Now and Then

135What I would miss ifI left Italy RAGÙ 1 red onion (230 g/8 oz), peeled and cut into chunks 2 carrots (170 g/6 oz total weight), peeled and cut into chunks 2 celery stalks (100 g/ 3½ oz total weight) 3 garlic cloves, peeled 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 650 g (1 lb 5 oz) minced beef with some fat 2 Italian pork sausages (180 g/6 oz), skins removed 500 ml (17 ﬂ oz/2 cups) good red wine 2 tablespoons tomato concentrate (paste) 185 ml (6 ﬂ oz/¾ cup) tomato passata or tomato polpa (crushed tomatoes) 1–1.25 litres (35–44 ﬂ oz/ 4–5 cups) hot water 2 long strips of lemon zest (no pith) a little butter for serving, not cold from the fridge (about 10 g/¼ oz per person) grated parmesan, to serve >> Paglia and fieno (straw and hay) is a two-colour tagliatelle – yellow and green. The more you make fresh egg pasta, the easier it gets. It is great with porcini and even just butter and parmesan. Nonna Wilma cooks her ragù for about 2½ hours after browning the vegetables and meat. You can make it for a meal (this ragù is enough for eight or more) and add any left – still hot – to a clean glass jar. Seal the lid, turn the jar upside down to cool and create a vacuum. Keep upright in the fridge for that week. You could also freeze any leftover ragù once cooled. Wilma makes a quick vegetable broth here – or you can use water. I also love spaghetti with a heap of ragù served over it and a blob of butter on top. For the ragù, put the onions and carrots into a blender. With a vegetable peeler, strip away the celery strings, cut into chunks and put into the blender with the garlic. Pulse chop to tiny bits – not quite a purée, but almost. Heat the oil in a wide non-stick pan that has some height. Add the vegetables, scatter a little salt in and cook for 10–15 minutes on a fairly strong heat, stirring regularly with a wooden spoon, until they have softened and are golden around the edges. Crumble up the mince and sausage finely to break it down and add to the pan, mixing well into the vegetables. Sauté, stirring often until all the water has been absorbed and it is starting to turn golden – about 15 minutes. (Listen for the frying sound, says Nonna.) Avoid overbrowning it here as it will make crisp, separate crumbly bits in the finished sauce – which we don’t want. Add the wine all in one go and cook until it is absorbed. When the wine has all evaporated, add the tomato concentrate, along with the tomato passata and 500 ml (17 fl oz/2 cups) of hot water. Season with about 1 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper. Cover, lower the heat to minimum and simmer for about 2 hours, stirring now and then to check that nothing is sticking. When it has absorbed a lot of the liquid, add another 250 ml (9 fl oz/1 cup) of water, keeping it moist and adding more water as necessary while cooking. Remove the lid, taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Add the lemon zest and simmer, covered, for another 30 minutes, adding more water when necessary. Let it bubble gently, until it has a united sauce look to it. Keep warm. continued >> PAGLIA E FIENO WITH RAGÙ MB_NOW & THEN_Tessa Kiros TXT_SI MB SI.indd 13515/5/23 2:41 pmMB_NOW & THEN_Tessa Kiros TXT_SI MB SI.indd 13415/5/23 2:41 pm Now_and_Then_TXT 23-05-30 1_TEXT BLACKBlackYellowMagentaCyan p134 Now_and_Then_TXT 23-05-30 1_TEXT BLACKBlackYellowMagentaCyan p135 135What I would miss ifI left Italy RAGÙ 1 red onion (230 g/8 oz), peeled and cut into chunks 2 carrots (170 g/6 oz total weight), peeled and cut into chunks 2 celery stalks (100 g/ 3½ oz total weight) 3 garlic cloves, peeled 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 650 g (1 lb 5 oz) minced beef with some fat 2 Italian pork sausages (180 g/6 oz), skins removed 500 ml (17 ﬂ oz/2 cups) good red wine 2 tablespoons tomato concentrate (paste) 185 ml (6 ﬂ oz/¾ cup) tomato passata or tomato polpa (crushed tomatoes) 1–1.25 litres (35–44 ﬂ oz/ 4–5 cups) hot water 2 long strips of lemon zest (no pith) a little butter for serving, not cold from the fridge (about 10 g/¼ oz per person) grated parmesan, to serve >> Paglia and fieno (straw and hay) is a two-colour tagliatelle – yellow and green. The more you make fresh egg pasta, the easier it gets. It is great with porcini and even just butter and parmesan. Nonna Wilma cooks her ragù for about 2½ hours after browning the vegetables and meat. You can make it for a meal (this ragù is enough for eight or more) and add any left – still hot – to a clean glass jar. Seal the lid, turn the jar upside down to cool and create a vacuum. Keep upright in the fridge for that week. You could also freeze any leftover ragù once cooled. Wilma makes a quick vegetable broth here – or you can use water. I also love spaghetti with a heap of ragù served over it and a blob of butter on top. For the ragù, put the onions and carrots into a blender. With a vegetable peeler, strip away the celery strings, cut into chunks and put into the blender with the garlic. Pulse chop to tiny bits – not quite a purée, but almost. Heat the oil in a wide non-stick pan that has some height. Add the vegetables, scatter a little salt in and cook for 10–15 minutes on a fairly strong heat, stirring regularly with a wooden spoon, until they have softened and are golden around the edges. Crumble up the mince and sausage finely to break it down and add to the pan, mixing well into the vegetables. Sauté, stirring often until all the water has been absorbed and it is starting to turn golden – about 15 minutes. (Listen for the frying sound, says Nonna.) Avoid overbrowning it here as it will make crisp, separate crumbly bits in the finished sauce – which we don’t want. Add the wine all in one go and cook until it is absorbed. When the wine has all evaporated, add the tomato concentrate, along with the tomato passata and 500 ml (17 fl oz/2 cups) of hot water. Season with about 1 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper. Cover, lower the heat to minimum and simmer for about 2 hours, stirring now and then to check that nothing is sticking. When it has absorbed a lot of the liquid, add another 250 ml (9 fl oz/1 cup) of water, keeping it moist and adding more water as necessary while cooking. Remove the lid, taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Add the lemon zest and simmer, covered, for another 30 minutes, adding more water when necessary. Let it bubble gently, until it has a united sauce look to it. Keep warm. continued >> PAGLIA E FIENO WITH RAGÙ MB_NOW & THEN_Tessa Kiros TXT_SI MB SI.indd 13515/5/23 2:41 pmMB_NOW & THEN_Tessa Kiros TXT_SI MB SI.indd 13415/5/23 2:41 pm Now_and_Then_TXT 23-05-30 1_TEXT BLACKBlackYellowMagentaCyan p134 Now_and_Then_TXT 23-05-30 1_TEXT BLACKBlackYellowMagentaCyan p135 137What I would miss ifI left Italy flour once finished and not touching each other. (You will get 2 sheets from each third after halving, so in total 6 from the egg pasta, 6 from spinach). The sheets will measure roughly 32 x 11 cm (12½ x 4¼ in) with a 2 mm (¹⁄ in) thickness. Leave them to dry for 15 minutes or so while you roll out the green ones, then lay those out on trays to dry a little before cutting them. To cut, roll a sheet of pasta up loosely from one short end to the other, without pressing down, gently cut each into strips about a centimetre wide, then unfurl with your fingers to separate them from each other. Alternatively, you can cut with the machine cutters (they may be a bit thinner). Fluff the pasta strips out onto the trays or tea towels dusted with flour or semola in loose nests or bundles so the strips won’t stick together. Cut the remaining pasta sheets into strips. They can be cooked whenever you are ready. Cook the fresh pasta: shake away some of the semola and flour by unfurling the pasta through your fingers and drop it into boiling salted water for a few minutes. If using spaghetti, cook following the timing instructions on the package. Drain with a pasta fork directly into individual bowls. Dollop a good amount of warm ragù over the top of each and add a small blob of butter. Serve immediately with parmesan on the side. Brodo 1 ca ot , 1 stalk celery , 1 piece onion or sha ot , a li le salt , 1 1/2 litres (52 fl oz / 6 cups) water. Simmer covered for about 1 hour. Keep hot. MB_NOW & THEN_Tessa Kiros TXT_SI.indd 13725/5/23 8:54 am 136Now & Then Make the fresh pasta. Bring a pot of lightly salted water to the boil and cook the spinach quickly to soften. Drain into a colander, cool, then squeeze out all the water firmly with your hands or in a tea towel. Chop as finely as you can, then leave to cool completely. Put the flour into a wide bowl or on your work surface. Make a well in the centre and crack in the eggs. Add the olive oil, 1 tablespoon of water and 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix to a loose dough, adding a little more water if necessary, then knead well until it is soft and smooth. Add a little more water if it seems very hard or pat your hands in flour if it feels too wet (just a little at a time) and keep kneading until soft, about 7 or 8 minutes in total. Divide the dough into 2 pieces, one slightly larger than the other, and put into 2 separate bowls. To the smaller portion of dough, add the spinach along with the 2 tablespoons of flour. Using your hands, mix in to combine well, patting your hands in flour if it feels too wet, then keep going until you have a soft green dough. Cover both bowls with a tea towel and leave at room temperature to rest for at least an hour before rolling out (and up to a few hours at room temperature – if longer, moisten the cloth). Set up your pasta machine and have some flour and semola next to you on a couple of large trays or boards. If you don’t have these, have a few clean tea towels spread out. Scatter the trays or tea towels with some semola or regular flour. To roll out the pasta, start with the plain egg one. Divide the dough into 3 parts. Flatten one of these pieces a little with your hands, making it quite wide, then pass it through the widest setting on your pasta machine. Fold it up like a book, then feed it through this setting a second time, keeping the edges as straight as possible. Pat a little flour over both sides of the pasta sheet. Lower the setting by two, then pass the pasta sheet through once, again patting with a little flour if it feels damp at any time and to avoid it sticking. Lower the setting by two again. Pass the pasta through once, then halve the pasta sheets now to make them more manageable. At this point, if your pasta sheets are close to 30 cm (12 in) long, then pass them through this setting again to get them just a little longer. If they are much shorter, then lower the setting to the second, thinnest setting and pass through once. Lay the pasta sheets onto trays dusted with semola or regular PASTA 120 g (4¼ oz) spinach leaves 400 g (14 oz) plain (all-purpose) ﬂ our, plus 2 tablespoons and extra for rolling 4 eggs 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil semola ﬂ our, for rolling Serves 6 MB_NOW & THEN_Tessa Kiros TXT_SI MB SI.indd 13615/5/23 2:41 pm Now_and_Then_TXT 23-05-30 1_TEXT BLACKBlackYellowMagentaCyan p136 Now_and_Then_TXT 23-05-30 1_TEXT BLACKBlackYellowMagentaCyan p137 137What I would miss ifI left Italy flour once finished and not touching each other. (You will get 2 sheets from each third after halving, so in total 6 from the egg pasta, 6 from spinach). The sheets will measure roughly 32 x 11 cm (12½ x 4¼ in) with a 2 mm (¹⁄ in) thickness. Leave them to dry for 15 minutes or so while you roll out the green ones, then lay those out on trays to dry a little before cutting them. To cut, roll a sheet of pasta up loosely from one short end to the other, without pressing down, gently cut each into strips about a centimetre wide, then unfurl with your fingers to separate them from each other. Alternatively, you can cut with the machine cutters (they may be a bit thinner). Fluff the pasta strips out onto the trays or tea towels dusted with flour or semola in loose nests or bundles so the strips won’t stick together. Cut the remaining pasta sheets into strips. They can be cooked whenever you are ready. Cook the fresh pasta: shake away some of the semola and flour by unfurling the pasta through your fingers and drop it into boiling salted water for a few minutes. If using spaghetti, cook following the timing instructions on the package. Drain with a pasta fork directly into individual bowls. Dollop a good amount of warm ragù over the top of each and add a small blob of butter. Serve immediately with parmesan on the side. Brodo 1 ca ot , 1 stalk celery , 1 piece onion or sha ot , a li le salt , 1 1/2 litres (52 fl oz / 6 cups) water. Simmer covered for about 1 hour. Keep hot. MB_NOW & THEN_Tessa Kiros TXT_SI.indd 13725/5/23 8:54 am 136Now & Then Make the fresh pasta. Bring a pot of lightly salted water to the boil and cook the spinach quickly to soften. Drain into a colander, cool, then squeeze out all the water firmly with your hands or in a tea towel. Chop as finely as you can, then leave to cool completely. Put the flour into a wide bowl or on your work surface. Make a well in the centre and crack in the eggs. Add the olive oil, 1 tablespoon of water and 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix to a loose dough, adding a little more water if necessary, then knead well until it is soft and smooth. Add a little more water if it seems very hard or pat your hands in flour if it feels too wet (just a little at a time) and keep kneading until soft, about 7 or 8 minutes in total. Divide the dough into 2 pieces, one slightly larger than the other, and put into 2 separate bowls. To the smaller portion of dough, add the spinach along with the 2 tablespoons of flour. Using your hands, mix in to combine well, patting your hands in flour if it feels too wet, then keep going until you have a soft green dough. Cover both bowls with a tea towel and leave at room temperature to rest for at least an hour before rolling out (and up to a few hours at room temperature – if longer, moisten the cloth). Set up your pasta machine and have some flour and semola next to you on a couple of large trays or boards. If you don’t have these, have a few clean tea towels spread out. Scatter the trays or tea towels with some semola or regular flour. To roll out the pasta, start with the plain egg one. Divide the dough into 3 parts. Flatten one of these pieces a little with your hands, making it quite wide, then pass it through the widest setting on your pasta machine. Fold it up like a book, then feed it through this setting a second time, keeping the edges as straight as possible. Pat a little flour over both sides of the pasta sheet. Lower the setting by two, then pass the pasta sheet through once, again patting with a little flour if it feels damp at any time and to avoid it sticking. Lower the setting by two again. Pass the pasta through once, then halve the pasta sheets now to make them more manageable. At this point, if your pasta sheets are close to 30 cm (12 in) long, then pass them through this setting again to get them just a little longer. If they are much shorter, then lower the setting to the second, thinnest setting and pass through once. Lay the pasta sheets onto trays dusted with semola or regular PASTA 120 g (4¼ oz) spinach leaves 400 g (14 oz) plain (all-purpose) ﬂ our, plus 2 tablespoons and extra for rolling 4 eggs 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil semola ﬂ our, for rolling Serves 6 MB_NOW & THEN_Tessa Kiros TXT_SI MB SI.indd 13615/5/23 2:41 pm Now_and_Then_TXT 23-05-30 1_TEXT BLACKBlackYellowMagentaCyan p136 Now_and_Then_TXT 23-05-30 1_TEXT BLACKBlackYellowMagentaCyan p137 121What I would miss ifI left Italy 3 eggplants (aubergines), about 1.35 kg (3 lb 1 oz) total weight 150 g (5½ oz/1 cup) plain (all-purpose) ﬂ our sunﬂ ower and olive oil (a mixture of both), for frying 3 x 125 g (4½ oz) mozzarella balls, chopped 80 g (2¾ oz) grated parmesan TOMATO SALSA 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 large garlic clove, halved 1 x 700 g (1 lb 9 oz) bottle tomato polpa (crushed tomatoes) a small handful of basil leaves, plus 7 or 8 for serving Serves 6 to 8 I like this plump and rich, served in an abundant four-layer stack as a nice square at lunch. This dish needs a little settling time when it comes out of the oven – an hour or so, and some say even longer. When frying many eggplants like this the oil does need to be changed at least once. Cut the eggplants into 7 mm (2¾ in) round slices (you will have about 44 slices). Put them into a large bowl or colander, sprinkle with a tablespoon of coarse salt and leave to drain for 30 minutes or longer. Rinse, then lay them onto tea towels to dry. Put the flour in a shallow bowl and pat the eggplants on both sides to coat, shaking away the excess. Line a couple of large plates with paper towels. Put enough oil in a large frying pan to go about 3 cm (1¼ in) up the sides. Fry the slices in batches over a medium–high heat until nicely golden on both sides. As the slices are done, hold them up with tongs over the pan to drip excess oil back in. Put them on the plates to absorb oil and sprinkle lightly with salt. While the eggplants are frying, make your tomato salsa. Heat the olive oil in a wide pot with the garlic. When it starts to smell good, add the tomato. Swish out the bottle with 250 ml (9 fl oz/1 cup) of hot water and add this to the pot. Season with 1 teaspoon of salt and a couple of grinds of pepper, and simmer for about 15 minutes or until thickened, putting a lid on to partly cover if it is splashing. Tear in the basil leaves and cook for a couple of minutes more, then remove from the heat. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Put the mozzarella onto a plate and the parmesan onto another. Use a spoon to roughly divide each of them into 4. Remove the garlic from the sauce, then dollop about 125 ml (4 fl oz/ ½ cup) of it onto the bottom of a 22 x 30 cm (8½ x 12 in) oven dish. Cover with a quarter of the eggplant slices in a layer (10–12 slices), then scatter over a quarter of the mozzarella, followed by a quarter of the parmesan. Repeat the layering 3 more times, finishing with the scattering of parmesan. (On the final layer you will probably have more sauce – use it all here.) Put into the hot oven until golden and a bit crusty here and there, for about 30 minutes. Remove and let cool slightly. Cut into good squares, scatter with basil leaves and serve warm. It is also good the next day. MELANZANE ALLA PARMIGIANA Yasmine's 23rd birthday lunch MB_NOW & THEN_Tessa Kiros TXT_SI MB SI.indd 12115/5/23 2:41 pm Yasmine's 23rd birthday lunch MB_NOW & THEN_Tessa Kiros TXT_SI MB SI.indd 12015/5/23 2:41 pm Now_and_Then_TXT 23-05-30 1_TEXT BLACKBlackYellowMagentaCyan p120 Now_and_Then_TXT 23-05-30 1_TEXT BLACKBlackYellowMagentaCyan p121 121What I would miss ifI left Italy 3 eggplants (aubergines), about 1.35 kg (3 lb 1 oz) total weight 150 g (5½ oz/1 cup) plain (all-purpose) ﬂ our sunﬂ ower and olive oil (a mixture of both), for frying 3 x 125 g (4½ oz) mozzarella balls, chopped 80 g (2¾ oz) grated parmesan TOMATO SALSA 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 large garlic clove, halved 1 x 700 g (1 lb 9 oz) bottle tomato polpa (crushed tomatoes) a small handful of basil leaves, plus 7 or 8 for serving Serves 6 to 8 I like this plump and rich, served in an abundant four-layer stack as a nice square at lunch. This dish needs a little settling time when it comes out of the oven – an hour or so, and some say even longer. When frying many eggplants like this the oil does need to be changed at least once. Cut the eggplants into 7 mm (2¾ in) round slices (you will have about 44 slices). Put them into a large bowl or colander, sprinkle with a tablespoon of coarse salt and leave to drain for 30 minutes or longer. Rinse, then lay them onto tea towels to dry. Put the flour in a shallow bowl and pat the eggplants on both sides to coat, shaking away the excess. Line a couple of large plates with paper towels. Put enough oil in a large frying pan to go about 3 cm (1¼ in) up the sides. Fry the slices in batches over a medium–high heat until nicely golden on both sides. As the slices are done, hold them up with tongs over the pan to drip excess oil back in. Put them on the plates to absorb oil and sprinkle lightly with salt. While the eggplants are frying, make your tomato salsa. Heat the olive oil in a wide pot with the garlic. When it starts to smell good, add the tomato. Swish out the bottle with 250 ml (9 fl oz/1 cup) of hot water and add this to the pot. Season with 1 teaspoon of salt and a couple of grinds of pepper, and simmer for about 15 minutes or until thickened, putting a lid on to partly cover if it is splashing. Tear in the basil leaves and cook for a couple of minutes more, then remove from the heat. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Put the mozzarella onto a plate and the parmesan onto another. Use a spoon to roughly divide each of them into 4. Remove the garlic from the sauce, then dollop about 125 ml (4 fl oz/ ½ cup) of it onto the bottom of a 22 x 30 cm (8½ x 12 in) oven dish. Cover with a quarter of the eggplant slices in a layer (10–12 slices), then scatter over a quarter of the mozzarella, followed by a quarter of the parmesan. Repeat the layering 3 more times, finishing with the scattering of parmesan. (On the final layer you will probably have more sauce – use it all here.) Put into the hot oven until golden and a bit crusty here and there, for about 30 minutes. Remove and let cool slightly. Cut into good squares, scatter with basil leaves and serve warm. It is also good the next day. MELANZANE ALLA PARMIGIANA Yasmine's 23rd birthday lunch MB_NOW & THEN_Tessa Kiros TXT_SI MB SI.indd 12115/5/23 2:41 pm Yasmine's 23rd birthday lunch MB_NOW & THEN_Tessa Kiros TXT_SI MB SI.indd 12015/5/23 2:41 pm Now_and_Then_TXT 23-05-30 1_TEXT BLACKBlackYellowMagentaCyan p120 Now_and_Then_TXT 23-05-30 1_TEXT BLACKBlackYellowMagentaCyan p121 193New Orleans sojourn To assemble, remove the pie from the springform tin (or leave it in the pie tin). Give a final energetic whisk to the custard and then spread it over the brownie layer, smoothing it out a little with a metal spatula. Chill in the fridge. To serve, whip the cream to soft peaks, then add the sugar and vanilla and continue whipping to stiff peaks. Pile thickly onto the pie and cut into slices to serve. Keep leftovers in the fridge, covered. CREAM 375 ml (13 ﬂ oz/1½ cups) thin (whipping) cream 1 heaped teaspoon sugar ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract Makes a 24 cm (9½ in) pie Pie of the Day Pie every day All the pies Pie in the sky Peach Cherry Lemon Pecan Blueberry MB_NOW & THEN_Tessa Kiros TXT_SI MB SI.indd 19315/5/23 2:45 pm 192Now & Then CRUST 250 g (9 oz) plain chocolate biscuits, such as Arnott’s Chocolate Ripple, chocolate Oro Saiwa or graham crackers 100 g (3½ oz) butter, melted BROWNIE LAYER 100 g (3½ oz) butter 40 g (1½ oz) semisweet dark chocolate, chopped 20 g (¾ oz) unsweetened cocoa powder 2 eggs 100 g (3½ oz) sugar ½ teaspoon vanilla extract 30 g (1 oz) plain (all-purpose) ﬂour CHOCOLATE CUSTARD 2 egg yolks 50 g (1¾ oz) sugar ½ teaspoon vanilla extract 2 tablespoons cornﬂour (cornstarch) 375 ml (13 ﬂ oz/1½ cups) milk 35 g (1¼ oz) unsweetened cocoa powder 1 tablespoon bourbon 35 g (1¼ oz) dark chocolate, chopped 20 g (¾ oz) butter This is quite over the top. It has four layers: crust, brownie cake, chocolate custard and abundant whipped cream. I made it with my friend Lisa McG one hot summer day. Sometimes I make just the chocolate custard and whipped cream. Love it! Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F). For the crust, crush the biscuits until quite fine and uniform. Scrape into a bowl, add the butter and mix well, squashing the biscuits into the butter with your hands until well combined. Pat into a 24 cm (9½ in) springform tin or pie dish, going up the sides to give walls of about 3.5 cm (1¼ in). If using springform, set the dish onto a baking tray so no butter leaks out into the oven. Bake for just under 10 minutes until firm and dry, then remove from the oven. Increase the oven to 175°C (325°F). For the brownie layer, melt the butter in a small heavy-bottomed pot, then stir in the chopped chocolate and cocoa powder. Remove from the heat, stirring until it melts, then leave to cool a little. Separate the eggs and whisk the whites in a small bowl until fluffy but not too stiff. Without washing the beaters, whisk the yolks in a wide bowl with the sugar and vanilla until pale and creamy. Add the flour and 2 good pinches of salt to the egg mix and scrape in the chocolate butter. Give a whisk to combine all well, then fold in the whites. Scrape out over the biscuit base and bake for just under 20 minutes – until set but not dried out. Remove to cool completely. To make the chocolate custard, whip the yolks, sugar and vanilla in a bowl with an electric mixer. When thick and creamy, whisk in the cornflour. Heat the milk in a medium heavy-bottomed pot until warm. Scatter the cocoa powder and 2 pinches of salt into the egg mix, then add a little of the milk, whisking to make sure the cocoa powder is totally smooth, then adding a splash more and whisking until it is all incorporated. Add the milk and egg mix to the pot, whisking over low heat until it has thickened and is ribbony. Add the bourbon, then stir in the chocolate. Let it bubble up for a moment, then remove from the heat, whisking so the chocolate all melts. Whisk in the butter and keep whisking often as it cools so no lumps form. MISSISSIPPI MUDPIE MB_NOW & THEN_Tessa Kiros TXT_SI MB SI.indd 19215/5/23 2:45 pm Now_and_Then_TXT 23-05-30 1_TEXT BLACKBlackYellowMagentaCyan p192 Now_and_Then_TXT 23-05-30 1_TEXT BLACKBlackYellowMagentaCyan p193 193New Orleans sojourn To assemble, remove the pie from the springform tin (or leave it in the pie tin). Give a final energetic whisk to the custard and then spread it over the brownie layer, smoothing it out a little with a metal spatula. Chill in the fridge. To serve, whip the cream to soft peaks, then add the sugar and vanilla and continue whipping to stiff peaks. Pile thickly onto the pie and cut into slices to serve. Keep leftovers in the fridge, covered. CREAM 375 ml (13 ﬂ oz/1½ cups) thin (whipping) cream 1 heaped teaspoon sugar ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract Makes a 24 cm (9½ in) pie Pie of the Day Pie every day All the pies Pie in the sky Peach Cherry Lemon Pecan Blueberry MB_NOW & THEN_Tessa Kiros TXT_SI MB SI.indd 19315/5/23 2:45 pm 192Now & Then CRUST 250 g (9 oz) plain chocolate biscuits, such as Arnott’s Chocolate Ripple, chocolate Oro Saiwa or graham crackers 100 g (3½ oz) butter, melted BROWNIE LAYER 100 g (3½ oz) butter 40 g (1½ oz) semisweet dark chocolate, chopped 20 g (¾ oz) unsweetened cocoa powder 2 eggs 100 g (3½ oz) sugar ½ teaspoon vanilla extract 30 g (1 oz) plain (all-purpose) ﬂour CHOCOLATE CUSTARD 2 egg yolks 50 g (1¾ oz) sugar ½ teaspoon vanilla extract 2 tablespoons cornﬂour (cornstarch) 375 ml (13 ﬂ oz/1½ cups) milk 35 g (1¼ oz) unsweetened cocoa powder 1 tablespoon bourbon 35 g (1¼ oz) dark chocolate, chopped 20 g (¾ oz) butter This is quite over the top. It has four layers: crust, brownie cake, chocolate custard and abundant whipped cream. I made it with my friend Lisa McG one hot summer day. Sometimes I make just the chocolate custard and whipped cream. Love it! Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F). For the crust, crush the biscuits until quite fine and uniform. Scrape into a bowl, add the butter and mix well, squashing the biscuits into the butter with your hands until well combined. Pat into a 24 cm (9½ in) springform tin or pie dish, going up the sides to give walls of about 3.5 cm (1¼ in). If using springform, set the dish onto a baking tray so no butter leaks out into the oven. Bake for just under 10 minutes until firm and dry, then remove from the oven. Increase the oven to 175°C (325°F). For the brownie layer, melt the butter in a small heavy-bottomed pot, then stir in the chopped chocolate and cocoa powder. Remove from the heat, stirring until it melts, then leave to cool a little. Separate the eggs and whisk the whites in a small bowl until fluffy but not too stiff. Without washing the beaters, whisk the yolks in a wide bowl with the sugar and vanilla until pale and creamy. Add the flour and 2 good pinches of salt to the egg mix and scrape in the chocolate butter. Give a whisk to combine all well, then fold in the whites. Scrape out over the biscuit base and bake for just under 20 minutes – until set but not dried out. Remove to cool completely. To make the chocolate custard, whip the yolks, sugar and vanilla in a bowl with an electric mixer. When thick and creamy, whisk in the cornflour. Heat the milk in a medium heavy-bottomed pot until warm. Scatter the cocoa powder and 2 pinches of salt into the egg mix, then add a little of the milk, whisking to make sure the cocoa powder is totally smooth, then adding a splash more and whisking until it is all incorporated. Add the milk and egg mix to the pot, whisking over low heat until it has thickened and is ribbony. Add the bourbon, then stir in the chocolate. Let it bubble up for a moment, then remove from the heat, whisking so the chocolate all melts. Whisk in the butter and keep whisking often as it cools so no lumps form. MISSISSIPPI MUDPIE MB_NOW & THEN_Tessa Kiros TXT_SI MB SI.indd 19215/5/23 2:45 pm Now_and_Then_TXT 23-05-30 1_TEXT BLACKBlackYellowMagentaCyan p192 Now_and_Then_TXT 23-05-30 1_TEXT BLACKBlackYellowMagentaCyan p193 Next >