Blushing Almond Twist Food

SWEET ALMOND TWISTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. Unfold puff pastry sheets on a lightly floured surface; roll each sheet into a 15x10-in. rectangle., In a small bowl, whisk egg and water; brush over rectangles. Spread pastry filling over one rectangle to within 1/4 in. of edges; sprinkle with almonds. Top with remaining pastry, egg wash side down, pressing lightly., Brush top with egg wash. Cut in half lengthwise; cut each rectangle crosswise into 16 strips. Twist each strip 2-3 times. Place 1 in. apart on baking sheets. Bake until golden brown, 12-14 minutes. Serve warm.

ALMOND TWISTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Sprinkle work surface lightly with superfine sugar.
• Unfold pastry and roll out to 12" square.
• Break apart almond paste into little pieces and scatter evenly over half of the dough.
• Fold dough in half over almond paste. Roll out to 10 x 12".
• Add more sugar to work surface as needed to keep dough from sticking.
• Fold dough in half again and roll out again to 10" x 12".
• Cut in half to make 2 rectangles each 5" x 12".
• Using a pizza wheel, cut each rectangle into 12 strips, each 1" x 5".
• Twist each strip into a loose corkscrew and put on ungreased cookie sheets 1" apart.
• Bake 15 - 18 minutes, until puffed and golden.
• Remove to wire rack to cool.
• In two small microwaveable bowls, separately melt the chocolates.
• Drizzle both chocolates over the cooled twists.

ALMOND TWISTS

Steps:

• Prepare the egg wash: Combine the yolks, whole egg, and milk in a small mixing bowl and whip with a hand whisk until well combined. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Flour the dough and table as needed to keep the dough from sticking to the table or the rolling pin. Place the dough on your work surface with a long side facing you. Use a pastry brush to coat the surface of the rectangle with some egg wash. Liberally sprinkle the ground almonds over the rectangle, followed by the salt and pepper. Use a sharp paring knife to cut the rectangle into ten 1-inch wide strips. Next, cut each of these strips into three 4-inch-long pieces. Flip each strip so that the almonds are on the bottom. Twist each strip by rolling each end in opposite directions. Always remember to twist so that the topping faces out --that way you can see how they are flavored. Place the strips on a parchment paper-covered baking sheet and bake until well risen and golden brown, about 20 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack before serving. These puff pastry items are best eaten the day they are made.

BLUSHING SHE CRAB SOUP WITH A TWIST

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 440 degrees F.
• Halve 18 of the grape tomatoes. In a baking dish pour in 1/4 cup olive oil. To that add banana peppers, and 1/2 of the tomatoes. Mix to coat all with oil. Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon sea salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Bake uncovered (ideally in convection oven) until they start to brown (about 15 minutes).
• In a pot heat 1/4 cup olive oil and add 1/3 cup finely chopped red onion, 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, natural brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper, 1/4 teaspoon course ground black pepper. Stir over high heat. Add the remaining whole tomatoes and continue to mix until the tomato skins start to peal (about 4 minutes). Pour entire contents of this pot into a blender. To this add cilantro, the roasted tomato mixture and chicken broth. Blend until fairly smooth (about 15 to 20 seconds).
• Pour entire contents into pot, add 6 ounces of vegetable juice, bring almost to a boil and reduce to a simmer.
• In a medium mixing bowl beat egg until it produces a light foam and beat in the lemon juice. To this add the remaining 6 ounces vegetable juice and beat again. Slowly mix in 1 cup of the hot soup. Take soup off the heat and slowly mix this mixture into the soup. Add 2 tablespoons heavy cream and stir over medium heat until it starts to bubble. Remove from heat.
• In a skillet add 6 tablespoons butter, melt butter over medium heat, add 2/3 cup of finely chopped red onion and garlic. Saute for about a minute and then add 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper and 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper. Continue sauteing until the onions are soft and translucent. Then add crab boil seasoning and cream sherry. Turn heat up until mixture comes to a bubble then lower to medium heat and stir until it starts thickening to almost a light syrup consistency. Once it has thickened add crab base and make sure it is incorporated well. Then add 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream stir over medium to high heat until it starts to bubble. Then add 1 cup of crabmeat and mix well, once it comes to a bubble again remove from heat.
• For each serving:
• Add 1/2 cup of the tomato soup to bowl, to this add 2/3 cup of the crab soup, 1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan. And 1/4 teaspoon of the red lump fish caviar and mix well. Float a tablespoon of the crab soup in center
• Grate some more Parmesan on top. Add freshly ground black pepper, to taste, and serve
• I like to garnish with blue crab claws sauteed in butter and cream sherry and or some caviar. When in season I like to use fresh crab roe.

FRAMBOISE

Steps:

• Pick over raspberries and discard any soft ones. Place berries in a clean 4-quart glass jar. Add the vodka, cover with a lid, and let steep for about 2 months in a cool, dark place. Stir every few weeks.
• Line a large strainer with a triple layer of dampened cheesecloth and set it over a bowl. Strain the mixture through it. Bring the corners of the cheesecloth together to make a bag. Twist the ends and squeeze to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the pulp.
• Wash the jar and return the liquid to it. Let stand for about 2 hours. If there is sediment at the bottom of the jar, pour off all the clear liquid into a clean container and filter the remaining cloudy liquid through a coffee filter, changing the filter occasionally to speed up the filtering process.
• Combine the sugar and the water in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil, stirring, for 2 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved. Allow to cool to room temperature.
• Add about 1 3/4 cups of the sugar syrup to the liqueur and taste. If necessary, add more, about a 1/4 cup at a time, until you arrive at a satisfactory sweetness. The amount of sugar syrup will depend on your taste buds and the sweetness of the raspberries. I like it less sweet, so this step is important to me.
• Pour the liqueur into clean, dry bottles, and cork them.
• Drink within a year before the color and flavor fade. Best stored in a cool, dark place.
• (I like to wax my bottles. Get a clean tin can and put in a small pan of boiling water, then add about 1/4 block of household paraffin wax. Turn off the heat. Add a colored crayon or two, broken into pieces, and stir with a plastic spoon or a popsicle stick, until everything is melted. Place everything on several thicknesses of newspaper. Check the color of your wax on the newspaper, add more crayons if needed to get the color you want.
• Immerse the top of the firmly corked bottle so that the wax covers the first 2 inches, remove it and allow to cool for a few seconds, then dip it several more times, always allowing it to cool between coatings, until you can no longer see the cork through the wax. Let wax set until firm. (Sometimes I sprinkle glitter into the outside layers of the wax, it adds an even more festive touch!). Then add a homemade label, ribbons, rafia, whatever!

COSMOPOLITAN RASPBERRY TWIST

Steps:

• Put all ingredients into a shaker add as much ice as you can and give a good shake.
• Pour straight up or over ice.
• Garnish with lime slices and frozen raspberries which helps keep it chilled.

BLUSHING ALMOND TWIST

Steps:

• Combine the raspberry liqueur, amaretto and 7up and pour over ice.
• You can use more or less 7up to your personal tastes.