[Sca-cooks] Redaction Challenge - tardpolane

Thu Jan 17 18:25:03 PST 2002

OK, so it is a month later, but here's my take on Tardpolane. Let me
start by saying I have a dismal reputation as a pie/pastry maker, so I
approached this with some trepidation. Comments on the interpretation
invited. Those who tasted this at Mst Elaina's last Sunday are invited
to comment.

MD/Marged

First the crusts. I made 2 versions - a coffin and a closed pie.

For the coffin I used:

1 cup unbleached white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tablespoon salt
1/2 cup turbinado sugar
Almond milk (very cold) to make a stiff dough (a little over a cup)

Blend flours and salt in food processor, then begin adding almond milk
by the tablespoon til a dough forms. Remove from processor and roll out
1/4" thick. Placed the rolled dough in a pie tin, but mold the sides
straight up, not slanted. Blind bake at 350 F for about 20 minutes.
Remove from oven to cool.

For the double crust I used:

1 1/2 cup unbleached white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter, frozen, cut in @ 1/2" chunks
Almond milk (very cold) (@1/2 cup)

Blend flours and salt in food processor, add butter and blend til evenly
coarse. Add almond milk by the tablespoon til a dough forms. Remove from
processor bowl, wrap in a wet towel and chill 1/2 hour.

Remove from refrigerator and divide in half. Return one half to frig.
Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface, pat into a ceramic pie
plate, trim and blind bake at 350 F for about 15 minutes.

I then prepared the filling. The following ingredients made about 3 - 4 cups:

1 cup blanched almonds, finely chopped in food processor
8 Hawali dates, pitted, cut in quarters
4 Turkish figs softened, stems removed and cut in quarters
1/2 cup raisins
4 Anjou pears, perfectly ripe. I kept these for over a week, waiting for
them to ripen to the right degree. Peel, core and cut in quarters. These
came 12 pears to a 3# bag, so about 4 oz each.
2 teaspoons ground ginger

Chop almonds first, then add fruits and ginger to processor. Chop till
the texture is even.

I then prepared the custard:

3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup turbinado sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk (too much!)

1/2 # brie cheese, not too ripe. The cheese I got wasn't quite ripe
enough. It was still very firm at the edges and only just soft in the
center. It needed one more day sitting at a cool room temp (away from
the cats!).

For the coffin version, I put slices on the bottom of the coffin and
then about 2 cups or so (I didn't measure, but it was about 4 handfuls)
of the fruit glop on top, to about 1/2" from the top of the crust. I
then poured custard in til the coffin was full.

For the closed version, I peeled and cored 10 Anjou pears. I stuffed
fruit glop into each one (@ 1 - 2 teaspoons), and put the remaining
fruit glop (@ 1 cup) on the bottom of the pie crust. I then arranged the
stuffed pears in 2 concentric circles, with a pear and a broken pear in
the center. I cut the cheese into 1/2" cubes and dropped the cubes in
between the pears. I then poured in the custard til the pie was almost
full. On a whim I sprinkled the contents with cinnamon before closing
the pie.

I then rolled out the second half of the  dough and covered the pie.
This dough was nice and soft and drapey, so it "sculpted" over the pears
quite prettily. I basted the closed pie with a beaten egg yolk thinned
with @ 1 teaspoon water, and poked three 1/2" slashes for vents .

Both pies went into the oven at 350F for between 45 minutes and an hour.

Comments:

On the coffin - why waste almond milk on something so salty it couldn't
be eaten? Cold water would have done as well.

On the pie crust - Well liked by the reviewers. But I think the
consensus was that the coffin was "more period". Don't remember for
sure. Don't know why, either.

On the fruit glop - the date haters didn't like it. Date lovers (or
likers) didn't see a problem. One comment on nasty fig seeds in the
teeth. I'm not sure that longer soaking would have fixed that. Ginger
was fine, no one commented on the cinnamon til I mentioned it.

On the whole pears in the covered pie - pear lovers loved it. Pear
haters thought it was OK, even if it was a pear. Some discussion over
whether this could be done with apples. No conclusion was reached.

On the cheese - consensus was that one day older would have been better.
Putting cheese slices on the coffin bottom was a mistake. I should have
chopped it and mixed it with the fruit. One comment was to use cream
cheese instead of Brie to get around the pears and the cheese not
ripening on the same day.

On presentation - the coffin pie was ugly and unappetizing. Suggestions
included slices of pear on the surface for better looks. The closed pie
got good marks for presentation. It was very pretty and appetizing. The
whole pears inside made for somewhat awkward serving.

The blind baking was the biggest hassle. I live at 7,000 feet in a
desert (hence the "excessive" amount of almond milk to get the doughs to
form). I had to watch the coffin and bottom crust like a hawk, and this
involved repeated openings of the oven door ("fanning" the door, my
grandmother used to call it). So the whole ordeal took longer than it
would for an experienced pie cook. I had the same problem with the final
baking. I fanned the door too much, watching for the custard to firm up
before the crusts got too brown.

The pears threw a lot of juice, thinning the custard. This resulted in
longer baking time for the custard to set. Add another egg or egg yolk?
Use less milk? 2 cups was at least 1/2 cup too much anyway, it seemed.

Overall both versions were successful, but I preferred the double crust
version. It was tasty just barely warm, and WONDERFUL cold.