COOKING WITH CHEF ANDERSON: It really is difficult to come up with titles to articles to catch your eye, I don’t know if this one is funny, Pecan – Get it peeking out of the oven at you! Maybe I should stick to the cooking?!
We recently opened Sonder & one of the joys of owning your own food business is that you get to taste & select the best food around as well as use the best producers.
Our sourdough bread is supplied by Scarpello & Co. We get a very tasty lemon drizzle from Baker Lane but our main naughty treat supplier is the wonderful Cafe Banba Bakery in Carndonagh, and yes I know, it’s miles away from Letterkenny but they are worth it, a wonderful selection of real baking the way it should be.
Also the main coffee suppliers to the Star Wars crew so they must be out of this world!
Apple pie made with real apples, Red Velvet Cake that doesn’t have artificial food colouring running down your chin, a dark chocolate ganache gateau that would put the finest of pastry chefs to shame & of course a wonderful selection of tray bakes.
Flourless brownies , traditional 15’s, Mars bar squares & pecan nut slices to name a few, that’s why I call that section of Sonder the naughty corner, ya have to pass it to get to the seats.
A good friend of mine tasted some of my baking once and said stick to the cooking !!
I took his advice and although I like baking I really don’t have the patience to do it of the will power when it comes to sweet treats.
I can organise, prep, cook & serve meal for thousands of folk but I would be under serious pressure making a Red Velvet cake.
However there is one dessert that I’m really good at and that’s Pecan Pie, as my family hails from America we had this dessert from as far back as I can remember, Pecan nuts were a luxury many years ago but like all world wide foods they are now more available and of course cheaper to buy.
I remember my great uncle would send them over from the states for us to make the pies.
The pastry recipe is from my time in Paris and if you make this properly it will be the best sweet pasty you have ever tasted.
Follow the instructions carefully and you won’t go wrong.
There is a serious amount of sugar in both the pastry & pie filling mixture so be careful as it will burn easily and although it may not look set at the end of the cooking process once it is cooled it will be fine.
Make this pie a day if advance when you wish to use it and it will tasty better and be easier to portion as well.
The pastry can also be used for apple pie, Bakewell tarts or any dessert that requires sweet pasty.
Call to Sonder sometime and see for yourself the wonderful selection of treats we have for you, happy baking.
Sugar pastry:
250g of softened butter/margarine.
180g of castor sugar
4 drops of vanilla essence.
2 large eggs.
500g of plain flour, sieved
½ tsp of fine salt.
Method.
Beat the sugar and butter together until smooth and creamy.
Add the vanilla and mix in the eggs one at a time.
Sieve the flour and salt and add to the mix, blend with your hand until you make dough.
Turn out onto a floured table and knead lightly
Refrigerate and use as required.
Before using knead lightly, this will stop the pastry cracking.
Pecan pie:
This will make an 8inch pie tin .
You will need half the sugar pastry recipe above .
For the filling.
3 eggs, beaten.
110g of brown sugar.
4 table spoons of golden syrup.
50g of melted butter.
200g of pecan nuts. Whole or chopped.
1 tsp of Vanilla essence.
Method.
Pre-heat your oven to 170c
Roll your pastry to ½ inch thickness and line your pie tin. Pricking the base of the pastry. (This stops the pastry from rising)
In a bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, golden syrup, vanilla essence and melted butter, add your nuts and pour into your pastry.
Bake until the pastry begins to colour and turn down and cook until set, remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Serve hot or cold with ice-cream or why not try some crème fraiche for a tangy taste!
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