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Tarts For The "King Fish"Jan 15 '07 (Updated Dec 11 '07) Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Not to be served to Vegetarians... unless you're twisted.
I made a promise to Dicky the KingFish (sounds like a Louisiana Mobster) last week. He’d give me his Blueberry Cake recipe and I’d give him my Butter Tarts. However I’ve decided to give them to anyone who wants to read this. ...But first a little back-story. The original base recipe for this was my grandmother’s. She was making them back in the thirty’s. She was a phenomenal cook. I took over making them about ten years ago and have made a few small modifications. I’m an avid skier. Every year myself and three to five of my friends go somewhere for a week, rent a huge house and ski all day, drink beer and play Texas Hold-em all night and eat like kings. Last year we were at Killington VT, the two years previous it was Panorama BC, before that, Ellicottville NY and Mt. Tremblant PQ. It is now the expectation that I stay back at the chalet the first night and bake enough of these for the week while the other guys go to the pub. If I do, I get the largest private bedroom in the house. If I don’t, I have to share a bedroom with Peter. Peter is an older Ukrainian dude who snores and farts all night… nice guy… makes a great goulash and plays a mean game of cards… but still, two of your five senses get pummeled for a week. Needless to say, I have made these religiously for the past five years. So here you go. SHMOO’S “MASTER SUITE” BUTTER TARTS Pie Crust -1 pound of Lard. (I have to stop myself already. Use lard. Don’t be a pansy. Don’t use vegetable shortening. I don’t care about the arguments and no it is not the same. Yes, lard is bad for you but you are not eating it with a spoon for 10 days straight, you are baking something that you might have once a year. You could eat a cup of slugs once a year and it wouldn’t kill you. If you have friends who are Vegans don’t offer them any. If you are a Vegan go read something else. If you are an animal rights activist, I respect your right to be so. I strongly urge you to shed as many tears as you feel is necessary and then do what I tell you. I hope I’ve made myself clear. Use lard.) -5 3/4 cups of Flour -2 tsp. Salt -1 egg well beaten, add Milk to make 1 cup. -1 tsp. White vinegar. -Cut lard in to thin slices and put in mixing bowl. Add flour and salt. -Blend thoroughly with pastry blender. For all the non- bakers out there, it looks kind of like a potato masher but isn’t. If you don’t have a pastry blender use two sharp knives (one per hand) and slice lard and flour crosswise. Do this till flour and lard look like lumpy porridge. Put some elbow in to it. It should give you a work out. -Add Egg, milk and vinegar. -Remove your rings and watch or you may lose them and someone will break a tooth. - With your hands (clean preferably) lightly knead dough until it’s a nice solid ball. The more you knead, the tougher the crust will get, but you need to have it workable so find a happy middle. - In a perfect world you will be able to put the dough in the fridge over night. This makes it easier to work with…however if not… - On a clean counter (or a counter with a pile of waxed paper taped down) put a heavy dusting of flour. Flour a rolling pin and roll out the dough until it’s just under ¼ of an inch thick. If you forgot to pack your rolling pin for this ski trip, use a full wine bottle. - Find something to cut the pastry in to large circles. You want the circles to be large enough that you have to cut the excess from the top of the muffin tins ones they’ve been inserted. I use an oversized martini glass. - Insert crusts in sprayed or greased muffin pans. Make sure that the crusts are flat all along the bottom. You will want to push down on the sides of the crusts to do this and not the center. - Cut excess crust so that the top of the crust is at the lip of the muffin pan and add excess back to original ball. - Do this until all crust is gone. Should make about 30. Filling - 3 to 4 cups of Sultana raisins (4 makes the sauce thicker, 3 makes it runnier) - 3 cups packed yellow sugar (yellow, instead of brown, makes them taste lighter) - 1 cup corn syrup - ½ cup unsalted butter - 4 eggs- beaten - 3 tsp Rum extract - 1 14 oz can of Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk. -Boil water in the kettle. -Put raisins in a large pot and pour hot water over them. Stir and let sit for about five minutes. -Drain well. -Turn stove element to low and mix raisins with sugar. Stir continuously until sugar melts. -Add corn syrup, continue to stir. -Add butter, beaten eggs, rum extract and milk. Keep stirring for a few minutes. If you like walnuts in your butter tarts, knock yourself out… crush some and toss them in. -With a large tablespoon, put filling in to uncooked tart shells. Don’t be chintzy, fill them almost to the top. Nobody is going to thank you for a tart that has a thin skin of filling at the bottom. They’ll think you’re cheap and were trying to skimp on ingredients. It’s like getting a turnover and finding that the “Raspberry Filling” is simply raspberry scent. Don’t over fill. -Pre-heat oven to 425. - Cook for 12 to 15 minutes. Don’t overcook or crust will burn. - Let them cool. When I say let them cool I mean LET THEM COOL. Don’t get over excited and try to take them out of the pan while they are still warm. You will be eating slop with a spoon. Your best bet is to put the pans in the freezer for about 1 to 2 hours. - Once they’re cool, pop them out of the tins by carefully running a sharp knife around the outer edges. Should stay good in the fridge for about a week. Freeze very well. Eat to your hearts content. Try to avoid giving yourself diabetes. If your urine starts smelling sweet, stop eating these. Enjoy… I may have one or two more recipes I’ll share.  |
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