetened square of chocolate for a richer, deeper chocolate flavor.  If you are using the “solid chocolates” then melt them gently and VERY CAREFULLY in the micorwave first and includ them to the custard filling as it begins to cook.  You can also use brown sugar instead of white for a fudgier taste.  When making the cream for this pie you can use almond flavoring for a special touch and then garnish this with the chocolate curls.

For banana cream:  see an earlier post for specifics about this pie.

For pudding instead of pie filling:  use only 3 tablespoons of cornstarch.  That modification makes it a little less stiff. 

The cream pies are just fun to play around with.  You will have leftover whites which you can scramble with whole eggs for breakfast, or make an angel food cake or Pavlova which is a meringue dessert we’ll have to talk about sometime but you can check out on line.  There are always uses for the whites and they can be frozen and accumulated for such uses.

With the new trends in cooking, there seem to be a lot of recipes calling for roasted peppers. If you’re wondering how to roast peppers there are generally two methods.  Both are easy.

The first method requires a gas stove.  If you have a gas stove, turn the flame on high and set one or two peppers directly over the heat.  Try and position them so the pepper is directly over the  points of the flame.  When the skins blacken on one side rotate the pepper with a pair of tongs and blacken the other sides.  And I do mean blacken.  When the peppers are at least 75 percent blackened then take them off the burner and put them in a plastic bag and let them sit for 20 minutes.  That resting time is important because as peppers sit in the bag, the steam inside the bag helps loosen the skins.  Then when the peppers are cool enough to handle, simply peel off the blackened skins with your fingers and with the help of a little running water to rinse your fingers free of black bits periodically.  Try not to rinse the peppers because that will remove some of the great flavor.  What’s left is the meat of the pepper.

The second method is done in the oven under the broiler.  For this you turn your broiler on high and get the oven good and hot.  Set the peppers on a baking sheet and place them as close as you can to the broiler element.  When the tops get blackened (and you’ll want to keep an eye on them) rotate the peppers, to blacken the next side.  It’ll take a few minutes to blacken each side.  When all the sides are black, take them off the baking sheet, wrap them in a plastic bag and let them sit for a few minutes.  Same as the gas stove method.

Roasting peppers does so much to enhance the flavor of the food and it’s really an easy way to get dramatic results.

Last Sunday the family was coming over for dinner and when my two granddaughters come through the doors their first words are usually “what can I do to help?”

We were having pan-fried snapper so I put one of them to work dredging the filets.  They were getting a quick dip in buttermilk and then a coating of crumbs.  Grace began and before long both hands were covered with a gummy mess.  So she washed her fingers and I showed her how to dredge the filets and maintain clean fingers while doing so.  We designated one hand for the dipping wash which in this case was buttermilk and the other for the dry crumbs.

Her left hand became the wet side and so the filet is dipped and wetted on both sides…

and then laid in the crumb mixture.  The right hand takes over and becomes the crumb handler.  Crumbs are scooped up and placed over the wet filet…

and then pressed into the filet so seal a bit. 

all the time keeping both hands free from a gummy mess.

As the filets are completed they get placed on a piece of parchment paper or on a clean, dry baking sheet. 

This technique is the same for chicken, beef…any meat OR vegetable.  If you’d like tips for making fine bread crumbs please refer to an earlier post.

Last Sunday when the family came over for dinner my son Paul was filling the glasses with ice and water and I apologized in advance that the ice cubes had a “freezer” taste.  My husband and I will frequently go out of town for several days and during that time the drawer of ice gets full and the cubes take on the taste of whatever lies in the freezer.  So that particular Sunday the cubes had been accumulating for a couple of weeks and did have an off taste but I thought that would be preferable to room temperature water… anyhow…

Paul turned to me and said he had a cure for that.  He threw all the cubes in a picture and filled it with cold water and then quickly drained it.  I think he may have done that a second time just to make sure any trace of the freezer was gone.  It worked!  Now I don’t have to throw out ice cubes after being out of town and if I were really smart I would simply lift the wire lever on the ice machine that stops production completely.  That would truly be the energy efficient thing to do.  So…from now on I’m doing just that.  But rinsing the ice cubes is my back up in case I forget.

Since we’re on the topic of ice cubes my radio website has some ideas on how to flavor water and other beverages with interesting ice cubes.  Visit this page for more info on flavored ice cubes.