Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

We are still enjoying the Honey Crisp apples that we brought back from Michigan.  I thought about making a traditional apple pie, but the weather has been so hot this month that a pie seemed too heavy to be enjoyed properly.  Laura Calder to the rescue!  I am enjoying her French Food at Home show on the new Cooking Channel.  One of the things I’ve noticed about her is the simplicity of her recipes and the fact that she uses very few kitchen gadgets.  She whips her cream by hand in a copper bowl, she chops and dices without the aid of a food processor, and her kitchen always seems so serene.  Now I’m not saying that I am giving up my kitchen gadgets, but I love the sense of calm that she projects in her kitchen.  You can almost hear the birds singing in her yard.  But I digress (borrowed that one from My Year on the Grill).

Laura made this simple apple tart last week.  The crust is cookie-like, comes together simply and is patted into either a springform pan or a tart pan.  I considered using my 9 inch tart pan, but thought the filling would overflow, so I made it in my high- sided springform pan.  Next time, I will be brave and use the tart pan because the filling takes up very little space and I love the ridges that result on the crust.

But what makes this tart so special is the cream cheese filling.  It is what makes this “Pastry Shop” good!  You know those wonderful cream filled pastries that you get from the bakery.  That is what this tart tastes like.  It is so good that I had it for breakfast one morning with my coffee and I was enraptured.  The gilding on the lily of this tart is the layer of cinnamon spiced apple slices with almonds scattered about.  Simple and decadent at the same time.  A perfect tart.

EASY PASTRY SHOP APPLE TART

For the crust:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vinilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour

For the cream filling:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the top:
3 apples, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup slivered almonds

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Make the crust:  Cream the butter and sugar.  Stir in the vanilla.  Finally, mix in the flour to make a smooth dough.  Press into the botton of an 8-inch springform pan (I used a 9-inch pan or a 9-inch tart pan), giving it about a 1-inch rim.  Bake 15 minutes, or until lightly golden.  Remove the tart shell from the oven.

While the crust bakes, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla for the cream filling until smooth.  Make the topping by tossing the apple slices with the cinnamon and sugar.

Spread the cream cheese mixture into the tart shell.  Arrange the apple slices on top in a spiral pattern and then scatter the nuts on top.  Bake until the apples are tender and golden, about 40 minutes.

I am submitting this recipe to the Hearth ‘n Soul blog hop.  Go over to Girlichef’s blog to see all of the wonderful “REAL” food entries this week.

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Sunday afternoons will usually find me in the kitchen trying new recipes and taking my time with my cooking.  This puts me in mind of the Slow Food Movement.  Part of their philosophy is to take your time and savor your food, know where it comes from, and keep it as authentic as possible.

This Sunday I made this beautiful Swiss chard tart from a recipe from Laura Calder, the host of French Food at Home on the new Cooking Channel. I love her show. I love her quiet and serene approach to everything she cooks. The episode in which she made the tart had to do with Grandmothers’ recipes; those tried and true recipes that are handed down through the generations on yellowed and dog-eared pages in old notebooks.
 

The tart was made in a springform pan instead of a pie pan so it had a very rustic appearance with high crusty sides and a deep filling.  It appealed to me on so many levels.  I loved the vibrant color of the rainbow chard stems and leaves, the custardy filling and the sprinkling of dried cranberries and almonds.

The one thing Laura Calder did not give on the program was a recipe for a pie crust, so I had to come up with that on my own.  I made an all butter pastry and increased the preportions by one half to fill the springform pan.  It would have been easier to mix the pastry in the food processor but I don’t always like the results.  I think the blade action heats the butter too much and the whole point to making good pastry is to keep the butter cold.  So I slowly worked my butter into my flour by cutting it in with a knife.  This was a satisfying task for a lazy Sunday afternoon.  According to the Slow Food Manifesto,  “A firm defense of quiet material pleasure is the only way to oppose the universal folly of Fast Life”.  I choose to slow down and enjoy what I am doing, especially when the end results are so satisfying.

SAVORY RAINBOW CHARD TART

For the Pastry:
1 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
11 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup ice water  (a little more if needed)

Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl.  Cut the butter into small cubes.  Add to the flour mixture and with a pastry blender or knife, cut the butter into the flour until it is in small crumbs.  Add the ice water and stir in with a fork until pastry comes together.  If dry, add a little more water.  Bring pastry together with your hands and form into a flattened disc.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours.

Flour a work surface, and remove pastry from the plastic and roll it out into a 14″ circle.  Put pastry into a 9″ springform pan.  Return to refrigerator for at least 1/2 hour to firm up butter.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line pastry with parchment paper and fill the springform pan with dried beans.  Put springform pan on a sheet pan and blind bake the pastry for approximately 15 minutes. The butter in the pastry will leak from the springform pan a little so it is a good idea to have it on a sheet pan so as not to drip in your oven.  Carefully remove beans and parchment paper and continue to bake pastry shell for 10 more minutes or until lightly browned.  Set aside while you make the filling.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon oil
2 shallots, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
4 slices thick bacon, cut into small pieces
1 1/2 pounds Swiss Chard, preferably Rainbow Chard
3 eggs
1 cup creme fraiche or heavy cream and sour cream combined
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated
Handful of dried cranberries
Handful of toasted almonds or pine nuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Heat the oil in a saute pan and fry the shallots until soft and translucent.  Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute.  Remove to a plate.  In the same pan, fry the bacon until the fat has rendered and the bacon is crisp.  Remove to the plate with the shallots.  Divide the chard leaves from the ribs; chop the ribs quite small and shred the leaves.  First, fry the ribs in the bacon fat until tender. (Cook’s Note:  You may want to cover the pan for a few minutes to speed up the process.)  Add the chard leaves to the pan, cover and wilt, about 3 minutes.

Beat the eggs together with the creme fraiche, and season with salt, and pepper.

In a large bowl, toss the shallots, bacon, chard stems and leaves, cheese, cranberries, and nuts, to combine evenly.  Fill the tart shell with the vegetable mixture with a slotted spoon so that any liquid will be left behind.  Pour over the cream mixture.  Bake tart on a sheet pan until the tart has set, about 30 minutes.

I am linking this post to the Two for Tuesdays blog hop.  You will find many blogs there with recipes and thoughts on cooking with authentic ingredients.

There is a food blogger that I admire very much. Tartelette, aka Helen, is a French expatriat living in Charleston, SC. She was a head pastry chef in a French restaurant and now makes her home here with her husband. She concentrates mostly on desserts. Her photography is professional, beautiful and dreamy. She recently posted a recipe for this apricot tart. I have had a rectangular tart pan in my baking drawer for a long time. I have been waiting for the right recipe to christen it. This was the one I was waiting for.

The recipe is deceptively simple. The crust that Helen used was a gluten free mixture, but she offers an easy flour based alternative. If you do not like to make your own crust, feel free to substitute a store bought crust. The filling is quickly whisked together. I added a small amount of almond and vanilla extracts. The apricots are merely sliced in half, pitted, and nestled into the almond filling. It is not an overly sweet dessert and is best served warm. The following recipe is my adaptation. You can go to Tartelette’s blog for her version. It is a truly satisfying dessert, made even more special by the memories it stirred of her Grandparents.

APRICOT AND ALMOND TART

For the Crust:
5 tablespoons softened butter
3 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup cold water

In a mixer, beat the butter until it is light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks one at a time until they are incorporated. Add the flour and salt and beat briefly to incorporate. Add enough water to make a pliable dough and mix gently in. Dump dough unto a lightly floured work surface and knead gently into a compact disc. Refrigerate at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove dough from refrigerator and roll it into a shape to fit your pan. Line the dough with parchment paper or foil and add rice or dried beans to weigh it down. Bake in oven for 10 minutes. Remove pie weights and foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Cool slightly if using immediately or you can store it in the refrigerator until you are ready to fill it.

For the filling:
1 stick butter, softened
1/3 cup honey (or 1/6 cup honey and 1/6 cup sugar)
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup ground almonds
2 eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream

8 to 10 apricots, halved and pitted

Add softened butter and honey to a large bowl. Whisk until honey is incorporated. Add the extracts, ground almonds and eggs and beat until batter is combined. Add the heavy cream and gently stir it into the batter. Pour the batter into the cooled tart pan. Nestle the halved apricots into the batter. Place the tart pan into a 350 degree F. oven and bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle the tart with powdered sugar and/or honey. Serve warm.

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One of the reasons I love being back at the cottage is that I have access to my considerable collection of Gourmet magazines. They fill the lower shelves of our bookcase and date back to the 1970’s. I still miss my favorite magazine and wish Conde Naste would bring it back. In the meantime, I will continue cooking the well thought out recipes that were published over the years and feel myself lucky to have been such a pack rat. You can still go to Epicurious to download many of their recipes.

Sunday night in our house is either pizza night or experimentation night. This black bean tart is just the kind of meal that fits the offbeat unusual meal that I favor. I love the spice accented buttery crumbly crust that is so easy to assemble and pat into a 10″ tart pan. I love the vibrant colors of the bean, corn, and red pepper toppings. And I love the flavor combination with the accompanying lime sour cream on the top. Add a salad and you have a supper to savor.

BLACK BEAN TART WITH CHILI CRUST (Gourmet Jan. 1996)

Printable recipe

Printable recipe