Chocolate Pot de Creme with Pistachio Shortbread

Around these parts, there's a grocery store that's famous for good food. Bi-Rite Market is a neighborhood institution known for its carefully chosen, locally-made, organic foods of all kinds, and I always walk out with a smile on my face and something absolutely delicious in my bag.

One of their awesome creations is particularly drool-worthy, though unassuming in its small plastic container, and seems to always work its way into my shopping basket. Chocolate Pot de Creme is somewhere between mousse, ganache and pudding and can be made into elegant individual desserts or saved for a late night pajama craving. Luckily for me (and you), Bi-Rite recently published a book called Eat Good Food, describing the best ways to shop, store and prepare your food, and it includes this recipe!

The ingredients aren't complicated, but make sure that you get good quality chocolate - no Hershey's here! For budget shoppers I suggest Trader Joe's pound plus bars, or if you want to splurge pick up some Scharffen-Berger or Tcho. Dark chocolate (70-75%) will make a sinfully rich and deep flavor, while milk chocolate (60-65%) will be significantly lighter and more pudding-like. I used 4-oz canning jars, but you can use tea cups, small bowls, even martini glasses as the mood strikes you!

And what's better to accompany your pot de creme than the light, buttery crunch of pistachio shortbread? They're the perfect sidekick with a contrasting texture and complementary flavor, and taste fantastic with your coffee the next morning. Elegant but simple, they're the best cookies I've made in a long time.

Chocolate Pot de Creme
From Bi-Rite Market's Eat Good Food
Makes 8 4-oz servings

6 oz semisweet or dark chocolate, chopped
2 C heavy whipping cream
3/4 C + 2 Tbsp half and half
1/8 tsp salt
6 Tbsp sugar
9 egg yolks (freeze the egg whites to use later!)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Fresh whipped cream and/or shaved chocolate for garnish

Directions: Place chopped chocolate in a large heatproof bowl and set aside. Combine egg yolks and 3 Tbsp sugar in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth, then set aside. Combine cream, half and half and 3 Tbsp sugar in a medium saucepan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until just before it simmers (small bubbles appear around the edge of the pan).

Pour about a cup of the hot cream mixture into the egg yolks while whisking constantly, then pour yolk mixture back into the saucepan and whisk constantly until smooth. Put the pan back onto medium-high heat and cook, stirring constantly, for 2-3 minutes until the mixture has the texture of pureed soup.

Pour cream mixture over chocolate and let sit for 3-5 minutes. Slowly and gently stir with a whisk until smooth, being careful not to incorporate air. Add vanilla and stir to blend.

Pour mixture through a fine strainer into a measuring cup, then divide among containers. refrigerate, uncovered for 2 hours and then wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least another 4 hours before serving. Let the pots de creme sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving. To store longer, you can freeze the containers.

Pistachio Shortbread
From Bon Appetit, via Epicurious
Makes about 36 cookies

1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C + 2 Tbsp powdered sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 C (1 1/2 sticks) butter, chilled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 C roasted, unsalted pistachios
1 egg yolk
3/4 tsp vanilla extract

Directions: Chop pistachios in a food processor into a coarse meal. Set aside. Mix together flour, sugar and salt using the food processor. Add butter, pistachios, egg yolk and vanilla and pulse until ball of dough forms. Divide dough into two parts, and roll each into a log about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours, or until firm. (At this point you can freeze the dough for later)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment. Slice logs into 1/4 inch thick pieces, re-rolling if necessary to reshape. Place on baking sheet about 1 inch apart and bake until lightly golden, about 18 minutes.

Lemon Berry Cheesecake

The warmth and crunch of a graham cracker-pistachio crust is perfectly contrasted with the creamy cloud of light lemon cake dotted with pops of roasted blueberry, and topped with the crisp sweetness of fresh strawberries. Are you listening? 

There's only one possible color scheme for Fourth of July dessert. This year, I created a cheesecake that ranks among the best desserts I've ever made - and I can't wait to share it with you! My audience was rather skeptical about the lack of cream cheese ("How can it be cheesecake...?") but everyone was very impressed with the light, creamy texture of the finished product. I believe it's marginally healthier than the traditional recipe, but you should choose this cheesecake simply because it is FANTASTIC.

If you're not experienced with baking cheesecakes, all you need are the right tools and a few guiding principles. You definitely need a springform pan, with a detachable ring around the sides to allow full release of the cheesecake when it's cooled. Also make sure you have some heavy duty aluminum foil and a roasting pan for the water bath when you're baking it. The rest is... cake.

Lemon Berry Cheesecake

Makes one 8" cheesecake

Recipe adapted from A Culinary Journey with Chef Dennis

Graham Cracker-Pistachio Crust

9 graham crackers

3/8 C dry roasted unsalted pistachios

6 Tbsp melted butter (3/4 stick)

1/8 C + 1 Tbsp granulated sugar

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pulse graham crackers and pistachios in a food processor until finely and evenly ground. Add sugar and pulse to combine. Add melted butter in small increments until mixture is moist and sticks together but doesn't ooze butter (you may not use all of the butter). Press crust into bottom of springform pan with your fingers to form an even layer. Bake for 7 minutes, remove and let cool completely.

Lemon Cheesecake

1 C fresh blueberries (or frozen fresh)

12 oz ricotta cheese

12 oz mascarpone cheese

6 oz greek yogurt

3/4 C granulated sugar

4 eggs

1 1/2 Tbsp all-purpose flour

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

Juice from 1/2 lemon

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 tsp salt

~10 fresh strawberries for decoration

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread blueberries onto baking sheet lined with foil, and roast for about 8-10 minutes until berries start to pop and release their juices. Remove from oven and set aside.

With an electric mixer, blend together ricotta, mascarpone, greek yogurt until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, blending between. Add sugar, flour, lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla and salt and combine completely. 

Wrap the cooled springform pan with heavy duty foil and place in roasting pan. Add water until the line reaches ~1/3 the height of the springform. Pour cheesecake mixture on top of cooled crust. Add roasted blueberries by small amounts on top, and swirl once or twice with a spoon to distribute them (they will sink to the bottom but leave some flavor throughout). 

Bake for 50-60 minutes, until the cake is set in the center (not liquid, but still jiggly). It will brown lightly on top, so cover the cake with foil after 30 minutes if you want to keep it light. When it's done, turn oven off and let the cake sit in the oven for 1 hour to set completely. Remove and let cool completely. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight before decorating and serving.

To decorate, wash and hull strawberries and slice them lengthwise. Arrange along the circumference of the cake, starting with the outside edge and moving inwards. If you have extra strawberries, puree them in a food processor and serve the fresh sauce with the cheesecake!