Apple Tart

M-J’s Elegant Apple Tart is Made with a Flan Pan, Flaky Crust, Butter, Sugar, Cinnamon and Two Apples

M-J’s Elegant Spinach and Artichoke Casserole

Assembling an Elegant Spinach and Artichoke Casserole: Line Bottom of Baking Pan with Butter. Spread with Artichoke Pieces and Fresh Spinach

Spinach and Artichoke Casserole is Topped with Cream Cheese and Mayonnaise Mixture, then Sprinkled with Grated Parmesan before Baking

LIST OF INGREDIENTS:

One tablespoon of butter, your preference

A 14-ounce can or two small jars of artichoke hearts such as Cara Mia brand (the jarred, pickled artichoke hearts are as appropriate for this recipe as the lightly-brined ones found in cans)–you will distribute half of these, broken into in pieces, at the bottom of an elegant baking dish, which has been spread with the tablespoon of butter. The other half will be used to dot the spinach leaves when they have been added to the baking dish.

A large bag, approximating half-a-pound, of raw, organic baby spinach (it can be found at Sam’s Club in a one-pound plastic tub from Taylor Organic of Salinas, California–I use half a Taylor tub for this recipe.) This baby spinach is almost always washed three times and ready-to-use, therefore I do not wash it a fourth time, as the spinach should be dry in the baking-dish to avoid being soggy. But, follow the directions on your bag of baby spinach to determine whether or not you need to wash and dry it. Arrange this baby spinach on top of the artichoke heart pieces. Evenly distribute the remaining artichoke pieces on top of the spinach-leaves.

Mix the following ingredients together and beat until smooth enough to pour over assembled artichokes and spinach, which have been arranged in a large baking dish:

One half-cup of mayonnaise, your choice of brand and style

Eight or more ounces of cream cheese, brought to room-temperature

One egg

One half-cup of buttermilk or regular milk

About one ounce, more or less according to your taste, of grated or shredded Parmesan cheese

White or Green Pepper, fine-ground

Ladle this creamy mixture over the spinach-artichoke assemblage. Top it with a bit of additional Parmesan cheese if desired, and bake for thirty minutes at 350F or a moderately hot oven. ©M-J de Mesterton

M-J's Elegant Spinach and Artichoke Casserole

The Best Aluminum-Free Baking Powder

The best aluminum-free baking powder is by Rumford.

Elegant Pita Pockets

M-J’s Pita Bread Recipe 

M-J's Pita Bread

Elegant Home-Made Hamburgers

Elegant Home-Made Hamburger Buns and Green Chile Burgers

See Elegant Cook for M-J’s Elegant Hamburger Bun Recipe

A zesty and refreshing sauce for this home-made burger consists of chopped green chiles, shredded lettuce, mayonnaise and chopped dill pickles.

©M-J de Mesterton

M-J’s Savoury Fougasse

M-J de Mesterton's Savoury Fougasse, Copyright 2009

Fougasse is similar to the Italian bread known as foccaccia. Here is my recipe for a savoury version of the Provençal bread, which was named for the wild gasses created by its yeast-starter. It is different from the sweet, anise-and-orange-flavoured fougasses which are popular at Christmastide.This fougasse serves as an accompaniment to dinner or cheese:

Ingredients for the Yeast-Starter, or “Sponge”

• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 cup warm water (105–115°F)
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast (from a 1/4-oz package)
• 1/2 cup of unbleached white flour

Ingredients for the Dough

• 1 more teaspoon of sugar, or a teaspoon of honey if available
• 1 tablespoon of dried herbes de Provence
• 2/3 cup of lukewarm water
• One teaspoon of lemon juice
• 1/3 cup of extra-virgin olive oil, plus 2 tablespoons for brushing your pans and loaves
• 3 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus another half-cup on-hand for the counter, and kneading
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of flaked (Fleur de Sel) sea salt, Himalayan salt crystals, or coarse sea salt

Preparation of Savoury Fougasse
Make the Yeast-Starter:
Stir together sugar and warm water in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle in the yeast, and let stand for about five minutes, until bubbly. Using a whisk, incorporate the half-cup of unbleached white flour into this mixture. Let the starter rise, loosely covered with plastic wrap, 30 minutes.

To Make the Fougasse Dough:
Add sugar, salt, herbes de Provence, water,  lemon juice, 1/3 cup of olive oil, and 11/4 cups flour to the prepared starter, and beat the mixture until smooth. Mix in the remaining 2 cups of white, unbleached flour, 1/2 cup at a time, to form a soft dough.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, regularly sprinkling the dough’s surface with flour, until smooth and elastic (dough should still be a bit sticky), for about 8 minutes. Form this into a ball and transfer to large bowl with enough olive oil in it to coat the fougasse dough. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise at warm room temperature until doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Punch down the dough (do not knead), then, with a light hand, divide it into two sections. Flatten each one into an ovate leaf-shape (about 12 inches long and 1/4 inch thick), and then transfer them to baking sheets that have been brushed with olive oil.

With a very sharp knife, make 2-inch incisions at angles, alternating left-to-right, down the length of each oval “leaf,” cutting all the way through. Leave an inch at the outside edges as uncut area. Gently pull the incisions open with your fingers, so that they don’t close during baking. Let the dough rise for about 40 minutes.

Heat the oven to 375°F.
Brush the two fougasse loaves with olive oil, and sprinkle with your preferred salt. Bake until the fougasses are golden brown, and sound hollow when tapped—this should take approximately forty minutes. Remove fougasses from oven and place on a rack to cool. A French rule: never cut and eat bread until it has cooled to room-temperature.
RECIPE COPYRIGHT M-J de MESTERTON 2009

My Savoury Fougasse Dough Is Ideal for an Artisanal Pizza (Photo Shows Dough In the Rising Process)

Photo and Recipe Copyright M-J de Mesterton 2009

M-J's Pizza Provençale, Made with Her Fougasse Dough Recipe

M-J’s Elegant Apple Pie

M-J’s Elegant Apple Pie

September 7, 2008 by Publisher

Photos of M-J’s Elegant Apple Pie Copyright Elegant Survival, 2008 and 2009

M-J’s Elegant Apple Pie Recipe

• 4 cups of white flour
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 stick of salted butter, cut into 8 pieces
• ¾ cup of chilled lard (“manteca”)
• 7 Fuji apples–cored, peeled, and thinly sliced (reserve peels and cores)
• 2 tablespoons of cornstarch
• 1/4 cup light-brown sugar (or more, according to your to your taste)
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup of cold water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
• 1 additional half stick of butter
• An extra 2 tablespoons of sugar, either white or brown
• One cup of water
• DIRECTIONS

• 1. Make the dough: put one stick of cold butter into a large mixing bowl, together with the 3/4 cup of chilled lard and a teaspoon of salt. Add flour gradually, working it into the butter and lard. Add approximately 3/4 cup of cold water, then cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough forms small pea-shaped balls, and when formed into a large mound, it holds together. Sometimes less cold water is required–believe it or not, the amount needed to make a pie dough with this recipe depends upon the moon.’s current phase. Mix this by hand, since machine will create a tough pie crust. I use an old-fashioned wire potato masher and a wooden spoon. When the dough sticks together but doesn’t stick to your hands, shape it into 2 balls, wrap each in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• 2. Put all of your apple peelings and cores into a saucepan on the stove with a cup of water and two tablespoons of sugar, and boil until the liquid becomes syrup. Strain liquid from solids and reserve it. The peelings can then be eaten or ground into applesauce–it’s important not to waste any edible part of your apples.
• 3. Assemble the pie: heat your oven to 425°F. Roll out one ball of dough into a 12-inch round about 1/8-inch thick, on a lightly floured surface. Fit the dough into a 9 or10-inch pie pan. Place one layer of apple slices into the dough-lined pan. Cover them with two tablespoons of cornstarch and a quarter-cup of brown sugar. Repeat this process with apples, sugars and cinnamon. Distribute the half-stick of butter on top of the apples after slicing it into bits. Add your apple syrup over the top of the pie. Alternatively, I sometimes skip the step of creating syrup from my apple peelings, and just use some apple juice concentrate (found in grocery frozen juice section).
• Roll out the second ball of dough for the top crust. Brush the edges of the bottom crust with water or milk, and lay the top crust down, pressing the edges together to form a tight seal. Use your imagination to pierce or slice a design into the top of the pie to allow steam to escape. Bake for ten minutes at 425*F, then lower your oven heat to 350* and bake for another hour. Let the apple pie cool for a minimum of two hours before serving.
• Elegant Apple Pie Recipe Copyright M-J de Mesterton 2008

Copyright M-J de Mesterton

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