Hazelnut Chocolate Tart--Polish Mazurek

I usually do not post two desserts one after another but I have just made a few typical Polish Easter treats, which I would like to share. Besides, our Easter pastry is so good that it can be made all year round.

First of all, there are all kind of babkas, in particular, made from a yeast dough with candied fruits and raisins. Another typical one is mazurek. I suppose it falls within a tart category. It is very crispy, short and thin, and can be made with a variety of toppings--nuts, poppy seeds, cheese, as well as dried fruits and preserves.

A secret of a good mazurek lies in the quality of the crust, which must be thin and, in any event, not thicker than the topping. The one I make most often comes from my grandma's recipe book. She made her mazureks with farmers' cheese or poppy seed paste. They were so good and tempting that when my big family gathered for holidays, my uncles were attacked them long before they appeared on the Easter table.

I usually make my mazureks with nuts. And my favorite is the one I post today, which is best made with hazelnuts. The crust needs to be baked first and the topping needs to be added later. Because most of the ingredients are baked or dried and no perishable products are used in its preparation, this mazurek can stay fresh for quite a while, if of course my family can allow for it.

Hazelnut Chocolate Tart

Ingredients

Crust:
2 sticks butter (about 250 g) room temperature,
2 egg yolks,
1/3 cup sugar,
2 cups flour, plus about 1/2 extra for cleaning hands.

Topping:
2 cups hazelnuts,
2 cups chocolate chips (I like to use Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips),
1 cup raisins,
4 tbsp table cream or half an half,
1 jar apricots or plum preserves.

Preparation

Crust:
1. In a small bowl, using a small whisker or spoon, mix egg yolks with sugar and cream for about for 1-2 minutes, until they turn smooth and pale yellow.
2. Put butter and 2 cups of flour in a large bowl and using fingers make crumbles.
3. Add egg mixture and working as fast as possible make a dough. The faster all ingredients are combined the shorter will be the dough, as tart crust does not like to be kneaded for too long. If the dough is still too wet add more flour, also to clean hands, however, use no more than extra 1/2 cup.
4. Wrap a dough in a plastic foil and let it chill in a refrigerator for at least an hour. Such a dough can be stored in a refrigerator for up to three weeks, or can be frozen if you want to keep it even longer.
5. Take the dough out of refrigerator and let it stay in room temperature for at least half an hour.
6. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough an a surface dusted with flour. If have space in a refrigerator, you can actually first roll the dough out, transfer it to on a rolling pin to baking tin and put it in a refrigerator like that.
7. Preheat oven to 375 F and bake crust for about 25 minutes. It should be gold on top. Take the crust out and let it chill completely.

Topping:
1. Put hazelnuts on a hot and dry (no oil) frying pan and moving them all the time toast them slightly. Let them cool down and working with hands remove any loose peel.
2. Place raisins in a small bowl, cover them with warm water, and leave aside for 20 minutes. Strain the raisins on a colander, and pat them with paper towel to dry them completely.
3. Place chocolate chip in a medium-sized pan, add cream, and melt them over a low heat, stirring continuously until they turn into a thick and smooth sauce.
4. Spread preserves evenly over the crust. Toss it with roasted hazelnuts and raisins.

5. Pour the warm chocolate sauce on top.

6. Let the tart chill in a refrigerator for about 2 hours, so it sets, but later it does not need to be kept in a refrigerator.

Cut in rectangles and serve.

Frozen Cheese Dessert--Simple Easter Delight

This is one of the many fond memories of my childhood. I rediscovered it a few years ago when we had a very hot summer-like Easter. Instead of all the baked desserts, that we traditionally serve on that occasion, I made this frozen cheese dessert. It was simply too hot for anything else.

Suggesting some relation to the Jewish Passover tradition, in Poland this dessert is called pascha, very aptly for being part of the Easter menu. It is made from farmers' cheese (twarog or quark), eggs, dried fruits, and nuts.

In my hometown, it was a specialty of a café that bore a misleading name "Cocktail Bar". It was all kids' favorite hangout, sponsored by the local dairy. It served no alcohol, closed early, and was famous for its milk shakes and other innocent delicacies, pascha among them. I went there often with my father, after a visit to an art exhibition and a Sunday walk through the old town.

Pascha and ice cream made from farmers' cheese were my favorite items on its menu. I was not allowed to eat ice cream if the weather was too cold (according to a common belief, eating ice cream on a cold day would give you cold or flu) but I was allowed to order a frozen cheese dessert as something more substantial and not as cold as ice cream. The best part of this was that I did not mind this compromise at all.

I liked it so much that I learned to make it. The original recipe included raw egg yolks, but nowadays I skip that part. I also use cream cheese instead of farmers' cheese and add honey instead of sugar, not only to sweeten it but also to compensate for the missing egg yolks. As I am not afraid of calories, to make it even more self-indulgent, I also add heavy whipping cream, or sour cream, and mascarpone.

It tastes absolutely yummy, but another nice thing about this dessert, besides its taste, is that it can be made a day or more ahead and kept in a freezer for a few weeks.

Frozen Cheese Dessert
(Serves 8-10)

Ingredients:
Two 8 oz boxes of cream cheese, room temperature,
One 6 oz box of mascarpone cheese, room temperature,
2 tbsp heavy whipping cream (or sour cream),
1 cup running honey,
2 tbsp lemon juice,
1 tsp vanilla extract,
1 and 1/2 cup different chopped dried fruits (figs, apricots, golden raisins),
1/2 cup crushed pistachios.

Preparation:
1. In a large bowl, using electric mixer beat cream cheese until smooth.
2. Add heavy whipping cream and mascarpone and beat until all cheese is combined.
3. Pour honey into the bowl with cheese and run the mixer until all the ingredients become one smooth cream, about 3 minutes.
4. Add vanilla, beat for one minute, and add lemon juice. Once again run the mixer for about two minutes.
5. Add chopped dried fruits. Mix gently with spatula.
6. Line a square dish with a plastic foil, overhanging it beyond dish walls. Pour in the cheese mix, spread it evenly and smooth  with a spatula. Sprinkle with pistachios, gently cover with the overhanging foil, and freeze for at least 8-12 hours.

Take from the freezer about 15 minutes before serving. Cut slices and serve when it is slightly soft but still frozen.

Thai Style Ginger Carrot--Replica of a Missing Hit

There used to be a wonderful dish called Thai Style Ginger Carrot, which I bought regularly at the frozen food section of my Trader Joe's store. It was a simple dish of shredded carrot--orange and yellow, shredded ginger, and some slivered almonds. It was not spicy at all, despite ginger, but wonderfully crunchy and savory and tasted not the least like a ready made frozen food. It was a very popular dish also for my kids, who do not like carrots in any other incarnation. So, on my weekly trip to TJ's, I was always buying a few bags of ginger carrot and served it as often, as they asked for it.

Unfortunately, as many good products, one day it has disappear forever. I have learned that it has been discontinued due to insufficient client interest. Strange, as often times my local store was not able to keep up with the demand. But perhaps DC area consumers are different and most elsewhere this product was not popular enough to be sold nation-wide.

When the other day my son asked about ginger carrot, I decided to recreate it myself. I bought a bag of shredded carrot, and a big piece of ginger. The rest was just improvisation.

There were obvious ingredients that you could taste and see--carrot, ginger and almonds, but the sauce in which they were fried was not so evident. It was not very greasy but tasty in a way that made the whole difference. I made the base sauce form oil and soy sauce, but it was not rich enough, as it was in TJ's ginger carrot. Since the dish was coming or was inspired by Thai cuisine I added a little bit of peanut butter to the sauce--thinking about the taste of a typical pad Thai. That made the whole difference. The sauce became thicker and very similar to what we remembered. Here is how I made it.

Thai Style Ginger Carrot
(Serves four as accompaniment)

Ingredients:
4 cups (10 oz) shredded carrot,
2 tbsp ground ginger,
1 tbsp olive oil,
1 tbsp peanut butter,
1/3 cup slivered roasted almonds,
2 tbsp light soy sauce,
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley.

Preparation:
1. Heat oil on a large roasting pan, and when hot, add ginger and fry for about one minute.
2. In a separate bowl, mix peanut butter and soy sauce into a homogeneous sauce, and add it to ginger.
2. Throw carrot and almonds into the pan and coat with the sauce.
3. Fry for about about 3-4 minutes--carrot should be al dente and crispy.
4. Take off from the heat, add chopped parsley, and serve.