Visions of sugar plums...

Today is the first day of fall, and here in North Texas the high temperature today was flirting with 100 degrees. (I knew what I was getting into when I moved back to Texas, but I must admit, I am ready for some cool weather.)  Even though the weather here is still screaming "SUMMER", in reality, the summer growing season is pretty much over and we are starting to shift towards autumn. A sure sign of the changing seasons is the giant display of pumpkins at the front of the store, and apples have taken over the produce department. But, there was one last gasp of summer to be found in recent weeks--sugar plums.

Most of us know about sugar plums from the famous poem, "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" or from the Sugar Plum Fairy in Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker". Those sugar plums, however, refer to a candy called a comfit which is a nut coated with multiple layers of sugar, something akin to a Jordan almond. The sugar layers were incredibly difficult to apply, and comfit were usually lumpy and unevenly shaped. Only the most skilled confectioners could create comfit that were perfectly smooth, like the skin of a plum, hence the name "sugar plum". 

But, these are not the sugar plums that caught my attention.

Sugar plums are one of the last plums to mature in the summer growing season. Sugar plums are known for their dark purple skin with a white bloom, and they have a higher sugar content than other varieties. In fact, sugar plums are usually dried into prunes because of their natural sweetness. They are are also a great variety for baking and pastries. With all of the craziness this summer--packing, moving, getting settled in my new town--it's been a while since I've been able to play with desserts in my kitchen. The sugar plums were the perfect excuse. Enjoy!

Sugar Plum Tart with Honey and Thyme

Makes 1 9-inch tart

For the crust:
1 ¼  cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cold and cut into tablespoon size pieces
3 to 4 tablespoons cold water

For the filling:
1 ½  pounds fresh sugar plums, cut in half and pit removed
¼  cup honey
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves

Preheat the oven to 375° F and place a rack in the center.

To make the crust, place the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to mix. Add the butter pieces and pulse until the mixture looks like damp sand with pebbles.

Add about 2 tablespoons of water and pulse to mix through. Add additional water, about ½ a tablespoon at a time, pulsing the food process to mix, until the dough just begins to come together into large pieces. 

Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and bring it together into a round flat disk. There's no need to knead the dough, just press it together. Kneading it will only further develop the gluten and toughen the dough. Forming the dough into a round flat disk will make it easier to roll out later, the dough will tend to stay in the shape it starts in.

Wrap the dough disk in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for a minimum of 30 minutes. This will allow the butter to get cold again, it allows the flour to fully absorb the water and the dough to evenly hydrate, and it will allow the gluten to relax. You can also freeze the dough at this point, a great way to get ahead of your holiday baking.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator, unwrap it and place it on a lightly floured work surface. Roll out the dough into a 12 inch circle about ¼ inch thick. (Dough circle should be large enough to cover the bottom of the pan and come up the sides with about ½ inch to an inch hanging over.) Carefully lift the dough and place it into a tart pan with a removable bottom, and using the back of your hand and knuckles, fit the dough into the base of the pan. Fold the overlapping edge of the dough over and down into the pan, so the top edge of the dough is just touching the inside bottom edge of the tart pan, making a double-thickness of dough around the side walls of the tart. Gently press the two layers of dough together with the back of your knuckles. There will be excess dough protruding up above the edge of the tart pan--using your thumb, press the dough out and across the sharp edge of the tart pan to cut/break it off. Place the tart pan in the freezer for about 15 minutes to re-chill.

Remove the tart shell from the freezer. Starting from the outer edge, arrange the plum halves in overlapping concentric circles until they completely cover the bottom of the pan. Drizzle the plums with the honey and sprinkle with the thyme leaves.

Bake in the over until the plums are softened and the crust is lightly browned, about 45 to 50 minutes. Remove the tart from the oven and allow to cool completely in the pan. Before serving, careful remove the tart from the pan--be sure to take the tart off of the round metal base plate as well. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Hatch-choo!

We just finished a really fun stretch at work--the annual Hatch Chile Festival. Hatch chiles are a green chile pepper grown in the Hatch Valley of New Mexico, and they come into season in August and early September. What makes them special is the fact that they are grown in this particular area of New Mexico--hot days, with cool nights, the minerals of the soil, the sun exposure, all of this combine to give the Hatch chile its distinctive flavor and heat. Seeds from the Hatch chile grown outside the valley just don't taste the same. In fact, the more well-known Anaheim chile pepper didn't exist before farmers in California tried to plant Hatch chile seeds in their fields, and they just didn't taste quite the same.

Hatch chiles can be used fresh, but they really shine if they are first roasted. The fresh peppers are placed in large, metal mesh drums that are turned on a spit over an open flame. They are blistered and blackened, and they take on a smokey, richer flavor when roasted. They also freeze beautifully once roasted.

So, after two weeks of Hatch-themed cooking classes, food demonstrations, featured prepared foods, and overall Hatch-mania at work, I just couldn't help myself. I brought home a couple of pounds of fresh peppers and a big tub of roasted peppers and started to tinker in the kitchen. Enjoy!

Roasted Hatch and Tomato Salsa

Makes about 4 cups

1 large onion, peeled and quartered
3 large tomatoes, cored and cut in half
6 to 8 roasted Hatch chiles, stems, seeds and skins removed
Juice of 2 limes
1 bunch of cilantro, leaves removed and stems discarded
Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven broiler to 500 ⁰F. Place the onion and tomatoes on a sheet pan under the broiler. Broiler, turning as needed, until blistered and beginning to blacken. Transfer the vegetables to food processor with the chiles, lime juice and cilantro. Process to a chunky puree. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Hatch Green Mole Chicken

Serves 4

1 pound tomatillos, husks removed and rinsed

1 large white onion,peeled, trimmed and cut in quarters

4 tablespoons canola oil, divided

²/₃ cup raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

3 large garlic cloves, chopped

6 to 8 roasted Hatch chiles, peeled, seeded and chopped

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 Tablespoon chopped fresh oregano

1 teaspoons granulated sugar

4 cups low-sodium chicken stock

1 bunch fresh cilantro, leaves removed and stems discarded 

½ cup loosely packed flat-leaf parsley

Juice of 2 limes

8 chicken thighs, bone in and skin on

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Chopped fresh cilantro for garnish 

Preheat oven to 450°F. 

Place the tomatillos and onions on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Roast until the tomatillos and onions are browned and crispy on the edges, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Preheat a medium skillet over medium-high heat, add 2 tablespoons of the oil and the pumpkin seeds. Toast the pumpkin seeds, stirring constantly, until they begin to pop, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and chiles to the pan and sauté until aromatic, about 1 minute. Add the cumin, coriander, oregano, roasted tomatillos and onions, sugar, and stock. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally for about 15 minutes. Stir in the cilantro, parsley, and lime juice. Remove from the heat.

Transfer the sauce to a blender and puree until smooth. (Be careful not to overfill the blender with the hot liquid to keep it from overflowing.) You may need to process in batches depending on the size of your blender. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and thin the sauce as needed with additional stock or water.

Place a large skillet over medium high heat. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. When the skillet is hot, add the oil and place the chicken thighs skin side down in the skillet. Cook,undisturbed, until the skin is golden brown and crispy, about 6 minutes. Turn the chicken pieces over and cook for another 4 to 5 minutes to brown the second side. Pour the mole sauce from the blender into the skillet and over the thighs. Bring to a low boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and continue to cook, checking and stirring occasionally, until the thighs are cooked through, about 15 minutes.

Transfer the thighs to a serving platter, spoon over some of the mole and sprinkle with chopped cilantro. Serve.

Hatch Chile Vodka Gimlet

I started with a completely different recipe in mind. I attempted to candy fresh Hatch chiles. I won't say the didn't turn out well, they just didn't work exactly as I had intended. I'll keep working on the candying process, but the happy discovery I made is that the Hatch chile syrup makes a really great cocktail mixer.

For the candied Hatch chile rings and syrup:

2 cups sugar, plus additional for dredging

2 cups water

4 fresh Hatch chiles, sliced into rings, seeds and stems discarded

Bring the sugar and water to a boil in a medium sauce pan. When the sugar has dissolved and the syrup is clear, add the chile rings. Reduce the heat to a simmer. Continue to simmer the chiles until they begin to turn translucent, about 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat. 

Place about a generous amount of sugar on a plate. With a slotted spoon, remove the chile rings from the syrup and drop them into the sugar. Dredge the pepper rings in the sugar, then transfer them to a drying rack set over a sheet pan. Let the chiles dry out for several hours, then transfer to an airtight container to store. Allow the syrup to cool, then transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator.

For the gimlet:

2 ½ ounces vodka

½ ounce fresh lime juice

½ ounce Hatch Chile syrup

1 candied Hatch chile ring

Place the vodka, lime juice and syrup in a cocktail shaker with ice. Close the shaker and shake until the exterior frosts. Strain the cocktail into a glass and garnish with a candied Hatch chile ring.