Hail To the Chef
Magickal Recipes of Ron Miller
reprinted from the Compost NewsLetter
[These recipes appeared in the Compost NewsLetter during 1990-92, while Ron was the executive chef of the Ristorante Donatello in San Francisco. All Magickal interpretations and comments are by Valerie Walker.]
Lo Scrino di Pero e Castagne
Pastry "jewel box" with pear and chestnut cream
[This recipe was demonstrated at the Chefs' Holiday at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park. A purist would have you make the puff pastry from scratch, but it's okay to buy it--just don't haggle over the price--vw]
To poach the pears:
3 large pears (Anjou or Bartlett)
1 cup fresh orange juice
1 1/2 cup sugar
3 cups water
2 sticks cinnamon
4 cloves
Put the orange juice, sugar, water, cinnamon and cloves into a stock pot. Peel the pears. Cut them in half and remove the stems and cores. Place the pears in the solution and bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer until tender. Remove the pears with a slotted spoon and drain over paper towels.
To make the chestnut cream:
4 ounces unsalted butter
4 ounces sugar
2 large eggs
4 ounces chestnut unsweetened chestnut puree
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and mix until blended. Add the chestnut puree and vanilla and beat until smooth.
To make the mocha sauce:
2 cups milk
1/4 cup strong coffee
1 vanilla bean
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
Bring the milk, coffee and vanilla bean to a boil. Keep it hot. Combine the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and beat over a double boiler until thick. Add the milk to the egg mixture and set aside to cool, stirring every few minutes.
To assemble the dessert:
Purchase one pound of puff pastry at your local pastry shop or grocery store. Roll the puff pastry to the dimension of 24 x 16 inches. With a sharp knife, cut six 7 inch circles. Cut six 8 1/2 inch strips from the remaining dough.
Place about 1 1/2 oz. of the chestnut cream in the center of each circle. Place a pear on top of the filling and sprinkle the pear with 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Wrap each pear in the puff pastry, creating a sack. With the puff pastry strips, make a decorative tie around the neck of the sack.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Egg wash the puff pastry and sprinkle with sugar. Bake the sacks until golden brown, about 40 minutes. When done, set aside to cool.
To serve, ladle the mocha sauce onto six cold plates and place the sacks in the center of the plates.
Magickal significance of the recipe:
• pear: a sweet fruit of Venus, planet of love and prosperity
• orange juice: solar fruit of attraction, prosperity
• cinnamon: solar spice of money, creativity; a stimulant
• cloves: solar spice used in love spells
• chestnut: Most nuts are of the element Earth; traditionally connected with the search for wisdom (the nutmeat being a highly-concentrated source of nutrition which is only achieved after peeling off the outer layers)
• vanilla: a sweet-tasting spice of Venus, derived from the seed pods of tropical orchids
• coffee: a stimulant of Mercurial (mental) effect
..which gives us what? A spell of combined wishes for increased prosperity which comes as the result of one's own creative work, and for the wisdom to use it properly when it arrives. A good chant to do while wrapping the pears in the pastry would be:
"Prosperity, come to me,
Prosperity that I have earned,
So I may use what I have learned,
As I do will, so mote it be."
Share the goodies with your friends: what goes around, comes around.
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The Chef