Savory Tart Tatin with Apples, Shallots and Blue Cheese

I know that a lot of people rely on the internet for finding new recipes, which is fine, but I love cookbooks, so I'm always on the lookout for one that will have a number of new-to-me recipes that sound delicious.

A few days ago I was in one of our independent bookstores and found a great cookbook on the sale table. It's The Great British Baking Show Favorite Flavors book and I'm sure that I'll be making and posting more of the recipes in the future. As I paged through the book, there were at least a half dozen that sparked my interest. Last night I made the recipe that sealed the deal for me actually purchasing the book.

As written, this recipe is a Tart Tatin, which is sort of an upside down pie, with a rough puff pastry top that becomes the bottom of the tart. It is savory, but there is some sweetness from the apples and the shallots. The blue cheese brings home the savory as does the garlic. the thyme adds a wonderful herbal note. If I make it again I'll add finely chopped toasted walnuts, because the finished tart would have been even better with some walnuts, in my opinion. I'll also cut back some on the butter and oil because I found it overly oily. Just in case you think that it isn't worth making, I should tell you that Sweetie thinks it might be the best thing I've ever baked. Of course I had him at 'blue cheese'!

Because the puff pastry I thought I had in the freezer ended up not being there, and because I didn't have the time to make rough puff and I did have pie dough on hand, I used regular pie dough for the tart and it worked fine. I also didn't use all the blue cheese, nor all the apples and I also used fewer shallots than called for. What this meant was that I had a single layer tart. The original was probably thicker and that's why more fat, cheese, apples and shallots were needed. I liked it as a single layer tart, especially with the pie dough crust. I also skipped the balsamic drizzle, but kept the parsley.  I'm going to give you the original recipe below, but feel free to use pie dough and/or half the fillings if you like. Also feel free to toast a couple tablespoons of walnuts and chop them up and sprinkle them over the tart when you have turned it out onto the serving plate. Not only are walnuts and blue cheese a classic match-up, but the crunch should be great with the soft cheese, fruit and shallots. I plan to that next time.

Savory Tart Tatin with Apples, Shallots and Blue Cheese
Serves 4-6

For the rough puff pastry 
200g plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
175g unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
4 tbsp chilled water
1 tsp white wine vinegar or lemon juice

For the topping/filling
40g unsalted butter
2 tbsp olive oil
400g banana shallots (1bout 12 small shallots), peeled and halved lengthways, root end intact
2 Braeburn apples, cored and cut into eighths
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2 tbsp golden caster sugar (I used turbinado sugar)
1 thyme sprig, leaves picked, about a teaspoon
150g blue cheese (such as Stilton) crumbled
salt and black pepper to taste

To serve
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley

1.) Make the rough puff pastry. Mix the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Lightly rub in the butter with your fingertips, just enough to knock the corners off the butter pieces - it should still be in a rough dice. Pour in the chilled water and vinegar and quickly mix with a palette knife (small offset spatula works) to bring the dough together in a ragged ball, adding more water if needed.

2.) Lightly flour the work surface, tip the dough out of the bowl and flatten it into a square. Roll out the dough to a rectangle that is three times as long as it is wide - about 36cm x 12 cm, with one of the short ends closest to you. Fold the top third down to the middle and the bottom third up to cover it, to create a three-layered square of dough. Wrap the dough and chill it for 1 hour.

3.) Lightly flour the work surface and roll out the dough to a rectangle, this time about 45 x 15 cm, with one of the short ends closest to you. Fold the top edge down to the middle and the bottom edge up to meet it in the middle. Turn the dough 90 degrees clockwise and fold the dough in half, much like closing a book. Wrap and chill for another 1 hour, or until you're ready to bake.

4.) Make the tipping. While the pastry is chilling, melt 15g of the butter with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large flying pan over medium heat. Add the shallots, cut side down, and cook without stirring for 3-4 minutes, until golden. Turn the shallots over and cook the other side for 2 minutes, until lightly colored. Using a fish knife or palette knife, remove the shallots to a large plate and season well with salt and pepper.

5.) Heat another 15g of butter and the remaining olive oil in the frying pan. Add the apples and cook each side for 2 minutes, until lightly caramelized. Add the garlic, season with salt and pepper and cook for another 1 minutes. Remove the apples to a plate.

6.) Assemble the tatin. Spread the remaining butter over the base of the ovenproof pan or skillet and scatter with the caster sugar. Place the shallots and apples in the pan (they don't have to be neatly arranged) and scatter with the thyme and half the blue cheese.

7.) Lightly flour the work surface. Roll out the pastry and cut it into a 28-30 cm disc (about 3mm thick). Lay the pastry over the shallots and apples and tuck the edges down the inside of the pan. Chill for 20 minutes while you heat the oven to 200 degrees C/180 degreed C fan/Gas 6.

8.) Cut a steam hole in the top of the pastry and place the pan over medium heat on the stove for 2 minutes, until the edges of the pastry start to sizzle and bubble. Then, transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 30 minutes, until the pastry is crisp and golden all over.

9.) Meanwhile, bring the balsamic vinegar to the boil in a small saucepan over medium heat until reduced by half. Removed from the heat and leave to cool.

10.) Leave the baked tart to rest in the ovenproof pan or skillet for 2 minutes, then place a board or serving plate on top of the pan and carefully flip the pan over to turn out the tart. Drizzle with the reduced balsamic vinegar and scatter with the remaining blue cheese and the parsley, to serve.

Pork and Mushroom Ragout Over Polenta

A few days ago Sweetie cooked a pork shoulder low and slow in the BBQ grill, all wrapped up in heavy duty foil. He browns the shoulder on each side before wrapping it up, then lowers the grill temperature so that it can cook for hours and get soft and delicious. In the process some of the fat and juices make their way into the bottom of the foil. When he takes the packet off the grill, he carefully saves those juices in heatproof glass jars, then opens the foil all the way and removes the pork to cut and serve. If we're having pulled pork bbq sandwiches, I ask him to just cut a chunk off for me so that I can pull the pork with two forks instead of slicing mine.

If the pork shoulder is a large one, as the one he cooked a few days ago was, I get to be creative with ways to use some or all of the leftover pork.

Today I made a sort of pork stew or ragout with some of the leftover pork, some onion, garlic, mushrooms and spinach, plus seasonings. It was yummy and went well over some soft cooked polenta. I didn't really have a recipe to follow  but I've cooked similar things before so I was pretty sure that I could figure out the recipe as I went along. I did have a recipe for the polenta and it was a delicious mix of stone-ground polenta, some chicken broth and some of those pork juices Sweetie saved then refrigerated, some salt and pepper, some butter and some Parmesan. Don't skip the Parmesan...it makes all the difference. Also, use good Parmesan, either the real deal, grated, or something pretty good like the already grated stuff from Costco. Skip the Kraft Parmesan in the green tube. Not worth adding.

Pork and Mushroom Ragout Over Polenta with Spinach
serves 4

For the Pork and Mushroom Ragout:
1/2 large onion, peeled and chopped
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
135 grams mushrooms, sliced (about 4-6 depending on size). I used cremini.
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
salt  and pepper - about 1/4 teaspoon 
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
170 grams or 6 oz. already cooked pork roast. I used the shoulder cut, slow cooked
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 cup broth/reserved pork juices/water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup chopped cooked spinach

For the Polenta: 
3 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup stone-ground (if possible) polenta  grind corn meal
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese - best quality

Instructions: 

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan or small Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onions and stir, then cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Add the sliced mushrooms and stir. Cover the pot, reduce the heat to low and cook for 3 minutes to allow the mushrooms to release moisture. Uncover the pot and return the heat to medium-high then cook, stirring often until the mushrooms have some browned areas on the slices, about 4-5 minutes. If necessary, add the rest of the olive oil to cook the mushrooms or garlic. Add the garlic, and reduce the heat to medium. Cook for 1 minute, then stir in the salt and pepper and the thyme. Cover the pot, reduce heat to low and cook another minute to allow flavors to meld.

Add the pork, cut into 1-inch or smaller cubes, to the pot, and stir to combine. Cover the pot and cook, still on low, for 3 minutes, to heat the pork.

In a small bowl combine the balsamic vinegar, cornstarch and 1/4 cup of the broth/pork juices/water, being sure to stir until there are no lumps of cornstarch left. Add this mixture and the rest of the broth/pork juices/water to the pot. Increase the heat to medium-high and stir until the broth thickens. Add the cooked spinach, stir, and cover until ready to serve, leaving over the lowest heat possible on your stove. The mixture needs to stay warm while you prepare the polenta, but you don't want it to burn.

For the polenta, add the water to a large pot and bring to a boil. Add the salt and stir to combine. (Note: Taste your pork mixture before adding the salt. If the pork mixture is fairly salty, as it might be if you use the pork juices or your broth is salty, then reduce the salt you add to the polenta water. I only used 1/2 teaspoon because my pork ragout was fairly salty.)

Once the salted water is boiling, slowly whisk in the polenta. Switch to a wooden spoon and stir until the polenta mixture is thickened and the grains are cooked to your liking. I like mine with just a bit of chew still in it. Once desired thickness is reached, add the butter and the grated Parmesan and stir vigorously until it is well combined. Mixture thickens slightly as it cools, so if it's too thin for you. let it sit 4-5 minutes before serving.

To serve, spoon the polenta into shallow soup bowls and top with the pork mixture. Serve additional grated Parmesan on the side, if desired, to be sprinkled at the table over the ragout. 

Peach and Raspberry Pie

Don't actually need another pie recipe, but I finally found some ripe peaches at the market. Usually they are hard as rocks, which I don't find appealing at all. This time they were soft, so I bought six large ones. One I ate for lunch and the other five went into the pie. Unfortunately these 'ripe' peaches were just peaches that had been the rock hard ones and had sat long enough to soften and, in most cases, dry out some in the process. This leaves the peach slices more like sponges in texture than true peaches that have had a chance to ripen at least some on the tree. the good news is that cooking them brings back at least some of the juiciness, so baking them in a pie improves them a lot.

For the crust I used my favorite ready made ReadyCrust from Pillsbury from the market. Sweetie likes it and it's easy, making a pie go together much faster than if I made the crust dough.

The filling was those five peaches, peeled, pit removed, slices and the slices halved. I mixed up some flour, sugar, salt and cornstarch, grated on some freshly gound nutmeg, then sprinkled that mixture over the peaches in their CorningWare bowl. The peaches were mixed using my hands to keep from bruising the slices and to distribute the dry ingredients evenly,

Into the pastry lined pie plate I put about 1/3 of the coated peach slices, then dotted about 6-8 fresh raspberries around, covered them with another 1/3 of the peaches, repeated the raspberry dotting, then finished it off with the rest of the peaches. The top crust went on, the edges of the bottom crust resting on the pie plate rim were moistened with water and the top crust pressed down a bit. This seals the sides to keep the juices in. Top and bottom crusts were rolled under together all around the rim, then fluted. While all this happened, the oven was preheating to 425 degrees F. I painted the top crust and rim with egg white and sprinkled some clear sanding sugar on top for sparkle and a little crunch.

After cutting three slits into the top of the pie, I placed the pie on a pizza sized baking sheet, then into the preheated over for 15 minutes. Even with that short time in the oven, the peaches and the crust smelled wonderful!

Another 25 minutes at 350 degrees F and the pie was done, all golden brown and delicious looking. The filling bubbled a bit in one of the slits so I knew it would need some time to cool before slicing. Unfortunately I didn't share that information with Sweetie, so he cut a couple of slices within about a half hour of the pie coming from the oven...so the filling was very soupy. Still delicious!

Want to make this pie? Follow what I wrote above, and use THIS recipe as a template and all should be well.

XO, Elle

Chocolate Cherry Quince Frangipane Tart

Typically frangipane is an almond cream of sorts that is used as a filling in pie and tarts...and it isn't chocolate. Almond is the usual nut used. Sometimes a different nut is used, often pistachio. A few year I ago I decided to try it with chocolate because chocolate and almond go well together. I tried it with fresh cherries as the fruit and it was delicious. Now that our quince are ripening I decided to try the same tart but with the addition of quince (the pieces of fruit at the outer rim of the tart in the photo above). It's fantastic!

First you partially bake the tart crust and while it's cooling you mix together the frangipane filling. I prepared the fruit earlier. The cherries get halved and the pit removed. The quince are washed, peeled, and cut away from the core, then cut into pieces, mostly wedges. In a small pot a syrup is made by simmering water and sugar, then the quince are added and poached (basically simmered with the lid on the pot) until tender, then cooled. After cooling, you strain the fruit and it's ready for the tart. You can do this a day in advance if you store the fruit pieces in the syrup in the fridge. When you are ready to put the tart together, drain the fruit and pat dry. Use the syrup for something else...maybe over ice cream?

This makes a tender tart with a soft chocolate filling that has texture from the almond flour and this highlights the fruits. Hard to stop at a single piece.

No Quince? Just use all cherries or use all raspberries, or mix the two. I think you want a fruit with a bit of tartness to it but any fruit that goes with chocolate would probably be delicious. Apricots? Nectarines?

Chocolate Almond Fruit Tart
    Elle's recipe
Makes one 9-inch tart

To make the crust: 

Use an already made pie crust, like Pillsbury ReadyCrust or your favorite pie dough for a single crust.

Roll out the dough into a 12-inch diameter circle. Transfer to the tart pan and gently fit the dough into it. Fold the extra hanging over the sides down to make a double crust on the sides. Use your fingers to push the dough into the tart side indents. Use a rolling pin, rolled over the top rim, to clean the top. Gather up any leftover pieces and wrap in plastic wrap, and put in the fridge for patching, if necessary. Prick all over and freeze for at least 30 minutes, but longer is O.K.

 Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Put the rack in the center of the oven.

 Remove tart shell from freezer. Spray a sheet of foil with cooking spray/oil and put, oil side down on the tart, pressing down to mold the foil to the tart shape.

 Bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil carefully and use the back of a spoon to gently press down any puffed crust. If necessary, use the extra dough from the fridge to patch any holes, then bake another few minutes. Let crust cool.

 

Prepare the filling:

 4 tablespoons soft butter or margarine
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons dark cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon espresso powder
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
2 large eggs
3/4 cup almond flour or finely ground almonds

1 1/2 cups fresh fruit ( cherries and poached quince or apricot halves, drained and patted dry, or raspberries, etc.) - about a pint of fruit

 Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

To make the filling:  Beat together the butter, salt, sugar, flour, cocoa, espresso powder, and almond extract.

 Beat in the eggs, then add the almond flour, stirring just to combine.

 

To assemble the tart: Spread the filling in the bottom of the crust.

 Place the fresh fruit, cut if necessary, in rows or a nice pattern on top of the filling, pressing them down gently so the bottom of the fruit is covered.

 Bake the tart in the preheated 350 degree F oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top is puffy and bounces slightly when pressed in the middle. Cool slightly before serving.  

Italian Sausage and Kale Soup

It's going to be hot again next week, but for the last few days it's been in the upper 70s and on Monday night it rained! Fall is coming...my favorite time of year. The sound of the rain on the barn roof was soothing, which was a good thing since I'm still having a reaction to the vaccines taken on Friday. Almost normal today, but have had a headache since Friday, which I'm not equipped to handle well since I rarely have headaches. Anyway, the rain was a lovely thing to hear Monday evening and it also rained on Tuesday in the wee hours, so I didn't need to water my garden.

Today I celebrated the slightly cooler weather by making soup. I love soup, but don't often think to make it. It's pretty easy once you round up the ingredients and this one includes some of those veggies I've been growing in the garden. The amounts are pretty variable, depending on how much you have of things, particularly the veggies. You can use the amount that seems right to you. No veggie garden? You can, of course, use veggies from the farmers market or regular grocery store and celebrate the coming season. I like this way better than putting up Halloween decorations in September!

Italian Sausage and Kale Soup (with lots of other veggies)
Makes a big pot

1/2 - 1 pound Italian Sausage
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped carrots
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup water
2 cans (about 15 oz each) chicken broth or vegetable broth
1 can cannellini (white) beans, rinsed
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 - 1 cup fresh tomatoes, cored and diced
1/2 - 1 cup zucchini, quartered, then sliced 1/2-inch thick slices
1 - 2 cups fresh green beans, snapped into bite sized pieces
2 - 3 cups fresh kale

In a large heavy bottomed pot, brown the Italian sausage in the olive oil. My sausage came as a slab, so I used a spatula to divide it into large chunks and browned them so they were almost like meatballs, but you can break yours up to be smaller if you like. Once browned, remove the sausage as set aside.

If needed, add a little more olive oil, but you may find, as I did, that the sausage gave off enough fat to cook the veggies. Cook the onions over medium-high heat, stirring often, until almost translucent about 3-4 minutes. Add the celery, carrots and garlic and continue cooking another minute or two, making sure not to burn the garlic. Add the cup of water and stir to loosen any brown bits. Add the broth, beans, pepper, oregano and add the sausage back to the pot. Stir to combine and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the diced tomatoes, green beans and kale and stir to combine with the rest of the ingredients in the pot. Cover, turn heat to low and simmer for at least 15 minutes and up to an hour.

Taste and adjust seasonings, if needed. Ladle into soup bowls and serve hot. May be garnished with grated Parmesan cheese if desired.

Truly Tomato Time

Every year we wait for the harvest, especially the tomato harvest. I start the seeds indoors some years. Did that this February. I was optimistic that the weather would be good, so I planted seeds for three kinds of tomatoes and three kinds of cherry tomatoes, plus three kinds of summer squash for good measure...or because I'm bonkers. This year I also grew Cucumbers, Golden Beets and two kinds of Green Beans, plus two kinds of potatoes (and I never grew potatoes before...so really bonkers!)

The zucchini were producing by June although only a few. By July we were overrun with zucchini, but the tomatoes were still green. None of the plants had been planted out until later than usual because our spring was long and chilly. Great for enjoying tulips and later iris, but the soil needs to warm up if heat loving plants like squash and tomatoes are going to do well.

Now we have lots and lots of gorgeous heirloom tomatoes! Our favorite is the Black Krim (far left in photo above), which isn't black, but is a darker red than most tomatoes, almost a brown, and there are often bits of pink and bright yellow-green  at the stem end. The flavor is truly tomato and they are big enough to be enjoyed sliced. We often eat them sliced, with a sprinkle of garlic salt and pepper, a drizzle of olive oil and a few dashes of a good balsamic vinegar. Heaven!

Another great tomato this year is the Costeluto, a deeply lobed bright red tomato that is sort of flat-ish. It makes a great slicing tomato, too, and is also great cut into wedges in a salad.

The third one I grew this year is a yellow tomato. I forget the name, but it has a slightly elongated oval shape and a milder tomato flavor. It slices well, too, and is great in cooked dishes where it doesn't overwhelm other flavors.

The cherry tomatoes are variations of yellow/orange, red, and purple-ish sort of striped, round small tomatoes.

All of these are planted near each other, so there has been some cross-pollination. The Costeluto seems to be most susceptible to that. We've had a deeply lobed and large yellow tomato or two, some bright red but round ones and one that was sort of lobed and had the Black Krim color.

Mostly we have been eating these with very little done to them because they taste delightful as is or with just a little balsamic. I did, however, bake a tomato tart tonight that turned out very well, so I'll share the recipe in case you have lots of tomatoes yourself.

Tomato Puff Pastry Tart
Serves 6 - 8 as an appetizer

1 sheet puff pastry... I use Pepperidge Farm, thawed if frozen
2-3 large great-tasting tomatoes
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 small to medium egg
2 tablespoons fresh basil, finely cut or chopped
1/4 cup grated Parmesan...if possible use the real thing (but Costco has a nice container of it)
ground pepper for sprinkling
olive oil for drizzling

On a large piece of parchment that will fit in your sheet pan, roll the puff pastry to a 10 x 14 rectangle.

Turn the edges in an inch on each side, to make a rim. Press down lightly on the rim. Place in the sheet pan and chill while you make the filling.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Thinly slice the tomatoes and place the slices on a sheet of paper towel and let drain while you work with the ricotta.

In a small bowl combine the ricotta, egg, basil and Parmesan. Stir until it is well mixed.

Remove the pastry in it's baking sheet from the fridge. Pour the filling in the middle and use a spatula to spread it until it is close to but not touching the edges of the puff pastry. Make sure it is even.

Place the tomato slices in a pattern on top of the ricotta filling.
Sprinkle lightly with ground pepper. Drizzle lightly with olive oil, being sure to drizzle over the tomato slices and the edge of the pastry.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until the pastry is browned.

Serve at once.