Mini Raspberry Almond Tarts

I am so excited to share this recipe with you.  It came to me last night as I was thinking what I could make with these fabulous Driscoll Raspberries!

I was contacted through The Daily Meal by Driscoll's with an offer to come up with a raspberry recipe in exchange for some coupons on there fabulous berries. Okay!  Twist my arm, I will do it.  Nonsense.  No twisting necessary.  I love Driscoll Berries.

So here is my idea.  Since I am nearly sugar free, trying to take off, taking off some major poundage, I decided to go as sugar free as possible and up the protein content.  So many people are into low carbs and high protein.  Why not?  Now, good carbs, like raspberries rock my world.  I love raspberries!

Mini Almond Raspberry Tarts

Crust:

1 cup almond flour
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Filling:

2/3 cup Greek Plain Lowfat Yogurt
1 tablespoon sugar- of course you can replace it with honey or something
1 large egg

Topping:

Why beautiful raspberries of course!

Preheat oven to 350F.  Line mini muffin tins with mini cupcake liners.

With a fork combine almond flour and baking soda- then ad in egg and vanilla.  Mix until combined. Set aside.

In another bowl, whisk together yogurt, sugar and egg. Set aside.

Get a little bowl with some water in it.  Set near work surface.

Spoon a scant teaspoon of almond mixture into cup. Fill all the little tins.  THe mixture is just enough.  So borrow from one to another if you need to to make sure all 24 cups have the almond base in them.  Next, dip your finger tip in the water and smush the almond crust into the bottom of the cup.  The water will help with the stickiness.  Once you have dabbed down all those little crusts flat, wash your hands.

Pour a scant two teaspoons of filling into the cups.  Keep going to make sure all 24 cups get the filling.  Divide as evenly as possible.  You should have just enough.

Bake in a preheated over for 20 minutes. They should be lightly golden.  Remove, cool, and then chill.  Top with AMAZING raspberries!

Chocolate Caramel Tart

I am sitting here trying to think what I can write about these tarts and only one word comes to mind... Yum!  Dark chocolate crust, bittersweet chocolate ganache, creamy caramel on the inside, all topped with a light sprinkling of French gray sea salt ( a great foil). 

We are still adjusting to a dog's life.  See you have to remember that we are first time dog owners.  We both have never really had a dog as children.  We came from families who had cats, but not dogs.  So we are saying things like what does that mean?  Is that normal?  Should we be doing this?  I know some of you out there are probably like, duh, whats so hard about it?  Well we want her to be trained right, have good manners and overall be obedient.  So we are reading things on the internet, books from the library, talking to people, and watching videos on the internet.  We have taught her to sit, lay down, shake.  We are still working on up (after she has laid down) and come.  We want her to learn drop and fetch.  Its a process.  Hopefully soon we will find a class that works into our schedule.

So you want some tart? Follow the recipe below and you will have your very own to eat.

Chocolate Caramel Tart
Adapted from this recipe at Saveur magazine


1 1⁄2 cups flour
1⁄4 cup plus 1 tbsp. dutch-process unsweetened
cocoa powder
1⁄4 tsp. kosher salt
10 tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed and softened
1⁄2 cup plus 2 tbsp. confectioners' sugar
2 egg yolks, preferably at room temperature
1⁄2 tsp. vanilla extract


the caramel
1 1⁄2 cups sugar
3 tbsp. light corn syrup
1⁄4 tsp. kosher salt
6 tbsp. unsalted butter
6 tbsp. heavy cream
1 tbsp. sour cream


the ganache
1⁄2 cup heavy cream
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
Gray sea salt for garnish


Heat oven to 350˚. Combine flour, cocoa powder, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. Using a handheld mixer, cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl until mixture is pale and fluffy; mix in yolks and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients. Transfer dough to 8 mini tart pans.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Prick the tart shells all over with a fork and bake until cooked through, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool. (It will seem like it is not going to come together but it will).

The caramel: In a 1-qt. saucepan, whisk together sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 6 tbsp. water and bring to a boil. Cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer inserted into the syrup reads 340°. Remove pan from heat and whisk in butter, cream, and sour cream (the mixture will bubble up) until smooth. Pour caramel into cooled tart shell and let cool slightly; refrigerate until firm, 4–5 hours. I had a little extra caramel than I needed for my shells.  I added a bit more heavy cream so that it would stay a softer consistency for going on ice cream or say... scooping up with a spoon.

The ganache: Bring cream to a boil in a 1-qt. saucepan over medium heat. Put chocolate into a medium bowl and pour in hot cream; let sit for 1 minute, then stir slowly with a rubber spatula until smooth. Pour ganache evenly over tart and refrigerate until set, 4–5 hours. Sprinkle tart with sea salt, slice, and serve chilled.

SERVES 8

Raspberries and Cream Tart... Farewell Fair Summer

While I am very happy to welcome autumn (my favorite season)- I am bit sad to see some of the summer fruits and vegetables disappearing from the farmers market.  This is my goodbye to summer tart.

Raspberries and Cream Tart

For the tart:


1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
pinch of salt
1 egg
4 1/2 ounces butter (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon)

In a processor combine flour, sugar and salt. While processor is running drop butter by small pieces and finally the egg. Once a dough ball is formed remove from processor. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour and up to overnight.

Roll out to a 1/4 inch thick and place into 10 inch round tart pan or individual tarts work marvelously too. Repair any bare spots or holes with pieces of the access that you cut off rfom around the sides.  (Does that make sense?)Fork it a little here and there so it does not bubble. Bake at 375F until lightly golden- about 17 to 22 minutes.

For the filling: 

8 ounces cream cheese
6 ounces heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Whip cream cheese until light add in sugar and vanilla and apinch of salt.  In a seperate bowl whip cold cream until stiff peaks form.  Take a heaping spoon full and mix it in to the cream cheese mixture to lighten it a little.  Fold in the remainder of the whipped cream into the cream cheese.  Smooth into tart and decorate with fruit.  In this case luscious raspberries.

Daring Bakers: Orange Cherry Tian

This months challenge was citrus tian. I chose to do orange cherry flavor. (And just in the nick of time- I am writing this post the night before it is due to go up.) I am not a last minute person but sometimes it just works out that way.

This is a beautiful dessert that isn't difficult but it is time consuming. I always find these multi dimensional desserts to be somewhat overwhelming but in the end I am always glad I did it. There is just something about this kind of dessert that takes you over the top. I am not especially a marmalade person but I did like the kind of bitter contrast with the sweet.

The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.

Orange Tian

For the pate sablee:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
pinch of salt
1 egg
4 1/2 ounces butter (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon)

In a processor combine flour, sugar and salt. While processor is running drop butter by small pieces and finally the egg. Once a dough ball is formed remove from processor. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour and up to overnight.

Roll out to a 1/4 inch thick and cut rounds with a pastry ring. You can use small tin cans and use them to cut your dough. Then you know they will fit in the rounds when forming the tian.


For the Marmalade:


Freshly pressed orange juice ¼ cup + 3 tablespoons; 3.5 oz; 100 grams
the peel of 1 large orange that was used to make orange slices
cold water to cook the orange slices
pectin 5 grams
granulated sugar: use the same weight as the weight of orange slices once they are cooked

Place the orange peels in a medium-sized pot filled with cold water. Simmer for about 10 minutes, discard the water, re-fill with cold water and blanch the oranges for another 10 minutes.

Blanch the orange slices 3 times. This process removes the bitterness from the orange peel, so it is essential to use a new batch of cold water every time when you blanch the slices.

Once blanched 3 times, drain the slices and let them cool.

Once they are cool enough to handle, finely mince them (using a knife or a food processor).

Weigh the slices and use the same amount of granulated sugar . If you don’t have a scale, you can place the slices in a cup measurer and use the same amount of sugar.

In a pot over medium heat, add the minced orange slices, the sugar you just weighed, the orange juice and the pectin. Cook until the mixture reaches a jam consistency (10-15 minutes).

Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge.

For the Orange Segments:

For this step you will need 8 oranges.

Cut the oranges into segments over a shallow bowl and make sure to keep the juice. Add the segments to the bowl with the juice.

For the Caramel:

granulated sugar 1 cup; 7 oz; 200 grams
orange juice 1 cup
maraschino cherry juice 1/2 cup

Place the sugar in a pan on medium heat and begin heating it.

Once the sugar starts to bubble and foam, slowly add the orange/cherry juice. As soon as the mixture starts boiling, remove from the heat and pour half of the mixture over the orange segments.

Reserve the other half of the caramel mixture in a small bowl — you will use this later to spoon over the finished dessert. When the dessert is assembled and setting in the freezer, heat the kept caramel sauce in a small saucepan over low heat until it thickens and just coats the back of a spoon (about 10 minutes). You can then spoon it over the orange tians.

[Tip: Be very careful when making the caramel — if you have never made caramel before, I would suggest making this step while you don’t have to worry about anything else. Bubbling sugar is extremely, extremely hot, so make sure you have a bowl of ice cold water in the kitchen in case anyone gets burnt!]

For the Whipped Cream:

heavy whipping cream 1 cup; 7 oz; 200 grams
3 tablespoons of hot water
1 tsp Gelatine
1 tablespoon of confectioner's sugar
cherry jam (see recipe above) 1 tablespoon

In a small bowl, add the gelatine and hot water, stirring well until the gelatine dissolves. Let the gelatine cool to room temperature while you make the whipped cream. Combine the cream in a chilled mixing bowl. Whip the cream using a hand mixer on low speed until the cream starts to thicken for about one minute. Add the confectioner sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high. Whip the cream until the beaters leave visible (but not lasting) trails in the cream, then add the cooled gelatine slowly while beating continuously. Continue whipping until the cream is light and fluffy and forms soft peaks. Transfer the whipped cream to a bowl and fold in the orange marmalade.

Assembling the Dessert:

Make sure you have some room in your freezer. Ideally, you should be able to fit a small baking sheet or tray of desserts to set in the freezer.

Line a small tray or baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone sheet. Lay out 6 cookie cutters onto the parchment paper/silicone.

Drain the orange segments on a kitchen towel.

Have the marmalade, whipped cream and baked circles of dough ready to use.

Arrange the orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter. Make sure the segments all touch either and that there are no gaps. Make sure they fit snuggly and look pretty as they will end up being the top of the dessert. Arrange them as you would sliced apples when making an apple tart.

Once you have neatly arranged one layer of orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter, add a couple spoonfuls of whipped cream and gently spread it so that it fills the cookie cutter in an even layer. Leave about 1/4 inch at the top so there is room for dough circle.

Using a butter knife or small spoon, spread a small even layer of orange marmalade on each circle of dough.

Carefully place a circle of dough over each ring (the side of dough covered in marmalade should be the side touching the whipping cream). Gently press on the circle of dough to make sure the dessert is compact.

Place the desserts to set in the freezer to set for 10 minutes.

Using a small knife, gently go around the edges of the cookie cutter to make sure the dessert will be easy to unmold. Gently place your serving plate on top of a dessert (on top of the circle of dough) and turn the plate over. Gently remove the cookie cutter, add a spoonful of caramel sauce and serve immediately.

Note: I lined small tins with cereal bag plastic and then layered in the components as directed.

Lovely, Lavender, Lulls Lori

Yes, I am silly. I think I am punch drunk from being busy having fun and weeding the jungle, er, I mean garden. My DH is outside at this moment finishing up. It was so bad, it's downright embarassing.

I planted lavender in my garden last year. (Yes, that garden needs weeding too so don't look too closely). I love lavender. The scent is so lovely. I recently found out that lavender, in a study, was shown to reduce anxiety. The study says that it has a calming effect on the nervous system. Of course it has been known for a while that it helped people to sleep but now they have confirmed that it reduces anxiety. Check out the article here. Now that I have a ton of it in my garden, I can dry it, and put sachets all over the house!

A couple years ago I had lavender in some lemonade. I tasted it at the County Fair. I really liked it. I was kind of hesitant about it because in an instant it can go from a lovely taste to an overpowering, perfumey taste.
I have been drying some out, so I added it to these tarts. I added some lemon curd and I think they were a nice little treat. I took most of them over to a friends house. (I hope she liked them.)
Lemon Lavender Tarts

the tarts:
adapted from Tartelette's recipe

8 tablespoons butter, room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons corn starch
pinch of salt
lavender buds ( a smidge)

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, takes about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the egg and mix until incorporated. In a measuring cup mix together flour, salt and cornstarch. Lay a piece of plastic wrap on a flat surface. empty contents of mixer onto the wrap. Gather it up into a disc and refrigerate for an hour or more.

Once the dough has been chilled, it's ready for rolling. Use plastic wrap to roll it out.

* I used pie weights on a large tart I made. With the remaining dough I made five mini tarts.

Press lavender buds into tarts before baking. Bake at 350F. Bake until lightly golden on edges.

Lemon Curd

5 yolks
1 cup sugar
juice and zest of 4 lemons
1 stick of butter (4 oz.) cut in eight pieces

Combine yolks, sugar, juice and zest of lemons in a stainless steel bowl. Whisk until combined. Place bowl over boiling water. (You could also use a double boiler). Stir with whisk constantly. You want to heat it until it sticks to the back of a spoon. When you run your finger through it, it makes a trail. This usually takes anywhere from eight to ten minutes.

Take off the heat and whisk in pieces of butter one at a time until melted. Place in a glass or ceramic container and refrigerate. You can store this for about a week. It freezes well and defrosts rapidly.

Daring Bakers: Bakewell Tart

Outside.
Inside.

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.
My shining star. Nutella.

"This tart, like many of the world's great foods has its own mythic beginnings…or several mythic beginnings. Legend has it in 1820 (or was it in the 1860s?) Mrs. Greaves, landlady of The White Horse Inn in Bakewell, Derbyshire (England), asked her cook to produce a pudding for her guests. Either her instructions could have been clearer or he should have paid better attention to what she said because what he made was not what she asked for. The cook spread the jam on top of the frangipane mixture rather than the other way around. Or maybe instead of a sweet rich shortcrust pastry case to hold the jam for a strawberry tart, he made a regular pastry and mixed the eggs and sugar separately and poured that over the jam—it depends upon which legend you follow... Bakewell tarts are a classic English dessert, abounding in supermarket baking sections and in ready-made, mass-produced forms, some sporting a thick sugary icing and glazed cherry on top for decorative effect." Daring Bakers Cardamom Addict and Ambrosia and Nectar.

Whew! what history and what delicious history at that. This was such a versatile dessert with so much room to play with. It is pretty easy and very elegant looking. I went crazy with all the choices. And it seems like there are so many more I want to try.

I did a pecan with honey pecan jam, a pecan with apricot jam; an almond with nutella, an almond with lemon curd and an almond with some of my peach jam with amaretto. I liked them all but honestly the star was the Nutella one. How can you beat the hazelnut and chocolate combination?


Sweet shortcrust pastry

Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes (minimum)
Equipment needed: bowls, box grater, cling film

225g (8oz) all purpose flour
30g (1oz) sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 (2) egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.

Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.

Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

Frangipane

Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Equipment needed: bowls, hand mixer, rubber spatula

125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
125g (4.5oz) icing sugar
3 (3) eggs
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract
125g (4.5oz) ground almonds
30g (1oz) all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow color.

Assembling the tartPlace the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it's overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimated for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the center and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400F.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking.
The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.

I put a medjool date in this one. Why? Cause I am goofy like that.

ITALY

Just before I met my husband I resigned myself to a life of singleness. I was 36 years old and pretty doubtful that I would meet someone. In the time I was single though I never let the time pass by while pining for a suitor. I did quite a bit of traveling and moving to different cities much to my Mother's chagrin. (Now that I am a Mother, I completely understand). My motto was always, live and do things while you can. Looking back I am so grateful for that. One place I wanted to go to was Italy. I was actually in the beginning stages of planning a trip there. My idea was to go with my parents and brother (who was divorced at the time). I started the inquiry process but that is about as far as it got. In walked Italy to my life.

A strappingly handsome dude who is a little over seven years younger than I. The first time I looked at him and saw his eyes, I was sold. The first time he ate my pumpkin muffins he was sold. Just kidding. It helped the process, the muffins, but he fell for me that first night too.

I continue to be intrigued by Italy. Dont get me wrong there are a hundred other places I want to go to: Greece, Spain, Japan, France, Argentina... just to name a few.

All this to say that I wanted to make my dear husband a birthday treat that was very Italian. What is more Italian than the classic hazelnut/chocolate combo? Gianduja. Yum. On my to do list.

So around his birthday I had asked if anyone knew of a great dessert that combined chocolate and hazelnut. I have made cakes before but I wanted something unique. Shelly of This Old Farm to my rescue. She emailed me a recipe for chocolate hazelnut tart. I was sold. I know it has been some time but I am finally getting around to posting it. I did not do the glaze or the vanilla sauce because I felt it was just what I wanted with the mousse and the pastry. Besides I just plum ran out of time. It was delicious Shelly. Thank you for taking the time to type it all and send it. I fully appreciate the effort. There was a lot of moaning around the table that night as we treasured each and every bite.



Bittersweet Chocolate Terrine with Vanilla Custard Sauce
Bon Appetit, October 1989

A rich chocolate mousse with a hazelnut pastry bottom, all encased in a bittersweet chocolate glaze.
12 servings

Mousse

12 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup unsalted butter
6 large egg yolks

8 large egg whites, room temp
3 tablespoons sugar

Pastry

2/3 cup toasted hazelnuts (about 3 ounces)
1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg yolk
3 teaspoons (about) whipping cream

Glaze

6 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate , chopped
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
2/3 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup Cognac

12 toasted hazelnuts

Vanilla Custard Sauce (see recipe)

For mousse:
Line 9x5-inch rectangular loaf pan with 2 pieces of parchment extending 1 inch over long and short sides. Melt chocolate with butter in top of double boiler over barely simmering water, stirring until smooth. Remove from over water. Cool 5 minutes. Whisk in yolks 1 at a time.

Using electric mixer, beat egg whites in large bowl until soft peaks begin to form. Gradually add sugar and beat until stiff but not dry. Fold half of whites into cooled chocolate to lighten. Gently fold in remaining whites. Pour mousse into prepared pan. Cover with plastic and refrigerate overnight.

For pastry:
Finely grind hazelnuts in processor. Blend in flour and sugar. Add butter and cut in using on/off turns until mixture has a sandy texture. Blend in yolk and enough cream to form dough that just begins to come together. Gather dough into square; flatten into rectangle. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350. Roll dough out between sheets of parchment to 9x5-inch rectangle. Peel off top sheet of parchment. Transfer dough on parchment to cookie sheet. Bake until pastry is firm and beginning to brown, about 15 minutes. Cool pastry on sheet. Refrigerate 1 hour.

For glaze:
Melt chocolate and butter with corn syrup in heavy medium saucepan over low heat, stirring until smooth. Scald cream with Cognac in heavy small saucepan.
Pour into chocolate; mix well. Cool slightly.

Carefull place pastry atop mousse. Place cake rack over terrine. Invert terrine onto rack. Peel off parchment. Using serrated knife, carefully cut away any excess pastry around base of terrine. Place terrine on rack over cookie sheet. Pour lukewarm glaze over terine, spreading gently to coat top and sides. Arrange nuts down center of terrine. Chill until glaze sets, about 1 hour. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead.)

Run small sharp knife around base of terrine to loosen. Transfer terrine to serving plate. Cut into slices using warm knife. Transfer to plates. Spoon custard around each piece and serve.


Vanilla Custard Sauce

Makes about 3 cups

2 cups half and half
2/3 cup milk (do not use lowfat or nonfat)
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

5 egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt

Combine half and half and milk in heavy medium saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add pod. Bring mixture to simmer. Remove from heat.
Cover and let steep 40 minutes.

Whisk yolks, sugar and salt in medium bowl to blend. Bring half and half mixute
to boil again. Gradually whisk some into yolks. Return mixture to saucepan and
stir over medium-low heat until custardthickens and leaves path on back of spoon when finger is drawn across, about 8 minutes; do not boil. Strain into bowl. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled.(Sauce can be prepared up to 3 days ahead.)

SPRING = STRAWBERRIES

This week for Tuesdays with Dorie we did LaPalette's Strawberry Tart (recipe here ). What a perfect recipe as strawberries are all over the market with the arrival of Spring. (You can see the crumb in this picture

I spread a low sugar jam over my tart. It is mixed berry and it's one of my favorites. I also made Tangy Chocolate Sauce from Dorie's book. I poured that all over my piece. It was yum!


My review of this tart. Well as far as tarts go I am not that picky because I love them. This particular tart is not a soft dough but rather a crumbly kind of dough. Some may baulk at that but it tastes so much like a shortbread cookie that I didnt mind. Have I told you that shortbread is my favorite kind of cookie. Which is why this tart was so appealling to me. In the future it will be one of the recipes in my tart dough repertoire. I have a few that I like. One I make has almond paste in it. Wow let me tell you it is delicious. More on that later. For right now Dorie gets the spotlight.

DILL DAY

Dessert first, right? No, just kidding.



Today was a dilly of a day and I mean that in the most literal sense. I have a boat load of dill on hand just dying to be used in something. So today I made a Salmon and Dill Crustless Quiche with Zucchini Dill Muffins and even a salad with dill and buttermilk dressing. And guess what? I still have a ton of dill left. I guess I will dry it.

A momentous thing occured yesterday, I figured out where my macro button was on my camera. Yeah! Voila, I now have clear close up shots. I might even get a beautiful shot here and there! All of the blogs I read have such great photography. I am still amazed how many talented people there are out there in blog land!

Port and Fig Tart with Creme Fraiche

Creme Fraiche

1/4 cup buttermilk
2 cups heavy cream

Combine in a non reactive bowl, cover and let sit for 24 hours in a warm spot. It should caogulate or gel quite a bit. If it is runny continue to keep it out of the fridge for another 12 hours.

You can sweeten it or flavor or leave it as is.

Fig Spread

24 dried figs, chopped small
1/2 cup port wine
1 cup orange juice
pinch of cinnamon

Combine in a heavy bottom sauce pan. Bring mixture to a boil and simmer until most of the liquid is absorbed. Process until relatively smooth.

Tart

I am sure you all have a good tart recipe or for sure can find one. I do not want to pass along this one as it came out kind of dry. I did a little experimentation with mine and used oats. I am not 100 percent happy with the results yet. I will keep you posted on an oat tart recipe when I find it!

Spread figs on tart. Sprinkle with toasted walnuts. Put a dollop of creme fraiche on top and drizzle with honey.

Dill Salmon Quiche

6 oz salmon, fillet or canned
1 cup cooked potatoes, cut up small
6 eggs
1 can evaporated milk, (I used fat free)
1/4 cup sour cream (I used 1/3 less fat)
3 tablespoons capers
1 small onion, diced and sauteed
1 cup peas (wouldnt put this in again, really did nothing for the dish)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
s and p
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Comine eggs and whisk. Add remaining ingredients and pour into sprayed pie pan. Fill 2/3 full. I made two from this recipe. Bake at 350 F.