I spent the last weekend repainting the trailer. I’ve tired some of the flat green paint, so I wanted to brighten it up a bit.

Here you can see a stabilizer bar I had to add to strengthen the area where the previous owner had cut out a tailgate. This causes the sides to be very flimsy. He had welded some angle for braces, but that prevented the tub from being removed to retore the frame.

The tub repaint also gave me an opportunity to go over the frame for rust and wear. It held up very well since I refinished it three years ago.

This also gave me an opportunity to devise a better latch system for the tailgate. I ended up using some street hood pins to secure it. It works very well, much better than the gate style latches I had used before.

The finished product for now. I’m going to be adding a tent for it, a water supply and finishing the interior soon. The future will have a lid added and more lighting.

Coming to Vermont in September, the Overland Rally and Workshops. This will be an exciting opportunity for instruction in basic and advanced 4wd, Adventure Motorcycle training, Outdoor travel photography, Expedition seminars and Overland travel skills and more.

It will be held in Rockingham Vermont on September 29, 30, October 1 & 2.

For more information and to register, look here:
Overland Rally & Workshops – Vermont

There are flavors that classically are intertwined. Those include things like: chocolate and raspberries, balsamic vinegar and strawberries and blueberries with lemon. One of my personal favorites is coffee and bananas.For this dessert I’ve also added two other primary flavors which blend with the others very well. Those are chocolate and Sambuca.

My ideal makeup for a dessert incorporates several different textures, flavors and temperatures. I like to limit it to 3, maybe 4 key flavor elements. The approach with this dessert is a coffee panna cotta with a circle of caramelized bananas on top. These are ringed by a sambuca foam and topped with a chocolate caviar.

For the Panna Cotta:
340g. heavy cream
80g whole coffee beans
1 vanilla bean
6g leaf gelatin
115g sugar
200g mascarpone
100g half and half

Bloom the gelatin leaves in water. Place the heavy cream and coffee beans into a heavy saucepan. Split and scrape the vanilla bean and add to the cream. Heat gently until scalded. Cover and let steep for at least an hour. Blend the mascarpone and half and half together with a rubber spatula. Be careful not to break the cheese by beating it too hard.After the steeping period is over, gently re-warm the cream with the sugar added. Add the gelatin and the mascarpone. Strain and portion.

For the cocoa caviar:
(I’ve made some of this recipe in volume because the size of some of the ingredients is too small for most scales to measure)
118g sugar
55g glucose
2 T cocoa powder
100g water
1/8t locust bean gum
1g agar agar

2 cups very cold vegetable oil (around 32 degrees F.)

Cook sugar and glucose together to a rich caramel. Make sure you wash down the sides with a brush to prevent crystallization. Deglaze with the water then mix in cocoa. Whisk in Agar and the Locust Bean Gum, bring to a simmer. Strain and cool slightly, but retain a little warmth to prevent solidifying. Fill a squirt bottle with a very small tip. Drop into cold oil. You can vary the size of drops with hand pressure.

For the Sambuca foam:
250g whole milk
55g Sambuca
50g sugar
1g powdered lecithin

Heat milk with sugar to a scald. Whisk in lecithin. Pull off heat and add Sambuca. Reserve.

To make the Banana circles and finish:
Sliced bananas (try to not make a bias cut)
melted butter
Demerrara sugar

Arrange banana slices on parchment paper squares. Form them into a circle around a half inch smaller than the container your panna cotta is in. Overlap each slice so it forms a tight ring. Coat with melted butter and store in the refrigerator. Coating them will make them easier to handle and will also delay oxydization. When ready, remove from the refigerator and sprinkle with demerrara sugar. Caramelize with torch until evenly brown. Try to move quickly, if heated too long the bananas will start sliding apart. Let cool and place on top of the panna cottas. Place Sambuca milk in a container that will leave you with at least 3 inches of side above the milk. Take a hand immersion blender and froth the milk. Spoon the bubbles around the edge of the bananas. Top with a spoon full of cocoa caviar.

This is a cold process extract. Very simple to make. I start with a quart of vodka, whichever suits your fancy. Add to it at least 12 dried vanilla beans. I like to add as many as I can spare, including a couple of fresh beans. Seal the bottle and let it sit in a dark, cool area. It will need at least 6 months to soften the alcohol, and add the intense flavor of the beans. It can be stored with the beans still nit after you start to use it, or you may strain it and move it to another container.

Back to basics in baking. I’ve been craving some real croissants (as Dunkin’ Donuts have the only variety for miles around here), so I set aside some time on a Sunday to do some baking.

Recipe:
2 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast
1/3 cups warm water (not over 105 degrees)
2 teaspoons sugar

3 1/2 cups AP Flour
4 teaspoons sugar
3 teaspoons salt
1 1/3 cups warm milk
1/4 cup veg. oil

1 1/3 cups unsalted butter (softened)

1 egg
1 tablespoon water

Bloom the yeast in the warm water with the first sugar in the bowl of a 5 qt. stand mixer with the dough hook attached.

When yeast starts to foam, add the flour, oil, sugar, salt, and warm milk. Mix with the dough hook until thoroughly combined, about 5 minutes. Place in a large bowl, covered, in a warm place to proof.

When double in volume, turn onto work surface and roll into a triangle, about 17 x 10.

Smooth the softened butter(not melted) onto 2/3 of the dough, leaving at least 1/2 inch around the outside so the dough will seal.

Fold 1/3 over the middle, then the other 1/3 over that. Making a book fold.

Roll into a 17 x 10 rectangle again, and do another fold. Chill 2 hours, roll and fold. Chill another 2 hours and repeat fold. Chill 2 hours.

Divide dough into fourths. Place 1 piece on work surface and roll into a 12 x 8 rectangle. Cut triangles.

Starting at the large base end, roll triangle up, stretching the outside points slightly as you go.

Moisten the tip with water to seal. Place on parchment lined sheet tray and curl the ends slightly in.

Repeat for all pieces. Cover and place in warm area to rise.

Beat egg with water, and glaze each croissant.

Bake in 425 degree oven, turning once, until brown. About 12 to 15 minutes.

1l milk
4 vanilla beans
12 whole eggs
8 egg yolks
500g sugar

Scrape vanilla beans into milk and bring to a scald. Cover and steep 45 minutes. Ribbon whole eggs and yolks with sugar. Bring milk back to a scald and temper into yolk mixture. Strain into ice bath.

sorry for the cruddy cell phone pic.

I decided on a roasted pear tart. Wanting to capture the flavor of a tart tatin, it’s got a caramelized crust on top… much like a crème brûlée. It sits on a pâte sablée crust, which is one of my favorite doughs of all time practically. The pears themselves were cooked much in the fashion of an old family apple tart, just out of the crust.

For the pâte sablée:
135g unsalted butter
120g sugar
55g egg yolks
4g vanilla extract
3g salt
9g baking powder
180g AP flour
1 egg for egg wash

Sift the flour and baking powder together. Cream the butter and sugar until very light. Add the salt, vanilla, egg yolks scraping down the bowl. Then add the flour mix until just combined. Be careful not to overwork the dough. Chill in the refrigerator.
Roll dough to a thickness of about 1/3 inch. Cut into the shape you like to fit the mold you are using. Brush with egg wash and bake in a 350 degree oven until golden brown.

For the pears:
This tart is held together loosely by gelatin. For 10 pears, two sheets will work well. Bloom in cold water. Select any variety that you’d like. I like to mix it up with several kinds. Peel and core them. Chop into a large dice. Saute in butter, sugar and vanilla beans until nicely caramelized. Place in a 325 degree oven and continue cooking until just softened. Melt the gelatin n a microwave until just liquefied. Add to the warm pears.
Place sablée into bottom of mold. Add pears to fill on top, pressing down to ensure that there aren’t any spaces. Try for a nice level top. Place in refrigerator to set.
When ready to serve, remove from mold and sprinkle with demerrara sugar. Caramelize with a torch.