Cultured Tea Butter and Buttermilk

I often contribute recipes to the blog of my friends' tea company, Arbor Teas. Here is the latest recipe I developed using a few of their teas.

2010 seemed to be the year of DIY in the food world, and I have no doubt that 2011 will continue to be the same. If the reasons are not for putting up (canning, curing, dehydrating, etc.) to preserve the abundance of harvest for leaner times like our great grandparents used to or not meant to ease reliance on commercially-packaged, convenience foods, then it's to satiate the curiosity of how basic foodstuffs are produced and to relish in the pure satisfaction that you can DO IT YOURSELF.

Remember taking turns to shake that jar of cream in kindergarten until it thickened and yielded a soft, spreadable butter? Patience-inducing yet awe-inspiring to a 5-year old. Making cultured butter from scratch is just one step up from that sort of classroom demo magic. And using a modern stand mixer makes it an easily approachable task if your kitchen amenities are sans old-fashioned butter churn and butter bats. Furthermore, fresh, liquid cream presents a blank canvas on which you can layer a custom flavor profile at the very foundation, before churning. You can add cultures for tangy-ness as well as ingredients, like tea, that steep best in liquid without altering the final texture. Compound butters, a different approach to flavored butter where herbs, aromatics, syrups or fruit pastes are mashed into solid butter, while good in there own right, offer only the opportunity for flavor afterthoughts, post-churning.

So in the spirit of DIY, I present you below with directions for culturing butter and flavoring it using Arbor Teas' oraganic, loose-leaf tea. Cultured tea butter should not be confused with Tibetan butter tea, a yak milk-derived, fortifying hot beverage for the iron-stomached. This is a wholly different dining experience. I chose two very different Arbor Teas to make two unique flavors. The first was organic genmaicha green tea, which is composed of Japanese green tea leaves mixed with toasted brown rice kernels. This tea flavor brings to mind popcorn, and thus lightly salted butter flavored with genmaicha lends itself to savory applications: smeared on crusty bread or slathered on roasted vegetables. The second was organic masala chai tea. Redolent with warm spice and delicately sweetened (post-churn) with honey, this makes a welcome addition to a breakfast table spread or to afternoon tea fare.

As a premium for churning your own butter, you will also produce a good amount of deliciously drinkable, tea-flavored buttermilk. I used the excess to make the tiny corn biscuits pictured above. They were a perfect vehicle to deliver taste tests of homemade tea butter (either sweet or savory) to friends. A note of caution, though, before proceeding: you may start consuming more butter than you ever thought necessary. It's that good!

Cultured Tea Butter and Buttermilk
makes about a ½-pound of butter and about 1 cup buttermilk

2 TBS organic loose tea leaves
2 cups heavy cream (the best quality you can find: highest butterfat, least pasteurized)
2 heaping TBS plain whole-milk yogurt, crème fraîche or buttermilk (be sure these do not contain any additive gums or stabilizers)

ice

⅛ - ¼ tsp flaky sea salt
1 TBS (or more to taste) honey (optional)

Make a tea sachet by packing the loose tea leaves in a tea sac or other type of disposable filter and tying securely with kitchen twine. Place the tea sachet in a clean glass mason jar. Pour the heavy cream and yogurt over the tea. Stir to combine. Cover loosely and place it in a warmish part of the house - the ideal temperature is around 75° F, but anywhere in the range from 70-80° F will work.

After 12-18 hours, the cream should be noticeably thicker and should taste slightly tangy. If it hasn't thickened yet, leave it alone for another few hours and eventually it will. When your cream has thickened, remove the tea sachet and scrape off any thickened cream that may adhere to the filter, adding this back to the cream. If you are not ready to make your butter right away, transfer the container to the fridge where you can leave it for up to another 24 hours.

When ready to churn the cream, remove it from the fridge and allow it to stand at room temperature until it reaches about 60° F. If you're making it from room temperature you'll need to place the bowl in a bath of ice water for a few minutes to cool it down.

Fill another large bowl with water and ice cubes and set this aside.

Pour the cream into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat at high speed using the whisk attachment. A hand-held electric beater or even whisking vigorously by hand will also work. When the cream starts to form stiff peaks (see picture below at left), reduce the speed to low. Watch carefully, first the peaks will start to look grainy, and a few seconds later the cream will break. When it does, clumps of pale yellow butterfat will form leaving a pool of buttermilk in the bowl (see picture below at right). Stop beating. Carefully strain the bowl over a cup to drain away as much buttermilk as possible. Reserve the buttermilk for another use.

Next the butter must be washed with ice water to remove any residual buttermilk, which could cause the butter to spoil prematurely. If using a stand mixer, switch the whisk attachment for the dough hook. If you don't have a stand mixer, a fork or a stiff rubber spatula will do. Pour some of the reserved ice water over the butter, kneading it vigorously. The water will turn cloudy and the butter will seize up, making it cohere and knead more easily (see before and after pictures below). Pour out the liquid and repeat as many times as needed (about 3-4 times) until the rinse water in the bowl is completely clear. After the last of the rinse water has been poured off, continue kneading for a few more minutes to get as much water as possible out of the butter. Pour off any residual liquid. Add the salt (and honey, if using) now and continue to knead until completely incorporated.

Pack the cultured tea butter into ramekins or shallow jelly jars, roll it in parchment paper, or use it to fill shaped molds before covering tightly and refrigerating. Place in the freezer for longer term storage.

Using up the Last of the T-giving Turkey in a Faux Cassoulet

Well, almost two months later, I finally did it. I finished my turkey leftovers from Thanksgiving. Yes, that took awhile! I had proudly cooked a large (15.7-pound) bird for a small group. Guests were sent home with leftovers and a stock was made and some was repurposed into meals the days following the big dinner and still plenty was left to freeze! Now that it's gone, it's safe to assume that I'm not gonna want to eat turkey again anytime soon. Not gonna want to eat any meat for awhile, actually. I'm ready for a post-holiday cleanse...

And when I finish the last of the multitude of winter squash and potatoes still left from my CSA, I'll probably want a cleanse from orange or starchy vegetables, too...

Just as I was deciding this, the Daring Kitchen challenged me to make a confit to use for a classic preparation of a traditional French cassoulet. Do you know what that means? Typically confit refers to meat that is seasoned and slowly cooked submerged in its own rendered fat. An interesting food preservation technique that I do want to learn, but, um, not very cleansing.

I took the veg option, which meant cooking vegetables with a good glug of olive oil before adding in the stock and other various ingredients to make it a stew of sorts. And then I deleted its vegetarian label by stirring in the last of the shredded turkey. The finishing accent was a crumble of garlicky toasted breadcrumbs. It's a fine cold-weather soup and a practical solution for turkey excess. Maybe after a few months of virtuous eating have passed, I'll be ready to approach the confit...

Turkey and Veg Cassoulet
adapted from Vegetarian Cassoulet by Gourmet Magazine, March 2008
serves 10-12

Ingredients:
3 medium leeks (white and pale green parts only)
¾ lbs carrots, halved lengthwise and roughly diced
1½ lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded and roughly diced
4 garlic cloves, chopped
¼ cup olive oil
4 thyme sprigs
2 oregano sprigs
1 bay leaf
⅛ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp salt
½ tsp fresh group pepper
4 cups cooked snow cap beans, reserve about a half cup to mash to thicken the soup, reserve the pot liquor (cooking liquid)
28-oz can fire-roasted tomatoes, roughly chopped, reserve juices
about 2 cups shredded, cooked turkey
1 qt turkey stock
1 bunch kale, center ribs removed and roughly chopped

Bread Crumb Topping
4 cups coarse fresh bread crumbs from a baguette
⅓ cup olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 TBS chopped parsley
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground pepper

Directions:

1. Halve leeks lengthwise and cut crosswise into ½-inch pieces, then wash well by swirling in a deep bowl of cold water. Allow the dirt to fall to the bottom of the bowl. Skim off clean leeks from the water surface being careful not to disturb the silt that collected at the bottom of the bowl.

2. Cook leeks, carrots, butternut squash, and garlic in oil with herb sprigs, bay leaf, cloves, salt and pepper in a large heavy pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 15 minutes. Stir in beans (both whole and mashed) and its pot liquor, tomatoes and their juices, shredded turkey and stock. Stir in the kale. Simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until kale is wilted and carrots are tender but not falling apart, about 30 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.

4. Toss bread crumbs with oil, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper in a bowl until well coated.

5. Spread in a baking pan and toast in oven, stirring once halfway through, until crisp and golden, 12 to 15 minutes.

6. Cool crumbs in pan.

7. Discard herb sprigs and bay leaf.

8. Season with salt and pepper. Just before serving, sprinkle with garlic crumbs.

Our January 2011 Challenge comes from Jenni of The Gingered Whisk and Lisa from Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. They have challenged the Daring Cooks to learn how to make a confit and use it within the traditional French dish of Cassoulet. They have chosen a traditional recipe from Anthony Bourdain and Michael Ruhlman.

Christmas Wreath Stollen

I told a few people I was making stollen. Their first response: "Have you ever had fill-in-the-blank's stollen?!!" Me: "Um, no. I didn't think I liked stollen, and so-and-so's is kinda pricey. I'm just making it for my baking challenge. I figured I'd send it to my Ome."

I didn't realize so many places in town sold it or that it had a bit of an exuberant following. The adult me was relying on the kid me's experiences of not liking the sorta dry and strangely fruity, rum-scented bread. I wasn't that excited to make it, so I was looking at this as an opportunity to hone my bread making skills, which need some work.

Since I've moved, getting yeasted doughs to rise has been a challenge. I was wanting more recipes to troubleshoot warm, non-drafty proofing zones, to figure out if my stash of instant yeast I've been storing in my fridge for several years was still viable, and to learn the cues of achieving a springy, well-kneaded dough.

To my relief this bread came together perfectly thanks to thorough directions, finding an ideal proofing spot in my oven, and using brand new packet yeast instead of the old instant stuff. I'm still learning the trick of kneading and adding appropriate amounts of flour so things don't stick to my hands. Right now, I still rely on my stand mixer and dough hook to do the messy, hard work. But success with this has given me a little more confidence to try more bread projects.

In my opinion this stollen is best eaten within a day or so that it is made. But I suppose it would still be good toasted several days after. Mine didn't last long enough to find out... After eating two good-sized portions on my own, I sectioned off the rest and packaged them to give as gifts to neighbors, coworkers and family. It was studded with Grand Marnier-soaked cherries and candied blood orange peels and limequats. Yes, limequats! Apparently kumquats are being hybridized with other fruits. My grocer had already sold out of mandarinquats. I'm hoping they'll be restocked soon. I think a medley of kumquat hybrids would make a lovely marmalade!

The 2010 December Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Penny of Sweet Sadie’s Baking. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make Stollen. She adapted a friend’s family recipe and combined it with information from friends, techniques from Peter Reinhart’s book.........and Martha Stewart’s

Stollen Wreath

Makes one large wreath or two traditional shaped Stollen loaves. Serves 10-12 people

¼ cup lukewarm water (110º F)
2 packages active dry yeast
1 cup milk
10 TBS unsalted butter
5½ cups (770 grams) all-purpose flour
½ cup (115 gms) sugar
¾ tsp kosher salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
Grated zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp rum extract
¾ cup mixed candied citrus peel (here's a link to make your own) I used blood oranges and limequats this time
1 cup firmly packed unsweetened dried cherries
3 TBS Grand Marnier
1 cup flaked almonds
Melted unsalted butter for coating the wreath
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting wreath

Directions:
In a small bowl, soak the cherries in the Grand Marnier and set aside.

To make the dough:
Pour ¼ cup warm water into a small bowl, sprinkle with yeast and let stand 5 minutes. Stir to dissolve yeast completely.

In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup milk and 10 tablespoons butter over medium - low heat until butter is melted. Let stand until lukewarm, about 5 minutes.

Lightly beat eggs in a small bowl and add the vanilla and rum extracts.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, orange and lemon zests.

Then stir in the yeast/water mixture, eggs and the lukewarm milk/butter mixture. This should take about 2 minutes. It should be a soft, but not sticky ball. When the dough comes together, cover the bowl with either plastic or a tea cloth and let rest for 10 minutes.

Add in the candied citrus peel, soaked cherries and almonds and mix with your hands or on low speed in the stand mixer to incorporate.

Sprinkle flour on the counter, transfer the dough to the counter, and begin kneading (or mixing with the dough hook) to distribute the fruit evenly, adding additional flour if needed. The dough should be soft and satiny, tacky but not sticky. Knead for approximately 8 minutes (6 minutes by machine). The full six minutes of kneading is needed to distribute the dried fruit and other ingredients and to make the dough have a reasonable bread-dough consistency. You can tell when the dough is kneaded enough – a few cherries will start to fall off the dough onto the counter because at the beginning of the kneading process the dough is very sticky and the cherries will be held into the dough but when the dough is done it is tacky which isn't enough to bind the outside cherries onto the dough ball.

Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling around to coat it with the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Put it in the fridge overnight. The dough becomes very firm in the fridge (since the butter goes firm) but it does rise slowly. The raw dough can be kept in the refrigerator up to a week and then baked on the day you want.

Shaping the dough and baking the wreath:
Let the dough rest for 2 hours after taking out of the fridge in order to warm slightly. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Punch dough down, roll into a rectangle about 16 x 24 inches and ¼-inch thick. Starting with a long side, roll up tightly, forming a long, thin cylinder.

Transfer the cylinder roll to the sheet pan. Join the ends together, trying to overlap the layers to make the seam stronger and pinch with your fingers to make it stick, forming a large circle. You can form it around a bowl to keep the shape.

Using kitchen scissors, make cuts along outside of circle, in 2-inch intervals, cutting 2/3 of the way through the dough. Twist each segment outward, forming a wreath shape. Mist the dough with spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Proof for approximately 2 hours at room temperature, or until about 1½ times its original size.

Preheat oven to 350°F with the oven rack on the middle shelf. Bake the stollen for 20 minutes, then rotate the pan 180 degrees for even baking and continue to bake for 20 to 30 minutes. The bread will bake to a dark mahogany color, should register 190°F in the center of the loaf, and should sound hollow when thumped on the bottom.

Transfer to a cooling rack and brush the top with melted butter while still hot. Immediately tap a layer of powdered sugar over the top through a sieve or sifter. Wait for 1 minute, then repeat with another layer of butter and sifted sugar over the first. Wait a minute and then coat with butter and sugar for a final time. The bread should be coated generously with the powdered sugar.

Let cool at least an hour before serving. When completely cool, store in a plastic bag. Or leave it out uncovered overnight to dry out slightly, German style.

The stollen tastes even better in a couple of days and it toasts superbly.

Storage
The more rum and the more coatings of butter and sugar you use the longer it will store. Stollen freezes beautifully about 4 months, stores well for 2 weeks covered in foil and plastic wrap on the counter at room temperature, or for one month in the refrigerator well covered with foil and plastic wrap.

Holiday Cut Out Cookies, 2010

I've been collecting snowflake cookie cutters for a few years now, planning one day to actually use them to make a collage of edible flurries. Each snowflake is supposed to be unique so of course I needed time to gather a variety of cutters... Well this was the year! In addition to the usual sugar cookie cutouts, I used Sweetopia's recipe for gingerbread cookies. This is a sturdy not-to-sweet cookie dough, suitable for making gingerbread houses, and has a welcome level of fragrant, spicy heat and crunchy texture for eating as cookies.

In addition to snowflakes, I cut out ginger people as well. While I monopolized most of the snowflake decorating, my friends Matt and Shannon took a very non-traditional approach to creating the ginger people. Their creativity pleased me so much, I just had to share these adorable cookies with you all, too.

Gingerbread Cut Out Cookies

makes about 6 dozen

800 g all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
250 g unsalted butter
1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
4 tsp cinnamon
4 tsp ginger
2 tsp cloves
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 cup molasses

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix butter and brown sugar on medium speed until fluffy. Mix in spices first, then eggs and molasses. Reduce speed to low. Sift together flour, salt and baking powder and add to bowl; mix until just combined.

Wrap dough in a disc shape in plastic wrap. Let it rest by refrigerating until cold, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Roll out dough on a lightly floured work surface to about 1/4-inch thick. Cut shapes out with cookie cutters and place them approximately 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

Refrigerate until firm; at least 15 minutes to 1 hour.

Bake cookies until firm; 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.

Decorate with royal icing and sprinkles.

Oeufs en Meurette

I've been neglecting my usual posting schedule these past couple of months for good reason: I bought a house. It was a huge decision that caused me a lot of anxiety as my friends, family and realtor can attest. But now that I'm (mostly) unpacked, I feel very much at home. My house is cozy and full of character and enjoys hosting friends around my teeny dining table, or by the wood-burning stove, or even in the sometimes band practice area designated in the basement. When the time is right, I'd like to turn the back yard into a permaculture oasis complete with compost and edible garden and keep chickens and bees...

In the meantime, I've been welcoming friends over to warm my new space. Last weekend, I served oeufs en meurette for brunch. Eggs poached in red wine may seem like an intimidating, high stress choice to make for company...but I had a trick up my sleeve: eggs can be poached in advance, held in chilled water, then slipped back into heated water to gently rewarm just before serving. In fact, this recipe requires that advanced prep because the wine that is the poaching liquid becomes a velvety-rich reduction sauce (meurette) to complete the dish. I could crack eggs and troubleshoot mishaps without an audience. Also, I could use technical "crutches" without judgment. It was not easy to gauge the cooking progress of eggs dropped into an opaque liquid, so I used a thermometer to ensure an appropriate simmer was maintained and a timer to keep me from getting distracted by other prepping tasks of peeling onions, slicing mushrooms, and chopping bacon for the accompaniments.

This is a good snowy weather dish. Here's the recipe if you'd like to try it as well:

Oeufs en Meurette
Serves 8

8 eggs
1 bottle, full-bodied red wine (I used a Tempranillo)
2 cups chicken stock
1 onion, quartered
1 carrot, cut into three pieces
1 celery stalk, cut into three pieces
1 clove garlic, crushed
Bouquet garni (thyme, parsley, bay leaf)
½ tsp black peppercorns
2 TBS butter
¼ lb mushrooms, sliced
¼ lb bacon, diced
16 pearl onions, peeled
Vegetable oil for frying
8 slices of baguette, ¼-in thick
2 TBS butter, room temp
2 TBS flour
salt and pepper

1. Bring wine and stock to a boil in a large pan and then lower heat to maintain a strong simmer around 190°F. Poach eggs a couple at a time for 3-4 min. Yolks should be firming but still a little soft. Set them aside in a bowl of ice water.

2. Add the vegetables, herbs, and peppercorns to the poaching liquid and let the sauce simmer until reduced to half volume. This will become the meurette sauce.

3. In a separate large skillet, melt 1 TBS of the butter on medium-high heat and sauté the mushrooms until soft and then set aside. Add in another 1 TBS butter and the bacon, frying until browned, then set aside on a paper towel. Turn down the heat to medium, add in the pearl onions and sauté until softened and browned. Then drain off the fat and add the bacon and mushrooms back to the pan and set aside off the heat for the moment.

4. In a medium skillet, heat a few tablespoons of oil and then fry the baguette slices until browned on each side. Add more oil as needed. Set the fried bread (croûtes) on a paper towel and then place on a baking sheet in an oven that is set to whatever your lowest setting is to keep them warm.

5. Blend 2 TBS butter and flour together to form a paste of sorts that will be used as the thickener for the sauce. Whisk this into the reduction sauce until the sauce starts to thicken. Strain the sauce over the skillet of mushrooms, bacon and onions, and return the skillet to heat, bringing to a boil. Season with salt & pepper to taste, then set aside again.

6. Reheat the eggs by placing them in hot water for a quick minute. To serve, plate a poached egg on top of a croûte, and then ladle some of the mushrooms/bacon/onions and sauce on top.



Jenn and Jill have challenged The Daring Cooks to learn to perfect the technique of poaching an egg. They chose Eggs Benedict recipe from Alton Brown, Oeufs en Meurette from Cooking with Wine by Anne Willan, and Homemade Sundried Tomato & Pine Nut Seitan Sausages (poached) courtesy of Trudy of Veggie num num.

Apple Cider and Maple Cream Crostata with Maple-Cranberry Compote

The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Simona of briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi’s Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well.

Crostata is an Italian tart, the base of which is a sweet short crust pastry called pasta frolla. Pasta frolla is versatile. It can be filled with fruit preserves, pastry cream, fresh fruit, ricotta, and other ingredients, and, by itself, it makes very nice cookies. Made with butter, flour, sugar, and eggs, the technique to make this dough is a bit like making pasta though no harder to execute than any other type of pie crust.

I decided to make mine with whole wheat and hazelnut flours, and for the filling, I used this recipe from the October issue of Bon Appetit. Not traditional but definitely seasonal and highly amenable to local ingredients. The custard filling is made with no refined sugar. Instead, it is sweetened with maple sugar and a thick reduction of apple cider. Though humble in appearance, it's a decadent alternative to the usual apple desserts that show up this time of year.

Hazelnut Pasta Frolla

⅓ cup superfine sugar or ½ cup powdered sugar
¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
½ cup whole-wheat pastry flour
¼ cup hazelnut flour or meal
a pinch of salt
6 TBS cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg, lightly beaten
¼ tsp vanilla extract

Put sugar, flours, and salt in the bowl of the food processor and pulse a few times to mix. Add butter and pulse a few times until the mixture has the consistency of coarse meal. Empty food processor's bowl onto your work surface.

Make a well in the center of the mounded flour and butter mixture and pour the beaten egg and vanilla extract into it. Use a fork to incorporate the liquid into the solid ingredients then use your fingertips. Knead lightly just until the dough comes together into a ball. Shape the dough into a flat disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator and chill for at least two hours. You can refrigerate the dough overnight.

Roll out the crostata dough, on a work surface lightly dusted with flour. Roll the dough into a circle about ⅛-inch thick. If at anytime the dough becomes too soft to work with, chill in the fridge until firm again.

Ease the dough into the tart pan, centering it, and delicately press it all around so the corners are well covered. Trim the excess dough hanging over the edges of the pan. Press the remaining dough around the border into the sides of the pan making sure the border is an even thickness all the way around.

Roll out remaining scraps of pasta frolla and cut into lattice strips or desired shapes using a cookie cutter.

Cover and chill crust at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.

Maple Cream Filling

½ gallon fresh apple cider or cold-pressed apple juice
½ cup maple sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
3 large eggs
¼ tsp coarse kosher salt
⅛ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
2 drops maple extract

Bring apple cider or apple juice to rolling boil in large pot over high heat. Boil until bubbling thickly and reduced to generous ¾ cup, stirring occasionally, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and cool. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Grind maple sugar to powder in spice mill, blender, or mini processor. Transfer powdered maple sugar to 4-cup glass measuring cup; add cream, eggs, ¼ teaspoon coarse salt, nutmeg, extract, and ¾ cup cooled cider reduction and whisk to blend well.

Place tart pan with crust on baking sheet; set on rack in oven. Pour in filling. Bake tart until filling is puffed and cracked around edges and gently set in center, about 35-40 minutes. Transfer tart to rack and cool to room temperature, 1 to 2 hours.

Push up pan bottom, releasing tart. Cut tart into wedges and serve with compote (recipe below) and if desired, freshly whipped cream.

Maple-Cranberry Compote

2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, picked over and rinsed
½ cup pure maple syrup (preferably Grade B)
¼ cup (packed) dark brown sugar
¼ cup apple cider
½ tsp finely grated lemon zest

Combine cranberries, maple syrup, brown sugar, apple cider, and lemon zest in heavy medium saucepan. Bring to boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to low and simmer until most berries pop and juices thicken slightly, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to small bowl. Chill until cold, about 2 hours. DO AHEAD Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and keep chilled.

"Mornin' Mash is the Truth!"

Those words were chatted to me enthusiastically after sharing my new go-to breakfast with my workplace BFF. He was referring to what most of Europe (and beyond) might call Bircher Müesli: a "mash up" of raw oats and raisins softened and plumped by a long soak in citrus juices and/or yogurt (or some other type of dairy), then embellished with endless combinations of fruits, nuts, and natural sweeteners. Absolutely refreshing and perfectly filling (in an appetite-curbing, good way), this is first-meal-of-the-day virtue at its humblest. It resembles a sort of cold oatmeal or soft, chewy granola, but with way, WAY better texture and flavor! I like to mix in mashed banana or homemade jam or applesauce to give it a bit of sweetness. I added mashed pawpaw fruit when that was in season! Pumpkin butter or apple butter or my pear butter would be a nice seasonal choice also. A jar of homemade granola always sits on my kitchen counter, so I sprinkle on a bit of that too for added crunch. If you don't eat breakfast in the car while driving to work like I do each morning, a drizzle of honey would be an excellent touch. I should also mention this is a great make ahead deal that with minimal advanced prep work should see you through a week's worth of breakfasts, helping you get out the door just a wee bit faster. Varying your toppings should keep you from getting bored.

I was introduced to Bircher Müesli several years ago at a hotel breakfast bar in Sydney and was happy to find it again when I traveled this summer to Hamburg and Oslo. European hotels' complimentary breakfasts (even the budget-friendly ones) knock the socks off of what's considered a "continental breakfast" in the States. Across the pond you will find generous spreads with much more healthy, non-processed options. Since returning home, I found a recipe in my Gourmet Magazine cookbook that I've been tweaking here and there and was eager to post my variations. Then David Lebovitz beat me to the punch with a post on Bircher Müesli last week! With that, I almost wasn't going to post my recipe, but then I thought twice. Perhaps ::shudder:: you don't know of his blog or have never heard of this recipe or of Maximilian Bircher-Benner, the Swiss equivalent of the Michigan health-enthusiast/inventor of corn flakes, John Harvey Kellogg. Everyone deserves a little morning goodness. I'm happy to do my part!

Bircher Müesli

makes 16 cups; serves 8-10

1 lemon

1 juicing orange

1 grapefruit

1½ cups steel cut oats (Irish oats)

3 cups old fashioned rolled oats

⅔ cup raisins

1 quart whole milk, plain yogurt

Toppings and Mix-ins:

sliced or mashed banana

granola

coarsely grated apples

toasted nuts

fresh berries

honey

etc...

Finely grate zest from lemon and orange. Squeeze juice from all of the fruits to obtain about 1½ - 2 cups of citrus juice. Combine the zest, juice, oats, raisins, and yogurt in a large re-sealable container. Stir until thoroughly mixed. Refrigerate covered for at least eight hours to allow the oats to soften.

When hungry, portion out servings into individual bowls and top as desired.

Bircher Müesli will keep for about a week, covered tightly and refrigerated.