Banana-Meringue Pudding Pie

My sister has spent the summer in Nashville, Tennessee. Since I went to school in Little Rock, Arkansas, my “sis” and I have had long conversations about the “Southern Charm”.

The South of the United States has something whimsical. Maybe is the exuberant green vegetation, the swamps and lakes, the warm nights, the neat-white looking houses … but to me, what keep me going back to the South is the slow pace of life and the “well known” Southern hospitality.

The South is sweet. Sweet in the broadest sense of the word. No wonder the South is “Baking-land”.

Baking is part of their culture. And without complex! Their baking is tasty and intense. Spongy cake with tons of frosting just came to my mind!

My sister came back with a suitcase with half of Williams-Sonoma on it. http://www.williams-sonoma.com/ She also brought me this great book “ Classic Southern Desserts” by the editors of Southern Living. (You can find it in Amazon)

From all the lovely recipes I picked the Banana-Meringue Pudding pie. I love bananas and the pudding makes the pie light and fresh. Perfect for a summer afternoon.

There you have the recipe. I hope you like it!

Banana-Meringue Pudding Pie

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients

340 gr vanilla wafers (Granola or Chiquilin works for the crust)

½ cup butter, melted

3 large bananas sliced

Vanilla Cream filling

4 egg whites

½ cup sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 180º. Set aside 30 vanilla wafers; pulse remaining vanilla wafers in a food processor until coarsely crushed. Stir together crushed vanilla wafers and butter until blended. Firmly press on bottom, upsides, and onto lip of a 22/23 cm pie plate.

Bake at 180º for 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove to a wire rack and let it cool completely (aprox. 30 min.)

Arrange banana slices evenly over of bottom of crust. Prepare Vanilla Cream Filling, and spread half of hot filling over bananas; top with 20 vanilla wafers and top with remaining banana slices. Spread remaining hot filling.

Beat egg whites at high speed with an electric mixer until foamy. Add sugar, 1 tbsp. at time, beating until stiff peaks form and sugar dissolves. Spread meringue evenly over hot filling, sealing the edges.

Bake at 180º for 10 to 12 min. or until golden brown. Remove from oven, and let cool on wire rack until completely cool (about 1 hour). Coarsely crush remaining 1o vanilla wafers, and sprinkle evenly over top of pie. Chill at least 4 hours. Store in refrigerator.

Vanilla Cream Filling

Makes about 3 cups

Ingredients

¾ cup sugar

1/3-cup flour

2 large eggs

4 egg yolks

2 cups milk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

Whisk together first 5 ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Cook over a medium-low heat, whisking constantly, 8 to 10 min or until mixture reaches the thickness of chilled pudding. Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla. Use filling immediately.

Wild Strawberries Mini-Tarts

Few weeks ago, my cousin came home early in the morning. He told me he was taking me to this secret place where he wanted to show me something that he knew I would appreciate.

My cousin got my little basket. We got on our shoes and head to the forest. After walking among the trees (chestnuts and eucalyptus) for a while, we arrived to an open area. In the ground there were these familiar leaves and these tiny red drops.

I got so excited to see myself surrounded by wild strawberries!!!! Back home with my little basket full of wild strawberries, I prepared a simple pate sucree and pastry cream, so my wild strawberries would be the “stars of the show”.

I hope you like the recipe and the new makeover of the blog!!

Pate sucree

Ingredients

Makes one 30 -32 cm (11-12 inch) or two 20 – 22 cm ( 8 to 9 inch) .

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1 cup (250 gr) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

2 large egg yolks

1/4 cup ice water

Directions

In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour and sugar. Add butter, and process 10 to 20 seconds.

In a small bowl, lightly beat egg yolks; add ice water. With machine running, add the egg mixture in a slow, steady stream through the feed tube. Pulse until dough holds together without being wet or sticky; be careful not to process more than 30 seconds. To test, squeeze a small amount together: If it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Divide dough into two equal balls. Flatten each ball into a disk, and wrap in plastic. Chill in a refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Pastry cream

Ingredients

Makes about 1 3/4 cups

1 cup whole milk

1/2 vanilla bean, split

5 tablespoons sugar

3 large egg yolks

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon flour (preferably rice flour for lightness)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Directions

Place milk, vanilla bean, and 1/4 cup sugar in a medium saucepan over high heat; cook until almost boiling.

In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar until thickened. Sprinkle in cornstarch and flour and continue beating until well combined.

Remove vanilla bean from milk. While whisking constantly, slowly pour heated-milk mixture into egg-yolk mixture. Pour mixture through a fine sieve back into saucepan, and cook, whisking constantly, over medium-high heat, until it thickens about 2 minutes.

Transfer to a large bowl and whisk in butter until melted. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly on the surface of the pastry cream; refrigerate until completely cooled.

Tomatoes, Mozzarella and Basil Fritatta

Summer days in Asturias have that thing where the days look that they have 36 hours instead of 24. Days are so long and the temperature is so mild that so many things can be done in a day!

In one of those rare days when the sky is clear blue with no clouds I organize everything around the beach. Beaches in here are not crowed and there is always this northeast wind that keeps the heat “under control”.

In one of those sunny days, the last thing that you do is staying indoors. So for lunch I prepared something easy and fast: Tomato, mozzarella and basil frittata. Eggs from my cousin hens, tomato and basil from my garden produce …. Nice, nice, nice!

The recipe is from a book that I bought at Williams Sonoma in one of my New York trips. The book is all about eggs. Eggs in all possible ways. (“Eggs” by Jodi Liano)

I hope you like it!

Ingredients

4 – 6 Servings

7 gr Basil leaves

190 gr cherry tomatoes halved

125 gr mozzarella cheese diced

10 eggs

1 tablespoon cream or milk

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven at 220ºc. Reserve some leaves for garnish. Cut the rest of basil leaves into thin ribbons. Mix in a bowl the basil, tomatoes, mozzarella, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside for 10 minutes.

In other bowl, whisk the eggs, cream, and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Warm the olive oil in a 25cm ovenproof nonstick frying pan over medium-low heat. Add the egg mixture and cook, stirring gently, until the eggs begin to set.

Gently stir in the tomatoes and mozzarella mixture. Cook undisturbed until they begin to set around the edges, 2-3 minutes.

Transfer the frying pan to the oven and bake until the eggs are set around the edges and just firm in the center, about 5 minutes more.

Loosen the sides of the frittata with a spatula and hold a platter over the top of the pan. Holding the sides with hot pads, invert the frittata into the platter.

Gooseberry Pound Cake with Red Currant Curd

When I am in Asturias I always take advantage of the local produce and the seasonal fruits.

Few weeks ago I had beautiful cherries from a huge cherry-tree from a relative. While they were preparing grass for the cows, I was seated under the cherry -tree having as many cherries as I could eat. That is life!

As much as I like cherries, I am always expectating eagerly the “Berry Season”. Strawberries, wild strawberries, red currants and gooseberries come first. My blueberries are in their way. I already had a couple of them. So tasty!

And at the end of the summer we will get ready for blackberries. I am already thinking in jam, pies and pound cakes ….

A week ago I “harvested” my cousin red currants and gooseberries. With the red currants I made a curd and with the gooseberries a pound cake.

I love curds. The soft texture and the intense taste are perfect for fillings or for a simple toast. I usually make lemon curd, but the red currants sounded like a good alternative for a change.

Here you have the recipes. I hope you like them!

Red Currant Curd

Ingredients

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

1 pound stemmed red currants (about 3 cups), washed

6 egg yolks, lightly beaten

1 cup sugar

235gr unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Directions

Place currants in a medium pot over medium heat. Cook, crushing with a potato masher, until berries are completely soft, about 15 minutes.

Strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Do not force fruit through strainer; discard pulp. Measure and set aside 1/2 cup juice. Reserve remaining juice for another use.

Combine the currant juice, egg yolks, and sugar in a medium saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon, 10 to 12 minutes. Do not allow the mixture to boil.

Remove saucepan from heat. Add butter, one piece at a time, stirring with the wooden spoon until smooth.

Strain mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the curd to avoid a skin from forming; wrap tightly. Let cool; refrigerate until firm and chilled, at least 1 hour.

Gooseberry Pound Cake

Ingredientes

Makes 1 loaf

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup heavy cream, or half and half

1 heaping tablespoon honey

12 tablespoons room temperature (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for pan

3/4 cup brown sugar

3 large eggs

2 cups currants

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, heat the cream over medium heat. Stir in molasses. In a medium bowl, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add the sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating to combine after each addition. Stir in the cream mixture, then the currants. Add the dry ingredients and beat to combine.

Pour into pan, and bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour 15 minutes.