231 posts tagged “evan kleiman”

Fried Peach Pie

Since I’m at Angeli all day today I figured I would take advantage of the fryer and make Fried Peach Pies (served with Tahitian Vanilla Ice Cream).  How bad can they be?  Sooo not bad. The best ever.

I made a crust with the dreaded Crisco since butter would burn at high temperature, but since you are actually dipping the crust into fat you can use less than would be called for in a regular pie crust.  I used a couple of eggs as well as a very small amount of icy water and a couple of tablespoons of sugar.  Deep fried,  the crust reminds me of the best cannoli shells. Shattering bubbles on the very outer layer then once your teeth hit the inner layer of dough it’s perfecly flaky and the not too sweet peaches are a great foil for the richness of the fried dough.  I sprinkled the pies with sugar.  I had to leave the restaurant so I wouldn’t fry another one.  Thank goodness I shared the tester with three other people.

I want to play with making tiny little ones for catering jobs.

As you know, I've gone pie crazy this summer.  As I continue my quest to make a pie-a-day, I want you to EAT a pie-a-day.  Take a picture of a pie that you buy, make or eat and send it to us at goodfood@kcrw.com.  We'll post a picture a day.  

The first Strawberry Pie of this ongoing project wasn’t fabulous so I’ve been combing through pie books for inspiration.  I came upon a great idea in the massive tome, Pie by Ken Haedrich.  It starts with a chocolate crust that's allowed to cool then napped with cornstarch thickened strawberry puree.  Sliced raw berries are arranged atop the puree and then topped with whipped cream enhanced with more strawberry puree. 

Kathy's Chocolate Pie Crust

I changed up the recipe a bit.  Ken’s crust was made with chocolate wafers eg, the outside of oreos.  I arrived at Angeli this afternoon to find that chef Kathy had blind baked a beautiful chocolate crust made from a recipe in Dorie Greenspan’s Baking from My Home to Yours.  It smelled and looked wonderful.  So I chopped up some strawberries, added a bit of lemon zest and sugar then cooked the fruit down to a thick puree, relying on the pectin in the fruit to thicken the puree.  I poured the boiling strawberry puree into a large bowl and put it in the walk-in refrigerator to cool down.

Strawberry Pie with Chocolate Crust

Once it was cool I beat manufacturing cream with a teaspoon of honey and a bit of confectioners sugar until stiff.  I then folded in half the chilled strawberry puree.  The remaining half was thinly slathered over the baked and cooled crust.  The strawberries were arranged onto the puree then I piled the strawberry whipped cream on top and

 It was a bit hit with my servers.  I only hope that they don’t eat it all.

Avocado Cream Pie

I’m not very much of an “icebox pie” person.  Which sometimes makes me feel sad, like I’m not sufficiently American.  So after much hectoring on the part of my catering manager Ivana, I decided to leap into the cold with an Avocado Cream Pie.  After all, avocados are summer - it's the chip topped with guacamole vearing to the mouth with one hand and an icy tart cocktail in the other.  And they’re green.  The color makes the pie a very pretty green.  I topped it with a bit of sour cream mixed with a touch of confectioners’ sugar.  We’ll see how it tastes tomorrow after a night of chilling.  I did however, make some progress on the graham cracker crust front.  This time I used actual graham crackers which I beat with a rolling pin until crumbly...but not super fine.  It came out quite nice although it slipped down the pie pan a bit too much.  Next time....

We got quite a reaction from listeners about my interview with Jonathan Gold about the L.A. burrito.  One listener asked for a picture of a L.A. burrito.  So we asked Good Food Music Supervisor and resident photographer to go out to El Tepeyac in East L.A.  In Gary's words "This burrito is the biggest burrito I've ever eaten.  It was the size of half my arm."

Manuel's Special - Pollo Burrito @ El Tepeyac

The owner of a barbecue joint in New Jersey might be the answer to figuring out how to deal with North Korea.  Rebecca Mead tells us about Bobby Egan and BBQ diplomacy.  Jonathan Gold gets us into Peruvian food.  Picnics mean pasty potato salad.  Chris Kimball of Cook’s Illustrated has a solution. Liran Mezan has some ideas for meat cuts and Mark Bittman sorts out the dilemma behind buying and eating fish.  Bourbon, corn, rye or straight – there is a big difference between these whiskies, says Scott Gold.  Mary MacVean tells us what state budget cuts are doing to our budding chefs.  And Laura Avery eats green beans at the farmers market.

Nectarine Gallette

A gallette is simple a circle of dough gently folded over a big pile of slightly sweetened fruit.  It is the best work to kudos ratio ever for the home cook.  At Angeli we use firm nectarines so we don't have to peel peaches (and chef Kathy and I love the pink tinge the skins give the filling). We cut the nectarines into slices and toss them with a touch of lemon juice and a couple of tablespoons each of flour and sugar.  Then we roll out the dough, usually a very short and rich pate sablee. 

The dough circle is placed on a parchment lined baking pan where the fruit is piled on and the edges are folded up to slightly enclose the filling.  We then brush the pastry with a mixture of beaten egg mixed with a little milk or cream to give the dough some extra color.  You can see how impressive they are.  It's impossible to make a mistake.  Just looking at the photo makes me want a slice.  You?

Nectarine Gallette

Dwell on Design LA

This weekend, I’ll be moderating a few panels about food and design at Dwell on Design.  

Here’s my schedule for Sunday, June 28:

1-1:30
The Gestalt of Meat: From Art to Eating
Featuring Neal Fraser of Grace and Sasha Wizansky of Meatpaper

2:30-3
Modern Taste: The Creative Potential  of the Home Cook
Featuring Michael Cirino from A Razor, A Shiny Knife
(We’re going to be taping an interview with Michael so you’ll hear him on the show in a few weeks.)

3-3:30
Freshly Picked: LA's Thriving Farmer's Markets
Featuring Laura Avery and Molly Gean of Harry’s Berries.   

There are also demonstrations and more discussions throughout the day.  Find the full rundown here.

The folks at Dwell are also putting on the first Mobile Restaurant Row featuring Let’s Be Frank, Sprinkles, Barbie’s Q, The Green Truck, Coolhaus and Tacos Ariza.  Jonathan Gold and I will be chowing down (and shooting some video).

KCRW's Frances Anderton, Host of DnA will also be there.

Apricot Frangipane

Apricot Frangipane

I see apricots, I think frangipane.  Wikipedia describes frangipane as a filling made from or flavored with almonds. It's commonly made from soft butter, sugar, ground almonds, a little flour, maybe an egg and some pure almond extract. There is something about the buttery texture of the apricots that lends itself to the sweet nuttiness of this miraculous tender cake-like substance.  I know that almond flavored pastry is kind of controversial.  it's like black licorice (the only kind as far as I'm concerned); you either like it or you don't. 

Ever since I first went to Scandia on Sunset for Sunday brunch as a child and bit into a real Danish pastry filled with a fragrant almond cream I've been hooked.  My croissants are never filled with chocolate, always almond.  The French pastry made simply of two layers of puff pastry dough filled with frangipane, known as the Pithivier is like sex for me.  So imagine my joy to find in my possession everything I needed to make one of my favorite tarts/pies.  Frozen puff paste, check;  almonds to grind, check, apricots, oh yes.  So it all came together in this easy to make killer pastry that is perfect for breakfast.  If your family is showing signs of a mid-week slump, serving this to them with cafe au lait will make you their hero.  Excuse me while I go cut myself another slice.