Tag miso black cod

Parties That Cook Summer Sun Recipe: Seasonal Fruit Potpies

With the weather heating up across the nation (even if only for the weekend), what better way to celebrate summer than with a delicious seasonal fruit potpie? Among other great fruits, this recipe uses the season’s finest berries: blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and snozzberries! Go the extra mile and top with whipped cream; Run an extra mile and top with ice cream – YUM. Our friends over at CUESA love berries just as much as we do. Check out this article for the low down on their berry adventures for this month!

Seasonal Fruit Potpies
This recipe can also be found in our Dessert Recipes Section

Ingredients
Cream Cheese Pastry Dough:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, un-sifted
3 Tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons lemon zest, finely grated
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
8 ounces unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, chilled
8 ounces cream cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, chilled

Fruit:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
8 cups fresh fruit, cut into 1/2 inch pieces if necessary: blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, peaches, mango, apples and plums
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 Tablespoons butter

1/4 cup cream (for brushing dough right before baking)
2 Tablespoons coarse sugar, sprinkling over the pastry
Plastic wrap

Methods/Steps
Make Pastry Dough: Pulse the flour, sugar, lemon zest and salt in a food processor for a few seconds to mix ingredients. Scatter butter cubes over the flour mixture, and pulse until the mixture has the consistency of cornmeal. Scatter the cream cheese cubes over the mixture and process until ingredients just come together in a ball. Shape dough into 2 discs, about 3/4-inch thick. Wrap in plastic and freeze for 15 minutes in the freezer.

Make Fruit: Preheat oven to 375°F. Adjust rack to lower third of the oven. Place 12 ramekins on a sheet pan. In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Add fruit, lemon juice and vanilla; gently toss to combine. Spoon about 1 cup of the fruit mixture into each ramekin; dot with a small pat of butter.

Roll Pastry Dough: Roll out one disc of pastry on a lightly floured surface until it is about 1/4-inch thick. Using a 4 1/2-inch round cutter, cut out dough circles that are just a bit larger than the ramekins. Set a pastry circle on top of each fruit-filled ramekin and gently press the pastry down into the ramekin around the edge. Repeat with second dough circle and remaining potpies.

Bake Potpies: Using a pastry brush, apply a light coating of cream over the dough, and sprinkle coarse sugar over the top. Using a small pairing knife, make a couple of slits in the center of the pastry to allow steam to escape. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and the fruit is bubbly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves/Makes
Serves 12

New Recipes for Spring

The stormy weather may not indicate it, but Spring officially arrives this weekend. Spring is an exciting time of year for us at Parties That Cook, when we get to invent new menus that incorporate freshly available Spring ingredients.

Chef Tanya

Yesterday, we took the day off for a Spring recipe testing session in the kitchen. Executive Chef Bibby Gignilliat formulates the recipes on paper beforehand, then gathers up the chefs to test them out live.

Taste is of the utmost importance, but our recipes also need to have clear directions and innovative culinary learning points for our guests.

Among the Spring recipes tested:

  • Mini Chalupas filled with Chorizo and Avocado
  • Scallop and Shrimp Ceviche Cups with Roasted Bell Pepper and Lime
  • Bacon-Wrapped Dried Plums with Melted Blue Cheese
  • Butter Lettuce with Cherries, Lardons and Tarragon Crème Fraîche Dressing
  • Rosemary and Pepper Dusted Filet Mignon with Shallot-Port Marmalade
  • Gruyere Cheese Soufflé
  • Sautéed Sesame-Garlic Asparagus and Sugar Snap Peas
  • Skirt Steaks with Ricotta Salata Salsa Verde

Our favorite recipe of the day was a delicate Miso-Mirin Glazed Black Cod, which we’ll be serving alongside the Sautéed Sesame-Garlic Asparagus and Sugar Snap Peas for an Asian-themed Chef’s Table menu.

Miso cod

Miso-Mirin Glazed Black Cod Recipe

Serves 8

1 cup mirin (sweet Japanese rice wine)
1/2 cup sake
2/3 cup white miso paste (fermented soybean paste)
1/4 cup sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
Eight 6- ounce skinless black cod fillets, about 1 inch thick, pin bones removed
Canola oil

Miso-Mirin Glaze: In a small saucepan, bring the mirin and sake to a boil. Whisk in the miso until dissolved. Add the sugar and salt and cook over moderate heat, whisking, just until dissolved. Transfer the marinade to a large baking dish and let cool. Add the fish and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. Alternatively, marinate in an instant marinator.

Sear-Roast:
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Heat a sauté pan and oil it. Scrape the marinade off the fish and reserve marinade. Pat fish dry with a paper towel. Sear the fish and cook over high heat until browned, about 2 minutes. Flip the fish onto a heavy rimmed sheet pan with browned side face up and roast for 8-10 minutes, until flaky. Cover sheet pan with foil to keep fish warm while making sauce.

Sauce:  Reduce reserved marinade for 2 minutes. Do not over reduce or it will get thin and grainy. Serve fish with a small spoonful of sauce.

Recipe created by Parties That Cook® www.PartiesThatCook.com.

-> Stay tuned for the release of all of Parties That Cook’s Spring menus in mid-March 2009.