‘Tis The Citrus.

As the holiday food frenzys start to wind down, it might be a good  idea to look ahead and (at least) think about lightening things up a bit. Nothing fits that bill more than a perky dose of bright fresh citrus. During the grey drab winter months, varieties of citrus are like welcomed wet bursts of sunshine and light. 'Tis the season for everyday citrus to step into the light. Sweetened up a bit, or a lot, their bright acidic undertones still poke through the fray and take center stage. I held to that notion with an unusual riff on tarte tatin.  Oh sure, while an orange tarte tatin  teeters on the edge of sweet, it still brings a bright acidity to the party for an interesting take on the usual tarte tatin. Typically filled with apples, pears, or other kinds of stone fruit, tarte trains can really be filled with just about anything. That said, they can also be very tricky. Anything, and I mean anything, that has to be assembled, cooked, and inverted is risky business. There's always that moment of truth that comes with the big reveal. The big flip and turnout. Will it slip right out? Will it Stick? Will it half stick, half slip? Will it be burned? Will it be cooked? Ultimately, will it fail? More times than not, tarte tatins behave beautifully. Go for it. No risk, no reward.   Either it'll flip out beautifully or it'll flop out and make a great topping for ice cream Sundays. Either way, it's a total win. Go big and let the tarte tatin fall where it may.

Orange Tarte Tatin

Tart tatins are simple little things. That said, their simplicity belies their wow factor. 

After melting 2/3 cups light brown sugar and 6 tablespoons salted butter in a cast iron skillet, I overlapped thinly sliced oranges concentrically around the skillet until they covered the bottom of thes killet before returning the skillet  to the flame. When the sugar started bubbling under and around the oranges, I pulled the skillet from the heat and let it cool for about 5 minutes before covering the oranges with a sheet of thawed puffy pastry and tightly tucking the overhanging pastry around the edges of the oranges, allowing the pastry to come in contact with the bottom of the skillet. To give it a little extra richness and crunch, I buttered the puff pastry with salted buttered, letting the extra butter drip down the edges and pool around the pastry before sliding the tarte tatin into a preheated 400 degree oven. At the 40 minute mark, the pastry was beautifully browned and crisp, so I pulled it from the oven to bubble down and cool for just a bit, about 5 minutes. Being mindful to catch it before the sugared oranges hardened and set up completely, I carefully inverted the tarte tatin onto a plate before drizzling the aromatic sticky syrup over the top to literally seal the deal.

It slipped right out. No drama. No half in half out. 

Glistening from the caramelized syrup, the glazed oranges seemed to melt into the shatteringly crisp pastry. Sticky and soft, the sweetened pulp countered the flaky crunch of the crust  and the firm bite of the candied peels in a way that was reminiscent of freshly made fancy orange marmalade slathered over simple buttered toast.

Orange Tarte Tatin.

Marmalade on toast. 

Fabulous. 

Inside out

Like most of the special occasions we've navigated over the past year, Valentine's Day will be different. However, unlike those other special occasions, Valentine's Day isn't a crowd fest. Fortunately, loosened restrictions now allow our local restaurants (with fabulous service and fare) to offer limited dine-in service. Better yet, with social distancing and the required table spacing, romantic  privacy is built right into the mix. No crowded bars or long table wait times. Dinner for two peas in a pod. Different. Safe. Special. That said, if dining out is off the table, curbside, carryout, or delivery is the way to go for romancing the home. In any case, there must always be chocolate. Splurge on beautiful pastries from a local bakery, snag heart-shaped boxes filled with assorted chocolates, or scratch make a heartfelt Valentine's treat. Go big or go small. Chocolate is chocolate. And chocolate always wins. 

Chocolate Ravioli With Sweetened Mascarpone.

Inside out.

Not chocolate filled ravioli. Chocolate pasta ravioli. 

With hints of sweetness balancing the soft bittersweet undertones of dark chocolate, chocolate  pasta is a perfect foil for sweet fillings and sauces. 

Chocolate Pasta.

I sifted 2 cups all purpose flour, 1/3 cup unsweetened dark dark cocoa powder, and 1/4 cup powdered sugar until blended.  After adding a pinch of salt, I made a well in the center of the flour and cracked 3 large eggs into the well. After gradually pulling the flour and eggs together until it form a shaggy dough, I pulled the dough together and kneaded it on a clean work surface for 10 minutes until it was smooth and pliable I shaped the dough into a disc, wrapped it in plastic wrap, and slid it into the refrigerator to rest and chill.

Filling.

While the dough took a break, I whipped together 8 ounces room temperature mascarpone cheese, 1/4

cup super fine sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream, and a splash of fresh lemon.  I set the filling aside and  pulled the dough from the refrigerator to take the chill off.

Roll.

In the realm of scratch pasta, ravioli isn't fiddly. Roll and fill.

I used a bench scraper to divide the dough into 1/4 sections. Working with one section at a time, while keeping the remaining dough covered, I used a hand cranked pasta machine to roll the dough. After flattening the dough to fit the width of the pasta roller, I I rolled it through the largest setting 3 times, folding it in half after each pass. When the dough became soft and easy to work with, I rolled the dough through each setting, lowering the setting after each pass and ending before the thinnest setting.

While ravioli is simple enough to fill, fold, seal, and cut without a ravioli mold, I used a mold because...well...I had one. They're easy to use and roll out consistent shaped raviolis. 

I draped one pasta sheet over the mold let the excess dough hang over the edge of the mold, and gently formed pockets in each ravioli well. I pulled the filling from the refrigerator, filled a pastry bag with the filling ( small spooned dollops would have worked as well) , and piped the mascarpone filling into each well. After covering the filling and pasta with another pasta sheet, I carefully pressed the between filled well to seal the dough, and used a rolling pin to press the sheets together against the serrated edges to seal and cut the ravioli. After removing the excess dough from the edges, I popped the ravioli out of the mold. 

Cooked at a gentle boil for 8-10 minutes, they're fabulous straight up or dolled up with chocolate ganache and fresh berries.

A chocolate Ravioli Valentine.