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.

 In our area there are several flowering plum trees.  These are meant to be ornamental trees and highly appreciated because of their beautiful spring blossoms and rich burgundy colored leaves.  But inspite of it’s genetic change the tree still produces tiny fruit. 

Last Sunday the family came over for dinner and our grandchildren asked if they could pick the fruit from the tree. 

To be honest I had forgotten that the tree bears fruit and it’s easy to forget because the leaves and the fruit are identical in color, so the fruit does not stand out.  The kids picked a small container full and brought it in for everyone to try.  The fruit was slightly tart but delicious.  I thought to myself…I have got to put that wonderful, pesticide free, natural and organic fruit to use.  I asked the girls to pick enough for a batch of jam and it was awesome and then today they picked more and we made plum syrup which we will use for pancakes, ice cream and anything else we can think of.  If you have these trees in your yard (or neighbor’s yard or in your subdivision common area, here’s how you can make this syrup. 

Pick a small container of plums.

Give them a good rinse under cold water.

Transfer the fruit to a quart pan and for this amount of fruit (which would be a generous two cups) use one cup of sugar.

We even added a cinnamon stick to this recipe and in the batch we made earlier, we included a vanilla bean.  Both those items are totally optional.  No need to add water.  Take the saucepan to medium heat and stir the sugar into and around the plums.  Soon enough the heat will force the juice from the fruit and you will have a syrupy liquid.

If you have a potato masher, help it along by mashing the fruit.

Allow the mixture to simmer for about five minutes and then remove from the heat.

Add a tiny amount of salt and then pass the contents through a sieve, pressing and stirring with a spoon to get every last drop.

 You’ll be left with a pulp which contains the seeds and skins.

That’s it! 

Transfer to an airtight container and keep in the fridge.  If the syrup is too thick you can thin it with water.  If it is too thin just simmer it a little longer until it thickens up.

I even made a batch of jam with these whole plums and simply strained the mixture once it had cooked for the recommended cooking time.  It was awesome.  Such a good way of putting these lovely, free fruit to optimum use.

No, I am not the first person to think of making a nut and dried fruit jam.  In fact, when I shop at our specialty market I am always wowed and impressed by the tiny jars of delicious sounding jams that run $5 or $6 a piece.  I’ve never been able to justify spending that much for two ounces of product.  But it did inpsire me.

What happened is the following.  A few weeks ago the youth in our church reinacted a pioneer experience.   As part of one of the meals I had purchased some dried apple rings, dried apricots, whole almonds and raisins.  There was some leftover and I really wasn’t in the mood for any more of that so it sat in the cupboard for a few days.

I kept wondering how I could use up the dried fruit.  Then I remembered the jams.  So….. here’s what I did. 

I took the leftover fruit and chopped the apples into little pieces and sliced the apricots.  I left the raisins and almonds whole. 

Everthing got taken to the food processor and processed…

until quite fine but not too fine.  I wanted some distinction between the fruit. 

Once the fruit was to the right fineness I transfered it to a small saucepan and added about 1 cup of water.  I had about 1 pound of fruit to begin with.  I started cooking the water and the fruit and wondered if it would be sweet enough and so I added some honey, about 1/4 cup.  I could have added sugar but I just felt the honey would be a better fit. 

That was cooked for about 10 minutes (and stirred occassionally) over a low to medium heat…

and then transferred to an airtight container.  We’ve been enjoying it ever since on our english muffins, bagels, crusty bread, pancakes and waffles.   The other day I was doing a mole style enchilada and I added a small amount to the pork filling much the same way you might sweeten a beef empanada with raisins.  They were quite good.

Another thing I tried with the jam were little phyllo pastries.  I took a spoonful of the nut jam and some cotija and mozarella cheese and filled the each of the pastries.  That was served with some honey yogurt and I have to say it was quite light and delicious.  A nice ending to a meal but not too sweet. 

What I especially like about this jam is that it is not overly sweet but has a ton of flavor.  In fact, I would imagine that if you wanted a sugar free product it would be just fine without any added sugar.  There are probably a ton of variations with this, including the types of dried fruit you use.  It would be fun to experiment with.  This jam would also make a beautiful gift when stored in a smaller, dainty glass jar.

Using lemon and orange rinds is one of the best ways to get flavor to your food.  What I like about these citrus rinds is that they can be used in both sweet and savory ways.  In sweet applications the rinds are added to muffin and cake batter, bread dough, puddings, pie fillings, you name it.  Some savory applications might be including those rinds in a tomato based sauce or even a cream sauce.  The rinds can really perk up a a vinaigrette dressing or a stir-fry.  If I ever come across a recipe that calls for lemon or orange juice I automatically include some of the rind because it’s more effective in providing flavor.

The best way to take the rind off the fruit is with the help of a grater and the best grater for the jon is something called a microplane.  It is awesome!  I don’t very often recommend many tools, but this is a must.  Micorplanes were originally intended for grating hard cheese (like parmesan) but I use mine almost exclusively for rinds.

The fruit grates most easily when it’s whole so if you are juicing and zesting, zest the rind first and then cut the fruit to extract the juice.

There is also a method for freezing the rinds which could be helpful if you have a hard time keeping lemons and oranges in house.    When you buy lemons and oranges, take a few minutes and grate off all the rinds before you put the citrus in the produce drawer.  Or grate what you think will be a usable amount.  When you get through grating one fruit, take the rind of that one fruit and put it in the corner of a little baggie.

Most recipes call for the zest or rind of one lemon or one orange, which is about a tablespoon.  So if you freeze the rinds in these small portions they’ll be easy to thaw and use.  Mark the baggies with an L or an O so you can tell them apart and then put all the little bags in a larger container so they don’t get scattered throughout your freezer.  It’s quick flavor to all your foods.