Brunch Recipe

French Crêpes with Maple Liqueur

Pairing
Maple Liqueur

Difficulty
Easy

Serves
6

Cook Time
30 Minutes

Winemaker, Jeff Murphy, loves maple syrup and made an aperitif using estate-grown grape spirits, Vidal wine, and local syrup. The Maple Liqueur tastes like a combination of ice wine and sherry, with a hint of maple. Johnson Estate released this new liqueur in March 2015, just as the region’s tapping season began. To celebrate NYS Maple Weekends, Fred was inspired to suggest serving this beverage with crêpes, which Fanny Tauzin-Dauga, a 2014 French winery intern, made for us during her stay here. Her recipe uses 2 cups of milk and she omits the butter, but liberally greases the pan with it. When I could not find her recipe, I used Julia Child’s recipe for dessert crêpes – except for the substitution of Maple Liqueur instead of the brandy/rum/orange liqueur. Remember that the batter benefits from resting at least two hours or overnight, according to Julia, before you make the crêpes.
Ingredients
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 whole eggs
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 3 tbsps Johnson Estate Maple Liqueur
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 5 tbsps clarified, melted butter
  • maple syrup, ground toasted nuts, and other garnishes
Directions
  1. Pour the milk, water, eggs, sugar, and Maple Liqueur into a food processor and blend for about a minute.
  2. In a separate bowl, mix flour, sifted if you like, and salt. Then add the liquid ingredients and mix well with an egg whip. Add the melted butter and stir until the batter is smooth – it will be quite thin.
  3. To begin cooking the crêpes, first make a test crêpe. Coat the skillet with a little butter and make sure the skillet is hot before pouring in a small ladle of batter. Immediately tilt the pan in all directions to coat the bottom of the skillet – if there is excess batter, pour it back into the bowl – and then put the pan on the heat for about a minute.
  4. Loosen the crêpe by sharply jerking the pan back and forth; lift the edge with a spatula and when lightly brown, flip it over to brown lightly. Julia notes that the second side is usually “spotty brown” and kept as the “nonpublic” aspect of the crepe. If the test crêpe is too thick, add water to thin the batter. Adjust the quantity of batter poured into the pan so that there is just one thin layer and no excess.
  5. Remove the crêpe and then brush a small amount of maple syrup on the crêpe. Sprinkle ground nuts – toasted pecans, Chocolate Hazelnuts, or Cinnamon Walnuts and roll it into one cylinder. Cut in half, if you like, and keep warm before serving. Fanny would make a large plate of crêpes and each guest would add spread butter, jam, syrup, sugar, etc to taste.
Salad Recipe

Baby Green Salad with Roasted Beets, Walnuts, and Goat Cheese

Difficulty
Easy

Serves
4

Cook Time
30 Minutes

This is, I have to admit, Jennifer’s favorite salad.

Ingredients
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 1-2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard
  • 1/2 cup Balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp black pepper
  • baby greens
  • cooked or roasted beets, sliced
  • sugared walnuts or plain toasted walnuts
  • slivers of tart, crisp apples (optional)
  • goat cheese
Directions

Ingredients 1-6 are for the dressing. Ingredients 7-12 are for the salad.

  1. Pour vinegar, mustard, and garlic into a food processor. Blend to mince garlic, then slowly add the olive oil while processing. The mixture will be, when it has sufficient olive oil, the color of milk chocolate and slightly thickened, like cream.
  2. Lightly dress the greens with the vinaigrette and add beets, apples, walnuts, and dollops of goat cheese. Toss gently and serve immediately.
Dessert Recipe

Apple Blackberry Pie with Lemon & Coriander

Pairing
Red Wine

Difficulty
Medium

Serves
6

Cook Time
60 Minutes

Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 cups white flour (pastry/organic as you prefer)
  • 1/4 cup ground flax seed (optional)
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 cups lard (or half butter, half grapeseed oil)
  • 4 tbsps very cold water plus 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 6 medium size apples (mixed variety fine)
  • 1 cup frozen or fresh blackberries
  • 1 juice from one lemon
  • 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
  • 3 tbsps white sugar
  • 2 tbsps white flour/arrowroot/cassava flour for thickening
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
Directions
  1. For the Crust: Mix dry ingredients and then add lard/oil & butter until the flour is sort of “pebbly”, the size of large peas. Mix vinegar with COLD water and add 2 tablespoons at a time to the flour and quickly mix until you have a soft, but not too sticky, dough. Divide the dough in half and roll each thinly between two pieces of wax paper so as to fit a 8-9” pie plate. With the lard crust, make certain that you sprinkle  additional flour as needed onto the dough so that it does not stick to the wax paper – it is very sticky.
  2. Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
  3. For the Pie Filling: You may peel the apples if you like – I do not, on the assumption that it sometimes adds color as well as vitamins and I use organic apples only. Cut the apples into quarters and core them. Then slice them into small slices, even chunks if you prefer, into a large bowl. Add lemon juice and zest. Mix flour, sugar, and coriander and pour over sliced apples and blackberries.
  4. Assembly: Line an 8” or 9” glass pie plate with one crust, removing the wax paper, being careful not to tear any holes in the crust. Add the apples/blackberries, taking care that there is not much space between the apple pieces – you need not place the pieces individually, but try to fill the pie plate carefully.
  5. To add the top crust, first moisten the edge of the crust with a little water. Peel one piece of wax paper from the second rolled crust and with a sharp knife, cut small slits (or your own design) in the top crust. Then place the crust carefully on top of the apples, crust side down. Remove the second piece of wax paper and press the edges of the top crust onto the bottom crust to seal. Dock with a fork or with your fingers, make a pattern around the edge. Bake at 400ºF for ten minutes, then about 30 minutes at 350ºF, until the crust is lightly toasted.

    Note on Apple Varieties:
    Some say that the best apple pies are the ones that utilize a mixture of different types of apples. We love pies that include crisp tart apples like Northern Spy, Rome, or Granny Smith and even little tart wild ones. Softer apples, like MacIntosh, will require somewhat shorter baking times. 
Appetizer Recipe

Asparagus Quiche

Pairing
White Wine

Difficulty
Easy

Serves
6

Cook Time
90 Minutes

Ingredients
  • 1 9-inch pie crust
  • 2 strips of bacon, cooked crisp, drained, and crumbled (can also use Smithfield ham or Canadian bacon)
  • 1 cup sautéed onion, chopped, or 1/2 cup of fresh scallions
  • 1/2 lb asparagus, cooked tender-crisp and cut
  • 1 cup shredded Swiss or Gruyère cheese, about 4 ounces
  • 1 cup milk (skim, low fat, or plain soy milk will work)
  • 2 egg whites
  • 2 whole eggs
  • 1 tsp tarragon, crumbled
  • 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg (optional)
  • 1/2 tsp salt to taste
  • 1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper
Directions
  1. Line a 9-inch pie plate with the crust. Prick the crust in several places with a fork and bake in a preheated 450 over for 7 minutes. Set the crust aside to cool. Lower the oven temperature to 350ºF.
  2. Sprinkle the crust with the bacon. Add the sautéed onion or scallions. Add the asparagus pieces, then the shredded cheese.
  3. In a small bowl, beat together the milk, egg whites, whole eggs, tarragon, nutmeg, parsley, salt and pepper. Pour this mixture carefully over the cheese.
  4. Bake the quiche for 30 minutes or until the custard has set (a knife inserted in the center of the quiche should come out clean).

Variations: One of my favorites is to use lightly cooked zucchini, thyme, and marjoram.

Adapted from Jane Brody’s The Good Food Book.

Main COurse Recipe

Herb-Crusted Pork Tenderloin Served Over Polenta

Pairing
White Wine

Difficulty
Medium

Serves
4

Cook Time
90 Minutes

Ingredients
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 8 fresh sage leaves
  • 4 tsps fresh thyme leaves
  • 4 tsps olive oil
  • 4 tsps salt
  • 1 1/2 tsps ground black pepper
  • 1 4-5 lb boneless beef loin New York strip, fat trimmed to 1/4 inch (or use pork tenderloins)
Directions
  1. With machine running, drop garlic into processor; blend until finely chopped. Add sage, thyme, oil, salt and pepper; process until paste forms.
  2. Pat meat dry with paper towels. Rub meat all over with paste. Cover and chill at least three hours.
  3. Roast, uncovered in hot oven – for beef, 15 minutes at 400ºF and 30-40 minutes at 350ºF. For tenderloins, I roasted at 450ºF for about 15 minutes – until thermometer reads about 165ºF. Serve over warm polenta.
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