Red Wine Poached Prune Tart Food

PRUNE TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium saucepan, bring wine, orange juice, 1/2 cup sugar, and cinnamon to a boil over high heat. Remove from heat; add prunes, and let steep 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer prunes to a bowl. Return liquid to a boil; cook until slightly reduced and thickened, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Meanwhile, roll out puff pastry into a 12-by-18-inch rectangle. In a small bowl, combine remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and orange zest; sprinkle evenly over pastry. Arrange prunes in rows over pastry, leaving a 1-inch border on all sides. In a small bowl, whisk together egg and cream; brush mixture on edges of pastry.
• Bake until crust is golden, about 20 minutes, rotating pan and brushing tart with reserved cooking liquid halfway through. Remove from oven; let cool slightly. Serve warm.

PRUNES POACHED IN RED WINE

Steps:

• Place prunes in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Let sit for 5 minutes, then drain.
• Meanwhile, combine wine and honey in a medium saucepan. Using the tip of a paring knife, scrape seeds from the vanilla bean halves into wine and add pods. Add cinnamon stick and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 5 minutes.
• Add prunes to wine and bring back to a simmer. Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add zest. Remove cinnamon stick.
• Cover and let sit for at least 2 hours before serving. Serve warm, room temperature or chilled. Prunes will keep for 1 to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

PRUNES IN PORT

Steps:

• soak prunes in the port overnight.
• next morning combine everything and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionaly.
• take out vanilla bean. (You can wash it and use it again).
• bottle, or store in the fridge.

RED WINE-POACHED PRUNE TART

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, bring wine, orange juice, 1/2 cup sugar, and the cinnamon stick to a boil. Remove from heat; add prunes, and let steep 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer prunes to a bowl. Return liquid to a boil; cook until slightly reduced and thickened, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Preheat oven to 375°F. On a lightly floured surface, roll out and trim dough to a 12-by-9-inch rectangle. (If necessary, overlap edges of 2 smaller pieces to form a larger rectangle; brush overlap with water to seal, then roll out dough.) Transfer to a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. In a small bowl, combine orange zest and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar; sprinkle evenly over pastry. Arrange prunes in rows over pastry, leaving a 1-inch border on all sides. In a small bowl, whisk together egg and cream; brush over edges of pastry.
• Bake, brushing tart with reserved cooking liquid halfway through, until crust is golden, about 28 minutes. Let cool slightly. Serve warm with crème fraîche or whipped cream.

RED WINE POACHED PEARS WITH VANILLA BEAN CUSTARD

Steps:

• For the pears: Remove a large strip of peel from the lemon and set aside. Squeeze the juice of the lemon into a medium bowl filled with water. Peel, halve and core the pears, adding the pears to the lemon water as you work (this will prevent them from browning).
• Combine the wine, sugar, vanilla, cloves, cinnamon stick and reserved lemon peel in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir until the sugar dissolves.
• Remove the pears from the lemon water and add to the wine mixture. Boil the pears until tender, 8 to 10 minutes on each side. Remove the pears from the poaching liquid to a wire rack to cool. If desired, continue to boil the poaching liquid until syrupy, about 10 minutes.
• For the vanilla bean custard sauce: Combine the cream and milk in a medium saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add to the cream mixture along with the scraped bean. Place over medium heat until bubbles form around the edges, then remove from the heat and remove the vanilla bean.
• Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl until combined. Gradually add a little of the hot cream mixture, whisking constantly until combined. Gradually add the remaining cream, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the saucepan. Cook over low heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon, about 6 minutes. Remove the custard from the saucepan and cool slightly.
• To serve, spoon some of the custard sauce onto serving plates and top each with a pear half. Dollop with whipped cream and sprinkle with candied pecans, if desired.

TORTA WITH PRUNES

Steps:

• To poach the prunes: Cut them into bite-sized morsels. Put them in a small saucepan with 1/3 cup of the sugar, the lemon zest, and the wine. Set the pan over medium-low heat, and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar. Let the syrup bubble gently and steadily for 15 minutes or so, reducing slowly, until it has thickened and barely covers the shiny poached prunes. Leave the prunes in the syrup to cool completely, then drain through a sieve, collecting and saving the remaining syrup, about 1/4 cup. (You can poach the prunes hours or a day ahead of time and leave them soaking in the syrup. Drain well before assembling the cake.)
• To make the cake: Arrange a rack in the center of the oven, and heat to 350°. Secure the bottom disk in the springform, and grease the inside surfaces with a tablespoon of the soft butter. Stir the bread crumbs and a tablespoon of sugar together. Coat the buttered bottom and sides of the cake pan completely with the crumb mixture, and shake out any loose crumbs.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
• Put the remaining sugar and butter in the mixer bowl and, using the paddle attachment, cream together for several minutes on high speed, scraping down the bowl several times, until light and smooth.
• Beat in the egg yolks one at a time; scrape down the bowl, and fluff up the batter on high speed after incorporating each yolk. On low speed, blend in the dry ingredients, mixing just until completely moistened and incorporated.
• In a clean bowl, whip the egg whites with the salt to firm peaks, using the whisk attachment or a hand whisk. Stir in a third of the whites to lighten the cake batter, then gently fold in the remainder. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, and spread it to fill the springform in a flat, even layer.
• Scatter the drained prune pieces all over the top of the batter, spaced evenly, covering the whole cake. Put the pan in the oven, and bake for about 45 minutes (rotating it after 25 minutes), as the batter rises around the prune pieces. When the top is golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, remove the cake to a wire cooling rack. Drizzle the remaining wine syrup all over the top of the warm cake, and let it cool for 1/2 hour or so before loosening and removing the side ring.
• Serve the torta slightly warm or at room temperature, cut in wedges-plain or topped with whipped cream.

PRUNE & CHOCOLATE TORTE

Steps:

• Put the prunes and brandy in a small bowl and leave to steep for about 30 minutes until most of the brandy has been absorbed.
• Preheat the oven to 190C/Gas 5/fan oven 170C. Grease a 23cm/9in loose-bottomed cake tin or springform tin. Put the cocoa, chocolate, butter and 140g/5oz of the sugar in a pan, add 100ml/31⁄2fl oz hot water and gently heat until the mixture is smooth. Leave to cool slightly.
• Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks, then gradually whisk in the remaining sugar. Sift the flour and cinnamon over and gently fold in with a metal spoon, until almost combined. Add the chocolate mix and fold in until evenly combined.
• Pour the mixture into the tin and arrange the prunes over the top (they will sink into the sponge during baking). Sprinkle over any remaining brandy and bake for about 30 minutes until just firm. Serve with cream or crème fraîche.

PRUNES IN RED WINE

Steps:

• Combine wine, orange peel, peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon sticks and allspice in a 2-quart saucepan. Bring to a simmer. Stir in sugar. Simmer 10 minutes. Add prunes, simmer 10 minutes more. Remove from heat. Stir in triple sec.
• Transfer to a bowl, cover and set aside up to 3 hours before serving, turning prunes in wine syrup from time to time. Strain, reserving syrup in a bowl. Return prunes to syrup and discard spices. Serve at once, with a dollop of cream if desired, or refrigerate until ready to serve.