Pistachio Crème Brûlée With Sour Cherry Sauce Recipes

PISTACHIO CRèME BRûLéE WITH SOUR CHERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.
• Spread pistachios on a baking sheet and toast until nuts are fragrant but not browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and cool completely. Rub off and discard any loose skins (some will remain on nuts).
• Pulse nuts with granulated sugar in a food processor just until finely chopped. (Do not blend to a paste.)
• Stir together nuts and cream with a pinch of salt in a 1-quart heavy saucepan and cook over moderate heat, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until just hot. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand 30 minutes.
• Rinse kitchen towel under cold water and wring out as much water as possible. Line a large sieve with towel, then set sieve over a bowl or large glass measure and pour pistachio mixture into towel. Wrap towel up around mixture and, working over sieve, squeeze pistachio cream from towel into bowl. Discard ground pistachios.
• Lightly beat yolks in a medium bowl, then whisk in pistachio cream. Divide mixture among gratin dishes.
• Arrange gratin dishes on a metal rack set in a roasting pan and bake in a hot water bath until custards are just set around edges but centers tremble slightly when dishes are gently shaken, about 20 minutes. Remove gratin dishes from pan and cool, uncovered, then chill, covered, at least 4 hours. (Custards will set completely as they chill.)
• Very gently blot any moisture from surface of chilled custards with paper towels. Sprinkle 1 1/2 teaspoons turbinado sugar evenly over each custard, then move blowtorch flame evenly back and forth just over sugar until sugar is melted and caramelized. Serve with sour cherry sauce.

PISTACHIO POPOVER CREMES BRULEES WITH GRAND MARNIER SYRUP

Steps:

• Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into cream in a 2-quart heavy saucepan, then add pod and bring to a simmer over moderate heat. Remove from heat, then steep, covered, 20 minutes.
• Discard pod.
• Preheat oven to 325°F.
• Whisk together yolks, sugar, and a pinch of salt, then add hot cream in a slow stream, whisking constantly. Pour through a fine sieve into glass loaf pan. Cover pan with foil and bake custard in a hot water bath until set but with center still slightly wobbly, about 1 hour.
• Remove foil and cool custard in pan on a rack, then chill, covered, until firm, at least 4 hours.
• Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into juice in cleaned 2-quart heavy saucepan, then add pod and sugar. Bring to a boil over moderately high heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved, then boil until reduced to about 1 1/4 cups, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat, then discard pod and stir in Grand Marnier. Cool to room temperature.
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Chop enough pistachios to measure 2 tablespoons. Pulse remaining nuts with regular granulated sugar in a food processor until finely ground. Add flour and salt and pulse to combine. Add milk, butter, and eggs and blend until just combined. Pour batter into well-buttered popover cups, filling them two-thirds full.
• Bake in lower third of oven until popovers are puffed and well browned, about 40 minutes. Cut a 1/2-inch slit in top of each popover and bake 10 minutes more. Immediately turn popovers out onto rack to cool.
• Cut off tops of cooled popovers and arrange in a baking dish. Brush tops with some syrup and heat in oven until warm, about 3 minutes.
• While tops are heating, fill bottoms of popovers with custard. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon superfine sugar evenly over each custard, then move blowtorch flame evenly back and forth just over sugar until sugar is melted and caramelized.
• Transfer popovers with tops to plates and spoon some syrup around each. Sprinkle with chopped nuts.