Martha Stewart Living Radio: The Radio Blog

© The Next Course by Melanie Dunea ( www.mylastsupper.com ) / CPi. Published by Rodale Books. Available where all books are sold

 Have you ever tried to answer the age old question "what would be your last supper"?  Have you wondered what the answers would be of some of your favorite chefs?  Photographer Melanie Dunea has interviewed 100 of the world's best chefs in her books My Last Supper and My Last Supper: The Next Course.  Accompanied by stunning photographs, each chef sets the scene and provides a recipe.

Now, My Last Supper comes to Martha Stewart Living Radio! The first part of a 4 part series is airing THIS AFTERNOON at 4:00 eastern and features Chefs Eric Ripert and April Bloomfield.

If you want a sneak preview, I can tell you that part of April Bloomfield's meal would be a Banoffee pie ("ban" as in banana, "offee" as in toffee).  If you haven't tried it before, you've got to try April's indulgent version of the recipe.  Click below for more!

BANOFFEE PIE

Serves 12

2 14-oz/415-ml cans condensed milk

1 ½ cups / 340 g all-purpose flour

½ cup / 110 g plus 3 tbsp confectioners’ (icing) sugar (or more to taste)

½ lb /225 g unsalted butter, chilled. Cut into ¼-inch/2/3-cm pieces

¼ tsp salt

3 egg yolks, lightly beaten

8 to 10 bananas

2 cups / 475 ml heavy cream (double cream)

Seeds of 1 vanilla bean

3 tbsp / 40 g grated bittersweet chocolate

To Prepare the Filling:

Place the cans of condensed milk in a pot and cover them with water. Bring the water to a boil and let the cans boil continuously for 4 hours. Check the water level occasionally to ensure that the cans remain covered with water the entire time. Remove the cans from the pot and let them cool overnight.

To Prepare the Dough:

Sift the flour into a mixing bowl, then add the ½ cup /110 g of sugar, butter, and salt. Knead the mixture with your hands until it resembles fine bread crumbs. Then add the egg yolks and continue to knead the mixture until the egg is incorporated and the dough is smooth. Form the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for 1 hour.

Cut the dough into 2 or 3 large pieces. Grate the dough with a large-tooth box grater onto the base of an 11-in/28-cm tart pan and press it evenly around the base, then the sides. The dough should be a little less than ¼ in/ 2/3cm thick on the base and ½ in/ 1 cm thick on the sides. Prick the bottom with a fork, then freeze the dough for 15 minutes.

To Construct the Pie:

Bake the pie shell at 350F / 175C for 15 minutes or until brown all over. Allow the pie shell to cool.

Next peel and thinly slice the bananas on the bias. Arrange half of the bananas on the base of the pie in concentric circles, starting from the outside and working your way to the center. Gently dollop the caramelized condensed milk on top of the pie, and spread it to evenly cover the bananas. Follow with another layer of bananas. Cover the tart with plastic wrap and chill it in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

While the pie is chilling, whisk together the cream, vanilla seeds, and the remaining 3 tbsp of confectioners’ sugar to taste, until soft peaks form. Remove the pie from the refrigerator and then spread the whipped cream over it, completely covering the top layer of bananas. Sprinkle the grated chocolate over the top and chill the pie in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Posted by MSLO Blogger on September 27, 2011 in Uncategorized