I Am Not A Pretty Girl... But I Am A Domestic Goddess

I was all ready for 2009. Couldn't wait for the new year to begin. I was feeling the usual anticipation/optimism. I was ready to set some goals, make some plans to improve myself (and the blog). I couldn't wait to see what the new year would bring.

And then it began, and somehow, it began all wrong. I found myself in an awful mood on New Years Day. Suddenly the year stretched ahead of me and it seemed like there was nothing to look forward to. No positive news or developments anywhere on the horizon. It was most assuredly a horrible, no good, very bad day. An Ani DiFranco, angry girl music kind of day*.

So I found myself on New Years Day, mostly dwelling on all the things currently upsetting the delicate balance between feeling relatively happy/well adjusted and feeling completely out of control. In the midst of these, admittedly, depressing thoughts, I remembered that I needed to come up with a couple of appetizers for my family's Sugar Bowl party on Friday night (yay Utes!). And just like that, with that one thought, the clouds parted, the fog lifted, and a small ray of light came shining through.

That, apparently, is the power of food in my life. Seems like, more than anything else, particularly now, food has the power to provide whatever I need most at any given moment in time. Distraction: check. Calming influence: check. Nourishment: check. Joy: check.

So I imagine that in the coming months I'll be spending lots of time in the kitchen. I can't wait. I already spend a lot of time there. You don't always see the fruits of my labors here because most of what I make does not fit into the narrow parameters I currently have set for this blog (although that's likely to change in the near future). The kitchen is just about my favorite place to pass the time right now. If I'm able to show my love for friends and family at the same time by sharing my culinary creations with them, so much the better.

Domestic Goddess in the making... yeah, that's right, I fish too.

My close friends will likely know how hard it is for me to even jokingly claim the title of "Domestic Goddess". My word, there are so many things I can't and don't do. So many people more qualified for the title than I. However, if there is one area in my life that I feel an abundance of confidence, it's in the kitchen. Not everything I make is perfect, and yes, if you ever find yourself at my table, you're likely to be subjected to a litany of disclaimers before you are allowed to dig in to your repast. However, regardless of how the final product looks, I'm likely secure in the knowledge that it will be delicious and hopeful that any time spent sharing food and drink that I've prepared will be nourishing to both the body and the heart.

Today, I have a recipe, that yes, doesn't look quite as pretty as I wanted it to. And maybe could still use a tweak or two. But it was good. Actually, it was exactly what I hoped it would be. An egg custard tart with a smooth, creamy filling and a nice flaky crust. This is one of my favorite things to pick up during visits to Chinatown. As I don't have a Chinatown here in Salt Lake, I'm happy to now be able to make my own egg custard tarts whenever the craving strikes.

Happy New Year. May the year ahead bring much joy and wonder to your life. And maybe an egg custard tart or two.


蛋挞 (Egg Custard Tarts)

As noted above, this recipe could still use a tweak or two. Mostly, this is in the area of the amount of custard filling because the crust recipe makes more tart shells than the filling can fill. My solution would be to do one of the following: either double the filling recipe, or freeze one tray of unbaked tart shells. If you choose to freeze the shells, they'll be ready the next time you want to make the filling. I've already tested this out for you because I did in fact have to put my recipe-making on hold, so I put a muffin tray of tart shells in the fridge and a tray in the freezer. When I was finally able to get around to finishing the filling, I pulled both trays out, filled the tarts, and popped them in the oven together. I let them both cook for the same amount of time, and both trays came out just fine.

Crust:
3/4 c. confectioners sugar
2 3/4 c. cake flour
3/4 c. butter
1 egg, beaten
1-3 T. cold water

In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar and flour. Cut the butter into the flour mixture until the butter is about the same size as small peas. Stir in the egg. Add the water slowly, adding just enough for the dough to come together. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead briefly until the dough is smooth. Roll the dough out to about 1/4" inch. Using a standard biscuit cutter, cut out rounds of dough. Give each round another quick time or two with the roller to stretch it out just a bit further. Then push the dough round into a muffin tin. You want the dough to come just to the rim, or slightly below that. Repeat until you have filled two muffin trays. Prick the base of each tart with a fork. (As noted above, at this point either freeze one tray or double the filling recipe.)

Custard Filling:
1/2 c. water
1/4 c. + 1 T. sugar
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
3/4 c. evaporated milk
1/4 t. vanilla

Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil until the sugar has completely dissolved. Set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Once the sugar syrup is cool, add eggs and egg yolks to a mixing bowl and beat well. Then add the sugar syrup, milk, and vanilla. Mix well. Fill tart shells about 90% full. Bake for 25-20 minutes. Put trays on cooling racks and let the tarts cool for 10 minutes, before removing from muffin tins. Then let the tarts cool completely on cooling racks.

* For the record, I love me some Ani DiFranco. She is one of my favorite artists, and for the benefit of the uninitiated I feel compelled to say that not all of her music is angry girl music. However, that being said, "I Am Not A Pretty Girl" is one of my all time favorite songs. I often feel like it describes me to a T.

Shanghai: Let Me Count the Ways...

We arrived in Shanghai after a 20-hour, overnight train ride. Even with tickets in the soft sleeper carriage, that was a little too much time on the train for me. Matters were not helped by the fact that all the toilets on the train were of the squatter variety and were not cleaned during the train ride. Draw your own conclusions on the state of the bathrooms a few hours into the trip...

Shanghai at night.

It was a relief (joy) to arrive in "my town", and even more of a relief to discover that our hotel was far nicer than expected - by far the nicest of our trip. If you ever travel to Shanghai, I highly recommend it - the Astor House Hotel. It is the oldest hotel in Shanghai and has hosted many distinguished guests, to include Albert Einstein (although, in true Chinese fashion, the hotel managed to misspell his name on the plaque commemorating his visit).

Carri on the train.

Some of my favorite moments from our two-and-a-half days in Shanghai...

• Dinner at Simply Thai
• Seeing the Incredible Hulk at 新天地 (Xin Tian Di) - my first movie theater experience in China
  
• Hottie trumpet boy, not to mention great jazz and blues, at the Cotton Club
• Dinner at Malones
• Evening river cruise... where it was once again confirmed that I can't travel without running into fellow Mormons
• The Silk Market - I only wish we had hit it our first day in Shanghai so I could have ordered a custom-made winter coat
• Chinese acrobats at Shanghai Centre
• The Pearl Market
• Watching The Prestige on HBO with Carri... and then being totally bugged by how ridiculous the storyline was
• And last, but most assuredly not least, Papa Beards cream puffs

Catching a cab at the hotel.

As a little bit of background on that last point... Before arriving in Shanghai, with the exception of a few visits to McDonalds (because its hard for me to pass up an opportunity to indulge in a deep-fried pineapple pie), we had eaten Chinese food for every meal since we arrived in China. Now, although I love Chinese food, I get burned out on any cuisine pretty quickly when it's all I eat. Because that was all we had eaten for almost two weeks, by the time we arrived in Shanghai I was DONE! with Chinese food.

The sitting area next to our hotel room.

Therefore, we didn't eat any Chinese food while we were in Shanghai. I just couldn't do it. We had Thai, Japanese, Italian, and American, but no Chinese food... this of course meant that I didn't eat any of the Shanghai specialties I was excited about prior to our trip. While it now makes me more than a little sad to realize that I passed up a chance to devour a basket or two of 小龙包 (little dragon dumplings), Shanghai was definitely the perfect city to take a culinary detour because my favorite restaurants from 7 years ago are still in business, and based on appearances, thriving.

At the Shanghai Museum.

While I was avoiding Chinese food, and rediscovering my favorite eateries from back in the day, I did make one new discovery - Papa Beards. I hit it twice while we there. I'm a sucker for a good cream puff and the ones at Papa Beards, while slightly unconventional, were decidedly tasty. I became a big fan.

At the Japanese photo booth shop... finished product below. Who knew decorating these shots could be so much fun? Well, I suppose Japanese girls have figured it out as that is where the craze started.

Anyway, our few days in Shanghai passed far too quickly, especially because it took me a good day and a half to realize that this was indeed the same place I lived in for 6 months of my life... it has changed so much I really didn't recognize it. Suddenly I found myself back in the States and I then started thinking about which dishes from the trip I wanted to recreate for my blog. Beijing and Xi'an were easy, no-brainers really. But Shanghai had my stumped. What to make for my Chinese cooking blog when I didn't eat any Chinese food while we were there?

At Xin Tian Di.

And then I remembered Papa Beards and the cream puffs. Definitely not Chinese, but in this particular case it seemed fair to diverge from my blog's stated purpose. Plus, I had never made cream puffs before so it did at least meet the requirement of providing me with an opportunity to further develop my culinary skills.

Blues at the Cotton Club.

I decided, in the spirit of Papa Beards, to create a somewhat untraditional cream puff. I combined a whole-wheat puff pastry dough with Devonshire Cream, a recipe my friend Jessica gave me that seemed perfectly suited for a cream puff filling. Then, for added punch, I topped the cream with fresh raspberries (although really any fresh fruit would be good). These were surprisingly easy and very tasty. If you like cream puffs as much as I do, give this recipe a try and then let me know what you think.

On the river cruise. Good times our last night in China.

Cream Puffs with Devonshire Cream

Whole-Grain Cream Puff Pastry (adapted from The Baking Sheet)
½ c. unbleached flour
¾ c. whole wheat flour
1 c. water
½ c. unsalted butter
¼ t. salt
4 large eggs

Combine the flours and set aside.

Put the water, butter, and salt into a saucepan, and bring the mixture to a rolling boil. Remove it from the heat, and add the flours all at once. Stir vigorously. Return the pan to the burner and cook over medium heat, stirring all the while, until the mixture forms a boil—this should only take about a minute. Remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture cool for 5 to 10 minutes, to 140 degrees F. It will still feel hot, but you should be able to hold a finger in it for a few seconds. Transfer the dough to a mixer and beat in the eggs one at a time. The mixture will become fluffy. Beat for at least 2 minutes after adding the last egg.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Place the dough in a pastry bag with a ¾” diameter opening (you could use a Ziploc bag and cut off the corner if you don’t have a pastry bag). Cover 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Pipe the dough onto the baking sheet in mounds approximately 2 inches wide. Leave at least an inch space around each mound because the dough will expand as it cooks.

Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375 degrees F and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Turn off the oven, open the door a crack, and leave the pastry inside to cool for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven to cool completely.


Once cool, use a fork to cut off the top of the cream puffs. Fill the cream puff with Devonshire Cream and fruit.

Devonshire Cream (adapted from Joy of Cooking)
8 ounces mascarpone cheese
2 c. heavy whipping cream
2 t. vanilla bean paste
3 T. white sugar
zest of 1 lemon

Add all ingredients to a large bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat until the mixture holds its shape and looks like softly whipped cream. Refrigerate the cream until ready to use. This cream does not hold very well and should be made shortly before serving.