Showing posts with label As the Earth Brings Forth its Shoots. Show all posts
Showing posts with label As the Earth Brings Forth its Shoots. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Make this now: Tomato Tart

I was going to save this one to post during Lent for our meatless meals series, but it's just so amazing with all of the tomatoes that are in our gardens (or at the farmer's market) right now, that I just had to share the weath. So, while it may make a reappearance for Lent, if I were you, I'd run out right now and find the sweetest little things you can for this dish. (Thanks to Margaret Mary for the cherry tomatoes!)
The original calls for goat cheese, but for my version I used half a batch of homemade mascarpone. Fresh mozzarella would be quite good, too, of course. Something with this much flavor calls for a rather robust honey, so look for something from your farmers' market. Otherwise, Trader Joe's Raw Wild Collected Honey has a good, molassesy flavor.
Why, yes, I do have an awesome pizza wheel. Thanks for noticing.

French Tomato Tart

(Source: David Lebovitz)

Serves two as a main dish, four as a side.

Dough:
  • 1 1/2 cups (210 g) flour 
  • 4 1/2 ounces (125 g) unsalted butter, chilled, cut into cubes 
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt 
  • 1 large egg 
  • 1-3 tablespoons cold water 

Filling:
  • Dijon or whole-grain mustard 
  • 2-3 large ripe tomatoes 
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil 
  • salt and freshly ground pepper 
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs, such as thyme, chives, chervil, or tarragon 
  • 8 ounces fresh goat cheese, sliced into rounds 
  • Optional: 1 1/2 tablespoons flavorful honey 

Mix the flour and salt in a bowl. Add the butter and blend until the mixture has a crumbly, cornmeal-like texture. Beat the egg with 1 T of the water. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add egg mixture, stirring until the dough holds together. Add additional water as needed

Gather the dough into a ball and roll the dough on a lightly floured surface, adding additional flour only as necessary to keep the dough from sticking to the counter. Once the dough is large enough so that it will cover the bottom of the pan and go up the sides, roll the dough around the rolling pin then unroll it over the tart pan.

If making a freestyle tart, simply transfer the dough to a prepared baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 425ºF

Spread an even layer of mustard (about as thick as for a sandwich) over the bottom of the tart dough (leave a 3" border, give or take for a freestyle tart) and let it sit a few minutes to dry out.

Slice the tomatoes (or halve cherry tomatoes) and arrange them over the mustard in a single, even layer. Drizzle the olive oil over the top. Sprinkle with half of the herbs, then arrange the cheese on top. Add some more fresh herbs, then drizzle with some honey, if using. (If baking a free-form tart, fold up the edges)

Bake the tart for 30 minutes or so, until the dough is cooked, the tomatoes are tender, and the cheese on top is nicely browned, rotating halfway through baking.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

It's March; Do You Know Where Your Tomatoes Are?


I'm constantly behind in planning out my garden. Maybe it's because I have moved from zone 4 to zone 6, so everything comes just a bit earlier; more likely, it's my deliberate, perfectionist, and yes, procrastinating personality clashing with an activity that's a bit more here-and-now. At any rate, I was pleased to discover SproutRobot, a site that reminds you when to plant your vegetables.

You can simply enter your zip code on the home page to see a week-by-week calendar, or create an account, to receive email reminders to start the plants you check in your profile. They also have paid memberships, where they mail seeds to you at the right times. The calendar includes instructions for each plant. These are geared toward the beginner, but having everything laid out by date might appeal to more advanced gardeners, too.

Here, it's already time for me to start my tomatoes and peppers. Lacking a lot of sunny indoor space for pots, I'll be trying this method using milk cartons as mini-greenhouses.

Other gardening links I've been enjoying:

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Re-growing scallions



Proof that even a certified black thumb like me can re-grow scallions. Full instructions here.