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I can only point the way, Grasshopper. You must walk the path yourself
Ok, so... I had a notion to cheat this week and use something rather un-unconventional as my ingredient. What ensued was my punishment for cheating. (Really though, I have never used this ingredient in cooking! It should count!)
 It is Girl Scout Cookie time, and being an aunt to two Girl Scouts, I ended up buying a large number of cookies... not the least of which were two boxes of that perennial favorite, the Thin Mint. I thought... why not make those into a crust for a pie? Why not make it something choco-minty from my own childhood? Why not make Grasshopper Pie? Simple, kind of down-home in a 1970s kind of way, easy!  Hahaha! No. I kid you not, I made an awesome, great looking crust out of some of the Thin Mints. A sleeve and a half of cookies, half a stick of butter, it looked pretty great. But... the pie itself! No no no. I ruined not one but two batches of filling using two different recipes (one was my mom's, the other from Emeril Lagasse.) The first one, I ended up with basically scrambled eggs in caramel sauce, and the second... well, the second was more like leprechaun vomit. I will not show you pictures because you might never come back here. At this point... I decided to take my awesome crust and make a chocolate tart. And that, ladies and gentleman, without incident, is exactly what I did. Tyler Florence, thank you for saving my Thin Mint crust and my sanity. Dark Chocolate-Mint Tart with Thin Mint Crust Crust Recipe: One and a half sleeves of Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies Half a stick of butter In a blender or food processor, crush cookies to crumbs. Melt butter in microwave, add to crumbs. Mix thoroughly (you may need to add a little more melted butter- do not overdo it, or you will have a greasy crust!) and press into tart pan with removable bottom. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes and cool completely.  Tart filling recipe: (Adapted from here ) 1 cup heavy cream 1/2 cup 1% milk 10 ounces good quality chocolate (I used a combination of dark and bittersweet) 1/4 tsp salt 2 large eggs at room temperature 2 teaspoons peppermint extract or more to taste Heat the heavy cream and milk in a pot over medium-low heat until it simmers around the edges. Remove from heat, add salt and sugar, stir to dissolve.  Add chocolate and stir until melted and smooth. Set aside.  Beat the eggs in a small bowl until blended and temper by adding about a tablespoon of the chocolate to the eggs and stirring to incorporate. (This is what I should have done with the eggs in the first recipe!) Add the egg mixture carefully to the chocolate and cream mixture. Stir until very smooth. Add peppermint extract to taste and stir.   Carefully pour into tart pan. Bake at 325 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes, until the filling is set and the surface is glossy. Remove if bubbles or cracks begin to form. Cool completely before removing from pan and serving.  Some thoughts on this recipe: My first thought is, of course, YAY, IT WORKED!  There were some bubbles on the surface of my tart, but honestly my oven is very uneven and I don't think it would have been firm if I had removed it sooner. Just know your oven as well as you can and keep an eye on it. But those bubbles did nothing to inhibit the taste, it was rich and dark and decadent, with just a hint of peppermint echoing the mint in the crust. It wasn't grasshopper pie, but it was minty and yummy!  I thought that since I most of a bottle of creme de menthe left from my failed experiments, I would whip a little cream with some to make a festive topping- really, it was more for the light green color than anything. But it was a nice contrast to the rich tart!   Thanks for stopping by!  related searches : Can
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