Our newest class at Vintage Kitchen, Dinner with Bryant, got off to a great start this week. The menu:
Fennel and Roasted Beet Salad
A Trio of Pastas:
Bow Ties in Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
Fettuccine with Chicken Cream Sauce
Shrimp Ravioli in Broth
Mandarin Orange and Ginger Tart
All the pasta was homemade, including the bow tie pasta! We used the pasta roller for all the pasta, then cut the bow ties by hand and free formed the ravioli.
Not to be outdone by the pasta was dessert. You can use a pie pan to make this recipe, but we used a rectangular tart pan for the presentation. Here is the recipe:
Mandarin Orange and Ginger tart
For the crust:
1 ½ cups finely ground ginger snap cookies
1/3 cup granulated sugar
6 tablespoons butter melted
1/4th teaspoon ground ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, or other warm spice, or a combination.
For the filling
Two cups whole milk
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup flour
2 tablespoons butter
4 whole eggs
Zest of 1 orange
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 14 ounce jar mandarin orange segments, drained.
Garnish
Candied ginger
Make the crust. Mix all ingredients together until the butter is well incorporated. Press into a greased pie pan and bake at 375 degrees for 5-6 minutes. Do not over-cook.
Bring the milk to a simmer with the orange zest. Beat the eggs, sugar, flour and butter together in a
heavy saucepan over low heat. Strain the zest from the milk and temper the egg mixture with a bit of hot milk. Don’t add the milk all at once or you’ll have scrambled egg mess. Once tempered, add the milk slowly, whisking all the time, and then turn the heat up to medium. Stir frequently until the custard thickens at about 170 degrees. Remove from heat, cover with plastic wrap – push the wrap right down to the surface so a skin doesn’t form, and refrigerate.
Make the garnish. Peel slices of ginger using a vegetable peeler, then thinly slice into matchsticks. Bring a 1:1 mixture of sugar and water to a boil, and add the ginger. Boil for 2 to 3 minutes, then drain. Sprinkle with additional sugar and set aside.
Fill the crust with the cooled custard. Arrange the orange segments over the custard in a pleasing way. Sprinkle with candied ginger matchsticks. Serve with fresh whipped cream if desired.
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