Chocolate Pistachio Cream Pie (Easy Dessert Recipe)

I love the combination of pistachio and chocolate. These mini pies are made with a filling of pistachio pudding nestled in a chocolate-flavored graham cracker crust. To accentuate the chocolate flavor, I added a thin layer of Nutella in between.

For the pistachio cream, I made a hassle-free pudding using pistachio-flavored Jell-O instant pie filling. I've made pistachio pudding in the past using corn starch, half and half and pâte de pistache but the pistachio flavor doesn't come as well. So why go through the headache when the Jell-O product tastes better?

You could top the mini pies with meringue or whipped cream but I thought it wasn't necessary, so I decorated them with crushed pistachios. Voilà!

Tarte Tatin aux Pommes (Upside down Apple Pie)

 Tarte Tatin sounds like a fancy dessert, but really, it's just an upside down caramel apple tart. I made a simple tart shell using dough called pâte brisée. Instead of filling the shell though, I placed slices of apples that were cooked in a caramel sauce into the mold and then covered them with the tart shell. The tarts then went into the oven to cook the shell. 

You really should eat these treats almost as soon as they come out of the oven. To plate, just flip each mold and the apples will now be on top. If you wait too long, the caramel will harden and it will be difficult to unmold.  If you flip the tart out and let it sit, the crust will get soggy. This has never been a problem at my house because the smell of freshly baking apples always manages to gather the entire family in the kitchen.

Vietnamese Chili Salt: An Exotic Flavor Enhancer for Fruit

Muối ớt is a popular seasoning in Vietnam. If you've been to Asia, you've probably noticed street vendors at every corner, selling fruits accompanied by chili salt packets.

Salt brings out the flavor of the fruit and enhances its sweetness. Vietnamese foods call for chile in almost everything and eating fruits with chile is no exception. It's currently green mango season, and green mangoes with chili salt is a refreshing starter for a hot summer meal. You can also serve it as a salad; check the tips section for the recipe. It's called gỏi xoài in Vietnamese.

We've been gorging ourselves on mounds of this delicious fruit. It's very good by itself, but I always add a pinch of chili salt to liven up the flavor. Try chili salt with fruits such as Granny Smith apples, plums or oranges. I guarantee you'll never go back!

Blackberry Polenta Tart with a Kaffir Lime Ginger Glaze

I was very frustrated yesterday after the memory card of my camera crashed and I wasn't able to show off my beautiful crostata with pecan and blueberry pie filling. All I could rescue was only one photo of the crostata before it went into the oven. So to redeem myself, I'm offering you un cadeau de consolation, a consolation prize with a blackberry polenta tart.

The sweet dough is made with polenta which gives a very crumbly texture. I filled the tart with blackberry preserves, topped them with fresh blackberries and finished them with a kaffir lime ginger glaze. Everything was gone, it was delicious. Mission accomplished!

Crostata with Pecan and Blueberry Pie Filling

* The memory card of my camera just crashed and that's the only picture I could recover of the crostata right before getting in the oven.

A crostata is a dessert that is filled with jams or fruits and its sweet crust is folded inward at each edge. It gives the tart a more artisanal, which means rustic in French, and free-form look than other regular pies.

I made the dough with polenta to give it a more crumbly texture and flavored it with star anise. I used fresh ginger and Meyer lemon for the filling in addition to the blueberries.