This Mango Pistachio Ricotta Tart is for The Secret Recipe Club, created by Amanda of Amanda’s Cookin’. This is how it works: Every month, you get to scour the blog of another member of the club (assigned to you by Amanda), and pick out and cook or bake any recipe from that person’s blog. And of course, it’s a Secret. Until the big reveal, that is.

I can’t tell you how excited I was when I received this month’s assignment. Excited and scared witless at the same time. You see, Amanda assigned me one of the most beautiful blogs out there, and a blogger I adore, who also bakes some of the loveliest creations you can imagine: Deeba of Passionate About Baking.

She was also one of my very early Twitter friends, and talked me through my first macarons. And second, and third, and fourth, until I finally got the magical “feet”! “Deeeeeeeba! Feet! I’ve got FEET!” was the cry heard ’round the Twitterverse, and Deeba was right there with her “happy dance”, even though she lives in India. Deeba is, indeed, passionate about baking. Her gorgeous photography and stories and family updates, make you feel like you’re sitting at her kitchen table, having a cup of coffee and a chat.

I think it was kismet, in a way, that I was assigned Deeba’s blog. Just a week ago, our August mangos, an Indian variety called “Neelum”, started ripening. Of course, I had to find something on PAB that would be appropriate. First I toyed with one tart recipe that used plums. Then, just when I thought it was settled, last Monday Deeba posted a recipe for Peach Pistachio Ricotta Cheesecake Tart. I substitute mangos for peaches all the time, but would she even recognize her recipe by the time I was done with it?

Normally, I would just tell you what I did differently and point you to my assigned blog’s recipe. But, since I made some fairly major “adaptations,” I will give you the recipe as I made it.

First, I decided early on that I would not make the pate sucree – the sweet pastry dough for the crust. These days, I just don’t have the counter space to roll it out. (I have to work on that. And soon!) Instead, I did a riff on a crumb crust, including the important elements from Deeba’s recipe: the oatmeal and the pistachios. I also used part-skim, store-bought ricotta, but used heavy cream instead of her low fat cream, so I think the fat kind of balanced each other out. Then after making the conversions from metric to “American” (LOL!), I decided to cut her recipe in half (hers yielded one 12″x 4″ rectangular tart, plus two 3″ round tarts), and made one 10″ round tart. The uncooked filling was very thin and I knew it wouldn’t support the top layer of fruit, so I half-baked the filled tart, removed it from the oven, placed the reserved mango slices and chopped pistachios on top, then baked it the rest of the way.

The results: Outstanding! It’s like the lightest, creamiest cheesecake, ever. And if you’re anything like me, well, cheesecake ought to be its own food group, don’t you think? The summery flavor of the mangos, paired with the crunch of the pistachios, and against that creamy, dreamy backdrop, were just sensational. And yes, you can throw almost anything in that crust. Who has to know that it’s actually a little bit healthier with the addition of the oatmeal and pistachios? Plus, the little green flecks of pistachio in the crust make it so pretty! I might even save a slice for the husband when his mouth heals from his recent oral surgery.

And then again, I might not.

Mango Pistachio Ricotta Tart

Ingredients:

For the crust:

14 two-cracker sheets of soda crackers

1/3 cup oatmeal

1/3 cup pistachios

2 Tbs. natural cane sugar

pinch of salt

3 Tbs. butter, melted

For the filling:

2/3 cup low-fat ricotta cheese

6 Tbs. heavy cream

1 large egg (at room temperature)

2 1/2 Tbs. natural cane sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 Tbs. cornstarch

1 medium mango, peeled and sliced

Topping:

1/4 cup pistachios, coarsely chopped

1 Tbs. mango jam, melted

Preheat the oven to 350º F.

Place all of the ingredients for the crust, except the butter, into the bowl of a food processor and process until everything is finely ground and well mixed. Add the melted butter and pulse, until the mixture looks like very wet sand.

Press the crust mixture firmly into a 10″ tart pan (I used a glass one, but the metal ones with removable bottoms are just fine), evenly and up the sides. Bake for 15 minutes, remove from the oven, and set aside.

In the meantime, clean your food processor bowl and blade, and make the filling:

In the bowl of the food processor place the ricotta, cream, egg, sugar, and vanilla extract. Process until everything is smooth. Add the cornstarch and run the food processor a few more seconds.

Now, assemble the tart:

Take half of the mango slices (and pieces – you can’t fool me) and place them on the bottom of the tart crust. Save the pretty slices for the top – just use the ones that didn’t work out so well, here. No one’s going to see them.

Pour the filling over the mango pieces and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the tart from the oven, place the reserved mango slices on top, then sprinkle with the chopped pistachios. Return the tart to the oven and bake an additional 20 – 25 minutes, or until the tart is set.

Brush the melted jam over the fruit while the tart is still hot. This step will make the fruit look – and stay looking – shiny and appealing.

It was really fun, searching through another blogger’s recipe posts for inspiration and a different point of view. Wanna play? Join the Secret Recipe Club here.

Now follow along and see who got who – I can’t wait to see who got me and what they chose to make from my eclectic collection. Will it be a dessert? A main course? A 30-minute family meal? Let’s find out together!

Happy Pie Day! All across the internet and all over the world, bakers of every stripe and every level of proficiency decided to bake pies and illustrate the origins of the expression, “It’s as easy as Pie.” It’s a Pie Party, y’all!

I decided early on to bake a traditional Key Lime Pie for the 4th of July. Key Lime is, after all, the State Pie of Florida. (I will say that my addition of the mango was purely an act of whimsy on my part. Because I have them. And their light sweetness works as a tasty counterpoint to the sweet/tart Key Lime filling.) Who is Boswell, you ask? More about him, later.

So then, what is “traditional”? Let’s have a bit of history:

No one really knows who created the Key Lime Pie. What is not in dispute, however, is that it was created in Key West, Florida and that it’s linked to the appearance of sweetened condensed milk back in the late 1860′s, as Key West was pretty much out of the fresh milk distribution loop and had limited, if any, refrigeration.

As to the ubiquitous graham cracker crust: “Some sources assert [Sylvester] Graham himself invented the snack in 1829; others claim the graham cracker did not come into being until 1882, 31 years after Graham’s death. (The latter date appears to be based on the year recipes for graham crackers started appearing in cookbooks. Many bakers tried to market the crackers, but it wasn’t until 1898 that the National Biscuit Company (now Nabisco) made any real inroads into the market with their Nabisco Graham Crackers product. Nabisco achieved even greater success with their Honey Maid line, introduced in 1925, which boosted the original graham flavor through the addition of honey. (Snopes.com: Last updated: 20 May 2011 Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2011 by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson.)

With supply lines at the time being what they were, and seeing as the first published recipe for the pie didn’t appear until the 1930′s, I don’t believe that the graham cracker made it’s appearance as the crust for Key Lime pie until the late 1920′s, at the earliest. In my opinion, the original crust medium was more likely the soda cracker, an unsalted version of the saltine.

The filled pie can be either unbaked and just refrigerated, as the acid from the Key Lime juice “cooks” the egg yolks (much as the citrus juice in ceviche “cooks” the fish). If you’re a little iffy about such things or have a compromised immune system, you may use pasteurized eggs (such as Davidson’s Safest Choice which are pasteurized in the shell, and an excellent product), or you may bake the pie briefly, as I’ve done here.

Let’s get this straight, once and for all:

1) Real Key Lime Pie filling contains only three things: egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, and Key Lime juice. Nothing more. You want to fold in whipped cream? Awesome. But that makes it a chiffon pie. Or a mousse pie.

2) Only Key Lime juice is used for Key Lime Pie. Not regular Persian limes. Not bottled regular lime juice. Key Lime juice. Otherwise, it’s a Lime Pie and not Key Lime Pie. There is no substitute.

3) Real Key Lime Pie is topped with meringue, not whipped cream. I don’t care what King Arthur says. They got the date wrong on the invention of sweetened condensed milk, so what else did their source get wrong. (And what the hell is the addition of lime oil all about?!? No, ma’am. That is not a Key Lime Pie.)

4) Key Lime Pie is never, ever, EVER bright green. Period.

Climbing off my soap box (or should that be lime box) now…

Boswell’s Key Lime Mango Pie

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

18 2-cracker sheets soda crackers
2 Tbs. natural cane sugar (may substitute white sugar)
1/3 cup butter, melted

For the Filling:

5 large egg yolks (reserve the whites for the meringue topping)
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup Key Lime juice (bottled or fresh from apprx. 14 Key Limes)
1 fresh mango (preferably a fiberless variety such as Nam Doc Mai), peeled and sliced
into 11 or 12 thin slices

For the Meringue:

5 large egg whites
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
6 Tbs. natural cane sugar (may substitute white sugar)
1/2 tsp. clear vanilla extract

Preparation:

Crust: Preheat oven to 350ºF.

In the bowl of a food processor, grind the crackers together with the sugar until very fine. Add the melted butter and pulse until everything is uniformly combined and resembles very wet sand.

Press the cracker mixture into a 9-inch pie plate, using a flat-bottomed drinking glass or measuring cup – or alternatively, with your hands – until the crust is firmly and evenly spread across the bottom and up the sides of the pie plate. Bake for 15 minutes or until it’s a light golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Filling: In a medium bowl, beat the egg yolks with an electric mixer at high speed until they are very, very pale and thick. Once you think you’re done, beat them some more. This could take 5 or 6 minutes.

Add the sweetened condensed milk and beat on medium speed until it’s completely incorporated. Add the lime juice and beat until it has been completely incorporated.

Pour the filling into the baked crust. Bake for 10-12 minutes. The filling should be set, but still jiggle a bit when you gently give the pan a shake. Cool on a wire rack, then refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours or overnight.

When the filling is completely firm, arrange the mango slices on top of it.

Meringue:

Preheat the oven to 375ºF.

Beat the room temperature egg whites together with the cream of tartar on high speed, until very foamy. Slowly add the sugar, then the vanilla extract, while continuing to beat on high, until stiff peaks have formed.

Top the pie with the meringue, using whatever method suits you – pipe, spoon & swirl, mound, whatever. The only important things are: (1) The meringue should be even; and (2) The meringue must completely cover the pie to the edges, making a seal. Otherwise it could shrink away during baking.

Bake for about 15 – 20 minutes, or until the meringue has achieved your desired level of golden brown. If you’ve made lovely peaks, bake only until the tips of your peaks have browned.

Refrigerate the baked pie, and keep it refrigerated until serving time. Otherwise, your slices will look as sloppy as mine, below.

Now, what makes this “Boswell’s Key Lime Mango Pie”? Meet Boswell:

Boswell is a Jack Russell Terrier, belonging to some good friends of ours. He was present (along with the two dogs belonging to our 4th of July party hosts) when we arrived, bearing a large canvas carry-all which contained our food contributions to the party. Including the (thankfully, well-wrapped) Key Lime Mango Pie. If you are unfamiliar with Jack Russell Terriers, let’s just say that they’re one of the more -ahem!- enthusiastic breeds of canines.

The dogs, of course, were the first to greet us at the door. Boswell, being the smallest of the three, leaped on top of the carry-all (to get our attention, presumably), and when yelled at, did what a well-trained dog does: Sat. On my pie.

“It looks so much better this way. Don’t you think?”

Hope you had a Fabulous Fourth of July – Ours was a Blast!

Maybe it’s because it’s winter, but we’ve had a real yen for warm, creamy foods, lately. That’s extended to dessert, too. Our latest fixation? Rice pudding. These chilly days and evenings just call out for it, you know? It’s like a Snuggie in a bowl.

Just to keep it interesting, I’ve been playing with the accent flavors, too. And what could be better than a promise of sunshiny summer in that comforting little dish? I speak of course, of mango. You can find dried mango wherever you are, in the dried fruit section. Combine it with a touch of sweet, aromatic cardamom, and you’ve got the best of all seasons!

Mango Rice Pudding
(serves about 4)

Ingredients:

4 cups milk (your choice)
1 cup long grain rice
1/2 cup coarsely chopped dried mango
2 – 3 Tbs. sugar
1/4 tsp. ground cardamom
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (optional)
pinch of table salt

Preparation:

Put the milk and rice into a large deep saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon to keep a skin from forming. Add the rest of the ingredients, stir well, cover tightly, and reduce the heat to low.

Simmer for about 40 minutes, stirring about every 5 minutes or so. Adjust seasoning, if necessary, and cook uncovered for about another 5 minutes, or until the rice is very soft and the desired texture is achieved. If the texture is too tight for your taste, add a little additional milk and stir continuously until it’s absorbed and the pudding is creamy.

Allow to cool a few minutes and serve while warm.

Notes:

Oh, sure, you can go the prosaic raisins and cinnamon route, if you want to. In fact you can substitute any dried fruit you like. But the combination of the mango and the cardamom give it such a warm, tropical feeling and aroma, why wouldn’t you want that in the middle of a cold, dreary winter?

This has been one hell of a summer. I can’t really talk about most of it until after next week, but I feel a little like the puck in a game of air hockey. And I almost didn’t get this post up at all.

In one way, this month’s Can Jam wasn’t a surprise, and in other ways it kind of snuck up on me altogether. I should have known Tomatoes would come up sometime this summer. After all, most of the rest of you are swimming – nay, drowning – in them right now. Sure enough, that’s what Julia at What Julia Ate, chose for this month’s theme. And for the umpteenth time, our tomato season is actually in the winter/early spring times, so I searched. And searched. And searched. While I did eventually score some local tomatoes, that was a bit of a miracle. Someone in the southern end of the county must have planted a “heatwave” type. And they’re not bad at all.

But I probably should have been canning tomato stuff earlier and saved it for now. So, in a bit of a mad scramble, and using some of my own home-canned Mango Ginger Jam as an accent flavor, I made barbecue sauce. Because I’m gonna love me some barbecue this winter while the rest of you are freezing your patooties off! Hehehe.

I based my recipe on the Summer Sizzle Barbecue Sauce recipe in The Complete Book of Year-Round Small Batch Preserving by Topp and Howard, omitting the tomato sauce, adding the jam and using freshly ground chipotle pepper and chipotle pepper hot sauce. I also used the delicious new vegan, gluten-free Worcestershire sauce produced by my friend Jim at Oxford Falls.

Mango Chipotle BBQ Sauce
(makes about 5 half-pints)

Ingredients:

2 Tbs. canola oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, minced
3 cups tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup dry red wine (I used a Malbec, because, after all, the Argentinians know their barbecue!)
3 Tbs. honey
1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbs. cider vinegar
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. peppercorns (whole)
1 tsp. chipotle pepper powder (or less, to taste)
1-1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup mango ginger jam
2 Tbs. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. chipotle pepper hot sauce

Preparation:

Heat oil in a medium non-reactive saucepan, over medium-high heat. Add the onions and garlic, sautée until soft, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the tomatoes, wine, honey, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, mustard, peppercorns, ground chili pepper, and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and boil gently, uncovered, for about 30 minutes or until thickened.

Remove the pot from the heat and carefully run the contents through the blender until thoroughly smooth. Or do what I did, which is use my stick blender right there in the pot and not dirty another appliance.

Return the sauce to the pot (if you had to use the blender). Add the water, jam, brown sugar and hot sauce, combine thoroughly and bring to a boil.

Ladle the hot mixture into hot jars (no need to sterilize them this time, just make sure they’re good and hot), leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Cover with new lids, tighten the screw rings finger-tight, and process in a boiling water canner for 15 minutes. Wait 24 hours and test your seals before labeling and storing.

Tasting it right out of the pot, this stuff’s got that hit of spicy, smoky chipotle peppers, and is not terribly sweet, despite the honey, jam and brown sugar. It’s gonna be awesome on chicken and beef, and even on veggie burgers. Can’t wait to get my new grill!

Let me just caution you at the outset that this is not low-fat, low-carb, or low-sugar. Actually, it’s not that bad, sugar-wise. This is, however, dessert at its most indulgent – or at least as indulgent as you can get without chocolate – and unless you have the metabolism of an Olsen twin (Happy Birthday, Mary-Kate & Ashley!), I’m going to venture a guess that you’re going to save this one for a special occasion.

And you should! It’s creamy and dreamy and I won the Best Dessert prize with it at the 2003 Fairchild Tropical Garden Mango Cook-Off. And it’s so damn easy to make, it’s ridiculous. No double-boilers, no stove-top cooking, no wondering “Is this right?”. At the contest, I made this whole recipe on a folding table with nothing but my hand immersion blender and (for demo purposes only) a toaster oven! Also, since you puree and strain the fruit, you can use any grocery store mango (or even frozen), as long as it’s ripe.

I’m sorry that I don’t have any photos – because of MJ’s diet, I am restraining myself, this year. Sucks. I could take a picture of the award on my kitchen wall, but that would be just too narcisistic for words. Even for me. )

RJ’s Easy Mango Crème Brulee

(makes Six 2/3 cup servings)

2 cups mango pieces
1/2 teaspoon allspice
8 egg yolks (size large eggs)
1/3 cup white sugar
2 cups regular whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch of salt

Additional sugar – white, turbinado, or raw – for topping

Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees F.

Puree mango with the allspice until thoroughly blended, then strain through a sieve, pressing with a spoon, to remove all fibers and lumps into a small bowl. You should wind up with a cup or a little more of strained puree. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, beat the egg yolks with 1/3 cup sugar till sugar is dissolved and the mixture is creamy and light yellow. Add cream, vanilla, and salt, and blend thoroughly. Fill oven-proof ramekins or custard dishes about 1/2 – 2/3 full with the custard mixture, then spoon 2 tablespoons of the mango puree into the center of each. Spoon remaining custard over the top.

Make a water bath (fancy term: bain Marie) by placing a terry kitchen towel (or a silicone mat or even a couple of silicone potholders) in the bottom of a deep casserole dish or roaster pan (large enough to hold your custard cups without touching each other). Place filled custard cups into the prepared casserole or roaster, carry to the oven, and add enough warm water to come about 1/2 way up the sides of the cups.

Bake for 40 minutes. The custards will be barely set and will jiggle.

Remove the custards from the water bath and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours (or 1 hour in the freezer).

Sprinkle about 1 tsp. of the white, turbinado, or raw sugar over each custard. Make sure the sugar covers the custard completely. Caramelize the sugar either with a small hand-held torch or under the broiler for about 2 minutes or until browned to your liking. When it cools, there should be a hard shell over the top. Chill until ready to serve.

*Note: You can prepare the custards up to 24 hours ahead. When you remove them from the oven, let them cool to room temperature, still in the water bath, then remove from bath, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Do not prepare the caramelized sugar topping until ready to serve.

If you have any questions, I’ll answer them in the comments. Enjoy!

Speaking of mangoes…

I was inspired last week by Elle’s Brown Butter Maple Blueberry Muffins, to try and make a version with less sugar and more good stuff that MJ (the hubs) can snack on that won’t completely sabotage his diabetes type II diet (he’s down 35 pounds and 2 pants sizes!). Please don’t make me use the word healthy. Makes it sounds like it’s made out of bark, or something. Anyway, thus was born the MultiGrain Blueberry Maple Muffin. And if you remember, I threatened you with a mango version.

I’ve been waiting all week for the mangoes to come in, and finally! I got several that were perfect! So, without further ado, I give you

MultiGrain Mango Ginger Muffins

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup ground oatmeal
4 Tbs flax seed meal
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup Splenda for Baking (or 1/4 cup sugar &
1/4 cup Splenda)
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 cup ripe mango, cut in small dice
1/2 cup Canola oil
1 cup soy milk (I use plain, unflavored, but you can use what you like)
3 eggs (or 3/4 cup liquid egg substitute OR 2 eggs and 1/4
cup egg substitute)
1/2 tsp salt
4 Tbs candied ginger, finely chopped (optional)

Heat oven to 375, and lightly grease a muffin pan.

In a large bowl, sift together the flours, flax seed meal, baking powder, ginger, and Splenda.

In a smaller bowl, toss the diced mango with 1/4 cup of the flour mixture.

In another bowl, whisk the oil, soy milk, eggs, and salt.

Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture, mix until just barely combined, and fold in mango and candied ginger (if using).

Fill the muffin cups about 3/4 full and bake for 20-25 minutes.

A toothpick poked in the center should come out clean.

Makes 12

Damn you, Elle, for getting me on this muffin kick! Okay, not really…

For those of you who asked after my Nature Notes post of May 22nd, here is a photo of the Nam Doc Mai mango when it’s ripe – finally got one!

And yes, it’s just as tasty as it looks!