whole lemon tart

1 partially baked 9-inch Great Unshrinkable Tart Shell, or your favorite sweet tart shell

1 average-sized lemon (about 4 1/2 ounces; 130 grams), rinsed and dried*
1 1/2 cups (300 grams) sugar
1 stick (4 ounces or 115 grams) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons (14 grams) cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon table salt

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven 350°F (165´C). Place the tart shell on a baking sheet, which you can line with foil or parchment paper to make any spills a breeze to clean up.

Slice the lemon into thin wheels, remove any seeds, and toss the rounds — lemon flesh and peel — sugar and chunks of butter into the container of a food processor. Process, scraping down the sides of the container as needed, until the lemon is thoroughly pureed. Add the eggs, cornstarch and salt and pulse until the batter is smooth.

Pour into prepared tart shell. It will fill it completely but if due to slight variances in tart pans, egg sizes, lemon sizes or crust thickness, you have too much, do not pour it past the top of of your crust or it will become difficult to unmold later.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the filling is set. You can test this by bumping the pan a little; it should only jiggle slightly. In my oven, I find that the point at which the filling is set is also when it starts to get very light brown on top.

Let cool on rack, unmold tart pan and serve. I actually prefer this tart completely chilled, which makes it a great dessert to make in advance of a dinner or party.

* Meyer lemons are the first choice here. They’re milder with thinner skin. But if you know that you do not mind a stronger lemon and rind kick, feel free to use a regular lemon, which will have a stronger flavor and a higher proportion of skin to flesh. If your lemon is not 4 1/2 ounces (Meyers often weigh in closer to 4 ounces) go ahead and cut a wedge out of a second one to keep the lemon flavor in balance with the sweetness of the tart.

from the smitten kitchen blog

Oyster stew — allrecipes.com

1/2 cup butter
1 cup minced celery
3 tablespoons minced shallots
1 quart half-and-half cream
2 (12 ounce) containers fresh shucked oysters, undrained
salt and ground black pepper to taste
Pinch of cayenne
dash of worstershire sauce
parsley, minced

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat, and cook the celery and shallots until shallots are tender.

Pour half-and-half into a large pot over medium-high heat. Mix in the butter, celery, and shallot mixture. Stir continuously. When the mixture is almost boiling, pour the oysters and their liquid into the pot. Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Stir continuously until the oysters curl at the ends. When the oysters curl the stew is finished cooking; turn off the heat and serve.

Maple Pecan Baked Brie — cooking channel

    • 1 (16-ounce) wheel of Brie
    • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
    • 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
    • 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
    • 1 cup toasted and chopped pecans
    • 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
    • Crackers, to serve

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Shave off the top rind of the Brie (it is easiest to do this after it has been in the freezer for about 20 minutes). If the Brie came in a wooden box, return it to the original container. If not, create a makeshift “box” out of a few layers of aluminum foil, leaving the top of the Brie exposed.

Place the cheese on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until warm and gooey, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes before serving. Carefully transfer to a serving platter; you do not want the rind to puncture, if possible.

While the Brie is cooling, make the praline sauce. Melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add the brown sugar maple syrup, and pecans. Cook, stirring constantly, until all of the ingredients are well combined, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in coarsely ground black pepper and remove from heat. Allow the mixture to cool for 5 to 10 minutes, until it has thickened up just a bit. Dollop the warm sauce over the baked cheese. (There may be extra praline sauce.) Serve with assorted crackers.

Cook’s Note: The praline sauce can be made the day before. To reheat, microwave in increments of 20 seconds, or heat in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until warm.

Shad Roe, Slowly Roasted in Butter

adapted from Jasper White’s Cooking from New England
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preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1 pair shad roe lobes, about 6 oz
salt and freshly ground black pepper
wash shad roe and gently pat dry. season with salt and pepper.
6-8 tablespoons unsalted butter
lemon juice
capers
Worcestershire sauce

place a 6-inch sautee pan on medium low heat and melt 6 tablespoons of the butter.Slip the shad roe into the pan, making sure that the melted butter is covering the lobes if not,add a bit more. Place the pan into the preheated oven. Turn over half way through cooking time.  Check the thickest part of the roe after 12 minutes for firmness. If still soft, cook a bit longer. Remove to a warm plate.  Make a quick sauce by adding shopped parsley, lemon juice, a bit of Worcestershire sauce and capers to the butter left in the pan.  Heat and then pour over the shad roe.

Shad roe two ways checkout the second recipe and informative website!!

Deep, Dark Salted Butter Caramel Sauce [Sauce au Caramel au Beurre]

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Makes about 1 1/3 cups
1 cup sugar
3 ounces (6 tablespoons) salted butter, the better you can get, the better it will taste
1/2 cup plus two tablespoons heavy cream, at room temperature

Melt the sugar over medium to moderately high heat in a larger pot than you think you at least two or three quarts, whisking or stirring the sugar as it melts to ensure it heats evenly. Cook the liquefied sugar to a nice, dark copper color. Add the butter all at once and stir it in, before turning off the stove and pour in the heavy cream (The sauce will foam up quite a bit when you add it; this is why you want the larger pot.), whisking it until you get a smooth sauce.

You use it right away or pour it into a jar and store it in the fridge for up to two weeks. When you take it out, it will likely have thickened a bit but 60 seconds in the microwave brings it right back to pouring consistency.
Serve over everything.

This is from checkout the blog for photos and further instructions.

Cashew nut roast

I now make this in a casserole dish rather than loaf pan. It’s much easier to serve!!



The roast:
2 tablespoons oil or butter
2 large onions, chopped fine (I used 2 med.)
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups raw cashews
1 1/2 cups bread-use stuffing bread cut up in cusinart
1 cup soup stock (or water)
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons lemon juice

The “stuffing”:
3 cups bread cubes, toasted
2 tablespoons margarine, melted but not hot
1/2 cup finely-chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon sage
3 tablespoons parsley, chopped
salt to taste (I did not add salt)
chopped parsley

(From the first list:) Cook the onion and garlic in the oil or margarine until tender, and remove from the heat. Chop the cashews by hand or in a food processor; cut up the bread as well. Add the cashews and bread to the onion, then add the vegetable stock, salt and pepper, nutmeg, and lemon juice. Put half of this mixture into a greased casserole dish.

Mix together all the ingredients from the second list. Add some stock so it’s a bit moist or not bone dry.  Put the mixture on top of the stuff in the casserole, and add the rest of the first mixture so that there are three layers of food in the pan. Place the pan on a baking sheet (in case it overflows while cooking), and bake at 400 degrees F for 30 to 45 min. The top should be browned.

Note: do not raise temp above 400, probably done after 45 min, check internal temp.

Let the roast cool for a few minutes, then turn the pan over and serve the roast on a plate. Serve with gravy if desired, keeping in mind that it is a very rich dish.

Serve with mushroom, miso, mustard gravy