Where I've Been, What's Been Happening, + Have Some White Peach and Lavender Tart Gluten Free.

   
So, it's been a while. I was looking back on my blog the other day and I see I've posted a lot fewer recipes in the last two years then I normally would. I haven't stopped cooking and as a matter of fact I've been doing a lot more cooking, only I haven't been able to write about it - until now. I'm a screenwriter by trade. I work with my husband /writing partner Alan Berger 5 days a week. It's how we earn our living, that's what pays the bills. I cook most every day but my weekends were the time I devoted to The Colors of Indian Cooking. The weekends were when I'd turn my kitchen into a cooking lab/photo studio. I cook, Alan takes the pictures. Obviously, all that activity is NOT what happens on work days, but it's what I've been doing for the 9 years I've been writing this blog.
    We've been very busy the last two years, partially because we just finished a TV pilot and series bible, but also because I've been under contract for the last two years working on developing the menu for the CocoaPlanet restaurant here in Sonoma. So, that's where I've been.
   
For two years my weekends were devoted to starters, mains, and a LOT of desserts. Everything had to be gluten free, (I've developed my own flour blends) many things vegan, and they also wanted a menu friendly to the lactose intolerant. So after a week of writing, rewriting, and notes for our writing work, every Saturday I'd cook and then we'd meet for recipe testing on whatever I was doing. If it worked it would go into the chefs book at the restaurant.  Weekends were still consumed with cooking,  only I wasn't publishing any of it. People were eating it.

Now, CocoaPlanet is moving to Arizona, so my time as a consultant for them here in Sonoma, is done. A lot of the pictures of what I've been cooking I've posted here, on twitter and instagram. I also have 2 big books of my recipes. 

Now I'm trying to decide what exactly to do with all this stuff. Basically, I've got the makings of a cookbook...several cookbooks to be exact. I'm thinking  gluten free desserts to start. For years my friends Paula Wolfert and Steve Sando have told me I should do a cookbook, but I thought I'd never have he time. Now I've accumulated a whole bunch of recipes and I am also  more than a bit overwhelmed as to what to do. I think I really need to do something with all of this.

A few weeks back I made a white peach and lavender frangiapne tart. People asked for the recipe and now I'm finally getting around to publishing it.

White Peach and  Lavender Frangiapane Tart

The Pastry

Here's What You Need:

1 and 1/4 cup of all purpose gluten free  or regular flour , plus extra for dusting.
1 stick of unsalted butter  at room temperture
zest of 1 lemon
1/4 tsp kosher salt
3 Tbs sugar 
1 egg yolk
3 Tbs of ice water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp lemon juice


Here's What to Do:

1. Mix your tart dough. In the bowl of a food processor pulse together 1 and 1/4 cups of gluten free tart flour mix, 3 Tbs sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, the lemon zest, and 7 tbs unsalted butter. Pulse these together until you have a fine meal-like blend.

2. In a small bowl beat together: 1 egg yolk, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice, 3 Tbs ice water.

3. Drizzle this mixture over the flour butter mixture in the food processor and pulse until it forms a dough. This happens pretty quickly.

4. Take the dough out and put it on a surface dusted with tapioca flour. Knead a couple of times, roll it into a ball and then flatten it into a disc.

5. When the dough is blended and formed into a disc, wrap it in saran wrap or waxed paper and let it firm up in the freezer for about 10 minutes before working with it.
You can also just keep it in the freezer to use later or roll it out and place it in well greased individual tart pans for later baking and filling.


If you are doing this:

1. Butter 5 small tart pans with removable bottoms - or just one large pan.

2. Cut your disc of chilled dough into five pieces. Or make one large tart.

3. Roll one out and shape it into a disc. Fit the dough into the tart pan. Trim away the excess dough. Do this with each tart pan.

4. Fit Saran Wrap into the pie crust. Poke holes into the crust through the Saran Wrap. Place the tart pans in the freezer to be filled and baked later.


Here's What To Do: (blind baking)

1. Take a big piece of tin foil. Take the pie crust out of the freezer. Remove the
Saran Wrap. Place the foil into the pie crust and up the sides. 

2. Fill the pie shell with rice, beans or pie weights.

3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pop the tart pan onto a baking sheet and bake it in the oven for about 6 minutes.

4. Remove it. Take the foil and pie weights out the crust. Put the crust back in the over for another 6 minutes. Done. Now lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees  and let your blind baked crust cool a bit while you make the filling

The Filling:

Here’s What You Need :

Frangipane Cream
1/3 cup  caster sugar 
6 Tbs unsalted butter at room temperture
 1/2 cup gluten free or regular flour
 3/4 cup almond flour
 2 eggs
1 tsp almond extract

Peaches:
4 ripe but firm white peaches
1 tsp  crumbled lavender flowers
1 tsp lemon juice

Glaze:
1 Tbs water 
3 Tbs peach jam


Here’s What to Do:

1. To make the filling, put all the frangipane cream ingredients into a food processor and mix them together. You will get a thick yet still spreadable paste.

2. To prepare the peaches slice them and drizzle them with a bit of lemon juice so they don't turn color.

Lower the oven heat to 350 degrees

3. Fill the tart with the frangipane cream. Spread it evenly. Arrange the peach slices in a row on the surface of the tart until it's filled.

4. Bake for another 40 to 45 minutes until the frangipane is set and the crust is nice and golden.

 5. Take the tart from the oven. Heat the glaze in a microwave for about 20 seconds or so, then brush the hot tart surface (peaches and all) with the glaze. Set the tart on a cooling rack and let it cool before unmolding 

There it is, and there's a lot more where that came from. The big question is  how do I do this? Scripts I know, cookbooks are a new world for me. Stay tuned! 

Coming up next back to the world of Indian food as my garden delivers a Summer menu follow along on Twitter @kathygori

A Simple South Indian Fish Curry. Make it in 60 Minutes For The Perfect Lunch or Dinner.

 
   With all the crap going on out in the world right now, frankly I haven't been much in the mood to write about food.  However, everyone's got to eat and I get a lot of relaxation out of cooking. It's almost a form of zen for me. So even though we may be consumed with the outside world, it's good and healthy to drop back a bit and feed yourself and your family  something delicious like this fish curry. Alan is now mainly eating a vegetarian diet, with the exception of fish, so I guess he's actually a pescetarian . Every couple of days I interrupt the vegetarian/vegan leanings and toss him a fish.  The guy has given up burgers after all. 

There are a lot of amazing fish dishes in the cuisine of South India, and many of them involve coconut, using either coconut milk, or ground coconut. This recipe uses plain ground coconut. One can use either fresh or frozen coconut meat. I used plain grated, unsweetened dried coconut for this dish. I have the fresh at my disposal but I wanted to make sure the recipe could work for people who might have access only to the dried coconut found in most markets. Everything else in the dish is readily available with the exception of the fresh curry leaves and if you don't have those, just leave them out as there is no substitute.

So grab yourself some fresh firm meaty fish (I used cod but snapper, hake, pollack etc will do just fine) and get your curry on. The other great thing about this recipe? It's ready in under an hour which makes it a perfect lunch dish for our writing week.

South Indian Dry Fish Curry

Here's What You Need:

The Paste:
1 and 1/4 lbs of firm fleshed white fish (I used cod in this dish)
1 small onion finely chopped
1 fresh tomato chopped
1 Tbs whole balck p[eppercorns
6 dried red chilies
1 and 1/2 tsp of salt
3/4 cup plus 1/8 cup of grated dried unsweetened coconut

The Fish:
3 Tbs vegetable oil
1 tsp brown mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal (if you don't have it leave it out)
2 tsp turmeric
2/3 cup of water
A handful of fresh curry leaves
A handful of chopped fresh cilantro

Here's What To Do:

Put all the paste ingredients in the bowl of a food processor...

...and grind them up.

Cut the fish into cubes.

Get your urad dal (if you have it) mustard seeds and turmeric together.

Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet or kadhai.
When the oil is hot add in the urad dal and mustard seeds.
When they strt to sizzle and pop, add in the Paste...

...and turmeric.

Cook everything for about 3 minutes until it turns fragrant then add the water.

Bring the water to a boil, and when it's boiling add in the fish.

Cook everything for 5 minutes or until the fish is fully cooked.
Shake the pan every now and then to cook things evenly. Be certain nothing is sticking and burning.
Then add the curry leaves if using them...

...and the cilantro...

...and you are done! I prepared some basmati rice cooked with cashews, sultanas, cinnamon, and saffron. I served the fish curry on top of that.

You can also serve this with chapattis, or any green vegetable dish.

This cooks up really quickly which makes it a perfect weekday meal, but it also looks pretty cool which makes it company-worthy if you add a bunch of other Indian dishes to go along. I love an entree that takes less than and hour especially during these super-hot summer months!!!

So there you have it. A simple, easy fish curry.
Coming up next by request a White Peach Lavender Frangpane Tart that happens to be #glutenfree.

Follow along on Twitter @kathygori