Wish Upon A Chef

Recently hailed as a "superfruit" because of their antioxidant properties, cranberries have adorned Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner tables since the beginning of time in the gelatinous shape of an aluminum can. Harvested from September to November, 95% of the crop is processed into juice cocktails, as dried berries, or as the beloved holiday cranberry sauce, so that only leaves 5% of the crop to be sold as fresh berries.  When the bags of fresh berries appear in the produce section, I always stock up because they freeze surprisingly well.  Grab several bags for yourself so you too can enjoy the superfruit's healing benefits year round.  Although I'm not sure how healing they become once they are combined with liqueur, sugar, and cream cheese, but I'm thinking you won't really care because it makes such a fantastic combination!

Today's cranberry tart is reminiscent of this one because it is loosely based on it.  While I enjoyed the Bon Appetit version very much, I must admit that I like my own version of it even a little better.  I hope you enjoy it as well!

Crantastic Cranberry Tart
Inspired by Bon Appetit

Cranberry Topping:
3/4 cup Chambord Black Raspberry Liqueur, divided
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1-12 ounce bag fresh or frozen cranberries
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1  Pinch salt
4 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger

Crust:
1-1/2 cups cinnamon graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Cream Cheese Filling:
8 ounce cream cheese, softened
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup lemon juice

Pour 1/4 cup Chambord into small bowl; sprinkle gelatin over. Let stand until softened, 15 minutes. Combine remaining Chambord, cranberries, and next 5 ingredients in medium saucepan; bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium; simmer until cranberries are tender but still plump, 5 minutes. Strain into bowl; set cranberries aside. Add gelatin mixture to hot liquid in bowl; stir until gelatin dissolves. Stir cranberries back into liqueur along with crystalized ginger and chill until cranberry mixture is cold and slightly thickened, at least 8 hours or overnight.  This can be done up to 2 days ahead. Cover and chill.
For crust:

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Combine cracker crumbs, sugar, and salt in medium bowl; add melted butter and stir until crumbs feel moist when pressed together with fingertips. Press crumb mixture firmly onto bottom and up sides of 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Bake crust until beginning to set and slightly crisp, pressing with spoon if crust puffs during baking, about 14 minutes. Transfer tart pan to rack and cool crust completely before filling.

For cream cheese filling:

Using electric mixer, beat all ingredients until smooth. Spread filling in cooled crust.  Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.

Spoon cranberry mixture evenly over filling. Chill at least 2 hours and up to 6 hours.  Cut tart into wedges and serve cold.

Good Eats and Meets! Charlotte hosted the third Italian Cook-off this past Sunday in conjunction with the Italian Social Club. You may remember this post from the last event where I pretended to be was a gracious loser to the traditional tiramisu.

In a sense, I guess that post was nothing but a big huge lie because while I pretended to subscribe to that whole, "It's not whether you win or lose but how you play the game" theory, I was really a sore loser. I never even knew the name of the person who defeated me but I cursed the 9x13 Pyrex baking dish with the blue plastic lid that the tiramisu was served in. I rolled my eyes and snarled my lip when I recounted how I was beaten by that unknown person.

But as fate would have it, my path crossed with that person this summer and it would not be until after The Godfather and I had become very good friends that I found out I had been fraternizing with the enemy. I'm pretty much over (not really) the humiliation of being stripped of my culinary crown but when it was announced there would be another competition, I started developing my strategy for taking his Nona's tiramisu DOWN!!

I wanted to play dirty ~ make my attack personal and cut to the bone ~ so I played upon The Godfather's emotions by competing with a recipe that he had confided was a personal favorite of his. It was a recipe learned by his close friend from his hometown while training in FL and later prepared in the friend's bakery and cafe in NY. After scouring the internet and finding the original recipe, I wanted to put my own spin on it, and so a Pecan Hazelnut Tart topped with Chocolate Nutella Mousse and served with Warm Toffee Sauce was dessert entry #21 for the Italian Cook-off.

I should preface the ending of my story by saying that much to my dismay, The Godfather decided not to compete this year. I'd like to think it was because he had no tricks other than tiramisu up his sleeve and knew that I was no match for him this year...knew he'd suffer defeat in front of all his peers...knew that I was a force to be reckoned with. He said he didn't have the time to prepare something. Yeah, yeah. Whatev....

The story ends with loss yet again. I was up against stiff competition and this year a lemon ricotta cheesecake cookie was the crowd favorite. I didn't mind the defeat so much this time because when I fell from the pedestal last year, I gained a friendship. Who knew there was a lesson to be learned in humility??

Check out these photos from the Good Eats and Meets! Charlotte event and catch a glimpse of The Godfather impressing the ladies with his saxaphone playing skills instead of his kitchen prowess. And make this over-the-top decadant chocolate tart while you're at it. Win or lose, it is truly delicious.




Pecan Hazelnut Tart with Chocolate Nutella Mousse & served with Warm Toffee Sauce

inspired by R.G.'s Restaurant, Tampa, FL

Crust:
1/2 pound pecan pieces
1/2 pound hazelnut pieces
4 ounces unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 ounces water

Grind nuts in food processor about 45 seconds and place in mixing bowl. Melt butter completely and add sugar. Keep heating and stirring until thick smooth paste. Remove from heat and add water, stirring constantly to create a syrup. Pour mixture over nuts and mix thoroughly. Butter and flour a 12-inch tart pan. Press nut mixture into pan and place in 325 degree F oven for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and let cool at room temperature.

Mousse:
14 ounces semisweet chocolate
1 (13 oz)jar Nutella
32 ounces heavy whipping cream
2 ounces vegetable oil

In a double boiler, melt chocolate and Nutella and add vegetable oil. Chocolate mixture should be smooth and almost liquid. Whip cream to form soft peaks. Add hot chocolate mixture while stirring constantly (slow speed of mixer will do fine). When chocolate and cream are combined, refrigerate for at 2 hours.

After 2 hours, remove from refrigerator and stir by hand to make sure mousse is smooth and without lumps. Spoon into pastry bag and pipe mousse into crust. Refrigerate complete pie.

Sauce:
1/2 pound unsalted butter
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 pint heavy cream

Melt butter over medium-high heat and add sugar. Stir mixture frequently. Continue this process until mixture has reached a deep caramel color. Butter and sugar at this point will be separating, which is okay. Remove from heat and while stirring constantly, slowly add heavy cream. Caution: When adding the cream, mixture will bubble up and very hot steam will be released. Use a whisk with a long handle or wear an oven mitt. After cream is added, strain toffee sauce into container and let cool. Sauce is kept refrigerated and therefore will need to be heated when serving. Yields 1 quart sauce. (The extra sauce makes an excellent topping for ice cream)

The Best Part:
To serve: Cut pie into 12 to 16 pieces. Serve individually with 2 ounces of Toffee Sauce ladled over. For added pizzazz, top also with a flourish of fudge sauce and a glob of whipped cream.

Yields 1 (12-inch) pie.

There's nothing like the emergence of fresh fruits and vegetables that appear this time of year in residential gardens and commercial farmland to take me back to my farm girl roots. Milking cows, gathering eggs, putting up hay, working the tobacco fields....

Okay, okay....so the few of you who read my blog and know me personally can pick yourselves up off the floor and curtail the hysterical laughter now because I was going to add a disclaimer to that last sentence saying that I didn't ACTUALLY do all of those things myself. Instead, I have fond memories of all those things happening on my grandparents' farm in my youth and even though I was too young to help out, it's amazing at the things you learn just by being an annoying under-foot child.

And as my family's land was a flutter of activity during the growing season, so was the adjacent farmland owned by the Scott family. Wayne Scott was the overseer for a massive strawberry operation that included acres and acres of fields worked by migrant families who were housed on his land. Over the years, the family integrated tomatoes and corn into their farming repertoire and today the Scott family is infamous throughout all of northeastern Tennessee, southwest Virginia and even parts of the Carolinas. My mother, aunts, and uncles spent their summers working in various aspects on the Scott farm. I can remember sitting in the offices while my mother answered phone calls from people wanting to place orders for the berries and sometimes I'd even get to help out in the shed where the berries were being sold. I mostly ate the berries, but nonetheless I was helping by offering quality control services. I have such vivid memories of plucking those scarlet red berries, still warm from the sun, from the carton and savoring each bite as the sticky red juice clung to my fingers and stained my mouth.

A few weeks ago, I found myself standing in the hot sun in the middle of a strawberry field waxing nostalgia about those childhood days gone by. Seeing those sun ripened berries just waiting to be picked brought back a flood of carefree feelings of standing barefoot in a strawberry shed, not having a care in the world. These days, most kids have no idea where their food comes from other than the grocery store shelf. They don't know that the plastic carton of strawberries started as a tiny plant in a far off field, totally dependent on the sun, rain and the land for nourishment, growth and its very existence in that plastic container. I'm so fortunate to know the amount of hard work, sacrifice, and sweat that goes into making a living off of the land and I know the personal satisfaction of harvesting the food and turning it into something special to be shared with friends and family.

Even before I headed to the strawberry field that morning, I knew some of my berries were destined to become this lovely Strawberry Mascarpone Tart with Port Glaze featured in the April 2009 edition of Gourmet. It was very simple to prepare and I loved the tangy-sweet addition of the port wine glaze drizzled over the berries. To me, strawberries are best coupled with a light and fluffy filling so I think next time I'll cut the amount of mascarpone and add some freshly whipped cream to make the filling just a bit lighter in texture. But pay no mind to me....no doubt you will enjoy this just as it is!


Strawberry Mascarpone Tart with Port Glaze
from Gourmet, April 2009

For tart shell:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
Rounded 1/4 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 large egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons cold water

For filling:
1 1/2 pounds strawberries (about 1 1/2 quarts), trimmed & halved lengthwise
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup ruby Port
1 pound mascarpone (about 2 cups)
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Equipment: a 10-inch fluted tart pan with removable bottom; pie weights or dried beans

To make tart shell:
Blend together flour, sugar, salt, and butter in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps. Beat together yolk, vanilla, lemon juice, and water with a fork, then drizzle over flour mixture and stir with fork (or pulse) until mixture comes together.

Gently knead with floured hands on a lightly floured surface until a dough forms, then gently knead 4 or 5 times. Press into a 5-inch disk. Place in center of tart pan and cover with plastic wrap. Using your fingers and bottom of a flat-bottomed measuring cup, spread and push dough to evenly cover bottom and side of pan. Prick bottom of tart shell all over with a fork and freeze until firm, about 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle.

Line tart shell with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake until side is set and edge is pale golden, about 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights and continue to bake until shell is deep golden all over, about 20 minutes more. Cool in pan, about 45 minutes.

Make filling while tart shell cools:
Stir together strawberries and granulated sugar in a bowl and let stand, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes. Strain in a sieve set over a small saucepan, reserving berries. Add Port to liquid in saucepan and boil until reduced to about 1/4 cup, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl to cool slightly.

Meanwhile, whisk together mascarpone, confectioners sugar, lemon juice, zest, vanilla, and a pinch of salt until stiff.

Assemble tart:
Spread mascarpone mixture evenly in cooled tart shell, then top with strawberries. Drizzle Port glaze all over tart.

Cooks' note:
Tart shell can be baked 1 day ahead and kept at room temperature.

I've been to alot of parties in my life.

I've planned parties right down to the last minute detail, cooked at parties, served at parties, and cleaned up at parties. Oh, wait...I don't think that counts as actually being AT the party, does it? No. Absolutely not. It's been a long, long time since I've hosted a party myself or actually been a guest at a party. I've been in the mood to party. And what a girl wants to do, a girl does.

I wanted to get my new house completely in order before I started entertaining, but are we ever completely settled? There's always something that needs to be done so I decided to get the invitations in the mail and commit to a date. Forget the fact that my window sills need to be cleaned and my closets need organizing...a party is supposed to be about good food and good friends!

The whole time I was getting ready for the big day - planning the menu, making lists, shopping, prepping, cleaning - I kept thinking that I could NEVER do this for a living again!

There were no real surprises on the menu. Since it was MY party, I wanted all of my favorites. The recipes that my catering business was initially built around and made the business a success. I've blogged about most of them before, so I've linked back to the posts and also included the ones that I've never shared with you below. I wanted things that I was comfortable with so I could enjoy my own party and not worry about how a new recipe was going to fly. There will be plenty of time to play with new recipes and have them ready for the next big event.

It was a wonderful Sunday brunch, thanks entirely to my wonderful girlfriends! We laughed, drank, gossiped, ate, and then did it all again. Everything turned out perfectly and we had so much fun!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Candied Pecans (these little jewels made my salads famous!)

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 each egg white
2 tablespoons cold water
2 cups pecan halves
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Beat egg white and water until frothy. Stir nuts into mixture to coat, then drain slightly in a colander, 3-4 mins. Mix sugar and spices in a plastic bag. Add nuts and shake to coat. Spread wet nut mixture in a single layer on a microwave safe plate; microwave on high for 1-1/2 minutes, or until mixture is bubbly. Stir. Microwave another 1-1/2 minutes. Remove; stir to separate. Cool. Store in a sealed container.


Raspberry Vanilla Vinaigrette
Recipe By :Jackie Alejo (Cooking For You!)

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1/3 cup raspberry jam
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Shake all ingredients together in a jar, until well blended. You may want to increase vanilla according to taste.


Coconut Dream Bars (one of the most requested desserts from my catering business!)

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
18 1/4 ounces yellow cake mix
1/2 cup butter
3 eggs
8 ounces cream cheese
1 pound powdered sugar
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecan

Beat 1 egg and butter. Add cake mix. Pat into 8x12 inch pan. Mix cream cheese, 2 eggs, and stir in sugar. Add coconut and pecans. Spread over cake. Garnish with slivered almonds. Bake at 325 for 45 mins. Cut when cool.

Chocolate Chess Tartlets

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 tablespoons cornmeal
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons white vinegar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 Dash salt
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
5 (2.1-oz.) packages frozen mini phyllo pastry shells, thawed
thawed frozen whipped topping -- for garnish

Preparation
1. Stir together first 7 ingredients until blended. Add eggs, stirring well. Spoon about 1 heaping tsp. chocolate mixture into each pastry shell, and place on 2 large ungreased baking sheets.
2. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or just until set. Remove to wire racks, and let cool completely. Garnish, if desired.

Store tartlets in an airtight container up to 3 days.

Yield:
"72 "

Way back in January, I ran across a post by Meeta of What's For Lunch Honey about a chocolate cranberry tart that was featured in Bon Appetit magazine. Meeta and I must have been thinking along the same culinary lines in January because that particular recipe caught my eye too. I tore the page from the magazine and put it in my "To Eventually Try Before I Die" pile. I've learned that I'm much more inclined to actually make something from a magazine if I tear out and keep the individual page instead of keeping the whole magazine and thinking I'll eventually get back to flipping through it again and finding whatever it was that I thought I wanted to make in the first place. I made this a few weeks ago but never got around to posting about it. Remember this post about my house being turned upside down while waiting for new carpet and hardwood flooring? Well, it's been six weeks now and my house is JUST NOW coming back together!!!! We still have a few small details to take care of, but for the most part it's all done. Doesn't it look nice? No more rusty nails and dust! Woo Hoo!



Since cranberries are out of season now, you'll probably have to wait until next year to make this unless you're like me and happen to have a bag of cranberries in the freezer. I liked this tart very much because it wasn't overly sweet. The cranberries and the crystallized ginger gave it the perfect about of tartness. I didn't have marscapone cheese on hand and just could not bear the thought of having to drag myself to Walmart to look for something that they probably didn't have anyway, so I just substituted cream cheese and it worked just fine but the marscapone would have probably been a bit creamier in texture. It made a beautiful presentation all on its own, which is something I struggle with when it comes to desserts. Someone once told me that beautiful food garnishes itself and that is certainly true with this tart.....

* Exported from MasterCook *

Cranberry Chocolate Tart

Serving Size : 12
Categories : Dessert-Tarts

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
Cranberry Topping:
1/2 cup cranberry juice, divided
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1 12 ounce bag fresh or frozen cranberries
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
1 Pinch salt
4 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger
Crust:
1 1/4 cups chocolate wafer cookie crumbs (made from about 6 1/2 ounces cookies, finely ground in processor)
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted -- (5 to 6)
Mascarpone Filling:
1 8 ounce container mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup chilled whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Thin Strips crystallized ginger (optional garnish)

Pour 1/4 cup cranberry juice into small bowl; sprinkle gelatin over. Let stand until softened, 15 minutes. Combine 1/4 cup cranberry juice, cranberries, and next 5 ingredients in medium saucepan; bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium; simmer until cranberries are tender but still plump, 5 minutes. Strain into bowl; set cranberries aside. Add gelatin mixture to hot juice in bowl; stir until gelatin dissolves. Stir cranberries back into juice. Chill until cranberry mixture is cold and slightly thickened, at least 8 hours or overnight. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill. Stir chopped crystallized ginger into cranberry mixture.
For crust:
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Combine chocolate wafer cookie crumbs, sugar, and salt in medium bowl; add 5 tablespoons melted butter and stir until crumbs feel moist when pressed together with fingertips, adding remaining 1 tablespoon melted butter if mixture is dry. Press crumb mixture firmly onto bottom and up sides of 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Bake chocolate crust until beginning to set and slightly crisp, pressing with spoon if crust puffs during baking, about 14 minutes. Transfer tart pan to rack and cool crust completely before filling.

For mascarpone filling:
Using electric mixer, beat all ingredients except ginger in medium bowl just until thick enough to spread (do not overbeat or mixture may curdle). Spread filling in cooled crust. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.

Spoon cranberry mixture evenly over mascarpone filling. Chill at least 2 hours and up to 6 hours. Garnish with crystallized ginger strips, if desired. Cut tart into wedges and serve cold.

We all know the old adage about when life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade, right? I suppose it's great that we have these motivational thoughts that inspire us to pull ourselves up by the bootstraps and make the most out of a bad or unjust situation. But am I the only person willing to admit that sometimes, as hard as we might try to make lemonade, there always seems to be someone or something that wants to cut those lemons in half and rub them in our eyes? Having the sneeringly cynical attitude that I do, sometimes I doubt that it can be as simple as adding sugar to make the world right again. And while I may be a die hard cynic on the inside, I also know when it's appropriate to subscribe to the theory of group think and go with the flow...

So when I saw that life my refrigerator was on the verge of giving me lemons-gone-bad, I realized that I wasn't in the mood for a refreshing glass of lemonade but instead a nice slice of lemon tart. I found a recipe called Down Under Lemon Tart on allrecipes.com and decided it didn't seem too daunting to try on this "life gave me lemons today" day. I made only one minor change to the recipe - it called for lemon zest to be mixed in with the other filling ingredients and then strained. I hated the thought of just tossing the zest, so I mixed it in with the crust ingredients. I decided to dig into the tart a nanosecond after it had finished cooling and honestly thought I was going to suffer the fate of having lock jaw for the rest of eternity because it was so, so, so sour! However, the flavors seemed to meld the second day and the tart had the right balance of sweet and sour. I had a jar of raspberry dessert sauce in the refrigerator and added a drizzle just before serving.

So when life gives you lemons and you aren't the least bit thirsty, make the world right again by making a tart instead!

* Exported from MasterCook *

When Life Gives You Lemons Tart

Serving Size : 8

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
7/8 cup butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon cold water
4 eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons minced lemon zest
3/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup cream

DIRECTIONS:
1. Place flour, butter, lemon zest and confectioners' sugar in food processor; process until mixture resembles bread crumbs. Add egg yolk and 1 to 2 tablespoons cold water, and process until mixture forms a dough. Mold dough into 2 flat shapes, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for 20 minutes. Store the other crust in your freezer to make a second pie later!
2. Roll out pastry to 1/8 inch thick and line a 9 inch pie plate, and freeze for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Line pastry with foil, fill the foil with a little raw rice, and bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove foil and rice, and continue baking until pastry is a light golden color.
4. In a mixing bowl, mix together eggs, granulated sugar, lemon juice, and cream. Do not over beat. Place pie plate on a baking tray, and carefully pour lemon mixture into baked pastry crust.
5. Bake for 20 minutes. The filling will be runny in the center, and will set when cool; don't over cook, or cracks will appear. Cool. Drizzle with raspberry coulis if desired before serving.

I promise this will be the last plum inspired post. I'm not sure who will be more glad of that - you, the reader, or me. I had just enough plums left over after my jam session for another kitchen project or two. One, of course being the purple ice cream (which still needs to be tasted - I will make it my priority to do so for my afternoon snack) and the rest of the plums will live a happy life as a beautiful Plum and Goat Cheese Tart. I had originally decided that I wanted to make something from the Once Upon A Tart cookbook, but since my fruit was so small I knew they wouldn't make a pretty dessert tart and what's the point of spending so much time on something that you know won't achieve all that it should be? I was surfing the internet looking for other plum inspired recipes and found this one. I knew in an instant that my plums were destined to become this. How did I know? It contained GOAT CHEESE!

My kitchen staff gets so tired of me harping about goat cheese. I love the stuff! Captain Sturm commented just the other day that I needed to have a goat farm because I eat so much of it. Lucky for me, he likes it too. I remember when I first started catering and was asked to quote a menu for a dinner party. I labored over which of my best recipes to pull together for a nice meal. I decided to give her a couple of options to choose from because I, myself, simply couldn't choose either. When I spoke with her about what she had decided on, she also assumed that I must own a goat farm because I had so many things on the menu featuring goat cheese. Okay, so maybe I'm a little too enthusiastic about that stuff. I love the tangy taste and the smooth, creamy texture. My favorite way to enjoy it is to dip in olive oil and then into seasoned bread crumbs. Heat in the oven just until it gets gooey and then put it on top of a mesculan green salad. YUM to the highest degree.

Usually when I look at a recipe and it has more than one or two steps or procedures involved, I bypass it. I guess sometimes I just don't trust my own abilities at tackling a "complicated" recipe. Well, that is going to change. I'm growing tired of Sandra Lee type recipes. Not that this one was complicated by any means, but it was time consuming. Don't think you're going to come home from work and whip this up right quick for dinner. From start to finish, it took about 4 hours and I didn't start on it until 4:30 so I had a very late dinner. That's okay because Captain Sturm is out of town for the rest of the week so I can eat on the couch at midnight in my pajamas if I want to.


PLUM TART WITH GOAT CHEESE AND WALNUT-THYME STREUSEL

Adding fleur de sel at the end transforms this tart into a delicious cross between a cheese course and dessert.

Crust
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup walnuts (about 2 ounces)
1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1 egg yolk
7 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Streusel
1 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup walnuts (about 3 ounces)
1/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Filling and topping
8 ounces soft fresh goat cheese
8 ounces (1 cup) whole-milk ricotta cheese
3 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
4 large plums (about 1 pound), halved, pitted, cut into 1/4-inch-thick wedges

Fleur de sel*

For crust:
Blend first 4 ingredients in processor until nuts are finely ground. Add butter; blend until coarse meal forms. Add egg yolk; blend until moist clumps form. Press dough onto bottom and up sides of 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Cover; chill 1 hour.

For streusel:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Blend flour, walnuts, both sugars, coarse salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom in processor until nuts are finely ground. Add thyme and blend 5 seconds. Transfer mixture to medium bowl. Add butter. Using fingertips, rub in until small moist clumps form.

Spread streusel mixture on rimmed baking sheet. Bake 8 minutes. Stir, then continue baking until golden brown, about 7 minutes longer. Cool streusel completely (mixture will become crisp).

For filling and topping:
Combine both cheeses, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 tablespoon oil, sugar, nutmeg, coarse salt, and pepper in large bowl; stir to blend well. Refrigerate while baking crust.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line crust with foil; fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake crust until sides are set, about 15 minutes. Remove foil and beans. Continue to bake crust until golden brown, pressing with back of fork if crust bubbles, about 15 minutes longer. Cool crust completely.

Spread cheese filling in crust. Arrange plums in concentric circles atop filling, leaving 3/4-inch plain border. Sprinkle streusel lightly over tart. Refrigerate tart at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours.

Remove pan sides; place tart on platter. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons honey and 2 tablespoons oil; sprinkle with fleur de sel. Cut tart into wedges.

*Fleur de sel, a sea salt from Brittany, can be found at specialty foods stores.

Makes 8 servings.

Bon Appétit
September 2003

The crust came together very easily as did the streusel topping. I added 2 extra minutes to the streusel bake time. The topping made more than enough for this recipe so I put the rest of it in a zippy bag and will recycle it into another recipe. The streusel was a very tasty sweet & savory creation with the fresh thyme. I could also pick up the hint of the black pepper. I could have munched on it while my tart was finishing up.



While my tart didn’t look like the photo posted with the recipe because of the type of plums that I was using, I’ll have to say it has to be one of the prettiest things I’ve ever made. I think this would be excellent served as a first course or even as a light lunch with a salad (bet you’ll never guess what I’m having for lunch?!). Skip the olive oil and fleur de sel and it would be equally as delicious as a dessert. But be sure to use a good quality olive oil when you do drizzle it over the top because it definitely adds a new dimension to the overall flavor. I tasted the tart after it cooled for an hour and while it tasted good, I enjoyed it much better the next day after the cheeses had time to meld together. The goat cheese was much more pronounced. This recipe will definitely find its way onto my catering menu. I just know there are other avid goat cheese lovers out there who will find as much pleasure in this as I did…. Enjoy!