Gorgeous Strawberry Tart

Tarts are the best.

They're perhaps one of the greatest culinary inventions when it comes to showcasing the summer's best fruity bounty.  You can top them with just about any fruit, and they're always exceptionally yummy. 

A recent trip to the farmer's market resulted in a big, beautiful bucket of some of the juiciest, sweetest and most delicious fresh strawberries finding their way to my kitchen.  With my berry discovery, I knew that a tart was in our near future. 

For this tart, I used THIS RECIPE FOR A BLUEBERRY TART as my inspiration.  By the way, that blueberry tart is without a doubt one of my favorite desserts, like, ever in the history of mankind.  If you're a blueberry fan, you must try it. 

The pastry cream is dotted with little specks of vanilla bean goodness, fresh orange zest, and nutmeg (the secret ingredient!).

The tart shell is easy to assemble, and the ground almonds lend a wonderfully nutty flavor.

If you're looking for the perfect summer dessert, look no further.  Try this gorgeous tart and let me know what you think.  :)

Bon Appetit, my friends!    

 
Gorgeous Strawberry Tart
Adapted from:   Zoe Bakes

Tart Shell:

1  3/4 sticks unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup confectioners sugar

1 large egg beaten

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1  3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons ground almonds 

To make the crust:  

This makes a very soft/sticky dough, which makes it more difficult to work with. It is well worth the little bit of extra effort. 

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the egg and make sure it is well blended. Add the salt and vanilla, mix until incorporated. Add the flour and almond meal, mix together until there are no more dry patches of flour.

Divide the dough into two equal disks and wrap well in plastic. Refrigerate for at least an hour. If you are only making one tart then freeze the other packet of dough for the next time you want a treat in a hurry.

Take one disk of dough out of the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes. This will soften the dough just enough so that it won’t crack when you are rolling it out.

Roll it out (preferably on a silpat or other silicon baking sheet) until it is about 1/16″ thick and the right size to fit into a 9-inch tart pan.

If the dough is very sticky and will not easily peel off of the silpat, throw the silpat and dough right into the freezer for about 5 minutes.

When you remove the silpat/dough from the freezer you should be able to peel the dough easily.

 Place the silpat/dough over the tart pan and gently peel the silpat away.

If the dough is frozen, give it a minute to become supple, then you will need to push the dough down into the pan, it might crack a bit, but don’t worry!  You can just press it back together.

Using a knife or metal spatula trim off the excess dough from the pan.

Preheat your oven to 350° and place the tart pan in the freezer while you wait for the oven to heat up.  Once the oven is up to temperature, take the tart shell out of the freezer and line with foil.  Fill the foil with beans and/or pie weights.

Bake the shell for 25 minutes with the pie weights. Lift the foil/weights out of the shell and continue baking until the tart shell is golden brown, about 10 more minutes.

Cool the shell on a cooling rack while you prepare the fillings for the tart. 

Pastry cream:

1 cup milk (doesn’t seem to matter what kind)

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons unsalted butter (cold)

Pinch of salt

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

2 tablespoons cornstarch

3 large egg yolks

Zest from 1/4 orange

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 tablespoon crème fraîche (optional)

To Make the Pastry Cream:

Bring the milk, 1/8 cup of the sugar, butter, salt and vanilla bean to a gentle boil in a medium saucepan.

Remove from heat.

Whisk together the cornstarch and the remaining 1/8 cup of sugar. Add the egg yolks to the cornstarch and mix into a smooth paste.

Slowly, and in small amounts, whisk a little of the hot milk into a the egg mixture. This is called tempering the eggs, which you need to do to get them to the same temperature of the hot milk in the pan, so they won’t curdle.

Once the egg mixture is warm to the touch, pour it back into the milk in the pan.

Return the custard to the stove and bring to a boil, whisking continuously for 2 to 3 minutes. The pastry cream will thicken almost immediately but it is important to cook out the starch so that it isn’t grainy and so your pastry cream won’t separate. (separating pastry cream is when the liquid releases from the cream, easily prevented by cooking for 2-3 minutes!)  

When the pastry cream is done it will be smooth and glossy.  

Cover with plastic wrap pressed directly on the surface of the cream to prevent a skin from forming. Set the container in the freezer for 15 minutes (this cools down the eggs quickly) and then refrigerate for up to a few days.
  
Stir the chilled pastry cream to make it spreadable and add the zest, nutmeg and crème fraîche. Fill the prepared tart shell with the pastry cream. 

Strawberry filling 

from The New Whole Grain Cookbook:

3 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced

scant 1/2 cup orange juice 

1/4 - 1/2 cup sugar (depending on how sweet your berries are)

1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch, mixed with 2 tablespoons water.

1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon orange zest

pinch of salt 

Prepare the strawberry filling:

In a medium sauce pan, bring 1/2 cup of the strawberries, the juice and sugar to a boil.  While vigorously whisking add the cornstarch slurry to the pot. Add the vanilla, orange zest and salt.

Continue to cook and whisk until the mixture is very thick and glossy, about 2 minutes.

Remove from heat.  Quickly fold in the rest of the fresh strawberries.  Quickly add the berries to the tart shell, on top of the pastry cream. Spread them into an even layer.  Chill until set, about an hour.

Serve as is or with a dollop of crème fraîche.

Heirloom Tomato, Basil & Prosciutto Tartine with Gouda Cheese

 

I learned to really appreciate the wonderfulness of simple cooking, made with the freshest, in-season ingredients during our trip to Europe back in 2009.  There, we dined on the most exquisite food, but you know what?  It wasn't particularly fancy or pretentious food that comes to mind...It was simple, down-to-earth dishes packed with flavor from what was in season at the time.  To me, that's the best way to cook.  Period.

This was most noticeable to us in Italy, where amazing toppings were carefully layered onto the pizzas, with thinner crusts than us Americans are used to, which really allowed the toppings to shine.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Earlier today, I came across an article written by the great Jacques Pepin, in which he recalled some of his favorite memories of Julia Child, one of which involved this simple, flavorful cooking technique.  Here's an excerpt from that article, where Jacques recalls a dinner party at Julia's home one evening:

Excerpt from:  Memories of a Friend, Sidekick and Foil by Jacques Pepin (nytimes.com)

"Gloria helped Paul with the oysters he was opening and arranging on a plate as Julia announced: “I have a rack of pork. What do you want to do with it?” I cut the rack into chops, which we sautéed and served with skillet potatoes and string beans with butter and rosemary.  A green salad and a perfectly ripened Brie followed, and we finished with Julia’s compote of fruit served with ice cream. I do remember a delightful Chambertin from the late 1950s that Paul brought up from his cellar, which contained wonderful Burgundies. It was a simple, perfect meal to share with friends, my type and her type of cooking, which Julia always referred to as cuisine soignée, meaning a simple meal made with great care and the best possible ingredient." 

The phrase and description of "cuisine soignée" really got me thinking and could be used to describe this recipe for Heirloom Tomato & Prosciutto Tartine perfectly.  This recipe was completely inspired by my local farmers' market.  Fresh, juicy, and colorful heirloom tomatoes bursting at the seams with flavor are absolutely the stars of this dish.  They are layered on sourdough bread so fresh that it was practically still warm out of the oven, along with creamy local Gouda cheese, prosciutto, basil from my windowsill and a light drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.  Now that's my kind of food!

Just remember...

Simplicity + Fresh Ingredients = Pure Bliss

Taking a bite of this tartine is like biting into those last few weeks of summer...So wonderful yet fleeting, and you don't want it to end!

Bon Appetit, my friends!

Heirloom Tomato, Basil & Prosciutto Tartine with Gouda Cheese

Ingredients:

6 large slices of fresh sourdough bread

5 - 6 oz. Gouda cheese, sliced

3 ripe heirloom tomatoes, assorted colors, sliced

4 slices prosciutto

Extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp. fresh basil, sliced

Salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Pre-heat the broiler in your oven.

Place the slices of sourdough bread on a cookie sheet and place under the broiler.  Lightly toast according to your preference.

Remove from oven and immediately place the sliced gouda cheese in a single layer on the bread.  Top with the sliced heirloom tomatoes.  

Tear the prosciutto into bite-sized pieces and nestle the pieces in between the tomato slices.

Lightly drizzle extra virgin olive oil over the top, followed by a sprinkling of fresh basil, salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.

 Enjoy!

Happy 100th Birthday, Julia!

Julia Child has been such a huge inspiration to so many people, myself included.  Tomorrow (8/15) is a big day for Julia fans around the world...It marks what would have been her 100th birthday!  In celebration of such a talented, fantastic and all-around amazing chef and person, I'd like to post a collection of some of my favorite Julia recipes for you to peruse.  Maybe one of them will even inspire you to get into the kitchen in honor of the great Julia.  ;)

The Julia quote in my blog header above has become sort of my mantra...It rings so true and can apply to just about anything that you love.  What are you passionate about?

"Find something you're passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it."

Happy 100th Birthday, Julia!

I'm thinking a big slice of her delicious Reine de Saba cake (linked below) and one of my favorite movies - Julie & Julia - would be the perfect way to celebrate.  :)

Chicken Breasts with Mushrooms and Cream

Coq au Vin

Peach Clafoutis

Boeuf Bourguignon

Chocolate and Almond Cake (Reine de Saba)

Classic French Bread (Pain Francaise)

Ratatouille

Fresh Strawberry Tart

CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL OF MY JULIA POSTS

Warm French Lentils - Ina Garten

There's a little Mediterranean market here in town that I love to shop at when I'm in the area.  It's called Nabeel's International Market, and I love perusing their shelves for little treasures to experiment with in the kitchen.  As you enter the front doors, your senses are greeted by an array of fresh cheeses and olives that will immediately make you hungry and the store shelves are packed with things like Chinese pine nuts, assorted olive and grapeseed oils, Greek dried figs, Turkish pistachio nuts, fresh Phyllo dough and mountains of spices.

On my last visit, I turned the corner to browse the last shelf in the back of the store, and what did I find?  Clear bags bursting at the seams with gorgeous French green Le Puy lentils.  For some reason, these little beauties are hard to find around here, so I excitedly snatched up 2 big bags and added them to my basket.

Who knew I'd EVER get so darn excited about LENTILS.  I guess it's the small things in life, folks.  ;-)

A recipe by Ina Garten immediately sprang to mind as I continued to browse the shelves filled with gourmet goodies - A warm plate of French lentils with a Dijon vinaigrette.  It's a classic dish that sounded heavenly, and I couldn't wait to cook with these perfect little green legumes that I had read so much about.

That night, I got to work in the kitchen.  I added a little bacon and celery to Ina's original recipe (which you can see HERE), and the final result was just as delightful as I had hoped.  This dish will most certainly be making another appearance at our kitchen table!

Bon Appetit, my friends!

Warm French Lentils
Adapted from Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That? by Ina Garten

Ingredients:
2 slices bacon, cut into lardons
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, scrubbed and 1/2-inch-diced
1 celery stalk, finely diced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 cup French green Le Puy lentils
1 white turnip, cut in half
1 teaspoon unsalted butter
4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

In a medium skillet, fry the bacon over medium heat until crisp.  Remove from the pan and place on a plate lined with paper towels to drain. 

Pour off all but 2 tbsp of the bacon fat.  Add the onion, carrots, and celery.  Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute and set aside. 

Meanwhile, place the lentils, 4 cups of water, and the turnip in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes, or until the lentils are almost tender. Remove and discard the turnip and drain the lentils. Place them in a medium bowl with the onion, carrots, and celery, and add the bacon and butter. 


Meanwhile, whisk together the 1/4 cup of olive oil, the mustard, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Add to the lentils, stir well, and allow the lentils to cool until just warm, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve. The longer the lentils sit, the more salt and pepper you'll want to add.

Coq Au Vin - Julia Child

With a little imagination, "Mademoiselle de Paris" softly playing on the radio, and a glass of red wine in hand, my kitchen can be transformed into a Parisian  pied-à-terre near the Champs-Élysées any day of the week...

Okay, maybe with A LOT of imagination!

No, seriously...I love to get into the kitchen, put a little Juliette Greco or Edith Piaf on the radio and cook a classically delicious French meal.  There's something amazing about all those layers of flavor that go into a meal cooked slowly with red wine like Coq Au Vin or Boeuf Bourguignon.  And, if you've never made one of these, you are missing out on two of the best dishes you'll ever eat.  I blogged about Julia's Boeuf Bourguignon HERE, and her recipe below for Coq Au Vin is equally as life-changing. 

When I'm in the mood for classic French cuisine, I undoubtedly always turn to Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  I only made a few minor adjustments:  I did not use the cognac.  The idea of lighting it on fire with a match makes me incredibly nervous!  I'll get over that one day, but not just yet.  Also, I couldn't find fresh pearl onions, so I left those out.  However, I partially made up for that by using regular onions in the following marinade technique:

Some recipes for Coq Au Vin, like THIS ONE, call for marinating the chicken pieces in the red wine overnight, along with carrots, onions and celery.  I really loved that idea, so I added this extra step to Julia's version, using the quantities in the recipe from Epicurious included above.  I simply removed the chicken from the marinade (reserving the marinade!) and dried it well with paper towels before browning it in the bacon fat.  I also left the vegetables in the marinade while it simmered with the chicken, but strained the veggies out after the chicken was removed (see notes below).  


This dish was amazing, and Brad gave it 2 BIG thumbs up as well.


Bon Appetit, my friends!

Ingredients:

• See my notes above about marinating the chicken overnight!  If you do this, extra ingredients will be needed.
• 3 to 4-ounce chunk lean bacon
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 1/2 to 3 pounds frying chicken, cut into pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus additional for seasoning
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper, plus additional for seasoning
• 1/4 cup cognac
• 3 cups young, full-bodied red wine, such as Burgundy, Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone, or Chianti
• 1 to 2 cups brown chicken stock, brown stock or canned beef bouillon
• 1/2 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 cloves mashed garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon thyme leaves
• 1 bay leaf
• 12 to 24 Brown-Braised Onions, recipe follows
• 1/2 pound Sauteed Mushrooms, recipe follows
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons softened butter
• Fresh parsley leaves

Directions:

Remove the rind and cut the bacon into lardons (rectangles 1/4-inch across and 1-inch long). Simmer for 10 minutes in 2 quarts of water. Rinse in cold water. Dry.

In a heavy large heavy bottomed casserole or Dutch oven, saute the bacon slowly in hot butter until it is very lightly browned (temperature of 260 degrees F for an electric skillet). Remove to a side dish.

Dry the chicken thoroughly. Brown it in the hot fat in the casserole. (360 degrees F for the electric skillet.)

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Return the bacon to the casserole with the chicken. Cover and cook slowly (300 degrees F) for 10 minutes, turning the chicken once.

Uncover, and pour in the cognac. Averting your face, ignite the cognac with a lighted match. Shake the casserole back and forth for several seconds until the flames subside.

Pour the wine (or reserved marinade in my case) into the casserole. Add just enough stock or bouillon to cover the chicken. Stir in the tomato paste, garlic and herbs. Bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer slowly for 20 to 25 minutes (I simmered mine for closer to 45 minutes), or until the chicken is tender and its juices run a clear yellow when the meat is pricked with a fork. Remove the chicken to a side dish.

(Note:  This is where I strained the extra veggies out of the cooking liquid.  See my notes in the headnote above.)

While the chicken is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms.

Simmer the chicken cooking liquid in the casserole for 1 to 2 minutes, skimming off fat. Then raise the heat and boil rapidly, reducing the liquid to about 2 1/4 cups. Correct seasoning. Remove from heat, and discard bay leaf.

Blend the butter and flour together into a smooth paste (beurre manie). Beat the paste into the hot liquid with a wire whip. Bring to the simmer, stirring and simmer for 1 to 2 minutes. The sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon lightly.

Arrange the chicken in a casserole, place the mushrooms and onions around it and baste with the sauce. If the dish is not to be served immediately, film the top of the sauce with stock or dot with small pieces of butter. Set aside uncovered for no longer than 1 hour or cool, cover and refrigerate until needed.

Shortly before serving, bring the casserole to a simmer, basting the chicken with the sauce. Cover and simmer slowly for 4 to 5 minutes, until the chicken is heated through.

Serve from the casserole, or arrange on a hot platter. Decorate with sprigs of parsley. 

Brown-Braised Onions:

• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/2 tablespoons oil
• 18 to 24 peeled white onions, about 1-inch in diameter
• 1/2 cup brown stock, canned beef bouillon, dry white wine, red wine, or water
• Salt and pepper
• Medium herb bouquet: 4 parsley sprigs, 1/2 bay leaf and 1/4 teaspoon thyme tied in cheesecloth

When the butter and oil are bubbling in the skillet, add the onions and saute over moderate heat for 10 minutes, rolling the onions about so they will brown as evenly as possible. Be careful not to break their skins. You cannot expect to brown them uniformly.

Braise them as follows: Pour in the stock, season to taste, and add the herb bouquet. Cover and simmer slowly for 15 to 20 minutes until the onions are perfectly tender but retain their shape, and the liquid has evaporated. Remove herb bouquet. Serve them as they are.

Bake them as follows: Transfer the onions and their sauteing fat to a shallow baking dish or casserole just large enough to hold them in 1 layer. Set uncovered in upper third of a preheated 350 degree F oven for 40 to 50 minutes, turning them over once or twice. They should be very tender, retain their shape and be a nice golden brown. Remove herb bouquet. Serve them as they are.

Sauteed Mushrooms:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, washed, well dried, left whole if small, sliced or quartered if large
• 1 to 2 tablespoons minced shallots or green onions, optional
• Salt and pepper

Place the skillet over high heat with the butter and oil. As soon as you see that the butter foam has begun to subside, indicating it is hot enough, add the mushrooms. Toss and shake the pan for 4 to 5 minutes. During their saute the mushrooms will at first absorb the fat. In 2 to 3 minutes the fat will reappear on their surface, and the mushrooms will begin to brown. As soon as they have browned lightly, remove from heat.

Toss the shallots or green onions, if using, with the mushrooms. Saute over moderate heat for 2 minutes. Sauteed mushrooms may be cooked in advance, set aside, then reheated when needed. Season to taste just before serving. 

Vegetable Tian - Ina Garten

Are you looking for a veggie filled side dish that's got a pretty presentation?  Ina Garten's recipe for Vegetable Tian fits the bill perfectly!  This dish is easy to put together and is a great way to use up some yummy produce.  The colors of this recipe make you want to dive right in!

The combination of the potatoes, zucchini and tomatoes makes this a one-stop recipe.  Your starch and your veggies are all right there...no need for a second dish to round out the meal.  And the Gruyere cheese...Oh my!  Gruyere has GOT to be one of my favorite varieties of cheese.  If you look closely at the photos, you can see that I actually had to substitute a little cheddar cheese since I didn't have enough Gruyere.  It tasted great, and I'm sure you could substitute your favorite if you aren't crazy about Gruyere.

This dish is so pretty that it would make a great addition to your holiday table this season.

Bon Appetit!!

Before going into the oven...

Vegetable Tian

Source:  Barefoot in Paris by Ina Garten

Ingredients:

• Good olive oil
• 2 large yellow onions, cut in half and sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 pound medium round potatoes, unpeeled
• 3/4 pound zucchini
• 1 1/4 pounds medium tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, plus extra sprigs
• 2 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. 

Brush a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking dish with olive oil. In a medium saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and cook the onions over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Spread the onion mixture on the bottom of the baking dish.


Slice the potatoes, zucchini, and tomatoes in 1/4-inch thick slices. Layer them alternately in the dish on top of the onions, fitting them tightly, making only 1 layer. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, thyme leaves, and thyme sprigs and drizzle with 1 more tablespoon of olive oil. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.

Uncover the dish, remove the thyme sprigs, sprinkle the cheese on top, and bake for another 30 minutes until browned. Serve warm.

Fresh Fig Tart with Cardamom Pastry Cream & Almond Crust

Friends, my obsession with fresh figs continues.  I think David Tanis says it best in this excerpt from A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes:

"The platter of figs perfectly illustrates the idea of eating with the seasons.  Fresh figs are available for only a few weeks in the summer.  The first figs are in June, but June figs usually pale in comparison with the late-summer crop, which benefits from warm August days.  As with good tomatoes, you wait all year for the best figs to arrive.  The reward is heavy, juicy fruit with oozing centers - sweet figs to swoon for.  Above all, the platter of figs is a metaphor for the food I like...

Fresh ripe figs are voluptuous and generous, luxurious and fleeting.  And beautiful."

This week, I was able to get my hands on some of those "sweet figs to swoon for" from the late-summer crop.  My first priority was making another batch of Cinnamon-Fig Jam.  This jam is addictive...seriously.  It's great on a cracker with brie cheese or right out of the jar!  I've made lots of jars of this jam over the last several months, and they keep disappearing for some reason...I'm convinced that there must be a masked jam-caper around here somewhere...

My second priority was coming up with some sort of fresh fig tart to really showcase these beauties.  I think this recipe does a great job of doing that.  I took the pastry cream from THIS BLUEBERRY TART I recently posted and tweaked it just a bit by adding lemon zest, cardamom and pureed figs straight to the pastry cream.

The crowning glory is the fig slices strategically placed in pretty circles on the top of the tart.  I drizzled fresh honey right over the top to finish it off.

It's almost too pretty to eat...I'm not letting this creation go to waste, though!  :-)

Bon Appetit!

Fresh Fig Tart with Cardamom Pastry Cream

Tart Shell:

1 3/4 sticks (200 g) unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup (90 g) confectioners sugar

1 large egg beaten

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons ground almonds

To make the crust: just so you know this makes a very soft/sticky dough, which makes it more difficult to work with. It is well worth the little bit of extra effort.

cream together the butter and sugar. Add the egg and make sure it is well blended. Add the salt and vanilla, mix until incorporated. Add the flour and almond meal, mix together until there are no more dry patches of flour.

Divide the dough into two equal disks and wrap well in plastic. Refrigerate for at least an hour. If you are only making one tart then freeze the other packet of dough for the next time you want a treat in a hurry.

Take one disk of dough out of the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes. This will soften the dough just enough so that it won’t crack when you are rolling it out.

I use a silpat and a piece of Vinyl to roll out my dough (or two sheets of wax paper), so that I don’t end up using too much flour. It also allows me to pick up the dough and put it in the freezer if need be. Roll it out until it is about 1/16″ thick and the right size to fit into a 9-inch tart pan.

If the dough is very sticky and will not easily peel off of the silpat, throw the silpat and dough right into the freezer for about 5 minutes.

When you remove the silpat/dough from the freezer you should be able to peel the dough easily.

place the silpat/dough over the tart pan and gently peel the silpat away.

If the dough is frozen, give it a minute to become supple, then you will need to push the dough down into the pan, it might crack a bit, but don’t worry!  You can see around the edges that mine did this and I just pressed it back together.

Using a knife or metal spatula trim off the excess dough from the pan.

Preheat your oven to 350° and place the tart pan in the freezer while you wait for the oven to heat up.Once the oven is up to temperature, take the tart shell out of the freezer and line with foil.

Fill the foil with beans and/or pie weights. As you can see I use a combination. I find the metal pie weights help to bake the shell more evenly because they conduct heat, but they can be quite expensive so I’ve added some beans to the mix.

Bake the shell for 25 minutes with the pie weights. Lift the foil/weights out of the shell and continue baking until the tart shell is golden brown, about 10 more minutes.

Cool the shell on a cooling rack while you prepare the fillings for the tart.

Pie weights can be expensive, so I like to use beans instead!  

Pastry cream:

1 cup (250 ml) milk (doesn’t seem to matter what kind)

1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

3 large egg yolks

1/4 cup (50 g) sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons unsalted butter (cold)

zest from 1 lemon

1/4 teaspoon cardamom

To make the pastry cream:

Bring the milk, 1/8 cup of the sugar, butter, salt and vanilla bean to a gentle boil in a medium saucepan.

Remove from heat.

Whisk together the cornstarch and the remaining 1/8 cup of sugar. Add the egg yolks to the cornstarch and mix into a smooth paste.

Slowly, and in small amounts, whisk a little of the hot milk into a the egg mixture. This is called tempering the eggs, which you need to do to get them to the same temperature of the hot milk in the pan, so they won’t curdle.

Once the egg mixture is warm to the touch, pour it back into the milk in the pan.

Return the custard to the stove and bring to a boil, whisking continuously for 2 to 3 minutes. The pastry cream will thicken almost immediately but it is important to cook out the starch so that it isn’t grainy and so your pastry cream won’t separate. (separating pastry cream is when the liquid releases from the cream, easily prevented by cooking for 2-3 minutes!) When the pastry cream is done it will be smooth and glossy.

Strain the pastry cream into a shallow container.  Because the pastry cream is so thick you will need to press it through the strainer with a rubber spatula.

Stir in the lemon zest and cardamom.

Cover with plastic wrap pressed directly on the surface of the cream to prevent a skin from forming. Set the container in the freezer for 15 minutes (this cools down the eggs quickly) and then refrigerate for up to a few days.

Fruit Filling:

15-17 fresh figs (my favorite are black mission figs)

1 tbsp granulated sugar

Fresh honey

Puree 5 of the fresh figs in a food processor with 1 tbsp sugar.  Stir the pureed fruit into the pastry cream.  

(Another method would be to pour the pastry cream into the crust, and then drizzle the pureed fruit over the pastry cream before adding the sliced figs.  This might help prevent the pastry cream from becoming too runny.)

To assemble the tart, pour the pastry cream into the prepared crust.  Slice the remaining figs and layer them over the pastry cream in an overlapping pattern.  Drizzle fresh honey over the tart and chill in the refrigerator for several hours.  Serve cold and enjoy!

Julia Child's Ratatouille

***If you saw my kitchen right now, you might just chuckle.  In fact, Brad thinks it's pretty funny.  What am I talking about?  Well, there are several small mountains of fresh produce meticulously arranged and on glorious display around my kitchen.  Sweet potatoes, red potatoes, green bell pepper, not one but THREE varieties of eggplant, gorgeous tomatoes, cucumbers, and even fresh basil and spearmint.

In my opinion, one must take advantage of this wonderful summer produce while you can!!  Right??

This past weekend, Brad and I visited our favorite farmer's markets to see what was available.  We came home with bags of goodies, and I was super excited to get into the kitchen!  

With so much eggplant and tomato on-hand, a delicious Ratatouille was a no-brainer.  And not just ANY ratatouille - Julia's!  If you are going to commit to such a classic dish, it needs to be done right.  Julia's recipe is the "proper" way to prepare one.  Each vegetable is cooked individually before they are all added to the same dish for the grand finale.  That way, each veggie retains its own shape and delicious layers of flavor are created.

I know, I know...You might be thinking, "Now, who would want to go through SO much trouble for just a side dish??"  However, stop right there - The extra steps and preparation for this dish are all well worth the effort.  With that first bite, you'll be transported to Provence...even if it's only for a few fleeting, but wonderful seconds!

Bon Appetit!

Ratatouille

Source:  Mastering the Art of French Cooking; Volume I by Julia Child, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle

Ingredients:

1 lb. eggplant 1 lb. zucchini (I used yellow squash instead) 1 tsp. salt 4-6 Tbsp. olive oil, divided 1/2 lb. (about 1 1/2 cups) thinly sliced yellow onions 2 sliced red or green peppers (about 1 cup) 2 cloves mashed garlic Salt & Pepper to taste 1 lb. firm, ripe, red tomatoes, peeled, seeded and juiced 3 Tbsp. minced parlsey

Directions:

Peel the eggplant and cut into lengthwise slices 3/8" think, about 3" long and 1" wide. Scrub the zucchini, slice off the two ends and cut into slices about the same size as the eggplant. Place the vegetables in a bowl and toss with 1 tsp. salt. Let stand for 30 minutes. Drain and dry each slice in a towel.

One layer at a time, saute the eggplant and then the zucchini in 4 Tbsp. hot olive oil in a 10-12" skillet for about a minute on each side to brown very lightly. Remove to a side dish.

In the same skillet, cook the onions and peppers (add an additional 2 Tbsp. of olive oil if needed) for about 10 minutes, until tender but not browned. Stir in the garlic and season with salt & pepper to taste.

Slice tomato pulp into 3/8" strips. Lay them over the onions and peppers. Season with salt & pepper. Cover the skillet and cook over low heat for 5 minutes or until tomatoes have begun to render their juice. Uncover, taste the tomatoes with the juices, raise heat and boil for several minutes until juice has almost entirely evaporated.

Place a third of the tomatoe mixture in the bottom of a 2 1/2 quart casserole (about 2 1/2" deep). Sprinkle 1 Tbsp. fresh, minced parlsey over tomatoes. Arrange half of the eggplant and zucchini on top, then half the remaining tomatoes and parsley. Put in the rest of the eggplant and zucchini and finish with the remaining tomatoes and parsley.

Cover the casserole and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Uncover, tip the casserole and baste with the rendered juices. Correct seasoning if necessary. Raise heat slightly and cook uncovered about 15 minutes more, basting several times, until juices have evaporated leaving a spoonful or two of flavored olive oil. Be careful of your heat; do not let the vegetables scorch in the bottom of the casserole!

Serves 6-8