X-Mas....

[Bernd]

.....I know, I know it's a bit off yet, but what will be on the menu this year.
We are planning:

to start

Ravioli of Lobster with Beurre Soy Sauce

then

Roast Wood Pigeon with lentilles vertes, wild mushrooms and black truffles

and to finish

Passion Fruit Souffle and of course a Tart au Citron (must have one of those)

and of course a bottle or two of some great 2004 Pillastro.

Peace

[basite]

we haven't decided yet, depends on how many family parties we're having around that period...

your menu sure does look great Bernd

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

[ForeverAutumn]

Christmas? I have to get through Thanksgiving first. Bernd and Basite, you may not know that Canadians and Americans celebrate Thanksgiving on different days. The Canadian Thanksgiving is the second Monday in October while the US celebrates on the fourth Thursday in November.

Since we were away on vacation for our Canadian Thanksgiving, we decided to adopt the American date this year. So, we'll be cooking up a big Thanksgiving feast for several of our friends at the end of November.

The menu will be pretty traditional:
Turkey with cranberry stuffing
Baked mashed potatoes
Yams
Maple glazed carrots
and for dessert we'll have pumpkin pie and an apple/cranberry crisp.

A ham may be added to the menu if my husband decides that he wants one (I don't eat ham).

We usually choose local wines for dinner. The Niagara region of Southern Ontario has many award winning vinyards.

I can't think ahead to Christmas yet, but I do know that our Christmas this year, like last year, will include Bernd's delicious tarte au citron!

[Bernd]

.....FA, you have the Thanks giving feast to come first. I forgot. And yeah, christmas is not complete without a Tart au Citron. Enjoy.

Peace

[GMichael]

Great menus from everyone so far.

My wife is from the Philippines. They don't have a Halloween or Thanksgiving there. Their X-mas season begins in September. So as to not leave anyone out, she has decorated our house with all three holidays already. Santa here, a turkey there, Frosty on one speaker, a ghost on the other. It feels very strange.

[dean_martin]

once again, Bernd, you've come up with a wonderful menu for the holidays which reminds me that I need to run a search for the recipe for your famous Tart au Citron.

[ForeverAutumn]

Great menus from everyone so far.

My wife is from the Philippines. They don't have a Halloween or Thanksgiving there. Their X-mas season begins in September. So as to not leave anyone out, she has decorated our house with all three holidays already. Santa here, a turkey there, Frosty on one speaker, a ghost on the other. It feels very strange.

You let her put stuff on your speakers?! That's the scariest thing I've heard yet during this Halloween season.

[ForeverAutumn]

.....FA, you have the Thanks giving feast to come first. I forgot. And yeah, christmas is not complete without a Tart au Citron. Enjoy.

Peace

If you've got any good recipes for our Thanksgiving meal, feel free to pass them along.

[GMichael]

You let her put stuff on your speakers?! That's the scariest thing I've heard yet during this Halloween season.

They are just little stuffed animals. Look at Chilly Willy in my avitar.

[GMichael]

once again, Bernd, you've come up with a wonderful menu for the holidays which reminds me that I need to run a search for the recipe for your famous Tart au Citron.

I have that printed out and sitting in my recipe drawer if you can't find it.

[ForeverAutumn]

Hey GM, you've hit 6500 posts! And this post that I'm writing right now will be my 3500th.

I wonder who will hit the next thousandth post first. My money is on you.

[GMichael]

Hey GM, you've hit 6500 posts! And this post that I'm writing right now will be my 3500th.

I wonder who will hit the next thousandth post first. My money is on you.

Hey! Between us we have exactly 10,000 posts. Ooops, 10,001 now.

I'm thinking either Sir T who is at 1995 or Feanor who is at 1938.

[dean_martin]

I have that printed out and sitting in my recipe drawer if you can't find it.

Thanks, GM, but I believe I found it.
Here are the search results:

Christmas Edition Of Getting To Know Your Friends!

Check page 2, post 37 of this thread. Royale with cheese because of the metric system.

From a thread started by you, no less.

[GMichael]

Thanks, GM, but I believe I found it.
Here are the search results:

Christmas Edition Of Getting To Know Your Friends!

Check page 2, post 37 of this thread. Royale with cheese because of the metric system.

From a thread started by you, no less.

That's the one. I've made it a few times this year. It's killer. I subbed oranges for lemons one time to see how it would turn out. It was still a fine dessert, but lacked impact.
The crust is very tricky to work with. Well worth it though.

[JohnMichael]

Bernd another excellent feast!

Things to do;

Take a cooking class.
Take another cooking class.
Buy cooking for idiots.
Oh hell make reservations.

Bernd you have many talents.

[ForeverAutumn]

That's the one. I've made it a few times this year. It's killer. I subbed oranges for lemons one time to see how it would turn out. It was still a fine dessert, but lacked impact.
The crust is very tricky to work with. Well worth it though.

I've also made this several times. A few tips that I figured out to make it a bit easier (for me anyway)....

I had a real hard time working with the crust. It was way to sticky for me to roll even after refridgerating. So, I started to make this in a flan dish. I took small pieces of dough and flattened them into the flan dish using my fingers. I found this to be much easier than trying to roll it. Then I fill the dish with pie weights to keep the pastry from rising too much since the flan dish is so shallow.

I also had trouble carmelising the top under the broiler without burning the edges of the pastry. Now I use a little kitchen torch to carmelise the sugar.

No matter how you do it, the end result is one of the nicest desserts that I've ever made. I must have made this a half dozen times last Christmas to take to various parties and dinners and it was always a huge hit. I can't wait to make it again this year!

[PeruvianSkies]

liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti anyone???

[GMichael]

I've also made this several times. A few tips that I figured out to make it a bit easier (for me anyway)....

It's nice of you to share your tips with us.

I had a real hard time working with the crust.

That's for sure. It's very fragile as well as sticky.

It was way to sticky for me to roll even after refrigerating. So, I started to make this in a flan dish. I took small pieces of dough and flattened them into the flan dish using my fingers. I found this to be much easier than trying to roll it. Then I fill the dish with pie weights to keep the pastry from rising too much since the flan dish is so shallow.

I ended up having to press it out flat instead of rolling it also. Extra flour helped, but wasn't enough. I guess it takes a lot of practice.

I also had trouble caramelizing the top under the broiler without burning the edges of the pastry. Now I use a little kitchen torch to caramelize the sugar.

This was what Bernd says he does. I've seen these in a few stores but haven't picked one up yet.

No matter how you do it, the end result is one of the nicest desserts that I've ever made. I must have made this a half dozen times last Christmas to take to various parties and dinners and it was always a huge hit. I can't wait to make it again this year!

It is very good!
A big thanks to Bernd once again!
What will this year's secret be?

[bobsticks]

Ooooh, very nice menu B. I got a hold of some morels and matsutakes for a great soup a few weeks ago...yum. You've got a nice mix of tastes and textures and, of course, the world famous tart. Lovely.

I haven't planned mine out yet but I need to anticipate the annual last-minute crush of wayward yuppies and listless rockers. A repeat of last year's destruction of my kitchen will not do.

[Bernd]

[GMichael
What will this year's secret be?[/QUOTE]

No secrets anywhere. But if anyone is interested I will put the recipe together. As this might make a nice dessert for your Thanks-giving dinner.

"Hot Mango upside down tart with Pineapple Sorbet."

The idea comes from Tarte Tatin. And no sticky pastry to work with

It should look like this:

[GMichael]

[GMichael
What will this year's secret be?
No secrets anywhere. But if anyone is interested I will put the recipe together. As this might be a nice dessert for your Thanks-giving dinner.

"Hot Mango upside down tart with Pineapple Sorbet."

The idea comes from Tarte Tatin. And no sticky pastry to work with

It should look like this:

Haha.. I guess your "secrets" have been declassified.

Sounds, and looks, great. It must take some care to get all those slices lined up like that.
I'd love to give it a shot.

[kexodusc]

Wow - I'm really out of my element in this thread - I can burn dead animal with fire on my BBQ, and I make a killer pot of oatmeal, but beyond that my abilities in the kitchen are limited. I'm more of a turkey and gravy kind of guy I guess.
I feel so...unaccomplished
Kudos to you folks who can throw this stuff together.

[GMichael]

Wow - I'm really out of my element in this thread - I can burn dead animal with fire on my BBQ, and I make a killer pot of oatmeal, but beyond that my abilities in the kitchen are limited. I'm more of a turkey and gravy kind of guy I guess.
I feel so...unaccomplished
Kudos to you folks who can throw this stuff together.

I have found that if you can just follow directions, you can do a pretty fair job of cooking. I have followed many recipes on line that come out very nice. It's just if you want to move to that next level that you need to have "the knack", or experience.
If, on the other hand, you don't follow the directions, you could end up burning water.

[ForeverAutumn]

No secrets anywhere. But if anyone is interested I will put the recipe together. As this might make a nice dessert for your Thanks-giving dinner.

"Hot Mango upside down tart with Pineapple Sorbet."

The idea comes from Tarte Tatin. And no sticky pastry to work with

It should look like this:

That looks fantastic! I can't do it for Thanksgiving however as one of our guests is highly allergic to mangoes.

[Bernd]

That looks fantastic! I can't do it for Thanksgiving however as one of our guests is highly allergic to mangoes.

....a shame, as this dessert is a real nice one. Does anybody else noticed how many people have allergies these days. When I grew up and did my apprenticeship I never knew anyone with an allergy. Makes you think doesn't it.

GM, it looks like just you and me for the Mango tart. I shall join you in spirit in a little thanks giving dinner myself over here. Good luck with it. It is pretty easy.

Well here is the recipe.

Hot Mango Tart
Serves 4

9 Mangoes
250g Puff Pastry (shop bought)
25g caster sugar

For the Pineapple Sorbet
500g fresh Pineapple peeled and cored
200g caster sugar
250ml stock syrup (450g caster sugar,600ml water-bring to boil and cook for 1 min)
Juice of ½ lemon

For the Mango Glaze
170g caster sugar
60ml stock syrup
60ml water
60ml Bacardi Rum
60g unsalted butter

To make the Pineapple Sorbet (Can be substituted for shop bought ice cream)
Liquidize the pineapple in a blender and sieve it.
Add the sugar and stock syrup and liquidize again. Add the lemon juice.
Freeze in an ice cream maker.

To make the Mango Glaze
Peel 3 of the mangoes, chop their flesh finely and put it with their stones, the sugar and stock syrup in a saucepan and place over a moderate heat.
As the mixture warms up, add the water. Then bring to the boil and reduce by half.
Take the pan of the heat and add the Bacardi and butter. Place back on gentle heat and warm through and until thoroughly mixed.
Sieve the mix before use.

To make the Tarts
Preheat Oven to 190C/375F/gas5
Roll the pastry out to barely 2mm thick and 40 cm square. Cut out four circles (appr 18cm diameter each). Allow to rest for 30 min.
Peel the remaining Mangoes carefully and then cut each peeled mango lengthways into 3 lobes. Put these to one side.
Trim off all the flesh from around the stones, and cut into small dice and place in the centres of the pastry circles to add height to the arrangement.
Lay each Mango lobe flat and cut into 3mm slices, making half moon segments. Arrange these segments in overlapping fans around the pastry circles (leaving a clear 5mm edge).
If the Mangoes slither around too much to arrange with ease, use a little caster sugar to secure them.
Sprinkle the whole tart with a little sugar and bake in the oven for 8-10 min. 5 and 8 min into cooking and just before serving, moisten the top of the tarts with the mango glaze.
Add a little ice cream on the top and drizzle some of the glaze around the plate. Serve.