Spice (8 page)

1 cup heavy cream (whipping cream)

1.
Crush the espresso beans and cardamom by placing them together in a thick plastic bag and lightly pounding them or crushing them with something heavy (a rolling pin or wooden mallet works well). The espresso beans should have the texture of coarsely chopped nuts and the cardamom pods should split open.

2.
In a medium saucepan, bring the cream, milk, and crushed espresso and cardamom to a boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Cover the mixture and let the coffee and cardamom steep in the cream for about 1 hour.

3.
Preheat the oven to 300°F.

4.
In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks and the sugar together until thoroughly combined. Strain the cream (which is now infused with cardamom and coffee) through a fine sieve into the yolks, while whisking.

5.
When combined, strain again through the fine sieve to remove any pieces of cooked or lumpy yolk. Stir in the brewed espresso and espresso grounds.

6.
Fill eight 4-ounce espresso cups or ramekins with the mixture, pouring almost to the top, and place the cups in a large ovenproof baking dish. Pour some lukewarm water into the baking dish until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cups or ramekins. Using a small spoon, skim any fine bubbles that form on the top of each custard. This will ensure a smooth and creamy top.

7.
Cover the pan tightly with foil and bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Carefully remove the foil, because escaping steam can burn fingers. Test for doneness by shaking the pan gently; the crèmes should be set around the edges and not quite firm in the center. Remove the crèmes immediately from the pan and set them onto a baking sheet or tray, allowing them to cool for 5 to 10 minutes.

8.
Refrigerate the crèmes for several hours to chill and set. Top with whipped cream beaten to soft peaks and serve.

Turkish Coffee

For this classic drink, you will need a medium-size Turkish coffee pot (available at www.kalustyans.com) and 4 demitasse cups.

M
AKES
4
COFFEES

4 tablespoons finely ground espresso, as fine as powdered sugar

4 teaspoons sugar

4 demitasse cups full of cold water (about 1/3 cup)

1.
Place coffee, sugar, and water in the coffee pot, and do not stir. Cook over high heat until the sugar starts to melt and the coffee looks shiny, about 3 minutes. The coffee will get hot and the mixture will start to collapse. At this point, remove from the burner and stir the coffee with a spoon. Place the mixture back on the heat. Holding the pot, watch and wait until the coffee is not quite ready to boil, but begins to rise to the top of the pot.

2.
Remove from the heat and let it sit for 1 minute, then turn the heat on high and wait for the coffee to rise to the top of the pot again. This should take only 10 to 15 seconds, so make sure to watch the pot carefully. Repeat the process once more, for a third rising.

3.
After the third rising, carefully skim a little bit of the foam—or
crema
—from the top and divide it equally into 4 demitasse cups.

4.
Slowly pour the coffee into each cup, equally dividing the coffee. There should be a little
crema
on the top of each coffee.

5.
Sip the coffee to the grounds, turn the cup over onto the saucer, and let the grounds settle. Refer to Ayfer Unsal’s Guide to Reading Fortunes in Your Coffee Grounds (page 29) for interpretation.

Künefe with Champagne-Cardamom Syrup

Künefe
is an eastern Mediterranean dessert that is made with shredded phyllo dough (called
kadafi
) and filled with a sweet cheese. It’s baked until golden and crispy and soaked in a sweet syrup.

I had tasted several different künefes in the United States, but I finally understood what is so special about this dessert when I ordered one at a kebob restaurant called Hamdi, in Istanbul, next to the Egyptian Baazar. Hamdi’s künefe was the best, sweet, caramely, hot, crunchy, toasted cheesecake I had ever tasted. Hamdi used just the right amount of syrup, and the künefe was thin, crisp, and golden brown, with a sweet cheese center. In Turkey, they serve künefe with
kaymak
—a cream so thick that you can practically cut it—made from buffalo milk.

Maura Kilpatrick, who has been Oleana’s pastry chef from the day we opened (and whose skills leave me speechless), makes this version of künefe. Maura flavors the syrup with a brilliant cardamom-spiked champagne, and she tops the warm, crispy cheesecake with a dollop of mascarpone cheese and crushed, toasted pistachios.

S
ERVES
12

½ package shredded phyllo (kadafi), about ½ pound

10 tablespoons butter, melted

2 tablespoons whole milk

½ pound fresh buffalo mozzarella, grated on the large holes of a box grater

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

½ cup whole green cardamom pods

1 (750 ml) bottle sparkling wine (champagne), such as Prosecco

Zest of 2 lemons

¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 2 lemons)

1½ cups sugar

½ cup coarsely ground pistachios

8 tablespoons mascarpone cheese

1.
Preheat the oven to 375°F.

2.
Place the phyllo in a food processor and chop finely into ¼-inch shreds, so that it looks like shredded wheat cereal.

3.
Place the shredded pastry into a medium mixing bowl and add the butter and milk, stirring to coat the phyllo. Line an 8-inch-square heavy baking dish with half of this mixture.

4.
Mix the mozzarella and nutmeg in a small mixing bowl. Spread this mixture onto the phyllo. Top with the remaining shredded mixture. Press the mixture with your hands, so that it becomes compressed or even and packed down. Bake for 45 minutes.

5.
Meanwhile, crush the cardamom by placing the pods in a plastic bag and pounding them lightly with a rolling pin until the pods open and you see the black, oily seeds.

6.
Combine the crushed pods, wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, and sugar in a medium-large saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

7.
Turn the heat to medium-low and simmer the mixture for about 40 minutes, until it is slightly thick and syrupy and is reduced by about 1/3 (so that you have 2 cups left). Strain through a fine sieve.

8.
When the pastry comes out of the oven, ladle 2 cups of the syrup, little by little, over the
künefe
until it’s soaked.

9.
Cut the künefe into slices and serve it immediately while it is still warm. Sprinkle each slice with pistachios, spoon on a dollop of mascarpone cheese, and let guests add the remaining syrup if they want more sweetness.

Paopao Cocktail

This cocktail is one of my favorites on the fall/winter menu at Oleana. Just for fun, our wine director Theresa Paopao (pronounced “pow-pow”) and I created it. Theresa has developed a wonderful wine program at Oleana, and this pear and cardamom combination is another winner. Sweet and fragrant, it’s perfect before a meal and is also a delicious accompaniment when served with Fried Haloumi Cheese (page 10). I like to use Prosecco, a sparkling wine from northern Italy, because of its straightforward taste and generous bubbles. You can use any other inexpensive sparkling wine that you like, such as a Cava from Spain. I recommend saving good champagne to drink as is.